I'M WATCHING YOU WATCH ME WATCH YOU

There are several, loud and frantic concerns regarding brand-surveillance and controlling brand personas within this new 2.321423432 version of the web. *smirks*

I think it's worth pointing out that; its likely that a person, at this young stage of a hypothetical transparency on the interwebs, would not be able to access a network of any type without providing their own personal data. Eventually this will be the norm.

A remedial example;
If you are going to comment on a blog, you are required to use your real name. In doing so, I'm provided with a link that traces back to your blog; network; portal–whatever the term would be for this example.

We'll also probably see an introduction of reputation rich people with profiles built exclusively by other users. This will ultimately change the value of personalized information. Transparency isn't the issue. It's validating the seeker/prospect against their existing contributions. A user couldn't be involved unless they have contributed in some fashion. If this transparency is merit-based, it would neutralize the delusion of surveillance. This could actually force a change in morality. We will get what we give.

Brands; controlling brands; products; services; ideas; will continue to be introduced into the public consciousness through controlled means but will not end up on the other side as intended. Top-down, does not work. When addressing the concerns of brand equity while trying to provide a valuable service or product, do not be fooled into thinking that because the market hasn't responded online, that their isn't a response overall.

The web is young. The economic web is young. The capitalist's web is young. Whatever you might consider yourself, join the overall conversation. It's worth it.

WEB 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4.0

Thanks to Noel Bellon for this find via Radar Networks.

I'm especially curious about Web 4.0's call out to The WebOS, as I've written a few times about this topic. I realize it is not the most original of thoughts however; it is a very natural evolution of the web.

Another point worth remarking on; Intelligent Personal Agents. Any thoughts, guesses–don't cheat. :)

FORGET TRANSPARENCY; WE NEED AUTHENTICITY

We've unsuccessfully moved from being noise junkies to noise producers. We need creative value centers. We are coming dangerously close to losing our ability to provided well-thought out ideas. Let alone, long-term memory retention of the things we've created. Their respective failures and successes are instantly magnified and then consequently reduced to nothing, tossed out. Overwritten.

As a rapid-prototyping creative democracy approaches, we forget before we've learned. The most precious of commodities–exchanging, implementation, advancement of ideas through fair and ubiquitous streams of information, can potentially hurt us without a creative value center of some sort...

And as the micro-centralized thought/idea people collect, where or how, do we continue to provide unlimited access and information through a synchronized... operating system? ( the internet )

Just a few thoughts.

PROMOTE YOUR T-SHIRT ABOUT A...THINGY

Take some of your product and add real tags, or fake ones–it's hard to tell with some tag designs. Be sure to include fake bar codes on them. Place the shirts in real retail environments next to other stacks of tees and let the fun begin.

Thrift stores are a great way to expand awareness as well.

I KNOW YOU KNOW HOW, SO DO YOU

Mentoring, in any capacity, is a humbling experience. Especially if your one to provide individual attention to every person you interact with. Despite work environments hindering this process on some levels, I think it's important to remember how valuable the little bits of information we pass onto others can be.

A concentrated effort towards mentoring forces us to communicate outside of our own frame of reference, subsequently learning something new ourselves. We're painting the same picture with a different brush and another pallet. Verbalizing one's own thoughts and beliefs, hearing ourselves express an idea or thought can be a profound experience. And learning to communicate it in an entirely new context breeds innovation on those ideas. Then to hear someone reiterate those ideas and reinterpret them–I smile.

· Coaching assumes the coach has all the answers.

· Consulting is being talked at, not with.

· Management does not allow for deviation in routine or ritual and is generally pragmatic.

· Mentoring allows for exploration with trial and error. Guide without pontificating. And in most cases it is a reciprocating process. We're all intelligent beings and quite capable learning just about anything given the proper time.

In retrospect, I've been fortunate enough to have been surrounded by some inspirational and frankly, very patient mentors. Just a few observations.

Meaning, by opinion, for: logo, symbol, identity, brand, icon

LOGO
A unique graphic designed to represent a company, service or idea. There is no reinterpretation or alternative to this graphic. It is used consistently to identify the same idea, product or service. No matter how abstract the idea, product or service is.


SYMBOL
A geometric shape/shapes designed to correspond/represent a phrase or word derived from human syntax, in any language.


IDENTITY
A broader visual system of language that uses a Logo as the foundation for establishing a recognizable system of colors, shapes and typography.


BRAND
The emotional context in which an individual associates themselves and their respective experiences with an idea, product or service.


ICON
A literal/graphic representation of an idea, product, service or object, designed to appeal to the broadest set of narrow-minded perspectives with a clear and unanimous observation by all.


NOTE: One thing to remember, these are defined by the end-result of their usages.

Any additional thoughts? Ideas? Disagree? Agree?

BREAK AND RUN LAW-BREAKERS

Creativity has already been redefined in many ways. Those of us that spend a considerable amount of time online have had the opportunity to experience some rare design pieces/works. Very inspirational. And we'll see a lot more of it.

Through this transition, I've noticed and heard a few cries of disenchantment and general jaded and derogatory comments from senior design people and high-level communication professionals. What is even more concerning is, they're saying this to their teams. Their young teams of professionals.

I think it's worth saying: it is important to remember that design has no true form and it is defined by the end-result of the experience. If you agree and this holds true, you simply need to design something else in order to stay a designer. Design is being redefined but, it is applicable to every aspect of life, business and especially the internet–interface design, user experiences, icons, etc. ( don't get cold feet cause print sales are down )

Technique is making the perfect mistake. In doing so, you create something new. No matter the medium ( print, online, collateral, packaging, houses, transportation ) and especially no matter the usage of the piece being designed. Don't get hung up on 'styles' or 'usages' of the things you create. Classifying design can often limit it. And when you give limitations to another creative, expect those limitations to be redefined and recreated entirely. Classifying the work can eventually lead us to talk ourselves right out of work. Which several designers have already done, along with several communication professionals.

There are some very important rules for design. At the very bottom of the list, some find this one: Break these when your comfortable with them.

RESEARCH THE RESEARCH

An aggregation method is needed. A more accurate one rather. One problem with searching is; relevancy. And relevancy is a human characteristic precipitated by the information related to the objectives. When you have no objective, you find irrelevant information in most cases. Sales can sometimes be inherently dependent on face-to-face communications. Along with several other empirically observed qualities.

A little tool I enjoy while searching aim-fully and aimlessly; On a Macintosh computer, using Safari as your internet browser, there is a great feature known as 'Summarize.'

Highlight the copy from a web page and then from the Programs respective menu item ( next to the blue apple ) choose; Services > Summarize. A prompt will appear with a small slider menu for adjusting the size of your summary, based on the original content. At-the-least, this will cut the user's reading time down and allow for a more synchronous scanning method.

Surprisingly this has been very reliable for me and removes ancillary information in several cases, providing a nice one-sheet of info.

EXPERIENCE THE MOVIES™

I've found that the experience of being as close to as possible to an immersive environment is simply the reasoning for choosing to go to most movies. Ideally it's the social aspects of sharing an event with friends and family however; this lies at the bear-bones of my reasoning. Sharing the experience.

Brick and mortar environments could benefit greatly from enhancing the experiences around the movie, the theater itself.

FLORIDA CREATIVES: JACKSONVILLE

It might just happen... Chris Wodja and I are looking to meet-up in San Marco this Saturday for an informal introduction with either; coffee, banana splits, pizza or a tasty beverage.

Email me for information or sign-up here.

AGENCY MODEL IN RETROSPECT

A visual look at the box, thinking inside the box, thinking outside the box and simply avoiding the box.

Rich reputations will sustain the core of every communications agency. I'm not entirely sure that micro–anything is worth exploring at this stage of communications within the existing media landscape. We'll be solely responsible for maintaining relationships with people and brands within any niche.

ART VS. DESIGN

Art requires no explanation. Design is an explanation.

There is no contest in my opinion.

INTERNET GROWTH/COMMUNICATIONS

Companies have already begun developing and securing specific portals/networks for their brands based on the social tendrils of their employees. Rich reputations for each employee will be key with a focus on validating knowledge and skill-sets of these brand stewards, from other networks. Eventually, everyone will have a web page or blog. Companies will then mine and seed participatory networks with brand stewards, developing rich reputations with users. There might even be networks with identities based on products themselves. Because of the very salient problem of contextual search, brands will begin to develop interactive store fronts where a one-on-one approach can be initiated with prospects. This might also include developing proprietary web applications and widgets, actually it is happening but I anticipate digital corporate stationary–sorta, a browser re-skinned when you visit a companies web site. Users really only need a few functions from within the browser itself. Menu options can remain within the computers respective OS with toggle options. We might even see the web browser traded out for widgets entirely. Simply because, a brand has more creative freedom with a widget. Skinning browsers and designing custom interface experiences will enhance brand equity. Currently, we're all stuck with a dual interface experience. Which can be easily overcome with widgets.

We've seen plenty of proprietary software and wed-based applications being developed by creative agencies too. Brands will need to start treating the internet as an operating system and develop websites like software companies develop programs. There is nothing more direct then a desktop widget that a prospect has downloaded and installed themselves. I'm not a huge fan of web based applications for a few reasons that I will address in another post–hopefully.

Following this, I think we might see a concentrated effort in bringing these experiences back to highly evolved brick and mortar environments. We'll probably see travel/tourism, clothing/apparell, and entertainment/gaming taking these first steps.
Retail environments can be greatly enhanced with technology and create a truly unique experience for the visiting prospect. Shopping online is very critical to the user but, so is basic social interaction. As newer generations emerge and grow with the tech-trends; smaller devices for connecting, etc., we might see entertainment travel full-circle back to a real tangible experience within these retail environments.

A thought on the global economy; This is occurring faster outside of the U.S market. Developing companies within new/smaller markets, aren't subject to the existing stigmas that lie within the US's existing/traditional agencies/companies–let alone their clients. And let's not forget about the rapidly developing countries that have changed economic and social practices within one generation. Implementation of more advanced communication is absorbed with less skepticism and restraint.

Web 3.0 isn't an adequate enough descriptor.

GRAPHIC DESIGN AUCTION SITES

Overall, these sites are still a merit-based system. Whether you are number one because of sales or creativity, you've earned it in some way. No one can fault you or your company for that. The only down-side that I've encountered, and confirmed with other users is; the language barriers that sometimes arise due to hiring outside your respective market/state/territory/country. It affects the work in some waya solely because the end-result is dependent on the initial client/creative interaction and communication.

I used a few of these sites years ago when they were fledgling beta startups. They were my first experience with a social network. They could be considered one of the first online-public social spaces. Some that come to mind; eLance ( beta orange ), bullhorn, smarterwork and guru.

Earning the work required the same tactics used by large companies, agencies, boutiques and freelancers.

The respective currencies of each user was the only true competition seen as 'harmful' to the industry. In fact, the long-term effect is far more valuable. Talent speaks many different languages.