You know what that means? Nope, we’re not joining Greenpeace and don’t expect you to either (you can if you want- send us a postcard or something). BUT, we are going to think long and hard about what we can do to look after our Earth that little bit more this year and continue with the do-gooding. You see, we learnt a lot from designing our own eco-conscious range, Element earlier on this year and it felt great knowing that our range of glasses were helping sustain the world’s resources.
Everyday can be a day that’s a do-good day (try saying that after a shandy!) From taking re-useable bags or old plastic bags to the shops instead of using their plastic bags, to turning off the lights when we leave the room. It’s the little things that count towards keeping the Earth ticking over. We’d like to hear about what it is you’ll be doing more or less of to help conserve our planet.
Tell us and spread the love. Now go hug a tree….
Turn those lights off!
(80s manicure optional)
Re-use your plastic bags… for anything you fancy.
Opt for recycled frames…..
Element Eyewear- The Caprio
…and responsibly made threads, ladies (any excuse to shop,eh?)
H&M's New SS12 Ad Campaign
What are you going to do? We want to hear ALLLLL about it!
Posted on: April 17th, 2012 by Sarah
Here in the optical world, news that Google are working on “augmented reality eyewear” is being greeted with interest, granted, but it’s the kind of interest you show when a neighbour announces they are, for example, going to convert all their domestic electrical equipment to run on chicken droppings. Perhaps “bemusement” is a better word.
Answers on a postcard as to who this woman is? Anyone?
I dare say however that the A-to-Z map people (remember them?) felt the same way about Google’s first foray into cartography; similarly, Nokia probably chuckled around their Finnish boardroom table at the first announcement of Google’s Android Phone. “Google? Phones? Ho ho ho” etc, and now look. From Finnish to finished in under 5 years.
In fact, new branch-outs announced by the Chocolate Factory are frequently greeted with this kind of absolute surprise. To those who don’t follow the rumour blogs, most of Googles’ departures from their existing product range have been utterly unexpected. Often therefore an announcement that they are going into field X seems, as Douglas Adams once said, “not so much unlikely, more a sort of mismatching of concepts, like the idea of the Suez crisis popping out for a bun.”
However, the thing about Google is it’s like all tech evolution but speeded up a billion kazillion times, mainly because they have so many people, so much money, so much…. STUFF. One day, a bizarre, novel idea emerges; the next day they’ve cornered the world with it and former household brand names are relegated to the status of punchlines in nerdy jokes.
So while – in these early, naïve days – the usefulness of these Goggles will be limited to trivial, playtime features, it’s probably a good idea not to dismiss it all so quickly. One minute, it’ll be all “proof of concept” and “beta”; the next thing you know, everyone will stop buying televisions. The Sony, LG and Panasonic guys will find themselves hanging out with the Nokia, A-to-Z and Lycos dudes. At the Job Centre.
However, in the short term, expect lots of hilarious throwaway apps allowing you to put comedy face-masks on friends and imagine people with no clothes on. Sounds ok, actually.
Posted on: April 13th, 2012 by Mark H
For all you tech-loving people out there, our Chief Technology Officer, Mark Wood explains the ins and outs of what goes on behind the scenes at GD. Literally.
‘Since starting here in April 2011 I’ve had the opportunity (and challenge!) to completely build the technology team back up from a base where the existing team was failing and the Technology team was not delivering change and driving GlassesDirect forward. Building new teams is something that I’ve been lucky enough to do a few time before, especially during my time at Betfair but this was my first time as an organisation’s CTO. There are many aspects to building a successful new team from bringing in the right talent to choosing which fires to fight first to implementing the right processes and tackling inertia already within an organisation but for the purpose of this first posting I’ll tackle a subject close to my heart, the product deliver process. In my opinion software development is a modern day manufacturing process, in the way that car production or other factory based manufacturing is seen and I am a firm believer that if the business approaches it with this mentality it this will help drive the business in the right direction in terms of interacting and thinking about how to use this valuable resource but still appreciating the human aspect of it.
The delivery process we have chosen is agile.During my time at Tradefair and then subsequently back at Betfair I worked to roll out agile (SCRUM specifically) development to teams and that is what we have implemented here at GlassesDirect. My experience of this methodology really showed me this was the way to provide the stakeholders and customers with control of WHAT gets built, ensures they are EMPOWERED to make the PRIORITY calls and understand the COST of the requests that are raised. It crucially also really helps promote responsibility and accountability for story delivery and issue resolution within the Technology team whilst also avoiding death marches and unsatisfied stakeholders.
So what size team is involved in the change here at GlassesDirect.com? It has fluctuated, but currently 1 x QA, 8 x Dev / Architecture / FE and 1 product manager plus a 2 x Dev Ops / Sys Admin / office support team. I like to think of it as small but incredibly nicely formed. We have followed the SCRUM process tightly but now, after 9 months of running with this, the team is really starting to flavour the ceremonies and processes to the way we want to work and the specific challenges we have to face. Whether this is through the daily pointing of stories with integrated tasking, or through the revolving of the ScrumMaster function (we don’t have a dedicated ScrumMaster here) throughout the team.
It has taken a while to roll out Scrum within the organisation. Rolling a new process out to a technology team poses one set of issues, but we had another challenge which was establishing a product function and then get the stakeholders to understand and start playing by the new rules. I’m pleased to say that this is something that is really getting traction within the organisation now and the route from idea through to delivered product is well understood and has become part of people’s thinking. The process feels current and it is as simple as it could be, although there is always room for improvement (I’ll be writing a blog on retrospectives and why all teams should have them later on). Within our 2 week sprints we can see products moving rapidly from idea to production and start gaining immediate business benefit. And, if I take the months of Feb and March we have delivered 129 points worth of stories and 67 new features / defect fixes have been deployed to production.
We’ve decided to go with Rally (http://www.rallydev.com/) as our agile management tool of choice. It is built specifically for Scrum and after a learning period which, was as much about learning the new Scrum process as the tool itself we now see it as an integral part of our tool set which helps us deliver to the level we do.
The GD Tech Team's Link Wall
Changing or implementing a new process is never easy, especially if people already have preconceived ideas about what agile ‘means’. My experience here was that agile/Scrum was very confused with hot housing a team and creating a new, rapidly evolved product in a very short time-boxed period. This took time to change but the real catalyst was when people began to see the changes both in process but also in the delivery of new features. Personally, I’m excited by the next level we are moving toward technically, which is the ability to take more advantage of our excellent automated test coverage, development processes and to push on towards continuous deployment (we’re getting really quite close)!
Maybe the next blog should be about the toolset and the development mentality we have here, would that be of interest? Please let me know and if you’d like to discuss this or anything else in the tech blog please feel free to drop me a mail – mark.wood@glassesdirect.com
Posted on: April 13th, 2012 by Sarah
Above: She wears ‘Miller’.
With disposable consumerism seemingly reaching an all-time high, we felt compelled to look into a way of keeping our carbon footprint’s mileage down, so when we came across eclectic eyewear brand Element we were pretty chuffed. Not only does this brand and its bunch of eco-warriors recycle acetate and metal to make their 10-strong-and-growing collection of specs, they also make their designs contemporary and wearable, too.
Norton; our personal Element favs:
Norton
Now, don’t get us wrong, we love a bit of doing good and therefore feeling good, but sometimes it’s tough finding eco-conscious products that won’t compromise on style, so the fact that ’Team Element’ have cracked the common ’Eco V’s Stylish’ dilemma with such brilliance, makes us love the collection even more.
Shop The Collection Here: http://www.glassesdirect.co.uk/element-glasses/
We caught up with Element designer; Olivia Steel to get the 411 on what makes the designer and her team tick when it comes to creating eco-friendly glasses:
GD: So what made you decide to take up the challenge of designing recyclable frames? Not that we’re complaining, of course!
OS: We noticed that there wasn’t anything out there that offered stylish, affordable and eco-conscious glasses. So we decided to do something about it.
GD: So how do you do it?
OS: Well, when a frame is cut out of acetate, there are always off-cuts left over. We collect all of these up, merge them together (all colours and prints together) to make more Element acetate and therefore create Element frames. Our metal frames are made from all manner of recyclable metals, too and each frame comes with a case that is made from a mixture of recycled iron, recycled plastic bottles and 50% recycled blister material (we’re working on the other 50%).
GD: So what about the styles? Where do you guys get your inspiration from?
OS: Our trend analysts keep their highly trained fingers on the fashion pulse to ensure that we’re creating stylish and wearable frames. We also take inspiration from renowned scientists specialising in the effects of climate change as well as silver screen stars who’ve become role models for environmentally conscious living.
GD: Ah yes, we’ve spotted a few frames who’s names ring a bell!
OS: Yeah, we had tons of fun coming up with those names….We’re also really intent on our frames being affordable without compromising on durability and quality, and features such as sprung hinges and hypoallergenic acetate are included in our design processes.
GD: And your personal favourite?
OS: I’ve a soft spot for Caprio, but I think that the Natalie is gorgeous too- the red is my favourite.
GD: Thanks Oliva! we’ve ordered our favourite (the Norton, fyi) already!
Caprio
Natalie
Shop the collection here: http://www.glassesdirect.co.uk/element-glasses/
Posted on: January 18th, 2012 by Sarah
In our opinion, its seasoned dudes like David Hockney who help place Britain firmly on map, when it comes to producing artistic greats.
British Icon: Hockney
The 74 year old was promoting a newly devised technique of filming video art that is ‘better than 3D’ yesterday, whilst at the press release of his up and coming exhibition in London. Using 9 cameras to create ‘9D’ film Hockney also spoke of being able to create landscapes with his iPad as ‘fantastic’. The pioneering artist used a mixture of up-to-the minute technology to produce his retrospective exhibition which starts at the end of January 2012 at the Royal Academy of Arts in London.
A legend for a legend: John Lennon JL10B
Hockney showcased his iconic style at the press launch with a pair of circular tortoiseshell specs: A style of which he’s become synonymous with since his first foray into the art world, along with his series of swimming pool paintings that he produced whilst living in LA, back in the 1960s. The British artist who spent many a year living in California, cemented his name in the art world with his highly realistic style and vibrant colours, as well as being famed for rubbing shoulders with the likes of Andy Warhol and fashion designer Celia Birtwell (who appears in several of his works).
With an heir of ‘agelessness’ about him, Hockney looked bright eyed and switched on, showing us how true timeless style is achieved. We love Hockney’s choice of symmetrical specs, which would add a sartorial edge to the most casual of outfits and perfect for this season’s preppy trend, for boy or for girl.
Hockey’s exhibition ‘Bigger Picture ‘runs from 21st January to 9th April next year at the Royal Academy of Arts.
Posted on: September 8th, 2011 by Mark H
MIT Media Lab claim to have found a way to get your eye prescription – through a new app on your mobile phone. It works by clipping a small plastic device onto your mobile phone, looking into the lens and pressing the arrow keys several times. It all takes less than two minutes – less time than making a cup of tea! The company has built this app for use in developing countries which lack these systems, to ensure people are looking after their eyes.
Imagine… testing your eyes and then browsing online to find a pair of glasses you love all in the comfort of your own home – you wouldn’t even have to step out of your front door. Check out a short video here to see exactly how it works. Well we’re certainly going to be watching this space. For those of you reading this, do let us know about any other new and inspiring technology developments in the optical world, we’d love to hear all about it…
Posted on: July 8th, 2010 by Jamie
Recently featured in Wired magazine, you will need a microscope to see these glasses. This is a 2mm frames sporting a 0.1mm logo, seen here pictured on a house-fly. The logo is the equivalent size of a human hair, and was lazered onto the frames using, from a stationary machine, whilst the frames were moved around using a positioning machine.
Looks as though this was a warm-up act by German company Micreon for their next trick: to engrave tiny lettering onto watch faces. Reminds me of the artist Willard Wigan, who creates sculptures too small for the human eye to see. One of his works that I saw was set on a plinth which was the eye of a needle, and the sculpture itself was of a ship whose ropes were made out of spiders web strands. He gives a fascinating talk here.
We’ll be sticking to the day job of choosing the best styles and designs that suit your eyes and wardrobe, which means you probably won’t find these bug-eyed glasses at Glasses Direct for the foreseeable future
Posted on: January 4th, 2010 by Jamie
We’re doing something different here at Glasses Direct and it’s always nice to be recognised for it. We’ve been included in the Top 20 of a prestigious awards table that looks at the fastest growing technology companies in the UK.
The Deloitte Technology Fast 50 is based on official financial reports for technology companies over five years. Glasses Direct is in at 19th position with a turnover growth of 2098% over the past 5 years.
This is fantastic news for us and we’re delighted that Glasses Direct has received so much support in a tough economic climate. Consistent value for our customers and new ways to shop (like our home trial service) means that more and more people are choosing to buy from us. More futuristic ideas, such as the video mirror, allow us to keep ahead of competitors and grow during this time of economic uncertainty.
Thanks to all the staff, partners and (most importantly of all), our customers who helped make this happen. Here’s to the next 5 years!
Posted on: October 27th, 2009 by Jamie
5 years ago to this day, I first registered Prescription Eyewear Ltd, which is the company that trades as Glasses Direct. On our birthday I thought I’d jot down 10 personally memorable points along the way:
- June 2004 – Launched from my bedroom at University of the West of England and expanded into my parent’s house in Gloucestershire.
- August 2004 – Daily Telegraph runs feature on what we were up to, jump-starting public awareness in the business and beginning a history of media interest in the savings at GD compared with the high street.
- March 2005 – World’s first Virtual Mirror launched, named ‘customeyes’, which was immediately featured on Tonight with Trevor Macdonald and we continued to develop over the following years and can now be seen on our product pages.
- November 2005 – Picked up the UK Shell LiveWire Award with Deidre Walker (our first Finance Manager) and my proud Mother in the audience (almost the entire team at that point!). A great stamp of approval from a fantastic organisation and a real testament to the great work the team had done. The business went on to win a number of other business awards, but this one stands out as the first.
- November 2006 – Gordon Brown talks about Glasses Direct as a symbol of UK entrepreneurship success in Enterprise Week speech. We are often asked to contribute and work with researchers for speeches, degree programs, MBA’s, etc and it’s an honour for our business to be used as a role model.
- September 2007 – Oriental themed Glasses Party on the lawn outside our office barn, at Charlton Park to celebrate first VC investment received. I remember signing the final investment documentation with one of my longest standing angel investors and mentors, Ian McCallum on a picnic table outside the tent. The total we have now raised in the company stands at about £16m.
- September 2008 – Management team recruited, including Kevin Cornils ex- CEO buy.at, and MD EMEA match.com and Howard Bryant, ex-CFO of ecommerce success figleaves.com
- March 2009 – With over 35 different designer brands on the site, designer frames now account for a significant proportion of our sales. We started purely own-brand with ambitions to sell every frame a customer could want. Due to our established position in the optical industry and the quality of our team who work with them, this is now looking possible.
- May 2009 – Double whammy: A hugely upgraded Home Trials offering goes live, allowing you to select up to 4 pairs to demo, and have them delivered to your door in a box, before you buy them. AND we glaze our first pair of glasses in-house using robotic machinery from Weco, in Germany
- May 2009 – With over 250,000 pairs of glasses sold, GD continues to pioneer what Marketing Week recently described as etail 3.0 along with a tremendous peer group of other companies breaking new ground in ecommerce.
Apparently 8 out of every 10 businesses fail in the first 5 years – we have done well to beat the statistics but we know we still have a huge amount of growth ahead of us. The journey so far has been a complete thrill and tonight I will be drinking to/with the team that I’ve been lucky enough to work alongside. Long may it continue.
Posted on: May 27th, 2009 by Jamie
Ever since we first made buying spectacles over the web possible, we’ve been searching for innovative ways to let you ‘try before you buy’. Back in 2005 we launched the world’s first virtual mirror on our website. Today, we’ve created something just as revolutionary – our 10-day Home Trial.
This new service is now live and allows you to order up to four pairs of glasses to try on at home or work. Once ordered the glasses are delivered by post in a cool box that opens out into a pop-up stand, enabling you the opportunity to experience and try on glasses anyway, anyhow, anywhere you want. You send the glasses back to us in that same box, freepost, when you’re done.
Whenever I’m in a high street opticians store, I always want to make a shortlist of frames, and then take them home to show people and get their opinion. But you cant do that. I dont expect Dolland and Aitchison would be happy if we just walked out with a handful of frames! Equally, you might get strange looks if you took a suitcase of clothes into your high street optician and tried on 4 pairs of different glasses with different outfits. Now however, you can shop like a celebrity and have the glasses sent directly to you.
We want this service to provide you with a superior shopping experience to the high street.
It costs just £5 to have up to four pairs sent to you at home or work. When you find the glasses that are right for you, pop the box back in the post and we’ll make them up to your prescription. We’ll also reimburse the small fee once you’ve placed an order.
Why not show us your trial specs or your new glasses once you’ve ordered them? You can upload pics to our Flickr group My new glasses!
Posted on: March 20th, 2009 by Jamie
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