Mobile phone novels tell little stories 140 characters at a time with QuillPill.

When I was 24 my friend and I wrote ourselves a letter 10 years into the future. In it we talked about how we felt in that moment in time and also what we hoped for the future, our goals and dreams.

As the years passed our friendship dissipated into a memory but when I turned 34 I received a letter that had been addressed to my parents place. I didn't open it right away, even though I felt an excited anticipation and at the same time hesitation for what the letter might contain.

I needed to wait for the right moment. Two days later I broke open the wax seal and immersed myself in a journey to the past. The interesting thing about the whole experience is not what the letter contained but how I sounded to myself. In ten years I had evolved into quite a different person, I guess it's to be expected, however you never really analyse yourself in that way. It was an insightful experience that I think I might try again.

So what brought on this nostalgic blog entry? This website which I just stumbled upon called Future Me , a site in which you can send an email to yourself into the future. If you're feeling slightly voyaristic check out the public entries, some of them are quite touching.

Interesting insight into portion sizes and how they have increased over time. That explains the high rates of obesity in western society.

At long last!!!! Google can read flash files and flash websites. Read article...

quote..."A good map tells a multitude of little white lies; it suppresses truth to help the user see what needs to be seen…the value of a map depends on how well its generalized geometry and generalized content reflect a chosen aspect of reality.”
~ Mark Monomier 'How to Lie with maps'

One of the delicious morsels in a great book that I am reading at the moment...'Proust was a neuroscientist' by Jonah Lehrer

" Look man. You can listen to Jimi, but you can't hear him. There's a difference man. Just because you're listening to him doesn't mean you're hearing him"

~Sidney Deane [white men can't jump, 1992]

How did it get so late so soon?
It's night before its afternoon.
December is here before its June.
My goodness how the time has flewn.
How did it get so late so soon?

Just came across this highly useful and informative resource called Slideshare. In the true web2.0 style it a website that allows users to share and view powerpoint presentations on a variety of topics. Here are some notable ones that i just viewed...

> Logic + emotion; VIsual thinking archive

> Improving interface design

> The brand gap

Yes, it is possible to burn a boiled egg

Isn’t it strange how we all draw as children, but are so few as adults? Why do they all stop?

~ John Howe

Most (not all) parents want their children to be doctors and lawyers. Soon after children start school there is a focus on academic achievement over creative development. Our society has the belief that academic professions equal financial gain that equals success that equals happiness. It's sad that so many of us still believe that financial success equals happiness.

Unfortunately art doesn’t equal lots of money; well not until you’re dead for most. However a creative pursuit does equal lots of happiness and personal fulfilment.

So ask your self this if you’re a parent... what's more important; your child’s happiness or your child’s financial success? Or are you more concerned by your own achievement at rearing a ‘successful’ individual?

Ever wondered why red is the international colour for stop? Why is pink for girl and blue for boy? Why is black the colour of death? Why are road signs green? Why is envy a green monster? Why is purple the royal colour?

Find out by reading the 11 great colour legends & also the sequel titled 13 great colour legends

Colour trends for winter 2007-2008

In the race for ever-thinner displays for TVs, cell phones and other gadgets, Sony may have developed one to beat them all - a razor-thin display that bends like paper while showing full-colour video. Sony released video of the new 2.5-inch display on Friday. In it, a hand squeezes a display that is 0.3 millimeters, or 0.01 inch, thick. Read more

Here's an interesting insight that I came across in Faith Popcorns 'Eve-olution: the 8 truths of marketing to women' book. Well actually the quote is from Germaine Greers book 'The whole woman':

"The sharpness of contrast between the genders when it comes to shopping can be seen in the marketing of clothing. By and large, men's clothing is constructed to last; women's clothing, though not at all inexpensive, is instantly obsolete. Menswear represents very much better value for the money than womenswear. What is more, the clothes are expected or altered to fit the man; women have somehow to try to fit the clothes. There are few make fashion victims; all women are victims of fashion."

nytimes.com April 1, 2007 New Bar Codes Can Talk With Your Cellphone By LOUISE STORY

It sounds like something straight out of a futuristic film: House hunters, driving past a for-sale sign, stop and point their cellphone at the sign.

With a click, their cellphone screen displays the asking price, the number of bedrooms and baths and lots of other details about the house.

Media experts say that cellphones, the Swiss Army knives of technology, are quickly heading in this direction.

New technology, already in use in parts of Asia but still in development in the United States, allows the phones to connect everyday objects with the Internet. Read article

Vogue Italy has just published what I think is an distateful and inappropriate photo spread called 'State of Emergency' the photos were shot by American photograher Steven Meisel. I must admit it that I am not easily offended or shocked. I guess that after 34 years of visual bombardement I've acquired a thick-skin to it all; in order to protect myself. This photo shoot is incredibly wrong in so many ways that I can't even begin to discuss it. I just can't believe that Vogue has published them.

When I purchase a magazine like Vogue I expect to be entertained and transported into the world of glamour, I certainly don't expect to be visually assulted by terrorist themed images which degrade women.

Personally I'm sick and tired of the current state of the world. I'm disgusted at the media for infecting my feelings towards other cultures and at times I feel emotionally raped because I can't catch a train anymore without fearing that it may be the next target of a terrorist attack. What completely fathoms me is that the rotten state of the world with all its unnecessary killings and power hungry polititians all goes back to 'religion'.

I realise that by blogging about this and adding the link to my site, that I will be drawing more undeserved attention to the spread, but perhaps it can serve as a way to let other women know that there is line and Vogue has crossed it. As a result Vogue has tarnished its brand and I know for a fact that I wont be purchasing another issue any time soon.

One of thousand insightful morsels from one of my favourite books "The Art of Looking Sideways' by Alan Fletcher...

" If you're in a hole don't keep digging - look around. Then get the bits and pieces into some kind of order so as to point up the problem. Sometimes it comes easy, other times it's like confining jelly with a rubber band.

Anyway, once achieved, the next move is to head off along the most promising route. The solution may become evident or you can end up in an exasperating period of hiatus when, despite trying this and that, the answer remains elusive.

Hopefully the germ of an idea eventually peeps through, but before leaping on it with relief let it incubate for a while. Here the mind works on the idea in some mysterious way.

Either the potential evaporates, in which case you have to start all over again, or it emerges [said henry james] with a firm iridescent surface, and a notable increase in weight'. Designing looks easy if you don't know how, difficult if you do."

Interesting article about the design of the Google logo, and the way in which they change the look of it to suit different occasions.

It raises an important question...How far should we go to retain the integrity of a logo? Personally I think that the majority of people place too much concern over a logo identities representation.

This is especially true when a brand that has been predominantly used for print makes an entrance on to the digital world. Most people try to apply and firmly abide with the logos guidelines, no matter what and at the expense of creativity. Sure it's important to maintain the integrity of the brand, I of all people know how important that is. However I have a strong belief that the brand should also be flexible enough so that it can be represented to its full potential across all mediums. There are particular stylistic effects and styles that work well in print and not necessarily online and vice versa.

I really like the way that Google plays around with its logo. The logo changes but you can see that it still retains its identity no matter what the treatment. And I think that that is the key; push the limits, explore the boundaries of the medium but retain the essence of the identity.

I wish that more brand custodians allowed their logo identities a little more freedom. Actually Billabong also applies different treatments to their logo in almost everything they do.

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Apparently Google is now going to start charging more for poor quality landing pages. so that they can create a 'great user experience'.

I'm all for providing users with a great online experience which is informative and aesthetically appropriate, however I do think that Google are going a little too far on this matter. Who are they to monitor and stipulate what is 'poor quality' and what isn't. If you ask me I think Google needs a bit of healthy competition otherwise we are going to be manipulated by a Big Online Brother, who by the way is already collecting or should I say archiving emails from users all over the world.

Google have in the past banned some businesses who abused the meta word policy from appearing in their search results , as a result they have transformed the way in which most of us create our content so that we can ensure that we gain higher rankings and appear at the top of the search results page. In doing so they have also created certain rules in a virtual environment which is otherwise rule-less. Hmmm interesting...

For more info see Googles pricing policy.

Who would have thought that the telephone would evolve into a vehicle that had the power to increase TV ratings, I'm sure that Alexander Graham Bell's vision never extended that far. McKinsey has an interesting article on "Using mobile phones to boost TV ratings" worth reading if you are as fascinated by the evolution of mobile phones as I am.

I should also mention that I think McKinsey do a great job in creating a website that displays articles in a very readable way, I would have to say that they are the most succesful in doing this so far.

A marketing phenomenon has been occuring over the last year or so. In the spirit of 'reality tv' as well as the increase of do-it-yourself multimedia gadgets and software that have blurred the line between 'professional' and 'amateur'. 'We' the consumers of advertising have been asked to create advertising. It's often done through a competition and the results seem to be win win win for all.

The marketing department doesn't have to hire an expensive ad agency to come up with the concepts and create the advertisements, the audience who participates in the creative process always finds the challenge fun even if they don't win and the passive audience often enjoys the promotion more than a traditional advertisement because usually the results are more interesting and innovative to watch.

The biggest advantage of this sort of advertising (to the brand) is that it often ends up becoming a viral campaign that creates more hype and interest than most conventional advertisements.

Some of the brands to create this sort of hype include BMW, Converse, Virgin, Jones Soda and the list goes on. It almost seems as though it's becoming a trend in advertising

A question pops into my head when ever I see these sort of promotions... Now that the creative process is being handed over to the 'amateur' is the designers role being devalued? After all if anyone can do it, why invest your time and money in a tertiary education? Hmm not sure, I'm still debating the answers in my mind. It may not be a win, win, win for all after all.

I'm reading a fantastic book at the moment Virginia Postrels "The Substance of Style" even though it was published some time ago, I only came across it a few months ago while I was listen to my favourite Podcast by Debbie Millman. So I went off to borders and ordered it finally arrived and now I'm fully engrossed within its insightful observations about our aesthetic developments as an ever-increasing visually sensitive society. I guess its only natural that as we are bombarded by information and advertisements from everywhere and anywhere that we are driven to beautiful things that are well designed. Anyway in her book she speaks about the humble toilet brush. An implement whose function hasn't changed much since it was invented yet the diversity of shapes and colours is quite amazing; anyway I wont try to explain it here is a quote from her book (pg57):

" The toilet brush is an unusually pure example of aesthetic demands. Who can seriously ascribe the desire for a pleasing brush caddy to the status-craving drive to impress the neighbours? Stainless-steel appliances, beautifully tailored clothes, or cool cars may (or may not) mask such other -directed motivations. But a brush hidden in the corner of the bathroom, a bathroom your neighbour will quite likely never see, is surely just a brush, an object acquired for its own sake. And what sort of prestige could possibly accrue to a tool for cleaning toilets, however lovely or expensive its case might be? The look and feel of your toilet brush are just that - sensory pleasures, expressions of what you find appealing.

How, then, do people come to believe that their lives would be a little better, their surroundings a bit more enjoyable, if they could store their cleaning tools in an attractive or expressive case? Toilet brushes are, after all, rarely advertised. They have to speak for themselves, with no talking frogs or pop tunes to promote them. Toilet brushes are usually minor purchases made without deep analysis, and each brush cleans pretty much as well as the next. So the immediate sensory appeal of the brush set on the shelf is decisive. We buy aesthetic models because we like what we see and feel. Exposure, not manipulation, creates demand."

And here is a collection that I put together (I collected these as part of the lecture that I was teaching this week...just in case you think that I am developing an unhealthy obsession with toilet brushes!)

I can't ever remember not drinking coffee even at the age of seven I remember having a milky cup of it with my now deceased grandmother, who was always seen with a cup nearby.

About five years ago I gave up 'real' coffee in order to see if I could stop having my excruciating migraines and also for the benefit of the growing foetus in my belly. The results were positive I stopped getting headaches but my taste buds still crave the flavour on a daily basis, so I started drinking decaf. Now I know what your thinking Yuk! but there is good decaf out there, it is hard to find! But you can cheat a decaf mocha is really good! If you find the right one.

Anyway when I moved into my new office in the city I went around to every cafe within a 300 metre radius to see if I could find the ultimate decaf mocha. I finally found it and it's just simply delicious, however as of today I wont be purchasing my coffee from this particular coffee shop anymore. Why? You ask because although the product is fantastic the service is just awful.

Even though I purchase the same coffee just about every morning, the Barrister never recognises me, I don't even get a smile or thankyou. At first I thought it was just me, (occasionally I have been known to become the invisible woman) but as I lined up for my coffee every morning I began to watch and analyse their behaviour to all customers in general.

I noticed that they very rarely smiled at anyone, in fact they don't even ask for your order, they simply look at you and wait for you to say what you want. It kind of reminds me of the soup kitchen nazi in the Seinfield episode. The coffee is undoubtedly good there because the crowds are pretty big however the crowd will be one less after today.

Once again branding has taught me that you need more than a great product to be successful. The experience of buying the product is just as important as the product itself, businesses that recognise this have a much stronger chance of being successful than those who think that they can rely on a great product alone.

Brand loyalty is after all what keeps customers coming back and most importantly helps spread positive word of mouth, which leads to an increase in customers.

The article Profit & liability and how books make (or don't) money: part 1: the mass market original complete failure the article explains how publishers determine the amount of money that they pay authors for their advance and also how books make and don't make money.

Very interesting!

Last week one of my students mentioned the latest Sony Bravia advert in which thousands of colourful balls bounce through the streets of San Francisco, most of the students were surprised that the commercial was actually not CGI but real. In this age of high tech special effects it doesn't surprise me; as every year goes by its getting harder to distinguish what is real and what isn't.

I've also noticed that there is now a certain novelty in creating things the old fashioned way. I recently watched the making of 'The Corpse Bride' on DVD and I was quite amused at how much importance the actors and set creators put on the fact that it was all created using stop motion rather than computer animation. In recent months I've seen more of this attitude emerge, it seems that the table has turned.

The amount of labour that goes into 'hand made' effects is quite extraordinary and something to be greatly admired, however when the viewer can't tell if in fact it's a computer created effect or camera create effect you have to wonder is it really worth it?

Other links:
Behind the scenes of Bravia
Parody commercial for a game by Snoken
The agency behind the advert "fallon"

I am always fascinated by mobile phones, as I've mentioned before in a previous blog. I love the way in which the mobile phone has become much more than a simple device by which to make phone calls. I believe that the Japanese are largerly responsible for this phenomenon. They not only use their phones for communicating, they also use it to connect to the internet to shop, read manga comics and novels, create poetry. I've also heard rumours that the next evolution of mobile phones will feature hard disks with large memory capacity to view digital tv...awesome!!!

Today I came across the Nokia website and I was sort of awe struck by the content that I found on it. Out of curiosity I clicked on a link called 'Culture of mobility', I'm not sure what I expected to find there, but what I found was pretty enlighting.

Here is a brand, a producer of mobile phones who has taken the leap into providing their website visitors with more than product info and business solutions.

It's refreshing as a consumer to be given something back, something that is actually interesting and at no cost. The site features some really cool info about trends, insights into mobile usage, fashion, news about mobile phone usage and collaborative projects of mobile imaging and film.

I must have spent a good 15 minutes on the site clicking through interesting links and information. All the while wondering why are Nokia doing this? what's in it for them? The deeper I delved the more i asked the question why? mostly because i realised that the site would have been quite a large effort, specially in a company as large as Nokia; which i imagine is tangled in its own political beurocracy as most large organisations are. In order to get a project as adventureous as this online there must have been some hard convincing in place, specially when the purpose and reasoning for doing it isn't blatantly apparent.

I came to the conclusion that Nokia has entered the realm of experience branding through the creation of this site, and they are also making a leadership statement in their field by becoming visionaries in their field. They have created a a onlone global community by bringing people together who collaborate to create mobile phone imagery and film. I also believe that Nokia are contributing to the redefinition & evolvement of the mobile phone itself by offering a section on their website like this.

My perception of the Nokia brand has always been quite positive but after this experience I must say it has increased in positiveness. I admire brands which invest time and effort into providing consumers with more than a product, once again it re enforces the notion that experience branding is a great way to connect with your customers.

For a while now I've been listening to Debbie Millman's 'Design Matters'. For those of you who don't know, it's a radio show about design, branding and sociology. I always find it really interesting, yesterday she interviewed Grant McCracken an Anthropologist. <br>

McCracken's been on the show several times before and ever since I heard his first interview, I've been paying close attention to anthropology and how it affects consumers, particularly when they are interacting with brands. I am both fascinated and a little scared of the power that designers have over people when it comes to designing and in particular when creating or rejuvinating brands.

The funny thing is, that I am a designer and I am completely aware of the way in which advertising, the media, popular culture, magazines, packaging and branding can manipulate our choices, but I'm also a voluntary victim that falls prey to it time and time again.
I guess it's just the way it is; we all want beatiful things that make us feel good.

Anyway, back to reason why I'm writing this blog entry. During the show, Debbie read a quote from one of McCrackens articles which I thought was fantastic!

" Branding is a process of meaning manufacture that begins with the biggest, boldest gestures of the corporation (see last entry for a treatment of Google's Gmail) and works its way down to the tiniest gestures.

This is one of the reasons that design matters. The look and the feel, the fit and the finish, the beautiful, the sensual, the tactile, design is an essential medium of the brand message. Good design captures, commandeers, takes control of every interface and interaction between the consumer and the brand, right down to the little sound that packages make when we close them. Click. This is a brand message. "

McCracken's blog 'This blog sits at the' is worth reading, it features some great articles.

" ... my friend commented that our obsession with variety has a lot to do with having lost the gift of savoring a simple tomato, with our inability to exits in the world of the senses, I our desire to compensate for those losses, there are some who go to such extremes as that inoffensive swing, to say nothing of real perversions. He told me about a friend named Tom, who always carried a small notebook in his pocket so he could make a mark for each woman he had 'possessed'. And what were their names? This easy rider had forgotten to write them down; he did not 'possess' them even in memory. In his exhausting career of one-night stands, Tom had learned less than other men who have loved only one woman and known her in every sense of the world. His obsession is like that of compulsive eaters who gulp their food without tasting it or those who drink to excess without ever discovering the mystery of the grape; like people who accumulate money and belongings with insatiable thirst and never experience plenitude."