Dividing up elephantine-sized projects is something I totally dig, and it's always the result that is the most stunning. So when I stumble across a new company or platform that is bringing forward this type of solution through crowdsourcing, I get pretty excited, particularly when it benefits the non-profit sector (easily crushed by large tasks that they lack the resources to address). By divvying up a daunting task, responsibility, or problem into micro pieces, not only is the cost and workload distributed, but also the good effects. Here are a couple of cool companies that I'm following:
The Extraordinaries The Extraordinaries, a micro-volunteer network offers a platform to connect non-profits with skilled professionals. Non-profits submit requests…
There are many uses for Twitter - connecting with people, sharing status updates, promoting events, sharing content, generating support, finding employment - but one of my favorite uses of Twitter is to tell a story. Twitter can be used to engage your audience in your brand, and create a participatory entertainment environment in the service of your brand. Twittering Mad Men, Helen Klein Ross of Brand Fiction Factory (@BettyDraper@AdBroad) and Michael Bissell of Conquent (@Roger_Sterling@Bissell) refer to this as Brand Fiction. Read on to learn how they brought the AMC show Mad Men to life in the world of Twitter (earning them a Shorty Award), by employing Brand Fiction. …
One of the most frequent questions I'm asked is "What have you been reading lately." With increasing frequency, folks are beginning to inquire about what Podcasts I listen to as well. So I thought I'd share a list of my favorite podcasts with our readers. These picks run the gamut from design, to technology, to entrepreneurialism. Some of them are not updated as regularly as I'd like, but they are all thought provoking, interesting, and inspiring. You can find them all on iTunes.
The Accidental CreativeThe Accidental Creative podcast addresses how to thrive in the create-on-demand world by instilling practical, everyday practices that help you stay prolific, brilliant and healthy in your life
With the upcoming release of Apple’siPad (April 3rd, 2010), there has been an increasing amount of buzz recently around the change in the way we will consume media. With an estimated 40-50 tablet devices set for release by early 2011, Wired Magazine, in partnership with Adobe, has seen this as an opportunity to rethink the way we connect with magazine brands, leading to a fundamental shift in the way Wired is produced with it’s new digital app.
At the SXSW panel After Magazines: Wired’s Digital Rebirth, panelists Scott Dadich (Creative Director, Wired Magazine) and Jeremy Clark (Senior Experience Design Manager, Adobe) explained the production methods of the app using Adobe Air, and showcased…
This year, I took particular interest in a panel that focused on news & media, and the "Future of Context". At the 2009 SXSWi, much of the conversation was centered around the demise of journalism and whether or not the news industry would survive. I enjoyed the progression into this 2010 conversation about the news and identifying that by providing better context, the news industry may indeed survive. I look forward to the upcoming years of SXSWi and discovering what solutions have been developed to make the news a richer and more informative experience.
Overview Conventional wisdom calls us attention-deprived, constantly seeking the next scrap of info. But Google reveals our true desire: Context. (Wikipedia entries, This American Life's financial crisis explainer, Gizmodo's definitive guide to smartphones, etc.) An exploration of how…
I recently read a post on Fastcompany.com winning proposal at the WPA 2.0 competition, to design a series of Algae Pontoon Parks in New York. The parks will connect Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Governors Island and employ algae to capture carbon emissions along urban arteries.
Below is a brief description from Port Architects and their plans to capture these emissions, through their project, Carbon T.A.P.
1. ) Algae is one of the most robust classifications of life on earth. Thriving on every continent, it is highly adaptive to any physical environment where it is able to derive energy from photosynthesis and the uptake of organic carbon, particularly in the form of CO2.
2.) Unfortunately though, atmospheric CO2…
When I last blogged about webfonts back in March 2009 there was no clear-cut direction that type foundries or browser developers were headed with regards to using real fonts on the web. Designers were fed up with using the same short list of system fonts on their websites, and the only options at the time that allowed the use of non-system fonts were using images or Flash/JavaScript-based workarounds. In the last few months there have been many interesting developments, with two options currently leading the race.
@font-face and WOFF The @font-face rule has been around for over 10 years, first making an appearance with CSS2. It has remained largely under-used due to differences in each browser’s font…
“In __ , once you’ve got something, you’re already thinking about what’s next. Maybe it’s a little hysterical. Now, every day I’m thinking about change. It’s a constant anxiety that is probably a reflection of society’s anxiety in general. The big deal about __ is really very recent, this frantic pursuit of newness. It may be a good thing, or a bad thing, but it’s really defining this moment.”
What do you think fits in the blanks of this quote? Although they could be filled with many words (digital marketing, mobile devices, restaurants, mechanical engineering, packaged goods, etc.), the original word is “fashion,” and the author of the quote is Miuccia Prada, as she describes her design process for her namesake label. I was struck by the universality of…
Five years ago, if you wanted to rent a movie, you'd get in your car, drive to the nearest Blockbuster and spend 15 minutes browsing the movies on the walls, make your selection, and then proceed through the aisle of candy and popcorn to the next eager & available checkout clerk who would scan your membership card and take your money. Today, if you want to rent a movie, you probably add it to your Netflix queue and wait a day or two for it to arrive in your mailbox, or you visit a big giant vending machine robot called Redbox.
Redbox seems to be all the rage these days (from what I hear on the street). It's so easy. Pick your movie and swipe your card…
The gang over at SmallerIndiana, have posted all of the video content from the Bigger Ideas Conference. If you missed the event, head on over here, to catch-up on what you missed out on.
