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Posts from the Einstein-esque Category

Hofstadter Must Have Been a Web Developer!

February 4th, 2009 by Chief Nut

Hofstadter’s Law …

“It always takes longer than you expect, even when you take Hofstadter’s Law into account.”

— Douglas Hofstadter: Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid, 1999, p.152

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The Ten Commandments

October 17th, 2008 by Pixel Pixie

While surfing the internet today I came across Dieter Rams, pretty cool name, that’s what I thought too. From what I’ve read he is an influential industrial designer of the 20th century, but I’m not going to sit here and give you a biography. What intrigued me most was his “ten commandments” of good design and how this short list of elements could be applied to not only other forms of design, but to most other businesses.

Here’s the list:

Innovative
Useful
Aesthetic
Self-explanatory
Unobtrusive
Honest
Durable
Thorough
Environmentally-friendly
As little design as possible

I could talk for hours about how this list applies directly and indirectly to my field, but as for you … I ask you to take a look at it and determine how these items can benefit you and your business.

Resources:
http://www.vitsoe.com/
http://blog.kimvallee.com/

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David Meerman Scott … and Yoda

October 14th, 2008 by Binary Nut

I’m sitting in the audience at The New Marketing Summit! Eating my own dog food … Tweeting … Blogging … iPhone pics … Google searches … etc. Having a blast, meeting people, learning loads!
David Meerman Scott gave the first keynote and gave some insight into the ideas coming out in his new book “A World Wide Rave” (David later assured me it’s hitting Amazon in March). During his talk he gave us his SIX key concepts from the book. They are:

NOBODY cares about your products
NO coercion required
LOSE control
PUT DOWN roots
CREATE triggers that encourage people to share
POINT the world to your (virtual) doorstep

Big ideas, for sure, but it’s David’s insight into each that’s going to land this new book firmly on my “must read” list. Can’t wait until March!

Just for fun, David used one of my favorite quotes in his slide deck…

“You mush unlearn what you’ve learned.” — Yoda

Thanks for even more great stuff David! (P.S. LOVE the rooster graphics)

Pictures Of Sofia Viagra

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A few things we can learn from – Andy Warhol

October 10th, 2008 by Pixel Pixie

I am compelled to write a blog after visiting the Currier Art Museum in Manchester, with it’s new first-time exhibit “Pop Politics” by Andy Warhol. Simply Amazing. It really got me thinking. Unfortunately most of what people know about Warhol is “Oh he’s the Campbell soup guy”. Well, yes that is true, but Warhol is so much more than that, I think as a professional designers, we can learn a lot from him. Let’s dig in.

My favorite piece at this show was “Red Lenin” – I found not only the subject but also the execution compelling. As designers what can we take away from this particular piece? Some questions to get your little brain going:
Scale: This piece is 39.4 x 29.5 in – Would it have this much impact at another size? What if it was smaller?
Placement/ Cropping: Just the bust of Lenin is present, he is pretty much dead center, and staring straight ahead. – What if he was looking away, what if this was a full length view? What if he only took up a 2in. section in the corner?
Color: This canvas is saturated in bright red, the skin in yellow. – What if it was saturated in bright green? What if his skin was peach colored? Would it conjure up the same emotions?
Medium: This is a silk screen. – What if it was a charcoal drawing? A watercolor?
Message: Art means different things to different people, that goes without saying. I am not sure what Warhol’s intentions were in creating this piece, but I have definite opinions about what this piece says to me, and I’ve formulated these opinions based on the above key components. If those components were in any way different, they most certainly would have changed Warhol’s message.

All of these items are something to think of not only when analyzing fine art, but when creating a commercial piece of work. Each of Warhol’s choices bring up a certain emotion, I am sure they were meticulously and specifically chosen. Are you that specific when creating design work? Warhol wanted to create a definitive emotion with his choices, just as you (or I) want to create a specific emotion in commercial design pieces. Are you as calculated as Warhol?

What else can we learn from Warhol?

A point that speaks to me is that he started out as a graphic (or commercial) designer (I have something in common with Andy Warhol, YES!). But unlike me I guess most of his purpose and pop art in general was to blur that line between – commercial art – and fine art. Basically to show us that commercial art could be fine art. His artwork was mass produced, by this he tried to show us that these two disciplines are truly interchangeable. I can say that I strive to translate my knowledge and abilities of fine art and art history into my commercial work. As I mentioned above the basics of symmetry, color theory, layout and a thousand other principals can be broadly applied from a fine art education to my current career as a graphic designer and vice versa.

No matter what medium or discipline we choose, we speak to people visually and that is what I think art is all about. If you’re in the NH area any time soon, I recommend that you swing by the Currier and see what you can take personally from this exhibit, and apply to your own life and work.

This piece is part of a group writing project created by www.Designer-Daily.com

Resources:
The wonderful Art History Department at Plymouth State University
http://www.currier.org/nowonview.aspx
http://www.artnet.com/artwork/425755825/424912690/andy-warhol-red-lenin.html
http://anarddesign.blogspot.com/2007/04/andy-warhol-1928-1987-bio.html

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How Does Your Favorite Mag Do It?

September 4th, 2008 by Chief Nut

I’ve been writing a lot about the woes of several industries, caused by the impact of the Internet and, specifically, social media. What I haven’t talked about (yet) is how these ailing business models might realize real change or any actual examples of new ways of thinking.

Here’s one …

Joe Falls, Director of Social Media at Doe Anderson posts a review of I Am Modern magazine. The mag takes a completely different approach from traditional magazine production. Specifically, the content is pulled from an online social network dedicated to Washington D.C./Northern Virginia Moms. This out-of-the-box approach will likely result in a broader, more relevant (hyper-local) content base than if the word-smithing were done by a small staff of professional writers. “But what about quality?”, you may ask. Good point. I would guess they’re not doing away with the editorial staff.

Think about your favorite traditional magazine. What would it look like if it were cheaper, fresher, more niche (targeted) and covered a much broader range of ideas, opinions and topics? Even if the quality of writing was slightly diminished, would it be better? I vote “yes.”

Kudos to Hulya Aksu for finding a new paradigm and trying it on for size. Hey Wired, or Fast Company, I want to write for YOU!

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Becoming a Security Blanket

July 28th, 2008 by Chief Nut

Think back. Waayyyyyyyy back. There may have been a time when, as a child, you had a security blanket. Call it your bunckie, your bubby, your woobie, Rex … whatever it was, you likely gave it a special name and it gave you an ever so wonderful feeling in return. It was warm and fuzzy (especially right after it got out of the dryer). You always felt safe and secure when it was with you, which was almost always. The bond you had made you feel as if something bad would certainly happen if you didn’t have it close at hand. Your woobie never passed judgement, never let you down and required very little compared to what you got back. This was a magical connection for sure.

Question; How do YOU become a security blanket?

In a powerfully short read, Ken Blanchard and Sheldon Bowles outline how to create “Raving Fans” out of your customers. One of their core ideas is that it’s not OK to settle for “good” customer service. To create raving fans, you must go way beyond the extra mile. You have to give your customers specific reasons to pass along your praises by word of mouth - to become evangelists.

Here’s my tip. Read the book but instead of seeing this as an exercise of creating great customer service, define the task at hand as becoming the security blanket. Foster that warm and fuzzy feeling. Make it so your clients can’t live without you. Do that, then you’ve succeeded. As a bonus, there’s a wonderful prize at the end of this journey. If you succeed at becoming the security blanket, you’ll find you feel the same about the client. You’ll be willing to do more for them. The delivery of service will seem less like a chore. The work you do for them will seem to go faster and you’ll have a deeper sense of fulfillment and appreciation.

Good luck with this process! However, watch out for those fabric softener sheets! They’ll stick to you as you climb out of the dryer.

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“Trip” vs. “Journey”

April 7th, 2008 by Chief Nut

A “Trip” is …

A planned path from here to there
Well trodden
Predictable
Nothing new … mundane
Repetitious and safe

A “Journey” is …

Without a predictable destination
A path over, as of yet, unseen territory
Ripe with challenges
Exciting, fresh and new
A thrilling, risk-filled adventure

Question: Is your business development more like a trip, or a journey? What about your career? What about your next product or service?

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Free Images! Free Images!

March 29th, 2008 by Chief Nut

Every time I give a blog training session, like a mother hen I say, “don’t just regurgitate what somebody else has said. Don’t just duplicate … instead, add, enhance, extend, create.”

In this case, Seth’s suggestion is so simple and so awesome for our web development clients, I find I’m more than happy to just link to his post and pass along his tip as is;

When you need great photography but find you’re on a shoestring budget, take a trip to Flickr.com. When you get there:

Use the advanced search and check the appropriate boxes under the Creative Common License section.
Be sure to check out the HDR images (which stands for High Dynamic Range). If you haven’t seen this photographic treatment in action, you definitely need to see it to believe it.
Be sure to sort by “Most Interesting.”

There are some amazingly gifted photographers out there, giving you all of these photographs for free … like the above shot of the junker truck taken by CodyR. To really appreciate the photo, you’ll need to click the image to see a larger version.

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Were You Reeeeallly Paying Attention?

March 19th, 2008 by Chief Nut

Before reading further into this post, watch this video first …

Seth Godin commented on this clip and pointed out the most important point … If you think interuptive marketing (advertising) will get past the consumer’s mental filters, you’re sadly mistaken. If a brain is busy, it is amazingly good at blocking out everything else around it.

Here’s something else to consider. A great ad with a great message, delivered in a unique and powerful way does NOT have to cost a lot! In fact, I would suggest that some of the best messages around are low-tech or no-tech works of art that required nothing more than creativity. Here’s a good example from the stars at Crispin Porter.

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An Awesome Speech By KD Paine

March 12th, 2008 by Chief Nut

I’m sitting in a session at MicrocreditNH Entrepreneurial Exchange Day. What an amazing talk!! … Including a bit about real-time blogging and the immediacy of “new” technologies. Great stuff!

=-=-=-=-=-=-=
UPDATE
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After posting the above comment during Katie’s presentation, I had the pleasure of doing a wild and wacky bit with my cohorts in crime, Allen and Lani Voivod. Little did we expect, Katie was capturing one of our “skits” on her cell phone. Yeah … color me embarrassed (NOT). Honestly, it was A LOT of fun!!