Adage.com

The Census data is in and the marketing trendsters have assessed that the Hispanic population is here to stay and growing... well Duh!
With my roots being half that blend, I understand and am excited about the potential outreach to the newly addressed majority. Nos vemos juntos en un futuro.

What's NeXT?

For those too young to remember, Steve Jobs left Apple in 1985 to start a new computer company called NeXT. At the time, I was marketing for a company called Island Graphics Software which made a design suite called Write Paint & Draw for Sun Microsystems Inc. Sun as well as NeXT were based on the UNIX operating system. Though the computer platform failed, it did create the base platform for modern day macs. Here is a great little trivia article about the graphic designer who came up with the NeXT logo for Steve Jobs. 

“Kinkade is a… deadbeat,”

I'm sure this article on Thomas Kinkade’s Production firm files Bankruptcy is already viral but I'll post it anyway. Seems like the "Painter of Shight" was a little flakey. Maybe it's time to buy a franchise? It's a buyers market!

Spread Firefox Campaign is INSANE!

Firefox is on a social media feel-like-you-are-part-of-something BIG media blitz. SpreadFirefox.com website is the headquarters for information, recruiting, discussion, and dispensing of Firefox marketing to the masses. I am impressed with the T-shirt designs their minions and foot soldiers are doing. I am curious as to how well this spread firefox campaign is going. It certainly is a targeted demographic of college students

Concept Sketch Just for Fun...

I have been pretending to be a musician for over three years. My good friend and I practice and play sporadically at back yard parties, one beer hall and art openings. We now have over 20 songs in our repertoire (though some we play better than others). Our music pulls from Punk, Johnny Cash, Tinpan Alley, Hawaiian and some contemporary medleys and we seem to actually entertain others! We love to pass out shakers and I play solo Kazoo on a few. Our songs include sing-alongs, and our interaction with the crowd is very lively to say the least.

What I'm trying to get at is Entertainment comes from many dynamics and not necessarily have to do with talent. People naturally like to laugh and have fun. What we lack talent-wise, we make up for in entertainment.

Above is a rough sketch for our act. It sort of says what we are about visually, but we need a name. Please help us and think of a name to hang on this logo. Be creative and entertaining. I can't wait to read your replies.

ADULT MOVIE POSTERS OF THE 60s AND 70s

Coudal Partners website is chock-full of information that overflows with creative resources and endeavors. Isn't that what a creative studio should be? There's How to Survive a Depression, the museum of online museums moom -which features collections like cigarette advertising, and a hilarious snippet of regrettable hobbies, jobs and other dull activities. My current favorite: Layer Tennis where firms battle each other in creative Adobe-like activities, and a Collection of Adult Movie Posters from the 60s and 70s.
Happy Friday everyone!

Let the Rebranding... Begin.

As predicted, there is much rebranding to do here. On their announcement of filing for chapter eleven Here is General Motors TV ad with their calm and sober steps to rebuild. And directly from their website: Creating A Stronger New GM.

Targeted Ads, Focused Message works.

Like it or not, Proposition 8 has been upheld by the supreme court. Strictly as a campaign, proponents of the proposition had sufficient fuel to promote their message and work the missteps by the opposition to their advantage. It was a targeted and strategic campaign that worked.
Relive the ad campaigns and read about the opposition shortcomings over at the Huffington Post.
BTW: Proposition 8 was the most expensive proposition on any ballot in the nation this year, with more than $74 million spent by both sides.

Freelancing

Sometimes I feel like I'm working in a bubble - Ok, most of the times. This helpful site reassures me of things I know, and always the articles are just long enough to keep my attention. It's called Freelance Switch.

Brandmark Case Study

Final Version

Project:Synchro provides organizational performance enhancement through consulting and coaching. Clients include technical and manufacturing companies and organizations wanting to develop systems and processes to create a unified workplace and support lasting cultural change.

"The owner wanted to create a timeless graphic reflecting her business model in a visual way. She had a triangle and gears in mind and wanted to use it in the design.
After interviewing her and the way she conducts business, I could sense that flow was important, something dynamic and moving; she said her husband was into motors. My first thought was Wankel engine ;) exploration, then focused direction. I looked into the rich history of the triangle in different cultures, and looked for interesting patterns to explore."

Version 2

"Ths version is based off the pattern found on the Borromean triangle with colors that mix to create a luminescent quality. The idea that everyone brings something to the table and adds to the final idea."

Version 3

"I had to entertain the triangle and gears she initially conceived. We all agreed it was too heavy and didn't speak to her business model."

The version approved turned out to be a great balance of both analytical skills (Fractal triangles) and intuition (sumi brushstroke) to get to the solution, whatever that may be. It is open and unconfined which also speaks to her business and clients.
Everyone was happy with the final solution.

Special thanks to Susan at Big Ears Strategic Marketing for bringing me into this project.

The Pepsi media blitz continues...

Arnell Somehow Equates Pepsi to the Sun's Gravitation among other things. Part of the reason one does a redesign is to create a buzz. Why not do it in a grand way? My take on it is less about the design and more on a fascination with the social impact it has.

"It goes way beyond reasonable. ... It's preposterous and extreme, and kinda layered with bullshit," said Charles Rosen, founding partner of New York ad agency Amalgamated. "But I understand the reason they went as far as they did with it.

Read more on Advertising Age, then read about PepsiCo profit drop, thencheck out this awesome redesign of the Pepsi redesign.

There is a good discussion going on about the new Pepsi logo and its connection to Obama logo at DTG design by Fred Showker. I stay neutral, since I am not a carbonated soft drinker and have little allegiance either Pepsi or Coke. I'm always amazed at the time and money spent on this magical craft.
Interesting reviews of beverage marketing here at BevReview.com

Retro is my motto!

Everything old is new and I'm still on a nostalgia kick. I'll be looking for these in my local thrift stores and wearing them proudly because "I'm recycling!" Find your favorite pair here.

Raymond Loewy Designs are just "Cool"

Modern design was shaped by Raymond Loewy; best known for such American design icons as the Coca Cola bottle, Air Force One, Lucky Strike, Greyhound Bus, Pennsylvania S-1 Locomotive, Exxon and Shell logos, NASA interiors for Sky Lab and the Space Shuttle along with the Avanti.
A bold self-publicist, Loewy published his autobiography Never Leave Well Enough Alone in 1951. He recounted that his start in industrial design came when, at sixteen, he designed and sold a successful model airplane. Over the course of his career he created some of the most enduring images of the mid-century industrial design.

www.raymondloewy.org