Graphic Designer Dominance

It took Radio thirty four years to reach an audience of fifty million, television did it in thirteen. The Internet had fifty million users in less than four years, and now there are over a billion websites online.

And then there were blogs. The vast majority of websites are written by amateurs, using programs written en mass that are no more complicated than a Myspace page. Thus the question arises, who is watching what, and how do you innovate when just getting by is seemingly good enough? Does it make any sense for Matt Drudge to invest time, energy or money in a flash site when he’s getting more hits than CNN and MSNBC combined?

Unlimited democracy, it seems, breeds mediocrity. Alex Cox said, that “film was the revolutionary medium of the twentieth century, and it can not be the same for the twenty first.” While we still exist in the infancy of this new century it is difficult to reconcile that our media saturation will soon capitulate to a growing necessity among individuals to separate themselves and their talents from the sheep at the slaughter.

The film makers of the next fifty years will be ground breaking graphic designers, who will manipulate the amorphous concepts that we now understand as “the web” in order to express new dimensions of technology.

EBIZ online magazine wrote up the top ten flash-sites of 2010, and although the list might be simple, if all you do is glance at the shiny graphics then you are just a pawn in the game. All ten of these sites, (and wonderwall, which they didn’t mention) are connected to brands/people who/which are changing their industries terrestrially, is matt drudge really doing that?

So next time you wanna find something other than porn online, peep the list, and think about how your gonna be buying your kids creativity via their Skype account.

http://www.ebizmba.com/articles/best-flash-sites

Vic Reznik

Interesting Things – 8.31

  

 

Be afraid, be kinda afraid

 

Dattoo

The Dattoo would be a printable tattoo that users would wear for a day and then wash off. This tattoo could be used just like a cell phone or a computer, with users being able to communicate and identify each other with their Dattoos. Five years ago, Frog Design founder Hartmut Esslinger envisioned a technology that “could influence notions of community, identity, and connectivity with minimal impact on the physical environment.” Today, the company is close to making this a reality.

http://www.gizmag.com/datto-concept-from-frog-design/15944/

 

GazeHawk

The GazeHawk eye-tracking service was created to help companies see which areas of their sites were getting the most attention. Finding a number of participants to view the website, the GazeHawk eye-tracking service then sends these results back to the requesting company. With this information, companies can then optimize for the ads which get the most stares and then generate methods to profit accordingly.

http://www.gazehawk.com/

 

Neuromarketing

What people say and what they think is not always the same, and new developments in the world of neuromarketing hope to lessen the gap between those two divides. The goal of neuromarketing is to extract “hidden information” directly from people’s brains by not asking questions at all, but by recording responses at a deep subconscious level with the aid of an electroencephalograph (EEG) machine.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20727721.300-mindreading-marketers-have-ways-of-making-you-buy.html

Five Reasons Why Monocle Magazine Kicks Ass!

Five reasons why Monocle magazine kicks ass!

A recent Business Week article reminded me why Monocle Magazine kicks so much ass!  Like many great organizations – it starts at the top.  That person at the top of Monocle Magazine is Tyler Brûlé.  Why should you care?  He founded the ground breaking Wallpaper* magazine in the 90s and started up Monocole three years ago in an era where the print medium is dying and digital media is taking over.  Don’t mention that to Tyler though – he’s expanding his media platform one forward-thinking-international-editorial at a time.

  1. You get a global perspective in every issue of Monocole Magazine. It’s like going on an amazing virtual tour around the world and finding out how other cultures and countries are approaching modern lifestyle.
  2. Monocle’s editorial is all about the ABCs, the content in the magazine is broken up by Affairs, Business, Culture, Design, and Edits categories.  Simple and executed brilliantly.
  3. Content is always-always quality.  Some of the best editors and correspondents from NY Times, Independent in the U.K., the BBC and more contribute to Monocle magazine.
  4. Each article has fast facts and interviews within many of the editorial pieces.  Providing various forms of content digestion so if you are on the go or on a flight – it doesn’t matter – you still can learn what’s the movement in San Paulo, Brazil or why Beirut is reemerging as a gem of the middle east.
  5. At the very least – this magazine is so fresh – if you have copies in your living room – folks are bound to think you’re the most interesting person in the world.

Go. Buy. A. Copy. Thank. Me. Later.

@MitchKapler

Uniqlo’s World

WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT -

So many interesting details in this article.  From management style to franchising philosophy to brand loyalty – Uniqlo offers such a solid product in so many varieties at such a discount price that everyone can find something they like.   By using data to drive/inspire their sales force and insisting on their strict engagement practices – folding, phrases, the payment process – Uniqlo has designed the experience as much as they have designed the clothing.  Walking into this store – you feel the attention to detail and the effectiveness of the white backdrop and floor to ceiling shelves that gives the impression of insane multitude of varieties.  Uniqlo has gone beyond its competitors in designing the experience of shopping and serving customers.  I also find it fascinating that their sales staff has such intriguing/diverse looks but that their techniques and training is exacting.  Great article.

Design, Behavior and IDEO

WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT -

Many times ‘change’ is just looking for the right vehicle or infrastructure to prosper.  Providing a low cost, easy to use, widely available tool can create the type of macro change necessary to impact a society.  This is one reason why apps have so much potential.  With more people using smart phones and downloading relatively easy/inexpensive apps – we can share data and enact change with these simple tools.  I love the example of the CDC’s campaign for washing hands which has been a big success.  Washing hands.  So simple and yet it needed that designed interference (advertising) to enact the mass changes.

Mattelwood and Transmedia

WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT -

Toys have long been thought of as the after effect of a franchise.  Its an additional revenue stream after TV and movies established the characters or its been a longstanding toy that is turned into a movie.  But in the new age of toy companies leveraging their assets in savvier ways – Mattel is revolutionizing their R+D process.  Instead of relying on Hollywood to drive the ship – Mattel is taking matters into their own hands.  They asked their developers for new toy ideas that can be turned into properties – took the top five and picked the best one.  By creating a new line of toys with its own back story and hiring  producer Neal Mortiz (Fast and the Furious), Mattel is taking control of their ‘transmedia’ options.  Transmedia being the ability to spinoff their product into every conceivable market. – play with, see, hear and eat.  Now they can control all parts of the process.  By exercising more control over the creative – Mattel will enjoy more equity and more financial responsibility for the product.

Game Theory

WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT:

NYU is creating a games department.  Just another sign that gaming will be the dominant medium of the 21st century.  The new generation participates in storytelling instead of letting it be preached to them.  This article also talks about creating games in the realm of social change.  While most games in the brief history of gaming have been purely recreational – there is a new emphasis on games that also teach core skills and are more experimental.  Love the idea of Budgetball.

I Heart ACE

WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT-

The Ace Hotel has done a tremendous job of designing every aspect of their hotels.

There is no space too small or mundane that should not be made into an artistic moment.

Murals in the stairwells? Check.  Macramé installations in the lobby. Sure.

Make your space a living and breathing item.  Give them life not cultural whitewashing like a chain hotel.  Homogenous is out.  Here is to the unique.

Cheers.

A Designed Life

The most important skills for navigating the 21st century?  Storytelling and Design.

You must design experiences, not things.  You must tell stories, not recite stats. 

Soon everything will be video. 

The printed word will continue to infinitely have its place but soon we will organize everything by video and picture.