December 2008
19 posts
“In October 2000, Jerry Useem of Fortune called prominent players and asked what...”
– Book Review - ‘Panic - The Story of Modern Financial Insanity,’ Edited by Michael Lewis - Review - NYTimes.com
A little perspective, for those of us thinking that the recession might lead to permanent life style changes.
Justwatchthesky →
I love this site (which typographically interprets song lyrics) because it suggests another possibility for the web: a canvas, not a bulletin board. It also manages to capture some of the boldness and focus of really good print advertising and posters, while at the same time updating semi-regularly and linking to other content as only the web can.
Uncharitable Remarks on Sponsorship
Last week, I posted and then, on second thought, deleted a link to a charitable service that some local professionals were offering to people who have recently lost their jobs. I deleted it because the first thing the link exclaimed was the sponsor’s name and the first thing you saw when you went to the site was the sponsor’s name.
Why did I delete a valuable charitable link? Because...
Timely Messages: Harvest's Clock Project
The people who make the exemplary Harvest online timesheet have deepened their brand with this appropriate, surprising, and satisfying bit of branded content. The thing is, it doesn’t feel like “branded content.” It just feels cool. See photo above, one of many sourced for this project.
Help. Less: Customer Service, Group Sourcing, And...
The internet promised to make companies more responsive. But, in my experience, it has made many companies less responsive. Consider the “help” function on tech sites such as feedburner. It is almost impossible to simply send a question to someone from the company to be answered. First, they gauntlet—yes, I’m coining a verb–you with demands that you search through their knowledge base and consult...
“traditional advertising doesn’t work well in social networks, ‘carpet bombing’...”
– Understanding HP Lab’s Twitter Research
Getting More Mileage Out of Design
Tom Vanderbilt’s fascinating and practical essay in the Nov-Dec issue of i.d. talks about the how good design can be far more than brand-appropriate decoration: it can shape behavior by framing, sequencing, suggesting, and informing. What if speedometers didn’t show illegal and unobtainable speeds? What if healthy choices were placed first in menus? What if your dashboard gave you real time cost...
