I see them all the time. You see them too. Celebrities, politicians, athletes and everyday people. Everyone has their Doppelgänger. I decided to share this with everyone. I will only post people in the public eye or who give me the OK to do so. The weird thing is that I haven’t found mine. Please send it to me if you see one.
Here is the first installment of.
Posted: April 15th, 2010 under Personal, look-a-likes, observation.
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I read a lot of articles and blogs about social media and where it’s been, where it is, and where it’s going. Most of the newsletters I subscribe to are written by marketing and advertising professionals, so naturally they are all talking about how it’s going to be monetized and analyzed. But, what I’m not reading is where they think the next innovation will be on the users end. Facebook has permeated our everyday lives much like email did in the late 90’s. And more and more social sites are interacting with each other and becoming a part of the websites we interact with everyday.
I see the next evolution of Online Social Interaction (OSI) as a layer on top of what we now call web2.0. The first clues to this happening are already visible with Facebook Connect and Google Friend Connect. Each has its benefits. Facebook has a firm grasp on our everyday OSI. Users can easily login, share content, and engage with your website. Google Friend Connect, in my opinion, takes it a step further with the addition of a social bar and more gadgets than Facebook offers. Google states that 9 million sites currently use it, that there are 500 million users, and there are 2 new users every second. But my sense is that it is not as well adopted as Facebook however, this where I see the future of OSI heading.
With more and more people signing up and interacting with social media everyday there will be a need to streamline this interaction. I see an ever-present layer over the top of our browsing experience. Much like what Google is trying to accomplish. But why end there. Can it be part of our operating system? Can Facebook introduce a browser? Who knows, but I hope it’s easy. Maybe Apple will tackle this challenge and incorporate it into their OS, iPhone, and iPad.
Posted: February 10th, 2010 under socialmedia.
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I know I’m always looking for this graphic. Not sure if anyone else goes through this. So I decided to finally create one and share it with the world. Use it. Share it.
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Posted: December 30th, 2009 under Design, Graphics.
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This is my latest and greatest creation. I know its cliché and elementary, but it’s a good excuse to get out with the kids and get some fresh, cool air. This is an example of the classic snowman. The traditional three ball system neatly piled upon each other. We ditched the scarf and made hair out of some dried up plants from the landscaping. Arms are made of day lily stems that were still hanging around. He has a carrot nose and two eyes made of Kingsford charcoal.
Ho-hum. It was a moment in time. Frosty is all melted now, so he will come again some day. If we get more snow, that is.
Happy New Year.
Posted: December 27th, 2009 under Uncategorized.
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My recent interest was started by my latest initiative to bring info graphics to my workplace. We have complex processes and data flows, which would benefit greatly from a visual that supports a verbal explaination.
Here are some great info graphics examples.
Balance Life With the Media Diet Pyramid
Posted: August 19th, 2009 under Uncategorized.
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A passion of mine is art… no kidding you say. Anyone making a living in a creative profession knows that there is more to art than most people realize. Creativity plays a huge role in our everyday lives. It’s impossible for anyone to function in today’s world without the help from artists. Try it, you can’t. It’s a fact. After getting out of the bed that was designed and made by creative people, try not to use a toothbrush that was designed by an industrial designer. Don’t wear the clothes that cover your body that was design and made by artists. Don’t watch your TV, your TV shows, or listen to music… Do I need to go on? What’s the difference between that hot Mercedes and a K-Car? You have three guesses and the first two don’t count.
Posted: February 19th, 2009 under Uncategorized.
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Well, I actually completed it early last year, but thought it would be worth posting the results. I put a lot of thought into it. I drew sketches, planned color combinations, where the sun fell, how the rocks would look, flow, utility, etc. A lot of thought. But I had a deadline. I gave myself 9 months to complete it. Well, actually the home builder gave us a coupon to do landscaping and they gave us 9 months to redeem it, but I like deadlines.
Our house is a pretty plain, colonial style house. A perfect blank canvas.
Posted: February 15th, 2009 under Branding, Uncategorized.
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Here is a recording of my recent drawing of Pittsburgh Steeler, James Harrison. The drawing took 3 hours, but the video is sped up so that it only takes 2 minutes. Enjoy!
Pittsburgh Steelers Superbowl 43 (XLIII) is Sunday, February 1. Kick-off is at 6:00 PM ET. Go Steelers!
Posted: January 17th, 2009 under Fine Art, Personal.
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Just in time for the Steelers playoff run, I’m starting a series of illustrations featuring members of the team. The first one is team and the leagues defensive MVP James Harrison. Here we go Steelers!
Posted: January 12th, 2009 under Uncategorized.
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A friend of mine asked me how his business could quickly get noticed, and get new leads. He owns a small home improvement business. Most of his work is generated through word of mouth, which is the best kind of advertising. With the economy the way it is some of the business is drying up. I thought about how I and others like me who own homes look for contractors. The old way is the phone book. Which he is aware of, but I took for granted my knowledge of the internet and mentioned SEO and social media to him. Being a person who works with his hands, he’s not as sophisticated with web 2.0. He wasn’t aware of the behavioral shift to online searching. People look for and research most everything they are going to spend a decent amount of money on these days. And the audience he is looking for, those in a higher income bracket, will be spending more money with him. That same audience is more likely to be web savvy and searching for goods and services on line, including home improvement. I search for everything from firewood to top soil online and am always disappointed in what I find. There is a big opportunity in the home improvement local search area. He’s interest was peaked. Especially when I told him there would be no fees like he would see if he got a listing in the Yellow Pages. He’s looking for a total re-branding and website design. We’re working out a trade agreement, so it’s FREE for him. I told him the thing that will get him business isn’t the design, but the strategy, and search will be driving that. He said "Searchifyme!"
I’ll post the results of this project within the next year. Should be interesting.
Here is another article about small business and video. Social media.
Posted: November 7th, 2008 under Branding, Design, SEM.
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