March 31, 2011
Designing to change the world
posted by Annick in
Life by Design / la vie design

An inspiring TED talk by French street artist JR about the power of guerilla art keeps us ever present to our social responsibility as designers.

When you read about the Israeli-Palestine conflict flaring up again in 2008, what did you do? You, like us, were probably tuned into your media of choice, wondering if peace will ever be possible in the Middle East.

Across the ocean, in Paris, a semi-obscure street artist known simply as “JR” wondered the same thing. Except, he and a friend decided to actually go to Gaza, camera in hand and see if Israelis and Palestinians are really that different from each other.

Project Face-to-Face was born.

JR and his friend engaged with the community at the human one-to-one level. They took photographs of an Israeli and a Palestinian who each did the same job: taxi driver, school teacher, etc. Then they blew the images up into posters “as large as a house” and pasted them up on walls, sides of buildings and even military posts. Always in pairs. One Palestinian face, one Israeli face. Same job.

Can you tell who is who?

That’s the question JR asked over and over as people came to look at his portraits.

Few could.

Four years later, the portraits remain untouched, inviting us to look closer at our commonality rather than our differences. Illustrating that coexisting peacefully side by side is in the realm of the possible.

We often talk about the importance of storytelling in design, but this takes that thought one step further. Can the stories we tell as commercial designers help change the world and make it a better place? And what about money? If we design for commercial clients, does our artwork still count as “art”? Can it still be a tool for social change?

We believe the answer to that question is “YES!”. Rising social consciousness, consumer involvement, the call for accountability… is changing the game for the commercial design world and for the companies we represent. Good design can do good.

As JR comments, good art, contains layers. It’s a gift that sparks other gifts. Conversations lead to insight, which lead to more conversations. And sometimes, when we’re lucky, a change crystallizes. Like those photographs appearing magically on the white walls in India (15mins 49 seconds into the TED talk).

And maybe, just maybe, the world becomes a better place...

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March 18, 2011
It's all about me (Here's what's in it for you)
posted by Lori in
The swerve / se faufiler

According to Trendwatching.com, we’re in the middle of a renaissance. And it’s all about me.

The other night, I was with a group of friends at fundraiser where a very flamboyant Jean Harlow look alike was making here way around the room with the air of a celebrity. We didn’t recognize her, but of course were all curious. We overheard someone say her name and within minutes, thanks to our smartphones, we had her bio, website and career credits at our fingertips.

And that got me thinking. These days, everyone’s a quasi-celebrity. And perfect strangers have access to previously intimate details about our lives.

Look around you. People are on Facebook and Twitter. They’re broadcasting their whereabouts on Foursquare and Gowalla. They’ve got their LinkedIn profile link in their email signature. Everything’s interconnected and all roads lead to “me”. It really feels like each of us has become a spokesperson for our own brand.

Once upon a time, not so long ago, the only people whose lives merited hourly updates were celebrities. Lots of people cared what Princess Di ate for lunch. How many care what you or I ate? Yet millions of people worldwide have voluntarily turned their lives into a Truman show. And it’s changing the way we do business with them (and each other).

The big shift.

One of the biggest changes is, of course, the meteoric rise of dotcoms like Facebook and Groupon and Twitter. And let’s not forget, the makers of Angry Birds. In a world with rapidly diminishing resources, it’s interesting to see consumer attention shifting so decisively to “products” that require very little by way of raw materials (other than genius and hard work).

Perhaps it’s a naive thought, but isn’t it possible that global networking and the rise of greater accountability between consumers and producers will eventually lead to less waste and more value? Also a quicker snowballing of innovative thought as many minds work together in different environments?

More opportunity for new businesses

One opportunity is pretty obvious: having access to the minutiae of peoples’ lives makes it increasingly easy to target them. You can use online tools to target consumers when and where they’re most likely to make a purchase. Geolocation platforms like Gowalla and Foursquare are built around this premise. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Turns out, a whole new marketplace opens up when everyone’s the CEO of their own personal brand. As trendwatching.com puts it, “With personal profiles (which are the nucleus of one's personal brand) representing an ever-greater emotional and financial value, expect a burgeoning market for services that protect, store, and, in case of emergencies/death, arrange handing over of one's digital estate to trusted others.”

So, you’ll see companies like Postling, which helps small businesses manage their social media marketing. Or Socioclean popping up to help people “understand and protect” their online social reputation. Good thing, in an age where everyone from your employer to your clients has access to your life online.

Paris Hilton, are you listening?

As designers and communications experts we’re already experiencing demand to help people manage their personal brands. The need for a global “look” for peoples’ profiles across the various platforms they use is also creating huge opportunities. In this time where affordable and powerful online media access is rampant, the you(s) and me(s) of the world can easily delve into global brand creation in a way that only big companies used to.

As it turns out, when it’s all about “me”, there’s plenty for everyone!

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March 03, 2011
Twittiquette: The rules of how to Tweet
posted by Lori in
The swerve / se faufiler

With so much going on in the Twitterverse, how does one stand out? And how do we prevent brand-damaging mishaps? Is there a “Twittiquette?”

Put five social media gurus in a room and you’ll get seven opinions. At least, that’s what it looks like from asking Google the question “What’s the best way to use Twitter?”. Seems like everybody’s got an opinion about what’s an appropriate (or inappropriate) way to engage with their “Tweeps”. Here’s a roundup of some of the more compelling arguments out there:

First let’s talk about the stuff everyone agrees about:

1. Don’t use Twitter to hard sell: If your tweet stream is full of self-promotional messages, chances are you’re going to get dumped by a large segment of your following.

2. Complete your profile: A nice image and a succint bio explaining who you are and what you (or your company, in the case of a corporate account) do is vital for growing your following. Ignore this step and many will assume you’re a spammer and hit “ignore”.

3. Be interesting: Seems like a no-brainer, right? But seriously, this means be interesting and relevant to your target audience. If you’re a chef, you might want to leave out the updates about your cat’s trip to the vet and focus on recipes and tips. Unless your following has made it clear they want to hear about the cat!

4. Participate in link love: If someone goes out of their way to promote you (like adding you to their “#FridayFollow” list or saying wonderful things about you, it’s nice to acknowledge them with a mention or direct message.

And now for the rules that aren’t so clear:

1. Twitter is a conversation: While it’s wonderful to use Twitter as a platform for responding to clients’ questions or complaints, is there a line? How do you feel when you click on someone’s profile and their entire Twitter stream is filled with indecipherable @ replies? The ones that are like hearing just one side of various phone conversations. We looked up Julie Smith (@julien), fellow Montrealer and co-author of “Trust Agents”, an NY Times best seller about social media. His Twitter stream was about 80% @ replies. Just to give you some perspective, Julien’s following is at 34,574 as of this writing. So the man is popular. But what is the benefit to me, as his follower, of being on the outside of all those personal conversations?

2. Use Twitter like radio: This is the exact opposite of the approach outlined above. Jay Rosen, a social media icon and journalism professor at NYU says, “(Twitter is) more like radio than any other media form. I don’t use the radio to talk to a single person. That makes no sense to me. So I don’t give @replies to everyone who talks to me. I read and think about every post sent my way, and many of them affect me deeply. But I reply using the @ feature rarely. When I do, I address my reply to that person, but I write it for all the people who follow both of us. Same when I comment in a blog thread. The illusion is you are talking to one person, or the others in the thread. The real audience is the lurkers. So my @ replies are items written to be overheard.” You can read the rest of this insightful article by Tracy Samantha Schmidt (@435Digital) here.

3. Follow everyone (or almost everyone) who follows you: Obviously, if you’re someone like Seth Godin or Mitch Joel, you’re probably not going to follow every member of the unwashed masses. But what about smaller players looking to grow their following? How much like Facebook IS Twitter? Should you be picky, or should you be welcoming? And where do you draw the line?

These are just some of the questions we’ve been pondering. Does anyone out there have answers? Or maybe more questions?

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March 01, 2011
Bentley event
posted by Lori in
What's up at mookai / quoi de neuf chez mookai

Ok we admit it… we had fun at Bentley event for the unveiling of their GT continental last Wednesday evening February 23. We especially loved that it was in our very own Griffintown hood and all for a good cause. The funds raised went to the Montreal Canadians Children’s Foundation. Guy Lafleur was there, sporting the cause, along with a long list of well-to-do Montrealers. Job well done to the event organizers! The theme… urban industrial meets winter wonderland.

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February 23, 2011
Why every designer should be a poet
posted by Lori in
Life by Design / la vie design

Rory Sutherland’s TED Talk ‘Life Lessons from an Ad Man’ is a hilarious and insightful take on the benefits of perceived value.

“Advertising adds value to a product by changing our perception, rather than the product itself.” Rory Sutherland talks about how a change in perceived value can be just as satisfying as what we consider
“real” value -- and how perception ultimately impacts how we look at and experience life. I would like to add that even “real” value is a result of unchallenged status quo perception, but that is another story…

Towards the end of his presentation, Sutherland gives us this quote from Samuel Johnson:
Poetry is when you make new things familiar and familiar things new.

After all isn’t that what good advertising should do?

Well-designed advertising really is poetry. It's got a rhythm that people feel viscerally. It evokes emotion. It says so much more than it seems to. And it can transform both the object and beholder.
When we add a little poetry to your product or service, we create that intangible, symbolic value, or perceived value…Or whatever you want to call that sense of satisfaction you get when you pay $16 for a pound of organic, fair-trade, perfectly roasted, locally blended coffee instead of $6 for a grocery store brand. It's the sense that you're doing the right thing. That your dollar is buying you an intangible benefit that several pounds of that cheap, pesticide-laden, labour-exploitive coffee could never deliver.

Creative problem solving through the profound understanding of human nature creates the opportunity to change human behavior, by changing perception.

When we change perception we change “the interface by which people make decisions”, which ultimately changes our experience of life.

So, in a world that needs to get more satisfaction from less and perhaps a little more direction for our life choices, a designer can be an activist. Only, instead of a placard, she carries the fairy dust of perceived value.

What is your brand’s perceived value? How does your advertising and design create and support it. We'd love to hear from you.

Rory Sutherland is a charismatic speaker and ad man with Ogilvy Mather in the UK.  He is an accomplished speaker and writer. He blogs at Campaign’s Brand Republic site and has a column called “The Wiki Man” at the Spectator…

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