whizdumb

Ten things

1) I haven't posted for awhile.  Shame on me. Getting settled in a new job and new apt in NYC while trying to be a good husband and raise a toddler is no excuse!  How does the saying go... "To be a writer, write."  To be a blogger, blog.

2) The streets here are full of scents.   Well, stenches actually.  This is something I'm still adjusting to.  I often catch myself holding my breath as I pass a pile of trash or whatever (though usually the source is unseen) only to find no relief when I pass it.  Especially lately as the summer air is thick and hot.  I imagine what things would look like if I could see scent. There would be colorful clouds hanging in the air everywhere. 

The most vivid may be right outside the building where I work.  There is a service entrance that houses and dispatches hot dog carts.  All day long the carts are coming and going, refueling and as many of us suspect, dumping their used hot dog water into the gutter somewhere.  Some say the puddles glow at night.  I wouldn't be surprised because the place smells awful. The kind of thing that inspires thoughts of becoming a vegetarian.

3) Am I the only one who thinks, "Is it me or is that PowerPoint projection a bit out of focus?"

4) I got a new TiVo and have been exploring new content. There's a feature where you can download loads of video content from the web.  It's slightly strange experience to lean back on your couch and watch things throught the TiVo menu that you'd normally watch online.  Stuff that would never make it to broadcast or even cable television, such as the Cranky Geeks show or a cheesy New York Times Vows video.  But I love it. The Long Tail in top form.

5) I am not a religious person but I absolutely love living across the street from a beautiful church and hearing the bells ring every 30 minutes.  The picture is from my home office window and the belltower is out of the frame to the right.

6) Facebook's mobile application for BlackBerry is solid.  A simple, fast, elegant alternative to their mobile site.

7) Groceries? Dry cleaning? Kitty litter?  Yeah, they'll deliver that. The other night I ordered Indian food and it was in the door 18 minutes after I called. 

8) Living in a much smaller space makes you reassess your relationship to objects.  I'm much more reluctant to buy something now because I know I'll have to find a place for it.  On the flipside, I'm selling and giving away things like mad in order to lighten the load.  Say no to paid storage...  give it away!

9)  Podcasts have become my commute media of choice.  I have to walk ten minutes, take the train (standing room only) for another ten, then walk another ten.  It's just not conducive to reading.  And I've found that when I do listen to music it is nearly impossible to find a genre that doesn't seem to perfectly accompany a walk through the city.  I guess it's a kind of aural adaptation.  Sound and sight are such strong senses that our mind melds them together.  Perhaps with so much stimulation here visually, the brain picks out the bits that go well with the music.  I don't know.  But it always sounds and feels like a good combination.

10) I feel better already.  The next time I have blogger's block I'm going to just list ten things on my mind.

Rear window parking dispute

Last night we were in our living room when we heard some commotion outside.  We looked out our apartment's rear window to see quite the dramatic parking space squabble in progress.

It seems two cars happened upon the same space at roughly the same time.  Each felt a perfect claim to the spot, and each dug in their heels.

One was a silver minivan with an Asian couple.  The other a cherry red Land Rover with two African American girlfriends.  The best part was that each car's passenger walked out to stand as a human road block in front of the other car. 

A perfect stalemate. With nothing but pride and concrete hanging in the balance. Asian vs. Black,  Minivan vs. SUV. Not that their races or car types had anything to do with the fight.  But I could almost see the Daily News article unfolding before my eyes.

There was  lot of yelling and some awesome dissing body language, but it never did come to blows or anything truly newsworthy. So my dream of retiring from a photo journalistic windfall still lives on. 

One side gave up before the cops came.  Can you guess which one?

See the whole set of pics and witness the victor here.

Dialogue, Part 1

I was wondering if sometimes it might be easier to write a conversation than to write a straight-on point of view.   

And I had some stuff knocking around to get out.  So how about some imagined exchanges between agency people. 

Is it an easier read?  Different?  Break things up a bit?  Whatever, here goes.

Setting: An internal creative review, Conference Room C

PLANNER: It feels like an ad.

CREATIVE: It is an ad.

PLANNER: I know, I know... it just feels conspicuously like an ad.

CREATIVE: Well it's supposed to sell stuff so...

PLANNER: It just feels false, I can't put my finger on it.  Like we're not really getting to the truth we talked about, the insight.

CREATIVE: What do you mean, it's all right there.  It's bringing that insight to life.

PLANNER: Yes but, ummm.  Give me a sec, I'm trying to figure this out. 

Okay, It's like I'm watching Pearl Harbor.  I'm totally aware that I'm watching a movie.  Like I'm on blockbuster ride that leaves a bad actor taste in my mouth.  There are special effects that I've seen a million times before.  I know what's going to happen, and when.  But we want this to be more authentic, like a Paul Greengrass thing.  The guy made the Bourne movies and, whether you like them or not, you didn't totally feel like you were watching a movie while you were watching them.

CREATIVE: But blockbusters make money.  It sounds like you're trying to impose your particular sense of taste.

PLANNER: In a way, yes.  Because the tastes of people are shifting.  Blockbusters aren't performing nearly as much as they used to.  People are turning to more imaginative and authentic kinds of entertainment, and doing it on their terms.  We need to make stuff that people would not instantly look at and say, "that feels like an ad."

CREATIVE: It is real though.  The art direction is beautiful.  The casting is perfect.  It's a genuine moment between the [subject A] and the [subject B].

PLANNER: Really?  Do you think people will look at that and feel a genuine impulse of human emotion?  Is it more like a Hallmark card or is it more like some high-impact kind of art? 

CREATIVE: Neither.  There's a story in there.  It's telling a story.  It's a beautifully told story.

To be continued...

[image from Doc Ross]

Dear You: An experiment in analog goodness

I'd like to write you a short note.  On an old typewriter.  Then send it in the US Mail.  Let me explain.

I'm a bit uninspired with blogging lately.  Technology has left me a slightly dizzy and I need a break.  So I thought I'd do an offline experiment. 

I was inspired by seeing Craig receive a note in the mail which was written on an old typewriter.

So I went on Craigslist and I found a wonderful retired journalist here in Denver named Bill Boas who had several old typewriters in a storage space.  I fell for a 1914 Royal Standard, Model 10 (see picture).

So I'm going to take a blogging break for a couple weeks or so and instead, write notes on my new old typewriter.

My offer is this:

To the first 20 people who reply to this post by emailing me their mailing address at millerse1 AT gmail DOT com, I will write you a brief note on my typewriter.  I have no idea what I'll write.  If you want to give me something to go on, by all means include it in the email.  A question, a word, whatever.  Otherwise I'll just cook something up.

You can be anywhere in the world.  Maybe I'll post the notes here, maybe I won't.  I haven't really thought it through.

How about a deadline of February 1? 

Thanks for playing.

Do your part to "Help Denver Suck Less, Daily"

The Denver Egotist is accepting essays for creative souls who would love to become one of the anonymous Egotists.  Those bringing the sharp end of the stick to Denver's ad community. 

So if you fancy yourself a writer and are keen to help raise the bar in our fair town, put your head down and pen an essay about it.

I think they could use more insider stuff and fewer look-at-this-cool-design-thing-we-found-on-another-blog posts.  A return to what made this such a cool idea to begin with.  Just my two cents. 

Submit your essay here: The New Denver Egotist Essay Contest

One designer's visual take on Buy Nothing Day

Spending Black Friday in Los Angeles has given me a few things to post about.  One of them is this gem from the Los Angeles Times op-ed page today.  Its' a visual take on conspicuous consumption by British graphic designer Jonathan Barnbrook.  You could call it the family tree of Black Friday's doppelganger, Buy Nothing Day.

Download buy_nothing_day.pdf

MediaSnackers leave me hungry

I've been tagged by Neil Perkin to comment on MediaSnackers, the self described "site/weblog/project/call to action for people interested in how young people consume and create media across the globe."  I applaud Neil for jumping in the arena, and for the tag, but I've been reluctant to comment on this because I feel like MediaSnackers is less a genuine meme/project/idea as it is a direct pathway to sell consulting services.  Take a look at the site and you can see what I mean.  There's nothing wrong with that, I'm just not sure what there is here that is really new to react to.  So I'll just leave a quick comment on the broader thought which concerns people consuming information and entertainment in small forms whenever they want.  I think there are a few things going on. 

- The expectation by leading edge media consumers of whatever age, that time has no bearing on their ability to consume information and entertainment.  It started with the web, then TiVo, video on demand, and mobile content.  The center of gravity moved from the media (TV, movies) where stuff was consumed only when people moved to it; to the person, where media orbit us and we consume on demand (rss readers, mobile content, etc.)  The ability to shift time put people in the driver's seat.

- The nature of the content has evolved too; in two opposite ways.  Think of these snacks as short conversations over the water cooler.  Taken individually they can be trite nonsense.  But over time they allow you to get to know a person, a brand, an idea; they take on greater meaning.  So the access to all these bite-sized and easily consumed bits of content can either leave you empty and wanting more; or given enough variety (as Neil suggests) can be quite nutritious. 

- The best kinds of 'snacks' are ultimately laddering up to something of meaning.  Ideas, recipes, humor, drama, etc.  The timeless ingredients of all good content. 

Not sure what else.  Anyway, that's my two cents.

Talk to your daughter before Unilever does

A couple weeks ago at Iconosphere I met a handful of interesting planners.  One was Rye Clifton who works at The Martin Agency.  Coincidentally, when checking out Junior Planner I Am, I stumbled on a link to an orphaned blog Rye used to maintain, and I gave him a hard time for not keeping it going. 

I especially think he should after he passed on this mashup he made.  It brings Dove and its corporate brother Axe together in ironic harmony.

My two cents are (as I mentioned in a comment the PureThinking post and which I will lazily paste here) is that I fear we're all at risk of a little naivete around the overall Real Beauty campaign. At the end of the day it was a brilliant, brave marketing strategy and idea. I think if you view it as marketing it doesn't seem duplicitous at all that they would take different approaches for different brands. It wasn't a Unilever campaign, but a Dove campaign. The problem - not a bad problem to have - is that the public has attached a Dove halo to Unilever rather than an Axe halo. The Axe work resonated at a brand not a societal level so we could keep it in a box called brand marketing. The double edge of Dove's success is that it's made Unilever seem like a corporation that truly cares more than it does.

BBH's response to talent crisis: an idea

With all the chatter about the talent crisis in agencies these days it's nice to see at least one agency taking a novel approach to finding good people.  BBH has taken a page from Monster's lauded 1999 commercial, which was lampooned in another all-too-long advertising film (and then downhill even further to this waste of time).  Although not completely original the BBH take is executed with more craft and wit than the rest.  And though I struggled sometimes to understand what he was saying, to my American ears the accents only add to the fun.

Via Only Dead Fish

The Power of Books

I saved this and now I cant remember where I found it.  At any rate it's a powerful image.  If you know where it's from leave a comment.