Sonic fountain

Ever felt that the sound of water dripping was slightly rhythmic and musical? If not you may want to reconsider after seeing the new installation at the 303 gallery in New York by American artist Doug Aitken.

The piece, called Sonic Fountain, is part of the gallery's 100 Years exhibition and features five rods that drip water into a pool below. The dripping is not random; it is released at special intervals to create a variety of patterns and shapes, with the sound amplified by the location and the pool itself having been specially excavated out of the floor of the gallery.

The piece is quiet and tranquil with a milky white glow coming from the pool and a breath like rhythm from the water drops.

Watch a video of the exhibition below.

55 Years of the Lego Brick

To celebrate 55 years, Lego has created a tumblr account called "55 years of the brick".

They've released 55 simple but effective print adverts, asking you to imagine a song, band, movie or book.

See if you can guess what the ads represent - there are a few challenging ones.

The Lego posting has a lot of advertising around it, which can be annoying, but you can view them all at Gizmodo here without the ads.

Grand Central terminal celebrates centenary

Last Friday Grand Central Terminal in New York celebrated its 100th Birthday. To mark the occasion, they surprised commuters and tourists with an amazing light show.

Performed by over 100 Improv Everywhere participants, they used led lights and camera flashes to dazzle onlookers along three floors of the grand windows. Improv Everywhere worked with the MTA Arts for Transit to produce the show, according to their blog.

Watch the show below.

TTT Tips - Content Marketing - Part 2

We’re regularly being asked about content marketing and how businesses should use social media to engage their audiences. On this note, we thought it would be a good idea to offer a few hints and tips that readers may find useful. Here is part 2 of 2. Read part 1 here.

8.    People respond better to visuals
Picture and video content makes your posts more engaging. This is very important online and across social networks, after all an image speaks a thousand words. Use infographics to demonstrate your proposition quickly and imagery that supports your content.

9.    Start and finish strong
Don’t trail off at the end; keep it consistent all the way through and summarise where possible with references to further information.

10.    Keep it simple  
Don’t overwhelm with information or numbers, give sources so that readers can find out more. We live in an age of information with the means for people to pick and choose what they want to know so let your readers choose how deep they go into the content.

11.    Employ emotion
Emotional responses make things more memorable, they invoke a natural response in people.    

12. Link, Link, Link Link your content to relevant online content.
There is nothing more annoying than referencing someone or their work and the reader having to use a search engine to find it.  

13. Tone of voice
Choose a tone of voice that is relevant to your business and how you communicate with your audiences. Once chosen keep your content consistent, using the same tone of voice every time.  

14 Ask for a response
There’s nothing wrong in asking your readers to respond to your posts. Seek their opinion and get a conversation going.  

And on that note, let us have your thoughts on content marketing.

TTT Tips - Content Marketing - Part 1

We’re regularly being asked about content marketing and how businesses should use social media to engage their audiences. On this note, we thought it would be a good idea to offer a few hints and tips that readers may find useful. Here is part 1 of 2.  

1.    Fear of missing out 
Deliver content that is unique, inspiring, useful and about something new; no one wants to miss out on the next big thing and content that is interesting and communicates something to the reader that they have not seen before will encourage engagement and sharing. Look for the wow factor or the unusual.

2.    Make your content easy to skim
Only around 20% of online content is read so try to break down what you are saying into lists or shorter paragraphs that allow readers to skim through and find the information they need quickly and without effort.

3.    Make it informative
We all want to feel like we’ve learnt something; if your content offers to educate the reader then link to other websites that substantiate your information or reference to other sources.

4.    Allow the content to be shared easily
Add sharing buttons for as many social networks as possible and offer the ability to email the content. The easier it is for people to share, the more likely they are to share it.

5.    Length is related to sharing
Make content substantial but not too long. There are direct correlations between the number of words and how viral content may become.

6.    Show consistency and authority in posts
Regularly posting content that is informative and accurate boosts your online reputation. Ensure that your content is written well, grammatically correct and offers insightful information.

7. Don’t make content all about you
People don’t like self-promoters, the most interesting person at a party is not the one who constantly talks about themselves. Talk about interesting topics that other people can relate to and that are relevant to your business and the products and services you offer.

Part 2 coming soon.....

The most inspiring places on Earth

In need of inspiration?
Inspirationfeed has listed some locations that will bring out the artistic side of anyone.
Their choices of the most inspiring locations are:

• Antelope Canyon, Arizona
• Phi Phi Islands, Thailand
• Macchu Picchu, Peru
• Iceland
• Pamukkale, Turkey

We have to agree that these locations offer some stunning views and experiences. For more information on these amazing locations take a look at their post here.

The Bear is most awarded ad of 2012

The Gunn Report has compiled their lists of the most-awarded ads worldwide of 2012, and The Bear, the hilarious commercial for French TV channel Canal+, was the most awarded TV commercial.

The top five are listed below, and you may recognise some from previous posts of ours:
1. Canal+ The Bear (BETC, Paris) which is the most awarded commercial in the 14 year history of The Gunn Report.
2. BGH Silent Air, Dads In Briefs campaign (Del Campo Nazca Saatchi & Saatchi, Buenos Aires)
3. Doritos Dips, Dip Desperado (AMV BBDO, London)
4. Chipotle, Back To The Start (Creative Artists Agency, Los Angeles)
5. John Lewis, The Long Wait (Adam&EveDDB, London)  

The report has also listed the most awarded print ads and campaigns, the most awarded countries in the world, the most awarded advertisers, the most awarded production companies, the most awarded agency, the most awarded agency in digital and the most awarded agency network  

The Gunn Report also has a category for integrated or innovative work, which it calls "All Gunns Blazing".  

It uses a weighted points system to analyse the winners of the major advertising awards schemes around the world.  

Read more at Creative Review, which features the top five for all the afore-mentioned categories here.

Gangnam style baby

In it's first venture into TV advertising, electronic cigarette company E-Lites has beaten everyone to the punch by combining a dancing baby with last years viral video hit - Gangnam Style.

The advert features a dad going out for a cigarette and missing his baby's first steps and more. 

Their tagline for the campaign is "What will you miss?".

An amusing bit of CGI, watch it below.

Design Museum open exhibition of permanent collection

The Design Museum  has opened a new exhibition containing some of its permanent collection.

Extraordinary Stories about Ordinary Things will be on display on the top floor of the current home of the Design Museum, broken up into six themes or "stories". 

The 'Identity & Design' story features items that contribute to national identity such as the K2 Phone Box by Giles Gilbert Scott, UK road signage by Jock Kinneir and Margaret Calvert, and the London 2012 logo by Wolff Olins.

The 'Taste' story charts the influence of modenism on British design and includes pieces by Marcel Breuer and Erno Goldfinger.

'Why We Collect' features recycled designs from Jasper Morrison's table made of bicycle handlebars to the Campana Brothers' Cartoon Chair made of soft toys.

'Materials & Process' charts the development of plastic technology.

Whilst 'Icons' follows iterations of the Anglepoise Lamp.

'Finally Fashion' focuses trends from the 1960's to the 1990's.

The exhibition was designed by Gitta Gschwendter and consists of the objects being displayed on rough, chunky shelving alongside contextual images and documents. It will run until the museum moves to its new home next year in the former Commonwealth Institute building in South West London, which is currently being redeveloped by John Pawson.

Social marketing without give aways

A lot of people feel that the best way to gain exposure on social media for a new product is to spend lots of money advertising it, either directly or through competitions or give-aways. Not so for Nars Cosmetics, they decided to utilise the power of social marketing in a different way - by creating an app.

Their Warhol App would would take a snapshot of you via a web cam, or you could upload a pic, and then add an Andy Warhol look to it. This would produce a new cover image and/or profile photo for you to use, although the image does have the Nars Warhol branding included (a very subtle but great way to raise awareness). 

The idea was to promote their new Warhol Collection, and it worked, as every time someone updates their cover photo a unique update goes out to their friends, unlike when a profile image is updated.

The app attracted a relatively small number of users on Facebook — 3,143 — but an impressive amount of engagement: Together, those users made more than 5,300 images and spent an average of seven minutes and nine seconds using the app, generating an estimated 823,000 impressions on Facebook.

The app is no longer on their Facebook page, although they were smart enough to provide the app off Facebook as well, which had an even higher number of users and traffic, thanks to tech and beauty blogs talking about it. However the app still requires you to login via Facebook to use it.

Take a look at the video of the app below, and try it out for yourself.

Tree roots emerge from ceiling

Giuseppe Licari, a Rotterdam-based Sicilian artist, has transformed a gallery space into an underground lair. His latest work is a network of tree roots hanging from the ceiling, resembling organic chandeliers, titled ‘humus’, which refers to the soil layer that is essential for trees and plants to grow.

The work gives that feeling of entering a world below ground, where you get an exclusive peak at a hidden sanctum, a space which normally gives life and stability to trees in a park or forest.

The central theme for his work is the relationship between humankind and nature, and growth and decay, as seen by the dead tree roots being displayed for inspection, along with the condition of the soil they grew in within their urban environment.

World's largest underwater hotel

It looks like it could be something from an old James Bond film, but Polish company Deep Ocean Technology (DOT), are planning to make this idea a reality. 

The Water Discus hotel will not be the first underwater hotel, but is set to be the world’s largest. It will be built in Dubai, and consist of two main discs, one above water, the other below, and will have smaller circular modules connected to the above water section to provide additional facilities to the 21 hotel rooms located below the sea level. The main above sea disc will be supported and connected to it's counterpart by five columns and a main central shaft for stairs and lift.

The hotel will also boast a helipad, an underwater diving centre, with an airlock leading directly underwater, and a decompression chamber for training purposes. The nature of the design allows for the hotel to be expanded or even moved, with the surrounding discs having the ability to detach from the main disc and act as a buoyant life raft in the event of an emergency.

Hotel guests will be able to enjoy underwater views from their room, a submerged bar and even take a course in piloting an underwater vehicle.

DOT’s other ventures include designing underwater vehicles and equipment for seabed exploration.

Annual reports becoming marketing tools

Brands are always looking for that new, inspiring way to connect with people; whether it be that amazing advert, viral video or clever copy.

Now brands are utilising the power of annual reports.
At the 2012 Cannes International Festival of Creativity, the judges were put into a child-like frenzy when they were given what appeared to be a plain, white book. But when they took the book outside into the sunlight, it became the annual report for solar energy company Austria Solar. It had been printed on specially treated paper that reacted when exposed to the sun and it's rays.

The Report earned accolades across the awards circuit, and it still does today recently named as a contender for The Design Museum's Design of the Year.

It is not the first time that an annual report has been creatively produced; Croatian agency Bruketa & Zinic has built a reputation on brilliant annual reports for it's longtime clients Adris Group and Podravka. For Adris Group they created an annual report that glows in the dark, another that weighed a lot more than it looked, and most recently one whose pages changed colour and revealed more details when touched. For Podravka, who are the largest food brand in Southeast Europe, they created a report that could not be read until it had been baked in an oven.

Brands and agencies have started to see reports as a new way to generate visibility and interest. By creating these innovative reports they raise brand awareness and can have a positive impact upon their investors, delivering a message of innovation and forward thinking. The trend is towards changing the way that annual reports are delivered and with many appearing online interactive elements are being included such as video, links and rollover text. However, it is still only the brave that break the mould and push the boundaries where finances and investment is involved.

Talk to street furniture in Bristol

The winning project of the first Playable City Awards will allow residents of Bristol to text lamp posts, post boxes and other street furniture.

"Hello Lamp Post" is an interactive art project, that allows users to text a number with the message hello, the objects name and the identifier code used on all street furniture. In turn they will receive a reply from this item, leading to either a conversation or possibly a game.

The project was conceived by London-based Pan Studios and locals will be able to start conversing with bus stops and more from June this year.

You can download the full proposal here.

Drama returns; this time to Dutch Town

TNT is at it again following the launch of their TV series and movie channel in Belgium, which we featured in April of last year. TNT is launching in Netherlands this time, so once again agency Duval Guillaume has placed a red button in a quiet market street, encouraging people to press it to 'add drama'.

Once the button is pressed, they are confronted with a choice of colours, kidnapped  and then dumped into the middle of a riot with a guest appearance by Elvis.

Definitely one to watch to beat those Monday blues.