Logic+Emotion

iBabble

Laura Ries points us to an observation on the iPhone from non other than Jon Stewart.  From her Origin of Brands blog:

"and last night on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Jon delivered a classic comment on the fruitlessness of combination convergence devices.

During a discussion about Ultimate Fighting, which is a mixed Martial arts sport, Jon says that by combining all the fighting disciplines you lose the form and artistry of each. (Indeed Ultimate Fights usually just ends up with two guys rolling around on top of each other on the ground.)

John Hodgman refutes Jon’s statement with “So why combine a cellphone and a camera then?”

Jon comes back with “Why? That’s my question. You just end up with a crappy phone and a crappy camera.” It receives big cheers from the audience and at this point Hodgman concedes that Jon wins the round."

Honestly, I think Jon's argument is one of the lamest I've heard about why the IPhone could possible fail.  I won't go into reasons why it might fail—I haven't had a chance to play with one yet.  But the "people don't want convergence" argument is thin stuff.  Here's why.  Jon's comments imply that someone will buy a phone with camera or video to replace their current equipment.  This is nonsense.  Smartphones act as "supplements" and appeal to people who want to e-mail, browse the web or take a spontaneous picture now and then.  Is it even possible to buy a phone without a camera in it these days?  Do you want a phone without one?

These features support the evolution of human behavior fueled by classic needs (like the need to connect + share).  I see moms and dads at Target and Home Depot snapping pictures of a product they are interested in and sending it to their spouse to take a look.  I see people commuting to work glued to their mobile e-mail as they make their way home.  Have these people thrown out their computers or digital cameras?

No—the "crappy phone, crappy camera" argument is thin.  And what about video?  We've already seen a surge of vidoes uploaded and distributed on YouTube taken by people on their mobile phones.  Is the video good quality?  As good as a the latest digital cam corder?  No, of course not.  But it supports a shift in human behavior.  It's called citizen journalism—or marketing.  I think there may have been a few books written about this phenomenon.

Jon should stick with the jokes.  PS, phones are lifestyle devices—or at least many phones are beginning to achieve this status.  We all have different lifestyles with different needs.  I may not get an iPhone.  But the new Blackberry Curve (shown above) is looking awfully tempting to me.  With a 2 megapixel camera, media player and full sized QWERTY, maybe it fits my current state of human behavior.  It might not fit yours.  And that's OK.

Thought of the Day

"Design is so popular today mostly because business sees design as connecting it to the consumer populace in a deep, fundamental and honest way. An honest way. If you are in the myth-making business, you don’t need design. You need a great ad agency. But if you are in the authenticity and integrity business then you have to think design. If you are in the co-creation business today—and you’d better be in this age of social networking—then you have to think of design."
~Bruce Nussbaum, BusinessWeek 

Evolving Experience + Storytelling in Advertising

Dove's "Evolution" and "Nike +" came out as two of the big winners from the Cannes Advertising Festival.  Here's what you need to know.  One of these is a compelling story.  The other is a compelling experience (or brand application).  Both leverage digital technologies to bring the consumer closer to the brand.  But I'm biased.  While I think the Dove video was a wonderful short film—brilliant in fact, I feel that pursuing this model exclusively will hinder the growth of traditional Ad agencies.  Take a look at this comment from Burt Helm of BusinessWeek's brand blog:

"The film prize has, until now, been the domain of 30 and 60-second spots. No more! This will only further spur the flow of hot creative talent to the Interactive department. As one veteran exec recently told me, "we're seeing a race to Berlin online." Creatives from both the digital specialist agencies as well as the traditional side see the web as the prime place to change the ad game. Now they can win just as much prestige online as anywhere else, too."

While the Web turning into prime time may be an accurate prediction—the rush to create a model around viral videos may be short sighted.  You see, video distributed via online media channels aren't interactive.  There's nothing interactive about it with the exception of clicking a virtual button to play it.  In fact, the only re-tooling a traditional Ad agency needs to do to fulfill this model is to tell really good stories which people will distribute.  They'll have to do better than the typical 30 second spot, because videos that tend to go viral are usually emotionally charged in some way.  They aren't watered down.  There's also a danger to seeking "prestige" via video—a video can go viral and do nothing for the brand but everything for the agency who produced it.  Dove does not fit this model—but others may.  Tea Partay was cute, but honestly, I forgot what brand/product it was promoting in the first place.

So agencies who go after the holy grail of viral videos, just need to make sure they staff really good storytellers.  But many traditional Ad agencies already have good storytellers.  They're chock full of graduates from film school who didn't go out to Hollywood for one reason or another.  The "race to Berlin" as described in Helm's post is a race that the Ad agencies know how to run.  They just need to run longer than 30 seconds.

But let's challenge my natural bias toward experiences over video spots.  Digital firms who create user experiences don't always have the best storytellers working for them.  Even if they've figured out how to design useful and usable digital applications which go beyond the Web, they sometimes lack the ability to tell a story that's as powerful as something like Dove's Evolution.

So what's an agency to do?

The reality is that we don't have to do anything.  Firms who know how to tell stories can adapt and tell these stories where the eyeballs are moving (Web, mobile, etc).  Firms who have designed and built good user experiences can continue to do this both on the web and in other places.  But imagine the opportunity for the company, brand, or agency who cracks the experience+storyteller code.  Maybe it's comes from one source—or maybe it's orchestrated through the joint efforts of internal and external resources (including consumers).  Doesn't matter—as long as both storytelling+experience are there.

Or another way to look at this is if Dove had come up with a "brand application" as cool and useful as Nike's—or if Nike had produced a short film as compelling as Dove's.  Wow—that would have shown some real evolution within the industry.

Thought of the Day

"In order to be able to connect to "uploaders", we need to recognise (or test the hypothesis), that most of them are narcissistic creatures searching online for fame. Therefore, any brand activity should appeal to this trait, vigorously massaging their egos and making them look good or famous in return for brand advocacy. Why do you think Mac users are such ardent advocates? Because they think that owning a Mac puts them somewhat above the rest, making life very easy for marketers..."
~Ozoda Muminova

Total Design

Adam Greenfield recently penned an insightful writeup on thoughts around experience design, customer service, and the notion of control.  If any of these topics are of interest—I would recommend reading the whole thing.

Note: this post was edited on 9/9/07 to respect the wishes of the author it links to.  Click on the above link to read the associated post originally written on the Speedbird blog.
 

Blog of the Day: Innovation Playground

As personal publishing becomes more pervasive and mainstream—the thoughts and POV's from senior folks in various organizations are becoming more commonplace.  Point in case, Idris Motee's Innovation Playground.  Idris is a senior VP at consultancy Blast Radius.  He's also a published author.  Innovation Playground covers a variety of topics from a customer experience and innovation perspective.  Idris' posts are pithy and to the point.  His "five things a company can do to unlock creativity post" is brief but actionable.  And his recently uploaded sideshow on fashion innovation is forward looking and thought provoking (and written in 2005).  Idris started blogging in May, but most likely has content built up from his previous writings.  Point in case, see Marketing of Innovative and Distruptive Technologies which includes a downloadable PDF.

At month 2—Idris seems to be off to a good start.  If you're interested in innovation and business strategy, it's worth checking out.  Tip of the hat to Daive, who brought it to my attention.

Agency Ecosystems

It started as a Venn diagram—then I took a step back.  Last week I attended a meeting with the leadership team at CM, and as each member of the team got up and talked about the things they were responsible for, I started to think about how experience design fits into the bigger picture within the agency setting.

Of course it has to intersect and overlap with insights, research and planning.  It also needs to be carried through to execution—the final experience, whatever that is.  But that's where I left the Venn approach behind.  Who knows? Maybe Dad's advice about "digging deeper" stuck with me.

So I thought about more intersection and overlap with things like development (front and back end) and media of course which is where it all gets served up—even if it's social.  And a "clover" was formed.

A clover cannot sustain itself. 

It needs to be fed, fueled.  It needs to be connected to something.  Technology is the stem.  The thought of technology isn't sexy.  Neither is a stem.  But—it's essential—it's the lifeline.  Agencies everywhere are grappling with how technology has influenced rocked their worlds, especially in the past 5 years.

But what is technology without something to ground it.  All of it—the clover, the stem—it all needs to be deeply rooted in things that will make it flourish.  Business, Brand, and User needs.  Nothing new here—but how often are we really successful in building from this foundation?  How often are our strategies and executions rooted in these objectives vs. being self-serving?

Each part is co-dependent.  Each part serves a vital function.  Take out one piece and the organism will either struggle on—incomplete or wither away and eventually die.

So, thinking holistically (and visually) this helps me understand the role of experience design in the broader agency.  It needs to play it's part—a clover that helps feed the organization which in turn serves and guides clients.  One that is co-dependent on many other things.  But at that intersection—where insights, design, development, media, and technology meet—that is where ideas come to life.  That is where pollination starts.  And maybe new life cycles begin.

Planning @ The "Un-agency"

Well, I'm approaching week four and so far so  good.  Last week I wrote "What's in your DNA"?  Part of my  motivation for the post was an observation I made about how Critical Mass has both digital + design woven into the fabric of their DNA.  it's a different kind of agency.  In some ways—I feel like it's an "un-agency".  The roots of the company trace back to the founder, Ted Hellard a Canadian entrepreneur  who—as legend has it knocked on Mercedes -Benz door in the early-mid 90's selling an instructional Golf CD-ROM.  Mercedes responded by saying something along  the lines of "no thanks, but what we really need a Website".

Having not produced a Website before, Ted struck a deal with Mercedes-Benz.  He offered to create the Website on spec .  If Mercedes -Benz didn't like it—they were  not obliged to pay anything.  To this day, Mercedes  -Benz remains a Critical Mass client, so you know how the story  ends.

I'm re-telling this story because it seems like like that entrepreneurial spirit which was embedded in the DNA from the start still exists here.  And it's pretty cool.   That said—Chicago is looking for a Planning Director to help us dig into the DNA of consumers.  According to the CM site, qualifications include:

• Post-secondary degree in  Business, Marketing, Economics, Computer Science, Human Computer Interface or  related subjects preferred
• 4 years agency/consulting and Internet-related  business experiences desired
• 3 years experience leading a team in an  agency/consulting or Internet-related business desired
• Experience in  developing proposals and presentations for clients
• Demonstrated ability  to communicate complex subject matter, either verbally or in written form
•  Demonstrated ability in the marketing research and sciences areas, to  establish and analyze complex research studies
• Teamwork and  collaboration-oriented
• Detail and results oriented
• Flexible and able  to multi-task
• Commitment to learning

This  position will work across clients and lead a team of information architects, analysts, and planners.

If you ask me, I'd be looking for an individual with extreme curiosity, who is passionate about getting into the heads of customers and also believes in the power of digital and how this impacts our lives.  This means leading Ethnography efforts and getting out in the field as well as helping cultivate both strategic and tactical insights which help drive ideas.  If you think you fit the bill, you can apply on the Critical Mass Website, or even shoot me out a note.

Poke Me Please

You probably remember Agency.com's "Subway Pitch".  One of the creative minds behind the effort, Tom Ajello has recently gone over to agency Poke NY.  This screen grab is from one of Tom's latest experiments.  It's a Web Cam/Chat combination that feeds directly into Poke's NY office.  That's me in the bottom right hand corner on my video cam.

Here's the thing.  We had a conversation.  It was informal and interestingly enough—quite natural.  I popped in and once the camera got working we chatted a bit, talked about what was working with the site and what wasn't.  We congratulated each other on the new gigs and I chatted up "Noodle" and some other folks.  And you can see photos here.

Ajello says that the Poke cam has generated interest from candidates in the talent pool.  I'm not surprised.  It's both creative and transparent and provides an insight into what makes Poke tick.  And as everyone in that industry knows, good talent is harder to come by than clients these days.

Last thought.  The sign behind the couch says this:

"Don't Give Up"

Given the Subway pitch experiment—this seems both appropriate and relevant.  Kudos to the folks at Polk.  And hat tip to Eric at agency.com Chicago for the heads up.

L+E Links // 06.19.07

Tastes Like Chicken
Someone in the Critical Mass office had one of these bags displayed on their desk and thanks to Brand Autopsy, now I know what it is. Not a bad idea—let the consumer decide what the chips taste like.  Design the packaging so it stands out and makes you notice.  Innovation comes in all shapes, sizes (and flavors too).

Crayon vs. Digitas?
Jaffe consolidates the press response to Verdino's departure, and adds his 2 cents.

"I don't think Digitas and crayon are evenly remotely in the same business. crayon is not in the media, advertising or direct marketing space. Digitas is not in the conversational space. Blogs, podcasts and virtual worlds are not Digitas' primary focus and putting 30-second American Express spots on Yahoo! is not our core competency or interest."

Ning, Meta Networks and Multiplicity
Grant McCracken provides food for thought on the topic of social networks and how they connect, intersect and can even be consolidated via services such as Ning.

"Ning is a kind of network of networks (a meta-network, I guess you'd say). You sign up, invite your friends to join you in Ning-space, and then as you join other networks, some of them will link up there was well.  In a sense, the Ning  meta-network works on a respiratory model.  You exhale old friends into each of your new networks, and you inhale new friends therefrom into your Ning network."

Thought of the Day

"What is that vision? A Yahoo! that executes with speed, clarity and discipline. A Yahoo! that increases its focus on differentiating its products and investing in creativity and innovation. A Yahoo! that better monetizes its audience. A Yahoo! whose great talent is galvanized to address its challenges. And a Yahoo! that is better focused on what’s important to its users, customers, and employees."
~Jerry Yang

Community Upside Down

Is there a downside to strong communities?  Would you believe the answer is yes? 

Before you unsubscribe to this blog, please hear me out.  Community is a positive force for all humankind.  It existed before things like marketing, design and brands ever did.  We need community.  Without it—we would wither away and die.  But strong communities can also have a negative side effect.  Sometimes we're all guilty of clinging to our communities—rarely leaving them for "outside world" perspectives and viewpoints.  We can become inwardly focused and exclusive as opposed to inclusive.  We're all vulnerable to this, including yours truly.

So I've been thinking about Information Architects—a discipline that boasts one of the most vibrant communities around.  Boxes and Arrows recently featured a thought provoking write up about the discipline, which challenged Information Architects to examine themselves and the external perception of the field.  At first, I cheered—I thought "somebody within the IA community actually had the guts to say this".  But the more I thought about it—the more empathetic I became to the practitioners.  I eventually realized that we're all going through similar experiences which call for self examination—most of our professions seem to be evolving these days.  Things are changing so rapidly within the industry that looking to our communities for support makes perfect sense.

Here's the bit that stood out for me in the piece:

• IAs are history. They used to be cool, but they got caught on a few irrelevant issues, and have lost their chance to gain and hold a central position in today’s information environment.

• IAs are insular. They are unfamiliar with, and indifferent to, things going on outside the world of wireframes, facet analysis and web analytics.

• IAs are shallow. They may be flashy and indeed intelligent, but they don’t think deeply about things, and they have failed to reach the subterranean profundity that other fields have attained.

For the full context you'll have to read the entire post.  But I'd like to take a page from Roger von Oech's book and turn this particular excerpt upside down for a moment.  What if the statement read something like this:

• IAs have substance. They may be intelligent and thoughtful, but they really know how reach deep levels of insight that other fields would love to emulate.


• IAs are inclusive. They are keenly curious about things going on outside of their immediate discipline and make efforts to include others into their practice.


• IAs are the future. The future is digital and deeply rooted useful and usable.  IA's get this in spades and are well positioned to influence other disciplines in the pursuit of creating meaningful experiences that deliver value.

Now that makes me look at the discipline in a whole different way.  In fact, if you take a look at "ia" upside down, you'll see an exclamation point—could there be something to get excited about in all of this?  An opportunity?  Maybe communities don't have a downside—but rather an upside downside.  And it also makes me realize that strong communities are more important than ever.  After all, an unexamined community is not worth being a part of.

Fathers + Sons

Paul Armano was born in Polizzi Generosa, Italy in 1936.  Like many immigrants —he came to America looking for a better life.  And he gave us that life—working pretty much every job you could imagine until eventually opening his own business as a barber.  Here I ask him "what's the secret"?  His answer is simple:

"You gotta dig."

You can just make out the slight chuckle in my voice as I repeat his reply.  But like many fathers—dad has a wisdom that's not always as obvious as his answers may initially seem.  When I planted last year's garden—I didn't go nearly as deep as he did.  Not even half as much.  And the plants didn't do very well.  Sometimes the obvious isn't always... obvious.  But my dad, the barber wasn't finished teaching me that day.  He also taught me that we can connect without words.  Later that afternoon we went out and bought a chainsaw of all things.  We have trees on our property that needed some large, dead branches to be cut down.  So we spent  a good portion of the afternoon doing just that. 

It's probably something I'll always remember—and we barely spoke a word.

Dad and I haven't always gotten along.  Not an unusual story—many fathers + sons have difficulties relating.  But there comes a point when you look at the bigger picture and you realize how short life is—and you make choices.

And those choices make all the difference.
   

Verdino Shows True Colors—Joins Crayon

It seems like only yesterday that former Digitas colleague Greg Verdino and I recorded our epic "boozecast".  Fast forward several months and he's recently announced that he's joining forces with Joseph Jaffe at Crayon (ironically, Greg is holding Jaffe's Life After The 30 Second Spot in this pic).

I'm super happy for the guy and it seems like a great fit.  Greg and I have a few things in common aside from both authoring blogs and possessing a true passion for digital media.  We're also native Long Islanders—(beware when the two of us are in the same room together).  The first time I met Greg in person was at the Digitas NY office during my "blog tour"—we cliqued instantly.

Anyway, please go over to his place and wish him well.  And Jaffe—be nice to him!  ;-)

What Would Charlie Do?

I'm a sucker for successful communication whether it be visual, written, or oral. So take a look at this presentation from Scott Gavin titled "What is Enterprise 2.0"?  It uses a persona based approach to tell a story.  The story resonates (well it does with me anyway).  There are millions of people who work and live just like Charlie.  There are also millions of people that work alongside of Charlie who may do things very differently than he does.

This helps us think about those differences and makes us ask ourselves—"what would Charlie do"?

Now someone needs to do a version of this presentation that reflects how Charlie's boss works—and let's give the poor guy a name shall we?  ;)

What's In Your DNA?

Food for thought.  Think about who you work for (assuming you aren’t self employed).  What’s in the DNA of the company?  Did your company start out as a traditional ad agency?  Maybe it’s origin was in graphic design?  Or it could have started out as a consulting business?  How about direct marketing?  Promotions?  Software?  Hardware?  Environmental displays? 

What’s in the DNA of the place you work for?  Is it digital?  Did it start analog?

You hear the story over and over again—companies evolve over time.  Business models change.  New services are offered.  Mergers.  Acquisitions.  But what if DNA really makes a difference?  Is it possible to evolve and stay true to your roots?  And is this a good thing?

What’s in your personal DNA?

How are you wired?  Left brained, right brained, all brained?  Where do you excel?  Where do you need help?  How does your personal DNA affect what you do for a living?

Does your personal DNA align with that of your employer?

Connecting the Dots

Came across a blog recently titled Everything is Design.  What I liked about it right off the bat was that it consolidated some fantastic links related to design/user experience etc.  This is value.  Valuable to me because it's all in one place and saves me time and effort.

I'll eventually be adding many of these to my blogroll.  And I think this supports the theory of "community clusters" which I use in my visual above.  Blogs are connectors—they have the ability to connect communities of both similar and different interests.  Sometimes the communities are closely linked as is the case here—and sometimes the communities are vastly diverse in content and perspective.  Back to "community clusters" imagine if we erased the lines in this visual which connect them?  How boring would that be?

Now for the links:

• 24 Ways
• A List Apart
• Adaptive Path
• Augmentation
• Bokardo
• Boxes and Arrows
• Brain Sparks
• Dan Brown's Green Onions.com
• Dancing Mango
• David Crow
• Disambiguity
• DonnaM
• Elegant Hack
• Engage! Interaction Design
• Experience Planner
• Functioning Form
• Graph Paper
• Information Design
• Jesse James Garrett's Hidden Agenda
• Kottke.org
• Looks Good Works Well
• Mike Madaio
• Noise Between Stations
• O Danny Boy
• Oomblog
• Partial Recall
• Putting People First
• Rashmi Sinha
• Read/Write Web
• Riander Blog
• Signal vs. Noise
• Standards Schmandards
• The interation designer's coffee break
• Total Experience
• UIGarden.net
• UXMatters
• Yahoo! User Interface Blog
• Zeldman's Daily Report

Social Media + The Customer Experience

Several months ago I gave this presentation via a Marketing Profs Webinar in an attempt to connect the dots between social media and the customer experience.  As Dell has been enjoying a good deal of positive press—and we've seen Twitter continue and evolve, I thought it might be a good idea to re-post the deck.  Also, what's the latest news on Bud TV?  How about USA Today?

Is social media really starting to influence how consumers behave?  The mainstream media seems to think so—do you?

Note: The above presentation was produced prior to my hire at Critical Mass.  Dell is currently a Critical Mass client.
Update: Mack has just done a Company Blog Checkup on Direct2Dell.

L+E Links // 06.12.07

Design Thinking
Nate Burgos has compiled an e-book chock full of inspirational snippets from design thought leaders such as Roger Martin, Tim Brown, Jesse James Garrett, Peter Merholz, and Micheal Bierut among others.  Check it out.

Brand Utility
Russell Davies talks about the intersection of design + utility and it's place in the future.  From his post:

"Branding is being replaced by design/technology as the future of business.

The dismal nature of the branding science has started to become clear to business recently and they're starting to vote with their investments and appointments. They're turning from the people who create perceptions of value to the people who create actual value - the designers, technologists, innovators. Hence branded utility, hence 'design is the new management consultancy', hence the current Business Week heroes being IDEO and Ives not CHI and Chiat Day. Hence the limited tenures of CMOs. Hence the rise of communications businesses that can actually make stuff rather than just think of stuff."

Strategy '07 Videos
Putting People First has put together a compilation of videos from IIT's Institute of Design Strategy conference in Chicago (which was really good).   If you weren't able to make it in person, this is the next best thing.

Advergirl Uninterrupted

The bad news is that Creating Passionate Users is still MIA.  The Good news is that Advergirl is blogging again—new design and everything.  Just thought you should know.

Picture of the Day

Taking a couple of days off to attend a wedding. Joyous events aren't they? I'll leave you with this image from a local playground which I take the boys to. I love the color and form of it. Have a nice weekend.

Lessons From Experience

(click for larger image)

Somehow I missed the one year anniversary of my Experience Map.  Why is this even worth celebrating?  The Experience Map was only my second visual posted to this site (here is my first).  The story behind the map is pretty simple.  I was working closely with a traditional account planner at the time.  A really nice guy.  But we came from different worlds.  My background was primarily  interactive, combining lots of site work and some interactive marketing initiatives.  His background was from a big traditional agency—lots of experience working on Ads of all kinds.  We spoke different professional languages—so in an effort to bridge some of the gaps, I put my thinking into a visual format which I then called the Experience Map here.

Did it work?  Well sort of.  If definitely made the thinking more concrete and generated further discussions between both ourselves and our group.  I used this in addition to work samples that were in progress to illustrate ideas.  But then we both got busy and moved on to other work.

But that's not the end of the story.  The real story began when I uploaded it here.  You see, this site went pretty much unnoticed before the Experience Map came to town.  Before this, I was pointing to things I thought were cool, and talking about general stuff related to my field.  But uploading this image started a ripple effect which to this day hasn't stopped.  And it's changed how I view my profession.  Here are a few lessons from the Experience Map:

1. Social Media is a Free Marketplace of Ideas
If you put something out in the social media space which has a high level of perceived value—it's likely it will be distributed.   The Experience Map was picked up on several key sites and downloaded hundreds of times.  It didn't matter that I was a "nobody". The only thing that mattered was the content.  Create something of value—and it will be distributed.  Create something of no value—and you'll be talking to yourself.

2. Google Can Help You Own Your Ideas
If you work in search engine optimization and you haven't investigated how text-rich blogs, wiki's etc. can influence major search engines like Google, then you need to take your head out of the sand.  Type "Experience Map" in Google and my original post will come up as #1 in the search results.  This was a valuable lesson for me—maybe it's a new way of coining phrases and putting digital fingerprints to an idea.  The more popular a blog or site—the higher the placement in organic search.

3. Giving = Getting
On the link of the original post you can download a full sized version of the PDF.  This means that theoretically, someone could download the PDF, print it out and hang it on their wall.  If someone passing by asked where they got it from—they could be dishonest.  Maybe this even happened.  I don't know.  But what I do know is that by giving something away—I got something back.  What I got back was links, feedback, name recognition and even some new relationships.  Some call this social currency.  I didn't know what that was before my lesson with the Experience Map.  But once I understood the value of this currency and the influence that comes with it—I felt my eyes had been opened.  In fact, it was this visual that helped me find my voice and personal brand. 

I gave something away.  What I got back was worth so much more.

I could probably go on—but you get the idea.  This is the stuff that the democratization of the internet is made from.  Despite all of the buzzwords it can be boiled down to simple benefits.  Sure you can read about it in books like the Long Tail.  But experiencing it first hand is something else all together.  Ironic that one of my first teachers in this space was both the Experience Map—and experience itself.

Oh—wait.  Before I hit publish can you do me favor?  I literally just got an e-mail from Mat Giordano, who is 24 and fresh out of design school.  Can you check out his blog?  Thanks.

London 2012. What Was Chosen.

Update: If you are looking for a different perspective on this—check out what Coudal Partners has to say.  It's a very thoughtful piece.  But the more I think about this—the more I wonder if the London design may actually be art.  Art can polarize.  You can love it or hate it, have an appreciation or not.  Art is fickle.  It can spark debate, dialogue and conversation (good art often does).  And personally, I've stood in front of art—where after several hours of pontification I convinced myself that what I was looking at was actually brilliant when initially I thought the opposite.  So, maybe the logo is art.  Should it be?  Without over thinking this—I can confidently say the logo doesn't work for me.  Just a personal opinion.

Oh, and one last thought.  Anything that triggers epileptic seizures should be debated.  :)

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Before you read on—please take a look at these two visuals for at least 15 seconds.

Done?

OK, what do you think?

Here's what I think.  I think we are looking at two examples of Graphic Design.  One example is successful.  The other is not as successful.  Graphic Design falls under the broader category of Visual Communications.  In order for Visual Communications to be successful, it must nail two things:

1. It must be visual
2. It must communicate

This is what the London 2012 site says about their visual identity (shown above)

"The new emblem is dynamic, modern and flexible. It will work with new technology and across traditional and new media networks."

This is what the design firm behind Chicago's 2016 effort put forth:

"The Chicago 2016 logo blends the colors of the five Olympic rings within torch-shaped vista of the city, from serene blue lake to vibrant green landscape to fiery skyline. It also evokes Chicago’s Games concept, to host compact Olympic Games celebrated in the center of the city, along the lakefront and in the city’s parks."

Is this really just a matter of taste?  One could argue that London's logo is appealing to some.  Maybe a younger demographic?  Maybe older—I don't know, you tell me.  But let's take a look at these examples from another perspective:

Which one solves a problem?  In my opinion the Chicago identity tells us two things immediately:

1. Olympics
2. Chicago

And yes—from a personal preference I think it's visually appealing and does capture the vibrancy of Chicago's lakefront through the color.  What's my point in all of this?  My point is that I have a gut feeling something went horribly wrong during London's design process.  Maybe someone thought the identity really did look "dynamic, modern, and flexible". 

The London identity is supposed to read "2012".  I didn't see it.  Did you?  What could have helped the London 2012 committee avoid this?  The committee could have realized they had a problem to solve.  The problem was how to successfully communicate London's enthusiasm and passion for the Olympic spirit.  Maybe they were solving for the wrong problem—or worse yet just following an exercise in style.

The identity fails because it doesn't successfully communicate London, or the Olympic spirit.  It doesn't tell a story.  Instead it focuses on translating "dynamic, modern, and flexible".  Seth says it best:

"Actually, it's just a jaggy picture"

London 2012. What Would You Choose?

 
One of these logos was chosen for London's bid to host the 2012 Olympics.  If you know how this story ends—please don't give it away!  If not—which one would you select?

The Future Of Advertising?

Actually, I'm not going to speculate on the future of advertising.  Truth is--I've never created an Ad in my life.  Well certainly not in the traditional sense, but in many ways not digitally either.  But check out what some digital heavyweights have to say in this video:

Steven Marrs – Vice Chairman & Global Head of Digital & Branded Content, Nitro
Clark Kokich – Worldwide President, Avenue A/Razorfish
Nick Law – Chief Creative Officer, North America, R/GA
Torrence Boone – President Boston, Digitas

My favorite quote comes from the R/GA Nike Running case study.

"A completely new category where the product, the online experience and the marketing are inseparable" 

Hmmm.  I'm no scholar--but that actually sounds plausible in terms of what "advertising" could look like in the future.  I guess we'll have to wait and see to find out for sure.  Check out the panel when you have some downtime, it's pretty interesting.  On a personal note, I was happy to see that some of my team's work made it into the Digitas demo reel featured in the first few minutes.  Our work for GameTap doesn't reflect what's on their current site right now--but at least it lived for nearly a year and was captured on the reel.  Shout out to my former teammates in Chicago!

iPhone Ads

Great Ads from Apple.  Simple and clear—but too bad I had to scour YouTube to find a version to put on the blog vs. a version that could have been provided directly from the Apple site.

Experience Design

Experience Design is one of those things that if you ask 10 people what it means, you get 10 different answers.  Above is a presentation in which I attempted to define Experience Design within the narrower context of the digital medium as practiced within an agency setting.  It's not perfect and needs refinement—but since the presentation got over 3,000 views—I'm assuming there is interest in this topic.

Here's what Wikipedia has to say about Experience Design:

"Experience design is the practice of designing products, processes, services, events, and environments -- each of which is a human experience -- based on the consideration of an individual's or group's needs, desires, beliefs, knowledge, skills, experiences, and perceptions. An emerging discipline, experience design attempts to draw from many sources including cognitive psychology and perceptual psychology, cognitive science, architecture and environmental design, haptics, product design, information design, information architecture, ethnography, brand management, interaction design, service design, storytelling, heuristics, and design thinking. Another term for experience design is experiential design."

You've seen my deck.  I'll be looking to evolve the thinking over the next few months.  Question is—what do you have to say about Experience Design?

L+E Links For 06.01.07

Pirates of Silicon Vally
Bill Gates and Steve Jobs chat it up at D5.  And yes—they talk about "PC Guy".  OK, Steve talks about him—Bill just laughs nervously.  And watch it to the end, it's a tear jerker.  ;)

Got Job?
Brendon Schrader over at the freelance group has a few openings for interactive talent at all levels (Creative/Art Directors etc.).  The positions are primarily in Minneapolis.  Contact Brendon for the full skinny and mention how you found out about it.  More info below:

"The two most senior positions I am looking for are a Regional Creative Director, and an Interactive Creative Director.  The RCD needs to be someone very senior with knowledge of interactive, print, broadcast - everything. I also need a Senior Interactive Design Director, and some mid-level Interactive Designers..."

Feed Floozies
Greg Verdino presents a unique take on blog feeds:

"So for me, subscribing may actually be the lowest level of commitment.  After all, scanning the headlines from a new blog takes seconds -- and if after a week or two I realize that I'm not such a fan after all, it only takes one click to drop the feed out of my reader. No second thoughts -- I gave you a shot and you just weren't for me. Maybe we'll meet again, somewhere down the road. "