Revolutionary New Avatar interactive trailer

avatarhttp://techland.com/2009/11/24/avatar-exclusive-first-look-at-%E2%80%98interactive-trailer/

Follow the above link to view info about the interactive trailer for James Cameron's new movie Avatar. I personally cannot wait for the movie, because I am a big JC fan, but more importantly because of all the new techniques and technologies he used to make the film. He has spent the last ten years working to make this film the first of its kind using revolutionary new 3-d filming techniques.

It brings to question how far away we are from advertising that literally can deliver the product or a virtual even functional 3-d say a mobile device for example and then allow users to play around with it. I'm sure we are only years away from developing technologies that allow consumers to virtually taste a product. Or will demographic and other data be so specific because our entire lives are monitored via our mobile devices that there will be almost no need for this sort of advertising. Its a rapidly changing world folks... I can't wait for the ride.

Facebook, Chase Team Up for Crowdsourced Philanthropy Program

article from fast company about

This is an interesting article I ran across that discusses Chases new charitable marketing campaign that allows consumers to chose the charity they would like Chase to donate to rather than, simply feed into broader corporate charity. This customized user experience is a great example of how companies can make thier customers happy, feel more like individuals, and a part of a charity campaign, without any greater effort or spending on the part of the corporation. I am sure this will soon be adopted by many other companies, and I look forward to future applications.

Slip covers

We had a creative project due that involved a brand of slip covers called Sure Fit Slip covers and I thought of a great promotional marketing idea or even new product that they could use to increase customer awareness through internet and customer loyalty and even a new product category. My idea was to lunch a line of basic cooled slip covers that are designer to be written painted, drawn ect on and launch a contest to see who come up with the best design or holiday tradition. Such as using it as a guest book or ironing on kids christmas pics or even designing birthday or other festive holiday designs. It is definitely something my mom would buy.

Jim carreys new site

article from fast company new site by 65 media first of its kind real cool



http://www.jimcarrey.com/

I found this article about a new home page for Jim Carrey, that is just straight weird and cool, with strange interactive flash media and a whole gammit of other gadgets, including a bird that tweets his tweets. I have never seen anything like it before and I think it does a fantastic job of integrating communication sites such as twitter and also other personal info and data such as old photo. It really invites the visitor to snoop around and I'm betting it is one of the first of many sites that will be similar to this one except of course slightly less weird. After all it is Jim Carrey

Power of music: Live Preformance Taubman Atrium

I was walking to Meadows Library today and on my way there came across a Meadows preformance of various vocalist, violinists and even a very impressive accordian player. A number of the preformaces gave me chills, just watching how deeply the preformers felt their music and instrument. This experience renewed my devotion to learning to play the harmonica. A christmas ago I began learning to play the harmonica, an instrument I chose because of its relative ease of use, small size and low price, which would allow for me to bring it where ever I went for an impromptu harmonica jam session. Now although I am by no means a super star I am improving and after toay I hope to up my practic sessions so that I can get to the point when I no longer need to use harp tabs. It is so important to challenge you skill set and creative abilities, althoug I cannot pick up on song words due to a hearing disorder that used to also prevented me from learning to read, I can feel a beat and love learning a new song.

Today I used my Iphone instead of my computer!

I had a monumental realization today, when I was sitting at the computer a couple days ago, as was one of my friends and we were planning on going to a movie that evening. When deciding what time to go we both simultaneously pulled out of our pockets our perspective smart phones, and looked up the time. Suddenly I realized that we both had chosen a phone ad app over an actual computer with real wireless internet. I cannot wait to see the developments that will continue to come in cell phone technology, such as the open user friendly DRIOD which has had some interesting campaign ad, which I've found pretty successful.

If you follow this link it will take you to Youtube, where verizon is using a interface on youtube that I have never see before. Once I clicked on the advertisement on the main youtube search page it took me a Verizon wireless home page on youtube which has an easy to use holiday themed user interface, featuring quality HD video, along with phone demos and Spanish commercials. Its similar to a page take over except well its only on driod ads. I believe this is going to be a growing trend it it very affective at getting users interesting and learning more about their products and brand rather than just quickly viewing the ad.

Link

I caught a leaf today

I caught leaf today as it was falling off a tree....I guess fall is in the air. It may not seem too significant or important that I was able to catch a leaf, but as you may remember from middle and lower school, when you catch a naturally falling leaf before it hit ground it is good luck. Well, all through both lower and middle school I was never able to catch a leaf. So today when I caught the leaf I felt especially lucky. This got me wondering what the world would be like if everyone thought they had good, it would either result in the economy getting a boost, or mass hysteria when a majority of peoples luck runs out. However I very strongly believe in the power of positive self talk, and positive expectations. I believe anyone achieve their goals if they truly deeply believe in them and are moved to purse them.

Another interesting Ad about the power of humanity, no matte how small the characters

I thought an interesting PSA about global warming would be an ad featuring a little girl or boy and two items.
The first ad involved a child staring intently at a small sapling tree, which will start swirling around in circles, making it seem as though child is do this telepathically, then the plant will begin to smoke and eventually, burst into flames. It will then zoom out say something along the lines of don't, children do as thier parents, it is your responsibility to your kids to begin making changes that they will be able to enjoy.... this is still a rough idea and I haven't even started of copy yet.

Boskop vs woman with half a brain

I read two interesting articles today in "The Brain" a magazine about...you guessed it the brain. The first article was about a woman who lost half of her brain and is functioning completely normally, and then other was about boskops a species of hominid with brains sizes that were 30% larger than our own. The Boskop which was discovered in South Africa, were lived at the same time homosapiens were first being found. Their brain size was not large because of size, but their relative brain size was 30% larger than average humans. The researcher said that based on this data and the observation that a majority of the larger tissue was in the pre-frontal cor text indicated that their average IQ scores would be higbh genius level, which means that their geniuses had some impressive thinking abilities. Scientist theorized that they died out possibly because they simply arrived to early, their incredible ability to observe and draw connections may not have made them the best survivor in the fast paced dangerous violent world they lived in. The article wraps up discussing a new discover of homosapien ruins in which they found one tomb containing a Boskop with many decorations, suggesting they simply breed with humans and were possibly viewed as wise men et. They are currently looking for genetic links in bush men. It was especally astonishing for me to learn this right after reading about the immense un-tapped potential of the human brain as illustrated by a woman who lost one entire half of hers and after a great deal of rehab is functioning normally.

link to another article about Boskops
The Extinct Human Species That Was Smarter Than Us

Inspirational Alarm Clock

My freshman year I was very interested in motivation and inspiration, and consequently red/watched The Secret, which is a book about the power of positive belief, visualization ect. It started me thinking about how so many children especially underprivileged or poor children (and adults) grow up with nothing expected of them , and not expectations of themselves. One of the most powerful forces in a persons life it how they view their potential to succeed. I thought an interesting idea would be to create an alarm clock that featured inspirational videos like this



or speaker from the secret, to give an inspirational message when you wake up that would give people the power and reminder of their potential. I thought in order to make it more popular you could also use celebrities and athletes talk about their trials and tribulations and how persevered to emerge successful. It would even be quite simple especially if teaming up with these major companies and name, to get start up funding. I thought songs/wake up calls could be sold on Itunes and other online music and download sites to be purchased, and every dollar of purchase would go towards free song/ alarm for under person in need.

Make childhood a possiblity for our next generation

Kids have been utilizing renewable sources of energy and delighting in them for ages, me as child for example, I had and unnatural obsession with fire, but my parent forbid me from getting or playing with lighters or matches, so I bought a magnifying glass, and used it harness the power of the sun. Children also using a windmill and sails to power their toy boats, blowing dandy lions, bubble, spin wheel, kite, kisses...ect





Furthermore little kids hate to waste, for example if they spill water on table, then they are usually the first ones to suck up the h20, how a bout that for conservation. Also because kids can't drive...obviously, they are constantly using environmentally friendly mode of transportation, such as skate boards, bikes, feet, and dog power. An interesting note kids children have know the benefits and fun that can be had with an electric car for ages with the use of RC/ cars. Finally, although this may be a bit of a stretch , it has some merit as long as you refrain from reading "Lord of The Flies" when kids fight they are taught to solve differences through talking and compromise, not killing.

What would the world be like if adult humans had the same characteristics made up of children

Map of anything worms

Today I witnessed an event that I have numerous times before in my short 20 years of life, but for some reason it struck me as especially meaningful. I was walking to class eiry in the morning, and saw a large earthworm making its way across the the side walk. It was such a powerful image for some reason, two polar opposites, a wet slimey cold, soft bodied, delicate worm, inching fearlessly, blindly across a hot craggy barren lifeless desert of concrete. I watched as he inched by his mummified comrades, stuck to the cement, squished down by and oblivious foot. I stood there as he finished crossing the remaining 8 inches to the other side, so as not to give the birds watching us a chance for an easy meal. Sure I probably should have let the birds eat him after all I am a huge fan of Darwin and survival of the fittest, but it was this worm lucky day. It makes me wonder what drives all creatures from worms to human explores to traverse such treacherous lands. I know in the case of most animals it is most likely instincts driven by the desire to expand the gene pool, but who am I to speculate, maybe he was looking for his one true love who was snatched up by a bird only to be accidentally dropped on the other end of the world.

Look at that! I called it telepathic Twitter is possible

I believe I saw this article on twitter but cannot remember, anyways, this article from WIRED Tells of how engineer Adam Smith, at the University of Wisconsin, sent a tweet that said "USING EEG TO SEND TWEET" using only his thoughts. Apparently this is huge and the magazine compared its significance to Alexander Grahm Bells message to Watson, which is pretty amazing. I feel as though technologies are moving so fast these days that all you have to do is suggest something you think is far out of the realm of possibility and boom! Someone, somewhere has just done it. Whats next, a machine that scans the internet for suggested inventions and then creates them....maybe in a couple of years.

If you follow the link there is also a video, but for some reason the info won't paste over.

Cool commercial Idea for brita or some other water purifyer

My concept for the ad was to show the viewer how much CO2 and other harmful emissions are produced when bringing bottled water from spring/source to the consumer. In order to give viewers a much easier idea or image to help them understand the amount of C02 produced, huge bags would be used to collect all emmissions, and then be shown being deposited in middle or city parks and other natural areas , I though it would make for some interesting media coverage and definitely close the divide between however many cubic feet of emissions to viewing a black back of dirt and poisons.

Bathroom Photography book Based on Bathroom Graffite

My book has a similar idea behond another book one of my professors is writting called the Pure Process which shows advertisers creative process, I thought bathroom graffite is a good example of unscencored creativity and expression however crude or vile. I have always been fascinated with the graffite that one finds in the dirty underworld of the public bathroom. As a young child bathroom graffite was my first exposure to many curse words racism, sexuality, and even the power of anonymous expression. In many ways graffite is human kinds most basic form of expression and creativity, just look at the cavemen. I always sit there on the toilet staring at the areas of the stall that have been obviously scratched out or painted over, hoping for a glimpse of what was so harmful that it needed to be covered over. It truly is a forum where people can communicate with a whole range of people, just think of the number of people of all different ages nationalities and sexual preferences see a picture on the DFW bathroom stall. Although bathroom art is often lewd and racist, it provides a unique glimpse into a culture that is usually ignored and covered up much like the art.



I think pictures of of bathroom graphite from around different locations around the country could make for an interesting coffee table or bathroom book. I am going to do my best to start this task.

Although bathroom writting is also the source of a great deal of racism and sexism, so it may be tougher than I think.
....I need to diversify my bathroom stops on the road trip from houston to dallas becuase those were some clean bathrooms. Well, I will keep looking for pics for my bathroom book.

So i got a twitter and flicker account today

I decided to get a twitter and fliker account today, because they are an great media for self expression and discovery. Plus twitter is a great source for extremly up to date news. You can monitor companies, news stations sports stars/writters, and even your friends. sor far I have typically used it for news, but will try to use it more as time goes on.
tweet!
my twitter account is gwhynot

New Bing search allows users to search Real-Time web

Bing Creates Twitter Search Tool
Oct 21, 2009
- Mike Shields





Microsoft is taking an interesting approach in its tug of war with google, in many ways, this is the way of th future, sites such as twitter are becoming THE place to go for the most up to date and real news and information, advertisers will need to continue working to inspire Tweeters and bloggers alike to disscuss and help spread the word about products and concepts. It is interesting how more and more the web is connecting individuals and thier experiences with other individuals, say good bye to the days of getting information from the the big companies and networks, and hello to your new neighborhood of 1 billion and counting knowledgable and friendly neighbors. I wonder whats next, head gear that allows you to tweet, text or flick your thoughts in real time onto the web????

NFL Ballet

I saw this cool NFL ad last night and got chills, I love how somthing as simple as slowing down somthing as violent, fast and chaotic as football can bring it into a whole new light. It definitly will grab the attention of someone who typically may view football as a sport played by oafish brutes, such as mothers or wives, by allowing them to see the grace, and agillity required to play at such levels. It also reminded me of the importance of remebering to look harder and deeper into and at daily life and beauty, from a different perspective. I often take for granted many of the simple beutiful things that are constantly occuring around me.us.

enjoy

Get Infected

I was reading an article in Men's Health this morning, describing working being done by various ground breaking doctors to cure cancer diabetes, stroke ect. The author began describing the doctor who came across much younger than his age, going on to say that it was a result of his unbridled enthusiasm for his work. He described the doctors passion as "infectious." This got me thinking how powerful infectious personalities and passion can be. It may be the most powerful human emotion or influence. It has the ability to mobilize the human race to do great things, and much like a plague, to immobilize it. Infectious optimism can lead to an underdog sports team overcoming the odds and proving everyone wrong to win it all. Infectious individuality, creativity and love can inspire an entire generation to make a difference and make a stand ie hippies in the 70's. Whether it is one persons infectious personality and passion that inspires others, or a generation that inspired and moved to make a difference, it seems that this inspired infectious motivation always inspired others to worked selflessly and tirelessly in pursuit of a cause greater than themselves.

So go out and "Get Infected."

Burger King cartoon ad real bad taste

Burger king ad

Halloween Is the Most Creative Holiday EVER!!!

I love Halloween! As soon as I could scream "BOO!" I understood that Halloween is the only time when it is socially acceptable to scare people witch to this day is one of my favorite past times, and your friends and family quickly learn your secrets, which is why you have to constantly adjust your tactics and create new methods. Then you have the costumes, I cannot remember a Halloween when I wasn't in costume. Whether it the costumes my mom put on me as a baby or the numerous grotesque sores and wounds that would be stuck on my legs and arms far into November, or the blue paint that covered ever surface of my room when I was more recently Captain Planet. This is the only Halloween I have at the moment but may update with some more classic costumes, as Halloween nears.

Things I have wanted to do or be when I grow/grew up.

This is more or less in the order but my perception of time, especially as a little boy is not good.

Cowboy
Batman
Soldier
Lion
GI Joe
Dad
Paleontologist
Vet
Zoo keeper
Reptile breeder
Crocodile Hunter
herpetologist
Zoological Landscape Designer
Aquarium designer
Cook
TV Cooking show host
professional hunter
Professional fisherman
Actor
Nature photographer
Adventure Journalist
Cartoonist
Sculpture
Eco company
Army/peace corps
Business Exec.
Accountant
Environmentalist
Creative ad director
Owner of my own business

If all things go as planned I will be able to in some way live out all of these childhood aspiration by the time I am DEAD. I guess the list will be ongoing.

My Creative Process

This is one of the sketches about my creative process that I though was pretty interesting, I haven't spent to much time on it, and I am still learning a great deal about my creative process, so I am going to share a number of my ideas and maybe one day find something that really fits me.

I re-wrote the passage that is on the back of a home work that explains a bit of what the image represents, I left the crossed out words to allow a bit more insight into my thinking process, and the same goes with the writting on the sketch. I plan on cleaning them up in the near future possibly with some other ideas.

Hope it inspires something in you.

Take this Apple with a Grain of Salt

When drawing random pics while brainstorming, ideas for my found object I realized that my tree of knowledge looked a lot like a mushroom cloud of destruction. Maybe they should call it an Adam Bomb.

An apple a day may not keep all the doctors away after all... at least not Dr. Strangelove.

What else could this be? An apple core prehaps.

Don't be Afraid to Read Between the Linves...

This is a continuation of "There is more than meets the I" post. After reading something regarding forest fires in the newspaper I randomly wrote down fire lines, then later noticed that it could read a couple different ways. This image is a word for word duplication of the sketch, just with a bit of cover. The words I wrote surrounding it are just how they were in my note book, it has the potential to be a cool MIND MAP.

What do you read?

Future of The Bog

These illustrations represent my optimistic view of what this BLOG will amount to, and I use the life cycle of a real bog to further illustrate my point. I view The Bog as my own little learning experiment, in which I am free to make as many mistakes as I want as long as I learn along the way, I have no grand message or goal, other than to keep posting. I am confident that as long as I do not start a new blog, one day thousands of posts and many years later it will be something I look back at with nostalgia, a feeling of accomplishment. Who knows maybe all the work will pay off, and someone else will find inspiration or some use for it, turning my diamond into a $ cow.

Ocean Spray "Top Bog" in the world of Cranberries

Ocean spray’s “Straight from the Bog” campaign was and is extremely successful, resulting in double digit sales increases, and making Ocean Spray “Top Bog” of the cranberry world.

I chose this commercial for Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice, by Arnold Worldwide, to discuss vertical, horizontal, and tertiary texts, because there are so many to be made.

The second I was given the task of embedding a video, I immediately thought of the Ocean Spray commercials, because they take place in a BOG, and that is of course the name of the blog you are visiting right now. It is interesting how naturally we make textual connections, when I chose the ad, I hardly realized, that the connection was made using vertical texts. The commercial also makes vertical connections between the benefits of drinking cranberry juice to your immune system, and dodge ball. I also made connections between other Ocean Spray commercials, which focus on the beauty of the cranberry bog, and the home grown aspects of Ocean Spray. Although these were not explicitly discussed in this ad, I was still aware of them because I was reading this ad based on experience I had with other previous ads. The company takes advantage of these horizontal connections made, and is even taking greater steps to increase knowledge and awareness of Ocean Spray cranberries with other projects, such as the cranberry bog installation in Rockefeller Center, with real cranberry farmers answering peoples questions.

Photo: Sarah Lohman

The most important aspect of this ad, and the campaign, is that the ads are FUNNY. I would not even remember the ad unless I thought it was funny. Although I like to think of myself and independent and impervious other peoples opinion, I undoubtedly read many tertiary texts with regard to this ad. If my friends didn't like the ad I assume I would soon find flaws with it also. Furthermore, after reading articles about how "Ocean Sprays Straight from the Bog Campaign Rank in Top Ten Percent of All Ads Ever Tested" I view the ad more highly, and in the contexts of advertisers and professional advertising publications rather than simply a funny commercial. It is mind BOGgling thinking about how many different connections or texts we use for anyone object. I just went over the most obviouse connections but it seems one could endlessly make connections however abstract between object and texts, in many ways, this is due to the fact that the human mind is essetntially an endlesss array of connections.

For example, if you took every mind map ever created in the creative class I am taking right now, and tried to make a connection between them, you could create one cohhesive giant mind map. If it werent for the color, from a distance I bet it would look like this image of nerves in the human brain.

Can we literally hold the world in the palm of our hand?

There are may analogies and metaphores that convey that the world is a small place, and that its fate lies in our hands. It got me thinking, that we are nearing a point when we may quite literally be able to hold the world in our hands.

Imagine the Earth as a basketball, and think about how much area your hand takes up on the surface of that basketball. Now, what if every person on the planet simultaneously put both hands on the ground. Although we may not be there quite yet, in 10 years with the current rate of population growth, is it that far fetched to think that we may literally be able to hold the world in the palms of our hands?


Here are a couple of basic thoughts I sketched while thinking of this idea.










What are some interesting thoughts or perspectives YOU have to convey this idea?

Brain Drain

Here is a closer look

Bogged Down with Blogs for The Bog

I am still learning how to use this program, but as a quick fix for the illegible captions here is a close up.

As the weekend and fall break rolls around I realize that I have allowed my self to get into quite the time crunch. I have only recently truly realized what this blog is all about, not advertising or current events, but me or at least my brain and the constant stream of IDEAS flowing in and out of it.

Once I realized that I could be creative and there was no right or wrong way to do this, I started jotting down all sorts of topics, sketches, and ideas. However now that I am finally, dare I say enjoying the creation of these posts, I am faced with the ever present enemy...TIME (no, not the magazine). With a week to go before my 20 post are due, and a trip to Baton Rouge LA for the LSU vs. Florida game, and two tests and another project due next week, I find my self bogged down with work. Although I am confident that I will accomplish all my goals, I still worry out of past experience about the possibility that The Bog could suck me in. I get can get a bit obsessed if you will, once i really get into the FLOW of things.

Making these posts is like getting stuck in quicksand (which in extremely common in bogs), the further I go into the blog, coming up with posts ect. the deeper i sink into it weighed down by even more ideas.

Who knows maybe I wont finish my posts, but instead will just keep going deeper into The Bog into my own creative world...or Wonderland. Maybe Alice will be there, I've always thought she was hot.

We are living in EXPONENTIAL TIMES!

The Google post got me thinking on a grander scale about the "future."

We are living in confusing times, the entire world is moving faster and faster towards a future that is increasingly uncertain. From the very beginning, the human race, has multiplied, and strived to do things more efficiently, but today we are moving so fast that we are unable to see the future world we are moving towards. One of the most alarming aspects of our global dilemma is that the problems we face such as climate change, water shortages, natural resource depletion, food shortages and disease, are only going to get worse as the population continues to grow.

As I see it there are three options :
1. Ignore or deny.
2.Give up.
3. Get INSPIRED.

I am inspired by the problems we face in the future, and by the incredible possibilities that lie ahead. Never before have there been so many educated and knowledge hungry young brains on the planet, and even more exciting is that the IDEAS they create are connected, and will continue to become so interconnected, that one day soon it will be as if humanity has one BIG brain.

As Internet becomes more accessible, and the technology that incorporates it grows smarter and more efficient, one day the WWW will be humanities BRAIN.

I believe the problems we are and will continue to face will be one of the best opportunities humanity has ever been given. These future threats can only be solved through truly global cooperation. We find ourselves in the Age of Information, finally with the capabilities to work together and think as a global community.

I am confident that The Human Race, with a brain literally as big as all the world's brains combined, will come up with a plan to get us out of this mess... before its too late.



This video is a series of future statistics which will make you think of what future lies ahead.

Is GOOGLE the Next Creative Ad Giant?

This article out of the Wall Street Journal discusses Google Inc., the company that "championed the belief that advertising should be less about art and more about science" and how it has had a change of heart when it comes to creativity in adverting, as is attempts to break into the display ad business. Google after "buying online video site YouTube in 2006 and display-ad company DoubleClick in 2008" has no shortage of resources, but is making up for lost time creatively. Google according to many in the creative advertising world is making a substantial investment. It has created new facilities and is restructuring to work more fluidly with ad agencies. I found this interesting, because the Internet is currently, a relatively untapped and untamed frontier and only by creatives and Internet search giants working together can its power be fully harnessed.

Google Decides to Find Its Creative Side
Internet Giant Seeks to Work Closer With Madison Avenue as It Targets Display Ad Dollars

Toyota's "Terror Marketing Campaign" to much for some viewers

This is ad by Saatchi and Saatchi LA, was the start of a controversial "terror marketing campaign," in which people divulge a small amount of personal information about a friend then email them a personality test link. The link is the start of a 5 day, prank which leads the helpless friend to think they are being stalked.The prank included fake hotel bills, video, fake myspace pages, and the use of information provided by the victims friend. A lawsuit was filed September 28 by a woman who, absolutely terrified by the ad sleeping with a machete and mace for five days until she discovered that it was all a harmless "prank"..."ad."



Article from adage.com

Although this is an interesting, groundbreaking, and to some (like myself) funny campaign, it is obviously bad idea. As advertisers seek to continue to push the limits of what the internet has to offer through the use of social networking sites such as myspace for example, and work harder to reach the increasingly mobile, Internet savy public, there will undoubtedly be more cases in which advertisers cross the line and get a bit to invovled in peoples personal lives.

Self-Sustaining Community Behind Dallas City Hall?

Are the Plans To Build A Green, Sustainable Building of Tomorrow Smack in the Heart of Downtown Dallas Some Pipedream or A Reality?

The Dallas Observer had a long article discussing the new plan to create a green, self sustaining, multi-use building in a dollar a day parking lot behind Dallas City Hall. The creative dyad behind this project are architect John Greenan and Brent Brown, after walking across the desolate parking lot decided that it was a waste of space. They pushed Dallas for the location a unique multi function, green building. Dallas? You may think is an unlikely city for such a progressive and forward thinking project. However, although it is still perceived as behind the green ball, compared to to other cities such as San Fransisco, Dallas is making strides with some large projects such with the Trinity River Corridor, or Woodall Rodgers park. The author also discusses Dallas one weakness, or strength depending on your view, Dallas loves new things, whether it is shopping centers, malls, stadiums, or maybe even sustainable communities. Furthermore they wanted more national attention from skeptics, if the project were done in San Fran it would just be another stunt, but in Dallas it is ground breaking. An unperceived consequence about using Dallas is that, national media, will not take the project seriously, Dallas is serious and is taking all the step necessary to make it happen.

I find inspiration in the determination of Brown and Greenan, who are also the creators of affordable housing, they express their creativity in ways to benefit society, and seem so eager to usher in this future of community living. The project once ground is broken will no doubt booster Dallas into the national spotlight for a cause that most would not expect, this will reap tremendous benefits in helping to continue draw alternative energy and green business.

For more information of the project or the other projects being under taken or Re: worked, which include urban planning, transportation, energy delivery architecture, commerce, ad construction, visit this link to Re:Vision Dallas

Finding Creativity in Nature

While walking to Moody Garage back from class, I noticed that the pruning scars on the new oak trees planted, looked like old ragged eyes. Which got me thinking and sketching how the eyes may form. Eyes really are extremely interesting part of the body, they have so many layers and are all so unique. From the eyelid and surrounding wrinkles and lashes, to the reflection on the surface,to the inevitable cataracts, to the intricately patterned iris to the jagged red veins, through the pupil into the cornea and its array of nerves and vesicles, to the upside down reflection of well yourself, or who ever is looking in the eye, and finally the dull glaze of death.

What Happened to Childhood Creativity

As soon as I learned to write in cursive up until somewhere in middle school I wrote my name like in the image above. Typically it was in pencil but I would often elaborate and even create a whole pond ecosystem at the top of my homework. I wonder if I came up with this when in flow like the previous post or if I just stumbled on it uninhibited by societies rules. Either way, I am going to begin using this signature again maybe not all the time, but every once and awhile, in order to remember my child days when anything was possible and a majority of the day was spent in Imagination Land. Below is a sound clip of the Imagination Land song from South Park, pretty funny episode, if you want to watch the full episode go to southparkstudios.com

There is MORE than MEETS the I

I often find that when I am in FLOW or a state close to it, when ideas are just falling onto paper faster than I know what to do with them, that when sketching or writing I see hidden objects or multiple meanings, or interpretations of what ever it is I am working on. This is the first one and it is simply from a page of notes when I was jotting down ideas about how my creative process works. I decided to leave the writing cause its weird and I like it.

Take a close look and see if you can see the hidden image. It was supposed to represent the flow of ideas as rain and some how evolved into something more. I've interpreted it many ways so let me know what you see. It is also done on recycled Intro to Creativity slides, that is what is in the background.

I will continue posting other interesting observations when they come up so, STAY POSTED.

I found an apple today...

It was on my kitchen counter and I ate it, on my way to Moody Garage. I found a huge bad spot, probably a worm or something. As I am walking up the stairs I cannot find a trash can and after the devil and angle on my shoulders finished arguing I sided with the devil and decided I did not want to bring the half eaten apple into my newly cleaned car. So i tossed it in the corner, then right as I turn the corner onto the third floor there it is...
The TRASH CAN!

I am then faced with a dilemma that I believe many people have experienced once or twice in their life. You look around start rationalizing, the birds will eat it, SMU pays people to clean the garage they will get it, no one is around, they will never know. But then come the what ifs, what if my mom or little sister are watching, what if it starts to smell and rats eat it and spread the plague all over campus, what if the bad spot was an actually worm hole that and if I go back to pick up the apple, it will transport me into an alternate reality, where I will find a sports almanac of the future, or be able to see whether the earth really is warming, or...what if its the RIGHT thing to do.

So I turned around to pick up the apple, and quickly tried to document this life changing moment before the people coming up the stairs saw me taking pictures of an apple. I picked up the apple gently, broke it in half (double checking the worm hole theory) and tossed it into the trash. Hoped in my car and went from feeling guilty about littering, to pretty darn good about my "selfless act," and thinking about ways I could use this as a found object. A story may one day follow incorporating every single connection I could make with the apple, but for now.

Don't Mess With Texas

Just how weird is Austin

An article in the Wall Street Journal called The Next Youth-Magnet Cities
top 10 creative Cities with Austin at #5 and Dallas at # 9. I am going to Austin to discover how Weird Austin really is. Well I am going to ACL to find out. I will update this post with my findings.

Well as you may have guessed Austin lived up to its name and I did my best to leave Austin as weird as or weirder than I found it. My recent trip to Austin Texas for the Austin City Limits music festival was a blur of great music, great food, and great people. Although I have visited Austin a number of times before, I was much more aware of the different aspects of the city that have lead to its appeal to young professionals and creative types. The first thing that stood out to me, was the abundance of parks and open natural areas in the city, ACL is in fact put on by the Austin Parks service, and all profits go towards the creation and maintenance of parks. On my arrival to the concert grounds, I was in awe of the number of bikes on the bike racks, Austin and it citizens have worked hard to increase bike use. As far as Texas goes Austin is extremely forward thinking environmentally speaking, and generally speaking I think this is an important factor, attracting young professionals and creatives. The concert is carbon neutral with energy from Green Mountain. Austin is also very supportive of small businesses; this was made even clearer by the food stands all of which were local favorites. Furthermore, the crowd at the concert and on the busses was pretty diverse. I have never seen so many tattoos and piercings, a great deal of this diversity is a direct result of the UT, which helps to bring students and professionals from around the country to Austin.

Cities must have large events especially annual events or something that brings people into the city. People must truly experience a city before they decide to move or realize they are missing out. ACL by holding the concert relatively close to the city and using it to support various global and local causes is showcasing all that Austin has to offer any weirdo who visits.

October 1, 2009 Happy 60th Birthday Communist China

Images from Fast Company

I read an interesting article today about the state of art in China today entitled Artists Test Limits as China Lets (a Few) Flowers Bloom, it makes some interesting observations, and made me think about the incredible creative potential of the future. Typically when I begin thinking about China and its enormous population, economy, resource demands, army, and growth rate I become intimidated or threatened. However, once I begin to think of the Chinese as people who are trying to get ahead in life and essentially in the end make the place better for the future, I realize that they are and will continue to be one of our greatest partners. Although China is still hard at work stifling creativity aimed at the government and social issues, it is only stifling a creative revolution which will without a doubt emerge in the not to distant future. For as prosperity and education continues to grow in China I believe that its government will reform. In many ways China should be viewed as a role model. China's extremely rapid growth are forcing it to deal with climate and resource issues much sooner that the US, which is why although China is holding back on abiding by Kyoto protocol and other UN goals, as is the US, they are setting their own bold alternative energy, and sustainability goals which are much more comprehensive than any current US plans. However, that may simply be because the government has much more say in China than in the US, where people are still warming-up pun intended to environmental issues. In some ways it is a crime agains humanity, when creativity is stifled, and one of the best ways to stifle creativity, is by taking away ones freedom. I for one cannot wait for the day when the Chinese are free to live up to thier creative potential.