We’re an inventive agency obsessed with turning complex information into simple, creative communication. Obsessed.
This ain’t your grandma’s barcode for tomato soup. The evolution of identification codes continues and we now see new applications for the not so new technology popping up everywhere. If you don’t know what that funny looking black and white box above this text is, stand by. If you do, feel free to skip past the history lesson. Continue reading ‘Is “QR” Code for Happiness?’
It all started in April 2005 when a 19-second video clip was uploaded to an unknown website. A year later, that same website had over 100 million daily hits. That website is YouTube, an internet giant and household name across the globe. Continue reading ‘The rise and rise of YouTube’
Microrentals are the newest space-conscious trend to hit Japan; go to nokisaki.com and you can (if you speak Japanese) rent ‘dead space’ in Tokyo for as little as $15 for 3 hours…
Check out more at WSJ online.
Gaga? I don’t think so. The woman is the opposite.
Lady Gaga is so hot right now. From zero to superstar in a matter of months, she’s a self-styled marketing Queen. And the secret of her success? Two words: Social Media. Continue reading ‘Gaga ooh la la!’
So far, little has been covered in the mass media over here in the UK about the internet’s most recent and shamelessly chaotic (and hellish/hilarious) addition to the social ‘interaction’ cauldron.
This is despite the fact that its numbers have reportedly soared from a few hundred into the dozens of thousands since its launch last December. Why, it’s chatroulette.com of course and it’s based on the simple premise of bringing complete strangers face to face via webcam until one or the other decides they’ve had enough of you..and clicks onto the next.
Wonderful. Or is it?
Well no, it isn’t…because of the few who spoil it for the many, or in this case the many who spoil it for the few.
Enter at your own risk!
Just under 100 years ago Max Fleischer invented the animation technique of rotoscoping. Animators would trace over live-action film projected onto a frosted glass plate, frame by frame. (see image above) The effect did not give the realism that you might think, when the drawings were put in sequence the line would shake unnaturally and avoiding this would take a great deal of skill in the person performing the tracing. Because of this problem the use of rotoscoping for the production of ‘Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs’ was dropped and traditional cell animation was put in place. The only good examples of rotoscoping I think is when it is used stylistically like in the music video for ‘Take on Me’ by ‘Aha’ and the Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds’ sequence in ‘Yellow Submarine’. Continue reading ‘Windows Technology’
Obama
H1N1
Stimulus
Vampire
If, hundreds of years from now, some lucky anthropologist were to stumble across the above list…what do you think they’d make of 2009? Hmm. Deadly virus mutates online swallowing up the world’s first internet President in 140-character bites? It’s interesting this – tracking our word trends. There’s lots to keep a handle on too…apparently English gains almost 15 new words a day.
You can find out more here at the Global Language Monitor. They’ve got 2009’s ‘most used words’ ranked for you. And it goes well beyond the top 5 I’ve given you, above.
Clever colleague of mine just remarked that if we all wrote nothing but “Obama” on our blogs and Twitter feeds until the end of December…we might well turn the tide.
Who’s in?
As the year draws to a close, it’s time to reflect back on what’s gone before. If you’re winding down at work and look for a 5 (45) minute diversion, check out WhattheTrend.com for tracking and analysis of tons of this past year’s trends…intersting: between “BBQ,” “TGIF” and “Swine Flu,” which do you think ranked most active in 2009?
We are more than familiar with the use of computer generated imagery these days. From Hollywood blockbusters to the annoying 3D map of Britain we get on the weather. CGI is everywhere and constantly putting the fantastic on a plate for us.
So if everything is possible, what’s next? Continue reading ‘Tiger Woods?’
I don’t have words left to express my horror. So I’ll lazily share a YT vid instead. Good lord.
p.s. I wonder how many people walked out of the store with Zunes in their pockets while this was going on. Probably none.
So you may or may not of heard of the new buzz word flying around the internet that is ‘Augmented Reality’. It is something I came in contact with ages ago and thought “that’s pretty cool” and forgot about it. Now it has expanded to new levels and looks to possibly dominate our lives. Continue reading ‘Reality Bites?’
Do you find yourself missing your mate, the one who made you feel whole, your perfect match in this imperfect world? Well then Green Thing has the solution for you… at least if you happen to be a glove. Continue reading ‘Single Gloves Find Love…’
In the last year I have seen some of the best live music events I have ever witnessed. Each gig has used new refreshing techniques that I have never seen before: the combination of incredible musical performance talent, complemented by stunning new digital technologies. Continue reading ‘New Music Expression’
Walking along the sun-baked riverfront on London’s South Bank today, I passed the understructure of the Festival Hall, which, as you probably know, is a mini-mecca for skateboarders showing off their various ollies, wallies and trollies (ok, so I made that last one up).
You’ll recognise the area by its panorama of colourful graffiti on every available wallspace. Well, every space except one. Continue reading ‘Killjoy was here’
Big enough to hold a lot of info, small enough to carry with you. The timeless gift of the tablet.
I’m writing (with slightly embarrassed excitement) because rumours have been flying for ages that this fall, or early in 2010, Mac will unveil its very own tablet device. Nothing’s confirmed, but bloggers, geeks and technophiles everywhere have been speculating…on the product’s capabilities, capacity, size, shape…they’ve even gone so far as to mock up what it ‘might’ look like. See fanciful Photoshopped conjecture, below. Continue reading ‘Tablet = communication revolution?’
I recently came across a re-worded version of Bonnie Tyler’s classic music video, ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart.’ I couldn’t stop laughing and I’ve noticed more and more of this style of ‘music video’ are cropping up. Check it out -- genius!
Tired of harbouring your deepest darkest secrets? Looking to confess? Well Twitter can help!
Secret Tweet (secrettweet.com) lets you to tell all (in 111 words or less of course) anonymously and instantly and receive support and sometimes helpful advice from complete strangers. It’s incredible to see so many people posting their most intimate thoughts from: “I’m slowly and carefully planning how to leave my husband of 20 years, while he’s planning the next phase in the garden” to “I am the one who reported you to child protective services. You WON’T hurt her anymore.”
The perfect place to unearth the plot for your next screen play …
I love that the Gregory Brothers’ wonderful political satire series, “Auto-Tune the News”, derives its name from a software program designed to tune a singers voice to the perfect pitch – turning the whiny voices of reality TV stars and celebutantes into albums full of mildly less whiny somewhat tolerable muzak. The brothers use the software to transform the ramblings of American political figures into completely tolerable and totally hilarious news raps.
As you all know, in fashion one day you’re in, and the next day you’re out.
It feels like yesterday I was taking hundreds upon hundreds of photos during the 2009 London Fall/Winter fashion week…but already designers have published their 2010 resort collections and we’ve seen all that the 2010 Spring/Summer men’s fashion shows have to offer. How fast the pace of fashion industry is! Continue reading ‘Yuan’s In – Yuan’s Out’
From the brothers who brought us Google Maps comes a revolutionary new app: Google Wave, hailed by the search engine giant as the ultimate online communication and collaboration tool. Continue reading ‘New Wave @ Google’
On my little “tour” today on the web, I went to have a peek at FWA, favourite website awards. This is a great place to find out about cutting edge and fancy pieces of work. Continue reading ‘New Experience’
Stephen Fry – what’s not to love? While appearing as a guest on Top Gear – the unofficial heterosexual male epicentre – he casually put in a plug for his favourite cruising application. Guttingly for Jeremy Clarkeson, it had nothing to do with cars but instead a gay dating network which allows you to track its members using an iPhone application.
When is the last time you used a card catalog?
Personally, I love them – they speak to my twin passions for books & obsessive organization. But with the advent of the computer (even in its most rudimentary form), the card catalog has gone the way of the dinosaur (or the floppy disk, or even the hotel annunciator).
For the past few months, I’ve been noticing an interesting trend in the food and beverage industry -- everyone wants to give me something for free!
McDonald’s consumers shouted “You had us at free” with free coffee during breakfast hours for two weeks this past April. In a world where we’re taught that nothing in life is free, is offering the consumer a chance to walk in, ask for a coffee & walk out without any money changing hands a strategy for long term trust or simply a way to increase foot traffic for the day? Continue reading ‘Free For All’
Ok, so I’m sure you’re sick of all this Twitter excitement, but you have to admit; to Tweet or not to Tweet is no longer in question…. only why you didn’t Tweet before…. Continue reading ‘How do you organise a protest in 2009? Use Twitter of course…’
Twitter has been dominating the news lately. As the latest social network to explode into the mainstream, it seems that everyone and everybrand is having a crack at tweeting.
There’s been a fair amount of floundering as brands struggle to find their feet. Twitter is (if you’ll forgive the strained metaphor) the world’s largest cocktail party. 20 million people trading quips, composing one-liners and passing on gossip. Interrupting the conversation to sell potato chips is, at the very least, socially awkward.
It was 1993 when I saw my first piece of computer generated imagery (CGI) and looking back over the last 16 years of innovations and technological advances, nothing really has beaten what I saw. I was eight and the big summer movie was Jurassic Park – an incredible piece of movie making. Originally, the dinosaurs were to be brought to life using stop frame animation but Spielberg soon realized that computers could take realism to a new level. Continue reading ‘One of the first (and maybe one of the only great) uses of computer-generated imagery.’
The first official scientific experiment to be conducted using Twitter starts tomorrow!
The subject is remote viewing which is defined as: the attempt to gather information about a distant or unseen target using paranormal means or extra-sensory perception. Continue reading ‘the science of twitter’
TWEET TWEET
