upside-down-umbrella

What We’re Thankful For

2011-11-24T13:52:00.001-06:00

On this Thanksgiving Eve we’re thankful that our C2 Creative website is finally live www.C2-cc.com. We still have some work to do as we’ll be adding new portfolio samples and new people in the coming weeks.

We had grand plans for a rich interactive experience to “engage and build buzz” but we’ve fallen victim to the Cobblers Shoes Syndrome. Put simply, we’ve been busy. That leads me to another topic we’re thankful for. We’ve been working on great creative projects across a variety of vertical all year. I’d have to say this is the most rewarding time in my career as we partner with brand managers, agency creative departments and marketing teams to produce solid creative ideas.

We’re looking forward to 2012 and we’re already drawing up plans to ditch this website so enjoy it while you can. Have a great Thanksgiving.

The kohactivation

2011-09-09T12:19:00.002-05:00

Over the last year and a half C2 and kohactive have been collaborating on a variety of digital projects. C2 has partnered with great technology teams in the past but pound for pound kohactive is the most dangerous digital team we've engaged. They've convinced me to take on the role of Director of Creative Operations for kohactive. It's a hybrid position of new business development, creative strategy, art direction and producer.

Things haven't changed at C2. Brian and I continue to take on branding, advertising, identity and other creative projects. The only thing that's changed is that I've updated my LinkedIn and I will be drinking more coffee than usual.

You can find kohactive at www.kohactive.com
C2 will be launching a new website in the next 30 days at www.C2-cc.com.

Time to fire this baby up again

2011-08-02T19:50:00.006-05:00

It's been over a year an a half since my last blog post and it's probably about time I got back in the groove. Over the last year or so I've met some amazing people in Chicago's entrepreneur space. If you don't follow @rachelbaker @sweetfracture5 @foiledcupcakes @MWCAccounting @ryanevans @jtpenny @andrewatideal or @siffring I recommend you do. I was fortunate to share an office space with them in Chicago's Bucktown neighborhood for a bit. The space was dubbed "Eight On Seven" or #8on7. It was the first time in my career where everyone in the same space worked independently of each other. We were free of the typical office politics and moral ups and downs that you'd commonly see in a traditional office because everyone ran their own company. You hear about "passion" a lot in corporate meeting but rarely do you see it at the level that the folks at #80n7 displayed. It was an energizing experience and a model I hope to recreate it someway in the future.

Kill The Gun

2009-12-29T09:02:00.003-06:00

A very powerful bit of visual story telling.

Make Me A Bicycle Clown

2009-12-26T00:33:00.004-06:00

Some very creative hockey calls from Randy Moller.

Some Photos From 2009

2009-12-24T00:38:00.004-06:00

An Advertising Parable For The Holidays

2009-12-23T22:43:00.002-06:00

How About A Bottle Of Hand Sanitizer with Red & Green Glitter In It?

2009-12-20T11:35:00.006-06:00

A nice spin on the development of the agency holiday

card: http://duffyshanley.com/HolidayCard-2010/index.html

The Official Beaverisms

2009-12-07T20:58:00.007-06:00

After some recent editions from fellow Eagles I've decided to officially memorialize the great words of Ray Beavers on my blog for future reference. I documented this list of "Beaverisms" in the side of my notebook during my high school accounting class in 1989. My apologies in advance for any of you that may find these offensive.

A special thanks you to BG and MC on their additions to this list. Both were priceless.

• The hit dog always hollers

• All I should see is your rear end and elbows

• You're like a blind dog in a meat house

• Run through there like a spotted ass ape

• You're running on eggs!

• Fire out and ring his bell

• I'm doing the dog... you're just holdin' the tail

• You may have enough money to burn up a wet elephant

• I don't have to button up my shirt, my heart ain't fallin' out

• Your next few tests are going to be boogers

• I speak bilingual English and profanity

• A blind hog finds somethin' to eat every now and then

• You come in here with that horse play. You'd better tie that horse outside!

• You guys are crazier than a house full of ants

• He doesn't care what I call him just as long as he's not late for supper

• You just bump your gums to hear your head rattle

• I gotta cavity over here and I'm talking with an echo

• I got $10. What does that mean? I got someone else's pants on.

• Currency is paper with dead Presidents on it

• If she had another wrinkle she have to hold it in her hand

• You'll be down in Joliet getting a stripped sun tan

• Throw it back and let the whineo sleep on it

• Sit up. You don't have a rubber neck.

• I almost had a job at the dynamite plant

• How the hell could you be board? You're breathin', you could of been a dandylion

• They'll put you so far back they'll have to feed you with a slingshot

• I'm gonna put a ring around your eye

• My wife wraps my lunch in a road map

• You can read reading, but you can't read writin!

• When Meno & Gohel were Jrs people thought they dressed the side line markers

• How can you be listening to me and be writing the sugar report to somebody?

• We've had that ever since heck was pup

• You don't know rude from bubble gum

• Time to sack the bat

• They say that when you get older the memory is the first to go. I forget what the second is.

• What's a Sail Cat? It's a cat that has been run over so many times you can pick it up and throw it. And boy does it sail. It goes like a shingle.

• You're 2 sandwiches short of a picnic lunch

• You guys never annoy me. It's a slice of heaven every day.

• Stormin ' like a bull at a new gate

• If you want a rocker go to the old folks home

• Maybe if I fill up on the gas tank she'll run away

• Where there's no brains there's a lot of labor

• Some of you guys are just scratchin around the sandbox

• If you don't know your right from left... throw a rock

• When the bell rings I'm outta here like a scolded dog

• You can't ride a good horse to death

• I love all you guys even if some of you are hemorrhoids

Social Media Boom

2009-12-07T11:36:00.002-06:00

A nice visualization of SM data

Nail In The Coffin

2009-12-06T01:33:00.003-06:00

I thought this packaging design was genius.

A New Meaning To The Word Office Space

2009-11-30T09:12:00.000-06:00

I'd like an office like this.

Pop Up from abw on Vimeo.

http://vimeo.com/4197108

Gimme Shelter

2009-11-27T11:14:00.004-06:00

I came across this today on commarts.com and thought it was a great media buy.

Credit: www.jigsawllc.com

Grant Bernstein, art director; Nick Pipitone, writer; Steven Wold/Nick Pipitone, creative directors; Matt O'Donnell, print production.

Logomatrix

2009-11-25T18:14:00.002-06:00

This Lego video is unbelievable.

Original link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDe4v318f64&feature=player_embedded

Thanks for @mattChevy for tweeting.

Ideas Are The Real Currency

2009-11-24T08:05:00.000-06:00

I came across this line in a Tim Williams article today and thought it was worth sharing. "In a world where many of the most powerful media have a cost of $0, ideas are the real currency of marketing, not money."

For the full article on the 15 Risks Agencies Can't Afford Not to Take go to: http://ow.ly/F1iz

FDA & Social Media

2009-11-15T09:21:00.001-06:00

Experimenting with a style for Unity

2009-11-14T01:09:00.004-06:00

Experimenting with a new technique. If your next project needs creative support contact me at C2.
Review our work at www.C2-cc.com

http://c2-cc.posterous.com/experimenting-with-a-style-for-unity

Tribes Are What Matter

2009-11-10T21:42:00.003-06:00

Who are you upsetting?
Who are you connecting?
Who are you leading?
This is where change comes from.
Where are we going next?

Handle With Care

2009-10-30T08:10:00.002-05:00

This came from http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2009/10/big-ideas.html but I thought it was worth repeating because it's so simple and so true.

"Big ideas are little ideas that no one killed too soon."

Yast

2009-10-29T09:47:00.009-05:00

Time sheets can be a necessary evil. I just came across a tool for freelancers that makes tracking time very easy. Go to www.yast.com. It's about as easy as it can get.

Invest In Fun

2009-10-28T08:23:00.007-05:00

Sometimes the best way to motivate change with a customer isn't a new brochure flooded with lots of information. Sometimes it's about having fun. Sometimes (I think) we forget that difficult problems can be solved this way because we've convinced ourselves that we have sophisticated methods to deliver solutions. Sometimes it's fun to begin 4 sentences in a row with sometimes.

Upside Down House Meets Upside Down Umbrella

2009-10-21T08:55:00.004-05:00

Klaudiusz Golos and Sebastion Mikuciuk build an upside down house for the ”The world stands on its head” project in Trassenheide Germany.

http://freshome.com/2009/09/11/crazy-upside-down-house-in-germany/

Kaboom

2009-10-20T22:44:00.003-05:00

A quick read from Alex Bogusky. Creative directors are in the business of professional insanity http://post.ly/9QY5

Have We Lost Something Along The Way?

2009-10-18T15:22:00.004-05:00

Original Article Link: http://bit.ly/15XV2L

I Miss the Lunatics

by Ernie Schenck

I miss the lunatics. I miss the whack jobs and the incendiaries, all full of passion and madness, wild-eyed, hearts on fire, willing to fall on their swords for an idea. I miss the art director I once knew who threw a cigar at a client.

I miss the yellers and the screamers. The immature, belligerent little bastards who refused to let mediocrity suck them down into the cage of mediocrity.

I don’t know George Lois but I think about him. What a wild man he must have been in the early years. What a nut case. What a Claymore mine just begging you to trip his wire. Go ahead. Just pull my chain. I dare you. What a genius.

I love the stuff that’s going on now. Never before have creatives had such a massive canvas to work with. There is so much possibility. So many dots to connect. It’s huge. It’s enormous.

The smartest guy in the room? Doesn’t exist anymore. You know why? Because every guy in the room is just so damn smart. MIT Ad Lab guys. UX wizards. The Twitterati and the digerati and the experiencerati. So smart. So brilliant. So cool, calm and collected.

But where are the hot heads? Where are the tortured and the agitated? The bulls in the china shop. Are you out there? Do you exist anymore? Because I sure as hell haven’t seen too many of you around lately.

In our rush to collaboration, I wonder if we’ve lost something along the way. For so long, so few of us had ownership of the process. The client paid for the work, but we owned it. It was ours. And when something is yours, you care about it. You protect it. And woe to the sorry soul who tries to deface it or harm it in any way.

As I write this, millions of disenfranchised Iranians are taking to the streets to protest what they believe is a sham election. Millions. Standing up, risking their lives, for an idea. This is the passion of crowds. Put a creative idea in the hands of a far smaller mob of smart, talented people and passion goes AWOL.

Psychologist Jeremy Dean puts it this way: “Groups only rarely foment great ideas because people in them are power-fully shaped by group norms, the unwritten rules that describe how individuals in a group ‘are’ and how they ‘ought’ to behave.”

Maybe it's like Dash, the little kid in The Incredibles, when his mom tells him that everyone’s special and he says, “That's like saying nobody is.” If everyone owns the idea, then no one owns it. And where there’s no ownership, there can be no passion.

Just for once, I’d like to see fury make a comeback. I’d like to see pyrotechnics in the conference room. Fireworks and explosions and loud bangs. God almighty, people, doesn't anyone fight for creativity anymore?

Tony Kaye was arguably one of the most volatile, egotistical, abusive directors ever to set foot in advertising. Most people I know who’ve worked with Tony have nothing but, well, not-so-wonderful things to say about the experience. Me? I loved him. Adored the guy. (Although I have to say, when he asked that his name be removed from the credits of American History X, even I had to shake my head. Brilliant career move? Probably not. Explosive display of passion for the work? Absolutely.)

If nothing else, the Tony episode taught me something about the choices we all make all the time between career and craft. It's not easy.

In his recent Ad Age piece, Bart Cleveland recalled something Steve Hayden said about his old boss. “The night before we presented the storyboard for ‘1984,’ Jay [Chiat] was on a tear. He didn’t think anything we had in the room—including ‘1984’—was good enough, new enough, smart enough, beautiful enough. He was upset. He was brutal. He wanted to cancel the meeting.”

As Bart explained, “Chiat’s passion for the work was not influenced by what was going on in the world around him. He wasn’t going to do mediocre work because there was a recession going on. In his mind, it was every ad maker’s duty to serve the client by breaking the mold. To fail was inexcusable.”

No, we don’t need creatives throwing cigars at clients. We don’t need art directors threatening to jump out 35th floor windows if their Webisodes don't sell. But every once in a while, when the work is about to get its throat cut, it wouldn’t hurt if we stood up and said, no you’re wrong, you’re wrong wrong wrong. This is great. This will work.

I believe it. I want you to believe it.

How very reaffirming that would be. How very Tony. How very Jay.

Upside Down Umbrella

2009-10-14T19:16:00.006-05:00

I finally made a header graphic for this blog. Here's to procrastination.

Take Care Of All Of Your Advertising Needs Without All Of Those Pesky Creatives

2009-10-14T09:34:00.002-05:00

Presenting The Ad-O-Matic

The Ad-O-Matic from James Kiersted on Vimeo.

Visualization of S&P 500 as a Planetary System

2009-10-13T06:57:00.003-05:00

The Stock Ticker Orbital Comparison, or STOC for short, from media student James Grant, uses a planetary system metaphor to display activity with the S&P 500. Each circle represents a stock and they orbit a planet-like (or sun?) thing in the middle.

Source: flowingdata.com

Too Much Noise

2009-10-13T00:27:00.006-05:00

So much noise is created about social media channels that I wanted to distill it down into one simple statement and move on. Social media tools are evolving the way we build relationships. Bye for now.

Photoshop In Your Pocket

2009-10-09T14:22:00.005-05:00

Yesterday Adobe released Photoshop Mobile for the iPhone. The new photoshop.com site looks amazing as well. I'm definitely going to up late this weekend exploring the possibilities.

The (Not So) Secret Ingredient

2009-10-07T10:39:00.006-05:00

Without a doubt healthy relationships are key to a successful business but quite often we overlook what fuels these relationships. I believe the (not so) secret ingredient is quality ideas. Quality ideas that exceed expectations and stretch the minds of both client and creator keeps everyone inspired, opens a dialogue and ultimately strengthens the relationship. Believing that we are exclusively in a people business can lead to a relationship without a lot of substance. In my experience great ideas lead to strong, long-lasting healthy relationships. Not the other way around.

Typolution

2009-09-30T22:41:00.001-05:00

#nospec

2009-09-23T22:29:00.002-05:00

Did You Know 4.0 Video

2009-09-21T18:45:00.001-05:00

Extra! Extra! Read all about it.

2009-09-21T00:11:00.002-05:00

Google gets deeper into the media business.

Official Google Blog: Read news fast with Google Fast Flip

For a demo:

Google Fast Flip

Can I see Mr. Buffet tomorrow?

2009-09-21T00:03:00.002-05:00

A short blog entry on how to get a meeting with Warren Buffet from Jason at 37 signals.

Warren Buffet on scheduling meetings - (37signals)

Don't Be Pollution

2009-08-24T20:29:00.002-05:00

ESPN's Social Media Guidelines

2009-08-10T23:20:00.000-05:00

2 articles about ESPN's Social Media Policy

http://www.briansolis.com/2009/09/espn-takes-social-media-guidelines-just-a-bit-too-far-or-how-to-stunt-your-employee’s-growth/

http://mashable.com/2009/08/04/espn-social-media/

2009-08-04T15:14:00.002-05:00

From Toy To Tool

2009-07-01T20:59:00.000-05:00

A very simple and inspiring way to solve an almost overwhelming problem.

Dr. TXT

2009-06-30T22:17:00.003-05:00

This year, 39% of doctors said they'd communicated with patients online, up from just 16% five years earlier, according to health-information firm Manhattan Research, a unit of Decision Resources Inc.

Source: The Wall Street Journal

Be More

2009-06-29T23:07:00.005-05:00

It great to see a familiar face in Communication Arts. Hucklebuck Design Studio is featured in Fresh this month. http://www.commarts.com/fresh/hucklebuck-design-studio.html

Hucklebuck will even send you badges if you ask nicely.

Creatively Speaking

2009-06-28T20:21:00.006-05:00

Creativity Magazine is a print publication that I still read religiously because it has an interesting mix of voices talking about the creative industry. I particularly enjoy this expert from David Nobay's POV article:

"SUITS 1: CREATIVES 0

Admittedly, you'd have to be profoundly medicated to ignore the general state of the world's finances right now — but, well, we're creative people aren't we? Surely, we are precisely in the business of thinking our way out of excruciating tight corners? Faced with a life of potentially nothing, isn't it up to us to create something? Not a fictitious valuation, or a shady shelf company, but rather something tangible.. Something of worth. Christ, perhaps, even something of great beauty?

Rather than talk ourselves into a dark hole, what if we viewed the current shitstorm as a catalyst to a new, governing class system? Not the Working Class, the Upper Class, or even the Emerging-Technology Class. THE CREATIVE CLASS (That's right; us). More specifically; a class diametrically opposed to The Uncreative, Intangible, Unimaginative Class that has shaped society and fucked up our ideas for far too long."

He also goes onto say that "There are too many of us, crammed into an ever-decreasing space." It's a breath of fresh air to hear someone speak so frankly.

There's some other antidotes that I wanted to capture before my issue gets lost or I throw too many things on top of it and forget.

• The most important thing I have learned about leadership is to jump off a cliff and build your wings on the way down.

- Tony Davidson of Widen + Kennedy London

• Because it's (the internet) is the most populated universal modern environment, and it's where the newest languages and rules of communication are evolving and being created from scratch.

- Andrew Keller from Crispin Porter + Bogusky

• We learned with "Truth" that we could affect social change. And so we applied that to MINI with the thought that we could change culture to embrace a product rather and change a product to mirror culture.

- Andrew Keller from CP + B

• Almost everything I know I learned from Kiss and the Catholic Church.

- Andrew Keller from CP + B

• The biggest challenge right now is not the economy, it's relevancy.

- Linus Karlsson & Paul Malmstrom of Mother NY

For more info on Creativity go to: creativity-online.com

Harrington College of Design

2009-06-17T06:52:00.004-05:00

I had the opportunity to speak at The Harrington College of Design last night and share some of my experiences in the creative industry. It was great to interact with students and see the world through their eyes for a couple of hours.

Serious Play

2009-06-08T21:36:00.005-05:00

Paula Scher's talk at TED sets the groundwork for developing innovative design solutions through serious play (and being completely unqualified).

Mirror, Mirror On The Wall

2009-06-06T06:19:00.001-05:00

Eric Gradman of Monkeys and Robots has has integrated social networking data with an environmental installation to create an uncomfortable (but interesting) bit of social awkwardness. It's a perfect platform for a social event or convention to spark a conversation.

Thanks to Greg Dosmann of Stinson Brand Innovation for passing this along.

The Walking Dude

2009-06-05T18:40:00.002-05:00

A friend recently referenced this classic (Chicago) viral video. I couldn't resist posting it because it's so irrelevant and brilliant at the same time. I don't remember the first time I viewed this but it had to of been around 1999 or 2000 and I laughed for days or maybe even weeks. If you lived or work in Chicago's River North you will understand.

Twitters Expanding Universe

2009-06-04T05:13:00.006-05:00

A great visualization of tools that connect to the Twitter platform. You can read more about Brian's views on social networking at www.briansolis.com.

Green Garbage

2009-06-02T05:18:00.005-05:00

A great idea from BigBelly Solar. Philadelphia has installed several of these on their city streets. Below is the press release from BigBelly.

BigBelly is the world's only solar-powered cordless compaction system. It uses the sun's energy to automatically compact trash at the point of disposal, dramatically increasing capacity by 5 times within the same footprint as ordinary receptacles. Increased capacity reduces collection trips and can cut related fuel use and greenhouse gas emissions by 80%. The enclosed design keeps pests out and litter in. Safe and easy to use, the BigBelly has proven successful in urban streets, parks, colleges, arenas - and in all weather conditions.

The Google Workflow

2009-06-01T08:05:00.002-05:00

Um, everything just got 100 times more better. Pardon my poor grammar. Google will fix it in their next release. Watch the video below and you'll get a preview of how Google is developing tools to enhance the way we work.

Hot Topic

2009-05-30T14:20:00.008-05:00

This video does a nice job of emphasizing the message by integrating th existing interface into their communication.

The Creative Company Conference

2009-05-29T01:11:00.006-05:00

A great presentation on creativity and innovation from the other side of the pond. Two definitions that stand out to me: "Having original thoughts means challenging what you take for granted" and "creativity means having a process of developing original ideas that have value".

KBIRI.NL - Sir Ken Robinson @ Creative Company Conference from KBIRI on Vimeo.

How A Rock Song Evolves At 2:22

2009-05-26T06:47:00.009-05:00

Chad Smith is completely insane and in my estimation is the secret ingredient to making this project (band) work.

It's My Aeroplane

2009-05-25T20:47:00.006-05:00

Hucklebuck Studio just released an all caps display font based an old Model Airplane News magazine. It has a really nice vintage feel to and will surely come in handy on a project in the future.

http://hucklebuckdesign.blogspot.com

Creative Ideation

2009-05-25T07:40:00.005-05:00

To push idea generation in a group setting, these 3 "rules" from Scott's Halford's article on entrepreneur.com should be part of the creative atmosphere.

1. “Yes and...” Do what improv actors do; play the “yes and…” game. Instead of looking for the flaws, be additive to the idea. The next time someone comes to you with an idea, no matter how half-baked, put your “but” out to pasture and expand on the idea. Not only will this be collaborative and lead to more creativity, it will also show you what an attractor behavior is like.

2. Create and evaluate separately. The formation of ideas and the evaluation of them are two entirely different brain processes. Let’s say you want to start a new venture, so you pull together your best business whiz pals in a meeting to help you with the idea. You’ll want to spring for two pizza-and-beer parties. One is to collect every whacked-out idea they can come up with in relation to your idea–no evaluation of the ideas, the brain will shut down creativity if you do. The second meeting is to evaluate and prioritize. Allow at least a week in between formation and evaluation so the brain can incubate. At the end of the first meeting, ask everyone to be thinking about the best possible combinations of ideas around your venture.

3. Count to ten. It takes approximately six seconds from the time a negative emotion is felt (i.e., disgust or disdain) and the dissipation of the hormones that make you want to blurt out a nasty remark. Your mom was right–count to ten before you speak. Let the visceral feelings die down, then speak. And remember to be additive.

Credits:

Scott Halford: Brainy Business

How to Avoid Self-Sabotage

Your brain wants you to succeed–so get out of the way.

By Scott Halford • May 18, 2009

http://www.entrepreneur.com

Brands In The Morning

2009-05-24T08:02:00.002-05:00

The first 15 minutes of my day I interacted with these 16 brands.

TweetPhoto.com

2009-05-23T13:45:00.010-05:00

I just switched my photo sharing service over to TweetPhoto.com and am pleasntly surprised with the rich tools built into the service. I especially like the geo-tagging feature that builds in the location of the image so you don't have to tag the location to know where the photo was taken. The integration of twitter and facebook friends makes it much easier to keep up with people you are following.

http://www.tweetphoto.com/user/smithdidit

Thanks to @mvellandi for the suggestion.

Condo For Sale

2009-05-10T01:52:00.007-05:00

I'm in the process of selling my condo and was thinking of big ideas to generate interest about my property. The W Hollywood Residence beat me to the promotional punch and booked Depeche Mode to promote the sale of their new residential property in Hollywood. After looking at my promotional budget I've realized the best brand association I can pull off is Depeche Mode karaoke at my open house.

Even if you are not fan of Depeche Mode this is an inspiring and distinctive approach to selling real-estate. I give Starwood and W high marks for bringing fresh ideas to the marketplace.

Put Yourself Into The Work

2009-05-08T20:52:00.009-05:00

D a vi d c A r soN

was a major influence on me in college.

Here's his talk at TED '03.

Give It Back

2009-05-04T22:39:00.010-05:00

I found the placement of this Coca-Cola "give it back" recycling bin a humorous and slightly confusing example of environmental branding.

Razor Sharp

2009-04-23T21:31:00.007-05:00

A solid reel by Razorfish. There's a subtle sense of humility to this piece that's not easy to pull off. The handwritten style brings a sense of fluidity and inventiveness to their approach that connects to the human side of technology. This would be a great intro to a pitch meeting without being over the top. The music strikes the right emotion and allows the message of "there are no limits to what we can do" sneak up on you in a smart way.

Quotes With Buzz

2009-04-05T07:50:00.004-05:00

Adam Singer's compilation of quotes from a variety of thought leaders/bloggers in 2008. Several of these are spark insight as technology changes our perspective on communication, culture and personal connections.

22 Smart, Inspirational Quotes From Bloggers In 2008

View more presentations from Adam Singer.

For Adam's blog go to thefuturebuzz.com.

What You Talkin' about?

2009-04-04T07:27:00.003-05:00

I'm doing my best to win a contest so I can go to WOMMA-U 2009 in May. Below is a promotional video for the event.

For more on the contest search #womm-u-viz.

Online Facts

2009-04-03T21:12:00.002-05:00

Here are some interesting online stats from http://techcrunchies.com

SMS Trend:

Total number of SMS sent in the US during 2008 : 1 trillion 

Total number of SMS sent in the US during 2007 : 363 billion

Heavy Mobile Users:

According to a report, citizens of the Republic of Ireland are the heaviest users of mobile phones. The average Irish spend around 179 minutes per month on their mobile phones. They also send an average of 154 text messages a month which is almost double the British figure of 81 SMS per month.

Mobile Search:

Google’s share of mobile search : 61%

Yahoo’s share of mobile search : 18%

Number of searches per month on Google : 9 per user

Number of searches per month on Yahoo : 7 per user

Morning Elegance Mo Go

2009-03-30T21:19:00.005-05:00

A really nice piece of motion graphics work. This technique is sure to be stolen for a retail commercial in the near future. Enjoy the originality while you can.

Art & Copy

2009-03-28T06:25:00.003-05:00

As much as I enjoy the drama of advertising in Mad Men, I'm glad there's an authentic film about creativity (and advertising) being released soon. "I believe creativity can solve anything" is all I needed to hear to get me into the theatre.

ART & COPY trailer from Baldwin& on Vimeo.

The Propagation Of Ideas

2009-03-27T18:34:00.005-05:00

An interesting study on Twitter Friends and WOM marketing:

http://skilfulminds.com/2009/01/16/twitter-friends-and-the-influence-of-influentials-in-word-of-mouth-marketing/

If you're too lazy to read the entire page here is the conclusion: In conclusion, even when using a very weak definition of “friend” (i.e., anyone who a user has directed a post to at least twice) we find that Twitter users have a very small number of friends compared to the number of followers and followees they declare. This implies the existence of two different networks: a very dense one made up of followers and followees, and a sparser and simpler network of actual friends. The latter proves to be a more influential network in driving Twitter usage since users with many actual friends tend to post more updates than users with few actual friends. On the other hand, users with many followers or followees post updates more infrequently than those with few followers or followees.

Many people, including scholars, advertisers and political activists, see online social networks as an opportunity to study the propagation of ideas, the formation of social bonds and viral marketing, among others. This view should be tempered by our findings that a link between any two people does not necessarily imply an interaction between them. As we showed in the case of Twitter, most of the links declared within Twitter were meaningless from an interaction point of view. Thus the need to find the hidden social network; the one that matters when trying to rely on word of mouth to spread an idea, a belief, or a trend.

Source: http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/2317/2063

Great Results From Simple Means

2009-03-27T08:25:00.003-05:00

I came across this quote last night. It will come in handy as I continue to simplify my creative process and live overall.

"The greatest results in life are usually attained by simple means and the exercise of ordinary qualities. These may for the most part be summed up in these two — common sense and perseverance."

— Owen Feltham

WTF?

2009-03-27T05:55:00.003-05:00

Finally an iPhone application that will help me identify the names of poorly selected typefaces on a greasy dinner menu. Now I can speak to the finer points of Eras EF Demi with confidence while perusing the Denny's menu.

http://new.myfonts.com/WhatTheFont/iPhone/

Skittle-Twitter

2009-03-26T20:33:00.006-05:00

I thought the Skittles Twitter promotion was a great idea mainly because it started a new type of conversation around the brand. Yes Skittles gives up a lot of control when it comes to the conversation/content. And yes it will probably be hard to quantify what the long term value is for the brand by doing this type of promotion. And who knows how many more bags of Skittles were sold because of this but at least they're attempting to connect with customers in a new way by pushing what's possible for the medium, the customer and their brand.

Roll Computer

2009-03-24T05:20:00.000-05:00

Radiohead's music video "House of Cards" takes visualization into another level. Using neither cameras nor lights, the band employed two technologies called Geometric Informatics and Velodyne LIDAR to capture 3D data and transform it into a series of stunning images.

Directed by James Frost

From the album IN RAINBOWS

Go to: http://code.google.com/radiohead to see the making-of and to find additional pieces of data to create your own visualizations.

Twitter Now Growing at a Staggering 1,382 Percent

2009-03-18T23:10:00.006-05:00

A 1,382% growth rate in one year is an amazing statistic. I'm intrigued with the way Twitter is growing compared to Facebook. From my perspective Twitter is a much more engaging platform because the community is developing and using a variety of creative tools from the bottom up. Facebook (for me) is a more passive experience that is being developed from the top down.

For the source article go to: http://mashable.com/2009/03/16/twitter-growth-rate-versus-facebook

Visualizing Your Twitter Nework

2009-03-16T19:45:00.001-05:00

I've been fascinated with all of the periferal applications that bring Twitter data to life through visualization. Above is an image of my network from Tweetwheel.com.

Another great resource for visualization is Manuel Lima's visualcomplexity.com. His work either inspires me or on a bad day takes my self-esteem down about 8 notches.

The Collective

2009-03-13T11:40:00.003-05:00

Twtpoll.com is a very cool application that allows you to create polls on a variety of social networking sites. Here's a sample.

LinkedIn + Twitter + Saving Polar Bears = Contxts

2009-03-12T21:30:00.007-05:00

It was only a matter of time before someone began to standardizing the digital business card. The people at Contxts (http://contxts.com) have developed a practical tool that stores your business contact info in a SMS format. It's part LinkedIn, and part Twitter to help grow your business network. In my experience it has worked seamlessly with my iPhone and saves me the trouble of constant data entry from new contacts.

The user experience is simple and intuitive while the brand voice is just clever enough to convince me that signing up might help a polar bear or two.

The Googlefluence

2009-03-12T20:47:00.002-05:00

Google's influence on how we interpret visual information is moving deeper into the art and education arena. This Flickr project was created by Stamen Design, a small San Francisco design studio that has been behind some of the most impressive work in the infographic space. Stamen has created the SFMOMA ArtScope project which is a completely interactive and visual browsing tool that leverages some of the UI principals from Google Maps. It makes browsing the 3,500 objects from the museum both immersive and entertaining.

The firm also created Oakland Crimespotting, a service that elegantly and frighteningly maps crimes occurring across the city and enables users to sort through the data on a personally level by taking the search to a block by block level.

Visualizing Data

2009-03-12T00:05:00.000-05:00

I've been going through the process of visualizing data through the course of my daily life. Here's a chart illustrating the time, distance and mode of transportation for my daily commute.

Pentagram: Marks

2009-03-09T20:05:00.001-05:00

Pentagram has published a limited edition print collection of 400 symbols and logotypes designed by the firm from 1962 to the present. See more at http://pentagram.com/en/publications/marks.php

A Brief Visual History of Influential Tools That Have Shaped Society

2009-03-09T00:34:00.004-05:00

twtstuff

2009-03-08T14:00:00.015-05:00

A (very incomplete and continually growing) directory of Twitter apps and other services that can be shared through Twitter, Facebook, email or other social networks.

twtpoll.com

Polling application.

twtvite.com

Event manager application.

twtQpon.com

Coupon manager application for businesses.

twttrip.com

Travel organizer application.

twtwlst.com

Gift registry application.

twtcard.com

Greeting card application.

twitpic.com

Share photos on Twitter.

twidentify.com

Search engine that sorts results by people who get retweeted the most.

tweetdeck.com

Takes an abundance of information i.e twitter feeds, and breaking it down into more manageable bite sized pieces.

twuffer.com

Schedule future Tweets.

twitturly.com

Tracking what URLs people are talking about on Twitter.

twistori.com

Displays realtime thoughts and feelings expressed on Twitter.

Twitter Spectrum

http://www.neoformix.com/Projects/TwitterSpectrum/TwitterSpectrum.html

Visualizes co-occurring words associated with Twittered topics.

TwitterArcs

http://www.neoformix.com/Projects/TwitArcs/TwitArcs.html

Visualizes connections between users and terms.

cursebird.com

What people are swearing about.

twitemperature.com

Score what you’re saying against what everyone else is saying.

twitterank.com

A page Rank for twitter users.

http://twanalyst.com

Delivers statistics and a humorous take on your tweeting behavior.

http://whendidyoujointwitter.appspot.com

Enter a user name and it will tell you when the account was created.

twitscoop.com

Generates real time clouds of twitter content.

I Want To Be Thumbody

2009-03-07T14:05:00.009-06:00

An out of print book that compiled a large list of logos from the mid-70s was discovered by Eric Carl. Eric, who did not create this book, noticed that the book was open domain. He scanned every page of the book onto his Flickr stream. It's a must view for logo junkies.

Heavy Points Of View

2009-03-05T21:47:00.007-06:00

It's great to see familiar faces applying their passion for music to the new media landscape. Mike Greaney and Bruce Lamont break down and discuss the latest albums by Napalm Death, Cannibal Corpse, Wino, and Lamb of God on Vimeo.

Take it or HEAVE it: The HEAVY Edition Episode 1 from Heave Media, Inc. on Vimeo.

Mini Breakthrough

2009-02-27T21:18:00.003-06:00

There's not much to say about this video other than it's a must watch.

I originally came across this on Tom Leech's blog Ad Badger

BusinessBeware.biz

2009-02-25T15:16:00.000-06:00

I received this Business Week article through my Twitter channel. I only put part of the story here so you can get the idea but it's worth a read.

BusinessBeware.biz receives complaints from all over the U.S. and parts of Canada. Contractors can search for complaints about prospective customers via Zip Code or county, state, or province name. A list of customers then comes up, but the user can't see the text of the actual complaints without registering and paying the $5 fee. Likewise, customers who have registered can view what contractors have written about them; they then have the option of posting an explanation with their side of the matter.

For more go to:

http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/feb2009/db20090219_941204.htm

On Course

2009-02-25T12:18:00.003-06:00

Humor doesn't work unless it reflects some semblance of truth. This new spot from Nike puts a humorous spin on what a lot of golfers are probably thinking.

Maeda Tweets

2009-02-19T05:01:00.001-06:00

John Maeda is absolutely inspiring. Here are a few entries from his Twitter stream that I had to post here so I could come back and re-read.

John Maeda:

• is thinking how VISION = Prediction (see the future) + Intuition (*feel* the future) + Realization (make the future).

• is noting world stat that 1 in 2 people are of Asia, and 30% population in India are under 15 = the total US population.

• is marinating on what actress Glenn Close told him, "Art has the power to rearrange you."

• weighs the distinction between a printed book and an electronic download. The gap closes for reasons of time, not matter.

• when a student says they love a subject of study, they are saying that they love the teacher even more. Learning is personal.

• is noting how changes happening on the edges always find their way in — why outside the box is the entrance to the box.

w h i t e s p a c e

2009-02-18T20:35:00.005-06:00

It's rare to see a newspaper break their formula of a splashy cover photo to communicate. Today's edition of the Sun-Times does a great job of getting the point across with a strategic use of whitespace.

The Printed Blog

2009-02-16T22:25:00.006-06:00

The Printed Blog is having a tagline contest. Here are the rules pulled from their Facebook page:

--------------------

We want you, our readers and online community, to come up with the new tagline for The Printed Blog. Then we will narrow them down and let you vote on your favorite. The future of TPB tagline is now in your hands!

As a little incentive to get those creative juices flowing we are offering up a brand new Nintendo Wii to our winner. Your tag line will appear in the March 3rd issue of The Printed Blog (along with credit).

How to enter:

* You can have three tagline entries. Only three, so make them good!

* Make sure to comment with your taglines by Thursday, February 19th at 11:59PM. The following day we will pick finalists and put up a poll.

--------------------

Here are my entries:

1) Today's Journalism In Your Hands.

2) people+pixels+print

3) New Media. New Ideas. New Edition.

The End Of Advertising

2009-02-16T15:56:00.012-06:00

Ever since I've been in the creative industry there has been doomsday talk about the end of advertising. After watching the premier of Trust Me I wish advertising had died a long time ago so there would be no reason to create this disastrous program.

I know it's just a TV show but these characters wouldn't last a day in the biz with their mid-day naps and constant lying. (I'd really like to see their expense reports). To top it all off the work that Rothman, Greene & Mohr produces is uninspiring on several levels. "What can you do with one hand?" is their big idea for mobile campaign. Really? Who let that one through?

I wasn't expecting the show to be as rich as Mad Men, but at least those chain smoking, binge drinking, bigot minded, over sexed characters could come up with some great spots (the Kodak Carousal pitch for example). I guess I was hoping for some connection to reality about creative industry considering it's a very dynamic period, rather than see a bunch of jerks trying to beat the system.

When I worked at gsw-w a few co-workers produced a short series about life in advertising. I think it's about 100 times more entertaining than anything TNT has produced about the business. I suggest TNT gives Sean and Eric a call to get some script ideas.

Color Tool

2009-02-12T21:16:00.003-06:00

A useful color tool that came through my twitter stream.

http://colorschemedesigner.com

Correction

2009-02-10T22:32:00.005-06:00

I stand corrected. Although the Jaydiohead mash up may be a more sophisticated piece of music this Van Halen lyric has taken on a life of its own.

+++

+++

+++

The Mash Up Perfected

2009-02-10T08:51:00.006-06:00

http://jaydiohead.com offers up a great mash up of Jay-Z and Radiohead.

Changing The World With 140 Characters

2009-02-06T06:02:00.001-06:00

For an insiders story of how twitter.com was born go to:

http://www.140characters.com/2009/01/30/how-twitter-was-born/

Mo Go

2009-02-03T20:39:00.002-06:00

A nice example of making the most out of some very simple motion graphics.

Graphics by PICOL. http://picol.org/

Voice-over by Steve Taylor http://voice-pool.com

What Could You Create With 1 Second?

2009-02-02T06:25:00.010-06:00

Possibly the inspiration for Miller High Life's one second ad?

For more about the film go to http://www.the1secondfilm.com

Micro Marketing

2009-01-31T09:30:00.006-06:00

I'm looking forward to Miller High Life's 1 Second spots tomorrow during the Super Bowl. The media buy is a great idea and fits perfectly with the brand.

I was hoping they'd push the idea a little further and produce a few spots spots with real-time media placement that paralleled the story line of the game. For instance, after an end zone celebration "Tasty Celebration". Or after a fumble, "Two hands on that High Life."

It's also an idea that would work great with social media by sending friends a one second message or leveraging one second script lines through crowdsourcing.

To view the High Life 1 Second Ad site go to www.1secondad.com

Flame-Broiled Engineering

2009-01-25T20:45:00.015-06:00

The insight into social networking that Burger King uncovered is so simple I can't believe it was overlooked for so long. The Whopper Sacrifice asks "what are your Facebook friends really worth?" Pure genius. BK completely flipped the Facebook value proposition on it's head by rewarding users that sacrificed 10 of their "Facebook friends" for a free Whopper through a viral application. More than 230,000 friends were removed by 82,000 users during the very short promotion.

Due to a few technical issues around privacy the promotion was pulled but I give BK (and CP+B) a lot of credit for producing an idea like this.

Objectified

2009-01-22T08:36:00.004-06:00

Gary Hustwit will be releasing a documentary film on industrial design in spring of 2009. If it's anything like Helvetica it will be worth watching.

Opening Day

2009-01-18T09:35:00.002-06:00

Several brands and products are attaching their wares to the Obama bandwagon during the run up to the Inaugural Address. Many fall flat simply because they're inauthentic.

The Chicago White Sox have have struck the right tone at the right time with their bringchangehome.com microsite. With spot on messaging and design it's part celebration, part social media promotion and all for the greater good.

Any guesses where the President will be throwing out the first pitch for the 2009 baseball season?

Nadav Kander Photographs Obama Administration

2009-01-17T11:20:00.001-06:00

A very impressive collection of Nadav Kander portraits documenting the incoming Obama staff. For a peak into the process make sure to view the back story as well. Published by the New York Times at http://www.nytimes.com/packages/html/magazine/2009-inauguration-gallery/index.html

Streaming Success

2009-01-11T07:21:00.007-06:00

Twitter is such a unique medium that people may not completely understand what's going on the first few times they check in. In my opinion it's all about building a quality "stream" to tap into and collaborate with. Building a quality stream that meets your needs can take time and and some discipline. Before logging in you should be aware of the user types you'll come across. Ryan Deal, author of http://mashable.com breaks down the 10 users you'll meet on Twitter.

10. Memes, games, and activities

9. A company, product, or brand

8. Suspended accounts

7. Guy in a suit, corporate background, with more following that followers

6. The default avatar

5. Schoblizer... and others like him

4. Entertainers, athletes, and otherwise famous people

3. News sources

2. Characters, personalities, and unusual entities

1. The rest of us

The rest of us is the key to developing a quality Twitter stream. Any medium that offers a low threshold for entry generates a lot of noise that becomes distracting and possibly a turn off all together. My objective is to build a stream of new media, branding, trend spotters and technology thought leaders. There are several contributors offering up quality information. The key is to keep up.

There are several people already dissecting the art of twitter better than I could but I hope to pull together a cross section of insights on best practices in the near future.

For Ryan's full entry (with some more details about the types) follow:

http://mashable.com/2009/01/01/twitter-user-types