Being and brand spaces

Trendwatch has a great article about being spaces and brand spaces. Some of the coolest and most unusual spaces to hang out. Made me think that throughout all my gigs, there's always being one place where you hung out for lunch with your co-workers, it became your refuge and platform for bouncing ideas that you would hesitate to raise in a design meeting. Normally it was the humblest of places, the fastfood chicken chain, the dim sum restaurant, the humble Vietnamese shop, the quaint coffee shop a block away...each of these are attached to a particular company I worked at. It didn't matter that there was something closer or something better but there was some kind of collective unspoken brand that defined that space and your being. It was the Cheers where everyone knows your name. I guess today's the day for nostalgia. What's yours?


In the article, there was a reference to a laundromat and cafe where LG would demonstrate their products. In a world where every bookstore has a cafe, I wondered why we didn't see more laundromats with cafes, day care, and Internet etc around it. Surely this is the best context to meet other people and share a moment. Most people who go to laundromats are young, single, divorced, separated...can't think of a better marketing context. Nobody likes waiting for the spin cycle to finish. Maybe there's a business model there somewhere, or is dirty linen not chic?