Adobe Digital Museum

Adobe have launched the Adobe Digital Museum, with some of my digital hero's in there...
such as John Maeda, Aaron Koblin and Jonathan Harris. 

Check it out... http://www.adobemuseum.com 

It will be interesting to see how this develops over time, but why flash if this is to grow over
time? Maybe the idea is to re-imagine the environment (tech) each launch, odd since
Adobe are putting so much into their app publishing and tablet publishing tools.

Great content anyway ;-)

ABSOLUT UNIQUE - Creating Mass Individuality

It’s really nice to see Absolut doing something a little different from their normal
collaborations and city issues. In many ways the collaboration formula was/is becoming 
a little tired, with many other spirit and alcoholic brands also getting into the picture. 
Even when there is an authentic pairing, it can feel a little more like, of course, rather than
wow, great. That saying, it works and when it feels right or is surprising and exciting in
some way people talk about it, share it and buy it. 

With this project, Absolut regain some new creditability by pushing production standards
while still communicating their artist and creative values. This brings it back to the brand
rather than replying on someone else helping to hype the bottle/product like many
collaborations over the last few years and with other brands today. 




When I first saw this, I automatically saw a bigger opportunity and questioned why they
hadn’t put this online and let people create their own bottle design? So the campaign
became about a personalised uniqueness. I guess this is something they must have looked
into and found the costs too high to really create a personalised version. Maybe the core
(the masses) of the customers would also prefer to just buy something sexy, instead of
trying to spend time creating it. And then there is individual delivery logistics etc. That
saying, perhaps a small online competition or social game to create a bottle, helping
illustrate the uniqueness and concept could have been utilised… with social spreading.

But hats off to Absolut for trying this and creating mass art on a bottle, I will probably buy
one if I see one I like ;-)  The question then becomes to either keep it as art or use it for
cocktails and impress friends with, I guess Absolut would prefer I buy 2, or give one as a
present if passing through duty-free.


Of course this is all part of a bigger brand strategy to have a constant changing bottle, or
limited editions to keep the brand fresh. A lot of people I've spoken to don't like this
constant change, but if you look at most brands these days, there're all about product
evolution and extensions, creating sub brands and add-ons to existing products. Creating
new products that extend from the existing one. They did that with the flavours but they
haven't moved into Absolut mini-fridges, watches, sunglasses  or holidays yet. An Absolut
bar here and there around the world is enough! For now ;-)


There are 4 million designs to collect, distributed in over 80 markets, including U.S., U.K.,
China, France and Germany, the designs include 38 different colours and 51 pattern types.

PIPSQUEAK - A Mobile Phone / MP3 Player for Kids by Yip Yap

via kickstarter.com

If they have patents in place, these creators will be millionaires!

The Sound of Everyday Things

An Instrument for the Sonification of Everday Things from Dennis P Paul on Vimeo.

Collected Harmony

Cult Filmmaker Harmony Korine On His Cinematic Beginnings...



I once walked out of a Harmony Korine film. You might be able to guess which one? 
Not 'Kids' though! That saying I've liked most of his films and I think he is an important credit
to film making today and the indie film scene in general. Film should take you on a roller
coaster and make you ask questions, make you think about difficult issues and take
you places you've never been before, even if you don't wanna go there. His films and
scripts over the years have certainly done that!

Full text after the jump HERE...

His latest film - Spring Breakers - Teaser 2 - HD

The Noteworthy Project

I didn't think I'd ever be posting any Samsung tech, projects or communication here...
but I like this, it's a bit of a different approach, for phone communication anyway.
I've had an an eye on some of the collaborators involved for a while, so it's nice to see
more work from them here, that's probably why I like it.

About the Project

Our potential for human expression is huge, but at some point technology started getting 
in the way of our passion. We’ve been so busy tweeting and texting, we may have
accidentally left behind what makes us human. The Noteworthy Project documents a
series of projects that examine what happens when communication is made by hand. 

About the Emoticon Project


This series of short documentary films explores handmade communication by asking 
six artists to rethink emoticons. Directed by Oscar-nominated and Sundance-winning
filmmaker Jessica Sanders.

More about the project HERE...

The Phaidon Archive of Graphic Design

If you like or work with graphic design, you should probably buy this ;-)

More info...

Futura VS Hennessy

Don't you just love it when two things you like (or people) come together? 
There are many collaborations around these days, some are very smart and
some brands have become very strategic in their formular for collaborations...
but this can sometimes come off as forced, copied or formulated. 

For me this feels like a good collaboration, following on from the Kaws project 
last year, brand building for the future of Hennessy. I hope I can get my hands 
on one of these bottles :-)
There is also a Converse tie-in with this project, but perhaps that takes it a little 
too far, or at least for me I don't really understand the connection?
You can find more about the Converse part online.

This collaboration is part of the Hennessy - Never Stop Never Settle project...

http://www.neverstopneversettle.com

PooPooPartyPomPom

Adam Buxton's Party Pom Pom video clip directed by Dougal Wilson.
A catchy tune and snapshot from the perspective of a child gamer of today.
I bet the kids love this, which drives the parents up the wall ;-)

UGO GATTONI - Illustration

Check out the amazing illustrations of Ugo Gattoni...

Project Re: Brief: Re-imagining Advertising

I've been meaning to post this for a while, if you have an hour this is well worth
watching. If you don't have an hour, find an hour to watch it all the way through!
You will definitely gain something if you work in the fields of creativity and marketing.

Although this is a Google project, it's not really about Google. The main thing to gain from
the film and project is the combination of a good idea or concept working in unison with
a technology or emerging technology to create better communication or even better...
connecting people and connecting to people with more value.

With almost two decades of online communication, digital ads are still being used to 

simply inform more than they're being used to connect, engage or entertain.

Project Re: Brief is a great experiment whereby Google partnered with five of the

brightest "old-school" legends from advertising to re-imagine their most iconic
creative work from a half-century ago for the modern web, for 4 global brands...
Coca-Cola, Volvo, Alka-Seltzer, Avis.

This experiment to re-imagine what advertising can be and push the boundaries of

how creative ideas and our technology can work hand in hand is a great example of

new world advertising. For people that have worked within digital communication 

for sometime, the key benefits and insights are not necessarily new, but there are

still more clients and companies that are still treating banners as traditional static

advertising or un-engaging forced messaging. More people are on the web, surfing

content and being engaged, so the need to create better ads is now a must.

The full potential of the internet has yet to be realised, where it will be in 10 or 20

years is just a guess, but advertising in some form will be present. One thing for sure

is that products and services will be more individually communicated, something we're

just seeing the light of now. But to get to better digital communication with better

values which mean more to people, we must inspire and inform clients and companies

of the changes and how to engage with costumers of today and tomorrow. There're

behaviours, buying habits and values have already shifted, so the main question at the

moment and everyday, has to be the one below...

I'm surprised the basis for this project hasn't been done before, re-imagining older
concepts in a modern world. I hope Google do more, the insights you can get from 
the original idea creators are lessons many creatives tend to bypass these days. 

More about the project here... http://www.projectrebrief.com

Lee Clow - TEDxChapmanU - Creating Icons

Lee Clow shares his thoughts on what makes a genius, icon, and maverick and provides
great insight into how intensity, passion, and desire led him to the successful career 
he has today. He touches on his working relationship with Steve Jobs and how the 
experience impacted his life.

Happy 40th Birthday to Pentagram

A lovely story told through the visual history of the design agency, Pentagram...

A Brief History of John Baldessari

An excellent mini clip about about the artist John Baldessari
Narrated by Tom Waits.
Directed by Henry Joost & Ariel Schulman.

Benga - I Will Never Change

Love this! Simple, effective and current! Directed by Us.

Infographic of the week...

https://www.weylandindustries.com

Sam Sure and Giacomo - Dark Inside

ONLINE music video here.


Another interactive music video, this time by Sam Sure and Giacomo. A simple idea that pulls
the user into a interactive 3d video with street scene glimpses of London. Nothing new
technology wise here, but the simplicity of functionality mixed with user curiosity and smart
editing makes a haunting visual soundtrack that just works in combination. 

Jacob Sutton’s L.E.D. Surfer

Fashion photographer and filmmaker Jacob Sutton swaps the studio for the slopes of Tignes
in the Rhône-Alpes region of south-eastern France, with a luminous after hours short starring
Artec pro snowboarder William Hughes. The electrifying film sees Hughes light up the snow
covered French hills in a bespoke L.E.D.-enveloped suit courtesy of designer and electronics
whizz John Spatcher.

Red Hot Chili Peppers’ go interactive ‘Look Around’

We've seen more and more interactive music videos popping up in the last year or so,
this new one from the Red Hot Chili Peppers is a nice engaging entry for the band into this
arena. Fans and users control which band member they see and can interact with the rooms 
to find hidden behind the scenes footage.


YouTube has had a limited form of interactivity for a while, but I can see these type of
executions becoming more wide spread within YouTube and other social networks in the 
near future.


You can get more footage and a link to their iPhone app on their site HERE...

Defend our freedom to share (or why SOPA is a bad idea)

What does a bill like PIPA/SOPA mean to our shareable world? At the TED offices, Clay Shirky delivers 
a proper manifesto -- a call to defend our freedom to create, discuss, link and share, rather than passively consume.