Our weekly update, where we share what’s inspiring us:

Young Users Hate Brands

Some sobering news from Adweek: according to a survey of 4,681 American youngsters by Forrester Research, only 6% of users 12-17 want to be friends with brands on Facebook. Facebook changes constantly — keeping up with it is one thing, finding new ways to reach users is another. If we don’t want to encroach on people’s deepening relationship with social networks, we have to work harder to accommodate their digital needs.

An Algorithmic Logo?

MIT Media Labs lent some of their highly attuned brain space to logo design, and they really delivered. A single business card print-out could be a little confounding—but it’s only 1 in 40,000 permutations. Seeing it “in motion” makes total sense. We like how the logo speaks to the individuality of each member without straying too far apart from each other. We’re looking forward to their next logo design, after their 40,001th hire.

Instaprint.me

From the Breakfastcrew, Instaprint.me gives an awesome update to the now ubiquitous Instragram app, a physical photo booth that’s bound to turn some heads at SXSW this year. This little box generates photos from users who tag their instagram photo with a box-specific hashtag. The result is a bunch of little, sticky-backed photos mixing the spontaneity of Polaroids with the fun photobooth strips. Users can rent a box for parties or gatherings, and print their shots.

Hitting the App Wall

There are a lot of apps out there, often so many it’s hard to differentiate between their clever, vowel-less names, or even their organizational features. Have we hit an app wall? MG Sigler’s article pleads with developers and strategists: do something radically different for innovation’s sake.

Angry Birds Maker Rovio Raises $42 Million

It seemed like the entire world came down with Angry Birds fever last year and Rovio is cashing in—bigtime. The Finnish entertainment company stands to raise $42 million from some big-name investors. That, along with commercial deals, $2 million in Angry Birds plush toys, and feature film buzz (?) is more than enough to make sure we’ll be knocking over wood fortresses full of villainous pigs for years to come. It’s a small, simple game with time-tested mechanics—it just goes to show that good design can go a long way.

Turning Shoppers Into Gamers

Designer fashion retailer Bluefly and social gaming startup Badgeville are hoping to turn shoppers into gamers. The fashion-centric game tracks shopper behaviors and gives them badges to award them credit towards discounts, specials and products. Given Bluefly’s clear demographic, gaming may seem like a backwards step to encourage engagement. But the lure of deals is interesting, especially with discount prices already advertised. Do you think this kind of gaming incentive will work?