David McCandless turns complex data sets (like worldwide military spending, media buzz, Facebook status updates) into beautiful, simple diagrams that tease out unseen patterns and connections. Good design, he suggests, is the best way to navigate information glut — and it may just change the way we see the world.
Why would someone working in the creative department read a book about the troubled relationship between marketing and finance when there’s so much good shit on HBO these days?
It’s simple. Clients hate it when we “don’t get it.” They have to account for every dollar and digital marketing is pretty easy to measure, so connect the dots for yourself.
Vulcans Earthlings and Marketing ROI is a recommendation because David Rutherford and Jonathan Knowles have made it easy to understand some pretty complex issues.
Or watch Pillars of the Earth. It’s pretty cool.
Art link from thompsonhotels.com
The Thompson Hotels brand is all about cool. The hotels are in funky districts. The rooms are modern. The staff is beautiful… and so on. For a while I’ve been receiving my RSS feeds from the Thompson blog and always finding reasons to hang around on the site. These guys spend a lot of effort putting their own touches on stories about the cool people and events that make life interesting. The site, which offers a portal to the blog and the magazine, is easy to navigate, uncluttered and delivers the brand on every page.
Knowing what to execute on your own and when to call in a specialist is part of the content management process. In this case, director Marc Webb was brought in to shoot “L.A. Suite” for Thompson Hotels. This isn’t the first big brand to cast its product as a central character. Time will tell if it’s successful. At 13 minutes in length it’s competing with TED.com for office procrastination time. The chance to pull in media from all sources makes this an incredibly creative time to work in digital.
Consider signing up for the Thompson Hotel blog. It’s becoming a consistently reliable source of coolness. Follow the link on the right.
My argument against “hits” as the sole indicator of an idea’s value has always been that you can’t take hits to the bank. Hits alone are just subsidized entertainment, paid for by client shareholders. If hits lead to an increase in trust, preference or confidence, that’s different. That’s still a return on investment. That’s how smart writers earn their keep.
For the last year, I’ve been saying, ” if all you want is hits, just get a fat guy to play the tuba with ass.” People will watch that. It’ll go viral faster than pink eye.
Well, I might be wrong. (Might be). While researching the vuvuzela, I found this guy. To my surprise, a mere 3,600 people viewed this ridiculous contribution to pop culture. But then again, it ain’t no tuba.
While enjoying a bargainous staycation, my overleveraged, vuvuzela-playing, frenemy defriended his cheeseball buddy, the buzzkill, ending an Interweb bromance.
According to the Globe and Mail, all of these words were added to the Oxford Dictionary this year. It’s inspiring to think that new words can come from humble scribblers such as us.
Sadly, “iJacked” did not make the list this year. But I remain hopeful.
Now, a quick backgrounder on the vuvuzela.
Thanks to Anthony Wolch for sending this link to the Carlton Draught slow-mo spot.
It’s not just action stars who get to cool is slow-mo. This is made for repeat viewing. Nicely done.
What’s fascinating and instructive about this botched anthem is how little it takes to revive the horrified crowd.
Saving Abel managed to sing “The Star Spangled Banner’ slower than a Presbyterian hymn and the crowd reaction is priceless.
Shock. Then, horror. Then insult. Then WTF?
What saved Saving Abel? Blow something up and cue the fighter jets.
The ING website is like your colon. Most days you just take it for granted that this fabulous thing will keep working and you can worry about something else. The navigation is extremely intuitive thanks to a brand belief that keeps things simple and understandable.
Eyes On Darfur is an excellent example of art and content working together to create a highly emotional experience. This is a site with focus and a clear mission. Everything contributes to a common goal with no extraneous writing.
From the site: Amnesty International’s unprecedented Eyes On Darfur project leverages the power of high-resolution satellite imagery to provide unimpeachable evidence of the atrocities being committed in Darfur – enabling action by private citizens, policy makers and international courts. Eyes On Darfur also breaks new ground in protecting human rights by allowing people around the world to literally “watch over” and protect twelve intact, but highly vulnerable, villages using commercially available satellite imagery.
The project was led by the Crisis Prevention and Response Center (CPRC) – Amnesty International USA’s rapid response center for engaging members, policy-makers, and the public in preventing and responding to human rights crises around the world. For more information please contact crisis@aiusa.org.
The project was funded by the Save Darfur Coalition (SDC). The Save Darfur Coalition raises public awareness about the ongoing genocide in Darfur and mobilizes a unified response to the atrocities that threaten the lives of people throughout the Darfur region. It is an alliance of more than 180 faith-based, advocacy and humanitarian organizations. The coalition’s member organizations represent 130 million people of all ages, races, religions and political affiliations united together to help the people of Darfur. For more information on the coalition, please visit www.SaveDarfur.org.