Tired of being skint and paying through the nose for dinner, our dear friends stateside have turned to underground ‘supper clubs’. The concept involves inviting people into your home where the host cooks and guests pay for the experience. You get to eat with people you’d probably never had met, nose about in someone’s private abode and the whole experience feels rather.. well.. ‘social’. Increasingly supper clubs are popping up across London and at Jam we’re keen to get involved.
The internet is a magical place. Everyone with access to their local public library is able to create their own space and furnish it with whatever takes their fancy.
Two particular things that seem to take a lot of people’s fancy is cats and style-blogs-featuring-photos-of-real-people-on-the-street-looking-like-they-should-be-in-a-magazine, namely The Sartorialist and it’s many homages.
Some crafty individual has taken the conch and decided that surely the best way to fame and fortune is to combine the two, the result is The Catorialist. Taking it’s design cues (as so many do) from the pared down standard ‘I don’t care much for CSS’ blogger template, the catorialst does for cats what the Sartorialist does for fashion – namely featuring beautiful images with minimal description, and encouraging debate and discussion.
Being Friday and the end of a somewhat busy week I was delighted to come across this video. I feel that such machines should exist in every work place.
Coca Cola invites college students in the U.S to experience the happiness factory via “the happiness machine”. When visiting their vending machine they get a little more than expected.
So far it has racked up 1,223,441 views on YouTube. The only distribution sources for the video were a tweet from the Coke Twitter account and their Facebook fan page. Interactive YouTube feature have been used to great effect as the video finishes with a call to action “Share the Happiness” alongside the question “Where will the happiness strike next?”.
Our neighbours and friends Fallon have together with B-Reel produced a game for the Kerry Foods Cheestrings website, supporting their new range of TV advertisements. The protagonist is Mr Strings, who is on a quest around the world to re-establish cheese as a great source of calcium. The adverts are targeted to tweens aged 8-14, and are supposed to educate them in the importance of calcium.
The website is filled with interactive bits and pieces (like designing your own vehicle and character), perfect to catch and hold the attention of any 8 year-old. As you play you can share your progress over your Social Networks.
As always when B-Reel is behind the production it looks great, and I have to admit that even though I am quite far outside the target demographic I got a little hooked.
Who would’ve though that landing a job as a social media planner in Jam would entail interviewing popstars for the internet.
Late last year I found myself in the hot seat attempting to conduct an interview with none other than Har Mar Superstar (that’s me on the right BTW).
Another Jammer Huw was manning the camera – trying admirably to keep us in frame whilst sipping on a complementary beer.
It’s surprisingly hard to concentrate on a conversation when the only image you have in your mind is a tubby balding man in his underwear. Even harder to concentrate when he touches your inner thigh.
For the uninitiated, this is what he usually looks like:
Blurring the lines between object ‘functionability’ and purpose.
Convergence is best understood as different platforms and devices coming together as one, and a blurring of the distinction between them.
With more than 2,500 technology companies introducing more than 20,000 new products at the beginning of 2010 at the International CES including 3D TV, mobile DTV, connected TV, green technologies, tablets and apps, it seems that we are getting evermore closer to the fantastical ideals foresaw by the optimistic sci-fi writers of the ‘60s where one item can complete a thousand tasks.
This year, for the first time, 90 per cent or so of the HD TVs being displayed at CES have internet connections. So what does that mean? We have seen scores of TVs that pull in content from social media services like Twitter while displaying linear, live television. So when you’re watching Question Time or the X Factor, you will be able to see live, in real-time, what others are making of the programme. You will no longer need to check your laptop or phone for the update.
Now convergence between various technological devices probably seems like nothing new, and just part of our ever increasing momentum in hi tech advancement.
However, technology within art is on the uptake and becoming more and more advanced.
Decode: Digital Design Sensations at the V&A is a joint collaboration between the V & A & onedotzero which showcases the latest developments in digital and interactive design, from small, screen-based, graphics to large-scale interactive installation and looks at how advanced technologies and the internet have enabled new types of social interaction and mediums of self-expression.
Kinetica Art Fairis produced by Kinetica Museum and is the first of its kind in the UK. It provides collectors, curators and the public with a unique opportunity to view and purchase artworks from leading contemporary arts organisations and artists specialising in kinetic, electronic, robotic, light, sound, time-based and interdisciplinary new media art.
Having studied Time based media a good 6 years ago and struggling ever since to explain my course subject, it is with great excitement that 2010 looks to be the year of amazing digital and artistic development and I for one am excited about where this will take us, blurring the lines between the digital business world and the art world and opening new doors for the people in both camps.
With the eagerly awaited Google phone (Nexus one) now officially in the wild, I sit here wondering what could have been and saddened that we are not seeing the new dawn of mobiles but simply another very good handset.
Google, I am guessing , didn’t want to have to do a deal with an operator for this. Just as we saw with the Sat nav market, get involved, get what they want then launch their own product to usurp the competition. The campaign for Google taking over the mobile world started a few years ago.
It was the quest to get free wifi across the US and other major cities. Free wifi means no need for operators. Google voice and the recently acquired Gizmo5 would allow Google to host the whole conversation without needing to rely on the network operator and really threaten the system.
We saw a brief example of what it could be like when Google was able to sponsor free wifi at the majority of US airports over the festive season. As it is, wifi coverage isn’t yet good enough and the affectionately termed ‘dumb pipes’ (the operators) will continue to be involved for the time being as a point of necessity rather than anything else.
Oli Newton is the head of emerging platforms at i-level
Didn’t get a Nintendo Wii for Xmas? Fear not Adidas can help…
Adidas have cleverly crafted a 3-D virtual world that can be accessed and played using a new range of men’s sneakers. How does this work? I hear you say…Well all users have to do is go to the Adidas site and with their sneakers tongue. The tongue contains a code embedded in it. Holding this in front of their computer webcam will open up a virtual world in front of them. Using the trainer they can navigate around just like a computer controller.
Chris Barbour, head of digital marketing for Adidas Originals states “The foundation of augmented reality lies in adding a layer to the real world,” he goes onto say “That’s what we have done. We have taken a real world item and added a fantastic virtual world on top of that”
Adidas’ new augmented reality shoes won’t be out it purchase until February 2010. With this idea in mind I will be interested to see what Nike’s plans are for the coming year with their footwear range and ever changing technology. I will be sure to post it here when I see anything.
Since the beginning of December Google have been doing a huge promotional push surrounding their browser Google Chrome. The campaign leads with the message that Chrome is a faster browser and is utilising various channels such as press, digital and traditional outdoor as well as online across 12 European countries.
The push comes as the EU is to bring in new legislation which may mean that rather than having a default browser already on your PC you will have a choice over what browser you download and use, which means they will need to know more about what a browser has to offer. This is due to come into effect in the next couple of months and after it does Internet Explorer, Mozilla and Chrome will begin vying aggressively for market share.
Traditionally Google have opted for an aggressive DR approach for Google Chrome capitalising on its unique offers such as personalised themes in order to get users to download and use it. The new online campaign has taken a more branded approach utilising high impact placements across Europe’s biggest sites. This is only the beginning as Google is likely to invest more budget in pushing its offering during the first half of 2010. Expect to see much more of Chrome and what it can offer over the forthcoming months.
This is what all the fuss is about:
Simon McCarthy is a senior planner buyer at i-level
