The weeks gone by

The last few weeks have been rather busy but the D&AD digital workshops are now over and this is an attempt to get some thoughts down before things pick up again. It feels good to have things out of our heads onto something slightly more solid, not to mention it’s forced us to try and make sense of what we’ve been told.

Post Profero:

We were told that it’s easy to produce a piece of utility without a big idea. That can mean that you jump straight to execution, rather than considering exactly how it will be a solid piece and not just throwaway. Its important that we spend time considering exactly what you’re trying to say or do with the utility and how it can be supported.

If you really want to sell an idea, see if you can get it made yourself or with the help of others, particularly if its something that takes existing behavior and attempts to change it. As if you can prove it works in the real world and not just in concept, then it’s a lot easier to sell the work.

Post The Viral Factory:

Making something viral seems to be about gaining an understanding of what makes people communicate and about knowing the culture you are trying tap into.

Not to mention, it’s only a viral if its actually ends up with a huge amount of hits of effects everyday culture.

Does a viral have to be film based, what about a piece of music or those stupid little restaurant vouchers? Although they are not considered ‘creative’ that are very popular and if you could take this idea and transfer it into a more expansive creative idea then you may be onto a winner.

Maybe the best type of viral is to conduct experiments and then showcase those, as if you’re doing something groundbreaking and exciting then you’ll attract attention. This ties into the sponsorship model rather than actually having an end frame at the end. So maybe create this real life activity and although your brand is in the background, it could gain recognition for its understanding.

Sharing content on facebook and such has become a huge deal. If your share a viral, then its saying something about you to others. This is bad but sadly its true. Particularly for younger teens, who can encounter huge amounts of pressure online.

Post R/GA:

They looked at the work that was produced from the briefs we were given by all the agencies during the workshops. The main feedback was that they wanted our work to be more finished visually, which represents the dilemma. As we’ve had several crits were we have been told to stick to the scamps, until you’ve had so much feedback that you know an idea is going to stay in your book. That’s when you work the idea up.

So if those of you who care to read this want to share your personal experiences on the comments section, we’d be interested to see the current trend?

Very good utility

An app for Emirates by the very clever gang at Lean Mean. Its a utility app that takes an image of your face and uses your mouth to convey french phrases.

Looks fun and useful.

Oh Thierry

Click the picture to see it in full.

The return of the Ashes (for now at least)

Another post on some sport-related activity, however the story is pretty darn interesting and infuriating. We have been greeted today with the news that the Ashes is set to return to its rightful home, the 'crown jewels', on terestrial TV, and all seems to be fairly well and good about that. However, looking further into the story, this national (and international) event has effectively been used as a gold bar, passed 4 years ago to Labour's most trusted media ally, News Corp, and now has been ripped back.

Before we get wrapped up in a proper rant about this which will end up in me being sad at not having Sky, the revenue that clubs and players receive is vital to these entities and their continued existence. Whether it's proportionally fair etc is another matter we won't get into. It seems that the resistance to broadcasting national and club events on premium channels is coming from the bodies themselves, as they seek to maintain financial stability on a grass-roots level. The government doesn't seem to be too worried about this, which is a worrying sign, and there is no mention of any further government investment in grass-roots level sports (of course there wouldn't be, we're in a recession) or sports in any capacity. To put it simply, a fit, healthy nation will be a happy, productive one, and grass-roots are massively important to this. Although the current system in place will obviously take a few years to yield results, there are troubling signs across a number of sports, namely football and cricket, that they are not working well enough.

This continuing lack of faith from one of the only bodies that can actively and healthily invest in not just a business project, but a population, is troubling as we continue to rely on premium initiatives - a lot of which are beginning to lose ground and the ability to captivate minds to more open initiatives. It will be interesting to see over the coming years if this will change in any way, my initial thoughts are no, however you never know if a true representation of the digital world made its way into the sporting world, be it a mindset or a training regime, then we could have something that transforms the way we interact with sports and eachother.

Changing history one pixel at a time

I recently came across this lovely set of photo manipulations on Relleno De Mono's Flickr page which are some of the nicest bits of photo manipulation I've seen in a while. It reminded me of other instances where, either for political motives (before/after), or for more creative purposes, such as Tom Hanks in Forest Gump, people have taken a part of history and completely altered its significance and meaning. More recently the utterly disappointing Watchmen, had a very nice title sequence which did set a nice scene. I've always liked it in films which you know aren't to be taken too seriously, begin to supplant their reality into ours, which is why this next set of TOYIB's images are just brilliant:

Best Halloween Costume Ever

This is an awesome idea for a Halloween costume. Done by Eric Testroete, it gives reference to his professional background and we like how he's turned it into a project. Lots of nice photos of it on his portfolio site.

NFLondon

This has been in the news for some time, and as the NFL has already staged on game over here in the UK, it probably should come as no great suprise that the organisation are seriously considering exporting the game to our shores in more permanent capacity. I can see nothing wrong in one sporting organisation wanting to ply their trade for a game or two in a foreign country, as it has multiple benefits for the clubs, the players (financially and, as I naively hope, socially in that they come across new experiences and fans), and the fans themselves who don't normally get to see these games in the flesh.

If you were to read further related articles, you may have come across speculation that the Super Bowl of all things could be held in this country. I have watched two Super Bowl games on TV before and thoroughly enjoyed them. I do quite like American Football and other US mainstream sports as does Luke, but our sports of choice are 'proper' football and the rest of the British mainstream sports. I couldn't imagine watching my beloved Charlton playing the F.A. Cup final in Dallas, not just because I don't think it won't happen (it will I tell you!), but because I'd expect it to be at Wembley or at least within a train ride to the ground as I'd see it as a discourtesy to all the fans - some of who put vast amounts of their lives into their clubs - to deny most of them the chance to watch what could be a once in a lifetime event.

I think that the whole situation would be very different if the proposals in place were for exhibition matches, in which case the whole financial incentive for the clubs is seen as beneficial as well to the fans back at home, and of course it must be nice to see people across the World flying your colours as well. However when it comes to something important, ie the league/title etc, I reckon that the reception that would receive in this country would be very different and completely hostile. Can you imagine a Liverpool/Utd derby for 3 points in the Premiership outside of Old Trafford or Anfield? Well, for United I can seeing as most of their fans are from Kent or Croydon or abroad, but you get my point. I'd be interested to hear the opinions of resident fans of the NFL to see if is simply my overreacting or whether they'd share my concerns. As it is still just speculation at the minute however, I shall now rest my keyboard til further announcement. In the meantime, watch this - the second one is pure reflex genius

Football Hero

This is a really fun idea.

Promoting Kasabian and their new album and also Umbro's Tailored by England strategy.