The Colorful World of the Olympics 

Here are some creative commercial videos related to the Olympics from around the world. 

Get into the spirit:

Play with Beckham:

 

Celebrate and dance:

Coke's beat of China:

Stay awake:  

Cheer the world on! 

Starfish / rip curl

Sweat it out!
5 interesting perspectives on how to boost your creativity. Growing up in a maritime environment gave early lessons to the importance of anchors. But even more interesting; the article supports the idea for making your way to the gym to "disconnect" the brain, leaving everything to a cardiovascular heartbeat and rhythm.

To read article: Uncertainty, Innovation, and the Alchemy of Fear

From a beige perspective....

Blonde is the new Black

According to Carlsberg it is. A new beer with a modern and Scandinavian minimalistic design profile. This time dressed up to meet the visual demands of the female beer buyers. This reminds me of  a comment  I made in a blog post in February related to changing consumer habits and shopping patterns:

"It's going to be interesting to see the changes towards more masculine household product commercials versus more feminine high tech commercials for products like for example 3D TV and cable ads and what about more feminine beer commercials ? (I love a good beer but I never drink "Dos Equis")"  Ref: "My cart belongs to daddy?"

Carlsberg has focused on a design style similar to wine bottles to attract a design conscious audience. The design gives me additional associations to some high end water bottle brands, Bauhaus style and  1960's pharmacy labels and early days newspaper ads.

But where is the femininity ? Why have they chosen a male voice-over on the TV commercial ? - which insist natural beauty needs no makeup (absolutely fantastic! - but the well known fact is men saying this more often than women). What came first, the beer or the bottle ? (is it only skin deep) The design may be to attract women, if so with a distinct masculine embrace. 

Isolated I like the simplistic beauty of the design and another important aspect is if course to evaluate the different geographical world markets it will be introduced to. Consumer preferences in regards to design varies around the globe even under the same influence of main global fashion trends. It's going to be interesting to see if this beer brand will take a bigger sip out of the female beer market and who knows maybe the design will just as well be a hit amongst men ?  I hope Carlsberg will have success with its newcomer;a manufacturer famous for its tradition and taste in beer making. The beer will be introduced in it's homeland Denmark, then launched in northern & western Europe, following Eastern Europe and Asia during 2011 and 2012. 

Whether you're a beer drinker or not, male or female what do you think about the design ? Leave a comment!

To read more: Carlsberg crafts beer with ladies on their mind

Innovative roots

I grew up in much smaller town than Miami - but it is a city that has put innovation on it's agenda and achieved international  recognition for it's yearly conferences. If you watch and listen to the video you will learn mind-boggling  facts about the Beatles (or a music teacher, depending on your perspective).

To learn more about Innotown and the city: Innotown - Business NOT as usual

26" of persistence

 Here's a link to a story that will encourage you. 

Read: A story of Persistence

The poster below is a several layer visual, literal & symbolic definition of the theme. The main symbol origins from ancient west African Akan culture. "Wawa aba" (seed of the wawa tree) , a  seed that is extremely resistant and difficult to crack. 

The seed symbolizes strength and is meant to inspire the individual to persevere through hardship.

Form & Functionality

Dieter Rams Sketch - 1960

This is a link to a recent interview with Dieter Rams; a pioneer designer of the 20th century. He spent 40 years with Braun developing consumer electronics. Design work that has contributed to progress and functionality with ripple effects into the computer era. He has strong opinions about the importance and role of design in regards to innovation.

Famous for his 606 shelving system created for Vitsoe in 1960 which 50 years later is still a high selling furniture system; the designer looks back and admit that he first and foremost is an architect, but not for the reasons you might think of:

Find the answer:

Our Interview With Dieter Rams, The Greatest Designer Alive

Divine disconnection

In this post you will find a link to an article about management of quality time versus staying connected.

Let's face it: Computers, cellulars and all kinds of digital gadgets are not disappearing anywhere and will keep keeping us connected until the end of time. The questions is how each one of us deals with it. Just as it is an endless resource for creativity, work and intelligence I am convinced it also leads to poor quality and execution regardless of what type of work you are doing, but some might be more vulnerable than others.

This article reminded me about something I read/heard several years ago in regards to creative work. What I read was a reference to "the flow"; a state of mind that usually kicks in let's say 10-20 minutes after you start working creatively using the left side of your brain. It is a state of mind that actually can be compared to floating. Ever been on a mattress on the ocean feeling the tranquility of the wave movements, staring into an endless sky and it's almost like time stops?  Compare it to surfing or downhill skiing, or any other activity that seem to break up your perception of time versus activity.

When you enter this floating phase it is like other elements around you disappear. You are so deep into and concentrated about what you are doing that you actually loose track of time and you do not notice well, for example if somebody is addressing you with a question. I consider myself as a pretty organized person and if I can I prefer a systematic approach to a work task rather than improvising. The kind of person that likes to systematize things, arrange a spice rack alphabetically and take a look at my watch to know how much time is left of my favorite show. But so clearly I can experience loosing track of time when hitting "the flow" and me that normally can predict well both the hour and how much time has gone by is obviously somehow a little "spaced out". In regards to the time element it was a very simple scientific explanation: Your left side brain is so involved with creative work that other parts of the brain dealing with time perception, language center etc is sort of disengaged. But why do I mention this in regards to time management ? Because "the flow" was pointed out by experts within creative industries to be an extremely important phase of any creative work. And if this is true it is a state of mind that clearly do not mingle well with staying connected.

3D Brands

El momento del café

A link to an article that tells you how and why Starbuck's branding program has been so successful. Reading the article it made me think about how modern marketing actually could pick up a thing or two from design principles.

When working with visual elements, 3D included, changing one composite have  consequences for other objects and perspectives. In the same way you have to adjust or add elements in a branding program to obtain the big picture you want others to see.

To read the article: The Brand Experience

Spellbinding facts about Trolls (Internet & Real world)

The homeland of Trolls

Lately I've stumbled across several articles addressing internet trolls and how they can make life miserable for anyone having internet sites depending on interactions with readers and customers. For many, success lies in the numbers and responses you accumulate on your site, but in the long run bulk responses and internet trolls can have a strong negative impact and hurt your credibility as a dependable source of information.

NPR (Public Radio) is one site that has initiated a troll hunt. To read more check this article: Public radio decides it's time to chase trolls away.

TechCrunch a popular blog about all things tech related has minimized the problem by using a Facebook commenting plug-in:  Facebook comments have silenced the trolls - but is it too quiet?

But here's the creative twist of today: I am introducing you to the old world of trolls. To get you in the right ambiance we need some music! You've probably heard this piece numerous times from commercials and  movie or perhaps you've hear it from recordings made by "The Who", "Electric Light Orchestra", "Erasure" or "Metallica". Originally composed by Edvard Grieg and premiered back in 1876. "In the hall of the mountain king":

What you might not know is that this piece is a description of a human being facing the horror of the Trolls in a mountain. And you are hereby warned about explicit lyrics:

Slay him! The Christian's son has bewitched
The Mountain King's fairest daughter!
Slay him!
Slay him!

May I hack him on the fingers?
May I tug him by the hair?
Hu, hey, let me bite him in the haunches!
Shall he be boiled into broth and bree to me

Shall he roast on a spit or be browned in a stewpan?

Ice to your blood, friends!

Mårten Eskil Winge 1872
"Thor's battle with the Ettins"

Trolls first appear in Norse Mythology about 1000 years ago. They have numerous forms and shapes and are grouped into categories. Without explaining every category they can in general be categorized as fierce (but not very smart), ugly beings usually with a bad agenda.

Found in isolated areas and rough nature like mountains, caves and thick woodlands and some lives in waters and in the ocean too. They can be big or small. Some are human looking and some are true monster-like with several heads. Enemies of  Gods, all things good and humans in particular. They operate between sundown and sunset because exposed to sunlight they turn to stone.

The popularity of the new movie "Thor" is another entry into the subject since he is known for having fierce battles with giant trolls ("Jotuns") It's really exiting to see Norse mythology being used as creative inspiration for new movies in 2011. The Norse mythology is a kaleidoscope of Gods, colorful figures, trolls, drama and myths. If you are into Greek mythology I highly recommend you  to explore the world of Asgard! : "The Norse Gods"

After the Viking era and the Christianity of Scandinavia the myths and legends from Norse mythology continued to live on in Scandinavian folklore evolving into a rich fairytale tradition and as an inspiration source for traditional art forms like poems, paintings and music. Even in modern times it is a cultural phenomena still having influence on it's surroundings. Do you know there are mountains  and roads named after Trolls, like "Trollstigen" ? (The Troll ladder).You  have oil fields in the Northern Atlantic discovered in 1979 named "Troll". So is a science station and a landing base in Antarctica and even a record label too. Trolls has become modern time tourist attractions and popular souvenirs.

Teodor Kittelsen 1906

As a child I grew up with the colorful world of fairy-tales, myths and trolls making each walk in the woods an exiting and imaginary place and they certainly has contributed to creativity. But there is another side to fairy tales that might not be so well known. From old times they have played a significant role as advisories and even as "parental guides". Through story telling back to times when people could not read and write they functioned as entertaining guides to what was wrong and right, good and bad and how to be smart and overcome the "trolls" in life and sometimes just being a simple guide to common sense. To give you an example, here's a short story translated to English:

"Boots Who Ate a Match With the Troll" 

Today the myths about Trolls continue to inspire modern creators and here's a trailer to a dark comedy movie "The Troll Hunter" first released in 2010 with recent viewings in 2011 at the Sundance FilmFestival, San Fransisco International Film Festival and Boston Independent Film Festival:

I might be far away from the origin of Trolls and sometimes I think I know how Thor must have felt falling down in the Nevada desert. The tropical landscape of Florida is far from rugged mountains, but still there are reminders. I've heard stories about the "Chupacabra" and the "Pechuen" from South American Mepuche mythology so in some sense I know there are other similar myths. Nevertheless we are just entering into a summer season when Thor makes his sound remarkable vivid around areas like Miami (he must have a hang for the tropics like I do :-) Reminding me of old landscapes, heritage and most importantly about being strong and fight the wicked ways of trolls. You don't believe me ? Trolls love to intervene and poke with humans. Beware! 

Sweet art design

Ornamental Arrow - SeeBe design 2008

Today I dust off a pattern created back in 2008; also featured in other color combination's on SeeBe's website. It's no secret that I advocate for eclectic and artistic designs in marketing and branding which I believe can be a fresh and needed equilibrium to more glossy, polished design styles. Why? For some products an artistic, "handmade" design profile connects directly to core product features and the design subconsciously communicates this to the consumer.

It's oh so nice to see more and more companies choosing similar styles to represent their products and marketing.  Here's a link to an Italian manufacturer of handmade chocolate. Needless to say I think their design profile and packaging is sweet !

Nudo - straight from the grove 

Twisted building

New York by Gehry

I stumbled across this project website about a new residential high rise already part of  the  Manhattan skyline.

The photo looks like its been Photoshoped with the liguid tool and the structure of the building is amazing. Visit the website to get access to gallery photos, a video interview with the architect and other background info.

To visit Gehry's project website: NewYork byGehry

Visual thinking

A new online magazine from Google; beautifully put together and a true pleasure to view and browse through or take in deeper by resting your eyes and mind on an article. This is what Google says about their magazine:

...."But in a world of accelerating change, we all need time to reflect. Think Quarterly is a breathing space in a busy world. It's a place to take time out and consider what's happening and why it matters. Our first issue is dedicated to Data – amongst a morass of information, how can you find the magic metrics that will help transform your business? We hope that you find inspiration, insights, and more, in Think Quarterly." 

I will be waiting for the next issues and exited to see what they will be dedicated to.

To visit magazine: Think Quarterly

Colorful thoughts

The RYB model

This is a link to a blog post focusing on the  importance of having some source of knowledge when working on projects involving graphic design and use of colors. Larissa Harris points to the entry of a vast area rooted in science (Sir Isaac Newton created the first diagram of colors in 1666) and that it take years of practice to master the art. What she does not mention is there is not only one color theory but many and most importantly there is no manual with right/wrong answers. Color theories are extremely useful but they are guidelines only.

The Munsell color system

Harris focus on the importance of harmonizing colors and here is where I may part a little away from her opinions: Sometimes it can be worthwhile to break some harmony rules and take a step away from what everyone else is doing. Reflect over the fact that a color reckoned as fashionable today, may  have been unthought-of yesterday, not to mention different use of colors in cultures, countries and markets.

With that said and meeting up with Larissa again, the bottom line is that it is not advisable to gamble and implement a color just because it seems to look OK. Reading between the lines this is what Harris tries to warn about. There are technical aspects, especially related to digital medias and you need to have some basic knowledge on how to differentiate between RGB, CMYK, spot colors etc. to get it right.

The NCS color system

Another interesting aspect: She tells us about her daughter wanting to accessorize in an original and unusual way. Children have an innocent and "clean" perception of colors in comparison to grown ups where elements like learned habits, influence of social/business norms and fashion trends has a stronghold on our choices. In a professional sense this points to the fact that it is not enough to have knowledge about color theories, you also need to know facts about history, brand norms, market segments, social/cultural differences, present trends and preferably forecasts too.

Additive colors

Working with colors can certainly be challenging and sometimes it requires a rebel soul to figure out new un-thought-of-but-still-acceptable-crowd-cheering-color-combination's. But more often, the most important job you do is to comply with already existing design  guidelines and make sure the correct color codes gets implemented.

To read the article:
Color theory and the graphic designer 

Salvador Dali is in the building !

The new Salvador Dali museum in St.Petersburg, Florida

A great reason to visit St. Petersburg Florida. Not only does the city house the biggest collection of the works of Salvador Dali, but the architecture of the new museum itself is astonishing. Developed as a tribute to the artist and with environmental concerns in mind, like visual landscape and hurricane protection. The new Salvador Dali museum opened in January 2011. Check these links for more photo's and information:

 Salvador Dali Museum - Now Open 

Biography - Salvador Dali


One of the artists famous paintings:

The Persistence of memory 1931 - Salvador Dali

Think pink !

Movie Poster "Funny Face" 1957

With the color of the year of the year in mind (ref. The color of 2011), some fun archive references to the color pink. Below a music number from the movie "Funny Face" from 1957.




.... And a poetic version about the pink colors from Kevin Nordine:

Colortrending

Color collage - Autumn 2011

Here you see a collage based on trend reports for this year's fall season; of course with some subjective predictions!

Pantone announced their fall colors early February. Colors that I believe will have a more significant impact  than others this autumn is definitely the warm "tart" golden yellow color which Pantone refers to as "Bamboo". The other one is the dark green "Teal" color, both  combined with neutrals. The third is the color Pantone refers to as "Phlox" A footnote to this: "Phlox" is actually a much brighter color named after the same plant and more commonly referred to as "psychedelic purple" (Jimi Hendrix' favorite color!). But eventually, "phlox" as shown on the Pantone chart will definitely be on the autumn color map, and come along with glimpses of pink colors reminiscent of "Honeysuckle" (color of the year 2011), believed to have a stronghold on design products this year. The autumn pink may though appear in softer/cooler versions. 

My gamble for the autumn is to predict more use of blue tones than different trend reports shows. Without going into details, just as "Honeysuckle" were meant to be an optimistic, sweet and uplifting color for 2010, there could be seen softer shades of blue colors for more optimism and a "peaceful blue autumn sky".

Pantones color report: Fall 20011 - Sensible & Spirited

Fashion Trendsetter report: The must have color trends for fall 2011

The worlds best newspaper

Here's a chance to take a look:

"In its 32nd annual The Best of Newspaper Design™ Creative Competition, the Society for News Design has named Portugal’s i newspaper, a daily that launched in 2009, the World’s Best-Designed™ Newspaper."

To see the newspaper:  "World's best designed newspaper"

Design & healthy food habits

Neon Melons 2008

We can discuss the role of packaging to promote healthy food until our faces turns blue. But there need to be a demand that creates initiatives and thereof budgets to produce healthy food products.  This is when designers and creatives can start to create delicious irresistible branding and packaging, tempting the consumer to a different purchasing decision.

There are already many nice examples of food packaging promoting healthy products on the US market. Some general examples are water,  fruit juices (not all of them so healthy though) and specialized food products found in the deli section, taking packaging and design to another level. (The design as an integrated part of the branding where the consumer also buy into image and lifestyle, not only the product ) 

Unfortunately many of these products are found in the expensive food isles, making them unavailable for those who would have needed them most. And some are so specialized that you by social demographics already have excluded 75 % of the population as potential buyers. 

What we need is manufacturers producing and selling products to the mass food markets that are brave enough to be a little progressive when it comes to packaging too. A prediction is that some of those who dare to step up to this challenge might be winners in the long run. What we have started to see these days of campaigns and effort to fight obesity and make America healthy again is just a beginning. What before have been healthy fashion and exercise trends belonging to minor high education/income segments of the population has and will continue to go mainstream. The reality series "The biggest looser" is a good example of that.

It's not only about packaging but also the concept of food and how we think and feel about it. These are social related factors, habits and values that goes beyond the packaging and can take a bit longer to change. But the future is promising with a first lady now reaching the 1 year anniversary for her initiative "Let's Move", to fight obesity and improve the health of children. But it surely doesn't hurt to have new thinking companies around either. "Editable Arrangements" is a good example on how a company can change our view on a food concept, by making fruit just as tempting like any box of chocolate. 

The inspiration for this blogpost is an article written by Alexandra Lange: What should food look like? 

My cart belongs to daddy ?

For years gender differences has played an important role for any marketer trying to map out a strategy for a specific target group. The classic, old school and predictable trend have been the awareness of women as a strong, sometimes "invisible" influence behind purchasing decisions. Another, the fact that women for generations has dominated the cart-strolling in most stores and what has landed into them. 

This article focus on what might be significant new changes in consumer habits and shopping trends between men and women. Not only as a result of new trends and shopping habits the last decade, but influenced by important demographic changes. 

One caution: The article does not disclose any information in regards to how the research was conducted. As with all quantitative market research the formulation of questions can have significant impact on the results, especially when you deal with psychological issues. Gender roles and peoples personal perception about them are still among issues that can be case sensitive. A "weakness" in this report is the age segment from 18-64 years which is too general. The results should have been broken down into several age groups which I believe would have given significant different and interesting results.

As the demographic gets more fragmented so does the shopping habits and trends. Obviously the growth and impact of internet shopping the last decade has led men to more frequently stroll the electronic shopping carts. New generations of women are steadily increasing their impact on the household economy and younger men have a different and more open approach towards being part of the household logistics. But as  the article mention, the results may be influenced by the wish to be perceived and/or self perception of being the main provider and a strong contributor to the household.

No matter what, it is interesting results that eventually will have impact not only on future advertising in all media channels, but also packaging design and other commercial design. In the meantime I enjoy the ride watching the attempts of adjustments whether it is Old Spice commercials for women (which proved very successful) or men portrayed with a soft backdrop of the bakery section of a Publix store. It's going to be interesting to see the changes towards more masculine household product commercials versus more feminine high tech commercials for products like for example 3D TV and cable ads and what about more feminine beer commercials ? (I love a good beer but I never drink "Dos Equis") I also believe we can expect much stronger social media reactions from men in regards to campaigns failing to pick up on changing trends, like the mentioned "Behind Every Olympic Athlete is an Olympic Mom".

To read article: Time to Rethink Your Message: Now the Cart Belongs to Daddy