Sell or Else

Moving To Tumblr

2012-01-26T15:17:00.000-06:00

After 3 years of being on blogger, I've caved in and decided to join Tumblr. The new blog's URL will be: ShonNotSean.Tumblr.com and I'm calling it "The View From Here." Hope you guys continue to keep reading on the new site!

Johannesburg Taxis & Kwaito House Music

2011-12-21T11:01:00.001-06:00

Vice recently released episode 5 of their show , All the Wrong Places. This episode tells the story about Kwaito artists struggling to get their sound on the radio in South Africa and how they reached out to taxi drivers to help spread the music. For those who are familiar, this may remind you of how TEDxBuenosAires reached out to taxi drivers to help spread TED messages. What's special about the Kwaito example is that it represents a more symbiotic relationship between the driver and the passenger.

In the video, one of the cab drivers explained that kids will actually pass on available taxis until they hear one playing the music they like. The drivers get dedicated customers, the kids get an enjoyable ride, and the artists get their music heard. Compare that to New York - you hop in to whatever is available and hop right out once you get to your destination. The video autoplays so I didn't embed it here. You can watch the 10 minute episode on Vice. If you want to hear some Kwaito, here's a song from Brickz, one of the artists featured in the episode.

The thing that doesn't fit is the most interesting

2011-12-21T10:48:00.000-06:00

Richard Feynman was one of America's great physicists and I'm a huge fan of the way he thinks. The clip above is an excerpt from, The Pleasure of Finding Things Out. You can watch the entire film on Google videos.

YouTube Launches Merch Store

2011-12-21T10:25:00.001-06:00

"Fans will be able to buy artists’ merchandise, digital downloads, concert tickets and even unique experiences like meetups. These features are made possible through affiliates like Topspin for merchandise, concert tickets and experiences; Songkick for concerts; and iTunes and Amazon for music downloads. We’ll be rolling out the Merch Store to music partners globally over the coming weeks" YouTube Blog

Leisure Suit Legends of the 80s

2011-10-26T11:11:00.001-05:00

Fab Ciraolo, an illustrator based in Santiago, Chile, gives 1980s cartoon heroes a more laidback look. Can we all agree on how awesome this is? See the rest the pictures here.

Core77 and Crayons

2011-10-20T16:33:00.006-05:00

Rich Brilliant Willing, a design team based in New York, designed Core77's first trophy for their Design Awards. You can read more about the Core77 Design Awards here.

“We were inspired by a ‘mold’ as an image and symbol of manufacturing and design. In our discussions with Core77, we came to realize that an inherent pitfall of the iconic trophy is that it is shared by a group, yet not literally divisible among that group. We wondered if an award could, in some way, recognize the various contributors, beyond symbolic meaning alone. Our solution for the inaugural Core77 Design Awards Trophy has a functional value: winning teams can create ingots from the trophy, and provide these cast facsimiles to their collaborators, clients and staff.”

The Doodle Revolution

2011-10-16T19:05:00.002-05:00

In 1996, Switzerland hosted the World Economic Forum. Topics such as the oil crisis and other global issues were discussed by the world’s top leaders. At the end of the conference, a doodle drawn by former prime minister, Tony Blair, was found. The doodle was psychoanalyzed by graphologists who claimed Blair was aggressive and unstable. The media and public were in an outrage, because it appeared that Blair was trivializing the serious issues by doodling. In the end, the doodle ended up belonging to Bill Gates.

For the most part, doodling has been given a bad rap. It’s perceived as inappropriate behavior in almost any learning environment as well as most businesses. Sunni Brown, leader of The Doodle Revolution and author of Game Storming, is working hard to change this cultural bias.

Brown argues that people doodling are actually paying more attention. They are doing it as a pre-emptive measure to stop from losing focus. Research has proven that information is retained more efficiently when combining stimuli. Doodling helps because you are engaging four types of stimulation: visual, auditory, reading/writing, and kinesthetic. Several studies are also starting to pop up supporting Brown’s opinion. Jackie Andrade, a professor at the University of Plymouth, published a study finding a 29 percent increase in information retention gained by doodlers.

As a fellow doodler, it’s comforting to know that there are others out there who process information the same way I do. You can watch Brown discuss and defend doodlers in her recent TED talk here.

Occupy Wall Street and the Internet

2011-10-15T23:11:00.001-05:00

I've been reading a lot of critisim about OWS lately, specifically about how the movement is "lacking a consistent message." All of this negativity got me thinking about successful movements in the past and how they positioned their demands. I don't think there was any difference between then and now besides one huge factor - the internet. Thanks to the internet, we're able to see OWS from so many different angles through so many different voices, and I hate hearing people discount the cause because of it.

Douglas Rushkoff, writer for CNN, wrote an opinion article that really expressed how I was feeling in ways I could not. I posted a portion of his article below, but I urge you to read the whole thing on CNN. The photo above was taken by an amazing photographer named Dylan Hollingsworth. If you don't live in New York, please take a minute to look through the album and see what's going on up here.

"It is difficult to comprehend a 21st century movement from the perspective of the 20th century politics, media, and economics in which we are still steeped. In fact, we are witnessing America's first true Internet-era movement, which -- unlike civil rights protests, labor marches, or even the Obama campaign -- does not take its cue from a charismatic leader, express itself in bumper-sticker-length goals and understand itself as having a particular endpoint.

Are they ready to articulate exactly what that problem is and how to address it? No, not yet. But neither are Congress or the president who, in thrall to corporate America and Wall Street, respectively, have consistently failed to engage in anything resembling a conversation as cogent as the many I witnessed as I strolled by Occupy Wall Street's many teach-ins this morning. There were young people teaching one another about, among other things, how the economy works, about the disconnection of investment banking from the economy of goods and services, the history of centralized interest-bearing currency, the creation and growth of the derivatives industry, and about the Obama administration deciding to settle with, rather than investigate and prosecute the investment banking industry for housing fraud.

Anyone who says he has no idea what these folks are protesting is not being truthful. Whether we agree with them or not, we all know what they are upset about, and we all know that there are investment bankers working on Wall Street getting richer while things for most of the rest of us are getting tougher. (...) Occupy Wall Street is meant more as a way of life that spreads through contagion, creates as many questions as it answers, aims to force a reconsideration of the way the nation does business and offers hope to those of us who previously felt alone in our belief that the current economic system is broken."

Internet Memory Lane

2011-09-26T13:21:00.001-05:00

Evolution of the Web has created an incredible visual timeline of the browsers we've used and the technology that has accompanied them. I felt a little pang of nostalgia scrolling through screenshots of Netscape. It definitely takes me back to my middle school days.

Osaka Water Clock

2011-09-19T15:53:00.002-05:00

Lifespan of Links

2011-09-10T12:42:00.011-05:00

Bit.Ly's lead scientist, Hilary Mason, explored the shelf life of links shared through their service. "Ms. Mason discovered that the average half life of a link on Twitter is 2.8 hours. On Facebook it’s 3.2 hours, and for e-mail and messenger services it’s 3.4 hours. This means a link gets an extra 24 minutes of life on Facebook compared to Twitter. (...) Links shared from YouTube hit their half life after 7.4 hours." You can read the full article here

Gimme Bar

2011-08-31T13:10:00.002-05:00

Gimme Bar is a new (beta) bookmarking service that is giving Pinterest a run for its money. GB allows you to save pictures, text, screenshots, and most videos. Your items are then organized by hashtags and placed into buckets. As a bonus, everything you save is automatically backed up into your dropbox. They have a quick 2 minute video explaining all of Gimme Bar's features (which is also hilarious btw). You can watch it below.

James' Face

2011-08-31T11:30:00.001-05:00

Oli Beale, a writer at Mother London, is one funny guy.

Here's his description of the photo above: I like going onto my friends facebook page, taking photos of him, changing his face slightly then putting them back up on facebook. He doesn't like me doing this.

See the rest of this series and have a good laugh over here.

Essential Organization

2011-08-31T11:22:00.002-05:00

Artist and comedian, Ursus Wehrli, makes me feel like I'm not alone with his new book, The Art of Clean Up. In the book, Ursus rearranges everyday objects and environments as he sees fit. See more pictures like above at PSFK.

SXSW Interactive: The Future & Evolution of Online Dating

2011-08-17T09:55:00.025-05:00

Below is my first ever proposal to speak at South by Southwest. There were over 3,000 submissions (almost 1,000 more than last year) and there are only 500 slots available. The public vote is open from now until September 2nd. If my idea interests you, please take a minute to sign up and vote for it here.

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Idea:

"The 90’s introduced adolescents to the wonders of dial-up Internet, screen names, and the pursuit of digital romance. The only problem was we never truly knew who was on the other end of the screen. Today, there is an increased level of transparency thanks to the help of social networks and dating sites. We now share our real names, photos, and tidbits of personal information. Since the beginning, dating sites have used search algorithms to connect people, however little has changed since then. These engines leverage information people provide to create connections, but what if the information submitted isn't true? Sites such as Match.com are starting to evolve their methods by pairing search algorithms with user behavior to provide more accurate recommendations. This presentation will give a nostalgic view of the past, cover best practices, and include video snippets of interviews with leaders in the digital dating industry as well as couples who met online to provide a unique consumer perspective."

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Eli Pariser gave a very inspiring TED talk back in May. He said, "as web companies strive to tailor their services to our personal tastes, there's a dangerous unintended consequence: We get trapped in a "filter bubble" and don't get exposed to information that could challenge or broaden our worldview." The situation is almost identical with online dating. If dating algorithms continue to focus on tailoring their recommendations to people then where does that leave spontaneity and chance?

The Joshua Bell Experience

2011-08-02T10:03:00.002-05:00

A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin (...) He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that thousands of people went through the station (...) The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.

In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped (...) When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition. No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars.

I've only been living in New York for about seven months, but I've noticed that people tend to disconnect themselves from their environment. I've seen people walk past some of the most amazing musicians on train platforms and not even bat an eye. I just wish people would slow down and take time to see and hear all the amazing things happening around them. The video above was a performance I filmed at Columbus station around 2:30 am. Hope you enjoy it. You can read the rest of the article about Joshua Bell here.

Kalan Sherrard Performance in Brooklyn

2011-08-02T09:47:00.000-05:00

This is a short video I made of Kalan Sherrard's puppet show. I tried to capture the experience of Kalan's performance from my point of view. I have never seen so many people happy, confused, and a little put off all at the same time, haha. This was filmed at Bushwick's 2011 block party and it was awesome. Please visit EnormousFace to view the rest of his work.

Happily Ever After

2011-07-20T13:41:00.000-05:00

Social media has no understanding of anything aside from the connections between individuals and the ceaseless flow of time: No beginnings, and no endings. These disparate threads of human existence alternately fascinate and horrify that part of the media world that grew up on topic sentences and strong conclusions. This world of old media is like a giant steampunk machine that organizes time into stories. I call it the Epiphanator, and it has always known the value of a meaningful conclusion. The Epiphanator sits in midtown Manhattan and clunks along, at Condé Nast and at the Times and in Rockefeller Center. Once a day it makes a terrible grinding noise and spits out newspapers and TV shows. Once a week it spits out weeklies and more TV shows. Once a month it produces glossy magazines. All too often it makes movies, and novels.

At the end of every magazine article, before the "■," is the quote from the general in Afghanistan that ties everything together. The evening news segment concludes by showing the secretary of State getting back onto her helicopter. There's the kiss, the kicker, the snappy comeback, the defused bomb. The Epiphanator transmits them all. It promises that things are orderly. It insists that life makes sense, that there is an underlying logic.

The excerpt above basically says that old school media has trained our brains to expect a conclusion at the end of every story. The problem with today's new media, i.e. Facebook, is that it doesn't provide us with that luxury. Instead, we get an infinite stream of information that goes in no particular direction or builds up to any real meaning. You can read the rest of the article on NY Magazine.

Red Bull Creation 2011

2011-07-11T15:04:00.000-05:00

Here's a quick clip I made of Red Bull's Creation event this past Sunday. Four teams had 72 hours to concept and create a machine capable of moving a person from point A to point B. No fossil fuels were allowed. The panel of judges included Flash Hopkins, Simone Davalos, Glenn Derene and John “Parts” Taylor. Teams came from all over the US: Cali, Detroit, etc. Musical entertainment provided by That 1 Guy.

Please Don't Like This

2011-07-08T01:12:00.000-05:00

The "like" button began on the website FriendFeed in 2007, appeared on Facebook in 2009, began spreading everywhere from YouTube to Amazon to most major news sites last year, and has now been officially embraced by Google as the agreeable, supportive and more status-conscious "+1." As a result, we can now search not just for information, merchandise and kitten videos on the Internet, but for approval.

Just as stand-up comedians are trained to be funny by observing which of their lines and expressions are greeted with laughter, so too are our thoughts online molded to conform to popular opinion by these buttons. A status update that is met with no likes (or a clever tweet that isn't retweeted) becomes the equivalent of a joke met with silence. (...) And so we don't show our true
selves online, but a mask designed to conform to the opinions of those around us.

Wallstreet Journal knocked it out of the park with this one. You can read the rest here.

N SKY C

2011-07-08T00:59:00.001-05:00

Every five minutes, NSKYC, a site by web designer Mike Bodge, updates with a new snapshot of the average color of the city's sky at that moment. It may sound mundane, but the result is actually fascinating and beautiful. The page has been dominated by varying shades of gray today, but scroll down to the early morning hours to find vibrant blues around 5 a.m., or skip past the black of night for yesterday evening's maroon sunset.

Mike Bodge is one of the cofounders of NY based digital agency, Lolz LLC. They are mad talented and their site (as well as Bodge's blog DeleteYourself) are highly entertaining. Funny side story, I read about five different articles about N SKY C before I realized who made it haha. Read the rest of the snippet above here.

Enal & His Pet Shark

2011-07-08T00:24:00.002-05:00

Whilst few young children are now born on boats, the ocean is still very much their playground and whilst they are getting conflicted messages from their communities, who simultaneously refrain from spitting in the ocean and continue to dynamite its reefs, I still believe they could play a crucial role in the development of western marine conservation practices. Here Enal plays with his pet shark.

Read more about Enal's home and culture here. Photograph taken by James Morgan.

How To Haggle Like Your Old Man

2011-07-07T23:40:00.000-05:00

The Art of Manliness listed out the top tips for any soon-to-be-haggler. The one rule that really resonated with me was: "if someone loses, you did it wrong."

Don’t try to be the victor. Avoid zero-sum games where someone else has to lose in order for you to win. If you negotiate like that, you’ll probably win a few, but you’ll lose just as many and kill a lot of good relationships along the way. Instead, find a way for everyone to win.

I'm definitely using this tip next time I'm at a crossroads with someone in a meeting. You can read the full list as well as a few nice anecdotes here.

Kickstarter Visits Creative Mornings

2011-07-01T13:21:00.000-05:00

On June 28th, I was able to attend Creative Mornings, a monthly breakfast lecture for creative people. There are currently chapters in New York City, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, London and Zurich. The event is half lecture and half group discussion. Yancey Strickler, cofounder of Kickstarter, was this month’s speaker.

Strickler gave the audience an insider’s look into the history of Kickstarter and how it has evolved into what it is today. Since day one, Kickstarter has focused on supporting and increasing involvement within the art community. Projects posted on Kickstarter are encouraged to offer non-monetary incentives for people who pledge money. Instead of offering traditional donation incentives like ‘20% off’, Kickstarter employs a fresh approach in showing gratitude for contributions made. For example, a $50 donation could be met with an upcoming movie featuring a character with a donator’s namesake or you could receive a one of a kind pice of art work. This makes the person pledging money a part of the project rather than just a donor.

One story that he shared in particular really stood out to us. A story that stood out to us involved two men, David and Eric, that had an idea to launch a video game based off of people’s doodles. They set a Kickstarter goal of $20,000 and crossed their fingers. Unfortunately, they didn’t reach their goal in time. A little while later, the duo was e-mailed by a fund manager at X.Million Venture offering to invest $200,000 to help turn it into a full featured game. The point Strickler was trying to make was that Kickstarter isn’t just a place to fund projects anymore. It’s also become a place to scour for talent.

You can watch the full talk above.

Text Offenders

2011-06-03T00:38:00.002-05:00

The Alamo Drafthouse Theater has one simple rule. Text during a movie and you'll be escorted out. Apparently, this didn't rub too well with one customer. After watching the clip, do you feel angry at Alamo for kicking her out? Do you applaud them? I personally could care less, but you have to admire the courage it took for Alamo to take a stance and stick to it. It's strong views like this that create pure emotion. It doesn't matter if you hate them or love them. All that matters is that you took the time to feel something towards Alamo Drafthouse and that's not something a lot of companies are willing to risk.

Aluminum Portraits

2011-05-31T08:57:00.005-05:00

These aluminum portraits are the business!

McDonalds UK: Make Up Your Own Mind

2011-05-16T15:32:00.004-05:00

Since 2006, Quality Scouts (independent members of the public) have been going behind the scenes at McDonald’s and its suppliers, to find out for themselves what really goes into McDonald’s food and report back on this site. In 2010, these visits will continue to delve into other aspects of McDonald’s business, reflecting the broad interests of over half a million visitors to the site so far - and counting. You’ll also be able to find out more about the latest news from (and written about) McDonald’s in our News and In the Media sections.

Make Up Your Own Mind is almost a totally unbranded site that gives people access to desired information related to McDonald's (i.e. food sources, practices, etc). They have open farm visits, in-depth video reports, and a section to submit questions. There have been over 23,000 questions submitted so far. Talk about transparanecy!

Mathematics & Creative

2011-05-13T16:23:00.004-05:00

With our hyper-focus on efficiency, mastery of the mechanics, tuning of the tools set -- what can we really expect to do long-term for the brand? Even though they all have certain performance goals and sales targets, was the brand marketer's ultimate goal always such large-scale ROI? What about competitive marketshare; brand visibility; consumer advocacy; and so on? The way we operate now suggests that mass efficiency and uber ROI are the only imperatives. This cannot be an authentic long-standing objective that clients really have in their heart of hearts. We absolutely bred that beast with our math and our fancy tools.

Now, so much more goes on at the dashboard, on the trading desk, and in the backroom that is solely about the math. (...) Is really good math now good enough to count as strategy? This "Math State" is dangerous. This commoditized state makes our agencies and our teams more disposable than ever before. And when all is said and done -- probably dumber.

Ad Age published an excellent article that debates how much of a role mathematics should play in online advertising. It's easy for people to see this as an attack on metrics, but I believe one of the commenters said it best, "here's to the Distinctive Ideas - Smartly measured." You can read the full article here.

Google Social Search

2011-04-10T13:17:00.011-05:00

Leverage your social networks (i.e. Twitter, Facebook, Blogger, etc.) when searching for things on Google. All you need to do is link your google profile to your networks and you'll receive relevant results from your social circles. You can read more about it here.

A Friend Indeed

2011-04-08T13:15:00.000-05:00

“This guy’s walking down the street when he falls in a hole. The walls are so steep he can’t get out.

A doctor passes by, and the guy shouts up, ‘Hey, you, can you help me out?’

The doctor writes a prescription, throws it down in the hole and moves on.

Then a priest comes along, and the guy shouts up, ‘Father, I’m down in this hole. Can you help me out?’

The priest writes a prayer, throws it down in the hole and moves on.

Then a friend walks by.

‘Hey, Joe, it’s me. Can you help me out?’

And the friend jumps in the hole.

Our guy says, ‘Are you nuts? Now we’re both down here.’

The friend says, ‘Yeah, but I’ve been down here before and I know the way out’.”

- Aaron Sorkin

Wow. Also, apologies for the cheesy picture. via The Essential Man -good stuff

God Grew Tired Of Us

2011-04-08T12:59:00.000-05:00

Above is a five minute clip from the 2006 National Geographic documentary, God Grew Tired Of Us. The film follows a few Sudanese refugees experiencing America for the first time. The initial footage moved me in ways I can't explain. It's streaming on Netflix, so you know I've already added it to my queue. I hope you will too. Big ups to Neatorama for posting this up.

Amazon Cloud Player

2011-04-01T08:54:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, Amazon launched their very own music streaming service, the Amazon Cloud Player. If you're not familiar with cloud computing, the video above explains the basics pretty good. All existing Amazon customers can upload up to 5GB of their music for free. There's also the option to upgrade to a one-year 20GB plan after purchasing an MP3 album. I tried to get a closer look into the pricing options but wasn't seeing anything. You can try and find it on Amazon.

Touch The Rainbow

2011-03-31T13:02:00.003-05:00

This cracked me up, make sure to put your finger on the skittle! Credit goes to BBDO Toronto, you can see a few more of the spots on AdPulp.

Update: Apparently this concept was "borrowed" off of a viral video made back in 2009 on Youtube. You can watch the clip here. Oh well.

Facebook Releases First Film

2011-03-14T16:14:00.001-05:00

Warner said on Tuesday that it would allow Facebook users in the United States to rent the film “The Dark Knight” directly on the social networking site, and pay for it using Credits, Facebook’s virtual currency. If other studios make similar moves, Facebook could tap a significant revenue stream, bolstering its Credits currency as it seeks to create a rival to PayPal and other payment systems. (...) The rental costs $3, or 30 Facebook Credits.

A month ago I was making fun of people who bought Facebook gift cards at the grocery store. Using real money to buy virtual fruit on Farmville was just about the dumbest thing I'd ever heard. I guess it looks like I'm the dumb one. Facebook's inevitable transition from virtual goods into digital goods will make their gift cards as useful as any iTunes or Amazon gift card. You can read the whole article on the NYTimes website.

On a side note, big thumbs up to the whole 'credits' concept instead of directly associating cash with transactions. I can't speak for everyone else but usually when I go to fairs and have to trade in cash for tickets to purchase food/rides I tend to forget how much I'm actually spending, haha.

Uniqlooks

2011-03-11T15:03:00.000-06:00

Japanese retailer Uniqlo has launched ‘Uniqlooks’, the brand’s new fashion community. The site affords customers, fans and visitors the opportunity to populate the global community with images of themselves wearing Uniqlo merchandise in varying combinations. The photographs represent the brand’s global audience, whose looks can be voted on by visitors. From our perspective, Uniqlooks seeks to engage fans and brand advocates by making their community both their models and their stylists.

Uniqlo is definitely giving H&M a run for its money. The excerpt above is from PSFK. They mention that the site has a Sartorialist vibe to it, but I couldn't help seeing a little bit of Lookbook's personality in it as well. Definitely a big fan of this idea. Sites like this and Polyvore really let the customers define your brand and share great insight into how consumers view your products. You can visit Uniqlooks here.

Paul Haggis vs. the Church of Scientology

2011-03-11T14:48:00.000-06:00

“A major cause of mankind’s problems began 75 million years ago when the planet Earth, then called Teegeeack, was part of a confederation of ninety planets under the leadership of a despotic ruler named Xenu. “Then, as now, the materials state, the chief problem was overpopulation.” Xenu decided “to take radical measures.” The documents explained that surplus beings were transported to volcanoes on Earth. “The documents state that H-bombs far more powerful than any in existence today were dropped on these volcanoes, destroying the people but freeing their spirits—called thetans—which attached themselves to one another in clusters.” Those spirits were “trapped in a compound of frozen alcohol and glycol,” then “implanted” with “the seed of aberrant behavior. When people die, these clusters attach to other humans and keep perpetuating themselves.”

The New Yorker recently published an article about Paul Haggis, one of Scientology's most prominent former members. The piece covers how Haggis entered Scientology, the history of L. Ron Hubbard (Scientology's founder), contreversy within the organization, and why Haggis denounced it. Above is an excerpt of the article explaining what Scientologists believe in.

The article is pretty beefy, coming in at 26 pages. I read about four or five pages a night before I went to bed. Is Scientology a cult or a legit religion? Everyone has their own opinion, but this article definitely sheds some light on the organization's darker side.You can read the article on the New Yorker's site here.

From Dallas to New York

2011-03-11T14:32:00.000-06:00

Got an offer to work at an advertising agency in New York City. I started January 10th and have been busy getting used to the change. I literally got the offer two weeks before I moved, so you can imagine the size of my to do list before I left Dallas.

Anyways, I know things have been a little quiet. I've been out and about taking advantage of all the things going on in the city, plus work takes up a big chunk of my days as well. It kinda sucks because I don't have as much time to browse all my favorite blogs.

For those who keep visiting, I appreciate it. I'm sure I'll fall back into the rythm of posting very soon. Got a couple posts I'm gonna put up right after I post this one. Cheers.

(picture taken from my iPhone in Hearst Tower during social media week)

Axe Angels

2011-02-28T22:15:00.001-06:00

Don't know if this is a stretch or not, but I want to call this the classiest spot Axe has made to date. The real spotlight of this ad, however, is actually the music. The song, "Sexy Boy," is a cover from the duo Air's album, Moon Safari. The song was re-recorded with an all female choir and released under the fictional band name, The Fallen Angels. It's available for sale on iTunes and it's been selling pretty good. I love when advertisers do things like this to include a side stream of revenue.

Guy: Did it hurt?
Girl: Did what hurt?
Guy: When you fell from heaven, heh.
Girl: (rolls eyes)

Previous: Viagra Gets Classy

Imported From Detroit

2011-02-10T16:06:00.001-06:00

The incredible copy and pace of this spot are perfect examples of how to hold someone's attention for two minutes. That's all I'll cover for Super Bowl advertising. It's hard not to sound like an ass, but the rest of the spots were just painful to watch (sans Groupon, even though they offended most haha).

A Rose By Any Other Name

2011-01-26T15:53:00.000-06:00

No one in the naming world has generated more envy than a boutique firm called Lexicon. You may not recognize the name. But Lexicon has created 15 billion-dollar brand names, including BlackBerry, Dasani, Febreze, OnStar, Pentium, Scion, and Swiffer.

Consider its recent work for Colgate, which was preparing to launch a disposable mini toothbrush. (...) Lexicon founder and CEO David Placek's (...) asked his network of linguists -- 70 of them in 50 countries -- to start brainstorming about metaphors, sounds, and word parts that connote lightness. Meanwhile, he asked another two colleagues within Lexicon to help. But he kept these two in the dark about the client and the product. Instead, he gave this team -- let's call them the excursion team -- a fictional mission. He told them that the cosmetics brand Olay wanted to introduce a line of oral-care products and it was their job to help it brainstorm about product ideas.

Notice what's missing from the Lexicon process: the part when everyone sits around a conference table, staring at the toothbrush and brainstorming names together. ("Hey, how about ToofBrutch -- the URL is available!") Instead, Lexicon's leaders often create three teams of two, with each group pursuing a different angle. Some of the teams, blind to the client and the product, chase analogies from related domains. For instance, in naming Levi's new Curve ID jeans, which offer different fits for different body types, the excursion team dug into references on surveying and engineering.

Fast Company gives us a quick look at how Lexicon goes about picking a name for some of the biggest brands we know today. Not sure how you feel about their process, but I love how they approach a problem from various angles rather than combining all efforts in a single direction. You can read the full article on their site here.

The Groupon Giant

2011-01-25T11:12:00.000-06:00

In the economic wasteland of the past three years, the biggest success story has been a website that gets us to buy stuff we never knew we wanted: helicopter-flying lessons, hot stone massages, professional photo portraiture, obscure ethnic food, hot air balloon rides. More precisely, what we buy at Groupon—the two-year-old startup that, with projected revenue of more than $500 million this year, was called the “fastest growing company ever” in a recent Forbes cover story—is the right to buy all that stuff at a huge discount, so long as we all act fast. In other words, what Groupon sells (as its clever name indicates) is coupons, but with a social twist. It’s been such a huge moneymaker that scores of copycats have emerged, including other startups like LivingSocial and 8coupons.

Wired takes some time to observe the bargain junkies of today and the lengths they go to save a buck. In the article, a super saver, Lolly Miltz, racked up an $80 tab at the grocery store and spent less than a dollar out of pocket thanks to her coupon savy. The article also covers how Groupon affects businesses big and small in good and bad ways. You can read the entire five page article on their website here.

Pink Ponies: A Case Study

2011-01-25T11:11:00.009-06:00

In 2010, [a Canadian agency], John St. took on its toughest challenge yet. Make Chelsea Bedano's birthday party a success in an already cluttered birthday market. The results were astounding.

Amazing creation/self promotion that mocks those 'inspirational' agency case study videos. Basically, John St. uses standard agency case study lingo and applies it to an 8 year old girl's birthday party. Funny, clever, and charming.

How To Give Better Feedback

2011-01-25T11:11:00.007-06:00

Be Direct With Your FeedbackThere’s only one way to take “This work sucks.” There are many ways to take “I’m not sure this is doing it for me.” And while the former may not be good feedback, per se, it certainly leaves no question that there’s a problem that needs addressing. Perhaps you can find a less blunt way to get your displeasure across, but leave it nice and clear. Personally, I’d rather have the clarity and I can deal with the bluntness, but I’ve been told I’m an asshole.

It’s Not ArtFirst rule of design feedback: what you’re looking at is not art. It’s not even close. It’s a business tool in the making and should be looked at objectively like any other business tool you work with. The right question is not, “Do I like it?” but “Does this meet our goals?” If it’s blue, don’t ask yourself whether you like blue. Ask yourself if blue is going to help you sell sprockets. Better yet: ask your design team. You just wrote your first feedback question.

Mule, a design studio in San Fran, lays out a few ways to give proper design feedback. Some of the things may only apply to design, but IMO most of the post can trascend to any part of our daily work lives. You can read the entire list at their website here.

Arcade Fire's 'Wilderness Downtown': How It Was Made

2011-01-24T11:20:00.008-06:00

The making of the Wilderness Downtown. from B-Reel & B-Reel Films on Vimeo.

Don Kenn's Monsters

2011-01-24T09:26:00.001-06:00

Don Kenn writes and directs children's TV shows. In his spare time, he makes these amazing monster drawings on post-it notes. Tons more on his blog here.

Stripping Down

2011-01-24T09:15:00.000-06:00

A2951 set out to reimagine certain international brands by stripping down their packaging to the bare essentials. The nutella one is my favorite! You can see a lot more on their site here.

Don't Be An Ass

2010-12-08T16:00:00.001-06:00

Have you ever felt like you were constantly surrounded by idiots or that you were superior to those around you? If either applies, then you may be a huge jerk and not even know it. Eric Schwitzgebel, a philosophy professor at the University of California at Riverside, shared his opinions on what makes a jerk on his blog recently. Here's an excerpt:

Thinking of other people as idiots plays into jerkhood in two ways: The devaluing of others' perspectives is partly constitutive of jerkhood. And perhaps less obviously, it provides a handy rationalization of why others aren't participating in your jerkish behavior. Maybe everyone is waiting their turn in line to get off the freeway on a crowded exit ramp and you (the jerk) are the only one to cut in at the last minute, avoiding waiting your turn (and incidentally increasing the risk of an accident and probably slowing down non-exiting traffic). If it occurs to you to wonder why the others aren't doing the same you have a handy explanation in your pocket -- they're idiots! -- which allows you to avoid more uncomfortable potential explanations of the difference between you and them.

I know a few people, including myself, who sometimes think that they're one step ahead of the dummies. Staying on this train of thought can be extremely dangerous because a) it underestimates those around you, and b) it gives you a very myopic view on life. I'm not here to dole out life lessons, but it would benefit all of us to slow down and eat a slice of humble pie now and then. You can read this full post on his blog here.

It Has Begun

2010-12-07T20:33:00.000-06:00

I know these have been out for a little bit, but this was the first time I ran into them in person. They were displayed at the front of my local grocery store along with other gift cards to places like Amazon, Best Buy, Chili's, etc. I'm all for people making money off of new ideas. I'm just a little worried about the people who actually buy this garbage. I wonder if there will ever be any actual benefit or value to virtual goods. Time will tell I guess.

Windows Helps You Get A Life

2010-11-16T14:13:00.003-06:00

Microsoft needs to get a pat on the back or something. They did a great job rebranding Microsoft Live into Bing and continue the great work with their direction for the Windows phone. They decided to play a little more offense and a little less defense by calling out everyone who spends way too much time on their phones. Watch the spot above and tell me you can't relate. See one more commercial here on YouTube.

On a side note can anyone tell me what agency is behind this campaign?

Scott Pilgrim vs. Fark

2010-11-10T09:24:00.000-06:00

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World paired up with interenet news forum, Fark, to help promote the release of its DVD coming out this November. The website integrated a hidden easter egg that could be revealed after entering the famous Konami code. After entering the code, a game unlocks that mirrors the movie. You have to answer trivia questions to defeat all seven exes. After you defeat them, you can enter in your info to win a free copy of the movie, a TotalFark account, as well as other stuff. The buzz around the game is fairly positive and definitely sits well with the target demo. Everyone understands its an ad but no one cares because its fun. It helps that the majority of the questions actually require a semi-significant level of pop culture knowledge. There's just one thing I can't get past. As "innovative" as this ad is, I couldn't help but compare it to Ralphie's dissapointment after he decoded Annie's message in A Christmas Story. I guess the good news is that some ideas will never go out of style.

Be sure to drink your Ovaltine!

Lebron Gives Us A Classy Middle Finger

2010-11-04T12:15:00.002-05:00

W+K and Nike seem to be a match made in heaven.
See also: Nike: Boom, Tiger Woods Apology, and World Cup: Write the Future.

Jay-Z feat. Droga 5 - Decoded

2010-11-03T13:48:00.003-05:00

Droga5 put together a unique interactive campaign to help promote rapper, Jay-Z's, new book Decoded. It has all the typical usual trends (facebook, twitter, search engines, sharing) blended in with some traditional heavy hitters (outdoor ads and radio), but don't compare it to your typical "go online and share your brand experience with us" type of baloney. Here's an excerpt from an article in the NYTimes:

Beginning Monday, reproductions of entire pages of the book will appear unannounced in locales referred to in those pages. (...) If in certain pages Jay-Z is talking about something related to Times Square, then those pages might be on billboards in Times Square. (...) [The] rest will be offbeat, printed in one instance on the bottom of a hotel swimming pool, in another on the lining of jackets in a store display window (...)

Microsoft will host a Web page, Bing.com/Jay-Z, that will function as an online scavenger hunt (....) [that] showcases a 3-D map based on photographs (like Google Street View), which enables users to click on a spot on a map, then amble around at street level and look anywhere, as a pedestrian might. (...) Players will follow clues to bring them in the general vicinity of pages, while a “proximity meter” on the screen will indicate when they are getting closer. Players who are the first to discover the pages will be eligible to win a signed copy of the book and the grand prize, a trip to Las Vegas to see Jay-Z and Coldplay in a New Year’s Eve concert.

“People were lining up to be part of this, like premium hotel brands and sports stadiums,” Mr. Droga said. “It’s a sincerely mutually beneficial partnership. At the center is Jay-Z’s book, but all the players at the table stand to benefit.”

To me, the campaign is really more about getting pages of the book out there rather than a contest. And if that is the goal, I think this is a really clever way of doing it. Read the full article at NYTimes and order the book on Amazon.

Tips To Write Better

2010-11-03T12:08:00.001-05:00

Copy Blogger has five tips to help you write better copy. The two that I have personally found the most useful are numbers one and two. Here’s an excerpt of the post:

1. Write drunk; edit sober
Now you don’t have to take this literally. I don’t really mean you should be downing rum as your fingers meander with increasing sluggishness and inaccuracy over your keyboard. (...) Better to put too much personality in and have to edit it out later than not put enough in to begin with. When you write, make sure you have some passion for your topic — and then just tell your reader what you want to say. Don’t self-consciously write. Just tell.

2. Sleep on it
(...)Simply put: You can improve any piece of writing by letting it sit overnight. Look, I know you’re in a hurry. I know you’re really excited about what you just wrote. So am I. (...) In the cold light of a new day, all writing seems slightly less marvelous and slightly more open to improvement. (...) You’ll see that what you thought was a flawless masterpiece could actually do with a tweak here and a sharp cut there. The changes you make at this stage are 80% of what you need to turn good copy into magnificent copy.

Previously: Write like you design

Same Old

2010-11-03T11:27:00.000-05:00

I took a break from blogging for a few different reasons: lack of time, disinterest, etc. I guess you could say the main reason was that I was tired of seeing people repost the same big stories over and over every week. Towards the end of the past couple months I was noticing a trend. I wasn't posting as much because I was trying to avoid popular stories. Not necessarily because they were bad, but because they were everywhere else.

The second biggest reason for the break was because I simply wasn't feeling inspired anymore. I found myself browsing three or four different ad blogs at a time without finding anything worth reposting. Back in the day I used to find one to two posts per page on a blog that would blow me away. Now everything sort of blends together and sounds the same.

My plan is to continue to repost things I find interesting online but I want to add a little something extra. I've always been envious of blogs that produce solely original content. It takes a lot of effort to write a concise and thoughtful post on a regular basis, believe me I've tried.

I'm a bit hesistant to share my thoughts because I dont want to be misjudged or misinterpreted. I'll start off light and hopefully as time moves forward I'll find my voice and be able to share what I'm thinking more effectively.

Thanks for continuing to read Sell or Else. - Shon

Taking A Break

2010-10-01T11:11:00.003-05:00

Been busy with life. The internet can wait I guess haha. I'll return at the start of November. See you guys then.

Twitter Gets Bigger

2010-09-20T11:23:00.000-05:00

The clip above shows all the new features Twitter has added to its short messaging service. A few of the improvements include showing pictures and videos within the stream instead of having to click a link. The new perks will definitely get me using Twitter a lot more.Watch the vid to get a closer look.

Music Experience 1990 vs. 2010

2010-09-11T11:01:00.001-05:00

click picture to enlarge. pretty funny stuff right here.

Discarded Dresser Treasures

2010-09-10T17:21:00.000-05:00

I have always been fascinated by all things used or discarded; in particular, old drawers are just “my thing.” They are the mute servants that help us through our daily lives, containing all kinds of secret things or just bric-a-brac. Drawers that stand out for their attractive craftsmanship or else for their being slightly bizarre or telling us a story or two, reflecting life in all its facets. Our wish is to revive the very beauty of those things, the life they have lived — in a manner that is both fresh and simple.

You can read more about Entwurf-Direkt’s drawers and see additional pictures at Design-Milk. I would really like to make one of my own very soon.

The Man Who Makes Your iPhone

2010-09-10T15:10:00.001-05:00

The colossus that Gou (pronounced "Gwo") runs today started with a $7,500 loan from his mother. His first world headquarters was a shed he rented in 1974 in a gritty Taipei suburb called Tucheng, which means Dirt City in Mandarin. Gou, then 23, had done three years of vocational training and served in the military. He then worked for two years as a shipping clerk, where he got a firsthand view of Taiwan's booming export economy and figured he ought to stop pushing paper and get into the game. With the cash from his mother, he bought a couple of plastic molding machines and started making channel-changing knobs for black-and-white televisions. His first customer was Chicago-based Admiral TV, and he soon got deals to supply RCA, Zenith, and Philips.

Bloomberg Businessweek recently published a piece about the rise of Foxconn and it's founder, Terry Gou. The article pulls readers in by addressing the company's eleven recent suicides, but it also provides a detailed account of how Gou's 900,000+ employee empire came into existance. It's easy for us to buy a product and not think about the lengths it took to get here. We're more concerned (myself included) with the next generation gadget rather than who assembled it. This is your chance to get an idea of what it takes to make something like the fourth generation iPhone possible. You can read the full article on their website here.

Making A Change For The Better

2010-09-10T08:01:00.001-05:00

In an effort to differentiate itself from the other beverages in the category, PepsiCo's Sierra Mist has decided to tap into the growing market for real sugar sodas by phasing out its existing formula, which uses High Fructose Corn Syrup, in favor of the real sugar recipe of Sierra Mist Natural. "There's not a strong reason to choose one [lemon-lime] brand over another.... And when we asked consumers what would re-engage them in soda, 'natural' was the No. 1 concept."

Real smart move by Pepsi to give Sierra Mist such a unique selling point. Adage reported that 7up is also taking steps to move away from HFCS. Hopefully this will start a mad dash towards real sugar for the entire industry. Or at least I hope, haha. You can read the rest of the article at The Consumerist and more about unique selling points at this previous post.

Touring North Korea

2010-09-03T23:24:00.002-05:00

Visiting North Korea is unlike visiting any other country. It's very restrictive. You cannot bring your cell phone into the country. When you enter, they mark down any books you bring in, and you're expected to take same number out again. Bibles or anything related to [South] Korea is prohibited. Each group has two "minders" to keep an eye on everyone. You cannot leave the hotel without a minder, and when outside, you must stay with the group at all times (and that's no joke -- in 2008, a 53 year-old South Korean tourist who wandered off on her own to watch the sunrise was shot in the head and killed by a soldier). You must ask the minders' permission before taking any photo, although most visitors end up taking hundreds of photos anyway. When you exit the country, however, the border guards may review the photos in your camera and make you delete any they find objectionable.

Great interview shedding some light on what life is like in North Korea. I enjoyed reading it and I haven't put up a good article in a while. You can read the rest over at Foreign Policy.

Puma: The After Hours Athlete

2010-08-16T00:33:00.001-05:00

Droga5's latest work for Puma Social. Incredible copy in this short clip. Not sure what the site is trying to accomplish. At a quick glance, it looks like your typical "share your brand experiences" type of site. I really like the demo they've decided to go after. Very unique for a sports lifestyle brand.

Following Yourself

2010-08-14T14:02:00.002-05:00

My streak of avoiding public school bathroom stalls came to a thunderous and emphatic end in seventh grade. Behind a locked metal door, I sat on a cracked, black toilet seat and let my bell bottom corduroys wrinkle around my ankles. The bathroom door opened. I heard the sound of steel-toed bootsteps. Big Paul paused in front of my stall. I could see the dusty and dented tips of his size fourteen boots. One foot lifted and a second later my stall door was violently kicked open. Big Paul glanced at the waxy toilet paper squares I used to maintain my last stitch of privacy and then looked up, grinned and said, “What’s up, Fatty?” I immediately began another streak of avoiding public school bathroom stalls.

Although that moment was traumatic, I consider myself one of the lucky ones. For me, junior high eventually ended and I never saw or heard of Big Paul again. Kids today don’t have it so easy. While they still go through the familiar childhood transitions, the process of dusting off the past and reinventing oneself is a much more complicated process. When today’s junior high students move on to high school or from high school to college, they are – thanks to Facebook and other social networks — being followed by their digital selves.

This post really made me think about how differently we all view social networks. I've always seen it as a means of reconnecting to keep in touch, but what about to kids that are growing up with it? Dave Pell makes some interesting observations on his site. Read the rest of this short post here

Charlatan, Martyr, Hustler

2010-07-30T09:10:00.000-05:00

Big fan of this print by Joey Roth. You can order your own 11"x17" here.

Morning News

2010-07-29T01:35:00.000-05:00

I took this picture last Friday morning at a Starbucks off of 5th avenue. I was sitting next to this guy having a coffee when his reading choice (or should I say choices) caught my eye. I liked how he was getting his morning news from his iPad and the newspaper. It made happy to see the two chilling side by side. I love how some people choose to enjoy the best of both new and old media. Here's to hoping that the two can coexist for a long time.

The Stanley Thermos: A Timeless Classic

2010-07-22T14:10:00.002-05:00

My family and I used to take a lot of road trips when I was a kid. My dad was notorious for driving miles without stopping. He would fill his Stanely thermos with hot tea to help with the long drives. In case you're wondering, the green they use in all their products is called Hammertone Green. I just ordered mine and can't wait until it gets in. You can read about how the thermos came into existence on their website or this Wikipedia entry.
Bonus: Stanely flask

Commenting Is Back Up

2010-07-21T18:13:00.003-05:00

I had been getting e-mails a month or so ago letting me know that people were having trouble commenting on my blog. I tried fixing the problem but nothing was working. I turned off the comments until I could figure out a solution. I think I've finally fixed it, so comments are back on!

picture above: the entire fictional island from Lost mapped out. wow. (click pic to view in full)

Belve Is A Bunch Of Bull

2010-07-21T15:38:00.000-05:00

Belvedere and Peter Arnell recently launched a campaign to promote the adoption of the nickname 'Belve' when ordering drinks out at bars. Their aim is to create a universal slang term similar to Coke or Chevy.

Having a short, memorable name is important when it comes to the “bar call,” said Peter Arnell, chairman and chief creative officer at Arnell in New York, referring to the moment when a customer at a bar asks the bartender for a drink to be made with a brand-name liquor. Saying “Belve” instead of “Belvedere” makes for “a consumer-friendly bar call in this sound-bite world,” Mr. Arnell said, and suggests that those who say it are “in the know.”

I have no problem agreeing with Arnell that memorable nicknames come in handy when ordering drinks, but you can't just force a name with $10-12 million in ad dollars. Kleenex is a perfect example. They never asked to become the standard reference to tissues. It just happened. The Belvedere name is unique and already has a strong, classy reputation. I would have rather they focused on embracing their name rather than diluting it into something unfamiliar.

Read the rest at The New York Times

India Now Has A Rupee Symbol

2010-07-21T15:08:00.001-05:00

Congrats to the designer, D Uday Kumar.

Italian Designed Space Saving Furniture

2010-07-02T03:46:00.000-05:00

This isn't just your typical Murphy bed. Resource furniture has come out with some game changers. I think it's their emphasis on both engineering and design that sets them apart. I really like how you don't have to take anything off the shelves when you rearrange the furniture.

Flashback: OK Soda

2010-07-02T03:42:00.003-05:00

OK Soda was a soft drink created by The Coca-Cola Company in 1993 that aggressively courted the Generation X demographic with unusual advertising tactics, including endorsements and even outright negative publicity. It did not sell well in select test markets and was officially declared out of production in 1995 before reaching nation-wide distribution. The drink's slogan was "Things are going to be OK." Wikipedia

The entire Wikipedia article covers the soda's inception, the different tactics used to promote the drink, and its early demise. I didn't really dig too deep into this; I just thought it was interesting. You can watch a YouTube clip that W+K did for the soda here. More background on the soda here.

Canada, Eh?

2010-06-25T16:17:00.001-05:00

I'm a big fan of these Canadian tourism TV spots. The point of view filming really puts you in the moment, and all of the clips use actual uploaded footage from people. Even better, they're all only 15 seconds long! You can see more spots like this on their YouTube channel, but be prepared to skim through 365 clips to find them.

Mad Men Season 4

2010-06-24T22:53:00.000-05:00

It's not as good as season three's poster, but I'm excited none the less.

Miller High Life Indeed

2010-06-24T22:48:00.002-05:00

Every time I see a bottle of Miller's High Life I wish the beer inside it was a little better. I hope I'm not alone when I say this, but I've always had a soft spot for the design on those glass bottles. They always looked so classy to me. I guess if you're not going to improve the beer then improving the packaging is the next best thing. You can read about the redesign and see more pictures at The Dieline. Cheers to the champagne of beers, haha.

Underground NYC

2010-06-21T12:57:00.002-05:00

Author, Lindsey Scheider, gives a first hand look at the people responsible for bringing water, subway lines, sewers, and gas mains to the residents of New York City. The pictures are absolutely incredible. She discusses how the tunnels are made and the risks the workers take on a daily basis to make it happen. You can read the article and see the pictures here. Just click to enter and flip through it like a virtual magazine.

Uniqlo Lucky Switch Widget

2010-06-21T12:48:00.001-05:00

Great use of personal promotion and cross integration with virtually any site willing to participate. Uniqlo reinvents how a banner ad can be displayed.

Invention/Innovation/The Difference Matters

2010-06-19T13:55:00.001-05:00

I've been running into a lot of great presentations lately, so you're just going to have to enjoy them with me. Noah Brier shows some great examples of agency invention and suggests a new way for agencies to function.

As always, I wish there was some sort of voice over feature on Slideshare to clear up those slides with just a picture. BBH-Labs put up a presentation by Peter Sells on his thoughts about mobile marketing that syncs up slides with a view of himself presenting. Give it a look if you get a minute.

Meet The Team

2010-06-07T19:37:00.003-05:00

What is the best way to present your team on your company's website? Smashing Magazine has compiled a list of a few layouts that stood out to them. There are a few other good examples linked in the comments below the article. To see the list visit the site here.

Nike's "Write The Future": Behind The Scenes

2010-06-07T19:20:00.003-05:00

Since Nike's "Write the Future" spot came out last week, many in the industry have come down with a bad case of ad envy. The epic ad gets the behind-the-scenes treatment in the four-minute video below. It shows director Alejandro Iñárritu discussing the concept behind the video, and features interviews with Wayne Rooney and Didier Drogba. The Wieden + Kennedy creative team don't get any screen time to tell how the idea originated or what kind of production budget it took to get it done. -Brian Morrissey

WWDC 2010

2010-06-07T18:46:00.001-05:00

Here's a link to Engadet's coverage of Steve Job's entire keynote. There's tons of coverage over the new iPhone, but he also dropped a few other noteworthy updates as well (iAds, Netflix, PDF capabilities, etc).

A Pretty Rough Guide To Screen Printing

2010-06-07T18:01:00.001-05:00

For those who just want to know. Amazing film direction. By Andrew Bell.

Account Planning Defined By G.G. Davies

2010-06-07T17:02:00.001-05:00

His definition made me smile. It's 48 slides, but you'll be able to breeze right through it. Enjoy!

Conan @Google Talk

2010-05-12T19:00:00.003-05:00

Great chemistry (in some ways haha) between Google VP Vic Gundotra and Conan. Well worth the watch. Conan is truly in his element when he's on stage.

The TED Commandments

2010-05-09T13:31:00.000-05:00

1. Dream big. Strive to create the best talk you have ever given. Reveal something never seen before. Do something the audience will remember forever. Share an idea that could change the world.

2. Show us the real you. Share your passions, your dreams ... and also your fears. Be vulnerable. Speak of failure as well as success.

3. Make the complex plain. Don't try to dazzle intellectually. Don't speak in abstractions. Explain! Give examples. Tell stories. Be specific.

4. Connect with people's emotions. Make us laugh! Make us cry!

5. Don't flaunt your ego. Don't boast. It's the surest way to switch everyone off.

6. No selling from the stage! Unless we have specifically asked you to, do not talk about your company or organization. And don't even think about pitching your products or services or asking for funding from stage.

7. Feel free to comment on other speakers' talks, to praise or to criticize. Controversy energizes! Enthusiastic endorsement is powerful!

8. Don't read your talk. Notes are fine. But if the choice is between reading or rambling, then read!

9. End your talk on time. Doing otherwise is to steal time from the people that follow you. We won't allow it.

10. Rehearse your talk in front of a trusted friend ... for timing, for clarity, for impact.

TED Presenting Tips I'm giving my first big presentation in a week and I really want to do a good job. These tips are great. It's no wonder that the TED talks are just as good.

The Rashomon Effect

2010-05-09T13:13:00.001-05:00

The Rashomon effect is the effect of the subjectivity of perception on recollection, by which observers of an event are able to produce substantially different but equally plausible accounts of it. It is named for Akira Kurosawa's film Rashomon, in which a crime witnessed by four individuals is described in four mutually contradictory ways. Wikipedia

Be open to new ideas, everyone sees the world differently. Thanks Knape!

Knights

2010-05-09T12:56:00.000-05:00

Larry Nicholson

Hulu's Free Ride Over

2010-05-02T12:27:00.002-05:00

"Under the proposal, Hulu would continue to provide for free the five most recent episodes of shows like Fox's "Glee," "ABC's "Lost" or NBC's "Saturday Night Live." But viewers who want to see additional episodes would pay $9.95 a month to access a more comprehensive selection, called Hulu Plus."

full story at L.A. Times poll above from The Consumerist

Maker's vs. Manager's schedule

2010-05-01T11:05:00.005-05:00

There are two types of schedule, which I'll call the manager's schedule and the maker's schedule. The manager's schedule is for bosses. It's embodied in the traditional appointment book, with each day cut into one hour intervals. You can block off several hours for a single task if you need to, but by default you change what you're doing every hour.

But there's another way of using time that's common among people who make things, like programmers and writers. They generally prefer to use time in units of half a day at least. You can't write or program well in units of an hour. That's barely enough time to get started.

Each type of schedule works fine by itself. Problems arise when they meet. Since most powerful people operate on the manager's schedule, they're in a position to make everyone resonate at their frequency if they want to. But the smarter ones restrain themselves, if they know that some of the people working for them need long chunks of time to work in.

Interesting point of view written by Paul Graham. Which schedule do you work best in? You can read the full essay on his website here. Picture above and more like it at BusinessGuysOnBusinessTrips

The New Brief For The Post Digital Age

2010-05-01T08:57:00.001-05:00

By Gareth Kay, Director of Strategy, Goodby Silverstein & Partners

YouTube Store

2010-04-21T12:13:00.005-05:00

I went to rip this clip for a presentation but I couldn't find the right file in my activities window. I was getting pretty frustrated until I noticed an icon asking for $0.99 to view offline. I wonder what rules or fees (like paypal transaction fees) YouTube requires to allow you to do this. Still, this video has 57.5 million views. Even if only 5% of these viewers paid to view offline, that would still be a nice chunk of change.

Make Your Own Search Story

2010-04-09T13:33:00.000-05:00

Liked Google's Superbowl spot? Make your own here.

Moments

2010-04-06T01:55:00.002-05:00

amazing film that catches a few of life's simple little moments.
i love how well the music was synced up with the clip.

Passive Entertainment

2010-04-03T14:56:00.000-05:00

How many hours [do you] spend watching television, surfing the internet, or playing video games?

If you spend 3 hours a day on passive entertainment (which is probably a very low estimate), that's 21 hours a week that could be used to write something interesting, make something cool, or creating something absolutely nutty that you and some other people might really enjoy. If you aren't doing something along these lines, then I think that it might be you who isn't spending your time wisely, and not the other way 'round.

Terry Border, from Bent Objects, wrote this on his site and I kind of stumbled on it by accident. I'm not exactly a huge fan of his site, but I can relate to the paragraph above 100%. I like how he used the term 'passive entertainment.' It motivated me to get off my lazy ass and make something.

Related: "I don't have enough time"

Innovation vs. Invention

2010-04-02T13:21:00.000-05:00

Thinking About Innovation

View more presentations from nbrier

How agencies straddle the line between the two.

Red Bull Is Ballin' And Smart Too

2010-04-01T16:05:00.001-05:00

From AdPulp:

According to The Wall Street Journal, the [$220 million] arena, paid for without a loan, represents the biggest and most visible foreign investment ever made in professional soccer in the U.S. Red Bull is a privately held company based in Austria.

"As soon as we decide to take part in a sport, we either do it properly or we don't do it at all," says Red Bull founder and Chief Executive Dietrich Mateschitz, who also owns soccer teams in Austria and Germany.

Within the stadium, the company's logo--two bulls butting horns in front of a yellow sun--is emblazoned on the lower-deck seats. Where some companies might have plastered billboards throughout the building, Mr. Mateschitz says the idea is to build his brand through the quality of the experience the arena offers."

Red Bull also rocked the Winter Olympics this year with the creation of Shaun White's private half pipe, deep in the San Juan Mountains of SW Colorado.

When you go to RedBull.com and try to ascertain just how far the brand's commitment to sports marketing goes, it's overwhelming. The brand sponsors Street Style, Air Races, Cliff Diving, Skiing, Skateboarding and much more.

What the brand doesn't concern itself with is traditional advertising. When you can successfully create experiences for people that they like, want to repeat and share with friends, the need for traditional advertising kind of flies out the window.

Continuous Growth

2010-04-01T14:42:00.002-05:00

only a minute and ten seconds long. nice thought provoking video on the economy.

How Can We Market This?

2010-04-01T14:32:00.005-05:00

If you don't know what Chatroulette is then take a quick peek at the site and this wikipedia then come back.

I was reading an interview with the 17-year-old founder, Andrey Ternovskly, when something struck me. Why is it that every time something on the internet becomes huge it instantly has to be looked at as a marketing/money making tool? To me this is a serious case of blinders causing people to head down the same beaten path. I think you miss out on the true potential of a site if your initial goal is how to make money.

Ternovskly is a smart kid. He isn't anxious to let his site loose to the hands of advertising. He believes that he has a personal responsibility to his creation and to his users. Maybe if we start keeping the users in mind before making money our ad efforts could improve. You can read his story at The New York Times here and his one on one interview here.

An Interview With A 'Nigerian Prince'

2010-04-01T11:09:00.002-05:00

Once I had spent some time as a “foot soldier” (* sending out initial approaches and passing serious victims to other scammers) I was promoted to act as either a barrister, shipping agent or bank official. In the early days I had a supervisor who would read my emails and suggest responses, then I was left to do it myself. I had lots of different documents that I would use to convince the victim that I was genuine, including photographs of an official looking man in an office, fake ID and storage manifests, bank statements showing the money, whatever would best convince the victim that I, and the money, was real. I think the English term is to “worm my way” into their trust, taking it slowly and carefully so I didn’t scare them away by asking for too much money too soon.

If you've ever sold something on Craiglist chances are good you've received an e-mail from a Prince saying that he desperately needs to transfer $1,000,000 to a trusted American. One of the guys over at Scam-Detective had a chance to do an interview with a person involved in this crazy scheme. If you want to know who's behind all these wacky e-mails, check out all three parts of the interview through these links: part 1, part 2, part 3.

Jason Fried: Why You Can't Work At Work

2010-04-01T02:50:00.002-05:00

It took me a little while to warm up to this guy, but the second half really got me. The video is about 6 minutes long. You can read the comments on this video, see more videos, and learn more about BigThink at their website, here.

Letterpress Dice Prints

2010-03-31T14:58:00.003-05:00

Amazing prints made with dice. The designs are incredible. I recommend visiting Paper Crave to see the process and all of the designs in full view to appreciate the detail. You can also order these prints off of Etsy.