With the house almost done...

it's time to focus on the Tiki-bar.


http://blog.humuhumu.com/2006/09/05/how-to-build-a-tiki-bar

TED interview Hans Rosling

Data debungs myths...interesting.

http://blog.reddit.com/2009/09/reddit-ted-interview-hans-rosling-stats.html

http://www.gapminder.org/

Wiki's get color coded

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/08/wikitrust/

My daughter's teachers tell her classes not to use wikipedia as it may not be reliable info. I have always found it a useful source... maybe the coding will change some teacher's minds. This makes me think that most parents don't educate their kids about the internet. What to believe or trust, privacy issues, safety. First rule for parents is computers should be in common areas of the home...you know I think this deserves it own post.

My Dream Project Nearing completion

I have been in the midst on renovating a house I bought this year and it has been a fun experience, having August off has really helped it getting things done. I have been my own general contractor and using my skills from building sites and online projects has been invaluable and saved me a boatload. Negotiating with contractors over timing and cost was second nature and all the decisions that need to be made from cabinet color to faucet style.

The story starts with a house in my summer community that was empty since 1986. It is small but enough and it is on the water, a beautiful tidal creek, Corey Creek. The house had no human occupant since 86 but a number of raccoons made it home for years, how many I am not sure but calculating the amount of raccoon poop in the house I would guess 3. On the first day I was given a tyvek suit as a joke and realized when opening the door for the first time it wasn't a joke but a necessity. Raccoons like to poop in sinks and on soft surfaces like beds and furniture. More about this later...the photos will show you where I started and what it looks like today all in 10 weeks.

It has been a while

Busy renovating my house and time to get back to work. Found this little store in Chinatown last week. I need to get downtown more often.

I Love Street Art

Found this cool site that documents some work from around the world. http://www.woostercollective.com/

Wanna be a Crispin?

Get more bikes in the office.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWzGB3QBRUk

Interested video. Randy Nelson, Pixar University’s Dean

What Would Google Do is a must read

Lots of duh observation in the book but interesting view on advertising, it's a dying industry but relationship marketing is growing except with Office Depot.

Facebook and the military

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090501/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_pentagon_social_networking

A book I would recommend

http://www.amazon.com/Dont-Say-Yes-When-Want/dp/0440154138/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1240942506&sr=1-1

Buy it now!
Don't Say Yes When You Want to Say No: Making Life Right When It Feels All Wrong

Something I learned in art school

When I was a senior in art school I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to go to a lecture by Paul Rand (look him up if you don't know who he is). I was really excited to listen and learn from probably the best graphic designers in America. It was fascinating to learn about his creative process, his methodically, see all the great work and hear how design fit into his life.

The most profound thing that I remember from his lecture was in the q&a portion of the lecture. A woman asked him about the new AT&T logo that Saul Bass (look him up too) had just designed and sold for $1,000,000. She asked him to critique the logo and I found his answer intriguing. He said he doesn’t critique other creative’s work. He went on that it wouldn’t be fair not because he had no way of knowing the circumstances under which the work was created. I thought that was a dignified and professional answer.

When I was at JWT they instituted a 1 thru 10 rating system for all creative work, there was no explanation that went with the judging. It made me think of that lecture and how could I judge colleagues work solely on creative merit when I knew some account folk were jerks and got in the way, when the strategy was off or that the client was a dick. I went to my CD with my misgivings and being in DM/interactive I explained we have our own rating system. Whether or not someone responds or clicks through. I went on to tell him the Paul Rand story and his response was “Who is Paul Rand?”. It made my sad.

Are we in a post-consumer era?

Read the article here

K and G guerilla marketing

Designed by Tithi Kutchamuch | Country: United Kingdom | Fonts: Helvetica

Click pic for link to article.

Twitter is lame.

Apples are alluring i know :)

Cool utilization of space with text

Disney Rejection Letter from 1938.... what a world.

Windex guerilla campaign

Contrail bicycle chalk drawing concept

Click on pic for link to article.


Contrail is a concept bicycle device that attaches above the wheel of a bike and covers the bicycle wheel with a layer of chalk. The chalk then creates a trail or mark on the surface of the road, turning the bike into a sort of large drawing utensil. The concept, developed by Pepin Gelardi of Studio Gelardi focuses around the idea of safety in numbers. By using this device, bicyclists will have a clearer path on which to ride safely and out of the way of vehicular traffic. At the same time, as more bicyclists using the Contrail go over a line created by a cyclist before them, the line gets brighter allowing drivers to clearly see a marked bike path where there might be none. It’s sort of similar to what happens when a dirt path appears in a grassy field after lots of people have taken the same shortcut over a period of time.

Long Exposure Photography: 15 Stunning Examples

Click on image to see the rest.

Kindle e-book reader for iphone

Kindle for iPhone allows Apple iPhone and iPod touch owners to read Kindle books using a simple, easy-to-use interface.


http://appshopper.com/books/kindle-for-iphone

3 Things about Twitter

Not sure how we can use twitter in our marketing plans or more importantly how to make money with it.

In February, Twitter.com became one of the 100 most visited websites in the UK for the first time. It ranked 91st within All Categories.

Micro-bloggers are just as likely to consume other media as the average internet user, but more likely to read or view it through a mobile format.

The average age of a Twitter user is 31. That compares to an average age of 27 for MySpace users and 26 for Facebook users.

Very Short List

This is a great site. You can sign up to receive daily emails alerting you to cool new things going on in the world of creativity (books, websites, movies, artists, etc.). Check it out. If I was more web savvy I'd put a photo of the site here, but alas, I'm just a copywriter. So all you get is words.

www.veryshortlist.com/home/

Waste nothing.

Uniglo's March site

They always do interesting sites. It's pretty cool.

http://www.uniqlo.com/march/

Drum drum drum drum.

watch the drummer.

Ron's Winters pretty rad drum set.

click picture for link. WORD!

the CIA has a kids page

wtf?

https://www.cia.gov/kids-page/index.html

Kindle. Who knows what it is?

This weekend my daughter downloaded a book to her ipod touch using the Kindle app, then went on to read it all weekend

I was amazed a whole book was downloaded in a few seconds. Is this finally the book reader that make a dent in the market?

The savvy marketer I am I began to think of the possibilities for our clients, emails, brochures etc.

If you have an iphone try the app and download a book sample at Amazon and write a review here.

Google CEO on Charlie Rose

98% of Googles revenue is from advertising!!!!!!
Where are WPP's media gurus....get us a piece of that pie!!!!!!!!!
Eric Schmidt does have kind words for Sir Martin.
I was more interested on his take and which I am sure is Google's take on the future of the internet.

It's an hour but worth watching if you are in advertising....well direct marketing....er, well relationship marketing.

http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/10131

Elevator Operators

The other day I visited a friend of mine—and he’s in a pretty nice building in midtown, and I got on the elevator (after passing through a somewhat invasive strip search) and there’s a guy there in a red suit and a cap and he says, “What floor, sir?” And I say, “21, please.” And he proceeds to hit the 21 button for me. I don’t want to be too presumptuous here, but I’m pretty sure I could have done that.

You know in the old days you needed a guy running your elevator because it had that big handle and the manual door. You could control the speed. And you had to gauge when to stop. It was like a piece of farm equipment. People like you and me couldn’t be trusted with that kind of heavy machinery. I for one would inevitably get my finger caught in something. And forget it if you came home drunk. Could you imagine trying to figure that whole contraption out when you’re loaded?. You end up speeding and crashing through the attic or something. You'd need to get elevator insurance.

But nowadays elevators are pretty easy to operate. Some might call them intuitive—others might call them, brainless. You wanna go to 16, you push the little round button with the “16” on it—and it lights up. I’m no Einstein, but I can figure it out…On the list of things that I might need to operate in the course of my day, computer, cell phone, car, iPod, DVR—the elevator is pretty low on the difficulty scale.

And another thing. Are you supposed to tip an elevator guy? What would be an appropriate tip for a guy who sits on a stool and pushes numbered buttons? The door man or the bell hop—that’s a job title I can figure out. They carry your bags, they relieve you of a burden. I appreciate that—that’s helpful to me. They deserve some sort of monetary thanks. But there’s no burden in pushing a button. Even if it’s like really high on the button panel.

The Great Santelli

Check out this clip from the Daily Show. Who should get the bailout money?

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/03/the_great_santelli.php

skittles has gone 100% UGC

skittles.com


Are they ahead of the curve, or did they just lose their marketing budget?

Microsoft is bribing you to use their email

It's a bribe that goes to your favorite charity but it is still a bribe.


http://im.live.com/Messenger/IM/Home/Default.aspx

My favorite book I haven't read yet

What would Google do....

I may be more obsessed with this book then DC is with Nimblefish. I heard an interview on NPR with Jeff Jarvis the author and I am hooked. This is where my new favorite quote came from. "Small is the new big."

Here is a promo video talking about the book... Should we be asking as we approach or projects WHAT WOULD GOOGLE DO?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfcWFvkcHVI

His blog is www.buzzmachine.com

I do have the book on hold at the library.

U2 lets you listen to their new CD

Bono and the boyz are letting you get a taste of their latest, if you like you buy. This is a very Google way of selling music.

ECD Vandalizes Own Outdoor Campaign, Loses Account

Click the pic for article!

cool illusion photos

http://illusion.scene360.com/

We are JUNK MAIL!!!!!

An artist Annette Lawerance saved her junk mail for 13 months from November 2005 through November 2006. She tore the stacks of paper into two-inch wide strips which she then stacked on top of each other. Each month of free paper stands on a small table-high shelf. Lawrence speaks of the 11 years it took her to feel comfortable with the horizontal orientation of work, having moved from New York to Texas where, as everyone knows, the sky is bigger. These works spread out along their shelves like faded horizon lines stacked upon each other. Simultaneously, they stand high like architectural models, quiet skyscrapers pushing up against the white sky of the studio walls.

Can you give me a DUH?

Traffic Rises at Employment Sites

Earth Day ad by TIDE

cool visual.

the 3 screen room....

I used to do a presentation called the 2 screen room on how your internet connection was effected by TV viewing and vis-a-versa as broadband became the norm. Now with iphones and blackberrys there is a new screen in the room.

a snip-it:
Americans continue to consume video at a record pace. Consumers are watching more video than ever on
the three screens of television, Internet and mobile phones. Nielsen data show that the average television
viewer watches more than 151 hours of TV per month – an all-time high. Meanwhile Americans who watch
video over the Internet consume another 3 hours of monthly online video and those who use mobile video
watch nearly 4 hours per month on mobile phones and other devices.


click for the article

History of Marketing Vid

not a lot of new ideas here, but interesting animation nonetheless

Crayons for pixels

click picture to go to link.

aok

nun chucks can be used for every sport.

Ninja Turtles PSA

This video is crazy

www.blublu.org is the group that did it...not sure how many people are involved but I would guess alot.

Field Notes

I'm a huge fan of clean simple design. the use of negative space is just as important as the positive space. Its also a great retro feeling to the notebooks. Great durable goods as the website promotes. enjoy. Gonna order some as soon as I get the chance.

aok

Love these guys....

http://improveverywhere.com/2009/02/09/high-five-escalator/

branded iphone apps

I'm on the Phone!

So you want a branded iPhone app, huh? Well, first take a look at the good, bad and the ugly applications that are already on the market

http://www.adweek.com/aw/content_display/special-reports/other-reports/e3i6c21c5456af55219a043aff8c34b2543

Vintage Webcam

It's quite amazing to see what technology has brought to fruition
and not brought to fruition.For example, I've been waiting for
hover-board skateboards and floating cars from back to
the future for the last decade and a half.. On the other hand,
cars similar to the Delorian have already been running on biodiesel
for the last few years.The idea that you could video chat with
someone was a thing of science-fiction back then. Just as cell
phones, GPS, and the internet have changed our lives, its normal
to think you can see people in real time from half way across the
world. The convenience and candidness of seeing the person your
talking to has led to its own cons. For instance, when your video
conferencing with someone, you can't multi task, you have to look
at the mirror to see how you look, and you cant very well give bored
looking facial expressions and pick your nose.. haha .. All in all, the
webcam is great for long distance relationships and video conferencing
for multinational companies. Now all we need to do is add a firm hand
shake to close the deal.

aOk

RIP BUDTV

This sounded like a great idea to sponsor content but when I tried to log on there seemed to have a few usability problems....like I couldn't log on.

full article:
http://www.adweek.com/aw/content_display/news/digital/e3i83b3be812614cf9959ac15283f6bcecf

A good example of an interactive agency's newletter

I have been getting this newsletter for a couple of years. Just that they find the time and have the discipline to keep it going is impressive but as an added bonus there work is really good. Enjoy.


http://www.gluelondon.com/newsletter.php?id=61

Welcome to Brainal Leakage

This is a blog that will be cool.