Wacom’s Inkling looks cool but I can’t help but wonder will this device actually work in a useful manner? Only time will tell that with actual user reviews when the product launches, but I do applaud Wacom for thinking outside of the box. The Inkling along with Wacom’s other product the Cintiq just amaze me.  With new inventions such as this digital isn’t necessarily competing for space with physical, it overlaps and in my opinion that is a good thing. When I was going to school only a few years back their was such a huge disparity between digital mediums and physical mediums for art. Obviously their will always be a division between the two but the distance between them and the obstacles we thought were impossible to overcome between them are disappearing. If they can do this for a drawing pad some day they will create a device like this on a canvas for a painter..

I just found this collection of really amazing vintage and fading signs that I recognize from walking around Boston. The photographer, Keith Sliney, is also known for his creative work over at the Boston Celtics. Check out this collection out if your from Boston or are remembering what it once was.

> Please Visit Keith’s actual site to view all of the work at http://100bostonsigns.tumblr.com/
And if your interested in his creative work you can see some of it up on Behance.

Bare Nutrition Promo from MDfilms.net on Vimeo.
Find out more about Bare nutrition’s products at: barenutrtion.com

With all of the down and out stories we hear about on a regular basis, it is great to hear a story such as Hubway being brought to Boston by New Balance. On the surface Hubway has a similar business model to Zipcar and the Velib, a Biking system in Paris France. Basically as a customer you pay a small annual rent cost and you can use their bike between any of the biking terminals throughout the city. Why not ride instead of sitting down for your daily commute? And it is being run by the private sector. Sounds good to you? Sounds good to me.

Taking a look at their newly created site, I dig the simplicity of their new brand identity. And I enjoy the name itself, the word Hub can be defined as many things: the central part of a wheel, a connection point for things or locations around it, and also as a description of Boston. Combining ‘Hub’ with ‘Way’ obviously challenges the notion of riding passively on the subway or highway.  And the brand color is also interestingly similar to Zipcar, done on purpose maybe? It does seem like a cost effective pricing model as well. Currently they have advertised on their site a price that seems even cheaper then the cost of owning and maintaining a bike.  For $60 a year you can pick up a bike at any time and travel throughout Boston year round. Not a bad price for students. But good luck to bikers trying to commute in our less than predictable winters, 8 months out of the year are decent biking months, albeit hardcore enthusiasts I have seen commuting by bike even in January. There are a ton of benefits for Hubway one obvious one that comes to mind is the lack of needing space to store your bike, especially for students who have limited space to place a bike.

I guess the big question is if it works in Paris and we have a similar climate, how it will fair year round in Boston? And how many bikers would be willing to give up owning their bike to be a member, or are they solely trying to attract new cycling enthusiasts?  All good things to wonder but I am happy that New Balance, a local shoe company, is starting this project in Boston!

To find out more Visit TheHubway.comFull Credits:

Today HTC announced that they were buying a controlling share of Beats by Dr. Dre for $300 million. Beats By Dr. Dre is a brand of headphones and loudspeakers created by music producer/rapper Dr. Dre and Interscope-Geffen-A&M Records chairman Jimmy Iovine.  The music industry power couple partnered with Monster Cable Products Inc. to produce their high-end headphones in 2006.  Since this partnership, Beats have become a major player in the music technology space with big celebrity collaborations (P. Diddy, Justin Beiber, Lady Gaga, and Lebron James) as well as corporate pairings with Chrysler Motors and HP.

HTC claims that this was a move to improve the audio of their smart phones.  However, to improve the internal workings of their phone why wouldn’t they partner with Monster Cable Products Inc? Monster creates and manufactures the actual technology that drives Beats.  They have been producing quality consumer audio and video product since 1978.  Branding is the answer.  Monster’s brand is not big enough to carry the true motivation for HTC’s purchase – increased smart phone sales.

This is the era where brands carry far more value than products (2010’s top brands).  It is important to establish strong brands that connect with consumers.  Through influencer marketing, product placement, and celebrity endorsement Beats built its brand equity as a trusted provider of quality audio products.

Clearly HTC is looking to borrow some of Beats by Dr. Dre’s brand equity and push sales for their next line of smart phones.  With new strategies being developed daily, there are several ways to create a strong brand.  Tactics are mixed and matched depending on industry, target consumer, and other internal variables.  The ultimate moral to the story is there’s money in quality branding.

Take it from Dre…he’s a doctor.

- barclay

Something is just very enjoyable about this packaging campaign.

While watching the news this week with all the nonsense going on in Washington via CNN,  I enjoyed this advert.  And I have to say the whole campaign reminded me about a childhood favorite film. Attack of the 50 FT. Woman Enjoy. By the way, how many of you enjoy these 50s posters? If so you should definitely check out some of Saul Bass’s poster work and Reynold Brown who was the creator of this poster below.

Another great one from Reynolds…

http://pixify.com/blog/use-os-x-lion-to-improve-your-ui/

Check it out and enjoy.

This campaign came to us from a submission for Fotolia, and we’re very thankful for this submission. It gained silver at the One Show Awards for typography. I dig the brand identity usage and the typography but the message for me is a little long. But it is clearly intentional by taking a risk at attacking your senses with the type bunched up vertically making it difficult to read, and the copy supports this elitist wit. But to be fair even though this is daring I question one thing: If their targeting just copy writers and creative directors than this ad is a success. But if their also trying to target art directors and designers at least for me the visual joke of it got lost because I just didn’t want to read it.

Than I did read it, because I am reviewing this campaign  and I have to say my opinion of the copy writing is that it is witty and fun, and daring. But I’d like your opinion do you enjoy the concept, layout and the copy writing execution?

From the submitter:

What separates an excellent ad from an average one?

It could be the use of clever humor to catch us off-guard with a surprised snort that brands product recognition into our skulls. Or maybe it plays to our senses and places us directly in the moment with that product, leaving us feeling as though we’ve missed out on something when the screen flicks to back to our guilty-pleasure, trashy reality show. What makes an excellent ad? You could ask the Old Spice hunk.

Or you could ask MacLaren McCann, the ad agency that came up with the award-winning campaign for Fotolia entitled, #1 in Europe.

MacLaren McCann pushed the boundaries of advertising. They took a risk, creating an unconventional campaign that included no talk of price, quality, or product. They broke the rules, unleashing some controversial creative writing and a block of tight-set typography that made it almost hard to read.

But what came out of it was an ad so cheeky, that it would take some effort to peel your eyes off of it once you?ve started to read. From only a single run-on sentence, a couple fragments, and a dash of tastefully arrogant sarcasm, we learn that Fotolia is Europeâ•?s number one stock photography company, and proud of it. MacLaren McCann played to both American and European stereotypes — and challenged them — to create eight short narratives that encourage people to take the trendy route and join Fotolia\’s Europeanized, uber-cool list of users.

The risk was taken, and the payoff was huge. MacLaren and McCann had their exceptional work recognized by an audience of advertisers when they won the Silver Pencil award from One Show Design. Alongside them were companies with other fantastic ad campaigns such as Ikea, Nike and BMW.

Perhaps the Old Spice hunk and MacLaren McCann have both uncovered the recipe to a successful ad campaign: one cup of innovation and two cups of risk.

Art Director: Mike Meadus
Creative Director: Mike Meadus
Copywriter: Nicolle Pittman
Typographer: Mike Meadus

Travelers just launched another TV spot in their dog focused campaign, and it made me smile. I guess I am a sucker for cute dog commercials, did you like the latest one too?

And the older spot!