Blog Commentary: Week 10

Seth Godin: Making commercials for the web

Very helpful outline.  Useful in marketing yourself as a company but could also be useful in marketing yourself as a designer or artist.  Getting the most of popular mediums and outlets in an efficient manner is not only an essential part of being in the new media industry but also one of the most excited parts, as well.

Core77: iF Mode Folding Bicycle

"MODE" foldable bicycle.  Designed by Taiwan-based company Pacific Cycles, Inc. (Ryan Carroll, Mark Sanders, Michael Lin). Made for commuters and those sick of the hassle of traditional bikes.  Very innovative and sleek.  Could be a very useful feature to come standard in future bikes, perhaps.

Nussbaum: How Do You Innovate In A Recession? Look to the iPhone, Flip, Kindle and ZipCar for Answers

Answer: the iPhone, Flip, Kindle etc. offer a new platform of usability and flexibility.  Today, to attract attention is to be expandable.  Users can give their own input to a certain product, which allows for it to become extremely popular.  This concept very well applies to the Google Android phones, as well.

Core77: DVD 500GB, OMG

A standard DVD has been boosted in its capacity to 500GB by GE (General Electric).  However I wonder if this upgrade is too little too late.  As Core77 mentions, more and more devices are becoming connected to "the cloud", which ultimately proves more convenient than physical disc media formats.  For those that will still be purchasing these formats in the future, this could certainly prove to be very promising.  But again, discs scratch, get lost, etc.  Therefore still a slightly bigger hassle than dealing with downloadable content.  Great breakthrough, but still might not be enough to save the DVD format altogether.

Ian Wheeler

Guest speaker, President of The Knitting Factory Label Group and co-owner of Partisan Records. Spent a lot of time emphasizing the importance of networking. Make friends and contacts with every person that you meet, you never know who can be of use to you down the line. In relation, Wheeler advises that one "learn to how bullshit", meaning show interest in whatever a person has to say, no matter how inane or ridiculously useless the subject may be.

Went through a very complicated negotiation deal in order to run the Brooklyn-based music label for the Knitting Factory as well as Indie Outlaw and Partisan Records. Has a fairly extensive background in business, which came to use when handling such dealings.

Notable acts on his roster are Girl Talk and Deer Tick. Showed the various interesting forms of promotion and marketing with Deer Tick, which included a custom-color and designed 12" vinyl record for one of the band's singles. Also showed their album cover, which was just the band members on a beach with a bikini-clad woman with an AK47. Admitted the cover itself had no deep meaning or significance other than being a great attention-grabber. I certainly would agree. States he attaches a sticker or card of some sort from his record label in anything he mails out, including tax returns. A very liberal, machine-gun approach to promotion.

Wheeler is also very in-tune with the emergence of the online music industry. Very aware of the imminent demise of CDs. What's more, he notes that digital booklets that come with purchased music from internet need improvement. He hasn't found a solution to this issue yet, and invited us as the student-audience to contact him if we do. I personally will keep that in mind.

"I don't hire anyone who hasn't interned for me before."

Internships were also an important subject. Wheeler described his own experiences as an intern for a record label, doing tons of pack-mule work but at the same time meeting a lot of people and musicians, as well as attending a lot of exclusive parties. Now, as an owner of three different music groups, he makes it a point to have all of his potential employees go through the same "hazing" that he did when he got his foot in the door, so to speak.

By the tail-end of his session, Wheeler advised that, regardless of what career you find yourself in, always make an effort to learn from your mistakes. You will make many of them. Don't let these keep you away from pushing on with your career and your work. Words to live by. Literally.

Blog Commentary: Week 9

Core77: This Just In-box: new Puma VS new Nike VS new Adidas

Great retail setups. Would be sure to bring in extra sales if every store had such strong presentations such as these.

Coree77: Updated helmet design pays attention to the way they're actually used
"Capacete E8 Helmet" designed by Brazilian firm Questto Design. Ergonomic and more practicality applied to motorcycle helmets? Nice. I don't ride bikes myself (motor or even pedal at this point), but I'm all for products designed with the consumer in mind.

Seth Godin: Sixty to zero
Seth's coverage on this topical is simply about the classic takeover of one technology over another. The cotton gin took over hand-woven tapestry. The printing press took over handwritten scripture. Those who sought to preserve the older, inferior technology failed. The internet is taking over printed work. Technology continues to advance, and it's imperative for new media artists and designers to keep up. Sink or swim.

Seth Godin: How to opt out of cookie sniffing and trading
Very helpful link provided by Seth. Also used to comment on the "sneaking around" of online marketers. Secret cookies being placed on end-user's computers is certainly to be considered invasion of privacy and needs to be regulated, if not outlawed completely.

Terrordome

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Terrordome

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Blog Commentary: Week 8

Fresh Bump: 25 Innovative Re-Purposed Home Fittings Designs

Very creative and most likely even practical. Taking familiar classic material and creating something new out of it is always an appealing concept for many.

Seth Godin: Snarky vs. earnest
Earnest and honesty wins. We see this in critique and criticism of designers' work. Snarky dismissal (often by inane critics and onlookers) does nothing in comparison to constructive honest criticism from your fellow peers.