Little Innovations

While walking home a few days ago, Isaac and I talked about power cords and dishwashing machines. Two things which essentially have not changed much in the past decade. Yet the decisions of some companies to make small tweaks to the design have made a huge difference.

Our conversation revolved around the idea that in many ways, we are now living in the age of good design. The technology and function of many products is well-established, and now what many of us care about more is the design of the product. Whether you are buying a microwave or new pair of shoes, many times design is just as important (or more) as function. When something is well-designed, it becomes more appealing to look at and to use.

We've encountered a few things since moving to Korea that give me this type of feeling. Sometimes it is not a specific product or brand, but it's situations that evoke marvel, surprise and a comment like "what a neat idea." The pictures I'm sharing, and their subjects, are not glamorous, but I hope they will help you to enjoy these concepts like we did, applauding the extra bit of thought and time someone put in. Also I don't know if these are just Korean innovations, but it's the first time I've encountered them.

Tree huggers

When the weather dipped below freezing back home, I remember we would cover plants with plastic bags to keep them from harm. Especially young, vulnerable plants in springtime like my veggie and herb garden.

People pour a lot of effort into the landscaping along streets and storefronts here, so of course they will take care to prevent winter's bite from ruining their hard work. Almost every plant gets some special treatment, not just the most vulnerable or valuable like I've done in the past. Straw mats are wrapped around stalks and trunks, or are used to construct tiny tents which cover the entire plant.

The oddest ones to me are these little straw collars that get put around big trees. I still don't quite understand what they specifically do. I read that perhaps it keeps the bark from splitting - if the winter sun appears and disappears quickly, perhaps the bark temperature will change too quickly and crack, causing ugly scarring.

Whoever covered this plant was very committed and meticulous.

Food packaging

This is another area where small changes make such a huge difference. Probably any of us can think of products we like or dislike just because of the packaging. The perfectly satisfying click of a pen or the annoyingly short cap on a water bottle. For my examples below, I'll try to keep my descriptions down a bit and not get too carried away.

Here's my favorite sweet potato and banana Special K cereal. It looks just like a normal cereal box, but then I noticed directions showing how to transform it into a more airtight container similar to a milk carton. Each side of the box already has the perforations, and there's a flap on the back panel to insert the folded tab into. Ah, it's the small things.

Fruit is cherished here, from conception to finish. Driving through the countryside once, we saw what looked like a tree covered in coffee filters. Turns out they were fruit trees, each small blossom given a paper collar in order to protect the fruit as it grows. When the produce reaches the grocery stores, it is still being coddled. Apples and oranges are given foam coozies to prevent bruising, each placed in its own seat in a molded paper box like an over-sized egg carton. Strawberries are carefully stacked too - 5 to a row, three rows, a thin layer of cushioning in between the two layers. Even the direction each strawberry faces is strategic, all but one column facing the same way on each layer, to maximize space.

I ate this carton of strawberries in one day, so perhaps there's something to such care and attention to detail. Also, from what I've heard, Koreans are very proud of their strawberries. And from what I've tasted, they have good reason to be.

How frustrating is it to be handed a bag in the drive thru, and later discover that the workers played basketball with your dinner and the paper bag it came in? It really looks like someone just tossed all of the food into the bag. The fries are upside down and all over the place, the napkins are squished. McDonald's seems like one of the worst for such carelessness. Since coming to Korea, my low opinion of the golden arches has been turned upside down though. They have home delivery 24 hours a day and much better service. And so I proudly share with you McDonald's delivery as a small, thoughtful innovation.

It looks about the same at this point, right? I will say that giving each drink its individual bag is very handy. Even if one were to spill, it would stay within the bag and not make a mess.

Open it up and inside there is a smaller paper bag, with holes punched out of it. Inside of this bag are the french fries, cuddled together, steam escaping through the bag's holes so that they don't get mushy.

Below that fry bag, there are the straws, not bent from being shoved upright, and some napkins. Below, our two sandwiches and some ketchup. I got a delicious lemon shrimp burger, which is an Asian Mcdonald's specialty, and boy is it tasty.

Lest you fear that our burgers were smushed at the bottom of that bag, each sandwich is wrapped within a cardboard collar. I think some deluxe sandwiches come with this in America, but it seems like they all should. I hope American Mcdonald's learns from their cousins over here and learns to more carefully pack their orders.

Parking garages

I saved my favorite for last. I laughed as I typed that, because I have an especially strong affinity for parking garages. Back in college I had a hobby of hanging out in them at night - longboarding, or just sitting on the top floor watching the stars, airplanes and satellites. The first summer I knew Isaac, his love confession to me was on top of a parking garage in Columbia. All that to say, I have a huge appreciation for how well parking garages are utilized and run here.

In Korea, parking garages are a well-oiled machine. Remember that places like malls, department stores and walmart equivalents all have their own parking garages here. And there is a team of workers dedicated to the task of ushering everyone's car into and out of the perfect spot. There are greeters, who stand near the entrance and bow to every car that enters, speaking greetings into a microphone headset. Stationed throughout the parking garage are other workers, who use their arms and sometimes glowing sticks to wave you towards the correct direction, like an airplane taxiing towards the terminal after landing.

In addition to the staff, the garage itself is outfitted with sensors and signs that make parking easier. No aimlessly winding up and down aisles, thinking you see a place only to pull closer and realize that some tiny compact car is plopped down in the middle.

Each parking place has a small sensor in the middle of it, like this one.

These sensors register whether or not the space is occupied. A light hangs above each parking space, and glows green if the space is empty, red if it is occupied. This same information is also displayed on screens throughout the parking lot, telling drivers how many parking spaces are available in a particular section, or on a certain aisle or on the total floor. Often when you first enter a garage, there are signs indicating the status of each floor, full or empty, sometimes giving the specific number of vacancies.

Below you see two different shots from the same garage. Above us walking, the displays show a car with a red "X" through it and a "0". Above each car, next to the line of bright lights, almost too washed out to see, are individual bulbs all glowing red showing that the spaces are occupied. There's also a worker in a bright vest at the end of the F aisle, but he might be too hard to see. This store is kind of like a Sam's Club or Costco, so the workers simply wear neon reflective vests. If the parking garage is for a department store or a new mall, usually they wear more dressy outfits like hotel workers or flight attendants.

Here is the same garage on a less busy weekday. If you look to the right of the blue handicapped sign, you can more clearly see the individual parking spot lights glowing red and green. I appreciate too that the overhead signs have the handicapped symbol. I'm sure I'm not the only one who has gotten excited about finding the perfect spot only to be let down by the realization that it has the wheelchair symbol painted on the ground.

Most everyone backs into their parking spaces too, which makes it easier. The mantra resounds in my head from the men in my life - husband, father, brother - backing into parking spots is safer. I guess word spread here too.

So these were just a few of my favorite little innovations I've seen here. If you find this kind of thing interesting too, I'd be more than happy to seek out a few more, and maybe even get more artsy and bold with my photographs. I got quite a few strange looks photographing the parking garages, and had to keep retaking shots because of the harsh lighting.

P.S. I got a bit off track recently, but I'll do my best to post each Friday from now on. It's a helpful deadline for me, and will make it easier for you if you know when to check back.