Aa; lots of stuff

Quick note about my numbering system: I've been labelling posts about things I've actually made or created with numbers, and posts that are just links to other stuff or wordy opinions etc have been labelled with a letter. It turns out that this was either short-sighted, or that my expectations were too low. I have now got through the alphabet... 
This post is therefore Aa, in a pathetic attempt to persevere with my flawed, useless numbering system.


Lots that I've found over the weekend:
First, totally irrelevant to the usual theme of the blog, so I'm just mentioning it very quickly. The Voice Project has some very nice songs, apparently for a good cause. Nice music.

Second is this. I want it:

Funny, clever, interesting, great.

Two nice animations. One very simple, but very entertaining:

Elvis Presley- King Creole from BillCanoni on Vimeo.

and two a bit of "3d graffiti". Some people complain that this sort of thing defeats the point of graffiti and the culture that created this sort of image, but I think this is just an interesting way of expressing a great style of art:

3d graffiti - 'After from Graffiti Technica on Vimeo.


And now something actually thought provoking. A talk from Starbucks about their hugely successful social strategy. For me, the most significant thing from this is the importance of interaction to communication in a digital world. It's not just about sending a message out, but about incorporating your consumers, involving them and listening to the things they are saying. The variety of the strategies employed, combined with the consistency of the underlying philosophies has built a fantastic communication history and network:


That's all folks (sorry it's so long today...)

#m; Text ads - what is most effective?

This post is interesting:

"Do you think you're more likely to look at an online ad if it contains 1) a picture, 2) an animation or 3) just text? The answer: just text. "

A study shows that people are, for whatever reason, more inclined to pay attention to a text-only ad. There are loads of possible reasons, but I think it's because we respond to simple and obvious messages. I'm a huge fan of inventive and original advertising as a means of separating a brand from the rest, and in order to grab the attention and convey a message in an exciting and penetrative way (as I said the other day), but I think that there is a time and a place. I know I ignore the vast majority of bright and colourful banner ads. When making ads for the sides of pages, a common approach is "make something bright, colourful, exciting and attention-grabbing."

But maybe that's not the way forward. On web pages, we're bombarded with the bright and attention-grabbing - so much so, in fact, that that sort of ad gets ignored. I personally find that I will often just register that there is a bright blue flashing ad, realise that its just another ad, and not bother to see through the blue and leave the page with no idea what the banner was advertising. Maybe if it was just simple bold text, I would recognise what the ad was for, and if it was something I was interested in, I'd click it. If the message is clear enough, I will be forced to at least acknowledge what it is that's being offered. Rely on the product being advertised; make the advert as clear as possible. If you know that your advert is only going to be seen out of the corner of someone's eye, how do you want it to be perceived? A cool graphic isn't always best. Sometimes, the bare message gets the message across in a much less avoidable sense.

Sorry for the lack of interesting images or visual excitement today. Maybe you'll have to read this entry, rather than just scanning the images, though...

#l; Big Bird

Tomorrow I start work on the research project that is part of my Biology degree at Oxford. I'm looking at some videos taken by attaching small cameras on the back of pigeons, so we can learn some stuff about navigation and behaviour. My initial hopes that the videos would be something a bit like Meerkat Manor, or Big Cat Diaries, are starting to wane...

However, as I start my birdy studies, what better time for me to find this. A scientific approach to what exactly Big Bird is: