Customise your life on the Web
About the article
This is a digitised version of an article from The Cayman Compass's print archive. Occasionally, the digitisation process introduces transcription errors, or other problems.
See the article in its original context from July 2000.
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And, of all the conveniences of shopping via the Internet has offered to consumers, few have been as exciting and promising as the idea of designing and buying your own customised products online. Be it purple pants or picture postcards, the Web has a lot to offer consumers who want a bit more than what is available on store shelves.
Certainly, buying a pair of custom-made pants is not novel, but the idea of being able to interactively design and create your own trousers using all the new technologies the Web has to offer is a pretty cool idea, which is why I have tried to target a few sites that do a pretty good job of it. Beauty products
Of the millions of products that consumers buy each year, health and beauty products are certainly among the most popular, especially on the Web. In June alone, US consumers spent US$123.5 million on health and beauty products online, according to a recent survey by the National Retail Federation and Forrester Research Inc.
Over the past two years, the Internet has swelled with the number of health, cosmetics and fragrance companies that have taken to selling their products online. Traditional companies such as Estee Lauder are now hawking their wares via the Web, and a new crop of pure-play online cosmetic companies has popped up.
San Francisco based Reflect.com (http:// www.reflect.com) which was started about a year ago by Procter & Gamble Co., lets users customise a number of health and cosmetic products based on their own physical make-up as well as fashion likes and dislikes: Users fill out several questionnaires, covering everything from skin type to colour of hair, and are able to create their own skin care, hair care and cosmetics products and buy them online. And your products are stored so that you can easily buy them again without refilling out the questionnaires. Office Products
Anyone who's wrestled with a colour copier at their local copy shop should check out iPrint.com (http://www.iprint.com), a nifty Web site that offers professional printing services. Users can not only buy business cards, stamps, mailing labels, signs and other items, but can also design these things themselves using iPrint's interactive technology.
I went nuts designing a whole "corporate identity" for myself, complete with business cards, stationery, address labels, rubber stamps and pens emblazoned with my name on it. I am really not sure whom I will pass them out to, but at least I have them. And the prices are relatively reasonable, a fraction of what a professional "offline" printer might charge. Apparel
New York-based Interactive Custom Clothes Company, or IC3D.com (http://www.ic3d.com), launched its customised apparel Web site in May 1996 to battle what has long been a problem in the world of fashion: clothes that just don't fit right.
Anyone who wears pants has undoubtedly had the experience of venturing into a popular retailer and picking out that typical size 10 pair of jeans only to discover in the fitting room that they were actually made for someone who is, yes, a size 10, but about 5 inches taller. A size 10 can vary from designer to designer, manufacturer to manufacturer and from retailer to retailer.
And wouldn't it be great if you could go online and order a pair of customised red suede bell bottoms? Well, now you can. They might cost $350 but, heck, you're worth it! And IC3D doesn't only make custom pants. They do bags, dresses, skirts, jackets, shorts, slacks and even T-shirts for both men and women. So if you're dreaming of a pair of yellow denim capris with a shoulder bag to match, you've come to the right place.
The entire process is interactive. By punching in the style, colour and fabric you want - plus all the little details like zipper or button fly, pockets, brass or nickel buttons - you can design your own clothes in about 20 minutes and have them shipped directly to your doorstep.
Shoes and footwear Following the design-your-own-apparel trend is Customatix.com (http://www.customatix.com), a group of self-proclaimed "solemates" who got together to create a site where you can design your own sneakers "from the sole up."
Granted, the shoes might not be ones you can wear to your boss's dinner party, but if you're of the Gen X skate-punk/BMX pro/snowboarding variety, this is definitely the site for you. Each style features a catchy name like "Railer," or "Smoothie," or "Scab," and you customise everything from the sole - my personal favourite was the "Volleyball Woman" - up to the logos emblazoned on the sides and heels of each shoe. Your design goes straight to the Customatix manufacturer, where it's made to your specifications and sent to you within about 10 days. Out of all the custom design Web sites I surfed, this is the one that made the most fun out of the process of creating a customised product.
The site is well designed, the technology is fast and easy to use, and the content is edgy and funny. And in the end you come out with a cool pair of personalised sneakers for about $80.
Soft Drink
OK — so you're not truly creating your own soft drink, but the idea sounded like so much fun I just had to include it.
Jones Soda, the popular soft drink brand from Canadian beverage company Urban Juice & Soda Co. Ltd., has set up its own Web site (http://www.myjones.com) where fans can buy cases of their favourite flavoured Jones sodas with personalised labels. In other words you pick a flavour — ranging from traditional root beer and cream soda to Fufu Berry and Pineapple Upside Down — and then customise the bottle label with the photograph and wording of your choice.
All in all, a couple of cases might be perfect for a bachelor party or wedding. And a 12-pack of MyJones Soda only costs about $30 plus shipping.
