Product Description

Trust one of the most inventive companies in the world to come up with an entirely fresh take on travel books. IDEO, the world-renowned design and innovation firm, shifts the attention of the traveler and everyday observer from mere sightseeing toward looking—really looking—at their surroundings. City by city, each book reveals authentic discoveries at every turn. Culled from the experiences and observations of IDEO's designers, cultural anthropologists, and architects, this volume delves into the social, architectural, and epicurean scenes of New York. Insightful, easy-to-use, packed with photographs, and presented in a convenient on-the-go format, IDEO Eyes Open rekindles curiosity and invites visitors—and residents—to see these cities with fresh eyes.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #148906 in Books
• Published on: 2008-03-05
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Spiral-bound
• 160 pages

About the Author
Fred Dust is the global design lead for IDEO's Smart Space practice. He lives in San Francisco.

IDEO uses first-hand observations to inform and inspire the design of delightful and useful products, services, and environments.

Customer Reviews

A new way to see New York City
I'm posting similar reviews for this pair of Ideo Eyes Open guides, one for Ideo Eyes Open: New York and one for Ideo Eyes Open: London, because they were released at the same time and share a common approach, with some promise of more guides to follow in the series.

Ideo is a design and image consulting firm that has created this series incorporating some of its more general design approaches and hoping the reader will slow down and look at usual things in an unusual way: "It's really just a matter of getting out there and opening yourself up to it all." Both books are beautifully designed, handy in the back pack or purse, with some clever "for your comments" stickers to highlight your own favorites.

The firm made its name in designing products, including the Palm V, but more recently has focused on environment design. Fred Dust is team leader of Smart Space, the company's real estate division and the editor of this series. One of Dust's first projects was Dilbert's Ultimate Cubicle designed in consultation with Scott Adams. It featured a boss monitor, an electronic window, a fold down Murphy chair, an Aquarium module and a roll up hammock.

In their projects, the team the starts with a "deep dive," during which "Smart Space designers, anthropologists and researchers spend days -- sometimes weeks -- shadowing people to observe how they live: when and where they eat, what time they go to bed, what their hobbies are, how they spend their money." The Eyes Open website and guide books follow the same approach: they publish unique experiences shared by IDEO staff and friends, and offering site visitors the opportunity to submit their own unique experiences in text and imagery.

Here are a couple of examples from the London guide of suggestions:

"Instead of taking high tea at a hotel lounge, go to Coffee@157. The light fixtures in this coffeehouse, as you can see, are made of to-go cups. Outside, a yellow vending machine dispenses artworks for less than 5 pounds each."

"Crumbs and Doilies is a boutique cupcake shop in the Sunday UpMarket, which is a spontaneous gathering of people selling arts and crafts and playing carom."

I'm not entirely sure who these guides will appeal to; there is precious little of the traditional guidebook information about prices, opening hours, travel directions, etc. But the goal is certainly worthy: opening yourself to your surroundings while traveling can be a wonderful experience. I remember once sitting in a shady cave high above a canyon in Utah one hot summer day enjoying the scenery. Suddenly, I realized my body fit the hollow perfectly, and saw to my surprise that the rock had been hollowed out to make a comfortable seat. All at once I was engulfed in a culture several hundred years old, re-living the life of sentries watching for approaching enemies.

These guidebooks promise the same flashes of discovery, and so far they have delivered on a couple of occasions in New York City. I can hardly wait to try out this edition in London later this year.

Robert C. Ross 2008

Great book; use a different adhesive for the price sticker
This book is a fun way to see NYC in a different way. Many special places you'll never find in a standard tour book. The prose is engaging, the photos awesome. However, I cannot tell you how long it took me to scrape off that @#&@&* price sticker on the back. Yah, sure so just leave it on, right? Well, the cover is sorta your map to these places; ergo, the sticker must go. Oy vey, what a mess, thus 4 stars versus 3 as I am still scraping away the goo.

Creative Touristing
This book from Ideo authors shows a creative approach to exploring New York City. Some of the recommended visits are unusual and out-of-the-ordinary, but are ways of seeing the unusual. I look forward to similar reviews of other U.S. cities.