Deutchy, a colleague, just shared this info-graphics video on the state of the internet. Nice treatment and gets the blood pumping with the inherent opportunity and LARGE numbers. Timing couldn’t be more perfect for the start of ADMA Digital Certificate course this year – always good to get current data in a more accessible format.
Big thanks to Jesse who’s taken the time to do this.
Blu Dot inspired by the furniture finding scene of NYC (called ‘curb mining’). Dropped 25 Real Good Chairs in NYC to see what would happen. This video is what they discovered.
When I first moved to Bondi collecting furniture from the street was the only way I could furnish my place. You’d see me carrying random items up the street at all hours of the day – seizing the opportunity when I could. With the comings and goings of the local inhabitants it wasn’t hard and you often found some gems. Even electrical stuff with stickers saying they still worked. I’d always wonder how many owners an item might have had. Blu Dot’s experiment goes some way to explore that culture and I applaud them. I like the chairs too.
Chatroullette is a hybrid of speed dating and hot or not (well pervert or not!), via video and IM chat, at least that’s my take on it. Watch Casey Neistat’s video study (above) to get an indepth view. Or, of course, play for yourself. In my 5 minute foray into this world I got seriously ‘nexted’, probably didn’t help that I was browsing with my shirt off (I had just woken up).. maybe there should be an etiquette guide: i.e. appropriate lighting, clothing and so forth. That said, the beauty of this, is the web at it’s most raw – warts, perverts and all!
First knowledge via Bri.
NEWSFLASH: a Chatrouletter just pointed their webcam at CNN and showed me the Hawaii Tsunami happening. Just checked Twitter and it’s going off… thoughts going out to those in danger.
Lovely bit of work from Puma, The Hardchorus. An unlikely choir sing their hearts out for valentines and match day! Nice and simple Facebook integration allows you to get the message to your loved one. Would have been nice to have seen the personalisation in a spoken name, rather than text on screen, but no doubt budgets crushed that. Go make and share.
So I’ve worked in Surry Hills for four years, specifically that bit around Reservoir, Foster and Commonwealth Streets, sometimes called SOGO (South of Goulburn St – terrible acronym I know). Firstly with HOST and most recently The Population.
In that time I built quite a bit of local knowledge, from my favourite places for coffee, breakfast and lunch, to where to buy books, gifts and even getting a wedding ring made. I haven’t moved far, Redfern, but it won’t be as accessible as before… so here is my ‘to do’ list for a bit of Surry Hills I’ll miss:
1. Single Origin – quite simply the best coffee, vibe and people.
Nick feeds your belly with amazing food, Gav spearheads the barista’s and the caffeine that fuels your day and Carly welcomes you with a smile and amazing eyebrows. I started everyday of my working life in Surry Hills here.
2. Published Art – inspiration in hardback and softback.
I visited Sharon and Published Art long before working in Surry Hills. Take time to flick through the pages of a photo, design, architecture or illustration books, buy some ‘one off’ art for your walls or grab a ‘cool’ card for someones birthday. Published Art ws a staple distraction on lunchtime wonders or when I’ve needed to take my brain on a stroll.
3. City Edge – memory man and the best sandwich selection.
If you work in the area and buy your lunch at City Edge then Tommy, the friendly face, will not only know your name but also the nuances of your preferred sandwich. Whether it’s brown bread instead of white, a J9 juice, or grilled chicken instead of a schnitzel. City Edge was my ‘grab and run’ lunch forever. Here’s to Tommy and the gang, may they continue to teach the world the wonders of customer service, that keep you coming back for more.
City Edge on foursquare
Join: I ‘heart’ TOMMY’s – the Facebook group
4. The Wall – sanctuary and reading space.
Good coffee, people and tranquility if you need some ‘me time’ or to think through work. Kranksy sausage sandwich is unbelievable whilst you flick through some ‘trendy’ mag that you wouldn’t necessarily buy. Sit by the window, or in the ‘pit’ to watch the locals.
5. Dominic McCabe – fine fella and jewellery
Dom was a neighbour when I started at The Population, 46 Foster St. We’d nod heads, say hello etc. Then I decided it was about time I asked Rachael to marry me. So I enlisted his services – firstly on an engagement ring, she said yes, and then my wedding band.
6. The Hollywood – unaffected, consistent and beer
Being a married man now I haven’t fallen out of here for some time. But it was a regular Friday occurrence… The Hollywood remains unchanged since I started propping up the bar, probably 6 years ago. I hope it stays that way.
Worth a mention: Bangbang (boiled eggs and marmite soldiers, plus the scottish breaky has ‘tatties’ and ‘black pudding’), The Cloakroom (mens tailoring, Grenson shoes and things – yet to purchase – but will at some point), Spring Court sneaker shop (french cult classics, worn by John Lennon and me!), Herringbone outlet (118 Commonwealth St, shirts etc)… and of course the brilliant and spicy, Spice I Am.
I’m yet to really explore Redfern and the surrounds… sticking to Baffi & Mo’s (you really can’t go wrong) for coffee and lunch (try the haloumi fritters and the burger). Any tips greatly appreciated…
This will get you pumped for 2010… for all you digital creative practitioners a showreel that shows you where the bar is! – and it’s high – nice one North Kingdom.
First found on Creative Social blog
This is my new bike it’s a limited edition SR500, built in 1983 it has about 25,000km’s on the dial… they’re becoming increasingly difficult to get hold of – so I’m quite chuffed. The bike was sourced from Japan by Luke and his team at Scotts Motorcycles, Kograh.
The SR 500 was designed by Atsushi Ishiyama. He says: “Our choice was to design the new SR 500 with a strong family image and a strong link to our first four stroke, the XS 650 twin, which was also inspired by British design at first.” The SR 500 was going to become a legend as one of most reliable and easy-to-maintain motorcycles ever built. Full details on Wikipedia
To follow is a bit of a rant, but seeing as I’ve learnt so much on the route to buying this bike I thought it’d be valuable to share.
My love of two wheels has taken many forms, but in the motorised department it was firstly a Gilera Runner (which was stripped of all parts and then stolen a week later, I did live in Peckham London at the time) and then a rather battered Vespa T5… (which I still have, alas in the UK). Anyhow the return to two wheels is inspired by the realities and expense of running two cars (my wife’s and mine), inefficient public transport, lack of parking + expense of parking if you resort to a lockup in town (which I do). Sure I can cycle, and I have in the past, but carrying laptops and change of clothes and whatnot… it’s not that convenient.
On top of my ‘justification’ and ‘rationale’ is the ‘rebirth’ of the cafe racers lead by the smart people at Deus Ex Machina… and beneath a lot of those amazing bikes is generally a SR400/500.
I came to the conclusion all I needed was the base bike and then the modifications can happen over time. Deus mainly imports SR400, Yamaha stopped production in 2008, so they’re almost new – not that it matters as the bike’s haven’t really changed since 1978. You’ll pay around $9k + ORC and they have good financing. I couldn’t afford that… I’m supposed to be saving money with the bike… not spending the same as a car. Plus there are lots of additional costs that you need to factor, locks, helmet, clothing and gloves… it all adds up and I don’t want to break the bank.
There had to be another way. So the search began, literally, I ran a dedicated search on eBay, Google BlogSearch and captured the RSS feeds on Reader. When appropriate I tagged site url’s ‘caferacers’ on Delicious.
Anyhow I happened upon a GB400 TT (Tourist Trophy) on eBay (example pic below). It turns out the TT (which also comes in 500/400cc also) was a tribute to Honda’s consistent wins at the Isle of Man TT races. The great British bikes like Norton, Triumph and BSA inspire its design. I thought the bike looked great, as it was… polish it up and you’re good to go… anyway the seller was Scotts Motorcycles and this is where I found gold.
Side note: Japan has some regulation that requires bikes to be 400cc. Hence the 500/400, but the thing to remember with the Yamaha or the Honda – it is the same bike – same build and everything just the engine has been bored to 400.
Turns out Scotts import more than just GB’s they also source 80’s SR’s and other gems from Japan. After much deliberation between the Honda GB400/500 and the Yamaha SR400/500 I finally settled on the SR. The reason being the SR’s have been modified for years in Japan and there is so much choice when it comes to custom parts, Deus stock a lot of parts… but I also found Vanem who stock everything from alternative seats to styled indicators and dials – check out Kedo and eBay to.
The shots included in this post show my bike fresh out the cargo container from Japan. It now needs to be registered, cleaned and polished, new tires, engine service etc. So I’m expecting delivery at the end of the month. The guys at Scotts have been a great help, especially with my constant questions… many thanks to Luke and a shout to Nikki and Tim who I met properly on the weekend.
My SR is around $6,500 as it stands, but once the on-road service and registration is done it’ll be around $7,500. For me it works out better than Deus, it’s an older bike, but I’ve managed to get the original 500 version… which means it will hold its value. It’s still a substantial investment but today it looks pretty cool as it is… but overtime I can tweak it to perform better and look how I want.
Sites of note: I found these gems along the way Pipeburn for photos and all things cafe racer, Bike Exif for more of the same, Wrenchmonkees Copenhagen based garage putting out some amazing bikes.
One day, it may even look like this…
I know I’ve been offline for a while, but how did I miss this?
A new friend in NYC just sent me the link to the Chalkbot created by Deeplocal for Nike and the 2009 Tour de France, the idea lives on the website ‘Wear Yellow’.
In short you can send a message of hope and inspiration to cancer survivors and suffers. The idea is brought to life by placing that message in front of Lance Armstrong as he rides. The message is printed on the road, photographed and then sent back to a gallery where the author can forward to friends.
A brilliant example of digital physical ideas.
The video explains it better than I do.
I posted on Keith Loutit’s ’tilt-shift photography’ technique a while back. First finding his work on Vimeo.
Good to see NAB / ClemengerBBDO (Melbourne) using him and his technique in their latest ad ‘The Little Wonders’.
I got Wed. Yes indeedy… Rachael and I are now one, well two/three, there’s Kiko too.
Anyhow we’re yet to sort the wedding photos, but here’s a view of the honeymoon. Two and a half weeks exploring Italy… we loved it. Now we’re back, doing our best not to burst the bubble.
This visualisation could be better, I want to zoom in and out, explore countries and cities… but it does get the point across. Facebook is very well connected.
Personally I have a love hate relationship with the platform… but that’s inevitable with something that I joined almost four years ago, friended everyone in the first few months and then couldn’t be bothered to filter.
Well done Zuckerberg – world domination is yours – just keep opening up the platform and you’ll be fine !
Realtime data visualisation of 14,000 Lufthansa and Star Alliance flights worldwide. Visitors to Lufthansa’s Brand Academy in Frankfurt can interact with the flight data. Zooming in on specific flights or areas and listen to radio communications. Created by Whitevoid.
From what I can see in the video: the instillation feels like the deck of the ‘Enterprise’ and the sound design makes the user experience immersive. No doubt they’ll be a queue to navigate the instillation. Good to see an airline making more of their services than just taking people from one place to another.
First found on Cool Hunting
Jen Wilson, of The Project Factory, presented ideas and realities of the mobile web at the ADMA class I tutor. Amongst other brilliant things we were shown this clip – HP MScape game prototype.
The clip got me thinking. Story writing comes to life through a variety of mediums. A book, allows you to get inside the head of the characters, get direct access to their internal thoughts. TV, stories can be told through interpersonal relationships. And film, due to its longer format and cinematic delivery, often explores the human condition and delves into bigger questions. Of course there are many types of books, TV shows and films that break these rules – but ultimately this is what the mediums afford the writer to get their story across.
An interactive/digital narrative remains un-defined in how to lead a user through a story or stories. Often ego-driven, whereas I the user am in control, but can the talents of writers and directors come to life in these new channels?
In the internet only ‘Where are the Joneses’, the 2007 interactive comedy, is still the only example I can think of that tries a new method of story creation, where viewers/users help create and steer the story from a simple idea. The traditional role of a writer, as storyteller, is removed and the idea of them as ‘nurturer’ and ‘guide’ directs the story writing via forums and wiki’s.
The TV series LOST deployed cross-channel narratives. The ARG allowing fans to delve deeper, yet the primary story still lives out in the episode-by-episode format. The Dark Knight, Cloverfield etc. have all deployed ARG’s to create hype around launch and expectation. But it doesn’t actually become the story – it remains peripheral content that draws you to the primary storytelling medium.
The above-mentioned film and TV examples are for a certain type of audience – one that wants to delve deeper, to crack the code, unveil the clue and so forth. Perhaps its mobile, in the context of the shared clip, that provides us with a real opportunity to create a new type of storytelling?
Jen talks about screens, the 1st Cinema, 2nd TV, 3rd Computer and the 4th Mobile. Each screen providing the user a different experience, the first and second, sit back – the third, lean forward – and the fourth, mobile, a truly personal experience. However, does it mean we have to stay within the screen?
In the last few days IBM and OgilvyOne London launched an Android app for Wimbledon 2009. Amongst other things the app allows visitors to Wimbledon to get information on everything in their proximity. Simply point the phone and the onboard GPS, compass and camera identifies what you’re looking at. Superimposing the scores from centre court, restaurant and other location information on its screen. [see it in action here]
Forget tennis for a minute and observe how that environment is bringing a deeper experience. In the case of storytelling the environment could set the scene – and then the user explores the space to bring in pieces of the story – choosing a narrative path.
Augmented reality activated by environment throws up a world of possibility. Imagine pointing your device at the wall, you see characters whispering – the floor, a body lies motionless – you then search the rest of the space for the story. Every room, building and environment now has the opportunity to truly share its story – or one that we wish to bring to a space.
Writers and directors should be ablaze with ideas at the possibilities ‘augmented storytelling’ throws up. Whereas for me and the rest of the digital marketing world let us see how clients can fund these experiments so we can push this new and exciting space.
Footprint Films engaged us to develop the digital strategy for their upcoming “Australian western thriller” release Lucky Country. Today we launched the first part of that strategy – the website & blog. Courtney, Cate and Nick (at Liquidshape who designed and built it) have all put in the hours to turn it around in record time – well done everyone. The site is built on Wordpress (aren’t they all these days!?) allowing us all the wizardry pokery the platform affords, and much more.
Right now you can watch the trailer, view an eight minute featurette on the making of Lucky Country (worth the time if you have it), you can get to know the characters and the actors. In the not so distant future expect blog posts from Kriv Stenders (the director), Andy Cox (the writer) and members of the cast and crew. We’ve an abundance of behind the scenes footage that will be shared also – so if you’re into film (and in particular westerns set in 1902 Australia) – get the lowdown on this one.
iPad publisher concepts
As the iPad gets closer to arrival publishers seem to be flexing their digital prowess. The first video shows Adobe working with WIRED on how their magazine will come to life on a plethora of upcoming tablets and iPad like devices. Then the video below shows a number of Penguin titles brought to life for the iPad. From Spot the dog, showing that it’s child’s play to have fun with the loveable character, to a D&K Stargazer book on astronomy that makes all of us an expert on the night sky.
It must be said that I was a bit underwhelmed with the launch of the iPad – I wanted more. But I’m now getting pretty excited about its release and the positive upheaval its going to cause in publishing, education, and accessibility to information and knowledge. If Apple can revolutionise reading – like they did music – then we’ll all be better for it.