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
Shoes Meet Instagram
The days of personalizing your shoes with a sharpie in Algebra are officially gone. Nike successfully targeted every shoe enthusiast/hipster on the planet earlier this month with their new marketing campaign Nike Photoid. Plus they did it for almost free.
Cupcake Inspired Shoes!
The company took advantage of the popularity of Instagram and paired it with everyone’s secret desire to design their very own special pair of kicks. Basically, potential customers are encouraged to visit Photoid.Nike.com and grant the site permission to their Instagram account. Then users pick the style they want and design away, their treasured Instagram memories are dropped in as the background. When customers are through they can order the pair for anywhere between $135-$200.
It’s incredibly easy and fun to fool around with: Win
It’s totally free for Nike: Win
Win. Win.
Plus, It’s Impeccable Timing
But there’s more. In addition to the increased sales, building a new type of brand loyalty, and not needing shoe designers for this project, Nike’s campaign has perfect timing.
Earlier this week Instagram introduced a new feature that allows users to tag their photos (much like their parent company Facebook).
Tag Away!
Rather than just use hash tags and @s, the “Photos of You” feature encourages users to tag not only their friends, but brands they follow.
It’s perfect for a company like Nike, with over 1.3 million users, and only 600 of their own photos; they can showcase their products as highlighted by users without doing any actual marketing.
Other brands will have the same good luck. For instance, if Beyonce tags H&M in her photo, the clothing company reaches almost 4 million of her followers immediately.
Maybe Instagram won’t need to advertise after all.
1. As our past Friday Fives have evinced, we are fascinated by unconventional mediums for artistic expression. Brilliant and talented artist, Rashad Alakbarov, uses found objects to “paint” his walls with shadows.
http://catinwater.com/2012/08/21/rashad-alakbarov-paints-with-shadows-and-light/
2. Gamers rejoice, you no longer have to pull out your phone to order a pizza. Unfortunately, you’re still going to leave your parent’s basement to get the door. Oh, and don’t forget the Mountain Dew.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-57580998-71/breakthrough-order-pizza-hut-from-your-xbox/
3. If Facebook is about collecting the most friends, then the Buddy Cup by Budweiser might be on the right track. It’s basically a cup that connects to your Facebook, and when you bump cups in celebration it automatically adds the other cup holder to your friends list. The drawback: Usually, you don’t want to give access to your place of work, life events and photos to 90% of people you meet in a bar. A for effort?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FdnssHlcRk
4. A couple of our clients have helped make us experts in lighting and energy-efficiency. So when this article hit newsstands last week, we were pretty stoked. It combines the astronomer within us all with our invested interest in lighting.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-22292129
5. Everyone knows all about engagement marketing; corporations have their customers participate in their marketing by letting them take a crack at their brand. Whether it’s voting for your favorite flavor, with Lays potato chips, or coming up with a commercial for the super bowl like Dove Soap. This designer made his own fake ice cream flavors based on pop culture. Although he hasn’t been hired by Ben and Jerry’s yet, it did prompt the company to release an official statement that Ron Swanson’s “All the Bacon and Eggs You Have” is not a real flavor. We’re curious, hungry and craving “Dude Food”.
http://jonnyetc.prosite.com/18214/220082/portfolio-/pop-culture-ice-creams
Starting back in 1995, World Graphics Day began to bring designers and artists together to celebrate communicative and graphic design. The day was created by Icograda, the International Council of Graphic Design Associations. Founded in 1963, Icograda is a non-profit, non-partisan, member based network of individuals that actively promotes the significance and value of design practice, education, thinking and research world wide. Members strive to represent interdisciplinary collaboration and the collective voice of the design industry.
Happy World Graphics Day!
Icograda, coupled with this special celebration of art and design fostered an important discussion at Echo-Factory about the wonderful job our designers do, and the enormous influence of communicative design. For us, it’s a huge part of why we do what we do, and why we’re good at it. However, it’s a lot more than just that.
Through the years we’ve come to realize that graphic design and visual literacy has become one of the most influential professions. Every day we are fortunate to be part of a movement that becomes more and more significant to human interaction.
Just How Valuable Is Creativity?
After years of discrimination in the work place, the creative industry is finally a place of esteem and value. In a hotly contested New York Times article back in 2008, “Let the Computers Compute. It’s the Age of the Right Brain” Janet Rae-Dupree posits that the marginalization of alternate thinking in corporate America is not only a thing of the past, it’s now a celebrated and sought-out skill.
We are in a time in which computers can perform most of the sequential skills of the brain’s left hemisphere, but what makes humans different from these computers is the creative ability.
Our Take Away
Individuals across the world are often bound by emotional reactions to art; together artists and those that appreciate works of art can experience something that technology can offer in a limited sense. So, go out and appreciate graphic communication, a painting, a book of illustrations or photography. Thank an artist for giving you something priceless.
Happy World Graphics Day!
1. The 3D printer could to be a household appliance in the near future; it even got a shout out back in February from President Obama during his State of the Union Address for how it will change the way we manufacture and make things. We’ll see about that, I mean, my regular printer is jammed right now. In the meantime this 3D pen is a whole different ball game. Is it too close to the puff paint of the 80’s? We say no.
http://www.thisiscolossal.com/2013/02/the-worlds-first-3d-printing-pen-that-lets-you-draw-sculptures-in-real-time/
2. A copywriter with a blog, copyblogger, makes a compelling argument about being concise. Her best advice: practice with Twitter. http://www.copyblogger.com/twitter-writing/
3. We’ve discussed packaging on our Friday Five before. It’s sort of the money maker for products. With that in mind, we are really pleased with some of these packages. Although the conceptual penguin juice boxes might be a little too cute to stab in the head with a straw and consume. Check it out:
http://www.themost10.com/creative-packaging-design-part-ii/
4. If you’re trying to spend some time away from your devices, that’s a tough order to fill. Especially with these apps. http://coolmaterial.com/roundup/10-new-apps-you-should-know/ Maybe just enjoy for a little bit?
5. Andrew got us on the puppy bandwagon on Wednesday. So it’s decided: puppies help sell ads and the company needs one. Mike said we’d have to ask Dea. Roni says she’s not cleaning up after it, but the rest of us are seriously on board. Please comment your name suggestions below.
http://www.webpop.com/blog/2013/04/16/can-a-puppy-sell-a-cms
