kiss my black ads

Bill Maher - Irritable Bowl Syndrome

2012-01-30T18:40:00.002-05:00

A short essay animated from the audio recording of 'The New New Rules: A Funny Look at How Everybody but Me Has Their Head Up Their Ass'. It was originally performed on 'Real Time with Bill Maher'.

by Fraser Davidson

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A message from the 1%

2012-01-29T18:26:00.003-05:00

MLK 2012

2012-01-16T12:20:00.001-05:00

“We are now faced with the fact, my friends, that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. In this unfolding conundrum of life and history, there is such a thing as being too late. Procrastination is still the thief of time. Life often leaves us standing bare, naked, and dejected with a lost opportunity. The tide in the affairs of men does not remain at flood — it ebbs. We may cry out desperately for time to pause in her passage, but time is adamant to every plea and rushes on. Over the bleached bones and jumbled residues of numerous civilizations are written the pathetic words, “Too late.”

Study Examines African-American Purchasing Behavior

2012-01-12T12:39:00.000-05:00

The purchasing behavior of African-Americans has some distinct characteristics that retailers and marketers should identify and use to establish effective market position, according to a new report by the Nielsen Co., “The State of the African-American Consumer.”

The report notes that this population has a buying power of nearly $1 trillion. African-Americans shop more often than all other groups, but spend less money per trip and overall. This behavior reflects their propensity to make quicker/smaller purchases based on short-term needs, and less on deal availability or the desire to “stock up.” This shopping behavior partly explains why African-Americans are more likely to frequent convenience stores than non-African-American consumers.
According to Schaumburg, Ill.-based Nielsen, African-Americans made 165.7 shopping trips per household over the past year, compared with 153 trips for non-African-Americans. However, African-Americans’ average basket ring per household was $37 per trip, compared with $45 for non-African-American households. Overall, Aftrican-Americans spent $6,138 per household per year, versus. $6,883 for non-African-Americans.
When it comes to channel shopping frequency, African-Americans made 17.4 shopping trips per household to convenience stores, compared with 12.7 trips for non-African-Americans. African-Americans also shopped more frequently than non-African-Americans at dollar stores (20.7 shopping trips vs. 11.4) and drug stores (15.6 trips vs. 13.9).
African-Americans made fewer shopping trips per household than non-African-Americans at grocery stores, supercenters, mass merchandisers and warehouse clubs, according to the Nielsen research.
“A few major factors driving African-Americans’ retail traffic may be access to private transportation and lack of major retail development in some urban areas where a concentration of African-American communities reside,” the report notes.
The report goes on to identify a number of business opportunities, including:

The number of African-American households earning $75,000 or more has grown by 63.9 percent in the past decade -- a rate greater than that of the overall population. This continued growth in affluence, social influence and household income will continue to impact the community’s economic power, especially with women.
The percentage of African-Americans attending college or earning a degree has increased to 44 percent for men and 53 percent for women. Higher educational and professional success, along with a lower birth rate, is increasing both the age and affluence of the population, increasing the demand for aging, health care and financial management services.
African-Americans are heavy users of electronic media, providing marketers with many opportunities to access them with advertising and images that are appealing and highlight their services.
African-American women tend to be the primary decision-makers for most household buying decisions. Marketers should be employing advertising messages and images that appeal to them.
Trends in technology adoption and social networking also provide this group with an influence over popular culture beyond the limits of ethnic categorization.

“The State of the African-American Consumer” is the first of three annual reports attempting to provide a fairly complete picture of the African-American consumer. Those interested can get a full copy of the report.

MARVEL COMICS: Cover art by Juan Doe

2012-01-11T12:12:00.002-05:00

by Juan Doe

Infographic: The Changing TV Landscape

2012-01-11T10:15:00.002-05:00

Did you know that almost half of the TV shows that are recorded are played back on the same day? How about that the average Netflix customer watches five TV shows and four movies a week? Or that (no real surprise here) visits to video streaming and sharing sites continue to climb?
A new infographic from G+/Gerson Lehrman Group shows these and a few other interesting trends too. For example, Dell was able to cut service calls by posting video how-tos on its support site. This and other TV oddities can be found here.

via readwriteweb.com

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Cleon Grey: Badass Soul Savage

2012-01-03T20:12:00.002-05:00

Photographer: Cleon Grey
Seen @ http://www.highsnobiety.com

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NBA on TNT 2012 Opening Tease / Intro - NBA Forever

2011-12-27T00:45:00.002-05:00

Immortal.

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2011 Mobile Year in Review

2011-12-19T12:39:00.002-05:00

In the U.S., mobile subscriptions now outnumber the nation's population

One billion apps are downloaded worldwide each month

103 million tweets are sent via mobile devices every day

There have been one billion check-ins on Foursquare to date

26 photos are uploaded to Instagram every second

8 trillion texts were sent in 2011

1800% increase in traffic on U.S. networks in four years

166% increase in Facebook Mobile users in the first half of 2011 alone

More smartphones are purchased than PCs in the United States

2 billion networked mobile devices by 2015

Cultural (Action) Figures

2011-12-19T10:53:00.004-05:00

Reposted from Creative Review

British designer Jon Daniel's collection of African American action figures includes Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali and a coveted 1975 Super Agent Slade toy. Here, he explains what led him to look to the US for cultural inspiration and to start collecting...

Daniel recently contributed to CR's October Monograph, Stamps from the African Diaspora, which included a series of stamps featuring prominent black cultural figures and also formed the basis for an exhibition at the Stanley Gibbons shop in London.

Growing up through the late 1960s and early 1970s, writes Daniel, I think I am fairly typical of the British-born, first generation offspring of West Indian parents, in my search for identity.

It took me a long time to come to terms with Britain being a part of who I am. There was little in the British culture that either appealed to me or I felt I could be a part of. Any positive images or messages, were all coming from the West Indian culture of my family and the African American culture of the United States.

I was fortunate as a child to visit America on a few occasions to visit other members of my family living there. Everything about America seemed brighter, bolder, blacker and better.

The sheer volume of the sophisticated tv programming available such as The Jeffersons; cartoon series like The Jackson 5 and The Harlem Globetrotters; motion pictures like Shaft, Car Wash and The Wiz; and the music, funk, soul and R'n'B that we could also access in the UK through import records or pirate radio, all had a profound influence on me.

If I could have grown up in Harlem at that time, I could not have been happier.

And no doubt, this is a desire that has been instrumental in the nature of the collection of action figures I have subsequently acquired. Contrary to the nature of the subject matter, I did not start collecting them until I was in my late twenties / early thirties. Possibly, the birth of my children was a major factor. But more likely, it is due to the rise of the internet, as the availability to scour the globe and find these items more easily became a reality.

My main focus is collecting figures from the 1970s and 80s, as they are naturally the rarest and embody the period of time I most identify with. One such figure that I am most proud of (and only recently acquired after a search for several years and many unsuccessful eBay bids) is the 1975 Shindana Super Agent Slade action figure.

A truly ‘superfly' figure, modelled on Richard Roundtree's black private detective character, Shaft, it is highly sought after by collectors of this genre.

So what's next? One day I hope to finally acquire a Medicom Jean-Michel Basquiat RAH action figure. It's not extremely rare, but it is extremely cool. And at the end of the day that's what it's all about. Jon Daniel is a designer and art director and leads the creative team at branding and design studio, ebb&flow. See jon-daniel.com.

Mr. T and the Lando Calrissian character from Return of the Jedi

via

TIME Magazine “Person of the Year” Cover by Shepard Fairey

2011-12-14T21:29:00.002-05:00

Alec Banks
In honor of the Arab Spring, Occupy Wall Street and the Russian election rallies, TIME Magazine has named “The Protester” as their Person of the Year. With the idea of a movement and abstraction at the forefront, they have commissioned venerable street-artist/political rabble-rouser Shepard Fairey to create the image. The illustration looks to depict what could be either a man or woman with a veiled face as to hide one’s identity or block out of the effects of the now infamous tear gas used around the world. The stage has definitely been set for an influx of change in the new year.

Twelve Things You Were Not Taught in School About Creative Thinking

2011-12-12T08:30:00.000-05:00

From Creativity Post

Synopsis

Aspects of creative thinking that are not usually taught.

1. You are creative. The artist is not a special person, each one of us is a special kind of artist. Every one of us is born a creative, spontaneous thinker. The ony difference between people who are creative and people who are not is a simple belief. Creative people believe they are creative. People who believe they are not creative, are not. Once you have a particular identity and set of beliefs about yourself, you become interested in seeking out the skills needed to express your identity and beliefs. This is why people who believe they are creative become creative. If you believe you are not creative, then there is no need to learn how to become creative and you don't. The reality is that believing you are not creative excuses you from trying or attempting anything new. When someone tells you that they are not creative, you are talking to someone who has no interest and will make no effort to be a creative thinker.

2. Creative thinking is work. You must have passion and the determination to immerse yourself in the process of creating new and different ideas. Then you must have patience to persevere against all adversity. All creative geniuses work passionately hard and produce incredible numbers of ideas, most of which are bad. In fact, more bad poems were written by the major poets than by minor poets. Thomas Edison created 3000 different ideas for lighting systems before he evaluated them for practicality and profitability. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart produced more than six hundred pieces of music, including forty-one symphonies and some forty-odd operas and masses, during his short creative life. Rembrandt produced around 650 paintings and 2,000 drawings and Picasso executed more than 20,000 works. Shakespeare wrote 154 sonnets. Some were masterpieces, while others were no better than his contemporaries could have written, and some were simply bad.

3. You must go through the motions of being creative. When you are producing ideas, you are replenishing neurotransmitters linked to genes that are being turned on and off in response to what your brain is doing, which in turn is responding to challenges. When you go through the motions of trying to come up with new ideas, you are energizing your brain by increasing the number of contacts between neurons. The more times you try to get ideas, the more active your brain becomes and the more creative you become. If you want to become an artist and all you did was paint a picture every day, you will become an artist. You may not become another Vincent Van Gogh, but you will become more of an artist than someone who has never tried.

4. Your brain is not a computer. Your brain is a dynamic system that evolves its patterns of activity rather than computes them like a computer. It thrives on the creative energy of feedback from experiences real or fictional. You can synthesize experience; literally create it in your own imagination. The human brain cannot tell the difference between an "actual" experience and an experience imagined vividly and in detail. This discovery is what enabled Albert Einstein to create his thought experiments with imaginary scenarios that led to his revolutionary ideas about space and time. One day, for example, he imagined falling in love. Then he imagined meeting the woman he fell in love with two weeks after he fell in love. This led to his theory of acausality. The same process of synthesizing experience allowed Walt Disney to bring his fantasies to life.

5. There is no one right answer. Reality is ambiguous. Aristotle said it is either A or not-A. It cannot be both. The sky is either blue or not blue. This is black and white thinking as the sky is a billion different shades of blue. A beam of light is either a wave or not a wave (A or not-A). Physicists discovered that light can be either a wave or particle depending on the viewpoint of the observer. The only certainty in life is uncertainty. When trying to get ideas, do not censor or evaluate them as they occur. Nothing kills creativity faster than self-censorship of ideas while generating them. Think of all your ideas as possibilities and generate as many as you can before you decide which ones to select. The world is not black or white. It is grey.

6. Never stop with your first good idea. Always strive to find a better one and continue until you have one that is still better. In 1862, Phillip Reis demonstrated his invention which could transmit music over the wires. He was days away from improving it into a telephone that could transmit speech. Every communication expert in Germany dissuaded him from making improvements, as they said the telegraph is good enough. No one would buy or use a telephone. Ten years later, Alexander Graham Bell patented the telephone. Spencer Silver developed a new adhesive for 3M that stuck to objects but could easily be lifted off. It was first marketed as a bulletin board adhesive so the boards could be moved easily from place to place. There was no market for it. Silver didn't discard it. One day Arthur Fry, another 3M employee, was singing in the church's choir when his page marker fell out of his hymnal. Fry coated his page markers with Silver's adhesive and discovered the markers stayed in place, yet lifted off without damaging the page. Hence the Post-it Notes were born. Thomas Edison was always trying to spring board from one idea to another in his work. He spring boarded his work from the telephone (sounds transmitted) to the phonograph (sounds recorded) and, finally, to motion pictures (images recorded).

7. Expect the experts to be negative. The more expert and specialized a person becomes, the more their mindset becomes narrowed and the more fixated they become on confirming what they believe to be absolute. Consequently, when confronted with new and different ideas, their focus will be on conformity. Does it conform with what I know is right? If not, experts will spend all their time showing and explaining why it can't be done and why it can't work. They will not look for ways to make it work or get it done because this might demonstrate that what they regarded as absolute is not absolute at all. This is why when Fred Smith created Federal Express, every delivery expert in the U.S. predicted its certain doom. After all, they said, if this delivery concept was doable, the Post Office or UPS would have done it long ago.

8. Trust your instincts. Don't allow yourself to get discouraged. Albert Einstein was expelled from school because his attitude had a negative effect on serious students; he failed his university entrance exam and had to attend a trade school for one year before finally being admitted; and was the only one in his graduating class who did not get a teaching position because no professor would recommend him. One professor said Einstein was "the laziest dog" the university ever had. Beethoven's parents were told he was too stupid to be a music composer. Charles Darwin's colleagues called him a fool and what he was doing "fool's experiments" when he worked on his theory of biological evolution. Walt Disney was fired from his first job on a newspaper because "he lacked imagination." Thomas Edison had only two years of formal schooling, was totally deaf in one ear and was hard of hearing in the other, was fired from his first job as a newsboy and later fired from his job as a telegrapher; and still he became the most famous inventor in the history of the U.S.

9. There is no such thing as failure. Whenever you try to do something and do not succeed, you do not fail. You have learned something that does not work. Always ask "What have I learned about what doesn't work?", "Can this explain something that I didn't set out to explain?", and "What have I discovered that I didn't set out to discover?" Whenever someone tells you that they have never made a mistake, you are talking to someone who has never tried anything new.

10. You do not see things as they are; you see them as you are. Interpret your own experiences. All experiences are neutral. They have no meaning. You give them meaning by the way you choose to interpret them. If you are a priest, you see evidence of God everywhere. If you are an atheist, you see the absence of God everywhere. IBM observed that no one in the world had a personal computer. IBM interpreted this to mean there was no market. College dropouts, Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, looked at the same absence of personal computers and saw a massive opportunity. Once Thomas Edison was approached by an assistant while working on the filament for the light bulb. The assistant asked Edison why he didn't give up. "After all," he said, "you have failed 5000 times." Edison looked at him and told him that he didn't understand what the assistant meant by failure, because, Edison said, "I have discovered 5000 things that don't work." You construct your own reality by how you choose to interpret your experiences.

11. Always approach a problem on its own terms. Do not trust your first perspective of a problem as it will be too biased toward your usual way of thinking. Always look at your problem from multiple perspectives. Always remember that genius is finding a perspective no one else has taken. Look for different ways to look at the problem. Write the problem statement several times using different words. Take another role, for example, how would someone else see it, how would Jay Leno, Pablo Picasso, George Patton see it? Draw a picture of the problem, make a model, or mold a sculpture. Take a walk and look for things that metaphorically represent the problem and force connections between those things and the problem (How is a broken store window like my communications problem with my students?) Ask your friends and strangers how they see the problem. Ask a child. How would a ten year old solve it? Ask a grandparent. Imagine you are the problem. When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.

12. Learn to think unconventionally. Creative geniuses do not think analytically and logically. Conventional, logical, analytical thinkers are exclusive thinkers which means they exclude all information that is not related to the problem. They look for ways to eliminate possibilities. Creative geniuses are inclusive thinkers which mean they look for ways to include everything, including things that are dissimilar and totally unrelated. Generating associations and connections between unrelated or dissimilar subjects is how they provoke different thinking patterns in their brain. These new patterns lead to new connections which give them a different way to focus on the information and different ways to interpret what they are focusing on. This is how original and truly novel ideas are created. Albert Einstein once famously remarked "Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand."

And, finally, Creativity is paradoxical. To create, a person must have knowledge but forget the knowledge, must see unexpected connections in things but not have a mental disorder, must work hard but spend time doing nothing as information incubates, must create many ideas yet most of them are useless, must look at the same thing as everyone else, yet see something different, must desire success but embrace failure, must be persistent but not stubborn, and must listen to experts but know how to disregard them.

Movie Poster Round-up

2011-12-11T15:43:00.001-05:00

click to enlarge your heart

A few of the intriguing posters from up and coming flicks. Most are from 2012 movies and a few have slipped by virtually unnoticed.

click to enlarge

Ice Cube Celebrates The Eames

2011-12-09T10:22:00.001-05:00

Ice Cube drives Inglewood blvd. describing the Los Angeles that he knows. He talks of landmarks like The Forum, Five Torches, Cockatoo Inn, Brolly Hut, and Watts Towers. He refers to the 110 as "Gangsta Highway". Cube says coming from South Central LA teaches you how to be resourceful. The video cuts to Cube walking the Eames House perimeter, through the Eames living room, and sitting in the Eames lounge chair. He brings us back to his NWA years when he studied architectural drafting before launching his rap career. One thing he learned that translates is to always have a plan. Cube describes the modern, green and resourceful building design of Charles and Ray Eames. Visionaries of connecting nature and structure. Cube ends by saying "Who are these people who got a problem with LA? Maybe they mad cuz they don't live here."

Ice Cube Celebrates The Eames for Pacific Standard Time the birth of the LA art scene. For more info on Ice Cube & The Eames visit http://pacificstandardtime.org.

cred:
Agency: TBWA/Chiat/Day Los Angeles

Client: Pacific Standard Time

Executive Creative Director: Patrick O'Neill

Creative Director: Jayanta Jenkins

Sr Copywriter: Evan Brown

Copywriter: Liz Cartwright

Art Director: Stephen Lum

Executive Director of Integrated Production: Richard O'Neill

Executive Director Of Integration: Matt Bonin

Director of Innovation: Niki Weber

Director of Digital Production: Chincha Evans

Executive Producer: Guia Iacomin

Broadcast Coordinator : Micah Kawaguchi-Ailetcher

Broadcast Producer: Lacy Plunk

Broadcast Producer: Chris Spencer

Production Company: @ radical.media

Director: Dave Meyers

Senior Digital Producer: Eli Shillock

UX Lead/Developer: Kathrin Hoffman

Technical Lead: John Bauer

Executive Art Producer: Karen Youngs

Print Producer: Michael Pourmohsen

Project Manager: Heather Kuhne

Audio: POP Sound

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A must have poster!

2011-12-08T10:40:00.001-05:00

Here's christmas gift hint to everyone.

Buy it at crazyonesquote.com

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South African poster designs for Tslops

2011-12-07T08:00:00.000-05:00

Tsonga Tslops – “Have fun on foot” is a South African company 100% owned by members of South Africa’s local community. Durban based illustrator and Graphic Designer Hylton Warburton created these awesome African inspired illustrations, designed the identity, posters, and container graphics. via africandigitalart

Umbro: Blackout

2011-12-06T00:05:00.001-05:00

A great little piece of animated branded entertainment from Umbro. Carlos Alberto Torres arrived in New York on July 13 1977, in the midst of the blackout. In this video, Carlos recollects his time in New York City.

cred:
Made by Buck
Lead design by Christopher Silas Neal.
Client: Umbro

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Burrell.com Launches

2011-12-05T15:15:00.001-05:00

Burrell communications launches their latest iteration of Burrell.com and this time they keep it simple and clean. No zeitgeist dictated encumbrances like; blogs; Tumblrs; Facebook feed or front page tweets to chase the social whims. Just a plain 'Fresh News' window to keep you up on that latest moves of the marketing behemoth. Aside from that, they list four very strong and clear messages that reflect the shop's core values: The unthought known (wish I wrote that); Black is the new black (not groundbreaking but truer than ever in 'post-racial' America); Spheres of influence (pretty self explanatory); Positive realism (The way a lot of the best marketing portrays African American's today). That's it — I get it. I'd wish for a little more edge, maybe even go simpler... no pics at all. But I'm not the audience. The audience is big and bold marketers who need to get THE MESSAGE quick fast and in a hurry. One thing that's always interesting about Burrell is: they are always 100% upfront with the fact that they are an African American Agency. They don't even toy with the notion of 'multicultural' or cross cultural, they are AA and I'm AA-OK with that.

Agency know thyself. For real son.

For the record I am mad at this guy and his hat... who's idea was this?

MASTER SERIES: Kareem Black on Abstract Marketing

2011-12-05T08:00:00.000-05:00

Listen & learn.//

The Information Diet - A Case for Conscious Consumption

2011-12-04T23:52:00.001-05:00

informationdiet.com -- Introduction to the concepts behind The Information Diet, a new book by Clay Johnson. The Information Diet makes the case that it's time we started being as selective with the information we consume as we are the food that we eat, then describes what a healthy diet and healthy habits look like.//

MASTER SERIES: In Conversation with Matthew Jordan Smith

2011-12-03T04:53:00.001-05:00

Photographer: Matthew Jordan Smith

Watch & Learn.

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Illustrator: Dale Edwin Murray

2011-11-20T00:52:00.001-05:00

Dale Edwin Murray Freelance illustrator and graphic artist based in London. Get in touch at mail@daleedwinmurray.com or check him out at www.daleedwinmurray.com

Post card from South Africa

2011-11-18T10:59:00.001-05:00

http://www.madebyradio.com

Social Media Flowchart

2011-11-10T15:03:00.001-05:00

Social media flowchart via Breaking Copy.

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Cross-cultural marketing fails with African-American consumers

2011-11-10T08:30:00.000-05:00

Cross-culturalism, the current trend in multicultural marketing that stresses the blurring color lines in America, fails to engage African Americans, according to an unprecedented and comprehensive exploration of African American consumers by Burrell Communications (www.burrell.com).

The study, conducted in conjunction with Burrell's 40th anniversary and named Burrell: Project 40, delves deep into the lives of African Americans, identifying themes in lifestyles, interests, cultural beliefs and perceptions of African Americans in the media. With more than 500 in-person interviews across 11 major markets, Burrell: Project 40 gives a true portrait of the average African American consumer. Over 80 percent of Burrell's respondents had never participated in a market research project before, so the study gives voice to the unheard and untapped majority of black consumers in a way that's never been done before.

"Most of the research conducted in the African American community is done with upper and middle-class consumers -- who don't necessarily reflect the attitudes, behaviors and opinions of the majority," said Fay Ferguson, co-CEO of Burrell Communications. "Burrell: Project 40 gives a more accurate picture of a population that is often taken for granted."

"Burrell: Project 40 continues Burrell's 40-year legacy of commitment to deeply understanding African American consumers," added McGhee Williams Osse, co-CEO of Burrell Communications. "The clients we work with have made it a priority to speak to African American audiences in a way that's relevant and authentic, and we hope our research will show the greater marketing community why that's important."

Over the course of a year, executives from Burrell Communications and its research partners -- The Recruit, The Futures Company and Breakthrough Marketing Technology -- conducted interviews with 500 African American men and women, identifying key trends prevalent in the community:

1. African Americans interact with many cultures, but remain culturally distinct at the deepest, most important levels.

As many as 63 percent of African Americans are open to other cultures, and enjoy experiencing foreign customs as they relate to food, fashion and music, but those experiences do not change who they are when they are at home. 87 percent of those surveyed are actively attached to African American culture, and make an effort to balance their cultural interests with their own cultural identity.

2. The "game face" is still a part of the African American experience.

African Americans still openly and freely share accounts of occasions in which they needed to act differently among people of other cultures due to fear of judgment, the lessons of history and their desire to succeed, with 36 percent admitting that they experience this cultural suppression often. This includes situations at work and school, as well as in social settings.

3. African Americans continue to seek more positive representations of their culture in the media.

Every respondent could more easily identify negative, inauthentic portrayals of African Americans in the media than positive ones, with 88 percent agreeing that discrimination is still part of their day-to-day lives. This spans across movies and TV, as well as within the advertising and marketing industries. In particular, many expressed the belief that African American characters on TV tend to be one-dimensional, and 75 percent agreed that there should be more TV programs directed toward African Americans.

Burrell Communications is a full-service marketing communications company with offices in Chicago, Atlanta and Los Angeles. In business for more than 40 years, Burrell is a leader in understanding and motivating consumer behavior in the African-American and Yurban(R) markets. The agency's client roster includes: Procter & Gamble, Toyota, McDonald's, General Mills, Comcast, Walt Disney World Resorts, SuperValu, Lilly, Illinois Lottery and American Airlines. For more information, visitwww.burrell.com.

from tmn

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Report: Black consumers not being courted by hybrid, electric car makers

2011-11-09T23:38:00.001-05:00

from TMN
The hybrid and electric vehicle market is having a tough year in 2011. Sales for hybrid vehicles are down 2.7% through August 2011, despite the fact that U.S. vehicle sales are up 10.5%. While automotive companies would suggest that a sluggish economy and lack of supply are hurting hybrid vehicle sales, a recent report from Mintel suggests instead that there is a lack of desirable product for certain demographics.

"Most believe the profile of the hybrid vehicle owner is a person between the ages of 35-55, with a household income over $75,000, and a college education or higher. While this may be the current owner, the biggest potential in the market is with Black consumers," says George Augustaitis senior automotive analyst at consumer research firm Mintel.

Consumer research shows that nearly 12.5% of the Black demographic owns a hybrid or electric vehicle. Furthermore, 36% would be most interested in buying a hybrid or electric vehicle for their next purchase and 26% are unsure about their next purchase. Black respondents were also the most willing to spend an additional $3,000-5,000 to purchase a hybrid or electric vehicle, and 31% said they would spend an additional $1,000-3,000 on a hybrid or electric version of a vehicle. Black individuals were also the highest respondents who would feel proud to own a hybrid or electric vehicle.

"With the low ownership numbers of hybrid and electric vehicles among Black shoppers, the optimistic statements about pride of ownership and willingness to spend more suggest there is pent-up demand amongst Black consumers for hybrids and electric vehicles," adds George Augustaitis. "However, the sales and ownership numbers do not show the same story. This would suggest that there are no hybrid or electric vehicles on the market that are appealing to the Black population."

Mintel research also found that 26% of Black respondents are very concerned about carbon emissions and 30% agree that new electric engines in cars like the Chevy Volt and Nissan Leaf are amazing feats of engineering. Hybrid and electric automobile marketers would be wise to go after this under-targeted demographic.

For more information on Mintel, please visit www.mintel.com.

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Retro-Modern Superhero Illustrations

2011-11-05T11:54:00.003-04:00

Mookie n 'Nem say…

Oh our Lord above! This is some of the sickest, fricking shiznit we've seen since Jack Kirby ruled the heavenly comic book realms. Simply magnificent! Simply 100! Who's responsible for this? Pray tell whose hands did God work through on these beautifully crafted precious pieces of art?

We know it's been a long time, but SAY WORD!!!

All artwork by Greg Guillemin

by http://www.greg-guillemin.com

The State of the African-American Consumer

2011-11-03T08:00:00.000-04:00

Nielsen, NNPA release report, 'The State of the African-American Consumer'

African-Americans' buying power is expected to reach $1.1 trillion by 2015, according to The State of the African-American Consumer Report, released September 21, 2011 at a Washington, DC press conference. The document was collaboratively developed by Nielsen, a leading global provider of insights and analytics into what consumers watch and buy, and The National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), a federation of more than 200 Black community newspapers across the U.S.

This growing economic potential presents an opportunity for Fortune 500 companies to examine and further understand this important, flourishing market segment. Likewise, when consumers are more aware of their buying power, it can help them make informed decisions about the companies they choose to support.

"Too often, companies don't realize the inherent differences of our community, are not aware of the market size impact and have not optimized efforts to develop messages beyond those that coincide with Black History Month," said Cloves Campbell, chairman, NNPA. "It is our hope that by collaborating with Nielsen, we'll be able to tell the African-American consumer story in a manner in which businesses will understand," he said, "and, that this understanding will propel those in the C-Suite to develop stronger, more inclusive strategies that optimize their market growth in Black communities, which would be a win-win for all of us."

The report, the first of annual installments in a three year alliance between Nielsen and NNPA, showcases the buying and media habits and consumer trends of African-Americans.

The 41st Annual Legislative Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Conference week's activities set the backdrop for the announcement. Flanked by civic, business and legislative leaders, Nielsen and NNPA executives spoke about the relevance and importance of the information shared in the report and the fact that it will be distributed in NNPA's 200+ publications, reaching millions of readers and online viewers.

"We see this alliance with NNPA as an opportunity to share valuable insights, unique consumer behavior patterns and purchasing trends with the African-American community," said Susan Whiting, vice chair, Nielsen. "By sharing, for example, that African-Americans over-index in several key areas, including television viewing and mobile phone usage, we've provided a better picture of where the African-American community can leverage that buying power to help their communities," she said. "Likewise, the information points businesses in the right direction for growing market share and developing long range strategies for reaching this important demographic group."

Consumer trends in the report include facts such as:

With a buying power of nearly $1 trillion annually, if African-Americans were a country, they'd be the 16th largest country in the world.
The number of African-American households earning $75,000 or higher grew by almost 64%, a rate close to 12% greater than the change in the overall population's earning between 2000 and 2009. This continued growth in affluence, social influence and household income will continue to impact the community's economic power.
African-Americans make more shopping trips than all other groups, but spend less money per trip. African-Americans in higher income brackets, also spend 300% more in higher-end retail grocers more than any other high income household.

- There were 23.9 million active African-American Internet users in July 2011 -- 76% of whom visited a social networking/blog site.

-33% of all African-Americans own a smart phone.

- African-Americans use more than double the amount of mobile phone voice minutes compared to Whites -- 1,298 minutes a month vs. 606.

- The percentage of African-Americans attending college or earning a degree has increased to 44% for men and 53% for women.

The report is also available at www.nielsen.com and www.nielsen.com/africanamerican -- Nielsen's microsite which highlights tailored information to the African-American community.

Field Notes: Saki Mafundikwa “Time for a new design curriculum”

2011-11-02T11:01:00.002-04:00

By Kristy Tillman
Born (1955) and raised in Zimbabwe, Saki Mafundikwa studied fine arts at Indiana University and graphic design at Yale University. At Yale he discovered the existence of sub-Saharan scripts and alphabets designed by Africans themselves - without the influence of the Roman or Arabic alphabets - and this became his life-long passion to revitalize African visual traditions in the form of graphic design, he calls it the “African bauhaus”.

He worked for many years as designer and art director in New York, while also lecturing at such places as Cooper Union, but finally decided in 1997 to return to Zimbabwe to create his country's first graphic design and new media college, the Zimbabwe Institute of Vigital Arts (ZIVA) in 1999. "At the heart of ZIVA’s mission is a desire to create a new visual language – a language inspired by history, a language that is informed by but not dictated to or confined by European design, a language that is inspired by all the arts (sculpture, textiles, painting and African religion), a language whose inspiration is African. We are at a crossroads in the history of design right now with the young designers of the Western world rejecting the straitjacket confines of what design is and is not."

As a Black designer trained in America it has always been part of my ‘natural’ curiosity to seek and understand the idea of an African/African Diaspora inspired design traditions. Any such notion pertaining to the existence of the idea was conspicuously absent from my own heavily Euro and American centric design curriculum. So it is refreshing to see this idea addressed by Mafundikwa as he cultivates a whole new breed of designers with the freedom to explore the aesthetic of their own cultural motifs.

“I had never met graphic designers from Sudan, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, or Mozambique before, and I had to quickly snap out of the myopia of judging their work by European standards. These were African-trained designers – unlike me, an African trained in the west. Soon I realized that force-feeding Africans design principles born in Europe, principles that were the product of the European experience,
just doesn’t work. Why should the sterile and bloodless corporate “Swiss” style work for a Mozambican designer whose existence and environment will never mimic industrialized Europe? And why on earth should a designer from the Moslem-influenced Sudan produce work that has nothing to do with his experience – struggling, unsuccessfully, to produce work that looks “European”? It is madness. But there we were, with the rest of my team of trainers: donning our western glasses and, like the design elitists we’ve become, trashing these people’s work!” Mafundikwa underwent a conscious effort to challenge the foreign cultural impressions inherent in his design training as a part of his mission to adopt and teach design principles rooted in African visual traditions.

“I decided to dedicate this life to improving the design on my continent, especially from a teaching perspective, where we were dreadfully behind. What I have learned [in] managing Ziva, through
experiences uncomfortable and hard, made me stronger and a person able to replicate the model in other countries of the continent. I have no illusions, many African countries lack the infrastructure we have in
Zimbabwe and the experience will be so complex, but on the other hand I have come a long way from the luxury of my days as an Art Director in New York! Experience is the best teacher ever” Mafundikwa’s insights on the cultural experience of designers being an inherent property of their work begs the question, what does a Black American design aesthetic look like?

Marvin Gaye Illustration by Charles Williams

2011-11-01T10:59:00.002-04:00

More here.

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Free Font: The Kabel Font

2011-11-01T10:44:00.001-04:00

Get the font here! (Download)(Zip includes paths of font, light-3d file and rendered ABC 300dpi)

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A day in the life of a graphic designer

2011-10-28T12:04:00.000-04:00

Buy it here.

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Nike Lebron James Collection Illustrated

2011-10-28T11:56:00.000-04:00

from Hypebeast

Similar to the revolutionary approach accomplished by the formidable duo of Michael Jordan and Jordan Brand in the realm of athletic footwear, the sneaker giant has been partnering with the self-proclaimed King, LeBron James, for nearly a decade to recondition the way we look at street-ready athletic apparel. Although the newlywed years of the mid-2000s produce similar product to what is typically seen in the Jordan line, the recent seasons have introduced consumers to more adventurous lifestyle ranges. This holiday season, Nike’s Sportswear line will release a capsule collection with LeBron James featuring newly designed garments as well as iconic silhouettes from the storied history of Nike. Complete with some personal storytelling, the most hyped piece will definitely be the 100% recycled wool Destroyer Jacket, adorned with the embroidered text “Vivat Rex” translating to “long live the king.” Rounding out the collection the two heavyweights in their own right offer; a down bomber jacket, the 1823 Rugby made of 100% cotton, the N98 Track Jacket, the AW77 Fleece Hoodie, a pair Nike Air Max Conquer waterproof boots, a duck boot-inspired AF1 Low, and a 100% organic cotton pocket tee. Featuring the fusion of contemporary and heritage pieces, this back to the future collection may have a radical impact on the course of the athletic apparel world as we know it.

Black Women in Advertising

2011-10-24T13:27:00.001-04:00

From Alexandra Dal
From Multicultclassics

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MC Hammer launching his own search engine

2011-10-20T22:09:00.003-04:00

By Doug Gross (CNN) -- You can't Google this.

OK, maybe you can. But MC Hammer doesn't want you to.

The venerable rapper, who helped usher hip-hop into the pop mainstream in the early '90s, has rolled out a search engine he hopes will outperform Google, Bing and other established tools.

The project, called WireDoo, has been two years in the making, said Hammer (real name Stanley Burrell) Wednesday at the Web 2.0 summit in San Francisco.

At the conference, he said what will make his search tool better than Google (or, too legit to quit, if you will) will be its "deep search" ability.

"It's about relationships beyond just the keywords," he said,according to Mashable, a CNN.com content partner.

The rapper-turned-entrepreneur said a search would render not just direct results, but also information on possibly related topics. Its tagline is: "Search once and see what's related."

Other details about the product were scarce.

WireDoo, which Hammer said he has a team developing, is still in pre-beta. Its website is currently letting people sign up to test the search engine when a beta release is ready.

Field Notes: A look back at The Crisis

2011-10-19T10:48:00.002-04:00

By Kristy Tillman

Originally founded in 1910 by W.E.B DuBois The Crisis magazine became the official publication of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

The journalʼs original title was The Crisis: A Record of the Darker Races; inspired by James Russell Lowellʼs poem “The Present Crisis”. Published monthly, by 1920 its circulation had reached 100,000 copies. Predominantly a current-affairs journal, The Crisis also included poems, reviews, and essays on culture and history.

The cover design featured a variety of visual techniques, with heavy use of illustration in the earlier years. During the Harlem Renaissance DuBois featured many of the artist from at era for the cover designs. However, as time progressed you can see the cover design featuring photography as the the primary medium almost exclusively.

What's Left of the Middle Class Is More Diverse, Harder Working -- and Still Shrinking

2011-10-16T21:45:00.003-04:00

From: Adage By:

"It seems like everything got more expensive. And for me, personally, I got the same pay rate that I've had for five, six years. So I'm being paid the same—and the gas prices aren't helping much, either." -- Alfredo, a married father with a son in middle school and a daughter in high school -- Los Angeles County, Calif.

~~~

"We can't really help [our daughters in college.] We just can't afford to. So they've got a lot of student loans that they'll be paying off for a long time." -- Frankie, a married mother with three daughters -- two in college and one more on her way -- Teton County, Montana.

~~~

"I was living paycheck to paycheck with that job and so as much as a 5% [pay cut] sounds, well, "it's just 5%,' it was enough of a significant difference that I was like, "Oh, my God.' So I actually started [working] part time for a radio station so that I could make up for it." -- Liz, an unmarried 26-year-old --Champaign County, Ill.

~~~

Perhaps there's no more fitting signpost for where America is economically headed than dish soap.

Procter & Gamble, a marketer with its finger closely on the pulse of the American public, last year introduced a bargain-priced dish soap under the Gain name. The move was seen as an acknowledgement of the changing profile of the American middle class. Its price was a nod to the strained economy and its branding under a name popular among Hispanics pointed to the growing diversification of what was once the "traditional" middle class.

In short, America's backbone is bending toward the breaking point. In the last decade, consumers overall cut spending 4.2% in 2010 dollars, and the brunt of that was felt by the middle class, which slashed spending between 10% and 13%. Meanwhile, the upper 20% of earners curbed spending only 6%. The blame can't be pinned on the recession, either. In real dollars, median family income is now what it was in 1997.

Meanwhile, Census data show us a much more diverse picture as well: 16.3% of the population is now Hispanic. The number of black/white biracial Americans has doubled in the past decade. The Asian population is the fastest-growing by percentages. The number of African-American households earning more than $100,000 grew 88% in the past decade helping propel African-Americans to a trillion-dollar buying force, according to Nielsen.

Take the trends together—changes in income, shifts in family types, and the remapping of the racial and ethnic make-up of the population—and what emerges is a very different middle class.

This America looks like neither the Cosbys nor the Jeffersons; it does not resemble the Conners or the Bunkers. Perhaps it looks a little like "Modern Family" without the spending power. Today, half of all households have less than $10,000 in annual disposable income, according to Experian Simmons.

While these changes haven't happened overnight, marketers are grappling with how to keep up. Walmart has stopped adding upscale merchandise and put back the bargain bins known as Action Alley. Layaway programs are in full swing at Kmart, Sears, Best Buy and Toys R Us. Hallmark even has greeting cards for the unemployed.

Food marketers are shrinking pack sizes as a means of providing lower prices for consumers with less to spending power. "We're seeing a lot more paycheck-to-paycheck buying and so in those instances you're talking to consumers with limited dollars," said Rick Shea, a food-marketing consultant and former Kraft Foods marketer.

But consumers aren't oblivious to the change. They are watching the price per portion and their food bill. With less for staples like food, the shrinking middle class is thinking more about private-label products, even if they have different thresholds of compromise.

Frankie, in Teton County, will only buy Del Monte corn, not the generic. "There are certain products that I won't skimp on because I just like them better, but not very darn many." Chris in Clark County sticks with General Mills cereal, but thinks store-brand ice cream is just fine.

Through it all, there's hope. Always a hallmark of the middle class, there's this notion that sometime, somehow, things will get better. Through the hardship and the cutbacks, these families and millions like them are still going about their daily lives, driving to their jobs, cooking more at home, being good parents and making sure their kids are provided for -- no matter what their household looks like.

We see this reflected in the families and in the data.

Clearly, people are still spending money and buying products. Just not as many or as often.

Some marketers take this as a cue to refocus on the affluent. Not a bad idea, they still have money. But there are 5% fewer of them than there were before the recession.

In Howard County, one of the most affluent in the U.S., Rosemary, a married mom with a 10-month-old daughter, didn't see many effects of the recession firsthand. Her family's subdivision, in a rural-esque suburb of Baltimore, seems a lot like what middle class used to look like. It just takes a lot more income to get them there.

"In the early 1970s, the median family lived on one paycheck. Today the family in the middle brings home two paychecks. The shift from one income to two has had seismic implications for families across America," said Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren, whose pithy sound bites on middle-class decline have often gone viral online. This may not be one of her better quotes, but it's certainly one more relevant to marketers and planners.

Indeed, the majority of the income growth over the past 35 years has taken place in two-income families. The problem is that there just aren't that many of them anymore. For the first time, married-couple families are not the majority of American households.

Married couples with kids have fallen to just one in five households, and dads are taking a bigger role in household chores and child rearing. Hispanic millennials are changing the conversation -- literally -- by shifting seamlessly between English and Spanish. Populations are leaving the suburbs and clustering in urban cores. Single persons, single parents, and couples who are shacking up for economic reasons -- often with one of them jobless -- are all on the rise.

So what are marketers doing to understand and target this new consumer?

Here's what Ad Age is doing. We are embarking on a yearlong study of the American Consumer, using two tools that segment all of America: ESRI's Tapestry framework and the Patchwork Nation, a project by journalist Dante Chinni, which looked at each of America's 3,141 counties and classified it into different broad segments.

We've mashed up two of them to give us a more complete picture—one that encompasses demographic and economic characteristics but also dives into politics and religion. We're then able to layer in dataset after dataset from other sources to create a data-rich look that maps out (literally) the changes to the American Consumer.

Each of these data points has a story. So we worked with Communispace, which builds online communities for brands, to recruit 11 families in 11 representative counties throughout the U.S. They range coast to coast and across demographics, from Los Angeles, the most-populated county, to the 6,073-strong county of Teton, Montana. We've asked them to tell us their stories. Stories like these, which will appear in our pages once a month.

~~~

"When my 18-year-old was growing up ... there was concern about crime, but not to the extent that it is now. So I think I'm more protective of my [4-year-old]. Where we go, who she sees. Who I will let her stay with. Things like that. Just because of the way the world is changing." --Sandra, a 42-year-old single mother -- East Baton Rouge Parish, La.

~~~

"All our homes here where we live, it's like, "Wow, what happened to our ... investments?'" --Basha, a married empty-nester -- Lake County, Fla.

Movie Trailer: Night Catches Us

2011-10-11T10:59:00.002-04:00

Finally we get a trailer for the movie 'Night Catches us. Looks like it's going to be good. The film stars Kerry Washington and Anthony Mackie embroiled in some post Panther turmoil. I can't wait to see this.

UPDATE: Apparently this film was scheduled for a November release has already hit Netflix... So yeah, I'm late. But I now have plans for the weekend.

Illustration: Berto Martinez 2

2011-10-10T16:49:00.002-04:00

http://bertomartinez.blogspot.com

Illustration: Berto Martinez

2011-10-10T15:14:00.001-04:00

http://bertomartinez.blogspot.com

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Think Different

2011-10-06T21:10:00.004-04:00

R.I.P. Steve Jobs

Field Notes: Infographics and the Georgia Negro

2011-10-05T10:43:00.000-04:00

By Kristy Tillman

“The problem of the 20th century is the problem of the color-line”– W.E.B. Du Bois

These infographics were created at the turn of the 19th century by sociology students at what is now Clark Atlanta University, under the guidance of W.E.B. Du Bois. Initially prepared for a display called The Georgia Negro at the larger exhibition entitled The Exhibit of the American Negroes in Paris. The Exhibit of American Negroes was a sociological exhibition shown at the Paris 1900 International Exposition, also known as the World's Fair. The display was conceived by W. E. B. Du Bois, Thomas Calloway, Daniel Murray and several historic black colleges. The original exhibit included thousands of photographs, as well as hundreds of books, pamphlets, and assorted documents, chronicling the experience of Black Americans from the Civil War to the year 1900.

Du Bois stated “The great World's Fair at Paris was being planned and I thought I might put my findings into plans, charts and figures, so one might see what we were trying to accomplish. I got a couple of my best students and put a series of facts into charts: the size and growth of the Negro American group; its division by age and sex; its distribution, education and occupations; its books and periodicals. We made a most interesting set of drawings, limned on pasteboard cards about a yard square and mounted on a number of moveable standards.”

The charts themselves give us insightful socioeconomic data about the Black American community during this time in an unprecedented way. The real brilliance behind the visualizations was the political act of disseminating understandable information about a marginalized group globally. Using the graphic technique of simplifying a highly complex situation into a visualized data set was a transformative act by Du Bois and his students in rallying international attention for civil right struggles in the United States. In addition, this form of communicating skirts potential language barriers to make the information available to the widest potential audience.

Jimmy Smith Departs Omnicom's TBWA, Launches Shop Under Interpublic

2011-10-04T12:04:00.001-04:00

My homie, my man, Jimmy Smith has broken out! Hide your accounts, hide your next level idea making machines! Things just got interesting.

Jimmy Smith, the veteran creative behind high-profile branded entertainment efforts such as Gatorade's Replay and Nike Battlegrounds, is departing Omnicom Group's TBWA/Chiat/Day, Los Angeles to launch a new agency under Interpublic Group of Cos. His shop, which will be dubbed Amusement Park Entertainment, will focus on storytelling and branded content.

Outside of its nontraditional focus, the L.A.-based shop also boasts an unconventional revenue model that places a premium on what agencies are best known for -- ideas. "The philosophy behind the company is simple," Mr. Smith said. "Ideas are the Holy Grail; therefore we should value them and their creation highly."

Mr. Smith has already made a name for himself steering successful branded entertainment properties. At TBWA, he served as group creative director on Gatorade and oversaw the highly-awarded branded content Replay series. For three seasons, it's given sports teams the chance to address unrequited triumphs from their athletic past and now, Mr. Smith says, it's on its way to becoming a feature produced by Sony.

Read more about the agency's launch at Creativity Online.

This is going to be good!

Harry Webber: The Meaning of Magnificence

2011-09-29T23:08:00.001-04:00

Every morning I wake up to create something magnificent. Every night I go to sleep to realize that magnificence in my dreams. Magnificent. Not cool. Not slick. Cool and slick are easy. Magnificent is really, really elusive. Magnificent takes you on a journey through deserts of despair and desolation. It takes you past the rotting corpses of borrowed interest and shock and awe. If you were a Knight Templar, magnificent would be your search for the shadow that was Saladin. Sought but seldom found.

To create great advertising; advertising that withstands the test of time and engages the intelligence of steel workers and hedge fund millionaires; this is not for the weak of heart. To create magnificent advertising is to seek the impossible, yet know it can be realized. Every morning I embrace the insanity that such a journey entails. I inhale its scent, for I know it awaits the chase.

To create magnificent advertising is to seek the impossible, yet know it can be realized. Every morning I embrace the insanity that such a journey entails.

I am not a black man. I am an advertising man. This is my life’s work. I do not care that you will not hire me. You are not my problem. The next magnificent idea is my problem. I ride through the bowels of my city, listening to the subway voices for clues to the next moment of language that will point me to a point of understanding not found in client briefs or analytic myopia. Rap lyrics, not account planners inform me of the visions of the prophets. The scent grows stronger in the grocery isles when I spy shelf facings below eye level where missing products identify hidden trends.

Magnificence is not an easy prey. I am not in casual pursuit. The hunt gives me life. My clients are not the brand managers and CMOs. They grew up with my work but the agencies have wiped me from their awareness. I am the look of the Motown Sound and the longest running advertising and public service campaigns in history. It matters not. The past is irrelevant to me. Magnificence lives in the future.

I mourn the passing of craft from our profession. I feel empty when technologists worship at the alters of the next new irrelevance. But I am not distracted. My day begins at dawn and ends at exhaustion. My sword is Photoshop and my shield is html. My path is uncharted and in my wake are the trophies of my victories. The brands I have elevated to art, before once again returning to the hunt. It does not concern me that you do not see fit to hire me.

Last week a young boy turned in his gun after he read the words of http://FederalPrisoner6094709.com. Winning the One Show cannot compare with saving a life? I take time from my passion to speak to those of you like the great Jim Glover, Derek Walker, Hadji Williams and other senior black creatives. They seek their blacks in the high schools. People like us are of no interest to them. Do not despair. Seek your own magnificence.

This gem of sagacity is taken from Mr Harry Webber's response to a post at Ad Age. Mr Webber is an Ad Man's Ad Man. This stuff just drips from the man's being. He should be running three agencies, no, conglomerates... simultaneously.

~Craig

Field Notes: Church Fans

2011-09-28T10:34:00.000-04:00

by Kristy Tillman
The church fan has long been a fixture in the ritual of worship in African American churches. In the days before air conditioner became ubiquitous, hand held paper fans displaying religious motifs became a staple in southern churches to cool parishioners. Over the last century they have transitioned from simple ephemera into an iconic cultural symbol in the black church. The church fan has been on my list of ʻcurious aboutʼ subjects for some time now. Last week on one of my favorite social media outlets the topic came up again and I decided to dedicate this weekʼs Field Note to taking a closer look at the church fan as a piece of art.

One of the most striking things about the church fan are the motifs displayed that range from traditional religious iconography such as the last super to imagery of black families in worship and children in prayer. It was not uncommon to break from immediate religious representations to feature prominent black leadership such as Martin Luther King, Jr. Outside of its functional use as a body cooling the device the fan took on a life of its own acting as a graphic messenger to the black community. The scenes work as
poetic meditations that reflect a point of view of everyday black life. The imagery also serves as a visual narrative of changing ideals over time within a community.

Within their historical context, it would be safe to say that the scenes represent an enthusiastic idealism that provided a source of strength within what was often one of the few safe havens for Blacks, the church. In their imagery, black church fans, reveal much about the past and their use as a cultural icon which is supported by their continued relevance despite the prevalence of air conditioning.

The use of the fan as an advertising space came to prominence around the early 1900s when the commercial printing press came into wide use. All sorts of businesses from funeral homes to insurance companies placed advertisements on the back of fans. The fans became the best means of advertising to a captive black audience, and solidifying the church as an early economic power.

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ENTER THE TOMORROW AWARDS

2011-09-27T20:48:00.004-04:00

Unlike other award shows, the Tomorrow Awards are category-neutral, celebrating boundary-pushing advertising creativity and use of new technology, no matter which form it takes. Besides, ideas that are truly revolutionary don't always fit snugly inside of a pre-existing award show category.

All Tomorrow Awards entries are showcased for the world to see, and are judged in two stages. The first stage is judged by the general public, while the second stage is judged by a panel of renowned "Monster Judges." These Judges will ultimately decide who wins high honors, including The Tomorrow Awards Grand Prix.

MORE ONFOR HERE

General Mills Marketing Goes Up in Smoke With Pot-Linked Brownie Pitch

2011-09-26T21:08:00.001-04:00

from Adage
General Mills might have unlocked the secret for reaching Baby Boomers: pot brownies!

OK, before you spit up your Cheerios, the family-friendly food giant isn't actually selling marijuana-spiked brownies, or directly promoting them. Rather, General Mills makes a fun-loving reference to every hippie's favorite dessert in a new digital campaign for Fiber One 90-calorie brownies starring none other than Cheech and Chong.

The pot-loving duo star in an online video trailer for what appears to be a movie called "Magic Brownie Adventure," a typical Cheech and Chong misadventure in which they seek to deliver "thousands of magic brownies to Flaming Pole," a Burning-Man like festival on the West Coast.

Here's the kicker: When they finally get there, towing the treats in a wheel barrel, they find out that the brownies are filled with another kind of weed -- fiber. "Because now that you are getting older, you need a new kind of magic from your brownie," intones the announcer, plugging the brownies, which General Mills introduced in June.

The movie, of course, is a fake, serving as the centerpiece for a digital-only campaign by Publicis Modem aimed at reaching Baby Boomers. "It was an effort to reach boomers online in a fun and humorous way, leveraging the nostalgia from the 60s and 70s in tying that to the benefits of fiber," said Kerry DeLaney, associate marketing manager Fiber One. "As people are getting older the magic in the brownies of yesterday have transformed into something more relevant today."

And it's getting plenty of attention, even without much of a public-relations push. The trailer -- which debuted about a week ago on YouTube, the brand's Facebook page and a micro site -- has gotten about 83,000 views so far, Mr. DeLaney said. On Friday, General Mills paid for a promoted tweet that generated a 15.8% engagement rate (meaning 15.8% of viewers clicked on the link).

The campaign -- which includes five videos profiling various aspects of the "film" -- was also promoted with banner ads on Yahoo's "Vitality" web page, a partnership between the internet company and General Mills aimed at boomers.

General Mills, the normally conservative keeper of righteous brand icons such as Betty Crocker and the Jolly Green Giant, jumped at the idea when Modem brought it their way. The pitch came during a General Mills process called Bold Experiments, a contest in which brands compete for a set-aside marketing budget for new ideas. The company, Mr. DeLaney said, is "looking at brands to try new things. There are different ways to do things more boldly. This was just one way that we found was a good fit."

Of course, without Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong, the idea would've gone nowhere. Because, really, who else could've pulled this off? "We didn't have to do much persuading," Mr. DeLaney said. "They loved the idea from the beginning."

We're Rich B*otch!

2011-09-23T15:52:00.000-04:00

African-Americans' buying power is expected to reach $1.1 trillion by 2015, according to The State of the African-American Consumer Report, released yesterday at a Washington, DC press conference. The document was collaboratively developed by Nielsen, a leading global provider of insights and analytics into what consumers watch and buy, and The National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA), a federation of more than 200 Black community newspapers across the U.S.

This growing economic potential presents an opportunity for Fortune 500 companies to examine and further understand this important, flourishing market segment. Likewise, when consumers are more aware of their buying power, it can help them make informed decisions about the companies they choose to support.

"Too often, companies don't realize the inherent differences of our community, are not aware of the market size impact and have not optimized efforts to develop messages beyond those that coincide with Black History Month," said Cloves Campbell, chairman, NNPA. "It is our hope that by collaborating with Nielsen, we'll be able to tell the African-American consumer story in a manner in which businesses will understand," he said, "and, that this understanding will propel those in the C-Suite to develop stronger, more inclusive strategies that optimize their market growth in Black communities, which would be a win-win for all of us."

The report, the first of annual installments in a three year alliance between Nielsen and NNPA, showcases the buying and media habits and consumer trends of African-Americans.

The 41st Annual Legislative Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Conference week's activities set the backdrop for the announcement. Flanked by civic, business and legislative leaders, Nielsen and NNPA executives spoke about the relevance and importance of the information shared in the report and the fact that it will be distributed in NNPA's 200+ publications, reaching millions of readers and online viewers.

"We see this alliance with NNPA as an opportunity to share valuable insights, unique consumer behavior patterns and purchasing trends with the African-American community," said Susan Whiting, vice chair, Nielsen. "By sharing, for example, that African-Americans over-index in several key areas, including television viewing and mobile phone usage, we've provided a better picture of where the African-American community can leverage that buying power to help their communities," she said. "Likewise, the information points businesses in the right direction for growing market share and developing long range strategies for reaching this important demographic group."

Consumer trends in the report include facts such as:

�With a buying power of nearly $1 trillion annually, if African-Americans were a country, they'd be the 16th largest country in the world.
�The number of African-American households earning $75,000 or higher grew by almost 64%, a rate close to 12% greater than the change in the overall population's earning between 2000 and 2009. This continued growth in affluence, social influence and household income will continue to impact the community's economic power.
�African-Americans make more shopping trips than all other groups, but spend less money per trip. African-Americans in higher income brackets, also spend 300% more in higher-end retail grocers more than any other high income household.

- There were 23.9 million active African-American Internet users in July 2011 -- 76% of whom visited a social networking/blog site.

-33% of all African-Americans own a smart phone.

- African-Americans use more than double the amount of mobile phone voice minutes compared to Whites -- 1,298 minutes a month vs. 606.

- The percentage of African-Americans attending college or earning a degree has increased to 44% for men and 53% for women.

The report is also available at www.nielsen.com andwww.nielsen.com/africanamerican -- Nielsen's microsite which highlights tailored information to the African-American community.

The Pursuit of (Cool): Coltrane Curtis

2011-09-22T14:41:00.001-04:00

Coltrane Curtis, most recently known as the managing partner of New York-based media company Epiphany, is the latest to be chronicled in R+I Creative’s The Pursuit of (Cool) series. This latest video focuses on Coltrane’s fashion influences from the world of jazz. He speaks about why people like Duke Ellington, Wynton Marsalis and Mos Def have been so influential to his own personal style. It’s quite refreshing to see a taste maker talk truthfully about what has molded him as a person. Check it out above!

hypebeast

//

Field Notes: Emory Douglas

2011-09-21T12:37:00.001-04:00

by Kristy Tillman

In light of all the buzz about newly released documentary The Black Power Mixtape, I thought it would be fitting to highlight Emory Douglas. Douglas was the Minister of Culture for the Black Panther Party and the force behind the extremely effective and prolific graphic communications pieces of the Black Panther party, most notably the BPP's newspaper. Douglas was trained as an artist designer at the City College of San Francisco. It was there he received foundational lessons on typography and image making. He credits his time there as essential to learning to make messages with meaning. He would eventually come to offer his design skills to the BPP around 1967 after a meeting with Huey Newton and Bobby Seale and becoming an official member. He has a secure place on my all time top 5 favorite designers list. Douglasʼ work exemplifies the notion of design for social impact employing human centered design principles at their barest essence. He truly designed with, not for.

The potent and often very literal images created by Douglas were expressly designed to carry the message of the BPP while contending with the high illiteracy rates in the communities they served. Douglas became a master of distilling often complex messages down into digestible easily understood visual “sound” bytes. This functional aspect undergirded every piece and served to propel the message of the BPP. By the 1970s the newspaper reached hundreds of thousands across the United States.

He also employed a variety of very cost effective techniques in his work including mimeographs, photostats, lithographs, screentones and offset printing. Douglas did not allow the confines of traditionally low resolution techniques to become a stumbling block for creating images. He effectively used the inherent benefits of the technologies to his advantage.

Douglas continues to work as a graphic artist in San Francisco lending his legendary talent to causes in social justice such as black on black crime and HIV/AIDs issues.

BMW Adds Two New US Diversity Shops

2011-09-18T23:13:00.002-04:00

BMW of North America has finalized the last part of its agency review launched last spring, adding two new multicultural shops to its roster: Ramona was named BMW USA’s Hispanic agency of record and Sanders\Wingo Advertising assumes all diversity marketing for Mini USA.

Matlock Advertising and Public Relations, Atlanta, retains BMW’s marketing duties for the African-American market. However, Austin, TX-based Sanders\Wingo replaced Matlock as the multicultural shop on Mini.

Ramona, NY, which takes over from Bromley Communications, San Antonio, is a unit of MDC’s Kirshenbaum Bond Senecal + Partners, which last month won duties as BMW USA’s lead creative shop.

“Both of these agencies bring a unique set of strengths to the table that will compliment BMW,” Dan Creed, vp, marketing, BMW North America said in a statement. “We are looking forward to working with our talented roster of new agencies as we continue rolling out our strong product offensive. ”

In March Creed, named as the head of BMW’s North America marketing last September, launched a review for most of its US agency business. KBS+P prevailed after the auto marketer narrowed the field of contenders to also include The Martin Agency, Richmond, VA; Gotham, NY; Grey West, SF and Cundari, Toronto.

Roth Associates in New York, managed the multi-cultural and general market
searches.

NBA 2K12 - Jordan Invitation

2011-09-16T14:09:00.001-04:00

Check out http://www.NBA2KDebate.com - Michael Jordan invites you to join him in the debate over what the greatest NBA team of all time is. He, of course, has his own idea. Six in fact. Think he's wrong? Prove it: Submit a video at http://www.NBA2KDebate.com and join the #NBA2KDebate on Twitter. It may end up in a future NBA 2K12 commerical.

//

Field Notes: Curious about Asafo Flags

2011-09-14T11:56:00.001-04:00

By Kristy Tillman

I first became curious about the Asafo flags through one of our recreational design sessions at work. I was initially struck by the graphic stories told on each flag. I was also curiously intrigued by the incorporation of some variation of the British union flag in the distinctively local motifs. Within the context of Ghana's colonial history it seems a logical part of the narrative, but the ironic juxtaposition of the two typologies were not at all lost on me. The flags that are made post independence tend to either have no external flag representation or the Ghanaian national flag.

Asafo is a term used for loosely organized military companies of the Fante ethnic group in Ghana. The Asafo were initially charged with defending the territory state but they also are involved in additional stately and social affairs such as inauguration of chiefs and religious events. Each company has a set of flags that illustrates its values through graphic interpretations of proverbs and they can be seen paraded proudly at festive occasions.

Historically, the flags can be traced back over a period of 300 years. The motifs on the flags asserts the wealth and power of the group and serves to challenge its rivals through a distinctive set of symbols, colors and patterns representative of the company. The narratives range from local proverbs, to favor from God and military superiority in capturing enemies. The design language captures a striking balance between traditional story telling and military pomp and display.

The images are striking by their simple, powerful forms; its composition points at a preference for asymmetry, which has a dynamic effect. The flags are constructed through a variety of techniques such as patchwork, embroidery and applique. Each new flag has to be approved by the highest authority within the hierarchy and subsequently inaugurated in a special ritual before it becomes active.

Photographs © Tim Hamill

#Amazing!

Fan Made: Mad Men Season 5 posters

2011-09-13T12:44:00.000-04:00

A self initiated poster series for AMC networks Mad Men.

cred:

madebyradio.com

Selling The New Cool: Inside The World Of 'Influencers'

2011-09-12T11:41:00.002-04:00

from Forbes.com

Coltrane Curtis, in the short film "The Pursuit of (Cool)."

“I believe, really, all cool things come from the hood,” says Coltrane Curtis, CEO at Team Epiphany. “So if you’re able to have that education, and see the trends before they happen, then you got an advantage.”
Curtis isn’t saying these words over the phone, or in a cafe somewhere while sitting across the table from me. Instead, his image moves back and forth within the frame of a YouTube video, where he stands on a stage at Miami Ad School speaking to a room filled with America’s advertising and marketing hopefuls, young men and women who have enrolled at an institution that boasts the tagline: The School of Pop Culture Engineering.
The skills being learned here, and that will later be put to use when pitching holistic media campaigns to the corporate heads of coveted Fortune 500 brands, are considered vital to survival in a market that’s continually being reshaped — and redefined — by the mechanisms of technology and, most importantly, social media.
Curtis is just one of the many players who populates the ever-growing world of “influencers,” a new breed of marketer that shuns the traditional strategy of selling directly to a target demographic and focuses instead on appealing to key individuals (i.e., celebrities, influential bloggers, social media wunderkinds, etc.) who hold sway over a large base of potential customers.
For example, instead of attempting to capture the attention of 18- to 34-year-old consumers solely through print or online advertising, a so-called influencer might turn to Tumblr and its cult of product obsessives — those who blog and reblog images from fashion label lookbooks or commercials masquerading as short films — to initiate consumer interest on a more casual level. An influencer might also put his or her client’s product in the hands of a cultural luminary — Kanye West, Jay-Z, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, etc. — with hopes of initiating a trickle-down effect. As in, Kanye wore those sneakers, I need a pair. Or, Lady Gaga carries that handbag, who’s the designer?
As Curtis explained to me, influencers help “engineer the consumer-facing persona of most celebrities.” It’s emulation, commodified. Or more aptly, idol worship leveraged for a profit. It reminds me of a well-rehearsed magic act that involves transforming the concept of cool into a bankable currency, time and again.

More @ Forbes.com

//

Field Notes: The Photography of Carl Van Vechten

2011-09-09T12:27:00.000-04:00

W.E.B DuBois, 1946

Billie Holiday, 1949

By Kristy Tillman

Carl Van Vechten (1880-1964) primarily known as a music/dance critic and novelist gained a reputation as a theatrical and society photographer during the time of the Harlem Renaissance. Based in New York City, after completing a stint at the New York Times, Van Vechten took great interest in black artists and writers of the time period; documenting many who are considered canonical figures in the black collective as subjects of his work. Many of the sitters, such as W.E.B DuBois, Billie Holiday and Alivn Ailey, were acquaintances of Van Vechten. He primarily photographed them in his studio portrait style, in private sittings, and also at social gatherings. It was also not unusual for Van Vetchen to implore bright colorful backgrounds and elaborate costuming in his photography.

Alvin Ailey, 1955

Mary McLeod Bethune, 1949

Langston Hughes and Horace Cayton at Fisk University, 1947

Eartha Kitt, 1954

Prince Etuka Okala Abutu of Nigeria. 1946

More about Van Vechten
Van Vechten is credited as being a patron of the Harlem Renaissance, having contributed to black theatrical productions and penned narratives about black life in Harlem such as his controversial book, Nigger Heaven. The book received a mixed reception from Harlemites, as reported by author Wallace Thurman in his 1926 review that appeared in Fire!!. The title, labeled as satirical commentary by Van Vechten himself, initially drew ire from the black community. In addition, many felt that Nigger Heaven portrayed black Americans in a largely negative light drawing upon sweeping generalizations and stereotypes of sexual, gambling and alcohol. W.E.B DuBois would eventually contribute a wholesale dismissal of the book in the NAACP Crisis. It should be noted that the text also had its share of defenders in Langston Hughes and James Weldon Johnson, who lauded the piece in Opportunity, the official journal of the National Urban League.

The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975

2011-09-08T22:11:00.001-04:00

The Black Power Mixtape is an award winning compilation feature documentary that displays the story of the African-American community 1967-1975, the people, the society and the style that fueled a change. Told with sparkling, beautiful and deep footage, lost in the archives in Sweden for 30 years.

Written and Directed by: Göran Hugo Olsson
Produced by: Annika Rogell, Story AB
Co-Produced by: Joslyn Barnes & Danny Glover, Louverture Films
Art Director: Stefania Malmsten
Edited by: Göran Hugo Olsson & Hanna Lejonqvist
Including appearances by:
Angela Davis, Stokely Carmichae, Dr. Martin Luther King

Poster design by Gravillis Inc.

//

People on the Move: DraftFCB Names Vita Harris Global Chief Strategy Officer

2011-09-08T15:33:00.002-04:00

from adage.com

Vita Harris, formerly chief strategy officer ofDraftFCB, New York, has been promoted to global chief strategy officer of the agency network. Prior to the merger of Draft and FCB in June 2006, Ms. Harris was exec VP and director-insight services at Draft, New York. There she pioneered an approach called Behavior Path Marketing to mine consumer insights to relevant marketing-communications programs. Before joining Draft in 1996, Ms. Harris was senior VP-group research director at N.W. Ayer & Partners, and she began her career at Saatchi and Saatchi Compton. In 2010, Ms. Harris was named a 2010 AAF AdColor Legend.

Torsten Kuenzlen has joined Molson Coors International as chief marketing officer, based in Denver. Mr. Kuenzlen previously spent 17 years with Coca-Cola, where he was most recently president-director of the Indonesia region. He led commercial and marketing operations for the company across the globe, and was part of a management team tasked with transforming Coca-Cola's business across Africa. Molson Coors established MCI in 2008 to manage the expansion of its brand portfolio outside of the U.S., Canada and the U.K., and it now manages the growth of its brand portfolio across 47 countries.

Nan-Kirsten Forte has been named CEO of the Travel Ad Network. For the past 13 years, Ms. Forte has been with WebMD, where she helped grow the site's consumer audience from less than 1 million to more than 100 million monthly unique users. Most recently she was exec VP-brand development and chief innovation officer at the company, and before that was exec VP-consumer services. Earlier in her career, Ms. Forte was president-programming and product development of Medcast, Greenberg News Networks, and before that was president of health of iVillage, where she launched Better Health, its first health channel.

Pat Connolly has been named head of strategy at Conde Nast Ideactive, the company's new marketing-services division. Before joining Conde Nast, Mr. Connolly was VP-group director media and marketing at Digitas, where he led the Delta Air Lines global marketing-communications business. During his nine years at the agency, he supervised additional client relationships such as Kraft Foods CRM, Hewlett Packard and Dice.com, and served as the North American media lead in the agency's mobile practice. Previously, he was at General Motors, where he oversaw a global, digital dealer-education platform.

Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia has appointed Ken West chief financial officer. Mr. West comes to MSLO from Marvel Entertainment, where he had served as exec VP-chief financial officer since 2002. Prior to joining Marvel, Mr. West, a CPA, was CFO of two privately held companies, and spent more than 15 years with the Stamford, Conn., office of Ernst & Young.

Peter Dille has been named chief marketing officer of Tapjoy. Before joining the mobile-advertising and app-distribution network, Mr. Dille was senior VP-marketing, PlayStation Network, at Sony Computer Entertainment America. Previously, he was senior VP-worldwide marketing for THQ, a global interactive software provider. He also served as senior director of product marketing for Sony Computer Entertainment America and was a key executive in the launch of the original PlayStation console in 1995.

Zmags has appointed W. Sean Ford chief operating officer-CMO. Mr. Ford reunites with Zmags President-CEO Michael Schreck after their partnership as co-founders of Upromise. Prior to joining Zmags, Mr. Ford was CMO of Syncsort. He has also held the position of VP-global business unit marketing at Oracle, where he was responsible for global marketing and strategy for Oracle's vertical industries, including retail.

JWT HONORS BILL SHARP

2011-09-08T12:48:00.001-04:00

Bill Sharp Award Ceremony / JWT Atlanta / Sept. 8 2011
JWT Atlanta celebrates the winner of the first Bill Sharp Award, a student grant awarded to one African American student to support their pursuit of a career in the advertising industry. The award is named after the famed African American advertising executive and industry diversity pioneer, William "Bill" Sharp. While working as a Group Copy Supervisor at JWT in the late 1960s, Bill Co-created and ran the Basic Advertising Course, which helped African Americans learn the business of advertising. In 1969, Bill published a book, How To Be Black and Get a Job in the Advertising Agency Business Anyway. His work and lasting devotion to helping create opportunities in the business for African Americans has touched thousands of individuals in the industry, and we are proud to honor his legacy.

A truly amazing man who I had the opportunity to meet years ago. He brought me into his office, completely unscheduled, at spoke to me at length about the joy, work and rigor of the advertising business. I'm nearly certain he wouldn't remember that day over 15 years ago, but I will never forget it. It has fueled my career and helped me to understand what it means to be gracious. I hope to one day attain his level of dignity and magnanimity.

~Craig

Jenkins Takes Global Creative Role on Gatorade at Chiat LA

2011-09-08T12:39:00.005-04:00

Jayanta Jenkins, A fellow Virgo, has been promoted to global creative director on TBWA\Chiat\Day LA’s much-lauded Gatorade account. Last we remember, Jenkins was the creative director on the “G” spot from April featuring Serena Williams and Kevin Durant. His underlings will be Brent Anderson andSteve Howard, who were promoted from CDs to GCDs on the global and U.S. Gatorade account.
Jenkins joined Chiat LA after spending seven years as a senior AD at Wieden + Kennedy, where he worked on campaigns starring LeBron James as well as other Nike work. Prior to that, he served as an art director for nearly four years at the Martin Agency. As for new GCD Howard, he co-created the award-winning “Replay” work for Gatorade and worked on Nissan and Visa along with Anderson.

TBWA\Chiat\Day LA also hired Almap BBDO alums Renato Fernandez and Gustavo Sarkis as ACDs on Gatorade. Chiat LA’s CCO Rob Schwartz speaks from the heart of the appointments/promotions in a statement, saying, “Brent, Steve and Jay are three of the smartest and most modern creatives in the business. Brent and Steve’s work, in particular on Gatorade Replay, is one of the most awarded ideas ever. Their passion and ideas for Gatorade and TBWA will continue to keep us on the cutting edge. It’s a testament to the bench strength of TBWA\Chiat\Day Los Angeles when the people we’d typically search the world for are right here in Los Angeles.”

By Kiran Aditham @ Agency Spy

Introducing: Field Notes by Kristy Tillman

2011-09-07T11:23:00.000-04:00

Field Notes, a division of Kiss My Black Ads, is a weekly column that will explore an eclectic mix of art and design curiosities and interestingness for and about black life, in a more in depth manner. Because the diversity and variety of contributions of the African diaspora often go over looked, Field Notes will bring you a curated selection of goods you didn’t even know you were interested in. Hand picked every week by designer, Kristy Tillman, we hope these pieces will serve up new ideas, insights, and knowledge that serve to inspire and enlighten.

Coming much sooner than you can imagine.

//

Freddie Mercury Google Doodle

2011-09-06T01:18:00.002-04:00

A Google doodle tribute to artist, performer, and pioneer Freddie Mercury for his 65th birthday.//

Smirnoff Start Pure

2011-08-29T22:08:00.000-04:00

Smirnoff's new Start Pure Ad featuring Pharrell Williams.

Reebok Classics Presents: Lauryn Hill

2011-08-28T22:33:00.001-04:00

While the world has certainly changed since 1998, The Miseduction of Lauryn Hill is as relevant then as it is now. Reebok Classic sat down with Lauryn to find out exactly what that album meant to her while she was making it and why it went on to become a classic.

Mozambique Music Awards

2011-08-26T16:12:00.002-04:00

Life without music would be less noisy, less cluttered and less interesting. Mozambique Music Awards. It's our music. It's our culture.

Some songs get stuck in the head, while others are stuck in the blood. Mozambique Music Awards. It's our music. It's our culture.

If art was a human being, music would be the orgasm. Mozambique Music Awards. It's our music. It's our culture.

cred:
DDB Mozambique, Maputo, Mozambique
Creative Director: Lenilson Lima
Art Director: Giuseppe Lira
Copywriter: Zeca de Oliveira
Illustrator: Otávio Rodrigues, Giuseppe Lira e Maísa Chaves
//

Movie Poster: Harry Belafonte; Sing Your Song

2011-08-21T00:48:00.003-04:00

Poster design by Greenlight Creative

//

Make your Franklin

2011-08-16T10:57:00.003-04:00

Make your Franklin is a community art project.

Make your Franklin is international, bearer of a cultural reflexion.

With this mind, Make your Franklinsuggest each of you to re-create a symbol of modern society : the 100$ banknote.

more here: http://makeyourfranklin.com

The SHAOLIN JAZZ – Album Cover Design Winner

2011-08-15T11:26:00.001-04:00

DJ 2-Tone Jones and Gerald Watson would like to congratulate Shamona Stokes – the winner of The SHAOLIN JAZZ – Album Cover Design Contest. They’d also like to thank all of the many designers for participating whose strong works made this decision a two day deliberation for he and 2-Tone.

To see more of Shamona’s work click here and if you’re interested in contacting her directly: shamona.stokes@gmail.com.

Shouts to the designers who participated, VANS OTW and Staple Design for providing product and promo support, and the fans that have continued to support SHAOLIN JAZZ. They’ve got some very cool creative extensions coming!

For more info click Gmoney77.

Additional entries below:

IMAGES’ Digital Focus

2011-08-11T18:18:00.004-04:00

Black Enterprise

Robert L. McNeil Jr. was still living in a dormitory at Georgia Tech in 1989 when he came up with the idea of a full-service advertising agency focused on the African American consumer. It was the same year MIT professor Tim Berners-Lee wrote a proposal for what would eventually become the World Wide Web. In two decades, Berners-Lee’s brainchild would change the face of advertising and other industries forever.

McNeil, president and CEO of IMAGES USA (No. 6 on the BE Advertising Agencies list with $86.5 million in billings), fully appreciates this evolution by using technology to give his firm its competitive advantage. “Years ago digital was something that a lot of people didn’t understand. Nowadays, digital is the industry that we’re in. It’s no longer just a part of it,” he asserts. “For every single plan, every single client, every single opportunity that we bring to the table, there is a direct digital focus within the opportunity.”

IMAGES has expanded this thrust as the climate has grown increasingly brutal for black-owned agencies. These firms must contend with competitive pressure from larger general market agencies that have developed in-house multicultural marketing shops, as well as potential clients’ decreased ad spending to reach African American consumers in favor of the faster growing Latino market. Despite these challenges, McNeil forges ahead with a staff that stays ahead of consumer trends and understands how to strategically deploy a mix of digital solutions for clients.

GO DIGITAL OR DIE
Why is this important? Take a look at the statistics. Americans spent 22.7% of their time online engaged in social media in June 2010, compared with 15.8% for the same activity in 2009—an increase of 43%, according to Nielsen. “Given the tumultuous last few years and given the tectonic shifts in how we communicate with people via apps and mobile, some agencies are less prepared than others to really meet some of the new needs that are cropping up,” says Greg Head, president of HEADFIRST Insights & Strategy, an Atlanta-based marketing research firm. “Bob does a tremendous job of acquiring great talent out of large agencies and different organizations.” This seems to have given IMAGES a competitive advantage, Head adds.

McNeil, one of Black Enterprise’s Top Executives in Marketing & Advertising, agrees social media is an industry-wide game changer. “Another game changer is talent. I’m really excited about some of the young people that we’ve seen that come out of college to our agency with a fresh perspective and new ideas.”

Understanding that social media is a two-way constant stream of communication is key. “When you go on to social media you no longer control the conversation with the consumer and you don’t want to,” says Ricki Fairley-Brown, partner and chief marketing officer at IMAGES. “You want to plant a seed. Social media provides this wonderful platform for a conversation that you can just throw seeds into and create the conversation, but if the consumer says they don’t like something you’ve got to deal with that, too.”

A SIX-HEADED MONSTER
With clients that include Amtrak, KFC, and Hillshire Farm, IMAGES mainly offers six services. They are:
• Advertising. This area includes media planning, buying, and placement.
• Creative services. This involves the design and implementation of advertisements for television, radio, print, and digital—all standard mediums that people use to try to reach an audience.
• Market research. This helps clients determine the potential of a particular ethnic market—its size, scope, buying power—and a particular product’s market share.
• Public relations. This includes crisis communications and media relations.
• Strategy. If a client has another ad agency and they’re happy with the creative product but not the results, IMAGES may be retained to help the client develop a marketing strategy.
• Field marketing. IMAGES provides creative concept testing services in any U.S. market to offer clients feedback on what consumers liked or disliked about how a product was marketed, as well as how competitors are positioned in the market.

In each of these areas, technology plays a vital role. “IMAGES’ overall strategy from a digital standpoint is to implement digital and social vehicles where it’s relevant for our client,” says Genifer Stewart, the Amtrak account supervisor at IMAGES. “We don’t want to force clients into the digital world if it doesn’t really make sense for their business.”

For Amtrak, IMAGES crafted a digital campaign in 2010 to increase ridership among the millennial generation that centered on a contest where students would upload a travel-themed video and compete for $3,000 in prizes. The 2011 video contest incorporates Facebook and Twitter, Stewart says. “We’re doing a lot of things that are video based, and by utilizing digital and social media to expand these campaigns, we’re strengthening our reach.”

For Hillshire Farm, IMAGES created a banner advertisement on Pandora, an Internet radio service that boasts more than 75 million listeners in the U.S. “We have an insight around our African American moms who are very, very busy. We know that with this consumer segment the role that technology plays in her life is really important,” says Kristin Kroepfl, director of marketing for Hillshire Farm. “The other piece of the puzzle, we also know that recipes are really important to her as sources for inspiration on how to cook with our smoked sausage product. So the program that we did with Pandora was all about combining these three insights together: her busy life, the role of technology, and her need for the meal suggestion.”

SHARPENING THE DIGITAL FOCUS
So the IMAGES team took those insights and added an interactive element. “The idea was you spin a recipe wheel and you’ve got different recipe options that spin out of that—from a Caribbean meal to a traditional soul food meal—that featured any one of our varieties of smoked sausage,” says Kroepfl. “Consumers just picked from those recipes and there is a link back to our website.” According to Kroepfl, the end result was a 90% rise in the number of visitors from Pandora to the “Mama’s Kitchen” section of the Hillshire website, an 85% increase in the number of visitors to the “Mama’s Kitchen” section, and a 43% rise in the amount of time visitors spent on “Mama’s Kitchen” pages.

According to Fairley-Brown, another one of Black Enterprise’s Top Executives in Marketing & Advertising, the idea is to build some sort of Internet presence for every brand IMAGES works on that’s either relevant to the commerce of the brand, like building volume, or relevant to a community-related angle. “One example is the work we did for Hillshire Farm,” she says. “IMAGES built upon the foundation of the [Hillshire Farm] website and transformed it into a welcoming portal, with content and imagery that was relevant to black women: ‘Mama’s Kitchen.’”

Looking ahead, McNeil is hoping to land new clients, particularly in the automotive and pharmaceuticals industries. “We think the auto industry is rebounding well and I think both the U.S. and the foreign automotive makers have all shown good profits and good returns. As their revenues continue to rebound, hopefully they’ll continue to increase marketing to multicultural consumers,” he says. “And with the baby boomers now at retirement age, we’re looking at this large population that is going to be more dependent on medicines and drugs to help people live life more comfortably or to fight illness and diseases.”
Regardless of the new industries IMAGES pursues, technology will remain an integrated component of the firm’s sales pitches. And as new apps, devices, or platforms emerge that connect manufacturer with consumer, McNeil looks to stay on the leading edge of those changes. “I think our industry is in a hyper-evolution. Things are changing fairly as fast as we can actually keep up with them.”

Cassie and Solange curl up with Carol's Daughter

2011-08-08T11:35:00.005-04:00

Among Affluent Americans, Print Media Is Tops

2011-08-03T10:25:00.002-04:00

from AdAge

Mark Twain famously quipped that news of his death was exaggerated when the press mistook his cousin's serious illness for his own. Today, much the same could be said about traditional media. It seems that its death is foretold by any number of pundits with every new release of data on social media and digital devices. (Facebook's 500 million members would make it the third-largest country in the world! Ashton Kutcher has more than 7 million Twitter followers! IPad-mania sweeps through coffee shops around the world!)

Of course, there is no denying the rapidly growing and truly disruptive impact of new devices and social media. But at the same time, there is also no denying that traditional outlets are thriving in the lives of consumers today, and that they form the core of how most consumers interact with media. This is true for the general population, and it is even true among the affluent Americans that we study, even though they have the discretionary income to indulge in an array of devices, as well as the digital literacy to get the most out of them.

Throughout 2011, we have used our Mendelsohn Affluent Barometer to track new and traditional media use among American Affluents. This monthly survey consists of more than 1,000 online interviews with respondents making at least $100,000 in annual household income -- in other words, the 20% of Americans who account for about 60% of U.S. income and approximately 70% of U.S. net worth. The survey was conducted between March and May 2011.

When asked how they read magazines, 93% said they read hard-copy print versions; in contrast, less than a third read them on computers, and no other format garnered more than 10%. The same pattern is evident for newspapers, which 86% read in print, compared to the 39% who read them on computers, and 14% who read them via smartphone. TV shows are watched on TVs by 94%, followed by 23% who watch them on computers. Websites are viewed on computers by 94%, followed by 32% viewing them on smartphones. The pattern is clear across all media. The vast majority consume content through its most traditional outlet: magazines and newspapers in print, websites on computers, video content through TVs and so on.

Media usage among all Affluents. Source: Mendelsohn Affluent Barometer

Similarly, we explored data on the importance of traditional media in our Ad Age article last month, "Media Use in Extraordinary Times." When asked how affluents followed Osama bin Laden's death, network TV topped the list, cited by 70%, and an additional 40% cited printed newspapers. Similarly, when asked how the followed the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis in Japan, network TV again topped the list, cited by 76%, with an additional 49% citing printed newspapers.

It has been well-documented that younger consumers differ in their media-consumption patterns from their older counterparts, and certainly they have been earlier adopters and heavier users of some emerging and alternative platforms. But even today's younger generation shows the characteristic pattern of tending to consume media through its most traditional outlet, even as they show more cross-platform "experimentation." For example, among those aged 18-34:

88% read magazines in print, followed by 35% who read them online

Newspapers show the greatest amount of experimentation -- 70% read newspapers in print, followed relatively closely by 54% who read them online

94% view video content on TV, followed by 35% who do so on computers

93% read websites on computers, followed by 38% who do so on smarthphones

Media usage among Affluents ages 18-34. Source: Mendelsohn Affluent Barometer

Of course, we're not denying the widespread use and tremendous impact of "new" media. It is vitally important in the lives of consumers, particularly Affluents, and is becoming more so. Moreover, any business that suddenly finds 20-30% of its best customers "experimenting" with less profitable options (from "analog dollars to digital dimes") will face serious challenges. Reports of Twain's death were indeed exaggerated when he made his famous remark in 1897, but perhaps those reports are better characterized as premature; he had 13 more years left before an obituary became appropriate. Reports of the death of traditional media are equally premature.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Bob Shullman and Stephen Kraus are president and chief research and insights officer of Ipsos Mendelsohn, respectively. The Affluency column appears monthly on AdAgeStat.

Gap 1969 Denim Profile: Nicole King-Burroughs

2011-08-02T13:25:00.002-04:00

Nicole started her career as an intern at Gap. "I basically joke that I was born and raised at the Gap," she says. "Everyone here basically lives into the lifestyle as well. We're really designing for ourselves." See Nicole at work in Gap's L.A. denim studio.

cred:
Ogilvy and Mather

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KIss My White Ads

2011-08-02T13:06:00.004-04:00

Cliches in stereo or in stereotypes; At any rate they abound in this spot and it's chuckle-worthy if you can get past all the banality. The black woman on white man's lap nicely balanced out by white woman on black man's lap. This spot screams misogyny and the women are from a bygone era that probably never really existed. The lovely maxim of black sassy back up singers and melodic R&B dulcetly delivered in a blue-eyed soulful falsetto all add up to a commercial that's gonna piss some people off. Not me so much, but somebody. I thought the music was great, it reminded me of the Flight of the Concords show I miss so much and the humor is actually on par with the show. What did you think about it?

cred:
Leo Burnett, Sydney, Australia
Executive Creative Director: Andy DiLallo
Creative Director: Tim Green
Copywriters / Art Directors: Rupert Taylor, Tim Green, Andy DiLallo
Agency Producer: Rita Gagliardi
Client Service Director: Peter Bosilkovski
Account Director: Jodi McLeod
Senior Account Manager: Sam McGown
Planner: Warwick Heathwood
Production Company: MJZ
Director: Tom Kuntz
Director of Photgraphy: Alwin Kuschler
Editor: Gavin Cutler
Exec Producers: Jeff Scruton, David Zander
Production Designer: Andy Reznik
Music: Song Zu
Music Director: Ramesh Sathia
Sound Design: Abigail Sie
Lyrics: Rupert Taylor, Tim Green, Andy DiLallo
Music: Ramesh Sathia, Nathan Cavaleri
Producer: Larissa Coupe

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Inside the Edge - Nigel Sylvester

2011-07-31T12:30:00.000-04:00

Nigel Sylvester may very well be the most nimble athlete on two wheels, and he has to be to maneuver the man-made features of his native NYC. A BMX rider's training ground consists of rails, ledges and blacktops, and Nigel moves seamlessly from one New York borough to the next by fueling properly to keep his mind and body sharp.

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Reggie Watts funks it up for Nandos

2011-07-29T15:21:00.000-04:00

Reggie Watts brings his own brand of music making to this video directed by Lee Ford. Part of a larger online campaign for Nando's were you can add your own unique sounds into the mix. I love it's whimsical nature and well never be able to think about peri peri sauce the same way again.

Is the 'Culture' in Multicultural Still Relevant?

2011-07-27T22:50:00.001-04:00

from Ad Age

Are multicultural marketers losing the segmentation wars? That is, are they slowly and inexorably being sucked dry of their distinctness as they become more mainstream? Is cultural differentiation no longer the lever it was always thought to be?

A new AT&T campaign aimed at African Americans triggered these questions for me. A pioneer in multicultural advertising (and a much beloved former client), AT&T rethinks the possibilities of the way four African Americans shaped their lives. The vignettes, and people, are real, the situations authentic, the possibilities inspiring. What especially drew me was the power of cultural relevance.

African Americans have long been part of the multicultural mix. Yet the segment appears to be drawn increasingly into general market budgets. It's the usual argument: They speak English and have been here for hundreds of years, so why bother taking a culturally based approach? Well, if that's the case, why would a savvy multicultural brand like AT&T focus on the cultural narrative of African Americans?

The question is critical, because I'm beginning to think this kind of nuanced cultural sensitivity is getting lost as multicultural goes increasingly mainstream. Market segmentation -- down, almost, to the quantum level -- is commonplace in the general market where nobody debates its relevance. We've just seen, however, a few brands pull back their multicultural advertising into general agencies, including Hispanic and African American, where the cultural component is being "smoothed out" to fit budgets and for greater "efficiency."

If anything stands out in the cultural-relevance debate, it's that the ROI of multicultural marketing can be appreciably higher than that of general advertising. Client, agency and general-market research has proved the point time and again. That's why I'm beating the drum for deep cultural relevance in multicultural marketing, for the same kind of molecular segmentation we take for granted in general advertising.

We really don't need to look far to find the data. Just wander over to media company Audience Science, for example, and you'll see what I mean. It claims to tap into 200 billion (that's not a typo) insights daily into over 386 million people worldwide. Our special interests and passions, across the global cultural horizon, are the focus.

U.S. brands need to demand as much cultural segmentation in their multicultural marketing as in their mainstream efforts. Multicultural advertising may not command the budgets of the general market. Yet given the accelerating growth of multicultural audiences and purchasing power, brands that wear cultural relevance like a second skin are more likely to succeed than brands that generalize their approach to a distinctive marketplace. With $2 trillion in consumption at stake, on whose side would you rather be?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Yuri Radzievsky is chairman-CEO of GlobalWorks.

Allan Gray: Time Flies

2011-07-27T13:25:00.001-04:00

cred:

KingJames, Cape Town, South Africa
Executive Creative Director: Alistair King
Creative Director: Alistair King
Art Director: Karin Barry
Copywriter: Paige Nick
Agency Producer: Caz Friedman
Production Company : Velocity Films
Director : Keith Rose
Producer : Grant Davies
DOP: Peter Tischauser

Old Spice Replies to KMBA's Tweet!

2011-07-26T13:13:00.000-04:00

Nice!

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Remembering Sylvia Harris

2011-07-26T10:47:00.002-04:00

It is with the deepest sadness that I write this post to tell you that Sylvia Harris, dear friend and esteemed member of the design community, passed away peacefully on Sunday, July 24th, 2011. She was surrounded by more than 20 family and friends who flew in from all over the country to be at her side, and is survived by her sister, Juliette Harris, her husband Gary Singer, and their beautiful daughter, Thai.

If you've strolled through the Central Park Zoo in New York,participated in the 2000 U.S. census or selected an iconic stamp atthe post office, then you've benefited from the work of designstrategist Sylvia Harris. Throughout her vibrant 25-year career shehas partnered with high-profile clients—in business, nonprofit andgovernment—to yield rewarding projects and a life's work dedicatedto removing barriers by ensuring that public information systemsare accessible to everyone.
After graduating with a BFA in communication arts and designfrom Virginia Commonwealth University, in her hometown of Richmond,Harris set off for Boston. The move was initially motivated byromance, but her experiences there ultimately sparked her passionfor design. Despite an undergraduate focus on film and photography,Harris was hired as a designer at WGBH, Boston's public televisionstation. “I learned how to make visual things,” says Harris ofparlaying one skill set into another, “and if you know how to makethings, you can make one thing or the next thing.” Harris, who hasan easy-going, approachable manner, is humble about theconsiderable talent and drive that enabled her to adapt so readilyto her new profession.

On her first big break:
My firm got a series of contracts with Citibank to work on thedesign of the first ATM. I learned everything I know about usertesting, product design and strategic planning from thatexperience. It was like going to graduate school in usability and Imade contacts that have lasted to this day.

She had some basic design skills, but it was her WGBH boss,designer Chris Pullman, whom Harris credits with not only givingher a chance but for also recognizing her potential. “He showedinterest in my career, in me, and he gave me advice.” Theadmiration was mutual, she recalls. “I liked what he was doing…working not for the private sector but in this other whole world ofdesign for the public good. It made a big impression.” Pullman, whowas in his early thirties, stood out in a professional landscapepopulated by older men. Harris notes, “There were few women, nopeople of color, few people close to me in age—there was not muchto choose from for a mentor in the late 1970s.” Pullman's earlyinfluence helped inform her career path, and later her choice ofgraduate school, Yale.

More here.

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Ebony/Jet Publisher John H. Johnson Honored with a Stamp

2011-07-25T21:26:00.000-04:00

In 2012, the Postal Service is pleased to honor John H. Johnson, the trailblazing publisher ofEbony, Jet, and other magazines. Johnson overcame poverty and racism to build a business empire embracing magazines, radio stations, cosmetics, and more. His magazines portrayed black people positively at a time when such representation was rare, and played an important role in the civil rights movement.

His unwillingness to accept defeat was a key to Johnson’s success. When he was unable to buy a lot in downtown Chicago because of his skin color, he hired a white lawyer who bought the land in trust. Thus, Johnson became the first black person to build a major building in Chicago’s Loop, where Johnson Publishing still has its headquarters.

As Johnson’s influence, accomplishments, and fortune grew, he received many prizes and honors. He joined Vice President Richard Nixon on a goodwill tour of Africa and served as a Special United States Ambassador for Presidents Kennedy and Johnson. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) awarded him its prestigious Spingarn Medal in 1966. Six years later, in 1972, his industry peers named him publisher of the year — a prize Johnson compared to winning an Oscar. In presenting Johnson with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1996, President Bill Clinton lauded him for giving hope to African Americans during difficult times. A panel of experts polled by Baylor University in 2003 named Johnson “the greatest minority entrepreneur in American history.” That same year, Howard University named its journalism school after him.

The stamp, designed by USPS art director Howard Paine, features a color photograph of John H. Johnson taken by Bachrach Studios in Chicago. The photographer was David McCann.

The U.S. Postal Service has recognized the achievements of prominent African Americans through the Black Heritage series since 1978. This stamp honoring Johnson is the 35th stamp in that series, which highlights outstanding individuals who helped shape American culture.

The stamp honoring John H. Johnson is being issued as a Forever® stamp. Forever stamps are always equal in value to the current First-Class Mail one-ounce rate.

Understand that There Are Greater Opportunities Available to You

2011-07-25T18:30:00.000-04:00

Dear Graphic and Web Designers, Please Understand that There Are Greater Opportunities Available to You

You have an inherent need to solve problems, visually and conceptually. There is enormous value in this, but you may be misplacing your talents.

The internet, at this time in history, is the greatest client assignment of all time. The Western world is porting itself over to the web in mind and deed and is looking to make itself comfortable and productive. It’s every person in the world, connected to every other person in the world, and no one fully understands how to make best use of this new reality because no one has seen anything like it before. The internet wants to hire you to build stuff for it because its trying to figure out what it can do. It’s offering you a blank check and asking you to come up with something fascinating and useful that it can embrace en masse, to the benefit of everyone.

Your press checks are bullshit
Your personal logo is bullshit
Your employer is bullshit
Your studio is bullshit

The market is handing you steak and you’re choosing the gristle. The market is handing you gold bullion and you’re taking the nickel.

As a designer, you enjoy building things for other people’s use. Your value is determined by the degree to which you can empathize with groups of people around a given topic. Historically, this relationship has required a large(r) company to act as mediator for the emotional mass-transaction. Companies provide you with an audience inasmuch as they have customers, and that’s enough for you because you just want to design stuff that solves stuff.

The internet kills all middlemen.

You now have direct access to the raw vein of popular attention. The pixels you’re pushing have a higher exchange rate than you’re giving yourself credit for*. No hounding client payroll, no selling other people’s stuff, no building other people’s wealth, no nephew’s cousins stepping in with the authority to change everything you’ve been working on.

If You Build It, They Will Come and Try It; and if you are keen enough to identify the opportunities that are being laid out before you by technology, then there is challenge and fulfillment and success to be had.

I run Svpply.com. I am its Designer. I used to design logos and now I design for the internet. Svpply is building a service which will redefine major components of the retail industry. Our team is figuring out how to do this together because no one has ever done anything like it before. No class of people has ever been offered an opportunity like the one you and I are being offered right now.

If this kind of opportunity sounds even slightly interesting to you, then you should join a startup. You don’t have to know more than that. The jobs are all out there waiting for you. They’re secure and fun and they pay competitively. If the thought of building something amazing for lots of people is interesting to you, You Should Join a Startup**.

You can find jobs at startups here, here, here and here. You should also just start sending your work to startups that you like. All of them are hiring or thinking about hiring.

If you have questions about this, feel free to hit me up. Additionally, I know someone specifically looking to fund good designers with good ideas, so let me know if you’d like an introduction.

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*The ability to design effectively for so many people at the stroke of a key is a skill and talent which will have its own title and pay grade. There are only going to be more and more small companies launching for the web. Many of them will need consultation on how to create and communicate with massive audiences and communities. As a designer this is all in your domain.

**I’m not suggesting that you shouldn’t start your own company. I just think that for a lot of designers, from what I’ve seen, this is jumping the gun. Unless you have a friend who is an engineer, it is going to be difficult for you to find someone of quality to build something for you, the professional landscape for those people is just too competitive right now for much of that. But I guarantee you’ll develop relationships with engineers if you go work at a startup, and from working relationships good conversations brew and companies are born.

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This piece is cross-posted from Ben Pieratt's blog.