This is a great talk from TEDx from one of the founders of 37signals, the makers of basecamp (this is my second post about them in a month, does that make me a fanboy?) The video is a bit long but absolutely worth the watch.
If you just want the Cliffs Notes:
Work is like sleep. You don’t lay down and go to sleep immediately. You also don’t sit down at your desk and immediately start doing great work- You have to get into the groove.
Interruptions are bad. If I woke you up every thirty minutes to ask you a question, would you get a good night of sleep? If I walk over to your desk and tap you on the shoulder every thirty minutes, are you going to have a productive day at work?
Meetings are poison. 8 people in a 1 hour meeting is really an 8 hour meeting, not a 1 hour meeting. Could you chat with one or two people for a few minutes and accomplish the same goals, you would be surprised at how often the answer is yes.
Microsoft just got served. Google has officially unveiled their Chrome Operating System and Cr-48 computer and handily beat Microsoft at their own game of advancing cloud computing. The new computer runs programs that are almost entirely cloud based but can also run in offline mode (and sync when brought online) meaning that you can get to your documents from anywhere. Click the picture above to watch the video from Google.
The new OS will get apps from the Chrome marketplace and will be tied to your Google account. So what does this mean for a Charlotte graphic design company? We use Google Apps for our business email and it sure would be nice to ditch our finicky server, always know our machines were up to date and be sure we’re working on the latest version of a document. The technology is still young, and there will certainly be bumps in the road. But I think this is the official start of the cloud computing arms race.
The World Wildlife Fund has just released a new file format, appropriately called .wwf, that acts just like a PDF but the key difference is that this format can't be printed. The goal is to stop all of the needless printing that happens on a daily basis. I'm not sure how practical it is but it sure is a lot more effective than the those silly "Please consider the environment before you print this email" signatures....
Pepsi, Foursquare, and a grocery store called Vons (owned by Safeway) have teamed up to offer customized coupons to their shoppers. Instead of the standard frequency based rewards system used by foursquare, this program will offer rewards to you based on when and where you check in. If you check in early in the morning you might get an offer for a free pound of coffee. If you check in at the library a few times maybe you'll get a coupon for an energy drink to take with you the next time you go.
The program will link with the stores existing loyalty card so the data collected can easily be compared to and combined with existing Shopper Insights. Only time will tell if this program will be successful but in the battle for customer loyalty, every little bit helps.
Check out this article from Fast Company on “Undesigned” websites and programs. It’s a trend that’s been picking up steam recently; designing websites stripped of extraneous content to increase usability and decrease distraction. Some people have even stripped design out of website after the fact with programs like Readability. It may be getting more attention but it’s nothing new.
When we started the search for a Project Management system here at birdsong gregory, we looked at dozens of programs and Basecamp seemed to be the ugly duckling. It was the “undesigned” option and didn’t have any cool graphics or transitions. After a few months of using another program, the novelty of those graphics and transitions had worn off and been replaced by frustration from laggy performance and lost data. We went running back in to Basecamp’s “undesigned” arms and we couldn’t be happier. The point is that people don’t want bad design or websites with no design, they just want simple design that lets them get to the point- and that’s no easy task.
While some people have declared web design to be dead, this is simply the next evolution in web design and I, for one, couldn't be happier.
The FTC has just announced that they will begin enforcing a set of new marketing guidelines aimed at companies making green claims. So terms that mean nothing, such as “Eco-friendly”, won’t be as easy to use in the future and all claims will need specific, measured evidence to support them. That even applies to adding third party certifications.
The scope of this change is pretty massive, effecting everything from Packaging Design to Consumer Promotions. While this is something that really never should have been an issue in the first place, it’s good to see the FTC stepping in and laying down a few ground rules. Check them out Here.
Click the image to check out the App Inventor homepage
Jared’s last post was a great one. Technology is changing Shopper Marketing and the way we shop at a rate we’ve never seen before and mobile technology is leading the charge. QR codes and mobile coupons are certainly retail marketing technologies of the future, and will become more and more common as time goes on, but all of these programs are sponsored and executed by the retailers themselves, not the people shopping in the stores.
That may not be the case for long though – especially now that invites for the Google App Inventor are rolling out to more people. The premise is simple – give people the ability to write their own mobile apps with drag and drop ease, and then let them share it with anyone they want. This means that mobile apps no longer need to have a big budget and an army of coders to write them – just one person and a few hours on the weekend.
The potential for groups and shoppers to use this technology is huge. See a deal on cat food? Send out a quick message to your Queen City Kitties Club (not a real group… I think) with the price and a GPS position to help them navigate, and the next thing you know the corner store is selling out. The technology is still young, but when you combine people with a lot passion with simple but powerful technology big things are sure to happen.
Eyes are cool things. They let you see, experience and do things that would be pretty difficult otherwise. I know that’s a strange theme for a blog post but bear with me. I’ve come across these two projects recently and I thought it was an interesting dichotomy.
The first story is an inspirational one. It's about using eyes to communicate when there are no other options. It centers around a graffiti artist known as Tempt who has lost all movement due to advanced stage Lou Gehrig’s Disease. His only communication method was an eye tracking system that cost nearly $1500 dollars and simply didn’t work all that well. A group of artists and programmers decided they could do better and made a system for about $50, using off the shelf components and open source software. The resulting system is both amazing and inspiring- I can only imagine what these guys felt watching Tempt virtually tag his name for the first time in years. The video is 5 minutes but absolutely worth it- Pure bliss.
The second story is the scary side of eyes. A company called Global Rainmakers Inc. (which sounds more like a rap group than a biometrics company) has announced that they will be installing eye scanners in the Mexican city of Leon. Like the first story, this is a new generation of technology. These are iris scanners that will eventually be able to scan and confirm your identity from hundreds of feet away while you are walking down the street and the prices are expected to come down to the $50-$100 dollar range per scanner. The scariest quote from the story is related to not joining the iris database “ When you get masses of people opting-in, opting out does not help. Opting out actually puts more of a flag on you than just being part of the system. We believe everyone will opt-in”.
Image from Fast Company: Click through for the full story
It’s normally too simplistic to qualify things as good or evil in the world but in this case it's a pretty easy call.
You have to check out these extensions of the Old Spice Body Wash commercial. While most consumer promotions exist only at a very high level and have no customer involvement, these videos go the exact opposite direction and respond directly to one person with spot on sarcasm. To be honest, I like these spots more than the original commercials and they do a great job of connecting with the audience. Click the link to see the rest.
That's the phrase our copywriter, Phillip, lives by and it was the first thing I thought of when I saw this video. It takes an extremely complicated problem, the US Education system, and boils it down to the core elements and presents a quick and easy to understand overview. As a Charlotte Graphic Design agency, we make a living expressing ideas through the use of imagery and we always appreciate great work from others. Check out more from GOOD here.
A few months ago I wrote about an endeavor called Project H, which set off around the country in an Airstream Trailer to "Connect the power of design with the people who need it most". Well they have wrapped up their journey now and this article is a pretty fascinating look into what they did and where they went. Their insights into how people of different ages react to alternative designs was the most touching part for me. It was a great mission and I wish them the best of luck setting up shop in Bertie County, North Carolina.
Side Note: If you are offended by the occasional use of words that could get your mouth washed out with soap- Click through with caution!
Check out these new cards from a small company called fomato. Lots of sarcasm and wit, in fact I think I may need this one for a few people I know! Click the picture to see more of their work.
One of our clients, WEIMA America, recently asked us to help them with an invitation and several pieces of collateral for an event with their dealer representatives and we were only too happy to oblige. The time line was tight and we had to be resourceful, but the results were stellar nonetheless (if I do say so myself) and I thought I would take a minute to share.
The theme of the event was "Let's Shred". WEIMA is one of the leading manufacturers of shredding, grinding and briquetting equipment in the world so the connection there was pretty obvious.
On the interior, the secondary hook was "You shred the course, We'll shred the rest"- a play on the round of golf the dealers are playing on the second day- and the invite then opened up to give more details on the event and where to RSVP. Inside the box were golf balls we shredded in one of WEIMA's machines (safety glasses on kids!) and one pristine golf ball from Precept, branded with WEIMA America's logo. We didn't want the golf ball to move around too much during shipping so we used a piece of PVC pipe, cut to one inch lengths, to hold it in place.
To top it off, the completed invitations came in at under two dollars a piece, the result of some ingenuity and a bit of internal sweat equity . This was one of Lauren's first projects since joining the team and she really knocked it out of the park. A big thanks also goes out to Vikki and Rita from WEIMA for helping to assemble this guy.
It’s a bummer to make a mistake. It’s an even bigger bummer when that mistake ends up costing you 1.6 Million dollars! That was the reality for a zappos.com sister site, 6pm.com, last Friday. Between the hours of midnight and 6am, the site accidentally capped their products at $49.99 and considering their items routinely run into the $800-$1000 mark, that’s quite the deal.
Instead of voiding the transactions to cover their loses (a la the $9.99 52 inch Plasma TV from Best Buy), they have decided honor their prices:
"While we’re sure this was a great deal for customers, it was inadvertent, and we took a big loss (over $1.6 million - ouch) selling so many items so far under cost. However, it was our mistake. We will be honoring all purchases that took place on 6pm.com during our mess up. We apologize to anyone that was confused and/or frustrated during out little hiccup and thank you all for being such great customers. We hope you continue to Shop. Save. Smile. at 6pm.com." (read the whole letter)
It takes a big company to admit a mistake like that and then decide to eat the loss anyway. They sure lost a lot of money, but they gained a lot of respect in the process.
As a side note: In one of the updates Tony Hsieh, the CEO, answers the questions of whether anyone got fired and the answer is no, saying "...nobody was fired - this was a learning experience for all of us". Talk about sticking up for your employees as well as your customers!
A little while ago I posted about a design competition, Lift Hold Roll, that encouraged creativity with every day objects. Well, the results are in and they are nothing short of spectacular. Click the image to check out the Core 77 post on the show.
If I were to ask you what the latest ad campaign from Wendy’s was, would you be able to name it? I’m guessing not. How about Burger King? I think that would be a different story…
The BK King has become an icon in the US in the last few years and by watching the commercials, it’s easy to see why. The combination of sarcasm and comedy is spot on and the commercials really do leave a mark. Which leaves poor old Wendy’s in the dark, right? Not quite!
A survey done by Vivaldi Lightspeed paints a (possibly) surprising picture; people by far and away trust Wendy’s more than BK and are more likely to recommend them as a result. So the question becomes; what do these ads and social media strategies accomplish? Well the argument could be made that the BK commercials have done more to raise their Ad Agencies image than BK itself!
The reality of the situation is that if people are going to be truly attracted to your brand, your ads need to focus around an undeniable brand truth. For Wendy’s, that was the fact that their products are of a higher quality than others and they had the info to back it up. A quote from the info graphic (linked above and here) says it best. "The BK campaign might be funny but it doesn't motivate me to have a hamburger at BK today."
I would like to have a moment of silence for the death of the Floppy Disc. Sony, the last manufacturer of the floppy disc, has announced that they will stop production in March of 2011. Now I can't claim that I was part of the workforce when these guys were still popular, but I can't help but laugh when I think about needing 10 discs to move our packaging design. While the floppy will no longer be a main stream product (if you could ever call it that), I'll be interested to see if any fan fueled passion pops up like it did with the Polaroid instant film did.
We got a letter in the mail last week for one of our designers. I know, how shocking! We're a Charlotte Advertising Agency so we get lots of mail but this particular letter stood out. It was addressed to one of our designers but the front of the envelope had bold, all capital letters that stated "PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL". And if that wasn't enough to pique my interest, the return address was written cryptically on the back of the envelope.
Our designer was out for the entire week preparing for a move but I knew I would be seeing her on Friday. The envelope sat on my desk, searing it's private and confidential nature into my brain. "What could it be?" I thought. Is she a spy for the Soviet Union? Has she turned states evidence against the mob and this is her information to join the Witness Protection Program? The possibilities were endless!
So imagine my delight when I was able to deliver this important message to her on Friday. Something marked "PRIVATE AND CONFIDENTIAL" would surely be an important document she was eagerly awaiting. Well that delight quickly turned to confusion mixed with a healthy dose of outrage when she showed it to me:
A form letter from a printing company? Ridiculous! Now my first impression of this company is that they are A. Disingenuous at best, really more like dishonest and B. In need of cheap tricks in order to get you to look at their materials. Double whammy and I'll probably never use the company in the future because of it.
The bottom line is that honesty is not a bad way to approach someone and tricking people is. I'm sure this letter was opened more than some of their other letters but I'm nearly certain it didn't give anyone a better impression. Theres no need for tricks or obfuscation- just tell people who you are and what you do. If you have done your job well up to that point then that person will see that and appreciate your honesty.
I found this great video of the new exhibition featuring the work of Dieter Rams. Rams is one of the most prolific product designers in history and this is the first retrospective of his work since he retired in 1998. Rams spent most of his career at Braun but contributed to the design of dozens of different products. His influence is still just as strong today. Many people have pointed out the influence of Rams on Jonathan Ive, the head of design at Apple.
Thats the driving force behind Project H, a group of designers, architects and builders who believe that design can be more than pretty. They are travelling the country in an Airstream trailer helping educational institutes solve their worst problems through creativity and design.
Their latest project is a year long stay in Bertie County North Carolina, the poorest county in the state. Their initiatives range from connecting the county through high speed internet to setting up a training center called Studio H. It's an inspirational cause that I'll be following throughout the year for sure.
Powered by Compendium