Somewhere (I can’t remember where) pointed me to a marketing campaign posted on Ads of the World that is insanely brilliant. It was done in Germany - which should be no surprise, this would never be passable in the US - to promote an action and suspense channel called “13th Street.”

I get the impression you either love or hate this idea. Obviously I think it’s awesome, and so does Jeff Hilimire. But, one of my friends/coworkers pointed out that she would likely have a panic attack if she was exposed to this campaign unknowingly.

They placed a substance that would luminesce in black light on the walls, sink and mirror in a nightclub bathroom in Hamburg. The manner it was applied mimicked that of a crime scene.

Then they timed the traditional lighting in the room to replace with blacklight after a subject entered the room; exposing the “bloodbath” as well as the logo, tagline - See What Others Don’t See - and the web address of the television station.

Check out more pictures here. Talk about thinking outside the box; this is experiential marketing at its best. Maybe not passable in the US, but it definitely makes you think about what’s possible.

What better motivation to divulge some personal information than a promise of a little custom tailored Starbucks in your cup? That’s right, visit starbuckscoffeeathome.com, answer a few questions to figure out what sort of coffee best suits your tastes, fill out a form, and get some free coffee.

Genius.

With the workflow improvements that Adobe continues to bring to Photoshop, and the high level of experience required to master and efficiently use the tool, it is no wonder that there is such a high demand for training on this prolific and highly revered digital editing software.

Unfortunately, nothing is more frustrating for a novice than confronting a tool that has hidden secrets (keyboard shortcuts/layers shortcuts, new slim interface), a pool of icons (only labeled on still rollover) and 1 million capabilities.

For those of you who attended the recent Spunlogic Lunch and Learn [Photoshop Basics & Essentials], I challenge you to continue playing with Photoshop – bring in your personal photographs, play with filters, explore the keyboard shortcuts (hold down the control, alt and shift keys with various other keys), cut out objects and make collages. The rewards of advancing in Photoshop are not restricted to designers.

With the influx of affordable high resolution personal cameras and widespread blogging, the invitation of digital manipulation is open to anyone who would like to put a mustache on their uncle Fred or share last night’s breakdancing photo session with their buddies.

And for those of you who are well-rounded in Photoshop, don’t get stuck in the last version of Photoshop – that is so CS2! Continue to seek knowledge from your peers and share the love as well.

As promised, the Photoshop Seminar notes & Training files are available (to Spunlogic Employees), just ask me for them!

Why would you want to spend a lot of $$$ to build a site to permeate your brand into the mind of the public, and then never really show the brand itself? In the case of the Sound of Color, The GAP has a great concept, beautifully presented and meticulously executed, to support their “Color Redefined” campaign, yet the site never refers to the campaign, the logo, or Gap products. Not a stitch of denim anywhere! It does leaves the viewer with a strong and, more importantly, a new impression of the Gap brand. While still perceived as youthful, The GAP is seen as an idea generator, a patron of the arts, a catalyst for creativity, and in tune with technology and communication.

The message is delivered through the language of music and video, which the target audience speaks fluently. To their credit, The GAP has focused on the viral possibilities of the site and music downloads, rather than the more traditional use of media placement. The site will live for only a month, but the music will be woven into the fabric of daily life as its passed from friend to friend. The strong response elicited in their audience is one that will persist. That’s $$$ well spent.

I recently came across an interesting article featuring portfolio samples and an interview with Dan Wheaton, one of the matte artists from the films Babel, Stranger Than Fiction, and The Number 23.

The amount of imagination and attention to detail associated with matte painting never ceases to amaze me. View his website & portfolio here.

Believe it or not, fonts have a distinct persona that visually communicates something about who you are or what you are trying to verbally express.

For this reason, designers must carefully select fonts that are appropriate for the occasion or brand. Various societal associations, such as standard industry fonts, as well as the usage of a font in other industries play a vital role in influencing the audience perception of your brand. Other important factors that a designer must consider are audience, readability, and the “fontosphere” (what fonts and graphics currently exist within the design).

Consider illustration 1.0 of the Archer font by Hoefler & Frere Jones. What associations come to mind for the Archer font in a and the handwritten Akbar font in b? What are some differences in the actual performance of the font (legibility, style)?

What do your fonts say about you? Look for your font on signs, online, in the market, and in literature to discover more about how people may be perceiving you or your brand.

Want to learn more about typography? Check out the links below.

i Love Typography
Typophile
TypeNeu

Very rarely am I as intrigued with online, flash-driven games as I was when I found the “Got Milk: Get the Glass” online masterpiece. The characters are well developed, the game board is fun and engaging and the plot is integrated with learning about the benefits of the product in an interesting way.

The Challenge (Get the Glass):

The Plot & Characters:

(Close up of Character Description):

It’s Your Roll! …

Being old enough to remember when Apples (aka Macs) had a built in 9″ monochrome screen and were coined “Classics“, I have been lucky enough to be taught in both traditional methods and with the tools we use every day to create, communicate and reboot. Skip forward to 1994 and when Mindspring changed the landscape by offering great service with a slow, but reliable internet connection to my home and many offices in and around Atlanta. So what has happened in these 13 years since we would start the day by the lovely sound of the modem? We all know that a lot has happened and changed, but my question is less related to what has happened but to how it has affected our media and communication landscape.

Recently, I polled my students and recent graduates at The Creative Circus with some questions around “Traditional” and “Digital” advertising, design, media and strategy. Figuring that this generation of marketers, advertisers and designers will most likely experience an even greater shift in how we relate to media.

The Question:
How do you see “Traditional” advertising and media changing in the next 10 years?

Some of their Answers:

1.) “Consumers will have more control over the choice and content than they do now and brands that engage consumers as active participants will be successful.”

2.) “I don’t think there is ‘Traditional’ advertising anymore.”

3.) “More media channels, more ways to reach people, more interactive experiences and more brand interaction. Hopefully less User Generated crap.”

4.) “I don’t think anyone can answer that question. The only thing you need to be certain of is that your ideas communicate with an audience in an interesting way. Don’t let the media do the work.”

5.) “More out of home, experiential and true interaction between the audience and the advertising itself.”

6.) “Traditional will be a support role. It will only exist because it has always been there.”

7.) “I think it can go two ways… either it could go back to more traditional forms, as the interactive market becomes saturated, or it could go the other way where traditional becomes a program on the history channel.”

8.) “More interactive/online experience focused.”

9.) “A drastic overhaul of TV and more of a move towards viral.”

10.) “Media will become even more scattered.”

With these answers and our own insights, we all know “Digital” will become a driver within the next 10 years. The real question that excites me is what will “Digital” become.

VW celebrates its anniversary in style.

It may be a Dutch website, but they have the same great taste in music (less the awkward skew towards the still popular Journey, Asia and Air Supply). The microsite showcases 5 generations of VWs alongside the music of their era. The gaming portion of the site quizzes the user to pick which VW and era belongs with the song and the results are an engaging advergame that delivers some great music and memories.

So what were my findings?

1. VW sure has changed from the 5os, and still has yet to bring back the Karmann Ghia.
2. Quiz shows and advergames mix very well.
3. I have an odd skew towards 50s and 80s music.

Take the quiz and see how VW has changed over 60 years. Just click on “speel het spel” and enjoy the music. (It takes a while to load, please be patient!)

Whoever said scrolling for content was bad? Maybe our entire User Experience Department…

So why can’t scrolling be part of the experience, part of the concept… well it can be and Orange does a great job with the dreaded “page down” action.

Orange, a mobile provider out of the UK, recently launched the microsite around the concept of unlimited mobile usage. It’s a clever play on unlimited and scrolling lets the user interact with various flash experiences and conveys the feeling of a single page that never ends. The micro-experiences give quick interaction points and continuously drive the user deeper down the page to an abyss of rainbows, birds, bunnies and monkeys.

All said and done, it is a smart site and if it does not crash your browser, I hope you enjoy the lengthy experience.