Newsweek publishes 1960's Mad Men issue

Newsweek is planning to publish their March issue adopting its 1960's design throughout to mark the return of Mad Men to TV screens in the US.

Tina Brown, editor of Newsweek and The Daily Beast, commented,  "Newsweek was very much on the cultural forefront at the time of the show, it covered the events that are so much of the background for the show's drama - the burgeoning civil rights movement, the women's rights movement, the Vietnam War. That was Newsweek's cutting-edge beat and its flourishing journalistic subject. So it seemed like a wonderful marriage in a sense to take that and apply it to the magazine, to make the magazine an homage to the period."

This is either a great marketing coup for the producers of Mad Men or a very clever promotional tool for Newsweek. Either way it will be an issue to keep.

Read more about this on AdAge.

Salesforce launches Social Media best practice website

Salesforce has recently launched a Best Practice website called 'Social Success', covering Cloud Computing and Social Media.

There are some great case studies here as well as a free 25-page book looking at how Social Media is affecting Sales, Marketing and Customer Service.

Click here to see more 

Red Bull announces Canimation winners

If you have missed the publicity, Red Bull has been running a competition called 'Canimation' which searched for cutting edge animators to combine their imagination with the silver and blue can to produce some great short animated films.

The winners have just been announced and it is well worth having look at the great films. Below are just two of the winners.

Winner of Student CGI Category - Scott Waddington



Red Bull and the Featherless Chicken Canimation from Scott Waddington on Vimeo.

Winner of Open Drawn Category - Chloe Rodham



Skyhound (Red Bull Canimation) from Chloe Rodham on Vimeo.

See the rest of the fantastic winners here

Faces of British Architecture exhibition

To celebrate British architects and engineers, Icopal has commissioned a series of portraits by Timothy Soar, with commentary by Isabel Allen. The series represents the UK’s leading experts, innovators and visionaries in architecture and engineering, responsible for many iconic buildings and landmark developments. The exhibition, curated by Lorna Soar, can be seen at The Building Centre in January and February 2012.

THE BUILDING CENTRE - LONDON 9th January - 29th February 2012

Image courtesy of Faces of British Architecture

Frustrated by online shopping baskets?

Do you get frustrated with 'shopping baskets' when shopping online? Then you will find this humorous take on the infamous Shopping Basket by Oatmeal very funny.

It is essential reading for anyone operating in or thinking of entering the online retail space.

Please note: This does include profanity so please do not continue if you may be offended.

Click here to view in full

Great viral ad for LG

This is a great viral ad for LG produced by Y&R Amsterdam. A very odd customer makes his way through an electrical store and finds himself running off down the street with a bit of a surpirise.

Very clever. Click below to view.

Are consumers getting excited about QR codes?

Quick-response (QR) codes are being used everywhere these days, even footballers have got into the habit with Bromley FC shaving the back of their heads in the design as a promotional stunt.

But are consumers getting excited about QR codes? They are a great idea in theory, improving interactivity and offering a quick route through to online content, however in the States only 5% of Americans who own mobile phones have actually used a QR code, and surprisingly these tended to be young, affluent and male.

However, in the UK a recent survey of 794 mobile users by Simpson Carpenter showed that only a third knew what a QR code was but 11% had used one. Of these 20% did not find them at all useful.

So what is the future of QR codes? There will be growing awareness of the technology and, according to the above research,  70% of those that had used them found them useful and would use them again. As a tool for marketers they offer a simple and quick way for consumers to engage with online content and with the increase in smart phone usage it will be interesting to see how they develop.

We expect that there will be simpler technology along sooner rather than later that will supersede QR codes and offer more marketing opportunities so watch this space.

For more information on QR trends in the States see the AdAge article here 

AdAge's Top 10 Viral Videos of 2011

This is a very funny viral video for Doritos - 'no animals were hurt in the production of this advert' - well, at least the dog wasn't.

This ranked number 3 in AdAge's Top 10 viral videos for 2011. Some great videos here - some that you may recognise in the UK and others that you may not.

Check out the complete Top 10 here.

How to succeed as a marketer in 2012

Joel Harrison, Editor of B2B Marketing Magazine has been taking a look at how to be a great marketer in 2012 and offers his top ten tips.

He comments, 'We’ve got to accept that economic indicators don’t look great, and it’s unlikely to be a boom year for many companies. But that doesn’t mean as marketers we have any excuses to rest on their laurels – far from it in fact; unless they are prepared to roll up our sleeves, take some tough decisions and generally get involved, marketers may find themselves in a spot of bother, as companies constantly re-evaluate their spend and personnel. In other words, to put it more succinctly, in the words of the old cliché: when the going gets tough, the tough get going.'

Joel lists 10 things that a marketer needs to be to succeed in 2012:

1. A polymath – in other words, good at many things. A jack of all trades (and probably a master of a couple of those). That includes so-called ‘traditional’ and digital marketing disciplines.

2. Pragmatic – willing and able to change, responding to changing needs and demands.

3. Engaging – they must be excellent communicators, with anyone and everyone, across the organisation. That includes everyone from the boardroom to the call centre.

4. Technologically adept – analytics, automation and social media monitoring must be your new best friends.

5. Passionate – really believe in what they are doing and why, and in their brand and the organisation that they work for. Lip service won’t do.

6. Convincing – able to sell ideas and concepts, and rally others to their cause.

7. Robust – they must be able to justify and prove their decisions and actions.

8. Collaborative – able to work with other key stakeholders in the organisation, such as sales, IT and finance, where necessary.

9. Dogged and determined – able to keep going in the face of adversity.

10. Inquisitive – interested in new tools, techniques, insights and ideas. Marketing will continue to change, and practitioners must change with it.

To find out more read the full article here

RIBA hunts for unique pews and perches

RIBA has launched a competition inviting architecture students, recent graduates and emerging practices from across London to come up with unique ideas for public seating in association with London’s Pleasure Gardens.

The winners of Pews & Perches will receive funding to build their designs which will be showcased around the Royal Docks in East London in time for the 2012 Olympic Games.

The deadline for submissions is 30 January 2012.

Click here for more details

Ege introduces digital print carpets

EgeCarpets has launched their “Out of Nature” digital print carpet collection with the aim of 'allowing the beauty of nature indoors, right into your interior design scheme'.

These great digital print designs are available in wall-to-wall or custom sizes and in stone, wood or tile effects.

An interesting statement piece for any home.

See more of these great designs here.

D&AD Celebrates 50 years with classic 1965 Hancock

Marking its 50th birthday, D&AD has delved into its archive to highlight significant pieces of work that have featured in the awards. Creative Review will be publishing one a week.

This time, it's the turn of Mather & Crowther's 'Go to work on an egg' campaign which started in 1957 but was first awarded by D&AD in 1965. A classic Hancock.

See a celebration of 50 years of great design and advertising here

Not your run of the mill boat dock!

If you're looking for inspiration when designing the dock for your next yacht or speed boat then this amazing piece of architecture may just be the answer.

Located on a bend in Lake Austin, across from the Canyonland Nature Preserve, the Shore Vista Boat Dock by Bercy Chen Studio has rounded edges that peel away to allow more of the landscape to be captured into the visual frame.

See more on Contemporist here
Photography by Paul Bardagjy and Ryan Michael

'What design means to me', original art for the Design Council

Marking HRH The Duke of Edinburgh’s contribution to the promotion of UK design, the Design Council has commissioned a one-off book,  'What Design Means to Me', of original artworks drawn by over forty of the Prizes’ previous winners, nominees and judges including Sir Terence Conran, Vivienne Westwood, Jeff Banks, Lord Norman Foster, Kenneth Grange and Sir Paul Smith.

See examples of the original artworks below:

What design means to me

View more presentations from Design Council

Most overused buzzwords and best ways to increase your profile on LinkedIn

LinkedIn has been looking at some of the most overused terms and buzzwords of 2011, comparing them to 2010, and also suggest ways that professionals can increase the number of visitors to their profile.

In the 2010 study, buzzwords like “extensive experience,” “dynamic,” “motivated,” and “innovative” were the most overused buzzwords in various countries however LinkedIn says that since its global membership has grown from 85 million to more than 135 million members since 2010 the list has changed.

Here are the 2011 most used buzzwords:

1. Creative
2. Organizational
3. Effective
4. Extensive experience
5. Track record
6. Motivated
7. Innovative
8. Problem solving
9. Communication skills
10. Dynamic

LinkedIn has also suggested some tips professionals can act on to increase the number of people viewing their LinkedIn Profile.

Click here to find out more

The Think Tank appointed PR agency for B3 Designers

The Think Tank is delighted to announce that it has been appointed to provide PR support for Shoreditch-based B3 Designers.
This award-winning interior design studio specializes in creating distinctive, fresh and contemporary designs for the interiors of hotels, bars, restaurants and for retail spaces.
The B3 Designers team has currently been working on a number of projects including some exciting new ‘eateries’ in the Selfridges store in Manchester… watch this space for more news.

Looking at things in a different way

Lenticular images can be a great way to get a message across. We recently used this technique in a direct mail piece for a client, taking the recipient on a journey from illustration to final design.

Applied to a rippled surface in a certain way, a lenticular image shifts in and out of focus depending on the angle you view it from, sometimes producing an animated effect.

WebUrbanist has put together a great selection of graffiti, billboards, art and even children's toys that use lenticular images to great effect.

Click here to see some great designs.

Google's office interior is a walk in the park

If you're sitting in your uninspiring office looking forward to escaping at lunch then take a look at Google's new decor. With the purchase of other social channels, such as YouTube, Google has been bringing together its businesses into one building in London and the interior is as different as you would expect.

Including deck chairs, a Routemaster bus and a bath tub for a table this certainly is an interior to inspire creativity.

See more here on WIDN

The Christmas Party 'Walk of Shame'

Keeping the festive theme going is this ad for Harvey Nichols Womenswear by DDB London.

Quite humorous and I am sure we all have similar memories, either personal or third hand. It finishes by asking viewers to share their 'Walk of shame' moments.

Definitely worth 60 seconds viewing.

Twitter launches Brand Pages

Twitter has announced that it is launching 'Brand Pages' to meet the growing demand from advertisers to be able to promote their products more prominently than at present.

The pages have two key elements, both of which are free. Ad Age tells us 'They can be customized with large header images that advertisers can use to display their logo and tagline more prominently than under the standard format, where branded elements of the page design are often partially covered by the time line of tweets. Brands can also choose to keep a particular tweet at the top of their time line, and that top tweet also auto-expands to reveal an embedded photo or video from Flickr, YouTube or other sources, without requiring the user to take action.'

Ad Age interviewed Twitter's Chief Revenue Officer Adam Bain to find out more about their plans. The launch will initially include brand pages for 21 marketers including American Express, Best Buy, Bing, Chevrolet, Coca-Cola, Dell , Disney, General Electric, Hewlett-Packard, Intel and McDonald's who are all deemed strategic partners.

To read the full article please click here or to find out more about how to enhance your page click here.