Gush

Ever want to publish your presentation to multiple devices? well…I’ve been busy beta testing Influence app - a tool to help you do it! http://influenceapp.com. Don’t get me wrong it’s not an app that will help you edit your slides like Powerpoint. It’s really a tool for exporting your presentation slides for ideal viewing on these different devices. I can see why these tools allow you to easily focus on messaging, and leave the technical details behind. 

‘Found dog’, acrylic 3”x3”on canvas
This painting I used Q-tips to capture a spontaneous moment. Using q-tips was reminiscent of the stipple/ pen and ink drawings I used to do. I liked the way I could overlap dots to create more dynamic color and the control of the tip was much greater than a paintbrush. When looking at it your eye almost completes the forms created by an organic pattern of the dots.

Childhood mural by Erin, acrylic on canvas 4’x2.5’

Ah the good old days of banner ads…as a creative I guess you are never happy when a client asks you to create them for their brand. Somehow it’s hard not to think of all the noise and disruption that advertisers have tried with online banners. I once had a client back in Los Angeles that owned a skateboarding company emerging into the mainstream. We met at Starbucks in Manhattan Beach and discussed his current marketing strategy. His approach was to not create something visually appealing, but to buck the system with a banner ad that was downright horrible to look at. I was intrigued with the challenge since I don’t get the request to design something piss poor that often!. After a couple sketches he was sold on the idea of stick figures animated with a “Beavis and Butthead” mentality. Very simply drawn and meeting a very minimum file size. I was surprised the following month that Interactive News did an article highlighting my client and my name was featured as the designer. It created a new impression in the marketplace as an alternative approach to something that everyone is “just putting out there”. That’s the thing with banners and online media. It’s just limiting creatively unless you breathe a new strategy into it. What can I make this banner do for the client? Can I extend the functionality in a pointroll solution or a homepage take-over? What aspect of ‘playfulness’ can I allow the user in this online ad? How can it be memorable. All these things enter into consideration. Having worked for Motorola and enjoyed the mobile technology landscape, I have begun to appreciate the creative ways brands use standard media placement to reach their target audiences. The banner ad for Sheraton “Find your Farenheit” caught my eye as I investigated the weather for the week. Photography is crisp, clear, beautiful and the navigation is playful and appropriate for placement on the weather app. It was a seamless execution - not intrusive but an alignment of the data in a way that made the user curious. There is a powerful element of escapism that is introduced. The “integrated” advertising part of me is always interested in tapping into a basic human need and visually and strategically the Sheraton folks did a great job approving this creative.