BERG is the world-renowned design consultancy firm based out of London, working hands-on with companies worldwide to find ingenious technological and strategic solutions to improve their output, efficiency, and functionality. BERG has a knack for discovering and seeing things that no one else can, including this recent commission from ICON magazine to reinvent the receipt. FastCo Design profiled the beautiful reinvention, and Matt Jones, a principal at Berg told FastCo, “A receipt is printed out by a till that is already connected to a complex system. The receipt printer is kind of this tiny print-on-demand machine, which could display a lot more and take on a lot more input.” The final receipt design is infinitely flexible and could become anything and everything a retail manager can imagine. It could even be streamlined to data coming out of customer surveys:
We’ve added semi-useful info-visualisation of the foods ordered based on “what the till knows” — sparklines, trends — and low-tech personalisation of information that might be useful to regulars. Customers can select events or news stories they are interested in by ticking a check box.
Receipts contain huge windows of opportunity for exposure to social concerns and health issues to name only two, but BERG thinks the key to unlocking the common receipt’s full potential lies in the lighter side. Jones adds, “Not everyone can save the world every time,” Jones says, “but you know, it’s quite good if you just make somebody smile for 15 seconds.” To read the feature in full, which also includes BERG’s recent work for Dentsu London which showcases their inventive (and often delightful) solutions for finding every possible missed opportunity in the connectivity already embodied by the ambient media and everyday products that surround us in our everyday lives you can visit FastCo Design. To learn more about the incredible work of BERG be sure to visit them at BERGlondon.com.
