QR Codes and Mobile Phones in the US of A

The QR code above was created by Takashi Murakami and Set Japan for Louis Vuitton. I found it via a recent article in Creativity Magazine. Set Japan has done some amazing work with QR codes. The are really big in Japan but haven't really taken off here in the US of A. The worked piqued my interest and I've started to investigate the QR space. Although I've just started, I've already run into one big downside. There doesn't seem to be a reliable reader for the iPhone. I've downloaded the app Barcodes. But my first few tries at scanning codes have not turned out so well. I think the possibility for unique design is endless. I'll be working on figuring out how to create my own personal QR code in the next couple of days. I will update my progress as I go.

The Everyday Thing...

I came across the above photographer Branislav Kropilak via ffffound.com. It made me think about the simple things that we see everyday. I really like how the everyday objects can be turned into art. Very nice work. You can see more here http://www.kropilak.com/

It's Not The Medium It's the Product and Story...

I recently read Matt Jones' article in Ad Age Why I Hate Social Media. There is one strong point I think we all need to take away from his fine article. The idea that social media(SM) can not make your product or service better or more popular. On the other hand SM can get you in touch with your brand participants. You can tap into this amazing resource to create brand evangelists. People that buy into your brand because you've had a more meaningful interaction with them via SM. In the process who knows, you might even find out ways to make your product or service better. However these benefits can only happen if you are open to the world of SM and willing to navigate this new world with care. The number one rule in the SM world is to be authentic. Think of it as having a conversation. A conversation is a back and forth exchange. If you treat your interaction in the SM world like you would a conversation in the temporal world it will go a long way to achieving your goals.

I've been following the data design space for about a year now. I'm getting really interested in the ideas and projects that are now possible. It seems the convergence of large amounts of data and computing power have put us in a place where we can make visual sense of behavior and patterns. I found the above example on ffffound.com. It's very visually appealing and informative. To see more about it check out http://awesome.goodmagazine.com/transparency/009/trans009onwords.html.

How Does Advertising Work?

I just read Hernan Lopez' article in Ad Age "Why Interactive Advertising Needs a Creative Revolution". Two interesting points made me think. The first: advertising can't make a product better. Advertising is only a vehicle to create a lift in product sales. Second: in online advertising, we need to look to the research that has been done for TV over the years. Mr Lopez mentioned there are three things that make a successful TV commercial based on the research done by John Philip Jones and Erwin Ephron. Mr. Jones concluded the three important aspects to a successful commercial are: "They are entertaining and amusing; they are visual rather than verbal; and they say something important and meaningful about the brand being advertised.". This has given me a new measure on how to create and evaluate a successful marketing campaign. The bigger point here is that interactive is only another medium in your marketing mix. Not an ultra special marketing vehicle all by itself.

Everyday things

Recently I was at an end of the school year party. I found myself talking with Laurie, a teacher that I highly respect. We started talking about our children and how they understand the internet and the digital world in a completely different way than we do and our parents do. Having a seven year old son, I've thought a lot about how he views technology differently. I've also spent plenty of time on the phone with my mother helping her better understand technology.

Laurie turned me on to the author Marc Prensky, who has been doing a lot of thinking on the subject. It was refreshing to see someone else thinking about this type of stuff. I am especially impressed that he's thinking about technology and generational differences in reference to teaching and our schools. Prensky has two articles on the subject "Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants" and "The Emerging Online Life of the Digital Native: What they do differently because of technology, and how they do it".

Why should you care? Well I think it's always good to understand how different groups see the world. Especially if you're a marketer. By better understanding their unique views you can market to them in a more authentic way. Most people are receptive to authenticity. At least that's my view.

Font Font Seems I'm Find Fonts

Another font. This one for the kids. I'm not sure where I found this one. I looked but can't find a trace.

Typography In The World

Necktie typography. Making letters out of everyday things. More here.

More Wacky Fonts

I'm continually amazed at the different ways that people create fonts. I found this one on ffffound.com. I tried to find the creator but couldn't find any reference.

Technology Done Right

I'm a fan of technology. I'm a bigger fan of technology that helps people. I ran across an article about Mick Ebeling and the Graffiti Research Lab and Tony Quan, a graffiti writer, who goes by the handle "Tempt One". Quan is suffering from Lou Gehrig's Disease. Mick and GRL(The Graffiti Research Lab) helped Quan draw for the first time in six years.

Check out more here: F.A.T Free Art & Technology

I love Typography

Making typography out of everyday things. 

Google Maps Typography

Lisa Rienermann's type the sky

CrowdSourcing - Good or Bad

I recently read an article on Adage about CrowdSourcing "Can Creativity Be Crowdsourced?". On the face of it Crowdsourcing can be good. But I think that it has a limited use. If you have a product, idea, service established and then bring it to a crowdsource venue, it makes a lot of sense. But trying to get a logo, advertising campaign or identity work through crowdsource is only asking for trouble for the client as well as the designer.

For the company requesting the logo if you go with a service that doesn't have a process of due diligence, you open yourself up to copyright infringement. There is a reason why large brand/logo design shops charge so much. There is more to creating a mark that is unique than pushing pixels around.  I'm not one to stand here and say that what the Future Brands and Landor of the world charges are fair. But there has got to be some middle ground. But why would you not go to a professional with such a valuable task?

For the designer it opens up a whole other can of worms. By taking part in these types of websites/services you admit that your work product is essentially worth nothing. All these designers do work for free. Yes one person gets paid. But how many people do work for free. If you as a designer/art director don't value your work, why would you think that a client is going to value your work?

Bottom line I think we need to take our work seriously so clients will take our work seriously and pay us fairly for our work product.

Sites and Articles that related to this post:
Can Creativity Be Crowdsourced?

No Spec Website

Hello New Paradigm, Nice To Meet You...

This week in the news. Two high profile brand disasters, Dominos and Amazon. Dominos has been bitten by two employees posting alleged hoax videos to YouTube and Amazon's discovered a bug in their software which has made all gay and lesbian themed titles disappear from their site.

Both of these are high profile brands with lots of brand equity at stake. In the social web world there will be times when brands like these will face these type of problems. It seems that some people believe that you can stop them from happening. I think you can't prevent them. You can only set up a process for how to deal with the problems after they occur. The best approach is a process which addresses the issue head on. In the venue that the problem was created. So if you find yourself with a twitterstorm about your product then address it in Twitter. You don't need to bow to your participants demands. You just need to be open and honest with your participants. This approach will gain you more respect and gain brand equity rather then lose it.

This I believe is another example of how the marketing world is changing. We've truly shifted to the one to one communication model. It kinda of makes sense, the internet has changed the way business operates. Why would it not change marketing /communications?

Articles that informed this post:
How to Weather a Twitterstorm

The Aftermath of Domino's PR-Disaster Video

Domino's Posts Apology Video on YouTube

What Domino's Did Right -- and Wrong -- in Squelching Hubbub over YouTube Video

The New Paradigm Has Arrived.

In the last couple weeks I've read a couple of really good articles and attended the SF Big monthly breakfast. One of the themes I found in all three articles and the SF BIG event was the paradigm shift that is happening in marketing/communications. We are moving away from a time where we as marketers could push our brand ideals out into the world and then maintain those ideals via outbound marketing. In other words, we are moving from a time where brands were static and owned to a time where brands are fluid and maintained by the companies creating the brand in conjunction with the participants of that brand.

First you might ask, who is a participant? Let me acknowledge that I learned about the idea of participants from Daina Middleton, SVP Moxie Interactive. She talked about the idea that we really no longer have a need for the word "customers". In this new world, we have participants. The internet has finally allowed us as marketers to have a true conversation with our participants. Our brand is now owned by the world and not us. We have become the guide that has tools to continue the conversation between the brand and it's participants.

Where does that leave us. I believe it leaves us in an exciting time where we have innovative tools to allow our participants to help us create the products and service they want. Now you might point out that sounds like a change in the way that organizations do business. I would agree. Are most companies ready for this change? Probably not. That is why we marketing/communication people will continue to have a place at the table. I believe we are at a point in advertising/marketing where our job is beginning to shift. We are now not only responsible for the message but helping the brands/companies we work with understand how they need to change to take advantage of this new paradigm.

Here are the links to the articles I reference in my post. An article about Coke and how they get it: "How Two Coke Fans Brought the Brand to Facebook Fame". Ryan Kavaaugh gets it, in fact he is basing his whole brand on it: "Ryan Kavanaugh Tries to Turn Rogue Pictures into Lifestyle Brand Hoodies, Hats, Social Networking Next for Film Label'. An article about brands that still don't quite get the new paradigm yet: "Social Media Playtime Is Over".

The Idea of Brand in the New World

I've just read an interesting article. At first glance, you would think that this article is about the new Skittles site. In fact, there has been some noise lately that Skittles' agency, Agency.com ripped the idea off from Modernista. But as the author states there is more going on here. Skittles like Modernista has gotten the message. A brand is no longer created by using the metaphorical megaphone by pushing the brand out into the market place and maintaining it with mini blasts of the megaphone. When a company puts a brand out into the world today, it's now a back and forth exchange. You have to listen to your customers who have even more vehicles to make their voices heard. Any company/brand that isn't willing to understand this new paradigm will lose out to a company that understands this.

An iPod world.

For those that don't know. I'm an avid cyclist. Long ago, I stopped wearing any type of portable music player while I ride for two reasons. First it's illegal to wear headphones in both ears while you ride or drive and second it's pretty dangerous because you can't hear the things going on around you. Well the other day, I went into the city for a couple of parties thrown by my friends. In the past, I've worn headphone while I commute but usually on on the Bart train. This time I wear them for pretty much the whole trip. It was a definitely a different experience. You really are in your own world of music. It kinda disconnects you from the world and the people around you. I realized this is how many people do this and found I'm sharing a similar experience with strangers.

When did it become legal...

I've noticed lately while driving, people are willing to cross a double yellow line to make a left hand turn. I've been wondering two things. One - when did it become legal to cross a double yellow line? Two - is this a continued sign of our society's laziness? I'm not sure I have an answer to either. But I don't understand why people don't bother to drive a few more feet and make a legal turn.

What will it be?

My goal was to write a blog entry once a week. I've done pretty well so far. But I'm now finding it hard to find the time to put the words down. I've been focused on finding my next gig and I've put this project aside. But everything I read says, that at the moment, one way to rise above the cluttered job market is to blog blog blog. So far that hasn't proven true for me. But then again, I really need to complete my profile and link to my portfolio site. I'll keep you posted on the progress of the blog.

Where Shoud The Focus Be?

After listening to a Forum on KQED I find myself struggling with a notion. In the radio show, they were talking about the continued injustice in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The participants felt that we should be pushing for our country to take a bigger diplomatic stance on this subject. Don't get me wrong here, I'm not saying it's not important. I just think there are a lot of injustices happening right here in this country. How can we continually focus outside our borders to right wrongs while we ignore the wrongs right here at home. It seems like there is only so much energy for good cause out there. Wouldn't it be better to focus inward first? Then once we have our house in order push out to help other people. I've always been a believer in leading by example not by force.