Parish is On The Money!

Nick Parish's latest article entitled "The Price is Right (Isn't It?)" in this months Creativity is so right on the money.

(excuse the pun)

It never fails.

At the onset of every project that a large agency outsources to a smaller digital agency like ours there is this afterthought called a budget.

We are all well aware of the media buy, the TV spot and print budgets.

When the agency partner tells us that we have exactly 4 weeks to come up with the most amazing kick ass website that fully integrates every aspect of the campaign, and oh by the way, we usually are not brought in from the onset to make sure that there is a bridge between the offline and online creative, and its a budget that is a minuscule fraction of what it is worth in terms of its importance to both the campaign and the work provided.

This always ends up being a sore point in the relationship.

When a relationship is entered into on an unfair foundation it is bound for a rocky road ahead and this is what typically happens 90% of the time when larger ad agencies work with smaller digital shops.

I have heard so many complaints from ad agencies towards digital shops regarding a disconnect between communication, creative suffering, deadlines not met, expectations not delivered and so on.

If the digital agencies were compensated fairly so many of these issues would be solved. We work through the most adverse conditions because our direct line of communication is blurred by the lack of transparency with the source.

The relationships in general would be healthier if there would be more partnerships in the entire creative, the website and the online video production would benefit immensely.

If the digital teams were not thrown the scraps of the larger campaign we may be a bit more enthusiastic about the whole process.

It seems like no one wants to admit that the website is now the anchor of the campaign.

The website serves as the heart and soul of the "new age" of advertising, the television spots and print ads are simply driving traffic to the websites and the spots have budgets that are in the millions and the website, that has its own custom video produced by the smaller shops, is a mere 100k.

How does this seem fair?

The scales are way too unbalanced.

Ad agencies will get millions from a client to do a site that they will pay a small digital agency MAYBE a few hundred thousand for.

Digital agencies have limited resources, time, budgets and accessibility to the client directly all come through day in and day out, by the skin of their teeth, every time producing the great work we see online every day by constantly jumping through hoops and having to swim through way too many layers than necessary.

Oh and by the way did I mention that we have to also educate our agency partners through the entire project so they can sound like they know what they are talking about to their clients.

I have gotten so many emails saying, “can you help me explain this better?” or “Our client wants to know about hosting, is that something we need for this site?” or a week before launch I get “is this site in Flash or HTML, our client wants to know.”

Anyone at a digital shop will recognize these question and know exactly what I am saying.

Us digital shops actually like working with the big agencies and are totally open to working together and collaborating, however once the client gets wind of all the drama involved, and the price being paid, and how much better the work would be if those layers were removed and we were compensated properly, they will simply start coming directly to us digital agencies for service just like they would any other specialty agency.

The larger ad agencies don't have the dedicated expertise or the specialized teams in house to properly execute or even explain the nature of this highly technical and creative work, this is why 85% of it is outsourced to smaller digital shops.

In my experience, every time the client came directly to us the work was infinitely better, the budgets were better and the relationship was amazing!

Its been 10 years now and I think its time that the digital agencies start getting paid fairly!

Nick Parish’s article in this months Creativity is a wonderful voice for the cause and will hopefully open a lot of eyes to the unfairness that has a strangle hold on the relationship between the traditional and the digital agency.

As our economy continues to struggle and budgets are tightened I think we will see a huge shift of dollars to the internet because you simply get more bang for your buck on the web.

The ad agencies will no longer get the type of quality work they want to deliver to their clients if those budgets continue to insult.

Time and money are the only two barriers between decent work and great work. With the right amount of time and the right budget almost anything can be achieved online and in the most exciting and dynamic ways.

Everyone will look like rock stars!

I think that the digital agencies have been hazed enough and it is time to pay us fairly for what we have worked hard for. We are officially "Mad Men" now too.

If traditional agencies want to continue the relationships with the digital shops, they need to create more of a transparency within the entire campaign and allow digital teams to get in from the onset and help budget the time and those dollars correctly.

It will be only a matter of time until someone really smart at a big brand realizes they can go directly to the digital shop and will start the trend towards contacting smaller digital agencies directly and taking the entire bulk of the digital budget out of the hands of the ad agencies who are handling the offline portion of the campaign and putting that money into the hands of the people who are actually doing the work.

Brands... We have good accountants too!

It is advantageous for both the traditional and the digital to work together NOW to find a fair ground so that digital production is paid for fairly and that better work, more creative design and better deadlines can be established.

Right now the marriage is suffering and traditional and digital will want a divorce pretty soon. Divorce is not fun and everyone loses.

All Shook Up

Interactive development has been steadily evolving since the day the web allowed the public to post their own websites.

People have been intuitively finding new ways to make things happen, shake, blink, move, react, click, rollover and so on.

There are people like Carlos Ulloa, Mathieu Badimon, Andy Zuoko, Tim Knip, John Grden and many others who are doing great work and continue to develop amazing new ways to manipulate animation and add new dimensions to the online world.

However I feel that one area that seems to continue to lag behind is interactive design. Where are the designers who are innovating interactive design?

I keep seeing the same executions flashed up, placed into grids, thrown onto a lit surface, papervisioned and tweened.

There is no real experimentation with how we communicate visually to the public.

Just because you throw a circle in the z axis doesn't change the fact that its still a circle. We need new ways to communicate online. Websites today embody too much influence from print and frankly its a waste of technology to make something so flat simply move around.

Navigations have been explored in a bunch of inventive ways but in the end clients will always go back to the traditional navigational schema because of the fear of their audiences not being able to find something.

In the early days of Flash when people like Vas Sloutchevsky and Yugo were experimenting with design that fully utilized the show/hide, physical and dynamic, motion driven and curious nature of what Flash truly offered us as an animation platform.

Just go take a look at the early portfolio of the first 5 years of Firstborn where there are many executions that Vas Sloutchevsky had taken corporate designs that were outside of the normal flat executions he never designed out of fear of not communicating properly.

Clients trusted him then and they still do now.

He makes sense of his work and thinks out every single detail.

Vas is now doing that again on some new very exciting projects coming out here very soon at Freedom + Partners.

Its exciting to be producing projects that are truly interactive in both their design and their development.

Not just an interactive Colorform board.

Yugo is also one of these rare talents who truly understands this method of design. He constantly produces work that is fully born from the interactive womb.

Flashing up flat jpgs or turning them into 3D is just not exciting anymore.

Similar to the way Apple designs products that are wildly addictive to not just technophiles but the general public, we need to design in a similar fashion for websites that move, inform, entertain and communicate to a wider audience.

It is our job to make our audiences and the web more sophisticated.

Being handed comps by a client and making them move, in my opinion doesn't constitute good work, at this point anyone can accomplish this.

I have worked at shops where we were overloaded with amazing flash developers who were wasting their time and prime years coming up with algorithms and flashing up lame designs and flat creative, that once animated, was really not that much more impressive than it was when it sat in its original flat Photoshop layers.

Some sites are exact rip-offs of others!

Tim Nolan pointed out to me yesterday that this site named Quarantine is an exact rip off of the Big Spaceship HBO Voyeur site they did for BBDO.

He also pointed out a site that was so original and so inventive in its nature where the content and site were perfect compliments to one another. It was for the new Wii game Wario.

See it here.

We need to back track a bit and return to the philosophy of designing interfaces that are designed specifically for the web.

We need to think of exacting and smart solutions that work and not to just "make it move."

People aren't fooled anymore, you cant fake it these days. The web is scrutinized to the umpteenth degree, your not going to get away with letting people think that they are customizing something and then show them a result that is canned or "fake".

The web is now fully enveloped into our culture, our kids are already sophisticated users.

My 9 year old daughter can point out very subtle, but to her, obvious flaws on most websites. Its intuitive, the way our generation looked for "fakes" in movies, people now see in the web.

Retrofitting designs and campaigns has become tiresome and frankly its a cop out.

Lines that move, squiggle, dance in the shapes of animals and squirm when you touch them are just lame gimmicks.

The web expects more from us.

Lets not litter it with sites that have no real substance or foundation.

Every site deserves thought, strategy, enthusiasm and dedication to its perfection in both design and development.

PC Response

Crispin has ditched their Jerry & Bill campaign to respond to Apple's MAC Vs. PC spots that have been sweeping the web, TV and print.

Who would have thought that the once mighty now feels they must respond to those they once looked down upon.

This shift is happening all over the place.

Even in our small space (interactive) the once mighty seem to be feeling the sting of the creative at heart that has been holding steadfast just waiting to emerge.

Check out the new ads from our friends over at Microsoft

Strange how confident Bill looked shaking his ass, guess the world is tired of his sorry ass.

True 3D

I highly suggest going out and finding a pair of 3D glasses.

Trust me on this one, this site is unbelievable.

Go check this out now!

These are the kinds of sites that simply impress.

This site is one of the reasons I love the web.

Just think of the possibilities!

AWESOME WORK!!

VectorVision takes vectors in Papervision to a whole new level.

We are using it at Freedom + Partners on a number of projects and it delivers!

Im Right Here

Social networking has become a phenomena that has suddenly inspired the world to go online.

Grandmothers who couldn't program their VCR 20 years ago are suddenly able to create complex profiles and communicate with friends and family.

Teens have ripped through the likes of Facebook like a veracious storm swollen up over a patch of warm water in a tight gulf just waiting to devour anything in its path.

The business world has embraced social networking as a means of making business relationships a bit more personal and to show a lighter side of who they really are.

I suddenly know that my lawyer is bummed about his deck, my client is heading towards destruction and my coworker is super duper psyched'aroony.

We all are glued to our small screens for second by second updates of the happenings that are occurring in the lives of our closest 200 friends.

Its the new reality show. The new sitcom. However you spin it, its entertainment.

Little tiny golden nuggets raining from cyberspace down on our curious little minds to help quench our curiosity for that which really isn't our business.

I do it, we all do it. Shamelessly updating everyone we care to update about the play by play as we go about our day.

Some are playful messages aimed at inspiring fiends, others are alerts for ones state of mind, some are the insecurity that lays deep within those who never reveal it, some are vicious attacks towards a competitor or enemy and some are loving reminders to friends and family that they are thinking of you.

What about social stalking?

The ability to see who your friends and their friends' friends are now friends with.

Social networks have aggregated new business, reunited friends and family and have leveled the social playing field.

I am no longer not there.

I am right here.

Goodbye Cruel World

The events that will take place in a remote area of Switzerland during the unknown hours of September 10, 2008 may forever change the world.

Similar to the early morning darkness when the incredible destructive powers of the atom were first unleashed and what had been merely theoretical became reality, today the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) will be switched on, accelerating sub-atomic particles to nearly the speed of light before smashing them together.

The purpose of this experiment is to re-create the very moment 13 billion years ago when scientists believe a tremendous explosion known as the "big bang" created the universe.

But what if, 13 billion years ago, there was no explosion?

What if they are wrong and the big bang was none other than the hand of God or some other mystical occurrence?

Im going to be a little nervous today, sitting in the Embody and working on our latest projects, hoping that within one fell swoop we don't all get decimated.

When those two opposing beams of protons charged with approximately 7 TeVs of energy hit, and they produce the God Particle, producing mass to vector bosons, I seriously hope everything we have worked towards as humanity isn't decimated...

OK ILL ADMIT IT, IM SCARED!!

Why is this allowed to happen?

Is there someone we can all call and say "HEY WAIT!! NO!!!!!! DONT DO IT!!"

Well world, if at some point you cease to exist today, its been great.

I guess the fact that Google's picture today isn't of the Earth exploding.

That could be seen as a positive thing right?

Google would know, wouldn't they?

Walking the Guideline

Since its inception in May 2000, The FWA has continued to exceed expectations on the Internet by generating a groundswell of excitement for the best that the interactive community has to offer, and continually bring us inspiration per diem.

Rob Ford, the patriarch of the most visited destination in the interactive community, has now compiled a book based on the success of his website.

The title of this new book is none other than “Guidelines for Online Success."

Before I even opened the book I spent a good amount of time examining the design.

Taschen has always been a champion for not just great content but also beautifully designed books for the very community that contributes to them.

“Guidelines” is no different.

From the choice of color to the tabbed chapters and the glossy finish, this book had already impressed me as a true embodiment of what it was created for; to be a showcase for the most successful websites on the Internet.

When I first heard about the book before its release, I was a bit apprehensive about how overwhelming an endeavor it might be to undertake a project of this magnitude.

How could anyone capture the best of the web when the web is constantly out doing itself on a second by second basis?

The very impetus of The FWA is to serve as a testament of the daily evolution of this creative network we all contribute to each and every day.

As I began to examine through each page and peruse the various projects and personalities that made up this festschrift, I was immediately impressed by the selection of projects that captured a slice of time that served as a period in which the industry grew leaps and bounds.

This phase will forever be defined as a foundation of the many incarnations that the web will embody tomorrow and well into the future.

The book opens with a quote from none other than Albert Schweitzer, a man who nourished hope in a mankind that was even more profoundly aware of its position in the Universe.

“Success is not the key to happiness.
Happiness is the key to success.
If you love what you are doing,
you will be successful.”

What an apropos way to start off a book about an industry where happiness is often disguised with the sweat and tears of the toil that make up the sites in this book.

An industry that is still too new to have a defined set of process and rules; its bible being written at this very moment.

This quote is directed towards an industry and a group of professionals who are also profoundly aware of its new position in the universe.

Within the second paragraph of his introduction, Rob so graciously steps aside in order to spotlight the trove of talent he has collected.

By the time the ink dried at the printer, just as many websites have been launched that make the sites in the book look ancient. But perhaps that can also serve as a tribute to the veracious appetite the web has for creativity.

Surely Rob knew as he was compiling the sites showcased that they would all quickly be replaced by newer incarnations. Personally, knowing Rob, I am positive that his intentions were indeed to try and capture a slice of time where the projects would profoundly influence the culture of the web.

"Guidelines for Online Success" opens with an eloquent greeting by none other than industry darling and CEO of Big Spaceship, Michael Lebowitz, who introduces us to interface and design.

As a producer in this industry, this chapter resonated deeply with me as a clear and concise documentation of exactly what is important when formulating a successful interface and approach to design.

The second chapter covers marketing and communications. Martin Hughes and Jordan Stone of WEFAIL knocked me off my feet with their hilarious introduction to this section.

They pulled no punches in truly telling the story of the typical project drama.

Staying true to the WEFAIL style of web development, Hughes and Stone crafted a wonderfully written introduction that embodies the collective consciousness of the industry. Using their brand of humor, they eloquently set the stage for this very important chapter.

Each section following features one heavyweight after another, outlining for us the most valuable advice in the industry; how to achieve true success.

Each page is wonderfully strewn with powerful images of websites that have burned themselves into our minds as models of perfection, which all hold us responsible for outdoing at the onset of any new project.

The last chapter was introduced by none other than Freedom + Partners CEO and former Firstborn co-founder Mark Ferdman.

Mark ends off this book with a journey through the history of commerce from its very inception until its new cutting edge.

Just when you thought you knew it all, Lars Bastholm of AKQA then delivers an Afterword seeded with some of the most valuable advice you will find anywhere.

Lars’s ultimate conclusion is that in order to be successful online one must not only adhere to the tenets laid out by each of the super friends who contributed to this amazing book, but that one must also have a passion and be firmly integrated and active in the online community.

I want to thank Rob for this wonderful volume that will forever stand the test of time. It is a complete contradiction to the ever-changing nature of the web and in that lays its beauty and profound essence by capturing the very foundation of what makes a successful website.

I suggest you all go out NOW and buy this must have book edited by Rob Ford and Julius Wiedemann.

Get it online here.

Hate to say I told you so...

Well the first spot came out and sorry folks but the "future" paired with Jerry Seinfeld (washed up comedian) and Bill Gates (washed up monopolist) isn't "delicious" and this spot sunk within the very first sight of Jerry eating one of those nauseating mall sticks called Churros.

Did Crispin really think that inserting Bill Gates into the random musings of Jerry's world and make him one of the Seinfeld "friends" will make him more endearing and sell more software?

Bill Gates cannot be softened, the man abused his power and is now trying to cozy up to sell more broken operating systems by hanging out with Jerry?

I'm lost.

I'm sure tons of research went into this, or maybe not, but this campaign is so flawed.

Nothing can save this sinking ship, not even Jerry.

The Original Airwair with Bouncing Souls

Doc Martins are probably one of the most nostalgic brands that I personally identify with.

I was glad to see that they are undergoing a new website design.

Check it out here.

I just picked up a new pair of Vintage 1460 8 eyes, I opened the box and saw a postcard inside and it seems that DM has adopted the word "Freedm" as its new moniker.

I think we all know how I feel about Freedom.

Freedom + Partners

You can still see the old site here.

Its nice to see a brand stay true to its roots. DMs are one of the few things you can take with you through this crazy world, they are timeless.

So enjoy some FREEDM and get back into a pair of the worlds coolest shoes.

Rerun Richochet

This has been the year we have seen the big networks all swallow their prides and finally accept the web as a viable means of delivering content to its loyal viewers.

Content on demand, when we can fit it into our busy schedules and content that isn't some user generated crap.

Networks like NBC pretty much giving us whatever it is we want to watch on both its network as well as Fox via the online network called Hulu.com. Not just shows that are running now but also past shows that may have not hit the rerun circuit but that can draw advertising dollars and provide nostalgic injections of some old favorites.

Today I had noticed something really interesting, the old WB network, which in my day was simply Channel 11 and Channel 9 in NYC, which is now called CW Network which runs on two channels, I think, has resurrected its former incarnation of The WB online.

The WB began its life in 1995, broadcasting a paltry 2 hours of cheesy teen entertainment one night a week. The WB's first shows were mostly sitcoms targeted at an ethnically diverse audience. Even though four of the five shows shown in the netlet's first nine months (The Wayans Bros., The Parent 'Hood, Sister, Sister (picked up after being cancelled by ABC), and Unhappily Ever After) were renewed beyond the first year, none of them made a significant impact on anything.

The WB began programming on Sunday nights in the 1995-1996 season, but none of the new shows managed to garner much viewing interest. Still, the network continued to expand in the 1996-1997 season, adding programming on Monday nights.

That season gave the WB modest hits in the family drama 7th Heaven and comedies The Steve Harvey Show and The Jamie Foxx Show. We all know where Jaime Foxx is now.

The WB also added the Kids' WB programming blohttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifck in 1995, which mixed Warner Brothers' biggest hit shows (Tiny Toon Adventures, Animaniacs and later Batman: The Animated Series, all of which originated either on Fox Kids or in syndication) with new productions and original shows.

In 2006, CBS and Warner Bros. Entertainment announced plans to can both UPN and The WB and launch a new network, The CW in their place. Over the next nine months, it was to be seen which shows from UPN and The WB would cross over to the new CW, as well as which stations across the country would become future affiliates of the new network.

A slice of time has now been captured online. Our beloved web is now a time machine for those who want to revel in an hour of Friends and then some Buffy The Vampire Slayer.

In an unprecedented and in my opinion a genius strategic play, The WB, an entire network, has been reincarnated online.

Click here for a preview.

The web is the new wild west, a frontier, a place where media can be reinvigorated and where anyone can now start an online network of both original content as well as content that once held the hearts of millions of viewers.

It is the new Rerun Model.

Networks will be salivating over the ability to recreate a slice of time that was wildly popular.

Imagine the old NBC line up featuring the Cosby Show, Family Ties, Cheers, Hill Street Blues and Miami Vice coming back to life online.

The late Brandon Tartikoff would have been proud.

Now shows can be rebroadcast in a multitude of various formats. We can now enjoy the television that has shaped pop culture anytime we want. The strength this garners the web is unfathomable.

The web is now a new fertile landscape where the old is new again and where slices of time can live always.

A true monument to mankind. Buffy will never die!

Travelling Matte

I am on the set today, shooting for a new site we are working on at Freedom + Partners.
Shooting on green screen is always fun.

Sexy People

I'm not quite sure what it is about this site but its incredibly inspiring.

Perhaps the beauty of the common man or the true'ness that emanates from every picture.

You just cant capture this unless its real and that is what makes it so damn interesting.

Every picture floods my head with ideas of how to better communicate ideas in different ways, all based on the facial expressions, clothing choices, lighting, couplings and every other odd little nuance that each picture offers.

I am very addicted to and extremely inspired by the pictures on this site

Check it out here: Sexy People

Why is it...?

Has Crispin lost its mind?

Has Microsoft gone mad?

Is Jerry Seinfeld crazy?

What is going on here?

How much more desperate can Microsoft get?

What means will they employ this time to plug the gaping hole in the side of its sinking ship?

I have worked on quite a few Microsoft projects with McCann SF and TAG so I feel like I can speak on this subject.

McCann SF was one hell of an agency that really worked hard to prolong the inevitable death of Microsoft. There was nothing more McCann could have done to keep the Window from breaking, and it looks like Crispin just threw a hardball right through it.

Windows Vista is a flawed product, computer companies everywhere are moving away from windows and looking for other ways to compete with Apple.

OS X is continuing to win over new users by the day due to the virus strains called iPodinae & iPhonesvirinae that has infected the public.

Point Number 2:

Doesn't any one remember the Mac in every single episode of Seinfeld?

Watch any episode, I dare you, you will find a Mac in the corner of Jerry's apartment nearest to the window on his desk in every single episode.

Jerry was not only a Mac owner but Jerry was an early adopter, he always had the absolutely newest model including the 25th anniversary issue.

How the heck is Crispin going to spin this one?

This was the year we see Gates retiring, its no wonder, the man is not an idiot, with the world clamoring over their precious iPods and iPhones it was no surprise that we have now entered into the "Switch Age" where the once mighty Windows once ruled is now a depleted creatively challenged office thirsty for some sweet titanium casing and that playful dock at the bottom of the screen. No more anti virus software and less crashing.

Apple's market capitalization is at nearly $162 billion. This means Apple is surpassing Intel, valued at $155 billion and IBM at $157 billion. Thus, Apple is rapidly closing in on Google ($200 billion), perhaps Jerry will be the one to help Apple get closer to the "mighty" Microsoft, valued at $290 billion.

I say let Jerry end his career as the hypocrite he will look like while peddling the flawed Windows Vista.

I nominate Larry David as the lovable idiot who should go head to head with Jerry and endorse the Mac. After all its his success that has carried on while Jerry rots in Vegas.


Why do they call it a "building"? It looks like they're finished. Why isn't it a "built"?

Maybe Jerry should use that routine in his new Vista commercials.

One Two Punch!

The ad business is full of duos, teams of creative assassins who together come up with the one two punch that cannot be matched by any ad hoc group or single individual. A duo can tag in and out and can take on any challenge each drawing strength from one another.

During our days at Firstborn we both looked for and found such people and we killed em one by one.

None of these phonies...

Mario and Luigi
Han Solo and Luke Skywalker
Bert and Ernie
Batman and Robin
Jay and Silent Bob
Pinky and The Brain
Ren and Stimpy
Cheech and Chong
Frodo & Sam
Beavis and Butthead
Jules and Vincent
Wayne and Garth
The Lone Ranger and Tonto
Simon and Garfunkel
Wiley E. Coyote and Road Runner
Mac and Cheese
Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak
Green Hornet and Kato
Shaggy and Scooby
Bill & Ted
Napoleon dynamite and pedro
John Masterson & Steven Sundheim
Knight Rider (KITT & Michael)
Starsky and Hutch
Andy and Barney
Thelma and Louise
Calvin and Hobbes
Chris Farley & David Spade

...have anything on Craig Elimeliah & Tim Nolan

Back for more!

Watch out!

I want to welcome and old friend and a true partner Tim Nolan to the Freedom + Partners team. He has come on as Executive Content Director and is going to tear shit up!

Good to have you back!

A Barbarous Truth

Rick Webb over at The Barbarian Group is one of my favorite industry personalities. On the heels of the Michael Lebowitz comments that were circulating around the industry regarding his Cannes experience and the lack of credit for the HBO Voyeur project.

Rick's comments are here.

Rick chimed in and added his 2 cents to the story and I had this to say about his response...

"This is one of the best responses that I have read from a legitimate source and someone who I would actually consider a real voice on this subject. You hit every point spot on and drove home the real issues that are at hand. As digital partners we are only a single entity in a much bigger picture. We are obviously biased towards our discipline and I am sure the media buyers would chime in a say "well no one would be at your damn site if we didnt throw out 2 million banners to drive traffic so we should get the credit" and so on...

I believe that as an industry that is going through the growing pains of a new medium and as the new kids on the block we need to become a more cohesive group of creative professionals. An idea is never the child of one single person, its an entity that is comprised of the pasts and presents of a collective of creative individuals who have all breathed some life into the idea. We cant single out any one contributor as the only creator unless it was a one man show that made it all happen.

It really boils down to a very fundamental rule we all learned in pre-school. Playing nicely and sharing. Egos are rampant in this business and those who can set aside their egos for the betterment of the idea are the real winners here. No slab of metal fashioned into a lion is worth the strife that our industry has be thrown into, the unity has been compromised and we have been set back because of some petty ego stroking.

Credit is always a nice thing to get, but at the end of the day the check you get is really the only credit any one company can give another, being paid fairly is above all the farthest anyone needs to go. Once we all get past this and start refocusing on the big picture then maybe we will all make it a point to be more sensitive to our respective roles and spread the love a bit more.

This is not a new subject and has been infecting the creative process since the dawn of time. Who did this? Who discovered that? Did the captain of Columbus's ships throw a shit fit when the King and Queen noted Columbus as the founder of the new world? Probably.

I think we all need to take a good hard look at ourselves and keep in mind that we are at a critical stage in the convergence of a new medium with age old traditional advertising and that right now there is no time to bicker over small issues when much larger ones prevail."

Earnstwhile

In 1991 one of my heroes came up with this idea to gather together the best musicians of the ALT rock scene and have this great big ol' outdoor concert. At the time us wee kids only heard of concerts like this from our baby boomer parents who hazily passed down stories and sometimes pictures from the historic Woodstock.

We were the perfect market to start this up again, the seed was planted and we all would readily make the same trek as our parents did to some outdoor alternative rock mecca to pray for three days on drugs and rock and roll.

Jane's Addiction, Nine Inch Nails, Siouxsie & the Banshees, Ice-T/Body Count, Living Colour, Butthole Surfers and The Rollins Band.

Back then that line up would have brought peace to the middle east.

Its pretty early on a Sunday morning, I am as always awake with ideas swirling, I'm online making my rounds, round, rounding the corners of the globe and I come across a banner ad for what I thought had ended in 1998.

Lalapalooza is back except this banner ad wasn't to come make some trip to some field to tune out for a few days... rather it was telling me that they didn't actually expect me to make it and that I should be tuning in ONLINE!!!

Do I feel old? NOOOOOOO.

Ok yes.

The web page I ended up on said this...

"Tune-In To Lollapalooza Live On the Web
Can’t make the trip to Chicago for Lollapalooza August 1st-3rd? Never fear, blue room is here. Experience Lollapalooza LIVE via webcast just by turning on your computer. Mark your calendars now! Tune in to watch Wilco, The Raconteurs, Love and Rockets, Bloc Party, G Love and Special Sauce, Flogging Molly, and many, many more!"

Like most smart businessmen in this capitalistically ravenous country, Farrell sold the Lollapalooza brand to Capital Sports & Entertainment. The concert was revived to become a two-day fest only to remain in one location, Chicago's Grant Park. The concert actually relies on the web to stream it to the world.

THE WEB!

Ok maybe I have geeked out completely but this is a profound cultural swing. The web is now a venue for concerts, not just any concerts but big ones, those summer ones that change your life, the ones that evolved from Woodstock to free us of our addiction to pop music and usually ended up with an addiction to something totally new, and bound us together in the darkness and angst of Alternative melodies as we were soon thrust out unto the world to start our lives.

I'm in my very early 30s and I am ranting like a geezer here.

The web has accelerated time. We have built a time machine except it progresses culture, information, music, arts, education and if you don't keep up, your gonna be left behind.

Dont You Forget About Us...

Today's FWA winner is North Kingdom!

I love these guys, they did Get the Glass! They are legendary when it comes to web development and design. Probably one of my top 3 favorite shops. But today's execution kind of surprised me .

I didn't think the site execution was all that great. The video was kind of so so and I am sure that was done in the States. But the site lacked a certain love and appreciation for the American pop culture iconic movie that The Breakfast Club is, especially one that is so dear to so many people.

The Breakfast Club is an American movie that has, good or bad, literally shaped a generation.

What American teenage guy didn't secretly adore Claire?

What American kid wasn't saying EAT. MY. SHORTS for like two years after this came out?

This is a slice of Americana. I may be sounding like good ol' John Bender when I say this but - THIS BLOWS!

I really think an American shop should have won this gig.

Saatchi did everything right except for one small detail. They hired North kingdom to execute this thing.

If it were anything else like American Milk, oh wait forget that... yikes... ummm

... Horses Running through the English country side then I would say North Kingdom is the BOMB!

But something as American and as wholesome as Milk, yikes scratch that, I mean The Breakfast Club should be done on American soil.

Wow I never thought I would be ranting about this but it just feels weird to see that remake and an foreign name attached to its creation.

I felt the site lacked a certain pride, a certain nostalgic flair, a certain, "like totally!" Or as Claire (Molly Ringwald) would have said "You wouldn't know. You don't know any of us."

North Kingdom, you guys get tons of respect however I am sorry but you did not do justice with this site. Probably not your fault, all the way out in North Yorkshire tucked away in the Humber region of England its hard to have captured the subtle "Bender" nuance.

JCP should have also insisted that an American shop like Big Spaceship or a former JCP vendor Firstborn or OH WAIT!!! I KNOW! maybe a shop with a really patriotic name, something like Freedom!!

Ok I know i went too far with that.

Not saying anyone did anything right or wrong, just wanted to vent that this could have been done better by the nation it so greatly had an impact on.

iPhone Vs. iPhone

Remember when back in the day (1981 - 1988) the Voltron toy craze, those 5 awesome die cast metal lions that formed this super mega robot that would kill anything it went up against?

There were two kinds you could buy, the $300 dollar die cast metal, weighty, version or the $75 dollar hard shiny, light plastic version.

The metal felt great in your hands, its weight commanded respect, it was almost a weapon.

The plastic often didn't snap in right, was always so flimsy and you never felt like Voltron couldn't even trample your old Smurfs.

Leah got the new white, shiny, plastic white iPhone 3G.

I have the original, heavy, titanium iPhone.

Hear No Evil, See No Evil

Its rare that a site simply blows my mind, when an execution is so well formulated it just screams SMOOTH!

I yearn for inspiration and when tons of sites launch each day its difficult to find greatness within the haystack called the web. I found one today, a new site for Ikea developed by Forsman & Bodenfors.

This site uses video and sound perfectly synchronized, the design is playful and fresh and this site truly represents creativity and innovation and interactive at its best.

Simple, clean, fresh and inspiring, perfect! Awesome work Forsman & Bodenfors!!

Check this out here

The Writing On The Virtual Wall

The speed of the internet is blinding.

Our industry accelerates faster by the day.

As soon as 2.0 took off and the commitment to standards, layout, cleanliness and integration with web apps became all the rage, it burned itself out like a supernova.

Well, I always wondered what that day would look like when you wake up and things are suddenly different.

Today is that day.

Red Interactive had put out a site with multi user avatars and chat enabling live social interaction between people online, live, in real time, where you can talk, play, kick, punch, laugh, exchange goods, befriend, and lots of other cyber-things.

It was cute, won tons of awards, really put them on the map.

It was a precursor to what we are about to see everywhere.

Websites driven by people, live people, all assuming various personae, playing games, chatting, interacting, exchanging ideas, virtual products, and anything else creativity can conjure up. Oh did I mention they can all do this at the same time!

I wake up today and I read an article that Google is now entering this ring of live online interactive social sites a new service they call Lively.

Then i go over to the www.thefwa.com and low and behold, the site of the day is none other than a live, multi user interactive avatar chat and game site!!! For Slim Jim!

I was blown away, today is one of those days where you wake up and everything kind of shifted from gear 2.0 to gear 3.0 and will never be the same.

In a way I am happy.

Stay tuned for more in depth coverage of 3.0