Visual brand vigilance
July 20th, 2008
“Don’t “Bury The Lead”
Don’t bury the key information of a story somewhere in the body of the article — put it first. Newspaper reporters learn quickly not to ‘bury the lead’ and it’s at least equally important for bloggers.” – bloggingforbusinessbook.com
[Caution: buried lead ahead...]
Saturday, 7:55 am.
Ratchet down the baseball cap below the eye line. Take a mildly cleansing breath and breach the thin veneer separating you from the morning sun’s gentle wash. Casually glance in either direction and receive reassuring optical-neural confirmation. The maiden steps forward seem mildly wobbled…or is that just the overstretched sweatpants in centrifugal motion? With hands jammed deeply in pockets, gaze locked onto the twinkling wisps of sand that separate the warming asphalt from the lazy sea grass, your egress appears successful. Considering your coffee-deprived state, the bipedaling is remarkably smooth. As the seaside bungalow recedes in your virtual rear view, your morning fix, housed in a bay side convenience store, reassuringly approaches.
“But wait…cash. Did I forget the godda… ooh, good…a loose twenty! Oops, dropped a quarter…” Continue reading this entry »
Networking simplified and LinkedIn Answers
June 19th, 2008
I’ve been quoted on this page (along with 25 other people) regarding networking advice. This results from a LinkedIn question for which I was one of many respondents. Julius at EventManagerBlog, who originally posted the question, then published his favorites pretty much all of them. Mine was one of the shortest, non-bulleted answers, and reflects my philosophy that your network is only as good as what you contribute to it. There’s lots of good general and tactical advice in the answers (although many pieces of advice seem too elementary to me: “be approachable;” “don’t be the only one talking,” etc. Although it’s good to remember “don’t drink and drive,” especially important if you find yourself feeling uninteresting or uninterested, alone at the bar wondering why you’re even there (that was me early on in my networking days).
What is this man doing?
June 10th, 2008
If you know what he’s doing, I may be able to guess your profession and even your age…
Animated Infographic Excellence
June 1st, 2008
Thanks to a mention in Graphic Design USA, I just enjoyed a few short web films from the reel of production company Superfad. Turns out I’ve seen at least one of their 3D animated tv commercials, for Playstation, in the last year. These three are quite different, are for Sprint, and really have me infatuated with their style and substance.
Months ago, I posted this about an animated infographic video I’d come across. That was nearly one hundred percent infographic! While still an excellent specimen in its own right, these 3 web films from Superfad seem to breathe life into data and successfully layer data onto a story. The net result is a helpful, welcome, humanistic and accessible message that’s perfectly stylized and visually branded for Sprint.
See all three here (this is the link I got when searching by client for “Sprint;” you can always conduct the same easy search if this link fails). Continue reading this entry »
What to blog about?
May 24th, 2008
First of all, thanks for visiting. We both know there’s lots to read on the web, lots of outstanding and very focused blogs, and all sorts of valuable web content – articles, white papers, case studies, press releases… and let’s not forget good old-fashioned news. So you honor me with your attention.
I’m here to say I’m a little frustrated with blogging. But it’s not what you might expect. I really don’t have expectations of readers being drawn to my ramblings like flies to… well, you know. I don’t even assume that anything I write will even be read. I’m just unhappy that I haven’t yet found a niche, a reason for this blog to exist.
I started this thing late last year, with the confidence that I’d matriculate from stories of my kids and my dog to useful or at least relevant observations that were worthy of your review. I suppose there is evidence of evolution, with some downright entertaining content there for a little while. But while I do like to write, (or as humor writer Carol Band said in a blurb, that I have “a real affinity for words”) it’s hard work. Continue reading this entry »
Hand Crafted Confessions
April 27th, 2008
My wife Jennifer (who I really should have write the beginning of this post, at least) returned this week from a few days’ vacation in Baltimore, with our son Ian. Aside from the delicious blue crabs, her life-changing hot & spicy chocolate gelato, and the totally satisfying U2 Imax movie, she was most vocal about their time at the American Visionary Museum, which sadly I have only second-hand experience with.
My first-hand experience though is with a book she brought home for me, related to some very compelling work installed at the AVM. The book was published in 2005, and there have been a few ’sequels’ but it was all new to me. The book is PostSecret: Extraordinary Confessions from Ordinary Lives by Frank Warren. I’m taking my time perusing and savoring it.
Design Farts, Mad fold-ins and interactive nostalgia
April 20th, 2008
Thanks again to the good folks over at Very Short List for opening my eyes to some great material. They’ve pointed out an interactive feature by, of all people, the New York Times. Not surprising for anyone who has already enjoyed their site, all the free content, but also the nice streamlined interactive featurettes frequently found there – and more importantly, not everyday. No, the Times is restrained in its use of non-gratuitous new(er) media which I like and which I think adds to their respectability and reputation.
Anyway, while Mad magazine is still alive, it seemed more vital in the 60s and 70s. There wasn’t much like it out there available for mass consumption. It was one of the few places that as a kid, I could ingest occasional nuggets of political and military satire while still enjoying my more regular diet of booger and booby jokes.
I’m sure there’s archives of Mad magazine content and covers, and even the precious fold-ins to be found on the web, but doubtful there’s a more satisfying interactive experience for nostalgic design farts like me than to actually/virtually fold the fold-ins to reveal their hidden message.
Some of the hidden messages are fairly obvious at a glance (and are incredibly obvious once you’ve unfolded them again) but you can forgive those when you consider the camouflaging effort involved. But most are exceptionally well done and suck you in for a surprising payoff, especially if you’ve read the few lines of text below the image first.
By the way, here’s the link to the full Times article about artist Al Jaffee… 87, still going strong!
Okay, enough talk – even though I know you’ve long ago clicked on the picture, had your fun and totally ignored all this text. Perhaps I’ll better pique your attention with a future exposé of the foldouts I enjoyed as a youth (I’ve only heard they’re available on the interweb…)?
Clever, elegant and useful design on wine label
April 5th, 2008
Ben Terret over @ Noisy Decent Graphics, whose blog I authentically stumbled upon (versus finding it with the Stumble button in the Firefox StumbleUpon plugin) recently featured this sweet little find – a wine label with a perforated, tear-off stub to help you remember your recent jollification… or at least what wine you drank that night.
A simple idea that benefits both the imbiber and the vintner, this innovation surely cost next to nothing to implement into the bottle-labeling process. What a huge gain for such a small investment. That my friends is the power of design, of looking for opportunity in unusual or ignored areas.
Hmmm… here’s probably ample real estate on the back… perhaps your fortune or a coupon could be printed on the reverse side.
Print versus online media: if Nelson says it’s true…
April 3rd, 2008
I’m not a journalist (no, I’m not fishing for compliments), but there’s a shared seismic shift that the publications world shares with the print design world. As a graphic designer and a producer of B2B printed literature, publications and other marketing collateral, I see and hear constant reminders of the ground that the print medium continues to lose to the web. Online information has many obvious benefits, namely flexibility and a certain cost savings. But as in print, there’s a lot of garbage being generated each day. And instead of wasting a print reader’s time, leaving him little choice but to toss another ill-conceived brochure into the trash (or preferably, the recycling bin), similarly, the online reader grunts an inaudible curse as she clicks away from boring or irrelevant brochure text, having wasted valuable time and mouse clicks.
I realize that I’m stretching the premise here – print’s dominance has not eroded because the content was found wanting. But remember that the newer medium will be no better for marketers whose content remains inadequate.
For many publishers, Nelson is right (you can track the trend here). For B2B marketers, don’t dump all your eggs into the online basket. Embrace the differences – and the mutually beneficial relationship – between print and online media.
Father of the Year and Digital Video
March 25th, 2008
At this point in the age of YouTube, it’s not that a big of a deal when some hack makes a “look at me” video and foists it upon the world, only to have it wind up in the same box of rocks as the robo-dancing teens and the puppy-vs-kitten smackdowns. But when that hack is me…well that’s a horse of a different color.
This Easter weekend, I got focused and finally got to work playing with digital video. (Being a graphic designer, I guess I felt the need to play with yet another medium, to avoid making it big in the ones I’ve already mastered.) For several years now I’ve wanted to experiment, and also to involve my kids, whose last association with videography was probably running around with their pants off on an 8mm tape; sorry guys. (And yes, that was looooong ago.)