Using “Adobe Illustrator and a lot of Math” Johathan Gosier of Uganda designed an infographic focusing on “infrastructure improvement and capacity building in Africa, particularly in the area of the internet and cost.” According to The New York Times Freakonomics, “The completion of three major marine cable projects this year is expected to decrease international bandwidth costs by 90 percent and support further Internet penetration.”

UNCG’s History and Interior Architecture departments ask:
“How do we make history matter to our communities? How do we preserve a living legacy for future generations? How do we work with contemporary communities to help them tell their stories and make meaningful decisions about the future of their towns and cities?”

Their proposal: Offer a unique set of graduate concentrations in Museum Studies and Historic Preservation which integrates core disciplines, classroom-based theoretical learning and hands-on experiences outside the classroom.

Their new website had to engage visitors to see how their graduate program looks like in action through stories told by real students in print, photos, illustrations, and audio stories. Listen to a few and it’s made clear that this program is special in numerous ways.

Experience uncg.edu/hpms to see and learn more.

Animation and advertising agency Psyop caught our attention a few years ago with their incredible “Crow” promotion for MTV HD. One of those clips that could be viewed numerous times, spotting some new details each time in what felt like a dream sequence. So it was no surprise when they has again captured this dream sequence feel with their UPS spot titled “Storm.” Visuals are well paced, finely rendered – the sea alone is fluidly demand repeat views – and cardboard has a bit more action attached to it now as well. What Can Brown Do For You? Apparently in Pysop’s able, creative hands, plenty.  Just the idea of a cardboard reality is creative, fun, and on target with UPS’s brand, bravo Pysop.

You can also check out its campaign siblings “Gladiator” and “West”, as well as an interview with the creators.

For every kid who grew up looking for shapes in clouds and everything else, this American Express “Take Charge” commercial spot resonates well. Faces in particular have always had special recognition. This clever spot makes its point in feel good fashion.

synerG is an active organization of young adults who lead initiatives with the mission to attract, engage and connect young professionals to Greensboro, North Carolina. There is social and professional networking as well as leadership opportunities. It was a pleasure to work with Action Greensboro and get to know many of synerG’s volunteer leaders and participants. We filmed at numerous events to capture stories and glimpses of the energy that keeps it getting broader and more exciting. For their YP Sports program, one expects basketball, softball and the like, but who knew adults also play organized kickball and dodgeball? We even learned that two people who met on the dodge ball court actually ended up getting married!

Our efforts eventually formed into two projects: A redesigned website and an eWelcome Flash microsite that features videos of each of synerG’s initiatives and five facets of Greensboro Living. Additional footage found it’s way into the website in the form of a “Downtown Living” segment, and a few YP video profiles.

Learn more: First get immersed in the synerG eWelcome, and then visit their website to learn more. See for yourself – check out their events and attend synerG events that fit you.

We love type. So when we came across Typedia, a resource and community dedicated to typefaces, it was an easy sell. Although relatively new, there is a wealth of information. Entries contain images of the full alphabet in that face and in multiple weights. Entry credits contain rich content including the Designer(s), Foundries, and other meta-data. This makes it easy to find other similar typefaces, or to learn more about its origins.

Typedia’s community features are nice value adds. Becoming a member is easy and offers the ability to add new fonts. Adding a new font only requires knowing the name it encourages people to contribute freely and entices type connoisseurs to help complete entries. Other community features include a blog and a forum. The Learn section is great for students and experienced designers as well.

One of the contributors, Jason Santa Maria, wrote an article about working on Typedia which tells the site’s story. Keep up Typedia by following them on Twitter.

My son’s Digital Photography class at the All Arts, Science & Technology Camp at NC State recently did a project that inspired them to expand their awareness of design in the world around them. Their objective: To find objects that resemble the letters of the alphabet. Maybe a future intern or hire among this batch of campers?

“When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” So started Frank Stasio’s radio intro for the 6/23/09 The State of Things show on Positivity. Featuring Barbara Fredrickson who is principal investigator of the Positive Emotions and Psychophysiology Lab at UNC-Chapel Hill, her “research examines how cultivating emotions such as joy, gratitude and awe can improve relationships and make us better people.” Positivity = Complex mind and body experiences within micro-moments. Some may say that the concept of positive thinking yielding happier people is common sense or belief, but the scientific research and conclusions help further form some context to work with and advice on how to apply it more consistently. According to Fredrickson, “Be Open” > “Be Positive”.

Vince Offer has become a household reference as “The ShamWow! Guy” but this reworking of the Slap Chop infomercial into “Rap Chop” is a work of art – it may have to be watched multiple times to appreciate the level of remixing dedication – silly fun. The breakdancing sequences featuring the Breakin’ movies bring back memories of when hip hop was spreading its cultural ground. It’s funny to see that Jean-Claude Van Damme appeared in that movie as a background extra. So how many breakdance moves are there? They range from the lighthearted to incredible displays of athleticism. I recall we kids goofing around the gym floor in the 80s, but nothing like these relatively more recent competitions: Chicago 2005 Breakdance Competition, 2006 Red Bull Competition to highlight a few.

This YouTube clip that shows Vendor/Client relationships in real world situations is cheaper than therapy. Having been in the business for many years, it immediately brings back a number of people who’ve tried the same line and when one jumps on that train, nothing goes quite as it should. Every time I’ve hired a plumber*, mechanic or visit a doctor, it bewilders the mind because these professionals put their price out there, take it or leave it. So we realize there is a longtime behavior and culture in our varied professional services/businesses where this video is pulling from. Not every Client is like this of course, but enough to make one laugh and cry simultaneously. Although direct and unapologetic in tone, it reminded me of an old evolt.org posting where they tried to “inject some reality into the fantasy.” Like anything, these are just growing pains one has to go through in getting better in business and life.

* And although we’re somewhat generalizing, we realize that most professionals struggle with customers/pricing in their own ways, as found within this Seattle Plumbing Company’s article.

Twittering has it’s proponents and detractors, but it’s hard to ignore it one way or the other. Celebrities grow followings (Ashton beats CNN) while on the more serious side, it was reported that during the 2008 Mumbai attacks, eyewitnesses sent an estimated 80 tweets every five seconds as the tragedy unfolded (Wikipedia). But if we keep it to how it’s most commonly used, this micro-blogging service relays folks’ every day living and thoughts in 140 characters max. All that said, CollegeHumor takes Twittering to the streets of New York City showing us “WHAT IF we walked around twittering in daily life OUT LOUD! A fun stroll to hover around.

With an extensive photography career still going strong, NC-based James Bridges’ portfolio glows and inspires. Motion pictures, directors, actors, portraits, forms, furniture, he can shoot about anything and sometimes, on anything to get the winning shot! Having to showcase hundreds of photos, we worked to create a website that is modular, flexible, and allows his art to be the star. A visitor can navigate linearly via “back/next” buttons or non-linearly via bottom-anchored thumbnail navigation. Images scale to fit the monitor/resolution size which allows for some large photo renderings. It was a fun Flash challenge.

Viewing scenes of this show over the years, it’s always had something to lighten the mood or shock the retina. However watching Current TV’s Conor Knighton cover Univision’s tela novelas and Sabado Gigante in a rapid four minutes produced plenty of memories that’ll linger for weeks!

“Now from the soil and climate of the Yadkin valley comes a selection of wines that could be easily confused with the wine from the Rhone River Valley in France. Surprising? Not when you compare the Yadkin Valley with the south of France and Michael and Amy Helton’s love for Old World wines.”
So one day a client visiting our downtown Greensboro studio comes across an empty bottle of Michael’s Blend and comments how Hanover Park is great and a favorite – talk about brand support. The wine is great, the people warm and knowledgeable, and the farmhouse a peaceful departure from the every day. We enjoyed redesigning their website (learn more and plan a trip).

Yes, there are others that feel our browser pain and the official saveIE6 site is quicker and cheaper than therapy. According to W3, IE6 is still fighting to stay relevant at 17% as of March 2009. While the deep and expansive Google April 1 hoaxes bring smiles, saveIE6 is the gag that keeps on giving.

We came across this collection of logos of every day brands feeling the now-a-day recession pains, it’s been circulating around numerous sites and worth a look. Makes us glad our logo can still stand on one hand.

West Point’s Center For Oral History says that “Every Soldier Has A Story…” and is working to document experiences of soldiers from World War II forward through film and publishing projects. After watching Ken Burns’ The War last year, hearing of how few World War One vets are left, and the rate that World War Two vets are passing away, documenting these stories moving forward will surely offer exponential learning opportunities for all types of interests and curriculums.

Yep, Minority Report technology, here we come! Between CNN’s iPhone like magic wall and this interactive mirror from Lit Studios’ Alpay Kasal, it’s just a matter of time before we implement iris scans for security purposes?

The New York Times consistently reminds us that information and data design can be beautiful and engaging. I imagine Edward Tufte is proud to some degree. Recently, we’ve found ourselves playing with their interactive electoral map. See the states geographically or proportionally by electoral votes. Click on “Your map” and click on states to change the winner and watch as the candidates’ electoral votes move between camps. Ah, and to push it further, data below is a crash course in recent political history.

Newport Beach, CA based Juxt Interactive site for BMW is a fun and memorable experience. The Relearn To Drive website brings back memories of parallel parking in vacant parking lots, pulling into and out of every convenience store within reason, over and over and over again.

The first-person camera angle reminds me of other memorable online experiences, a familiar one that comes to mind is Brawny’s Innocent Escape campaign from 2005 (“Your Hair, It’s Perfect” still rings in my ear occasionally) . In my pre-MadMonk days, we worked some online collaborative initiatives with Georgia Pacific while their ad agency (Fallon New York) created a series of memorable video shorts with a central character talking to the camera. Paper towels went online viral.

But back to BMW and its commercial, goal: To inspire us to “Undo the damage” by participating in a BMW Performance Driving School.