Are you fired up...?

...ask a silly question!

Systemising knowledge with Wolfram|Alpha

Is this a new way of bringing together all that information out there?

Does this fill in what wikipedia and google seem to leave out?

I don't know to be honest but this seems like a powerful way of systemising knowledge.

Suck it and see.

CSS stuff

Just a CSS snippet to help me on my way...

p {margin-left: 2px; margin-top: 80px; margin-right: 45px; margin-bottom: -5px; }

a.nav:link {color: red; text-decoration: none; }
a.nav:visited {color: purple; text-decoration: none; }
a.nav:hover {color: orange; text-decoration: underline; }
a.nav:active {color: blue; }

http://www.yourhtmlsource.com/stylesheets/

Chat box

Ok so here's a widget for blogs or small-scale wannabe interactive websites: chat box.

Looks interesting but I guess is only really useful for a dedicated community which you know is going to be logging on frequently. Otherwise it might be like having a website counter on your page-fine but not if it shows 58 hits since 1998!

Check it:

http://www.cbox.ws/

Art or Information?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8130554.stm

http://stats.oecd.org/oecdfactbook/

Creating creativity

Radio 4 show tonight explores whether scientific research can be creative.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00kvr9l

I was struck with Anne Miller speaking about her experience of creating products in a scientific arena. She said when she first started creating ideas and products she thought there must have been something wrong with her ideas as so many scientists were creating barriers to her theses.

Even when creating graphic design I come across barriers to great ideas. I'm not being precious here, I do realise that design is led by marketing and business and as such responds to criteria set out by the client. To a certain degree the 'blue sky' research spoken about in the radio show doesn't operate to criteria, but some clients just don't get the idea of inputting 'research' into designs. I've spoken to clients who have come to me wanting cutting edge contemporary designs and ideas but really they already have preconceived ideas about what they themselves desire. This is somewhat dangerous. In this sort of project we usually end up pandering to the client's personal desires. The client has confused business and marketing criteria with their own taste. Very often I'm asked to try it in orange "because the wife wants to see it like that". On the other hand these guys are paying for it but it must be designer's responsibility to check the client and make sure they realise that this deviates from the design specification laid out initially which responds accurately to the target marketing.

Shall we try it in pink?

So you think you've got a creative website? Think again...

Your business card is crap

I'm not quite sure if this is for real or not but it's damn funny.

I like the way he actually claims that it doesn't fit into the rolodex. Pardon? Isn't that ...the point? If it doesn't fit in it'll get chucked out in my experience. 

He may not have the best business card in the world but he is a brand. For sure.

Check out this link for more business card laughs:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoIvd3zzu4Y

Santander takes over

"The bank says that rebranding will cost it £12m, although this does not include any of the cost of advertising or expenses. The savings by integrating the businesses has been estimated by the bank as £180m."

So Santander wants to bowl over Bradford and Bingley, Alliance and Leicester and Abbey and there's much talk about why and will it pay off? For me it has to be a no-brainer. Santander wants to consolidate (ok) and I think they realise now is the time as people have lost faith in bank names all over but especially the UK. I'm sure there are high level strategic reasons for repositioning services and products and giving a Europe-wide portfolio for customers but really, are they risking anything? This article says some customers will be lost but to which other trustworthy bank? Are there any?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8070335.stm

Kuniyoshi exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts

Kuniyoshi

From the Arthur R. Miller Collection

21 March—7 June 2009

The Royal Academy of Arts presents an exhibition on one of the greatest Japanese print artists, Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797-1861). Featuring over 150 works, the exhibition presents Kuniyoshi as a master of imaginative design. It reveals the graphic power and beauty of his prints across an unprecedented range of subjects highlighting his ingenious use of the triptych format.

http://www.royalacademy.org.uk/exhibitions/kuniyoshi/

An oldie but a goodie

Cropmarks xtra for Freehand

Ok so a bit of geekiness here... I like Freehand. Ok, yes I know it's no longer supported and Adobe make Illustrator so why bother? Well it's like a comfy old pair of slippers: feels great and does the job but maybe not as good looking as the new pair you got for Christmas.

What a palaver to sort out cropmarks though! You know, you set up some artwork; it's all beautiful; you have to manually add in cropmarks (Acrobat can do this sometimes depending on the version you have). Not anymore! I found (a rather old-but hey, so is Freehand) xtras plug in that Boris Jerenec has developed which simply sits in your xtras folder and adds another easy to use cropmark-making tool! Thanks Boris and here's the link to his site:

Cropmarks tool download.

Camcreative Networking

I always used to think networking was a great way of getting business. But now I don't think it is. Networking is a great way to extend your (wait for it) network. More often than not I'd find myself at networking events where there was a glut of suppliers with not many potential clients in sight. Sure I might be going to the wrong networking events but even so I think there is value in this. 

Camcreative is a bunch of creative professionals who get together frequently to chat and keep in touch. This is very valuable to me: keeping in touch with what's happening in creative terms, with the industry and with client industries. A lot can be gauged from chatting to contemporaries in a relaxed atmosphere over a beer. In addition to this Camcreative features a guest speaker each month who brings something useful and interesting to the discussion platform.

I don't go to Camcreative expecting to find new clients but I do find like minded creatives and we can discuss what's afoot in the industry.

Here's the Meetup page.

Here's the webpage.

New ways of working

We want everything these days. We want everything, anywhere and NOW. Which is why computer manufacturer's like Sony are making small, thin, but fairly powerful and certainly stylish laptops like the P series. Surf anywhere and do anything but beware...this is no netbook claim Sony!

"Once we say it's a netbook people think that it's cheap and lousy - we want stylish and cool," Sony Australia's VAIO marketing manager, Kent Tanigaki, said.

Don't worry though, Sony remains stylish and fashionable encouraging you to "make a statement wherever you go" with their natty different colours: onyx black, garnet red, emerald green and crystal white.

Can graphic design make you happy?

Intriguing look at the relationship of our state of mind with our designed environment by Stefan Sagmeister.

Pepsi-giving you more than a drink in a can

QR codes (Quick Response) have been taken up by Pepsi making it the first time this technology is widely used in the UK. The QR has already reached a type of cult status in Japan where it was invented and uses a type of barcode technology printed onto products which can be swiped by a mobile phone giving additional product specifications or competition information. 

Pepsi are rolling out the QR codes on their Pepsi Max products as part of a renewed Mobile marketing campaign showing that they are well ahead of the game in the QR and aiming at early adopters. Check out this article on QR codes.

http://www.pepsi.co.uk/QRSteps.aspx

Aston Martin designs Routemaster

Thank God for that! The Aston Martin/Foster pitch has won through and they will be in charge of redesigning the beloved London Routemaster bus. Why the relief? Well if you take a look at one of the other designs that was in the running by Capoco design you'll see not so much a new design as a redesign. The losing Capoco design was said to combine " the best of the old with the best of the new" but to me it looks like a compromise botch job. And so thank god the AM/F design won (see opposite). This winning design may not look like the Routemaster but I don't think it should (too much)! It should recreate the feelings we had about that lovely old bus without making simply an updated version. I want to think quirky, particular and peculiar when I see the new design and that's what it does! Simply beefing up the old Routemaster look seems, to me, pointless and a bit of an insult really. Do they really think we want to see the classic design reworked? Not really-a rework is not good enough. A new design is needed which shows a certain classiness and identity for London and the brand of Britain, which I think this new design does.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7790082.stm

Crunchy sales

So a main trend in the marketing press these days is the discussion as to whether flash sales will pose any long term threat to the business. Debenhams, Marks & Spencer and BHS all announced sales in their stores recently and analysts worry that not only will this give just a temporary boost in profit but that long term consumers will see the retailers in a different way, damaging their brand position.

Discount stores threatened Tesco's 30% lead in the grocery market and replied by introducing the Discount Brand. This, claims the Fool, has brought in 300, 000 new customers but The Independent recently reported on the company's worst sales in the UK for 16 years, so maybe things are catching up with Tesco.

My question is, though, what else can be done? These companies are attempting to stimulate spending in a rather flat economy and hopefully long term marketing budgets and planning won't suffer for it. this will be key to keep companies afloat during the difficult times-creative and canny PR and marketing to help sell products and ultimately contribute to a bounce back in the economy.

Anyone Can Do It!

Anyone Can Do It by Duncan Bannatyne.

An inspiring read, this book not only plots the early days of Bannatyne's life through to his Den days on tv but gives a useful insight into how he made his (many) millions. The title is called 'Anyone Can Do It' but I'm not so sure that anyone can do it after having read this. There are a few necessary traits. For example Bannatyne has a cast-iron determination and ability to deal with lots of complex issues happening simultaneously-something even he identifies as crucial in his success. Of particular insterest to me was a story he tells of trying to help some directors to gear up their company only to find that they didn't have the desire for the wealth. This hasn't been a problem for Bannatyne! It seems that he's also driven by a sense of justice-or maybe it's a sense of injustice: striving to make his business the right way and feeling proud about this. Not scared to shop anyone else who's breaking the law or trying it on with him. Don't get me wrong I reckon this guy is hard to deal with for all the above reasons but I kinda like this. It seems you'd know where you were with him.  

I think I'd like the guy and I liked this story: it's fresh and frank- a straightforward guy who's made it big from his own hard work and bloody mindedness. Well done! And thanks for inspiring me to get off my bum and make some decisions...

Why we design

Or at least why Philippe Starck designs. Pretty entertaining and some gems of ideas about 'high' design within a business and social context.