MGM vs Grokster

Does it really matter what the US Supreme Court decides. How significant a player is the US? More at Cutting Through.

Sell perception, not reality

You have probably heard perception is reality many times but when you read the following facts its a good thing to keep in mind taken from Bob Bly newsletter this week.

If you think people are guided more by logic,
truth, and reality when you market to them, rather
than perception and emotion, consider these facts:

1. "Jaws" was a smash hit because it played on
people’s universal fear of sharks. Yet 24 times
more Americans are gored to death by cattle each
year than are killed by sharks.

2. People joke about George W. Bush being dumb.
But at Yale, he had a better grade average than
John Kerry, widely portrayed as being the more
intellectual candidate.

3. In a Princeton University study, people were
shown photos of rival candidates for dozens of
seats in the Senate and House of Representatives.

Based solely on the photos, they picked the
correct winner 70% of the time -- demonstrating
that voters are less rational and "more shallow
than we would like to believe."

Source: The Week (6/24/05, p. 5, 19)

Freedom Tower Redesign

After I viewed the final design for the Freedom Tower last year I thought lets just hope there is another attack in the near future. Today they have unveiled a new design for the Freedom Tower, its a little better than the first but isn't going to win any awards.

"State officials Wednesday unveiled a more bomb-resistant new design for the ground zero Freedom Tower, a soaring skyscraper that has morphed from an emblem of New York's drive to rebuild to a symbol of bureaucratic squabbling and delay."

Don't they mean more plane-resistant, oh flying bombs...I get it.

Hiring Designers

I found a discussion at core77 about how design companies hire. The comments don't apply just for design but general hiring practices. Someone I used to work with had a sister who recuirted for the Bank of Montreal and told me that they get about 700 unsolicitied resumes each day. In order to elimante the pile they desparately look for any reason not to consider you to put your resume in the "NO" pile. The best candidates are probably missed because of some idiot reason. My point they are not actively looking for the best they are just looking for a reason not to consider you. The comments in blue below are from the core77 discussions and found the reply to the top post made really good points and decide to post it here:

My design director is too busy to look at all the resumes/samples submitted since we posted an ad out 2 weeks ago. On any given day we would get about 30 applicants in our inbox. My job is to pick out only the ones worth looking at. I'd say out of 30 I'd keep 1 or 2. Those applicants that respond to an ad with 'To Whom it May Cocern' immediately gets delete- regardless of talent. And obviously those with no cover letter emails will be deleted as well.

I look for 2 things:

1. that they address me by my name (not HR, or Sir/Madame)
2. they have talent (good sketching)

If they succeed in these two things, I'll take a look at their resume. If their work history has too many holes in them, or seems like they like to jump from company to company, then I continue no further with their application. If they succeed in the resume part, then I put it in the 'in' folder for the boss to take look at.

Reply:
Pathetically shortsighted and simplistic (but common) hiring practice, throwing out talented applications for lack of "proper" business etiquette written decades ago. I hired some extremely smart, original and fun-to-be-with individuals who did send samples with no cover letters (or didn't refer to me by name), but were actually brilliant where it counted - solving design problems. To not even meet someone because they didn't respect a specific application format smacks of stiff corporate elitism and the worst form of narrow-mindedness prevalent in today's conservative job market. The best creatives do not have conformist minds, but I guess you want an employee-of-the-month type of worker before a designer.

And who are you to decide about anyone's work history having to many or too big a "hole" in it? What universal law is there that proves someone's past employment history is an absolute guarantee of how they will perform for you? Over the years, our engineering department hired a few poster boys resume-wise who all turned out to be total duds at work, no personal initiative, no value added to the company whatsoever. Perfect resume, bland at the interview at utterly useless in real life.

I wonder how many excellent designers with poorer secretarial skills or patience have a hard time finding work because of conceited individuals like you functioning like government employees blindly following some stupid hiring rules instead of seeking out authentic thinking, of which there's precious little to go around anyway.

You're probably the kind of place that also weeds out potential candidates based on foreign-sounding names, an accent on the phone or creative grammar on a resume.

Where I work we don't hire linguists, typists or receptionists in the design and engineering department. And I suggest designers looking to avoid prejudiced employers where form is valued above content present themselves, professionally yes, but unafraid to stand out and be themselves.

Corporate dogmas of political rectitude telling us all how to behave and how to live and how to fart, have gone far enough and given us the spineless photocopied platitudes they call design from coast to coast. Glad someone brought up this topic again.

Virgin Atlantic Travel Podcast

Virgin Atlantic is podcasting guides to travel destinations, presently New York city is only available.

Link via NevOn

Google Online Video Playback

News: "...this is clearly a shot across Microsoft's bow. The Windows Media Player is a standalone application, rife with its own DRM and entanglements with Hollywood. Many once claimed IE would never fall, but Firefox has shown what the open source community can do with some good code and the support of a dedicated user base. I'm pretty sure that once Google's VLC implementation is stared at by enough folks, a stand alone player with hooks into Google Video search and many others will not be far behind."

Marketers Scan Blogs

Millions of conversations are happening online and offer a vast source of information for marketers.

"--to hear what is being said online about new products, old ad campaigns and aging brands" more

Toronto Unlimited

The city of Toronto has unveiled a new brand identity called Toronto Unlimited. The new identity was developed by TBWA Toronto and Brand Architecture International.

"The goal was to create a single Toronto brand and to develop a fresh new way of communicating the city's strong and dynamic identity to the rest of the world."

When I first heard Toronto Unlimited I wasn't clear what they were talking about. Hearing two words doesn't tell you much, but I doubt I will see the full campaign. If you live somewhere around the world and hear or see some advertising campaign about the city of Toronto email me. I would like to know what you think, is it working?

more info Toronto Branding Project

Pistol-packing great-granny

News: Furious their romance was ending, a 78-year-old great-grandmother shot her 85-year-old ex-beau dead as he read the newspaper in a senior citizens home, police said.

Steaming pile of Sith

Sometimes you come across some really interesting comments like this about Star Wars III, from the best page in the universe:

"...playing into Lucas' shallow theatrics so easily that you could sell these people hookers in a vagina storm." and I like this line

"801,717 dipshits camped out in line for this movie only to realize that it sucks like the other 5."

I've never heard of vagina storms mentioned on the weather channel, must be regional.

Business School Problems

Think there is trouble with business schools, they just discovered design and think its something revolutionary. Tom Peters is in Toronto today making a presentation and has a set of ppt slides with a quote from Jeffrey Pfeffer:

"There is little evidence that mastery of the knowledge acquired in business schools enhances people'’s careers, or that even attaining the MBA credential itself has much effect on graduates’ salaries or career attainment."

How about this, why don't companies start hiring people with brains not degrees.

Google Should Embrace Porn

This makes alot of sense and considering this industry will not disappear the best strategy would be to work together for profit$

"Before PayPal withdrew from offering billing services to adult companies (around the time they were acquired by eBay), they were the preferred customer choice for the websites that offered them as a payment option.

It’s hard to justify PayPal’s withdrawl on ‘moral’ grounds given the volume of pornography sold via eBay.

Conclusion: Google is already in the porn business and it would be damaging to withdraw." more

Link via Searchblog

Downing Street Memo

UK memo (the so-called "smoking gun") that indicates the US and the UK (and probably Australia) invaded Iraq knowing that there was no evidence to support it. more

It's a stinking GM

General Motors the hub of brains and innovation in the car industry has decided that in 2006 it will affix chrome GM logos across all its product lines. The last thing GM should be telling people is that it's built by GM. This is like sewing the Wal-Mart logo on a brides dress, sure to impress.

Link via Signal vs. Noise

What does this symbol mean?

Did you figure it out yet? Want the answer?

Inspiration from Jobs

Steve Jobs:

"Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary." read the rest

Link via Lifehacker

Gorgeous

Provence or Tuscany

San Gimgnano

My father came to Canada in the 50's from the south of Italy which experienced harsh conditions. They all came like others looking for something better, they thought. Read about Italian Immigration.

CIBC a Canadian Bank had this commercial airing of a couple who were close to retirement and the biggest decision they had to make was whether to spend their retirement in Provence or Tuscany. So people now work all their lives hoping to retiring somewhere better, like where my father came from. It's always better somewhere else.

Update: You know those people who told Italians "go back to your country wop", fuck they were right because they too want to go there.

Blender 3D

Blender, the open source software for 3D modeling, animation, rendering, post-production, interactive creation and playback (see the features and screenshots). Available for Windows, Linux, Irix, Sun Solaris, FreeBSD or Mac OS X under the GNU Public License.

Accident or Great PR Stunt?

This drives deep into the emotions which a typical advertisement couldn't possibly achieve.

Simple everyday design

When I was in high school we had an assignment to write a program that would perform some basic functions. The team I was on managed to write the entire code for the program on a sheet of paper. On the other hand another team managed to use three pages or more for the same result. At Creating Passionate Users we have this same thing being played out in everyday products.

"It's a gazillion degrees in my house right now, but I can't figure out the thermostat controls, so the heat's still on and the air conditioning unreachable. My new Denon receiver/tuner sounds amazing--good thing I'm using it mostly with my iPod; I have no clue how to tune in a radio station. When I bring up the newer versions of Microsoft Word, it looks so utterly foreign and overwhelming to me now that I give up and close it. And all I wanted to do was type a simple letter..." more

Hanged for less than a dollar in 1800

In the 1800's Toronto had its first hanging. Humphrey Sullivan was charged with a crime involving less than a dollar. Someone had forged a bank note for three shillings and ninepence. He was hanged for his crime.

In 2005 in Canada after chopping up and torturing two schools girls plus killing your own sister you get a university education courtesy of the tax payers. A room and meals for free, dental care, manicures, hair styling, parties, exercise equipment, access to books to expand your mind and after release you also get about $600 a month allowance to make sure you get back on your feet.

The reality is...

Tom Peters who I have mentioned has been spreading the message about design to business world. Tom Peters: "Design is so critical it should be on the agenda of every meeting in every single department."

The reality is a meeting is held to discuss a new product to carry, review an ad campaign, package design, website or logo. Who makes the decisions, people who are not trained in design and have no clue but feel qualified to be making the choices. Most of them speak loudly and confidently since they have no idea how unqualified they really are or how foolish they sound. Most of these people aren't very good at their own jobs why pretend to be good at someone else's? I have witnessed this first hand and any designer can tell you that it's a poor attempt at hiding their weakness, actually it's a JOKE.

I worked for one of these clowns. After working for creative shops for many years I would finally end up in this place where the owner was a non-designer. He was so blind and the right side of his brain was missing in action. I never had anyone tell me they were training me or this was part of my learning curve until I ended up working for the "William Hung" of design. Lucky I have a sense of humor, but it's the funniest experience I have had yet.

If design should be on the agenda at every meeting then designers should have seats in the boardroom. Also, I will let the accounting department make the accounting decisions only if designers can do their jobs.

Sumo Lounge

Sumo Lounge, a Toronto based company less than a year old has been sparking alot of interest with its hip beanbag-style furniture. The Omni is cool, it can be used 10 ways from a crash mat, lounge chair, loveseat or floor pillow.

More from GM's Bob Lutz about design

"A few years ago, planners would sift through reams of data, segment the market, analyze and deconstruct the data until they discovered a niche in which we needed a new product. Once the need for the vehicle was determined, the designers were given a formula to work with. Not a blank canvas, more like a paint-by-numbers scenario." more

How to Make a Million Dollars

Everyone needs some inspiration, Marshall Brain an entrepreneur who has made millions offers some suggestions. The best line from Marshall:

"I have managed to start three successful businesses. And I am no genius. It has been said that my last name is the only brain I've got."

Can design save General Motors?

It seems like a struggle talking to non-designers and opening their eyes to the problems with their business. Many companies lack a right brain and try to run the organization with only one half, the lefty numbers side. Can you really blame them that's how our education system programmed them. From True Talk's post Righty Lutz I pulled this quote from General Motors Bob Lutz:

"What we are re-learning as a company is that we are not simply in the transportation business; we’re in the art and entertainment business. So, what we’ve got at GM now, is a general comprehension that you can’t run this business by the left intellectual, analytical side of your brain alone, you have to have a lot of right side creative input. We’re putting a huge new emphasis on world class trendsetting design."

Daniel Libeskind's Crystal

Here is one of my photos of the extension to the Royal Ontario Museum now under construction, designed by architect Daniel Libeskind.

Beethoven mp3 FREE!

BBC Radio 3 is offering all nine of Beethoven's symphonies free for download.

Could everyone please cut down the blogging, just a tad

Some people are just selfish, do they really think that I'm only reading their blog. Can we get to the point, Mary Hodder says it best. Is everyone a 50 year old perfume salesman who talks endlessly to compensate for actual results ($ales).

Link via Micro Persuasion

The Last Chase

In 1981 Lee Majors starred in The Last Chase. The plot summary: "It is the future. Evil fascists have forced everyone to recycle and drive electric cars..." Funny how that fictional movie is our reality. Today crude futures of oil reached $55. Take a look at this cross-section of the Abqaiq oilfield in Saudi Arabia. Blue is water pumped into the field and the green the oil left. Read about it here.

Small is the new big

Seth Godin has two great posts worth reading, small is the new big and more on small

Design Matters Now

If you are a creative person you might be shocked to hear that the big buzz around is how valuable design is to business. The funny thing is the people doing all the talking are not designers but people such as Tom Peters, Daniel Pink, magazines as Business Week and Fast Company. This months issue of Fast Company is dedicated to Masters of Design. Good list of articles about design in business can be found here.

To me it's like the Amish have all gotten excited about a tractor on the farm which I talked about here. They can talk all they want be much isn't going to change until this happens:

"What we really need in order to prepare our children for the creative economy is a comprehensive education, something that takes them from aesthetics to algebra without pretending the two are mutually exclusive. ... As society diversifies and specializes, more and more different kinds of education and teaching styles must be made available.” (p.254) [See A Whole New Mind] Quote via Creative Generalist

Honey, is the chicken dressed yet?

An Austrian/Japanese design team has launched a line of clothing for chickens. They should call the line Calvin Klien Fried.

Link via Boing Boing

Lock the Ice Cream!

Do you worry at night that someone might be eating your ice cream? Ben & Jerry's has the solution, the Pint Lock. Also another idea on how to save toilet paper if you have kids.

Link via Lifehacker

Italians don't want to be Italian

Everyday I become less and less Italian. I go grocery shopping at Loblaws once despised buy any self righteous Italian to buy Italian bread. Bread which has a thin crispy crust, soft and chewing inside like wonder bread, it's fake Italian bread. I buy tomato sauce, which says it's Italian but made in Etobicoke by non-Italians working in a factory owned by who knows. I buy frozen pizza and "It's Delissio Not Delivery" made buy Kraft foods, yes Kraft Foods! Stop prostituting my culture! I go to the food court for lunch and some Asian woman behind the counter asks what type of sauce I want on my pasta! Every hole in the city now serves espresso or dirty water. I go to the liquor store to buy wine. What normal Italian would ever buy wine in a bottle…you make it. I don't have a vegetable garden because I live in a condo. Any Italian without a vegetable garden is like a politician without a lie. I watch documentaries about Italy hoping to get a glimpse of my roots because I've never been there! I'm thinking about buying a book called Learn to Speak Italian because I only know a dialect. This is sad. The only thing I have left is my really Italian name, is that fake too? It's time to change my name, I shall be known as Adrian Palmer.