Well, some people try to write a book in a month. Me, I'm an interactive copywriter so I'm pretty sparse with my words—I'm going to write a word a day. Here, they are, my favorite words, one a day.
What to say on Thanksgiving.
Words to say more often. https://t.co/FtGKiJzhcv
— Anne McColl (@annemccoll) November 27, 2013
The ever-changing interactive landscape.
Yep, it's always changing. Remember when AOL was leading edge? And AltaVista? Get ready.
A filter for sharing in the digital age.
Thank you Internet, it's so much easier to share information. But now there's too many cat videos and insightful quotes floating around, we now we need a filter. This is what I try to remember when I share. (Okay except when it comes to Star Wars.)
_________________________
Happy sharing.
Sketch your own blog visuals!
Okay, it’s official, the Pinterestification of the Internet is now complete. Every blog post must have an interesting visual that can be used as an icon to promote it on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook and wherever else. So what do you do? Go to iStock and find that highly original target or light bulb like everyone else?
Yawn.
Instead, draw your own. And no, you don't have to be a designer or an artist. You can just be a regular blogger, writer, or copywriter.
Who me? Yes, you, seriously. Grab a Sharpie. Draw on a stickie. Snap a shot. Upload. You’re done.
Here are two people who sketch their own visuals with style.
Shelly Bowen is the simply amazing principal of Pybop, a content strategy consultancy. Go ahead and take a look at the Pybop (which stands for Put Your Brains on Paper) blog page. See what a consistent look and feel they create. And Shelly spends $0 on visuals!
Amber Rae is a one-woman powerhouse and CEO of the Bold Academy, an accelerator program that teaches would-be entrepreneurs and creatives how keep it real, take risks, and boldly pursue that which they feel called to do. Her Ambergrams capture her bold way of thinking and are often snapshots of her Moleskine musings. Her sketches were even used in a Fast Company profile.
It’s impressive how a diagram and just a few words can communicate so much.
Do you know anyone else who scribbles their blog post visuals? Let me know!
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Creative Cocktail: The workshop
At Hera Hub, the co-working space I've been working out of for the past two years, they have weekly roundtable discussions call Business Boosters. This week I led a workshop called Creative Cocktail at each of the three Hera Hub locations in Mission Valley, Sorrento Valley and Carlsbad.The premise: a creative copywriter asks is it really like Mad Men where you drink 3 martinis and then write great ads? In this class I led an exercise how to think visually and how to mix hooks for creativity.
Of course, I made a promo video.
How much did it cost Yahoo! to redesign their new logo in-house?
In a highly publicized move, Yahoo! redesigned their logo with design efforts led by CEO Marissa Mayer. She says in an article in Ad Age:
"On a personal level, I love brands, logos, color, design, and, most of all, Adobe Illustrator. I think it's one of the most incredible software packages ever made. I'm not a pro, but I know enough to be dangerous :) So, one weekend this summer, I rolled up my sleeves and dove into the trenches with our logo design team"
Obviously, Yahoo didn't design their new logo in-house because of economic reasons.
Oops. I forgot to add in the price of pizza.
See a big version here.
Cultivating a Design Culture: Sketchnotes from UXSpeakeasy
The UXSpeakeasy group consistently has great programming (and beer.). This month's event covered how to cultivate a design culture and featured Chuck Longanecker of digital-telepathy. The event was held in their new space that formed housed one of my favorite places, the Hive. Chuck shared how digitial-telepathy has evolved over the years. What's a design culture? It's more than having a foosball table or lunches on Friday. It starts at the top and engages every aspect of the company.
This was a challenging session to sketchnote, so much wonderful information coming out at once. Graphic facilitator extraordiaire/Stick Figure Strategist Jeannel King was also there and sketched. I glanced over her shoulder and it was fun to see how differently we interpreted the material. I asked her for suggestions on how to represent Soul. (She is amazing because she uses marker and pen while I do more with the iPad.)
See the big version here.
What's the most cliched stock photo out there?
What's the most cliched stock photo out there? The smiling call center girl? The business men shaking hands. Or the bullseye arrow? Yep, I'm taking up with archery. I shot the arrows. I shot the picture. But I don't think I'm going to use it as a visual to illustrate on target marketing.
Years of experience prove this.
The secret to creative freedom.
Some words of wisdom on how to approach business — and life.
Why most advertising fails.
A presentation I gave as a freelance copywriter at the Art Institute San Diego.
Take a bite: Shark Week!
A freelance copywriter asks what is the best way to promote Shark Week.
Is creativity still king?
The San Diego Ad Club sponsored an interesting forum on creativity and agencies. Is creativity still king?
In a short word, yes.
There's more people producing sites and video and blog posts. More volume. More crap. It's easier than ever for a great idea to stand out, if only people see it.
However, the days of a copywriter and art director going off to a room to concept for a week are over. This whole working in a silo has to end.
But on the other hand, someone has to steward the idea through production. Creative by committee tends to produce watered-down ideas.
What's your experience?
Sketchnotes and Sketch tweets from #smmw13
Social Media Marketing World hosted by the folks at Social Media Examiner came to town for a few days. I created sketchnotes and sketch tweets during the sessions and tweeted them out. All visuals were created on the fly using the iPad and Brushes and Over apps. One surprising theme – don't discount your email list. It will be the most profitable.
How to become extinct in social media.
Tonight was the kickoff reception for Social Media Marketing World at the San Diego Natural History Museum. What do you get when 1,000 social media marketers invade a collection dinosaur bones and fossils? All of these images were created live on mobile devices.
Fandom Marketing video
Oh, I can't believe I haven't shared this yet. Truly, one of my favorite freelance copywriter projects from last year. The Fandom Marketing video. The animation was done by the very talented Todd Anderson of Switchfoot Creative.
San Diego AIGA Y18 Design Conference Sketchnotes and Live Designs
It's funny how every Y-Conference seems to reflect an underlying theme. This year's was that side projects and pro-bono work can lead to other assignments. Wayne White spoke how he played with puppets and that led to his work on Pee-wee's Playhouse. Brian Singer shared his many side projects including 1000 Journals. Eric Thoelke shared how doing work for the local opera company evolved step by step into more client work. And Josh Higgins shared how his pro bono poster work led to working with the Obama Campaign.
Below is a selection of images that I live tweeted during the conference including sketchnotes of presentations and highlighted quotes. All design done live during presentations. (Yeah, I felt weird, one of the few non-designers in an audience of designers tweeting designs but all very much of the moment.)
The World's Very First Internet
So do you think the Internet is an amazing thing? A depository for all of our collective knowledge. It is. But it's not the first. The great library at Alexandria in ancient Egypt was the first time when all the the world's knowledge was actively collectively organized, and more importantly, organized. In this clip from the program Cosmos, Carl Sagan walks us through the great library that contained over 1,000,000 scrolls. When commercial ships can into port, they were searched for books. Agents were sent to travel the world, to borrow and copy scolls.
The library is no longer with us and Sagan ponders just how much information was lost, from a Mesopotamian historian's account of stories from creation to the flood, to the daily musings of Egyptian priests.
What would happen if we lost the Internet? How much would you lose? (Do you have a backup?)
Some Valentine's wisdom from Seth Godin.
Part of The Year of Procrastination Project.