I don't see really great outdoor campaigns that often but this one got my attention. It is running right now in Melbourne for the Australian Childhood Foundation for their ongoing campaign Stop Child Abuse Now. They used a child size mannequins to represent children suffering neglect and then a billposter was pasted over the top of the figure so only the feet and legs could be seen. It is simple, it is attention getting and it's a powerful visual that gets the message across in a way you will remember.

Labels: Exceptional creative, Offline advertising, Viral

Thought this was funny if you know someone in your studio use one of these typefaces to the pain of the rest of us. If so you can help with this poster to make your colleague take this pledge and sign it. Preferably in their own blood.

I have always been a huge fan of great ideas that are executed in a really smart way and the two videos above for Greenpeace may be the best ones I've seen so far this year. You have to watch the videos in full screen it really be able to see what is going on but using the actual YouTube interface as part of the ad like this is one of those things that has been in front of all of us but none of us thought of it. Really good stuff.

Labels: Exceptional creative, Unique interface design, Viral

Just a quick follow up on my earlier 'Tweeting for your job' article that it did indeed work and Alex Bogusky has announced that he has been hired by Crispin Porter.

Continuing their tradition of great online advertising running in only one big placement, Apple has taken over the home page of the New York Times web site with another great ad. Head over there now to see it before it is gone.

Labels: Online advertising review

As of today I have been writing this blog for four years and I am not sure why I feel like this is more of a milestone than the previous three years but it caused me to go back and take a long look at what I have had to say over that span of time. There is a very clear focus in my writing on trying to analyze, detail and document what I think goes into making great ideas, great creative and great creative teams. In looking back at what I have written I did see that I have neglected what is probably the most important part of have great ideas, running a successful creative group and keeping great creative talent - respect.

Wikipedia defines it as esteem for, or a sense of the worth or excellence of, a person, a personal quality, ability, or a manifestation of a personal quality or ability. That is a great textbook definition but what does it really mean in real life? For me it means that if you work with me you not only say what you mean but then you follow through on it. It's that action that is critical for me because lack of follow through, lack of inclusion or just flat out ignoring what I am trying to contribute shows me huge lack or respect to my work and my talent. I have gravitated towards that attitude because for me actions are clear and generally free of the bullshit , partial truth and spin that can color what people say.

When it comes to leading a group of creatives the problem is that respect is probably the most important thing you and your team need to have success but it also the hardest to control and develop. It is a multi-dimensional problem as it exists and is needed in several places throughout your process and an idea life cycle.

Respect thy fellow designer
I have written a lot about how I think that techniques like constant failure and even fighting can be used as essential parts of creating great ideas and running a successful creative group. The asterisk that should have appeared at the end of those statements is that those two techniques are only possible if the group has enough respect for each other that they are able to make those exercises work. If you don't have that respect then those exercises won't work because you don't respect the talent of the designer next to you enough that you think they can come up with the right or better solution.

Leadership is more than a job title
During my career I have found that the two most common reasons why creative people change jobs are for money or because they feel like their talent or work is no longer respected. I have sadly seen a lot of designers who leave only for money rarely find success or long life in their new role. I think this is because they are usually blinded by that one dimension of the new position and aren't taking the time to look at the whole picture to be sure it is the best fit for them. The issue of feeling like your work or contribution isn't respected can come either as one big gesture here you see it quickly and clearly or it can come in a long series of small gestures that slowly add up over time but in either case it comes to the same end.

Even if you have the greatest idea...
Probably the biggest and most important area you have to have respect to be successful is with your clients. It isn't hard to get a read on your client to know if it is going to be a relationship where they value your opinion or if they are going to just treat you like a commodity who needs to do what they say. I think this is the most important aspect of respect in the creative process because you could have he best idea in the world that would totally change your clients business but if they don't respect and trust you enough to listen to it and then go through with it it won't go anywhere.

So knowing where the problems come from only lets you know where to watch to see if you or your team is at risk but what should do to make sure you don't have these problems? I try and do the following...

Talk and walk your talk
I have always believed that the biggest thing you have to to have people respect you is to always be honest people, tell them what you think and then actually do what you say. The biggest mistake I encountered time and time again in my career are boss's who say what you want to hear and then they never follow through with it. As I said before people will judge you by your actions and showing them lack of respect can could be a small thing like a comment on a piece of creative all the way up to much larger things like no doing what you said when it comes to your career.

Respect yourself and your creativity
I think this goes hand in hand with that I had to say above because you have to respect yourself and your creativity enough to have the confidence to tell people the truth and to stick to what you say. If you don't believe in yourself and your opinions then you tend to want to take the easy road and tell people what they want to hear. This is really the only part of all of this that you can have a real and immediate effect but your team can and will pick up on it and ti will effect all aspects of their confidence, focus and their willingness to go that extra mile for you.

I am sure this is a subject I will revisit in the coming months as I give it more thought and concentrate on other ways you can increase it in your creative group. If you have any good techniques feel free to post them in the comments.

Labels: Back to basics

I saw a note from Alex Boguky over at CP+B today that this summer they are auctioning off their interns talents. The winning bidder will receive a creative presentation developed the interns over a three month period, consisting of strategies, recommended brand positioning and concepts but no production services or finished advertising materials will be provided. The winning bidder will be provided the type of advertising services that they seek, but CP+B reserves the right to decline services in the event of a conflict with any of their existing clients or for any other reason (like if you sell cigarettes). Right now the bidding is at $1500 but it has 9 days to go so I will be curious to see where to lands and who wins. I would also love to see the final results or the process if the winner would allow them to make it public.

This is a complete guess on my part but IF this idea was a result of a situation where they would either have to cancel the internships because of the economy or do something creative like this then I want to applaud their actions. This business have far too few people who care enough about people, let alone the little people, in their organizations to go to this kind of length to be sure they would keep their word and deliver the interns the experience of being able to work at their agency.

A second video from the very interesting 99% conference I attended earlier this year has been released. The first video focused on Scott Thomas who ran the digital design and media for Obama during his run to the White House. This new video are highlights from the speech of Google Creative Labs' Creative Director Ji Lee who talks about how his personal and professional work relate as well as his famed Bubble Project. I thought the bubble project was a fascinating experiment in the convergence of advertising and public expression. Check out the video and you can learn more about the bubble project here.

Labels: Consumer generated content, Design and user experience

You have to love seeing someone who wants to work somewhere so passionately that they not only come up with a great idea but are willing to put what little money they have where their mouth is. Enter Chris Kahle trying to get a job at Crispin Porter and his idea to have anyone who is willing to Tweet either Alex Bogusky co-founder of the agency or Jeff Benjamin their Interactive Creative Director and for each tweek Chris will donate $1 up to $200 (all he has in the bank) to The James Lee Foundation. The instant debate is if it would work or if it was just harassment. The good news for Chris is that it worked and it has had Alex Bogusky and agency talking about what he did. No idea if ti will translate into a job but good to see that good ideas and unique approaches still get you stand out from the crowd.

Labels: Design and user experience, Digital culture, Viral

I have written before about how I think a great 404 message is overlooked far, far too often and I found another great one this week when I was going through some old bookmarks and landed on an out of date page at Heavy.com.

Labels: Exceptional creative

I read an interesting article in the New York Times yesterday called 'Data, Not Design, Is King in the Age of Google' about the recent career of Douglas Bowman. The debate in the article is if a company will lose it's innovative edge if it listens to its customers and the data their behaviors generate too closely in creating new designs and functionality. After reading the article I wanted to add my 2 cents to the debate over data vs. design.

My position is that the data documents the road behind you and that 20/20 hindsight can teach you a lot about what works, what people respond to and what just isn't doing it for them. That being said when you it comes time to move forward and create something that innovates I think you have to use the data as a base to ground the new work in something they will respond to but then rise above it to grow those previous behaviors into something new and better.

As a creative director or designer in the interactive creative process you have to be a evangelist and filter.You will be challenged at several points in the process to steer your client through the temptations of the previous user data when you pitch your concept, or the focus group results after you have visual designs, or the user testing data when you have your prototype because that is the safer and more comfortable path.

You have to be an evangelist because when you boil it down as a creative a large part of what you are selling is confidence in you, your team and most of all your idea. Not all clients can see the final results of how the idea will turn out as easily as you can so you need to put in the work to maintain that confidence throughout the project.

Next, you have to be a filter to go through the data, focus groups results and user testing behaviors to be able to sort out what are results that need to be acted on versus something that the new concept will address or a behavior that can re-shaped for the better. I also think that it is essential to define what will be considered a successful outcome before each of these exercises so the results are put in context. For example if you are testing an new experiential site and you know only 15% of your audience engages in that type of content then you need to set the expectation for user testing that 7 out of the 10 participants may not like that new functionality but the resulting 30% engagement is a 100% improvement over the audiences current behavior. Since you studied the previous data you can serve as a filter to set that expectation so your client will not see a 70% failure rate and kill the concept and design direction instead of seeing that it is doing it's job.

So in the end I think that if you just follow the data without the benefit of your knowledge and filtering then you will have your consumers and even your clients defining the direction of your work and I don't think you can consistently find great ideas and innovative interactive experiences that way.

Labels: Branding, Design and user experience, Digital culture, Ranting

Those of us old enough to remember playing early video games on the Nintendo Entertainment System will probably also remember the Konami cheat code that was used in a lot of those early games. Hitting Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, Enter would trigger the code. That sequence took on new meaning last week when entering the code into either ESPN.com or Facebook would trigger two different Easter eggs to appear on those sites. On ESPN.com after entering the code each click on the site would would spawn an array of colorful unicorns but once it was widely known it was quickly removed from the site. It was then discovered that Facebook also had a Konami code Easter egg where if you entered the code and clicked on the site it would generate a Babylon 5-esque lens flair. From there it has been found n 25 more sites including ESPN.com, Facebook, Digg, Google Reader and more. You can see the complete list on this sites but , of course, you have to enter the Konami code to unlock the content. At this point it isn't clear if this is the work of hackers, mischievous web designers or a marketing campaign for Konami for something at the upcoming E3 video game conference. The fact that a web site and Twitter feed were up and running when the outbreak happened has me leaning towards the later two options but only time till tell.

Labels: Design and user experience, Digital culture, Viral

A friend of mine sent me an email about the new Career Path functionality that Monster.com recently launched. He thought it was interesting and worth checking out so I headed over to see what I would predict for my future. The concept is kind of like a virtual guidance counselor with two different options to get advice. First you can put in your current job and it will tell you what would be a good next move or you give it an ending point and it will try and build a career path for you. Let's just say that I am glad the functionality is still in beta because it wants me to become a Web developer or producer. I will be curious to check back in on it in a few months to see if it gets smarter as more people use it and it gets smarter.

It should really come as no surprise but Adobe has pulled the plug on yet another well conceived but terribly supported concept with the death of their Adobe Media Player. The idea landed in the right timing window before sites like Hulu.com caught on but the service rarely had any content beyond short clips or shows no one wants to watch. After watching it stagger around for far too long I kept waiting for Adobe to do something with it and try to put an advertising or content model in place that would give it a chance. They are now putting their efforts into their new Flash based Strobe media framework which is supposed to enable the creation and delivery of high-quality, monetized video experiences. In plain English it means they are trying to develop an open framework where you can do things like advertising insertion, content delivery and syndication, micropayments, viewer authentication, transaction handling, and business model controls. They have coupled this delivery solution with the formation of the Open Screen Project where they have partnered with more than 20 content and technology partners to try to create a more standardized content delivery system across televisions, personal computers, mobile devices, and consumer electronics.

The reality is that Microsoft has been able to conquest a large amount of real estate in the browser video player market thanks to their deals with Netflix and NBC for the Olympics where they put this sought after content in their player they have been able to drive significant install penetration. Strobe is obviously trying to fight the avenues that Microsoft can use to spread Silverlight through their computer and mobile operating systems as well as gaming and consumer electronics channels. Also while you would recognize the names of their partners like the BBC, Intel, LG, NBC and Verizon but the missing names of companies are what worries that might just be Media Player 2.0. As with everything Adobe does outside of their core software offering only time will tell if they are really willing to invest the time and money it will take to get to a standardized Flash based system where you could easily deliver and monetize content across multiple technology touch points.

Labels: Digital culture

Anyone who has followed my blog for a while knows that I love to cook and get a lot of inspiration from the process. I recently started writing another blog on cooking and that process made me realize how few well designed sites there are for cooking equipment and ingredients. The best one I have found actually just launched for Chocolatier Pierre Marcolini. The site has a really nice minimal design direction and interface that consistently heros the product throughout the site. I also like the way the design will dynamically adjust to different window sizes so the placement of the site elements always stay well positioned in relationship to the photography. It is surprising that for a subject matter that is so photography rich that you don't find more sites that take advantage of the material. If you have any favorites post it in the comments.

Labels: Design and user experience, Exceptional design, Exceptional Flash

Hulu.com started their foray into advertising with a really strong debut commercial with Alex Balwin during the Superbowl which many people don't know that Hulu didn't pay for their ad time in the Superbowl. It was part of a deal they had with the networks where they would get some free advertisement during a certain time, Hulu was able to capitalize on mediocre ad sales for the big game and so they could pick the Superbowl. From that starting point they went on to feature Family Guy creator Seth Macfarlane. After the strength of the first two the third one with Eliza Dushku felt like her new show - flat and not engaging. They have thankfully rebounded from that with one of my favorite comics Dennis Leary doing the oration style that he does best. The twist of having the celebrities double as aliens with TV as their plot to take over the world is funny, sarcastic and creates a visual that would stop a rampant TiVo fast forward. But the smartest part of the concept is that it is all based in the shared American experience of having an adult tell you that "TV will rot your brain" so everyone can relate and connect with the ads. For me the best part is the tag line of "An evil plot to destroy the world. Enjoy". It is that funny and slightly irreverent line we have all had in our pitch that all the creatives want but never makes it to the client because it gets killed by the account guy the night before the presentation. So seeing something like that in the finished ad gives me tag line envy.

Labels: Branding, Offline advertising

Over the past year I wrote more than once about how much I liked what the Obama campaign did with digital design and media during their run to the White House. A few weeks ago I had the chance to meet and hear from the guy behind that work named Scott Thomas who spoke at the 99% conference. This video culls the highlights from his presentation at the conference and catches up with him afterward to find out more about his theories on simplicity and his plans for working in politics in the future.

I also have to give props to Scott Belsky who I am lucky enough to know, is the founder of Behance.com and one of the masterminds behind the 99% conference. I had sworn off conferences all together because of my previously documented conference coma but this one conference I will return next year. Also if you have a chance to hear Scott speak take advantage of it because he has a lot of great insights from talking with a lot of great creative minds and groups about how to make ideas happen.

Labels: Conference, Design and user experience, Exceptional creative, Exceptional design, Integrated advertising