| Filed under Design Phones Photography Technology
One of the reasons I chose Nokia is their incredible camera optics — at least for a phone. My N900 has a 5-megapixel shooter and I find that a majority of my memory-capturing is viewed online. In fact, I may have printed a half-dozen photos of the many thousand I’ve shot. So it’s no wonder I shoot more with my phone than with my cam.
As such, Lifehacker posted some tips for like-minded folks out there.
| Filed under Design Photography
On Gizmodo, a brilliant photo and a why-didn’t-I-think-of-that moment.
| Filed under Design Old Technology
I have seen these and probably fell in love with long after they were cool. These are the precursor to what we take for granted now: the LED display. You have it on your clock radios, stoves and microwave ovens. But before that, they were the display units. Fantastically simple.
Through Gizmodo I found this article on the colors of logos. Apparently everyone uses the same couple colors. I used to joke that the national corporate color was either red or blue. Now I have some research to back that up. Check it out for yourself on ColorLovers.
| Filed under Design Phones Photography Social Media Technology
A million years ago I got my first cameraphone, the Motorola 720. Paid a pretty penny for it and literally lost it at the Clark/Lake station on the Blue Line. Then it was the Moto E815, my real first cameraphone. It’s “real-er” because that’s the one that got me hooked on snapping what’s around me. Now I sport a nice 5-megapixel with many trimmings (not shown above).
Nokia, a company I respect for not only their product but their marketing, wrote an article on the 101 uses for your camera phone and sent it out every once in a while (this one is #92 in the series).
I am fascinated by a marketer’s recommendation. As a marketer it seems painfully obvious how to use the equipment or service I help my clients sell. These products and services promote ONE task and do it very well. And that makes it easy. But, it also makes it more challenging because there are 4 other companies who make the same claim.
Nokia and even Apple have the right idea: let the device sell itself by the many things it does. Show it in action. Yesterday I sat it on a media call and the folks at the magazine say that when you include a video on the product in use you can expect a 10-fold increase in attention. That’s not bad for what seems to be a no-brainer.
Image: Lets Go Mobile
| Filed under Commentary Design Info Graphics Logos
Love these charts! Here is a great example of info graphic charting the decade. Thanks to the New York Times. Visualizing information is excellent, especially done well.
| Filed under Commentary Design Social Media
The question of a blog hasn’t come up in a very long time. It seems a bit chest-thumpy and self-serving. And, unfortunately, rarely do organizations have resources to do it well. But there are some success stories out there.
Nuts About Southwest is what a corporate blog should be. But if you can dedicate a team of folks and your personality can support it, then it’s a sure fit. I love how SWA brings fun into their social media presence. On Twitter you’ll regularly be invited to visit a Luv-ly Employee at a gate in a town for a special treat. Their culture supports it and having this outward-facing vehicle is perfect for them.
And what if it’s not a blog, but a one-stop-sharing site? Maybe one where you’ll get a response via Twitter when you ask a question? This is where Ford’s social site The Ford Story comes in. Simple. To the point. And all about the consumer. Even going to far as to say so next to their logo. Excellent! No blog here — but it’s current and relevant. And open. You can see many ways to interact with them. Ford’s social media director Scott Monty (yup, hired JUST to do this) successfully brought buzz to the 2011 Ford Fiesta two years before it went on sale. Fascinating buzz and reaching a very wide demographic. Wanna know how he does it? Well, first of all: he lives it on his very own site.
| Filed under Airplanes Design Logos Typography
I am not thrilled about the UAL and Continental merger. For one I have a deep love for Continental because of extensive reading and a true sense of what they’re about. So I was struck with mixed emotions at the corporate merger. But we shall see what happens next.
However their new logo leaves me NO mixed emotions: it’s garbage. The literal combining of the two logos and opting to keep the decidedly-older looking Continental over United’s recent update is just pure laziness and uncalled for in this age.
I have a feeling this was branding by committee to make everyone feel that it’s a merger. But it seems like two mobile homes tacked together with duct tape, plywood and leftover drywall nails. Instead they should’ve created an all-new logo, which would’ve reinvigorated the two companies instead.
Time will tell and I sure hope I’m wrong.
I have been really excited to see so much development in the HTML5 arena. One of the things that excites me is the simplicity of it on the code end. Now, that’s likely on the surface. I am sure the code isn’t that easy, but the idea that we can make more beautiful websites, more functional websites without the need to extra programming a la Flash is the way it should go. I imagine it will open the door for the future. Check out this presentation originally created by Marcin Wichary and modified by Ernest Delgado.
| Filed under Design
In my Twitter feed this morning from Morguefile was this list of 35 Best Inspirational Websites For Logo Design. Check it out!