In my career at Kodak I have had the good fortune to work on a number of great projects. Things like a the Olympics, a movie premiere (Mission Impossible II), peregrine falcons, a World Series, NASCAR races, projects at Disney, work with many pro photographers and cinematographers, and a slew of other wonderful things. After all that I must admit I was surprised by the idea of working on a building implosion. Nope, haven't done one of those before!

Kodak imploded one of its older manufacturing buildings earlier today. It was a day to acknowledge the people and the work that occurred there while at the same time, look forward to new exciting opportunities in this digital age of photography. This building housed photographic paper operations (Flow and Finishing). Much of the work done here paved the way for the successes Kodak has seen over many years. We are extremely proud of that heritage and also proud of our latest initiatives that continue that rich photographic heritage - an inkjet offering that strikes the heart of customer frustration. Namely, the high cost of ink.

As photography transitions to digital, something we know a thing or two about, we are constantly evolving our capabilities. Kodak Park, our primary manufacturing facility, has been the focus of many of those changes. Buildings come and go and today Building 9 went with a boom. This 725,000 square foot building was constructed to store huge rolls of paper. The floors were made of 18-inch thick reinforced concrete. There were hundreds of supporting pillars that were 3-feet wide, 5 feet wide at the top, to support these floors/ceilings. To say this was a substantial structure is an understatement!

We chose to make the most of this implosion to highlight our new KODAK EASYSHARE All-in-One printers. They are much more than just another entry into an already established category - they change the game entirely. They are super easy to use and the print quality is amazing. Their pigment based inks deliver amazing results and have a substantially longer life than their dye-based counterparts. Oh, and that ink can save up to 50% on everything you print. Yep, you read the right! So, wrapping a building that is about to be imploded with a huge banner stating it is "a nice day for a revolution" actually seemed quite natural. That is a bold example of how strongly we feel about this new approach to home printing!! Regular readers of this blog realize that we are just a bit over the top when it comes to photography so things that dramatically improve the category REALLY excite us.

btw - The banner, even though made of lightweight material, still weighed over 700 pounds! When the crew was installing it yesterday there was a slight wind and which forced them to change installation plans. It had to be put in place with cranes instead lest it become a giant sail that could take some of those workers with it! Safety first!

So, with a literal bang we continue that proud photographic tradition here at Kodak. ka-boom!

So, lets call this event a wrap.

You can see more pictures at my Kodak Gallery Premier account. What a day!

p.s. ..and there is a video on YouTube now as well as a podcast.

I had the good fortune of visiting General Motor's Heritage Center in Detroit last week. Not only is it chock full of vintage cars there are a series of concept cars there. Cars that are a catalyst for conversations about design, trends, culture - and they just happen to look über cool!

This got me thinking... The concept model is used in other industries as well including by us at Kodak.

In fashion the world of haute couture is often the subject of much debate and controversy. Rarely does one see regular people actually wear some of these outfits in public. They do serve the purpose of pushing the fashion design dialog. Color, fabric, hem lines, style, etc.

The concept cars I saw in Detroit were quite historic. They included the very first concept car, the Buick "Y" which was made in 1938. The person credited with the amazing body of work during GM's early days was Harley Earl. He strove to integrate art, science, and showmanship into his work. In the mid 50's he made a series of Firebirds that featured the first-ever onboard computer. The Buick "Y", a sleek 1949 LeSabre, two of those Firebirds and a sleek Corvette are pictured here (click to enlarge):

Just as Detroit moved forward with car design, Kodak moved beyond the early box-like Brownie cameras. Those products were created by renowned industrial design leader named Walter Dorwin Teague. These art deco enameled cameras were quite stylish. Isn't the matching compact and lipstick case of the blue Coquette (1930) elegant? Hmmm, perhaps that idea is worth of resurrecting. Also pictured are the streamlined Bantam (1936-1948) and a pink Beau Brownie (1930-1933) - (click to enlarge):

Kodak creates concepts and user experience prototypes to inspire future product offerings. Pictured here are some user experience design concepts to enhance human communication with image based solutions.

Some of the recent innovations that came from exercises like these is the dual-lens feature of the V570 unveiled in January of 2006 cameras and the creation of the world's first Wi-fi digital camera, the EASYSHARE-ONE launched in 2005. The current "absolute pink" version of the V705 is a big hit. And to think pink was "in" back with that Beau Brownie!

The role of concept products has a long legacy and seems to be alive and well. The transition of photography to digital is unleashing the power of pictures in ways we could only dream of in the past. Suddenly those cars that look like rocket ships don't seem like so much of a stretch!