Brands are coming together for London Craft Week to remind consumers of the importance of fine craftsmanship and its essential role in the luxury industry.

London Craft Week is a new event that will take place from May 6-10, highlighting all elements of craft and bringing together skilled craftsmen and brands from around the world. Fine craftsmanship is an important element of luxury, and brands can help form closer connections and justify expensive prices by reminding consumers of the extensive work that goes into creating products.

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There are several apps that offer medical advice but only one—Heal—that brings a ‘real life’ doctor to your door! This service offering has so many applications for other service providers.

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I am always intrigued where new ideas come from and often they come from problems you are experiencing personally. In the case of Cleanly, it was Tom Harari’s move to Brooklyn and sending laundry out and only to find inconvenient delivery times that he created his start up.

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A former designer with Facebook has joined start up Wealthfront as the VP of Design. This financial services organisation recognises the fact that design will enable them to stand out by designing experiences—especially online experiences.

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Starbucks has opened its first ‘hole-in-the-wall’ espresso bar at 14 Wall Street New York so commuters can quickly come and go. The idea will soon extend to mobile ordering and pick ups. They plan to open four more shortly so watch this (very small) space.

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This beautiful 6m2, white-box weekender is tiny but reminds us that if the space is designed-well it does not need to be large.

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Home-sharing service Airbnb is famously passionate about design. But until now they did not have a tablet app. The cofounders Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia, did not want to rush into it.

“We do things when we believe they have the right to exist and we know we’re going to build something incredible,” says design head Alex Schleifer, who recently gave me a sneak peek of the new app. “We’ve been looking at tablets for a long time.”

Despite having lacked their own apps until now, he says, “the tablet feels very Airbnb, because it’s something you can pass around and share—’what do you think of this?'”

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“Few brands are more synonymous with high-quality, high-value content than Harvard Business Review. Katherine Bell, editor of HBR.org, talks us through the principles that keep the brand true to its promise – sharing how the brand has adapted to the web and how a piece of HBR digital content is pulled together.”

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David Chang, Momofuku founder, was sick of sub-par takeout, so he set about creating ‘Maples’ to deliver restaurant-quality food to your home or office. Since its 28 April launch, it has been in the testing phase of development. The complication comes from the fact that unlike other apps and food delivery services, Maples controls the entire process—from order to delivery. So David and his team have had to create food that can withstand the Manhattan bike commute and still arrive in one piece. The brand identity is an important touch point as the carry bags will be visible across the city. This will be one to watch.

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Oma’s Pop Up is a pop-up restaurant in Rotterdam where lonesome seniors are preparing typical traditional Dutch dishes for guests. This means a day of fun for the seniors and for guests, as well as ensuring those traditional recipes are passed on to others. Win Win Win!

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