Mass customization is more than a choice of skins for an iPod or a personalized logo for a Toyota Scion. In a bid to create an active community around OpenMoko, the mobile phone’s Taiwanese manufacturer first published its software. This allowed developers to tweak it as they wished. Releasing open-source software is fairly common these days. However, OpenMoko broke new ground when it published the 3D drafting files for the phone’s case. The latter move lets anyone who knows how to work with CAD alter the case’s design.

By releasing the software and case design files, OpenMoko hopes to generate a passionate community of developers who will create a lengthy list of add-on applications for the phone, as well as innovative designs for its housing. The result will be features and design options that no phone manufacturer could hope to create on its own. By going well beyond the norms of mass customization, the company will also jump start a cottage industry of independent customizers for its phones.

The takeaway here is threefold. Firstly, if you’re so inclined, here’s a ripe opportunity to enter the mobile phone manufacturing business on the cheap. Secondly, OpenMoko’s business model—namely open-sourcing software and hardware files—is one that other start-ups and established manufacturers might well emulate. The products might just as easily be alarm clocks or toaster ovens. And, finally, the ease with which phone cases can be created using 3D printers heralds a day when many products will be produced on the spot, tailored inside and out to a customer’s preferences. Someday a printer vending machine might even let consumers choose a product design and have it built within minutes. When that happens, we’ll be sure to let you know ;-) (Related: Build your own mobile phone — New phone company, made in Silicon Valley — Affordable phones, made to order.)

Website: www.openmoko.com
Contact: contact@openmoko.com

Spotted by RK

Being photographed by the paparazzi was once an (often dubious) honour bestowed only on the rich and famous, but today a new service is bringing the possibility to every consumer.

Upon request, New York City-based MethodIzaz will send an anonymous photographer to surreptitiously capture select moments in a consumer's life and immortalize them with a portfolio of professionally produced photos. To arrange the service, the consumer provides a self photograph ahead of time along with details of their schedule and any specific emotion, mood or theme they hope to capture. MethodIzaz's photographer will then show up at some undisclosed point during the day and photograph the subject walking through the streets or going about their daily business, without posing or artifice. For customers, the final result is a new perspective on how they appear to others as well as tangible documentation of how they lived their lives at that point in time—in short, the ultimate in gravanity-stroking. Pricing is based on MethodIzaz's time to travel, photograph, edit and produce the photographs, ranging from USD 300 to USD 400 per hour.

Founded late last year, MethodIzaz already accepts assignments worldwide, but it also hopes to expand its presence accordingly. There are consumers around the globe waiting for their taste of fame and immortality—one to partner with and bring to an area near you?

Website: www.methodizaz.com

Spotted by: Giulia Cuccolini

When it comes to choosing a career path, it's one thing to think about the job from the outside, but quite another to experience it day to day. Back in 2006 we wrote about Vocation Vacations, which helps career-changers test out different waters, and now UK-based Figuring Out offers a combination of career coaching and trial work experience to achieve a similar end.

Launched earlier this month by the team behind Striding Out, a support network for entrepreneurs, UK-based Figuring Out aims to help people at all stages of their work life figure out what they want for their next career move. The coaching part of Figuring Out's service focuses on clarifying career goals, mastering interview techniques and learning new job search strategies, among other objectives. Such career coaching programmes can come in packages of three or more one-hour sessions in person or by phone or e-mail, and are priced on average between GBP 80 and GBP 100 per hour. The work experience portion of Figuring Out's services, however, is where clients can begin testing out their options. Tapping into its Striding Out network of businesses, Figuring Out identifies and connects clients with flexible, part-time work placement opportunities that can provide the right type of work experience for their needs. The work experience service is charged at an additional fee, depending on the range and type of placements required. The result, however, is a realistic, hands-on feel for what each career possibility would really be like.

Figuring Out currently operates just in London, but it's in the process of signing up licensee coaches across the UK to take on the brand in their local area. The company also plans to develop its work experience brokerage service into a short-term recruitment agency, Managing Director Heather Wilkinson says, and is already forming partnerships with full-time recruitment agencies to help secure full-time employment when clients are ready to take that step. One to partner with in an area near you?

Website: www.figuringout.co.uk
Contact: info@stridingout.co.uk

As our regular readers know, we've covered quite a few examples of gravanity,* from children's books to personal requiems. So when one of our spotters presented yet another example of a business that's using customization to stand out, we couldn't resist. What's getting the gravanity treatment this time? Cuff links. Created by Eleven Forty Co., the links are individually modelled on photographs of a child, a loved one, a pet or a famous role model. They're available in a range of precious metals and are priced from GBP 225. When they're not holding a shirt cuff together, the two halves cleverly snap together to create a miniature bust.

This isn't the studio's first foray into high-end personalization. A few years ago, Eleven Forty Co. introduced Opus, an uber-premium football table that's made to order. Customers pick their teams, which can feature friends, family, celebrities or real football players. Each player's head is cast in 3D from a photograph supplied by the customer. One to keep an eye on if you're looking for inspiration for a customized product to bring to market!

Website: www.elevenforty.com
Contact: hello@elevenforty.com

Spotted by: Flemming Birch

* Gravanity is what our sister-site trendwatching.com dubbed the enduring trend of catering to consumers who want to leave 'something' behind in print, audio or imagery. It's a goldmine of inspiration for entrepreneurs and marketers.

In the same way that freelancers are flocking to shared working spaces, stay-at-home moms are happy to find a third space that accommodates both them and their offspring. In London, private members clubs like Maggie & Rose and Cupcake Mom, offer mothers a place to convene and relax, where they're welcome to come and go as they please, 7 days a week.

Maggie & Rose, based in Kensington, features several play areas and offers children's lessons in art, cooking, dance and more, as well as a weekend movie club and birthday party services. Parents are catered to with a comfortable and quiet café (with wifi access, of course), as well as seminars and access to a family advisory service: "well researched info on nannies, tutors, schools, holidays, etc." Memberships are priced at GBP 500 per year.

Set to open in Wandsworth next month, Cupcake also aims to provide a grown-up but child-friendly environment. Its focus, however, is mainly on pregnant women and new mothers. In addition to a crèche and an organic café, Cupcake also offers personal trainers and a spa. The top floor of the club, where the spa is located, is a "baby-free zone" and features treatments tailor-made for pregnant women and new moms, from the "Cupcake in the Oven Massage" to the "Mermaid Wrap." Cupcake also plans to install a sleep pod for much-needed powernaps, and will offer a concierge service to help busy moms complete their to-do lists. Membership is GBP 149 per month. Founded by Karen Hastings, an American MBA graduate who lives in London, Cupcake is backed by Trapezia Capital, a UK venture fund that solely invests in women-led businesses. Hastings plans to open clubs in affluent areas across the country. We’re pretty sure British moms (and dads) aren’t the only parents who would gladly pay for access to a being space, a community of peers and the opportunity for some pampered me-time. Entrepreneurs across the world: start planning.

Website: www.maggieandrose.co.uk — www.cupcakemum.com
Contact: studio@maggieandrose.com — info@cupcakemum.com

Spotted by: Tamara Shand