I spotted this over on Neil Perkin's blog Only Dead Fish. It got a lot of Twitter love last Friday but just in case you missed it, and because I think it's pretty special, here it is for you.
This is the updated 119 slide version of the Google Creative Labs presentation all about recent creative ideas and web campaigns covering everything from advertising to art, and politics to literature. This was put together by Tom Uglow and while it is viewable right here, just as Neil suggested, you should have a look at it on Google Docs for the full effect. This is simply brilliant.
I absolutely love this video. Not only is the whole style compelling and engaging, but it's simple. There's no difficulty understanding the concept that Steven Johnson is discussing. And it's a concept that I firmly believe in. I've always considered myself an ideas person - I'm good at thinking on my feet and I don't have difficulty with creative solutions. The thing is, I'm also a firm believer in team work and the power of the group, and it's this part of Steven Johnson's video that grabbed me. I suddenly realised just how many times I've had an idea that has sat simmering in the back of my mind until I've shared it with someone and they've added to it to take it that next step. I also then realised that this has almost always been in private discussions with friends over a drink or some food.
What if there was a place such as the 'Age of Enlightenment's Coffee Houses' or the 'Parisian Salons of Modernism' that people could go to specifically to share ideas with a group and get some input and feedback and possible collaboration? Not just a physical place as such but an actual regular 'event'. As far as I am aware nothing like this exists in Dublin, certainly not within the fields I am interested. I'm not even sure how to describe what this would be similar to, perhaps a think tank of sorts?? All I know is that I think I've found myself a new project. Stay tuned :)
In case you can't pick them all out, here's the list: The Black Eyed Peas - Boom Boom Pow Lady Gaga - Poker Face Lady Gaga Featuring Colby O'Donis - Just Dance The Black Eyed Peas - I Gotta Feeling Taylor Swift - Lover Story Flo Rida - Right Round Jason Mraz - I'm Your's Beyonce - Single Ladies (Put a Ring on it) Kanye West - Heartless The All-American Rejects - Gives You Hell Taylor Swift - You Belong With Me T.I. Featuring Justin Timberlake - Dead And Gone The Fray - You Found Me Kings Of Leon - Use Somebody Keri Hilson Featuring Kanye West & Ne-Yo - Knock You Down Jamie Foxx Featuring T-Pain - Blame It Pitbull - I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho) T.I. Featuring Rihanna - Live Your Life Soulja Boy Tell 'em Featuring Sammie - Kiss Me Thru The Phone Jay Sean Featuring Lil Wayne - Down Miley Cyrus - The Climb Drake - Best I Ever Had Kelly Clarkson - My Life Would Suck Without You Beyonce - Halo Katy Perry - Hot 'n' Cold
This is just about one of the best YouTube videos that you will ever see!
Ricardo Autobahn has spliced together a whole heap of movies from every genre and decade of the last 60 years to create an original song. The beat, the rhymes, the rhythm; all of it perfectly pulled together. This is just brilliant. What makes it even more fun is if you can spot all the movies, and name them.
Back in August I wrote about the new Budweiser Lyrics TV ad and the competition running with it. I'm a Beatles fan and I loved the use of an otherwise somewhat unknown Beatles track in an extremely fun and memorable way. In short I really liked the campaign execution and thought that the creative perfectly matched the intended reaction.
When it comes down to it though, for any brand that produces a new ad or runs a new campaign, the real sign of success comes from the engagement that it generates. All in all this campaign was a huge success and I have seen the ad referenced in numerous places, by many people. Then you stumble upon something that really highlights the engagement that the ad has generated. This is a video created by ijbellehy1981 as a spoof / tribute to the original ad:
I found the following presentation over on If Only We'd Thought of That and I had to share it. It's a collection of cool things, put together by Google Creative Lab, that are just extremely inspiring and creative. Basically it's fairly comprehensive list of the most recent mashups, location-based games, video annotation, augmented reality, digital light displays, photomosaics and collaborative projects.
You probably already saw Sam's Michael Jackson medley/remix which has been doing the internet rounds during the last couple of weeks, but it's worth checking out his other stuff. There's quite a few videos that I've come across on YouTube and they're all pretty good.
A number of years back, Faris Yakob, then the Digital Ninja at Naked Communications (now he is EVP Chief Technology Strategist at McCann Erickson New York), presented at the Account Planning Group Battle of Big Thinking in London. Faris put forward the idea of Transmedia Planning. Transmedia Planning draws heavily from Henry Jenkins' book Convergence Culture. In it Jenkins discusses the how culture has drastically changed with the advent of technology, in paricular communications technology and the internet.
These may be the most clued in, important pieces of thinking I've come across in relation to utilisation, development and understanding of the modern digital world. Start thinking Creative Commons licensing, digitalmash-ups, user-generated content, and just about every other online/digital phenomenon that has grown out of the last decade. Think about how your consumption of media, and your ability and desire to create it, has changed even in your own lifetime. As primitive people stories are told around campfires, passed from person to person with no sense of ownership or acquisition. But with the advent of one-way mass communications such as tv, cinema and radio, these stories became the property of large corporations and publishers. The internet, and the technology that powers it and innovates it, has changed all that. Now anyone can share their story, or any story for that matter. Don't get me wrong, I fully understand that copyrights still exist but consider how even these are starting to slowly change. Consider how people like Trent Reznor or bands like Radiohead are starting to distribute their music. Consider the latest Championship Manager 2010 game, which asks you to pay whatever you feel is appropriate. This is part of convergence culture.
In the following video Jenkins gives his thoughts on convergence culture:
Vodafone UK have launched a great Twitter and Google Maps mashup that lets users tweet where they’re going on holiday and have it automatically appear on their microsite map. The site also gives a trend analysis of what users are talking about in relation to their holidays.
Users just have to drop the '#ukhols' hashtag, their age, the first half of their postcode and where they're going into a tweet. All of this comes from the same guy that developed the #uksnow hashtag system that allowed users to tweet their post code and amount of snow, to create a truely accurate snowfall map, Ben Marsh.
The whole campaign is designed to promote Vodafone's drop in roaming charges this summer.
Another fantastic find from Stephen. This is ThruYou, a collection of YouTube video's mashed and remixed by Kutiman. A lot of time has been spent on this and it certainly shows. Really nice work!
This is just the first video, so make sure to check out the site for the full playlist and all the credits.
Described as an 'Inspirational Blend. Amber Waves of Buttery Ice Cream with Roasted Non-Partisan Pecans', 'Yes, Pecan!' is the newest ice-cream flavour from the two guys in Vermont, in obvious celebration of Obama's acceptance catchphrase 'Yes, we can'.
In a interesting addition to the story, during the month of January, for every serving of 'Yes, Pecan!' that is bought Ben and Jerry’s is donating the proceeds to the Common Cause Education Fund. The fund is a nonprofit organisation founded for members of the public to make their voices heard in the political process. The main drives are honest, open and accountable government, as well as encouraging participation in democracy. They also actively fund research, education, and outreach activities.
Check out this fantastic piece of electronica made by a 19-year-old Australian, Nick Bertke. It takes sound and video from Disney's Alice in Wonderland and creates an eerie and somewhat hypnotic work, which seems to lull you into a state of semi-consciousness filled with Cheshire cats and dancing flowers.
Sorry folks, I'm sure you'd like to think it was real, but it turns out that someone out there really does have the time, skills and willingness to create a fake Thunder Cats movie trailer. Could this be the inspiration that Hollywood needs to take the constant rumours to the next level?
The Simpsons certainly has it's moments, and I'm a big fan of Mad Men. So logic would dictate that the two brought together.... well what do you think?
You have to appreciate the time and thought that goes into creating a really good mash-up. The right video, the roght music, the right editing - it doesn't 'just happen'. Hats off to all of you who have taken the time to share something amazing with the rest of us. Here are two fantastic mash-ups I only just discovered.
The first is the new BBC2 ad - brilliant stuff!
The second is Elvis and his impossible line-up - almost better!
I was talking to a friend yesterday about a post I wrote on Cybercom about Memes. I used the term Mash-up, which they had never heard before. I wondered what the best way to explain it was, and I did a little Googling.
The best definition of a Mash-up which I found was from Mitch Joel on Six Pixels of Separation, who defines a Mash-up as "Two individually awesome things that make up one even more amazingly awesome thing". I couldn't have put it better myself.
Digitology is primarily a dissection of digital culture. Here you'll find everything from the latest digital marketing news to information on new and innovative digital products. Although based in Dublin, the blog draws on the entire cyber collective, with insights into both domestic and international developments. However, you may also find posts on some of the other things I love in life like food, art, events etc.
Please note that all opinions, views, ideas, and congratulations and criticisms, expressed in this blog, are my own and no one elses. They do not in any way reflect the opinions or views of my employer. If you have any issue with what I say or write, please feel free to contact me personally (christianhughes [at] gmail.com) and I will be more then happy to discuss the merit of those comments.
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