1. This last week was a big one for Apple; they announced some new stuff to look forward to at their developers conference in San Francisco. Hilarious sea lion jokes aside, it looks like they’re going to be adopting some new design, and as you all know, we love design.
http://www.wired.com/design/2013/06/ios7_redesign/
2. Google Trends is definitely one of Google’s many under utilized tools. It basically tracks every google search and rates it relative to all searches across the world. Last month, Google made some handy charts for the tool and explained its function pretty nicely on their blog. (http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2013/05/top-charts-in-google-trendsthe-most.html) There are lots of discussions about the utility of the tool (ie whether or not it can be useful in market/election predictions or how it might help advertisers like us hone in on cultural trends), but either way, the fact that we can see what the entire world is interested in right this very second is totally mesmerizing.
http://www.google.com/trends/hottrends/visualize?nrow=15&ncol=15
3. Tactile learning, reading for the blind, and comic books are usually not lumped into the same project. Interactive design student Phillip Meyer challenged that when he created the world’s first tactile comic book. Using only embossed shapes, Meyer was able to outline an entire life cycle through framed movement. Check it out.
http://www.hallo.pm/life/
4. One of the world’s greatest illustrators, Maurice Sendak, died last year. Over the years he’s provided the most memorable children’s characters in the world, including Max from Where the Wild Things Are, Else Holmelund Minarik’s series Little Bear, and Mickey from In The Night Kitchen. This week would have been his 85th birthday; Google made this awesome Google Doodle as a tribute: http://newsfeed.time.com/2013/06/10/todays-google-doodle-a-tribute-to-maurice-sendak/
5. It’s Father’s Day on Sunday. Celebrate your dad by making him this. The only challenge in this homemade gift is stealing his keys without him noticing it.
http://lifehacker.com/how-to-make-a-swiss-army-key-ring-511104818
Have you ever met those people who love everything a company creates? It’s almost like they’re unable to form an objective opinion about the product because the brand is attached to it. Yep, that’s brand loyalty, and if you can get it, you’re golden.
What Is Brand Loyalty?
When consumers purchase a product out of brand loyalty it’s usually built on a past experience. For instance, the product performed well, the company has great customer service, or maybe the consumer just identifies with the brand on some unique level. Brand loyalty generally suggests a predispositional commitment toward a brand. Believe us, brand loyalty is a good thing to have.
How Can Companies Achieve Brand Loyalty For Their Products?
Brand will always be the connection between the product and its customer. It’s pretty clear that to achieve brand loyalty your brand needs to be memorable and attractive. Many companies can achieve this from good solid advertising, keeping up on social media and appealing to the masses by being on top of cultural trends.
Deliver On Promises
In addition to a solid and recognizable brand, companies need to keep their word. If they say they have the lowest prices, the best quality, or any other superlative they’re going to have to back it up with results.
When companies fail to deliver, news gets out fast. Sources like Yelp are proof that broken promises and poor services become public knowledge immediately. Often there is no recovering from an online argument or poor review.
Keep It Ethical
Reputation really matters! We exist in a consumer market that’s largely driven by word of mouth recommendation, plus word of mouth spreads faster than ever before. A company’s ethical history, not only with consumer interaction, but as an employer as well, becomes incredibly significant. It makes sense, People choose not to frequent stores that treat their customers poorly, they are turned off over stories of unethical employee practices.
Have a brand you adore? Tell us all about it in the comments or on our Facebook!
1. Want to make five dollars a day by hanging some paper off your face? It’s a real job, so all that time you spent on your BA in Liberal Arts is worth something!
http://beardvertising.com/
2. Last week we discussed the great places 3D printing will take advertising. Now, we’d like to show you the amazing place it will take medicine.
http://www.neatorama.com/2013/04/21/3D-Printed-Sonograms-for-Blind-Parents/
3. Onstar used to really impress us. The QR code on open house flyers also really impressed us. The two met and got married. Ideally, after an accident drivers are in good enough shape to get out their smart phones and get help. http://www.wired.com/autopia/2013/05/mercedes-qr-code/
4. You know those crazy movies where robots get too smart and turn on humans? Well there is a new robot that refills empty beer glasses based on human drinking behavior. How could this possibly go wrong?
http://news.cornell.edu/stories/2013/04/think-ahead-robots-anticipate-human-actions
5. You’ve seen Echo-Factory’s amazing “We’re Sorry” voodoo doll kit. This designer has the same sort of idea, except her kit heals broken hearts. We’re pretty sure she could make a nice chunk of change if she placed it next to the TV dinners.
http://www.fastcodesign.com/1672656/love-hurts-a-breakup-kit-to-mend-your-broken-heart#1
The buzz surrounding 3D printing is undeniable. From jewelry to weapons, the new technology is guaranteed to change everything we know about manufacturing, product creation and even design.
The possibilities behind the 3D printer are astounding. Think about it, an idea can become a product immediately, and the only cost is design and prototyping. Once the product catches on in the market, old manufacturing techniques are available for mass production, but there is a low-cost experimental stage that requires very little in terms upfront cost (aside from the printer price tag). The technology just makes sense for both consumers and manufacturers.
How Will It Change Advertising?
Well, we’ve got a couple theories in the works.
First, We’ve Got To Keep Up
One thing is certain, the 3D printer is really something advertisers need to embrace, and soon.
Everyone knows that in order for advertising to work, we need to be informed on the latest of everything, from trends to technology. Clearly, as technology offers faster solutions and immediate gratification, our jobs become increasingly fast paced.
Unlike our advertising forefathers, we’re under a different kind of deadline; we’re expected to reach customers as quickly as possible and as creatively as possible, but our deadline relies on the speed of the evolving technology of our society.
Second, We’ve Got To Encourage
Once we become experts in 3D printing, we’ve got to get our clients to realize its potential. Just like we’ve convinced clients to utilize the endless possibilities of social media, we’re going to have to do the same for 3D printing (and the technology after that, and the technology after that).
The consumer today expects more than what it used to. They have the world at their fingertips, and get to choose where their dollar goes more than ever. Consumers love the idea of tweaking or designing their own version of a product and having it printed especially for them, and it’s not long before they’ll not only be impressed by 3D printing, they will come to expect it.
Finally, We’ve Got To Produce
Right now advertising agencies are making lots of pretty things to look at, clever things to read, and interesting things to hear. Next we have to make things to touch. We’re talking about tangible items that fill in a marginalized gap somewhere between physical craft and virtual craft.
The challenge is that the things we print can’t be tchotchkes that offer nothing, they have to be pieces of design that encourage, inspire and enlighten.
Go ahead and learn more with this awesome video:
http://www.textually.org/3DPrinting/2013/01/031585.htm
1.You’ve heard people say there is a science to everything, except we always sort of thought that statement excluded the arts. Statistician Vinny Bruzzese disagrees; in fact, he’s “solved” the creativity equation for screen plays. If money is the only goal for creativity then he might just be right?
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/06/business/media/solving-equation-of-a-hit-film-script-with-data.html?_r=1&
2. In the very rare case that you don’t know what a hexadecimal is, that’s okay. We won’t nerd out on you with matrices or anything. Just know that hexidecimal time and color was combined to make this really nifty clock. And, after watching the clock you become fascinated with the concept here’s the simplified conversion:
One Traditional Day= Sixteen Hexadecimal Hours
One Traditional Hour = 256 Hexadecimal Minutes
One Traditional Minute = 21.09 Hexadecimal Seconds
One Traditional Second= 1.32 Hexadecimal Seconds
Your linear algebra professor would be proud.
http://thecolourclock.co.uk/
3. If you’ve got a kid that really wants a pet fish, but you already know you’re going to be the one cleaning the tank and flushing the doomed guy down the toilet in a few months, you might think of learning some tips from resin artist Keng Lye.
http://www.thisiscolossal.com/2013/04/three-dimensional-animals-painted-in-layers-of-resin-by-keng-lye/
4.The snuggie boom is a great example of a goofy product getting attention thanks to Internet humor. The same is true for the Hutzler 571 Banana Slicer on Amazon. The 4,000+ absurd reviews has made it the #5 best selling kitchen slicer on the site. Read through the reviews and have yourself a good laugh.
http://www.amazon.com/Hutzler-571-Banana-Slicer/dp/B0047E0EII
5. It’s important to leave a good impression with your clients. So, when a Brazilian cheese company decided to print their business cards on a tiny wallet friendly cheese grater we were both impressed and hungry for some Parmigiano-Reggiano.
http://gizmodo.com/of-course-a-cheese-store-has-a-tiny-grater-business-car-505465406
