...bringing it all back home.

Photo

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 09:20:58 +1200

"“We’ll pass your book around and I’ll get back to you.” I wasn’t sure he believed me. But he said..."

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 01:06:46 +1200

“

“We’ll pass your book around and I’ll get back to you.” I wasn’t sure he believed me.

But he said thank you, shook my hand and offered a good-bye. I waited with him for the elevator. He entered and pressed the lobby button.

As the doors slid closed, he stared straight at me and with a half smile added, “Good luck with your next meeting.”

Wait a minute, I thought. Wasn’t that Roger’s line?

”

- Don Draper applies for a job at an agency in 2013

"It’s clear that Apple’s designers have done the same thing: their focus has shifted towards content...."

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 01:02:12 +1200

“

It’s clear that Apple’s designers have done the same thing: their focus has shifted towards content. I can’t wait to see what happens to the iOS ecosystem when other designers and developers follow their lead. That path forward won’t be easy, but it will take the platform to a whole new level.

Yet another example of “can’t innovate any more, my ass”.

”

- Been There, Done That

Received this today. I hope they are not waiting for me to...

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 00:58:56 +1200

Received this today.

I hope they are not waiting for me to “pay”.

"“People keep asking me to join the LinkedIn network,” he said, “but I’m already part of a network,..."

Tue, 28 May 2013 15:55:43 +1200

“

“People keep asking me to join the LinkedIn network,” he said, “but I’m already part of a network, it’s called the Internet.”

Now of course LinkedIn offers protocols and features that the open Net doesn’t, at least not yet, and the same is true for all the specialized overlays that we call social networks.

But there’s a ton of duplication in those layered protocols and features. If we can’t factor out a bunch of the duplication, I think social network fatigue becomes the major hurdle standing in the way of reaching critical mass.

”

- Critical mass and social network fatigue

“What I drew today” by Wendy MacNaughton cf. Craighton...

Mon, 27 May 2013 10:48:53 +1200

“What I drew today” by Wendy MacNaughton

cf. Craighton Berman’s “The Campaign for the Accurate Measurement of Creativity”

"O.K., and now to explain how it’s done. Well, it’s a little like trying to hit a bottle cap with a..."

Sun, 26 May 2013 13:36:03 +1200

“

O.K., and now to explain how it’s done. Well, it’s a little like trying to hit a bottle cap with a wire coat hanger.

Every day a songwriter rows out into the deep waters in search of his own personal Loch Ness monster. (Just a matter of time, we insist.)

Being a weary subscriber to the old inspiration-perspiration theory, I must say that minus the former, you’ll hit a sweaty dead end every time, yet without this purging of what I call “brain vomit,” you’ll never drain the 99 pieces of hooey before one of pure inspiration writes itself for you.

”

- Paul Westerberg on incorrect grammar, song writing and digesting books.

Simple or Impossible - NYTimes.com

10 minutes with Trott. ‘If you spend your time trying not to...

Sun, 26 May 2013 13:07:00 +1200

10 minutes with Trott.

‘If you spend your time trying not to get fired you’ll slow down to the speed where you won’t get fired.’

Dave Trott is a legend. His blog is one that I always find myself returning to.

It delivers a good mix of ideas, advice, and the feeling that you have not really done anything worthwhile - yet.

A considered, inspiring, weekly, kick up the arse.

It treads that fine line between condescending and patronising, enclosed in the confidence of been there, done that.

He now has a new book out. I just ordered a copy. You should too.

"But the same technological advances that have empowered the rise of Big Brother have created another..."

Thu, 23 May 2013 16:26:00 +1200

“

But the same technological advances that have empowered the rise of Big Brother have created another wrinkle in the story.

We might call it the emergence of Little Brother: the ordinary citizen who by chance finds himself in a position to record events of great public import, and to share the results with the rest of us.

This has become immeasurably easier and more likely with the near-ubiquitous proliferation of high-quality recording devices.

”

- You know Big Brother, now meet Little Brother.

Say Hello to Little Brother: Privacy in the Era of Leaked Recordings : The New Yorker

Ai Weiwei - Dumbass (Explicit) by Ai Weiwei

Thu, 23 May 2013 14:19:10 +1200

Ai Weiwei - Dumbass (Explicit)

by Ai Weiwei

"“The Oxford English Dictionary accepts both pronunciations,” Mr. Wilhite said. “They are wrong. It..."

Wed, 22 May 2013 11:37:09 +1200

“

“The Oxford English Dictionary accepts both pronunciations,” Mr. Wilhite said.

“They are wrong. It is a soft ‘G,’ pronounced ‘jif.’ End of story.”

”

- End of Story

Creator of the GIF says: “It is a soft G, pronounced ‘jif.’”

GIF Creator, Steve Wilhite, Receives Lifetime Achievement Webby Award - NYTimes.com

How, When and Where Will The First Truly Great Digital Design Studio Emerge?

Tue, 21 May 2013 12:27:43 +1200

How, When and Where Will The First Truly Great Digital Design Studio Emerge?

"Ideation in a clientless vacuum; devoid the realities of real life (inside an agency or any company..."

Tue, 21 May 2013 11:34:31 +1200

“

Ideation in a clientless vacuum; devoid the realities of real life (inside an agency or any company for that matter). Feasibility. Budgets. Client bureaucracies. The fact is that big ideas take time to sell. They die. They have to be reborn. And that it’s your role to breath the life back in. But only if you really give a shit.

The “idea” is the tip of a gigantic, shit stained iceberg of work. And if you aren’t ready for what it takes, or worse, you think “that it’s someone else’s job” to push your idea from ether to reality—reconsider your profession.

My advice is simple: don’t be the entitled kid. The kid who over indexes in ambition but lacks any real passion—any real drive other than a new title at a new agency.

Be the kid who wants to learn even when he doesn’t have to—the designer who wants to learn to write, to code, to understand business because it makes the design better.

”

- Dear Jr Creative…Earn Your Place. You’ll Be Better For It.

"Generally, what Tumblr needs, and what Tumblr has always needed, is to get support and maintenance..."

Tue, 21 May 2013 11:23:17 +1200

“

Generally, what Tumblr needs, and what Tumblr has always needed, is to get support and maintenance roles off of David’s plate so he can focus on the product.

David’s perfectly able to worry about money and operations, but I bet he really doesn’t want to. At best, it would be a tremendous waste of his time and talent.

We — internet users, creative people, publishers, socializers — will be much better served if David can focus on his product’s features, design, and messaging instead of worrying about server architecture and raising more money.

”

- The One-Person Product – Marco.org

Marco Ament reflects on David, Tumblr and what the early days were like.

Tumblr Staff: News!

Tue, 21 May 2013 11:20:46 +1200

Tumblr Staff: News!:

staff:

Everyone, I’m elated to tell you that Tumblr will be joining Yahoo.

Before touching on how awesome this is, let me try to allay any concerns: We’re not turning purple. Our headquarters isn’t moving. Our team isn’t changing. Our roadmap isn’t changing. And our mission – to empower creators to…

It’s a new day.

Mon, 20 May 2013 07:56:10 +1200

It’s a new day.

"There is a shift at the heart of this. There are new brands out there - Kickstarter, Etsy and Amazon..."

Fri, 17 May 2013 13:48:00 +1200

“

There is a shift at the heart of this. There are new brands out there - Kickstarter, Etsy and Amazon come to mind - that got big and profitable without conventional advertising.

They’re also brands built in a world reliant upon the network. They do not need advertising, at least, they don’t need advertising the way your mother’s fast moving consumer goods company needed it.

Their products are services, and the way their services behave are their own marketing. Google’s own Dear Sophie and Parisian Love adverts are critically acclaimed examples of advertising letting products and services speak for themselves.

So what does an advertising agency do for them?

”

- The product is the service is the marketing.

The tyranny of digital advertising

"The mean streets of the borough that rappers like the Notorious B.I.G. crowed about are now hipster..."

Sun, 12 May 2013 14:52:34 +1200

“The mean streets of the borough that rappers like the Notorious B.I.G. crowed about are now hipster havens, where cupcakes and organic kale rule.”

- Brooklyn, the Remix: A Hip-Hop Tour

Interactive Feature - NYTimes.com

timeshaiku: A haiku from the article: ‘Subliming Vessel,’...

Sun, 12 May 2013 12:42:18 +1200

timeshaiku:

A haiku from the article: ‘Subliming Vessel,’ Drawings of Matthew Barney, at Morgan

"As in many bloody, multipolar conflicts, certainties in Martin’s world are few, and loyalties..."

Sun, 12 May 2013 11:04:13 +1200

“

As in many bloody, multipolar conflicts, certainties in Martin’s world are few, and loyalties easily shifted. A reversal of dynastic fortunes is typically swift and cruel.

But the show could have benefited from a bit of Marx to balance out all that Machiavelli.

In the real world, economic substructure informs the political agenda. In Game of Thrones, however, all politics is personal.

War and peace are based on alliances, allegiances, debts, and vendettas between the high and mighty — never on something as mundane as the price of wool or access to exotic spices.

”

- From Winterfell to King’s Landing

How the cartography of Game of Thrones explains the world