Friday 30 August 2013

Productivity App of the Month - August: Morning

We’re the generation of texters, tweeters and “phubbers”. For many, a cursory glance at their tablet or Smartphone has replaced the morning coffee, and this month’s app holds the mirror up to our cultural technophilia.


Thursday 29 August 2013

Online metrics: avoiding a false economy

If you’re using online stats to justify a campaign, you’re missing the point.

We’ve recently come across this particularly striking picture campaign for Unicef. Simple in design, it delivers an incredibly poignant message to brands and creative agencies alike: Likes and follows are not a currency.



Monday 26 August 2013

'X-Men: Days Of Future Past' launches viral marketing campaign

As social media channels continue to grow their ability to inform our lives, film studios are relying heavily on 'see and share' content designed for moviegoers. This social networking trend has taken a step further this year with new campaigns for X-Men: Days Of Future Past and Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes.

Thursday 22 August 2013

Steve Barnes' week in pictures

Ever wondered what do the Idealogy team get up to on a daily basis? Well here's 'the evidence' and a sneaky peek at the weekend too. Nothing too incriminating (yet!)

























































Monday
– The start of the heatwave… iced water all round!
Tuesday – Lunchtime arrival of the Southampton Rhinos
Wednesday – It’s all in the planning!
Thursday – An evening float to cool down at sun down
Friday – Friday night Party Rhino
Saturday – My weekend Basecamp
Sunday – After a snap and a thud, maybe I’m too old for rope swings??

Monday 19 August 2013

Splines, Nurbs and Bézier curves?

Learning any new piece of software can be a daunting task. As a designer who has spent the best part of 20 years using Adobe’s Creative Suite, you find yourself using an ever-familiar layout of tools and menu items. Like muscle memory, these become second nature. Paths. Crop. Select. As designers, we all get to grips with these ever-familiar terms. So when I took on training for Cinema 4D, it came as some surprise to be faced with a whole new array of technical terms. Booleans. Splines. Nurbs. Hypernurbs. Bézier Curves. Bézier Nurbs. Bézier Splines even. These may sound like the kind of jargon you would expect to hear in a science fiction movie (“Activate the Hypernurb!”), but they are actually some the core elements to creating material in Cinema 4D. Bézier Splines, for example, is a method for creating soft, spatial curves. Hypernurbs, allow you to take geometric shapes and sculpt them into smooth, rounded objects. But why these strange names? Where did they come from?



Friday 16 August 2013

Cowes Week 2013 - Sunshine, smiling faces and many Mojitos… but no sailing!

We love our annual Cowes Week ‘outing’. It’s the perfect opportunity to down tools for a few hours, jump on the RedJet and cross the Solent to relax, chat and absorb all that the final day of Cowes Week has to offer. Admittedly in our case that is mostly in the form of beer and cocktails – but hey that’s what it’s all about by that stage in the Regatta isn’t it?


1. Has anyone warned them we’re coming?

2. What you looking at!

3. Is that a burger?

4. Fish ‘n Chip snack

5. The consultancy team – relaxing

6. Family fun

7. Ted the amazing Pimms drinking dog

8. Many Mojitos

9. Group hug

10. Lovely ladies

11. Limbo Lily

12. Dangerous Dave

13. Mine’s a cup of Tea… just joking

14. I need a P please Bob

15. The Coconut Cocktail Queen

16. The happy couple… and friend

17. This is our best side

18. Red Arrow madness

19. The Idealogy team on tour

20. Old friends in the party spirit

21. Fantastic fireworks

22. Sing along… we did!

Wednesday 14 August 2013

Simple launches Global websites – yes that’s plural!

I’ve been involved in many global web launches over the years, but none quite as ‘all consuming’ as the launch of Simple for Unilever. The project that started in July 2012, finally launching in July 2013, with the rollout the US site. This site being the last of the initial six (UK, US, AUS, NZ, CA x2) with lots more sites planned globally.



Monday 12 August 2013

900 million seconds in the studio

I started working at Idealogy almost 14 years ago and in that time I'd always worked in 'the studio', which is the largest floor in the building and situated the basement. That's over 25000 hours of creating, designing, artworking, building and programming. Over 25000 hours of deadlines, budgets, admin, telephone calls and emails. Over 25000 hours of frustration, delight, inspiration and satisfaction. Not forgetting Over 25000 hours of crying with laughter and losing my marbles.




Thursday 8 August 2013

A bad day at Social Media’s Black Rock.

From the Facebook-ing (and, now, strangely silent) Spanish Train Driver, to Twitter declining to stand up against social bullying, to the Wikileaks soldier likely to spend the rest of his days behind bars, it’s been a bad July for our burgeoning social media channels. The reputation management teams must be working overtime!


Monday 5 August 2013

The Resistance Zoo

The moment a business or an organisation thinks about change, it’s surprising how many (metaphorical) animals you can spot as the process gets underway. Thinking in animal terms is an entertaining and useful guide to the make up of the group tasked with embracing and implementing any form of change program.

Thursday 1 August 2013

With so many apps to choose from are there any that deserve a permanent place on your home screen?

To date there are over 900,000 (apple) apps and more are being created by the minute; but are there any gems amongst them that can become a part of your ‘creative workflow’? More importantly do they assist you in your day to day job, helping you to deliver better ideas and idealogies?

I’ve always tried to stay aware of different ways to help feed the creative process and stimulate the creative juices. Here are a few of my personal favorites that have made it into my own creative work flow.