exitcreative

By Don Smith

You should totally check out the Flash game Magic Pen. It’s a fun and simple game that starts easy and quickly becomes more challenging. The basic game play involves a ball and one or more flags spread over a small “level” where your objective is to get the ball to the flag(s). I know, it sounds kinda dumb; keep reading. Your mouse cursor is represented by a crayon which you can use to draw in the game, and when you draw shapes they immediately become part of the level. Although the graphics have a whimsical child’s drawing look to them, the shapes all interact with each other using fairly convincing physics; draw a downward pointing triangle above the ground and watch it fall and then tip depending upon which side is heavier.

In the first level, you need only draw a ball above the “game ball” so it drops on it, knocking it to the right and hitting the flag. From there you start moving into new terrain where you need to create ramps, and figure out ways to generate enough force to move the ball along, up, and over obstacles, overcoming the force of gravity. As you draw, top heavy items topple over, balls roll down slopes, and assembled structures can crumble when hit by sudden forces.

In addition to drawing shapes to coerce the ball along, you also have the ability to create pins and hinges. Pins allow two objects to be inflexibly anchored to each other. Since the object drawing engine will “smooth” objects out a bit, and doesn’t allow for concave shapes, when you need a concave shape (a hook for example), you need to build it out of pinned together convex shapes. Hinges–which really ought to be called pivots–are pivot points. Put a pivot onto a block and draw another shape around it and it’ll rotate, per the effects of gravity, in a pendulous manner. Using pivots and the force of gravity you can create pseudo-golf clubs to knock the ball around the level.

While it takes a bit to get a feel for the real time drawing and interaction environment, Magic Pen is a really neat use of Flash, a well implemented physics engine, and a humorous and challenging game.

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It’s been about a month since I’ve been working at Hoffman York.

I’ve published, like, 7 posts that have been tagged with “hoffman york“.

And now I’m on the first Google search page for the same.

“Publish and you shall be rewarded.” - Me

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This one’s for the AEs out there.

Last night I was watching “Modern Marvels” on The History Channel. This particular episode was about copper, and the portion that caught my attention was a visit to a bell foundry, where bells had been sand-cast from copper and tin (80/20, for a better sound) using methods that date back to the late 1800s.

“Cool. Get to the point. What does this have to do with interactive?”

Okay. What was exciting to me is the owners of this bell foundry knew everything about how the bells were made. They were salesmen, to be sure, but as I listened to them, I got the feeling that in a pinch, they could throw a hand in and help make a bell.

Believe me, I do have a point. The best salespeople know their product. Not just its benefits and features, but how it’s made.

So as account folk, it’s pretty easy to understand what happens when you create a print ad. You write the brief, it gets revised and approved, you present it to your creative team, and they create concepts. Those are presented, one gets approved and then the production magic happens. Photoshoots, final copywriting, editing, proofing, etc., depending on what type of ad you’ve got.

Obviously, AEs aren’t called upon to know the ins and outs of Adobe software, know how to write copy, know how to direct a photoshoot, or even how to resize an ad or make a PNG from an EPS. But I’ve always felt it was essential–especially for interactive–to understand what is possible online. To do that, it helps to have a working knowledge of the technologies (and the applications) that are used to build websites, rich media ads, etc.

If you want to understand the online world, spend time in it (as I said last week). If you want to understand what’s possible, do some research. Spend some time watching the videos on Adobe TV (one linked-to above). Have a look at the fine sites featured on the FWA, or on the DesignCharts. Be all you can be.

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Wordpress, I love you.

You make it so easy for me to upgrade you, and everything works just right the first time. And I love your new interface.

That’s it. Everyone, try Wordpress 2.5. It’s money.

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About a week ago, I sent a coworker a link to a photo on my Flickr account. Yesterday she reported back that she’d looked through all 2,228 photos that I’ve put online.

She asked if I was weirded out.

I said, “Of course not. I put that stuff up there for people to see.”

It’s been about two years since I’ve been living my life on- and off-line and I have to say that my life is better now than it was before. Admittedly, it’s not for everybody. It’s not a very private way to live your life. But since I like being the center of attention, it’s OK with me. It’s made me better at my job, and my parents certainly are happier now that they can check any of my online spaces to get a low-effort confirmation that I’m still alive.

Most of you who read this regularly are probably doing what I’m doing: posting videos, posting pictures, Twittering, Tumbling, and generally exploring the online world.

This post is for those of you out there that aren’t living your life online. You’re probably thinking I’m nuts for putting myself out there the way I do, for exposing my life to permanent public view.

Here’s a little guidebook to living your life online.

Starter Kit:
Before you start, assemble the following:

1. A decent-sized photo of you. This’ll be used for your profile images. Should reflect the personality you want to rep online. I used to use a more fun one, but I’m growing up. So I’m going with a modified Thinker pose. For a younger look, try the Myspace self-shot.
2. Short and long versions of “About Me” copy. Make sure they go with each other. Use them wherever you can. Copy and paste. Don’t improvise on different sites.
3. An understanding that yes, even my 58 year-old mother goes on these sites almost every day. And knows how to use them. If she can figure it out, so can you. If you work in marketing, and you refuse to learn more about these things, well, I hope you like doing print.
4. A good username and a strong password (use your middle name backwards and throw some numbers in there in random spots, like: re5k4rap). Use them everywhere. Why remember a bunch of logins?

Profiles:
LINKEDIN - Essential for business-folk. Use it for your resume and for finding old associates. If you’re not already, you’ll be shocked by LinkedIn’s ability to identify people you probably know. It’s strangely prescient.
MYSPACE - It’s a bit younger (demo-wise) and dirtier than Facebook, but I do like the customizability factor. I use Myspace primarily for personal connections. Friends from college. Friends from high school. Friends from now. They’re pretty lame at coming up with new functionality and I think it’s on the way out, but you may want to experiment with the biggun.
FACEBOOK - Currently the darling. Applications are a bit funny. But good for keeping a limited profile online.

A word of warning on profiles. This, by far, is your best opportunity to look like a jerk online. I’m sure mine are a bit off-putting. And I’ve spent honest time working on making mine come close to representing who I think I am. While everyone is hotter on the internet (the subject of another post), generally very normal people can look like complete idiots when viewed through the lens of a social networking profile. I’d love to provide examples but I’m not that mean. For god’s sake, don’t try to be funny. I try to go by the idea that if I didn’t want my aunt reading it, I shouldn’t post it. Mostly because I know my aunt will read it. And tell my grandmother.

Media:
FLICKR/Photo Sharing - By far the best photo-sharing site. Geotagging, APIs, slideshows, huge storage for pro users, active communities. What more could you ask for? Oh, and now they do video. Record your life online. Upload daily if you can. Play with your photos. Do projects. It’s fun. Let people see what you’re really about without having to write a single thing.
VIMEO/Video Sharing - Youtube is obviously the monster here. And I’ve got more than a few videos on Youtube. But Connected Ventures‘ Vimeo gets my vote for quality, design, and usability. I like their player better, too. Not having controls below your video (and full-screen on embeds) makes a difference.
LAST.FM/Music Logging - For some reason my Last.fm account isn’t feeding correctly into my sidebar, but basically, this web app will allow you to share your musical preferences with the world. It’ll even track what you play on your iPod.

A word on media. The rule of thumb here is constant documentation. This will, undoubtedly, make you better at whatever you do. Whether it’s gardening, copywriting or mergers and acquisitions. As you document your life with cameras, iPods and web apps, you’ll start to notice things. This is especially applicable to photography/videography. And the things you notice will deepen your understanding of humanity. That sounds a little ludicrous as I read it over, but I’m certain it’s true. Plus, you’re contributing to a collective history of the world that can’t be re-written by someone else. Whoa!

Content:
WORDPRESS - Sure, you could start a blog on Blogger for free. But then (no offense, Johanna) you’ll have a lame Blogger toolbar at the top. And that terrible Blogger commenting form. You could pay for a Typepad blog. But then (no offense, David), you’ll have a lame typepad URL. My advice: grow your own. Ask one of your computer-savvy friends to help you start your own, hosted blog using Wordpress. Heck, ask a blogger. More often than not, they’ll help you or at least point you in the direction of someone who can. I pay about a hundred bucks a year for exitcreative.net, and while I can’t really say it’s ever paid off in dollars, it’s probably the best money I’ve ever spent. Ever. If I could do it again I would have started with clayparkerjones.com, but I like exitcreative. Unless you can come up with a really sweet name, use your own. It’s better for SEO. And you’re better off controlling your search results than letting someone else do it for you.
TWITTER - I love Twitter. I don’t update as much as some of my online homies, but I like being able to update my blog, Tumblr and Twitter via text message from my phone. It’s also great for posting ideas you want to remember to a single online space from wherever you are. Basically what you have here is 140-character bites of your life, captured from your phone, your computer or your favorite IM program.
TUMBLR - exitcreative is, from a few weeks ago on out, going to be a place for largely work-related stuff. It started that way, when I thought I knew what I was talking about. In recent months I sort of rebelled from the marketing blog thing, mostly because it seemed a little ridiculous that I would even begin to think I know what I’m talking about. Though this is a common-sense business, I started to feel like a marketing blowhard that should have a posed corporate picture in my sidebar. Anyway, I decided to start a Tumble-log a few weeks back and it’s a perfect place to put your personal observations. I wouldn’t use it as a blog (no commenting) but it’s a great supplement for your snippets. I like that you can customize formatting for content type.

A word on content, and blogging. Firstly, do not try to get lots of people to read your blog. After all, what’s a lot? 185? That’s more than I ever thought would read this. Secondly, make friends with people who read and comment on your blog. My online compadres are by far the best thing that’s come out of this experiment. Thirdly, come up with one central topic, and several supporting but not necessarily related topics. Write about your central topic infrequently. Write about your supporting topics all the time. You’ll be happier and people seem to like the other stuff.

Last thing: do not forget that whatever you publish will be online forever. But don’t let that stop you from getting out there and having fun. Good luck!

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We try our hardest to make sure that the brand experiences we work on are good across all points of internal and external contact, but we often fail to understand the implications of the conditions in which we work.

For a couple years, I lived and worked in the West Loop of Chicago. It’s a recently gentrified neighborhood of converted industrial lofts that seem to be split pretty much 50/50 commercial and residential. My commute was great: an 8-block walk with a couple coffee choices along the way. My new commute is worse from a convenience standpoint… about 3 miles, and it requires a transfer between the Blue and Red lines. One of which tends to get stuck underground in the summer.

But despite the distance, at least a couple times a week, I’ve been walking home.

And I realized something last night on my evening walk. I missed being in the Loop. Being really part of downtown. I missed the big buildings, the fast elevators, the security staffs. I missed seeing random old buildings uncomfortably squeezed between new developments. Getting mad at tourists walking Michigan Ave 4-wide. Sunsets pouring down the street. Food court lunches with old and new friends.

Now don’t get me wrong. I loved the casual, independent feel of my old agency’s loft space. It fit the business we were in. And certainly the digital agencies in the Fulton Market area are hot right now, perhaps due in part to the spaces they occupy. But there’s an energy, a seriousness of purpose that comes from being in the heart of downtown. Sure, it’s advertising, but it feels more authentically business-like. I suspect it has a lot to do with density, rent and elevation, but I only play sociologist on TV every once in a while so don’t quote me on that.

Because I moved around a lot as a kid, the feeling and atmosphere of a place has always been important to me, and had a strong affect on how I feel. Maybe it’s just that I’m at a new job and I’m excited, but I think there’s something to be said for the atmosphere of an agency and the factors that contribute to that. Not just for the feeling it gives clients and employees, but also for how it affects the work.

Whether it’s the agency’s place in the world, its spot in a holding company hierarchy (or not), what the office looks like or even the computers the company provides… every tiny detail pushes the culture of an agency in some direction. I suppose it’s fashionable in today’s networked world to say that none of that matters, that great work can be done in a Starbucks just as well as it could be done in the offices of Mother/London. I guess I disagree.

(Note: I took the picture almost exactly a year ago… April 19, 2007)

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At first, it’s just food, blowing up. And then you’re like, “Ohhhh!” And then you laugh. About war.

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Utter hotness.

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Games are hot. How do I know this? Because 9 out of 10 times I’m in a, “What should we do online” meeting, somebody says, “What about a game?” Only thing more popular, based on frequency of mention, is widgets.

It’s my job to be a cynic about these things. And generally, game ideas are half-baked and end up failing. Here’s a couple of game ideas that I like, mostly because they’re actually challenging. I think that is the key to making a successful game.

So if you’re making a game, make it tough. See bigger versions of these at my Flickr.

Swedish Armed Forces - Recruitment Campaign

So apparently the Swedes are in need of defense. This bit of wonderful (not sure which agency created it) takes you through a series of truly difficult tasks. If you score well, you’re qualified (so to speak) for the Swedish Armed Forces. It’s all done in Flash, and it’s generally very well designed and built. Give ‘er a try and see if you’re up to standard.

GlobalSpec - Brain Strainer

I’ve had this site in my bookmarks for a long time, when a copywriter at Meyers + Partners gave me the case study. I don’t have the case study anymore, but apparently the game enthralled engineers (the target market for GlobalSpec, a search engine not unlike ThomasNet) and got them to sign up for the service. If you’re in B2B and are looking for a good example of something interesting, successful and fun-to-build online, this is it. Why was this so successful? Because it’s built on real physical “rules”, and is difficult enough to actually make a Ph.D. think.

Traveler IQ Challenge

I’m a geography nerd. I always have been, and always will be. You can see on my Facebook profile that I’ve played this one a few too many times. Basically, the game gives you a location, and you need to click on the map where you think it is. You get points for proximity and speed. It’s easy at first, but gets more difficult as time goes by. The game is supposed to promote TravelPod.com (a travel blog), and I’m not sure how successful it is there… but 1.4 million folks have added the application to their Facebook profiles, and that’s pretty good no matter what you’re trying to do.

And if you didn’t know by now, HY Connect’s back-end guru Don “Steel” Smith is now blogging, and recently wrote about games on his blog. Check it out.

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Piece of Me, Piece of You from Clay Parker Jones on Vimeo.

It’s finally done!

Credits: Three Legged Legs, Zune Arts, Chromeo, Adam Parker Smith

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The Duck Game from Clay Parker Jones on Vimeo.

Here’s some Hoffman York/Chicago office culture for ya.

When things get a little rough, and we need to take out some aggression, we play The Duck Game. This is primarily a creative-wing activity (where I sit, which makes me feel good), and basically involves knocking a rubber duck off a kraft-paper/barbecue sauce pedestal with another rubber duck. All good fun.

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It’s popular today to think that content is king. People will pay for it if it’s good enough, and people will keep coming back to you if you provide “good” on a consistent basis. They’ll try your product - whatever it is - and they’ll come back to buy again if they feel like your content makes their lives better in some way. There’s a reason why this thinking is popular: it’s right, and it’s proven.One thing that gets left behind in the “content is king” discussion is the issue of the interface.

The best (if sometimes not the prettiest) interfaces are designed to take advantage of existing physical/spatial relationships that we implicitly make in our heads. Based on past experience, you know that when you finish one page of a book, the next place to look is on the subsequent page. If you re-ordered the pages in a book, it’d be pretty tough to read. Similarly, we know that red means stop, green means go, the check mark means approve and the X mark means cancel. If you’re smart, you don’t rearrange these things. Whether by touch, sound, or whatever, we usually interact with things using physical tools.

So it makes sense that we design our relationships with online applications through the typical interface tools: a keyboard and a mouse/trackpad. Almost all computers will have these two input devices.

Two things I’ve found online recently have made me stop and think about the future of how we interact with machines. And while multi-touch interfaces and Microsoft Surface will someday revolutionize the industry, the following two examples use existing technology that’s at least widespread enough to be standard equipment on my MacBook.

Hal Riney & Partners - Agency Website

The new HRP site is pretty much the anti-Modernista in everything it does, and while I congratulate HRP for their daring effort, the site just takes WAY too long to load. In any case, the interesting thing about this site is not the work, nor the design, though both are nice.

As you enter the site, you’re given the option to navigate via mouse or through your webcam (!). Through a nifty bit of Flash programming, the site asks permission to take control of your webcam and microphone. Then, by sitting in front of the webcam, you wave your hand across various areas of the screen to navigate the site. It doesn’t work well all the time, but with a little patience, you can successfully check out their work and find out how to get in contact with the appropriate people. And it clearly shows they can do some tricky stuff with the web.

Motorcycle Laptop Game - Honda

I found this example last week, and while it seems to be in early beta/concept stage, this is a Honda motorcycle test-drive application that utilizes the accelerometer in MacBooks & MacBook Pros (used to shut down the hard drive in the event of a drop) as the controls for the app. Instead of tilting a joystick or pressing arrow buttons, just pick up your laptop and tilt it around to steer. Pretty cool.

What could you do with these? I’m not sure just yet. But they help illustrate a larger point: there’s more to computer-human relations than just a mouse & keyboard, and we need to start thinking about ways to take advantage of that. Both are outside the realm of useful, and neither are compliant/accessible, but in very specific situations, they could add a lot of interest & intrigue to a web experience.

Jus’ something to think about.

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So a while back, I signed-up to write a chapter in the upcoming sequel to Age of Conversation. The topic is “Why Don’t People Get It?” and I’m writing in the section, “A New Brand of Creative”. Here’s the description of the section, provided by our fearless leaders, Drew McLellan and Gavin Heaton:

With the changes in the way that people communicate and collaborate online, marketing and advertising companies are needing to reach out and work with a new type of creative team. What do these “creatives” look like. What are their skills? Why do they evangelize digital and new media? And what are the challenges that they face?

Evangelize? Synergy.

274 other folks signed-up as well. Here they are. Quite an impressive group of names:

Adam Crowe, Adrian Ho, Aki Spicer, Alex Henault, Amy Jussel, Andrew Odom, Andy Nulman, Andy Sernovitz, Andy Whitlock, Angela Maiers, Ann Handley, Anna Farmery, Armando Alves, Arun Rajagopal, Asi Sharabi, Becky Carroll, Becky McCray, Bernie Scheffler, Bill Gammell, Bob Carlton, Bob LeDrew, Brad Shorr, Bradley Spitzer, Brandon Murphy, Branislav Peric, Brent Dixon, Brett Macfarlane, Brian Reich, C.C. Chapman, Cam Beck, Casper Willer, Cathleen Rittereiser, Cathryn Hrudicka, Cedric Giorgi, Charles Sipe, Chris Kieff, Chris Cree, Chris Wilson, Christina Kerley (CK), C.B. Whittemore, Clay Parker Jones, Chris Brown, Colin McKay, Connie Bensen, Connie Reece, Cord Silverstein, Corentin Monot, Craig Wilson, Daniel Honigman, Dan Goldstein, Dan Schawbel, Dana VanDen Heuvel, Dan Sitter, Daria Radota Rasmussen, Darren Herman, Darryl Patterson, Dave Davison, Dave Origano, David Armano, David Bausola, David Berkowitz, David Brazeal, David Koopmans, David Meerman Scott, David Petherick, David Reich, David Weinfeld, David Zinger, Deanna Gernert, Deborah Brown, Dennis Price, Derrick Kwa, Dino Demopoulos, Doug Haslam, Doug Meacham, Doug Mitchell, Douglas Hanna, Douglas Karr, Drew McLellan, Duane Brown, Dustin Jacobsen, Dylan Viner, Ed Brenegar, Ed Cotton, Efrain Mendicuti, Ellen Weber, Emily Reed, Eric Peterson, Eric Nehrlich, Ernie Mosteller, Faris Yakob, Fernanda Romano, Francis Anderson, G. Kofi Annan, Gareth Kay, Gary Cohen, Gaurav Mishra, Gavin Heaton, Geert Desager, George Jenkins, G.L. Hoffman, Gianandrea Facchini, Gordon Whitehead, Graham Hill, Greg Verdino, Gretel Going & Kathryn Fleming, Hillel Cooperman, Hugh Weber, J. Erik Potter, J.C. Hutchins, James Gordon-Macintosh, Jamey Shiels, Jasmin Tragas, Jason Oke, Jay Ehret, Jeanne Dininni, Jeff De Cagna, Jeff Gwynne, Jeff Noble, Jeff Wallace, Jennifer Warwick, Jenny Meade, Jeremy Fuksa, Jeremy Heilpern, Jeremy Middleton, Jeroen Verkroost, Jessica Hagy, Joanna Young, Joe Pulizzi, Joe Talbott, John Herrington, John Jantsch, John Moore, John Rosen, John Todor, Jon Burg, Jon Swanson, Jonathan Trenn, Jordan Behan, Julie Fleischer, Justin Flowers, Justin Foster, Karl Turley, Kate Trgovac, Katie Chatfield, Katie Konrath, Kenny Lauer, Keri Willenborg, Kevin Jessop, Kris Hoet, Krishna De, Kristin Gorski, Laura Fitton, Laurence Helene Borei, Lewis Green, Lois Kelly, Lori Magno, Louise Barnes-Johnston, Louise Mangan, Louise Manning, Luc Debaisieux, Marcus Brown, Mario Vellandi, Mark Blair, Mark Earls, Mark Goren, Mark Hancock, Mark Lewis, Mark McGuinness, Mark McSpadden, Matt Dickman, Matt J. McDonald, Matt Moore, Michael Hawkins, Michael Karnjanaprakorn, Michelle Lamar, Mike Arauz, Mike McAllen, Mike Sansone, Mitch Joel, Monica Wright, Nathan Gilliatt, Nathan Snell, Neil Perkin, Nettie Hartsock, Nick Rice, Oleksandr Skorokhod, Ozgur Alaz, Paul Chaney, Paul Hebert, Paul Isakson, Paul Marobella, Paul McEnany, Paul Tedesco, Paul Williams, Pet Campbell, Pete Deutschman, Peter Corbett, Phil Gerbyshak, Phil Lewis, Phil Soden, Piet Wulleman, Rachel Steiner, Sreeraj Menon, Reginald Adkins, Richard Huntington, Rishi Desai, Beeker Northam, Rob Mortimer, Robert Hruzek, Roberta Rosenberg, Robyn McMaster, Roger von Oech, Rohit Bhargava, Ron Shevlin, Ryan Barrett, Ryan Karpeles, Ryan Rasmussen, Sam Huleatt, Sandy Renshaw, Scott Goodson, Scott Monty, Scott Townsend, Scott White, Sean Howard, Sean Scott, Seni Thomas, Seth Gaffney, Shama Hyder, Sheila Scarborough, Sheryl Steadman, Simon Payn, Sonia Simone, Spike Jones, Stanley Johnson, Stephen Collins, Stephen Cribbett, Stephen Landau, Stephen Smith, Steve Bannister, Steve Hardy, Steve Portigal, Steve Roesler, Steven Verbruggen, Steve Woodruff, Sue Edworthy, Susan Bird, Susan Gunelius, Susan Heywood, Tammy Lenski, Terrell Meek, Thomas Clifford, Thomas Knoll, Tiffany Kenyon, Tim Brunelle, Tim Buesing, Tim Connor, Tim Jackson, Tim Longhurst, Tim Mannveille, Tim Tyler, Timothy Johnson, Tinu Abayomi-Paul, Toby Bloomberg, Todd Andrlik, Troy Rutter, Troy Worman, Uwe Hook, Valeria Maltoni, Vandana Ahuja, Vanessa DiMauro, Veronique Rabuteau, Wayne Buckhanan, William Azaroff, Yves Van Landeghem

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So my cousin, Adam Parker Smith, been working with Three Legged Legs on a piece of work for Zune Arts. Here’s a video.

Apparently the deal is that his heads (documented here earlier) from Bold as Love have grown into full zombies that dance. And share the beat by biting people. Get it? ‘Cuz Zune is about sharing and all that. I’m stoked to see how it turns out. Check out their site. They do some pretty nice work.

Oh, and it’s going to be over a Chromeo track.

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Sharlene King, one of Hoffman’s creative freelancers in Chicago, has a brilliant desktop layout to help all’y'all keep your stuff organized. Because really, while it might be nice to have a pretty picture on your desktop, why not use it like a real desk top, and keep things organized spatially? Just a thought. Click to see a bigger version.

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