Brand Design Blog, News and Ideas

Just to let you all know. I am in the middle of a major redesign to the existing website.

I’m also working on something extra that will be of interest to designers, marketeers and small business operators.

So stay tuned!

If anyone would like and pre launch information about the project email me at admin@crimsonfox.com.au using the subject title of “Next Big Thing”.

Thanks.

I’d just like to let everyone know that my wife and I have had our second baby girl.

Charli Jean, Born 31 March 2009, 8.8 pounds.

Everyone is well and it’s been a very joyful but BUSY time for my whole family which has kept me from writing as much as I would like.

I’m back on board now and will be delivering more recent posts.

Speak to you all soon.

Above is a 5 minute video that illustrates how our world of information is expanding at an incredible rate.

This video was made in 2007, just think about how far we’ve moved since then.

I’d just like to wish all the readers a Very Happy, Safe and Successful New Year.

It looks like many businesses will be hitting some more tough times over the next year, but if you can hang in there and continue to drive sales you have an opportunity to reach even greater heights in 2009.

I’m certainly looking forward to the challenge and will be aiming to make 2009 our best year yet.

The creator of the world famous ‘Pringles’ chip can system, Fredric J. Baur, of Cincinnati, was buried last week in the township of Springfield, U.S.A.

His children honoured their father’s request by burying some of his cremated remains in the pringles can for which he was famous.

Strange, but true… read the full story here.

SXSW is a yearly conference in Austin Texas that says it covers, music, film and interactive topics.

In reality, it covers a whole lot more.

Literally hundreds of speakers getting together to speak about all things creative, innovative and ground breaking.

Unfortunately, like many people, I find myself on the other side of the world and over committed to my work to take a trip over to the U.S. and soak up 10 days of thoughts and ideas from brilliant speakers. There is also the issue of it being finished for this year (March 7-16).

So what’s an information junkie to do…?

There is a solution. Many of the panels have been recorded as audio podcasts which you can download for free.

So far I’ve listen to panels on time management, web design, branding, digital effects on a budget, industrial design, business start-ups and game theory.

There are more to come, so make sure you subscribe to the rss feeds which can be found here at feedburner or by doing a search for SXSW in the podcast section of itunes.

I hope you find them as useful and thought provoking as I have.

Make sure to subscribe to the podcasts before they take them down otherwise you may miss the chance to download them.

Don’t be afraid to post your comments on this blog, I’d be interested to read your thoughts.

TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design and a is conference that brings together great speakers from around the world.

The TED web site houses a gold mine of presentations given on topics ranging from Business to the Environment, from Culture to Innovation.

With talks by guests such as Jane Goodall, Al Gore and Brian Greene each FREE video presentation is packed with insightful and interesting information.

Each speaker is given (approx) 18 minutes to give the talk of a life time on their chosen subject.

There is some really great stuff on the site and I would highly recommend that you take some time to check it out.

I’ve also selected a category on design which I think you’ll interesting – “Design like you give a Damn” features a range of great speakers talking about all aspects of design.

If you found this interesting, leave me a comment and let me know.

You’ve probably already seen this in a million different places on the web, but I thought I’d make a comment anyway.

For the last year or so, there has been a format war over which High Definition video format will be the future.

Our combatants – HD DVD Vs. Blu-ray

Much like the older video formats – VHS Vs. Beta

There was simply no place for both. Double the cost for consumers, more importantly double the cost for producers. Having to produce multiple format versions of a film would add millions to the cost of distribution.

So, after a year of back an forth from one film studio or another, backing one format or another – then after a lot of money changing hands – All major film studios are now supporting Blu-ray as there format of choice.

So what does this mean for the consumer?

When there are going to be positives and negatives.

Firstly, having one format is going to make it much easier for the consumer to purchase a single hi-definition player and be able to stick to it.

On the other hand, because we only have one format, we’re unlikely to see any competition on price. So, for the mean time the Blu-ray players are in no real hurry to come down in price.

Personally, the convenience of only having to buy one player to get films from all studios has won me over. I could see nothing worse than having to buy one player to play one movie and then another player to play a movie from a different studio.

Either way, this is an interesting story and one worth paying attention to.

To read more information on this weeks events visit: www.engadget.com

I can’t finish the week without making reference to the biggest advertising event on the calendar.

The American Superbowl has become the most highly contested advertising spot worldwide.

With over 3 Million US dollars being shelled out for a single run during the game.

You then add the cost of producing each commercial, including A list entertainment talent. You are looking at a cool 5-6 million dollars for a single advertising spot.

While those figures sound insane from a return on investment point of view. Studies have shown that many products advertised during the Superbowl have received in excess of a 10% increase in yearly sales, directly attributed to Superbowl ads.

For high profile products this can mean an increase in revenue of tens of millions of dollars. Certainly worth the initial expense.

To see some of this years Superbowl commericals click here.

In my opinion, some Superbowl commercials are brilliant. Delivering a message that calls customers to action, while delivering just the right about of entertainment value to make the message stick.

While other ads have missed the mark by placing too much emphasis on the entertainment and not enough on the message.

Check them out and let me know which ones worked for you.

Just been announced at Mac World 2008.

The New Apple Laptop. Macbook Air. The worlds thinnest notebook.

Everyone had been wondering what Steve Jobs might announce at this years conference after the press that the iphone got last year.

This new laptop is ultra thin. At it’s thickest point you are looking at 22mm which then tapers down to a 4mm ‘blade like’ edge.

Even if you’re not a Mac fan, this one is definitely worth a look.

You can view the commercial here.

Or, have a closer look with the guided tour here.

I’ll be interested to read your feedback on this one.