Cinnamon Brainstorm

Gadeget must-have: a USB Typewriter

2012-01-24T10:42:00.002Z

Whether you want to get all nostalgic about those manual typing days, or want to recreate the opening credits of Murder She Wrote, this digitally upscaled typewriter should do the trick. It connects via USB which means you can connect it to your Mac, PC or your Apple iPad. Buy it here.

My stingy friend's new Apple Macbook Pro

2012-01-23T15:14:00.001Z

The ultimate toilet for Apple fans

2012-01-19T09:41:00.000Z

Career Evolution in Advertising

2012-01-16T11:56:00.000Z

Brilliant library notice

2012-01-13T08:36:00.001Z

Fotoshop by Adobé

2012-01-12T16:17:00.000Z

Fotoshop by Adobé from Jesse Rosten on Vimeo.

Are you a geek or a nerd?

2012-01-12T09:38:00.002Z

Pantone Rubik’s Cube

2011-12-14T11:52:00.003Z

Argentinian designer Ignacio Pilotto created a concept Rubik’s Cube mashup with Pantone color swatches.

The ‘Rubitone’ has different intensities of a colors on each side of the cube — which makes things more difficult to solve—with each row of the same shade.

The Rubik’s Cube has a selection of 18 Pantone colors and would make a lovely gift. It should be quite easy to recreate by printing on adhesive and applying.

Source: Design Taxi

Chopping board design of the week

2011-12-12T16:19:00.001Z

Apple welcomes you to Grand Central

2011-12-08T12:40:00.002Z

To promote the opening of its new shop in Grand Central station, Apple has installed a giant digital version of the traditional split-flap train schedule board using 58 computer display monitors.

Each letter appears to flip into place to reveal a series of headlines, including "Only one bar in Grand Central has Geniuses." ,"Drop off your Mac at 8:42. Pick it up at 6:29." "Grab an iPod touch. You'll wish your commute was longer." and "Soon, missing your train won't be so bad."

Source: Creative Review

What google looked like in 1998...

2011-12-07T12:14:00.002Z

The domain name for Google was registered on September 15, 1997 and the company was incorporated on September 4, 1998.

A Harvey Nichols Christmas 2011 - Ever faced the Walk of Shame?

2011-12-06T15:29:00.002Z

Forget the saccharine-sweet John Lewis Xmas ad, I think a fair few of us might have much more in common with this Walk of Shame ad from Harvey Nichols.

Google gives YouTube a new look

2011-12-02T15:48:00.006Z

Google has given YouTube a seasonal makeover with the introduction of a new homepage, Channel design and a fresh coat of digital paint. Here are three ways these updates will improve your YouTube life.

1. A new homepage

YouTube says the changes to the homepage are designed to make it easier to find and follow Channels when you arrive. On the left side of the homepage you can create your own, personal, customisable YouTube Channel line-up.

Sign in, or create a YouTube account. Then you can browse recommended Channels, customise your homepage’s feed, link your YouTube account to Google+ and Facebook and see what your friends are sharing.

The new homepage feed it launched earlier this year is now front and centre on the homepage and you can switch between feeds by clicking on different Channels on the left.

2. Simpler, customisable Channels

Given the homepage’s new focus on helping you find and organise your favorite Channels, Google has also updated the look and feel of the Channels themselves.

Today it is launching an improved Channel design focused on what matters most: helping users find great videos. As different uploaders have different goals, it has created new a channel templates to meet their needs whether they produce one video a week or have thousands of videos for a fan to browse.

Some partners have even uploaded videos talking about the features, or giving tiphttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifs on how they’re taking advantage of the new design. To learn how to opt-in to and test this new Channel design, check out its help center.

3. A new overall design

To bring the new homepage and Channels designs together Google has also applied a fresh coat of digital paint across the whole site. In July, it unveiled an experimental design called Cosmic Panda and it has used user feedback to improve its overall design, and today, it offers a cleaner and simpler YouTube, with a consistent gray background, bigger video thumbnails and a more streamlined watch page.

Source: The Wall

Great Ad campaign: SwissLife : Life’s Turns In A Sentence

2011-12-02T10:19:00.005Z

I love this campaign for SwissLife life Insurance's Flexible financial plans. They've cleverly used reversed sentences that reflect lifes twists & turns…

21 Suggestions for success

2011-11-29T13:43:00.007Z

Oops

2011-11-28T14:23:00.001Z

A bottle of fancy French wine. Look closely at the label. Yes, it's lorem ipsum filler text.

Samsung takes a swipe at pretentious iPhone owners in its new viral ad

2011-11-23T16:45:00.003Z

New ad for Samsung Galaxy S II shows urban scene kids with delusions of creative greatness (who are actually baristas, apparently) queuing for the latest iPhone. It goes on to show people outside the queue who already have a great phone with 4G and a big, bright screen.

It's a great ad, even though I’ve been pretty loyal to iPhones, it digs right to the centre of what I think about a lot, which is, if I actually did a little research…

Source: The Wall

World’s largest, longest 3D painting has been created in Canary Wharf, London

2011-11-21T11:19:00.008Z

Reebok has collaborated with CrossFit to set two new Guinness World Records with the world’s largest and longest 3D artwork.

Street artist ‘3D Joe & Max’ turned part of London’s Canary Wharf quayside into the longest and largest 3D artwork, which covers an area of 12,490.441 square-feet and measures approximately 349.4 feet.

The painting, unveiled on 17 November 2011 (Global Guinness World Records Day), features a waterfall in a deep canyon image, as a ‘fun and thrilling’ outdoor workout experience.

Source: Design Taxi

Is this the best use of a cut-out ever?

2011-11-17T14:43:00.002Z

World Leader Porn: Benetton wants the world to UNHATE

2011-11-16T21:46:00.011Z

US President Barack Obama and Hugo Chavez of Venezuela

A new campaign from Benetton recalls the brand's controversial heyday. A series of posters features world leaders with lips locked to launch the UNHATE project

Benetton, says the accompanying press material, is inviting "the leaders and citizens of the world to combat the 'culture of hatred'". The UNHATE campaign is the first initiative from a new Benetton foundation of the same name, launched by Alessandro Benetton, executive deputy chairman of the Benetton Group.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy

A series of posters, created by Benetton's 'research communication centre' Fabrica, features political and spiritual leaders kissing (shown above, The Pope and Ahmed Mohamed el-Tayeb, Imam of the Al-Azhar mosque in Cairo. Below, US President Barack Obama and Hugo Chavez of Venezuela)

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

According to Benetton "These are symbolic images of reconciliation - with a touch of ironic hope and constructive provocation - to stimulate reflection on how politics, faith and ideas, even when they are divergent and mutually opposed, must still lead to dialogue and mediation."

The Pope and Ahmed Mohamed el-Tayeb, Imam of the Al-Azhar mosque in Cairo

Hu Jintao, president of China and U.S. President Barack Obama

North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-Il and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak

Additional social media activity includes the Kiss Wall where users can upload images of themselves kissing.

Source: Creative Review

What does an Art Director do?

2011-11-16T10:21:00.001Z

This is very funny. As Jacques Séguéla said, "Don't tell my mother I work in an advertising agency. She thinks I play piano in a whorehouse."

BA's latest ad: "To Fly. To Serve"

2011-11-08T09:26:00.005Z

An industry email has just lead me to BA's latest ad, and my G-d they've pumped the pounds into this one. They're riding high with this "To fly. To serve" line and in my mind a bit too soon after the strikes for this type of ad campaign. 'To Fly, To Strike' is ringing through my head.

Additionally I dislike the gender stereotyping of male pilots and the way they've erased early female aviators from history. I do like flying BA but it's embarrassing that a major airline can still be so sexist.

WHSmith have pulled off a publishing coup

2011-11-04T07:06:00.001Z

Brian of course...

The facebook version of you vs the realistic version of you

2011-11-01T14:38:00.000Z

Source: Comical Concept

How logos are made

2011-10-31T09:57:00.001Z

Don't you hate when this happens?

2011-10-28T09:54:00.002+01:00

Cute

2011-10-25T11:17:00.000+01:00

Pantone Christmas

2011-10-20T16:22:00.001+01:00

Pantone Christmas baubles. Just perfect. Cool Gray 10 for me, please.

Special Tone of Voice award to Apple’s Siri on the new iPhone 4S

2011-10-14T12:28:00.004+01:00

They’ve *really* thought this through.

Find all the gems at shitthatsirisays.tumblr.com

Own a colour, save a life

2011-10-13T09:58:00.010+01:00

Dulux has launched a website initiative with Unicef in which users are asked to buy one of the 16.7 million colours that a smartphone screen can display in order to help the charity.

Through the website ownacolour.com, the public, for a donation of at least £1, can put their name to their favourite colour and see themselves featured up alongside famous donors.

I bought 'Heartbeat Red':

Source: Creative Review

Hitler finds out that there’s no Apple iPhone 5

2011-10-12T14:31:00.000+01:00

This had me in stitches...

Facebook finally launches iPad app

2011-10-11T10:10:00.003+01:00

Facebook has finally taken the wraps off its long-awaited app for the iPad, extending its presence in mobile devices.

The app features a new layout for the site, with games, apps, groups and lists in a left-hand menu, and messages and notifications at the top of every screen.

It is available in English, Chinese, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Turkish.

Facebook's iPhone app is the most downloaded iPhone app to date and with mobile usage of the social network rising, its move to tablet devices has been hotly anticipated.

Source: MediaWeek

Steve Jobs at the pearly gates

2011-10-09T20:32:00.003+01:00

The cover of the October 17 issue of The New Yorker.

iPhone 4S grief. Yup - today I am indeed throwing money at Apple.

2011-10-07T11:15:00.002+01:00

RIP Steve Jobs

2011-10-06T09:01:00.003+01:00

RIP Steve Jobs. You left your mark on our desks, on our ears & in our hands.

Don't forget to take the sun into account in your design...

2011-10-04T15:52:00.001+01:00

Latest Ad from T-Mobile - The Parking Ticket

2011-09-23T11:35:00.001+01:00

A departure from T-Mobile's previous flash-mob style adverts, but just as good...

LDF 2011: design from all angles

2011-09-22T16:16:00.009+01:00

LDF posters

This year's London Design Festival opened at the weekend, complete with an identity by Domenic Lippa and his team at Pentagram; their fifth iteration for the annual event...

The design is hooked around the phrase 'design from all angles'. Lippa and team created the identity by printing text on pieces of paper, folding them and then photographing them from different angles. "The differing angles enable the 2011 festival to have a flexible identity across the whole gamut of events whilst maintaining a consistent look and feel," say Pentagram. "Once more the identity leverages its ownership of red in order to create maximum impact."

More details of what's on when at londondesignfestival.com.

LDF guides
LDF invites
LDF badges
LDF map

Source: Mark Sinclair at Creative Review

BBC unveils new touch screen inspired bbc.co.uk homepage

2011-09-21T11:56:00.003+01:00

The BBC has unveiled a new version of the bbc.co.uk. homepage It’s in beta, but is looking good and serves as a reminder of how much the BBC offers.

The new look now sports sliding screens, that are clearly inspired by touch screen phones and tablet computers, that sweep across the page allowing visitors to easily navigate a lot of content much.

The BBC home page has a big job to do in fighting to keep its traffic. At the moment it attracts 9 million unique users a week, but like all portal type homepages that is declining.

I personally never visit it, going instead straight to news, to BBC iPlayer via search and social links.

The change to the homepage comes after the BBC announced its plans to reorganise the BBC’s online service into ten product areas in January 2011 and also announced a 25% budget reduction for BBC Online, which resulted in 360 jobs losses over the next two years.

Would like great on an iPad but does it lack buzz?

You know this would look great on an iPad and that might be part of its problem as it is really designed for that more than your average PC. But that said I like the way it is very easy to navigate and design wise it draws you around the page. It is easy to jump around.

What I don’t like is that it feels utterly divorced from the web and social media. I know it has a most popular, but there is no sense of what people are saying about BBC programmes. In essence there is not buzz. There is no sign of social networking or social media at all that I noticed. I think you really have to have something of that.

Key changes

Some of the things the new look allows visitors to do include setting local preferences for information that is local to them, including news, weather and TV schedules.

The at-a-glance guide to top stories from BBC News and Sport and highlights from across BBC TV, Radio and Online.

You can choose the headings that appeal to see much more of what interests you (such as entertainment, news and sport). You can also see what stories and programmes are proving popular with other BBC users in terms of most read, watched and listened.

And of course, you can see what is being broadcast on TV and Radio right now, and look ahead to plan your viewing and listening.

You can find more out about the BBC Homepage here.

Source: The Wall

Colour picker pen by jinsu park

2011-09-20T10:13:00.010+01:00

Korean designer jinsu park has designed a concept pen that adopts the eyedropper tool from Photoshop for real life. The colour picker pen enables colours in the environment to be scanned and instantly used for drawing.

The sensor detects the colour and matches it to the colour display. Then the RGB cartridge located within the pen mixes the inks together to create the colour that has been scanned.

Source: Design Boom

The best responses to celebrities on Twitter

2011-09-08T15:39:00.012+01:00

Merciless responses to celebrity tweets can be very satisfying...

Source: Happy Place

Inadvertently sexual logos

2011-09-05T10:24:00.025+01:00

Source: Happy Place

G-d I love these chairs

2011-09-02T12:35:00.017+01:00

In the run up to the London Design Festival, the London Transport Museum has teamed up with design company Squint to pay homage to some of the iconic moquette patterns used on the tube, including the bold District Line pattern designed by Misha Black back in 1978, as well as the unmistakable Green Line moquette. These colourful bespoke chairs feature a mix of archive moquette mixed with bold and beautiful contemporary velvet.

This collaboration between London Transport Museum and Squint looks set to continue with specially commissioned furniture, which will be available to buy from the London Transport Museum shop from September onwards. The first chair in the collection will be shown at Tent London between 22nd and 25th September where the chair will be entered into a prize draw and won by a Tent visitor to the stand. Good luck if you get to visit…

Source: Achica Living

Very clever T-shirt idea

2011-09-01T11:48:00.006+01:00

Before...and after

Anti-extremism campaigners in Germany have hit upon a novel idea to expose neo-Nazi supporters.

A group called Exit Deutschland, which is dedicated to helping people turn away from far-right ideology, set up a stall at a nationalist music festival in the German town of Gera.

Posing as T-shirt sellers specialising in neo-Nazi merchandise, they handed out to 250 shirts branded with the words "hardcore rebels - national and free" and images of nationalist flags.

But when the T-shirts were washed, the slogans changed to reveal a new message.

The clean garment told wearers: "If your t-shirt can do it, you can do it too - we'll help you get away from right-wing extremism."

The phone number for Exit Deutschland also appeared.

Source: The JC

Massive Diet Coke

2011-08-31T15:10:00.010+01:00

In order to celebrate Coca-Cola’s 125th anniversary, this September the company will be introducing a limited-edition design of Diet Coke that will be on shelves for an as of yet undisclosed period of time. It could be three months, it could be three decades.

It's a stunning redesign (by Turner Duckworth). Absolute simplicity and boldness. No visual fizz, no gratuitous waves, no fake sweat drops. Just a great big Diet Coke logo which is instantly recognisable.

Also notice how, at a given angle of the can, you can see a big “ok”. I'm not sure if that was intentional, but it’s a nice touch.

Source: Brand New

The Post-it wars – in pictures

2011-08-31T14:13:00.017+01:00

Check out the window designs created by French office workers from the contents of the stationery cupboard

Source: Guardian Culture

New Wacom Inkling captures what you draw on paper digitally

2011-08-30T13:07:00.013+01:00

Wacom has announced an amazing new product today, the Inkling. This so-called Digital Sketch Pen allows you to capture whatever you draw or write on a sketchbook or any kind of paper in digital form, “stroke by stroke”. Just insert a sheet of paper or a notebook into the receiver, use the Inkling Digital Pen and transfer your works to your computer to refine them digitally anytime later.

Wacom says that Inkling even lets users create layers in the digital file while sketching on paper, with the push of a button and that it offers direct transfers to Photoshop, Illustrator, and Autodesk Sketchbook Pro/Designer.

Wacom plans to start selling the Inkling worldwide in the next few weeks for an RRP of £149.99, according to the company website.

Pre-order an Inkling via the Wacom website here.

This video shows the Inkling in action:

Source: Tech Crunch

Split Family Faces

2011-08-23T11:10:00.007+01:00

How much do you and your family members really look alike? Canada-based graphic designer and photographer, Ulric Collette, has created a brilliant project where he's exploring the genetic similarities between different members of the same family. By splitting their faces in half and then splicing them together, he creates interesting new people that are sometimes are quite normal looking and other times far from it. He calls this series Genetic Portraits. Out of interest, it's Ulric, the artist, who appears in the first portrait, below.

Cousins: Justine, 29, & Ulric, 29

Mother/Daughter: Francine, 56 & Catherine, 23

Sisters: Catherine, 23 & Veronica, 29

Daughter/Mother: Veronica, 29 & Francine, 56

Sister/Brother: Karine, Dany & XX years, 25 years

Brothers, Christopher, 30 & Ulric, 29

Father/Son: Laval, 56 & Vincent, 29

Father/Son: Denis, 53 & William, 28

Twins: Laurence & Christine, 20

Brothers, Matthew, 25 & Ulric, 29

Son/Father, Nathan, 7, Ulric, 29

Source: My Modern Met

New ticketing service guarantees sell-out gigs

2011-08-22T11:33:00.004+01:00

An innovative new ticketing service in the US, Ticketometer, hopes to eliminate the problem of poorly attended concerts by guaranteeing artists play to a packed audience.

Poorly attended concerts lose musicians and venues money and are disappointing for fans, but an innovative new ticketing service in the US, Ticketometer, hopes to eliminate the problem by guaranteeing artists play to a packed audience.

First the artist sets up their show on the site by entering the city, date, ticket price and then, most crucially, the “set-off point” — or minimum number of tickets needed to sell to make the show profitable. The artist promotes the show via their website and social media, and fans purchase tickets through Ticketometer. Once the set-off point is reached the artist is notified to reconfirm the event, and fans are charged. If the set-off point isn’t reached then the show is removed and fans fully refunded. Gauging interest before an event means musicians can create shows in cities or towns previously thought to be risky, and are in a better position to negotiate with venues. Venues benefit as pre-sold attendance guarantees business, and the concept is risk-free for fans. Though the current site is in beta, more functionality is being added with more connectivity to social media to benefit artists, venues and fans.

By bringing musicians to the places they’re most wanted, Ticketometer aim to create a win-win situation for all parties involved, saving time and money. Could this idea by expanded to help others in the entertainment industry?

www.ticketometer.com

Source: Springwise

Is this the most sexist ad of all time?

2011-08-21T15:07:00.000+01:00

Latest work by Cinnamon Creative: Web design for Mary Portas's retail concept.

2011-08-19T10:14:00.002+01:00

Mary Portas is targeting fashion's 'invisible' market with a new clothing range designed for the over-40s, and Cinnamon Creative has created the web design and social media design for the collection, in partnership with House of Fraser.

You can see the designs here and you can purchase all clothes, shoes and accessories from August 18, from Mary at House of Fraser, 31 Oxford Street, London W1 or online at houseoffraser.com/maryportas

Mary Portas wearing clothes and jewellery from the new range.
Photograph: Sophia Evans for the Observer

Best t-shirt for beard wearers, ever

2011-08-09T22:43:00.002+01:00

Source: The Poke

Must stop playing with the Google Maps Kaleidoscope

2011-08-05T11:34:00.004+01:00

Here's where I live in London. Trippy.

Google Maps Kaleidoscope: rorschmap.com

The Internet: I want my life back!

2011-08-04T22:49:00.000+01:00

Latest work: Web design, email templates and social media for House of Fraser

2011-08-03T22:23:00.014+01:00

Cinnamon Creative has completed work with House of Fraser on their new premium look website that launched last week. It focuses on content and strong user engagement with a web-based international style magazine.

House of Fraser’s Facebook Fangate and competition pages (including tabs for Rihanna and Mary Portas) were also designed by Cinnamon Creative, as well as 7 new email templates, and e-branding of their 'Recognition' loyalty and Business Incentives programmes.

Click here to view the work via the Cinnamon Creative site, and of course check out the brand new live site: www.houseoffraser.co.uk

The war between designers, developers and project managers

2011-08-01T16:42:00.000+01:00

Brilliant... is this the future of grocery shopping?

2011-08-01T15:27:00.003+01:00

In South Korea, Tesco has launched a new idea that connects with busy people through an innovative new concept, Home Plus. They created billboards in subway stations that feature a range of products that customers can then select and scan using QR codes with their cell phones, only to have the selected groceries delivered later to their doorstep. The displays are set up just like aisles in any grocery store, so while you’re waiting for the train, you can get that pesky chore out of the way.

Bring it to the UK, Tesco!

Source: Design Milk

Mini Coopers as inflatable floats, to cruise the waves in style

2011-07-29T15:16:00.006+01:00

It’s not the car pool you were expecting. For Mini Cooper, ad agency Access floated the idea of using life-sized, inflatable versions of the iconic car as swimming accessories.

The floats were designed as a summer promotional and entertainment tool, and in addition to a beach toy, the floats can be used as balloons for festivals or other outdoor events.

As of now, however, the cars are just a concept and have yet to hit the beaches.

Source: Design Taxi

The After Matisse rug by Sonya Winner

2011-07-29T12:00:00.007+01:00

LOVE LOVE LOVE this After Matisse Rug by Sonya Winner.

innocent's new "Hungry?" book

2011-07-08T10:09:00.014+01:00

Does the world really need a new cook book? Probably not. However, smoothie brand innocent's new recipe book, entitled Hungry? (published by 4th Estate, £20) really is rather lovely stuff

Beautifully laid out and designed to perfection - I'd love this book just for its graphics. The book is aimed at families with small children and, as well as over 100 recipes for straight forward dishes - some healthy and some indulgent treats - it is choc-full of helpful info like how to test for a good or bad egg, and an easy to read chart of what food is seasonal when. And there's plenty of fun stuff for kids to enjoy, such as the particularly excellent tips for how to make your popcorn last through an entire DVD. Also of note is the photography by Clare Shilland and the on-brand witty captions and copy in general – a trait which is one of innocent's strongest brand assets. Here a selection of spreads:

Source: Creative Review

Diesel makes Facebook look like Excel with its slacker app

2011-06-21T14:21:00.006+01:00

It’s another cool social media campaign from Diesel and while it won’t appeal to everyone it is definitely worth a look.

Diesel of lovely jeans fame has created this downloadable application for Macs and PCs that makes Facebook look like an Excel Spreadsheet. It is part of Diesel’s “stupid” campaign and its your chance to be “stupid” at work.

So you can like stuff and chat right under the nose of your boss and they will never know. It is a great little idea. They are calling it Excelbook. If Facebook is banned where you work then this really won’t help, but if not, you can download the application right here .

I love how innovative Diesel is when it comes to digital media and it is really going for this whole stupid thing. In March Diesel invited people to join the “stupid society” on fantasy island.

Not all its stupid campaign has worked. Last year its ‘Stupid’ ads were banned by ASA. Last year we also saw Diesel bring Facebook to life in its stores with Diesel Cam.

Source: The Wall

Jennifer Aniston goes viral by mocking all viral videos

2011-06-16T16:55:00.004+01:00

Jennifer Aniston manages to cram a dozen or so popular Internet virals into her latest ad for Smartwater, including dancing babies, puppies etc. Worth a watch.

What just happened in the last 60 seconds on the Internet?

2011-06-16T15:48:00.002+01:00

Spectacular advertising placement fail in today's Daily Mirror

2011-06-10T15:17:00.002+01:00

Source: Andrew Bloch

Age verification tool of the week

2011-05-26T13:35:00.002+01:00

Source: The Poke

Creepy, yet awesome: Dumpster Drive lets you share your unwanted digital files with complete strangers.

2011-05-26T09:51:00.003+01:00

Dumpster Drive: File Sharing For Your Digital Trash from Justin Blinder on Vimeo.

Mac OS X: Dumpster Drive may be one of the strangest file sharing services you'll ever come across, as it's geared towards sharing files you don't want with people you don't know. What seems bizarre and potentially pointless, however, is actually a really compelling idea in the sense that one man's trash is another man's treasure.

What Does It Do?
Dumpster Drive is a very simple concept. You install the app, choose a location for your dumpster, and add any items you don't want. Within the app, you can empty your dumpster and your digital trash will be added to the community trash pool. Anyone else using Dumpster Drive can dig through that trash pool and download any files. When you do, however, that file now belongs to you and nobody else can download it. The idea is one of transferring file ownership from someone who doesn't want it to someone who may find it useful.

Is It Safe?
This idea, of course, comes along with some security implications. When you download someone else's trash, you don't know what might come along with it. Currently there's no information discussing how Dumpster Drive is dealing with the potential threat of viruses and malware, so you may want to be careful about the trash you choose to download.

Why Would I Use This?
Dumpster Drive is a file sharing service you're probably going to either love or hate. You may find it to be completely useless or oddly compelling. While its appeal may not be immediately obvious, it's an application that's about curiosity and extending the lifespan of the digital things we often see as simply disposable. The internet is filled with places where we indirectly pry into the lives of strangers. Dumpster Drive just takes a more candid approach.

Currently Dumpster Drive is Mac-only, but the source code is available on GitHub so others can use it to make versions for other platforms.

Dumpster Drive

Source: Lifehacker.com (Adam Dachis)

Office manager of the week

2011-05-25T13:59:00.005+01:00

Type Table

2011-05-23T16:40:00.009+01:00

Font nerd alert! Here’s a three-dimensional way to express your love of letters.

The Fontable, designed by Alessandro Canepa and Andrea Paulicelli is a new concept featuring letters A-Z in lower and uppercase as well as the numbers 0-9. Each table is made from a single sheet of steel in white, black or red. The adjustable legs are anodized aluminum.

Order a single letter or a whole word.

Available at Outdoorz Gallery.

Source: Elvis Design

The Sunday Times ‘Social List’ – like a rich list for geeks - what number are you?

2011-05-20T16:23:00.000+01:00

The Sunday Times Social List is a nice idea from The Sunday Times, giving 'the people' their own rich list of sorts. It's visually well done and as is the case with a lot of things like this at the moment, it's the data that paints the picture. Give it a go here.

Business cards for kids

2011-05-20T12:21:00.006+01:00

Ogilvy Brazil have created these superb personalised business cards for children at the Red Balloons English school.

Red Balloon, an English School for kids, asked its students what they wanted to be when they grow up.

Based on their answers, Ogilvy Brazil designed personalised Kids Business Cards. "Result: more kids believe in their dreams and more parents believe in the importance of English for their kids' future," say the agency.

RedBalloon Kids Business Cards from digous machado on Vimeo.

Source: Creative Review

Friskies have created iPad games for cats. Screen protectors not included.

2011-05-20T11:16:00.005+01:00

Friskies, the cat food brand has introduced a trio of iPad apps made just for the most precious of household felines. Via Cat Fishing, Tasty Treasures Hunt and Party Mix-Up, iPad owners can alternatively swoon and gasp in sheer horror as their cats bring claw after sharpened claw to their iPad screens. It's half cute / half horror-inducing to watch.

Orange Lucky Likes

2011-05-17T21:25:00.008+01:00

Really lovely and original social engagement idea from Orange: They've launched a competition inviting users to enter a lucky dip of Facebook Likes. Users connect through Facebook and then randomly choose two anonymous like buttons. The correct choice will be rewarded with prizes, whilst the wrong choice will leave the reader with an undesirable like on their Facebook page, such as “Gillian McKeith and toenails”.

#Winning on Twitter: The Top 10 Promoted Tweets

2011-05-17T09:05:00.011+01:00

VW, Papa John's—and Twitter—win by 'keeping it real', using links and launching new products.

VW
Engagement: 52%
Why it worked: Linked to a live unveiling of the New Beetle, teased during Super Bowl.

Google
Engagement: 38%
Why it worked: New tech products resonate, and Google used Twitter to launch Google Instant, NexusOne and Chrome.

Old Spice
Engagement: 36%
Why it worked: Connected paid tweet to existing social campaign. Brought Old Spice guy out of retirement on Twitter.

Ford

Engagement: 34%
Why it worked: Auto category strong on Twitter. Linked to exclusive “spy photos” of the Mustang Boss 302.

Papa John's
Engagement: 34%
Why it worked: Good timing and a social component encouraged users to submit and retweet photos of people receiving a heart-shaped pizza.

Hollywood Records
Engagement: 27%
Why it worked: Another product unveiling, this time a Selena Gomez record release, which name-checked a retail partner (iTunes) and latched onto a popular hashtag.

IamROGUE
Engagement: 26%
Why it worked:: This wasn’t the launch of a show but a key part of building buzz for the build-up, with first images of the new “Wonder Woman” series.

Twitter
Engagement: 25%
Why it worked: Twitter users have a keen interest in, well, Twitter. Here, Twitter uses its own platform to promote its new web client. This tweet earned 5,971 re-tweets.

Xbox
Engagement: 25%
Why it worked:Contests, giveaways and premieres tend to perform on Twitter. Microsoft had already successfully seeded organic conversations for #gears3beta, which became a Trended Topic.

Source: Storify

Fonts as dogs

2011-05-17T08:50:00.000+01:00

0 to Awesome in 6.24 seconds

2011-05-16T13:02:00.001+01:00

The must-have accessory for every dog - the iBone is here.

2011-05-16T09:46:00.006+01:00

Buy it here.

You Can Now Tag Pages in Facebook Photos

2011-05-12T20:57:00.000+01:00

Ever had the urgent need to tag the Coke can you’re holding in that Primrose Hill picnic picture on Facebook? Well, now you can, as the social network has added the ability to tag Pages in Facebook photos.

Starting today, users will be able to tag Pages for Brands & Products as well as People (more options coming soon) in their Facebook photos.

Tagged photos will appear in the Photos tab of a Page, rather than on that Page’s Wall, and anyone can tag a Page — even if a user hasn’t “Liked” it. Page admins can also nix photos from the tab by going into Edit Page > Posting Options > and unchecking “Users can add photos.”

For those who concerned about their privacy, Facebook assures us that privacy settings will still apply; if your photos are visible to everyone, everyone will be able to see the tagged snap, and if your photos are set to “only friends,” only friends will be able to check out that pic of you standing in front of the local Rite Aid.

This move could definitely be beneficial to certain brands. Imagine if people started tagging themselves wearing, say, Levi’s jeans. All of those snaps would then go to the Levi’s Facebook Page and result in free advertising.

Will you start tagging brands and celebs in your Facebook pictures?

Source: Mashable

Karen Cinnamon in 'Freelancing Matters' Magazine

2011-05-10T14:20:00.004+01:00

Feature in Freelancing Matters magazine, May 2011.

Today's Google Doodle honours 76th Birthday of 'Mr. Men' Author Roger Hargreaves

2011-05-09T18:05:00.007+01:00

If you've checked out Google today, you'll notice the cuteness has no bounds with different Google doodles riffing off Mr. Bump, Mr. Men, Mr. Rush, Little Miss Magic, Little Miss Shy and so many others. If you're in the right age range, you'll recognise the images from your childhood as those conjured up by British author and illustrator Roger Hargreaves, whose birthday Google celebrates today with these awesome renditions.

Hargreaves, who died in 1988, would have been 76 today. He is best known for the Mr. Men and Little Miss books, which started with Mr. Tickle in 1971. The books have thus far sold more than 100 million copies in 28 countries.

Royal Wedding Photoshop Magic

2011-04-28T11:49:00.008+01:00

Honest logos

2011-04-20T11:50:00.011+01:00

What if logos told the truth? You can't really argue with this idea by Viktor Hertz of a series of honest logos.

Evian Baby Inside

2011-04-20T11:13:00.005+01:00

Evian has followed up its "roller babies" ad with a new spot that flips adults into dancing babies.

BETC Euro RSCG's "Baby Inside" ad uses a series of images of people wearing t-shirts that have an image of a baby's body on the front, from the neck down.

The images are shown in quick succession, resembling a flipbook, to animate images and make them appear as though the baby images are dancing.

The “Live Young” strapline, strengthens the message of the Rollerbabies film by symbolising the effect of Evian on the bodies of adults of all ages.

Source: Brand Republic

Facebook launches Facebook Studio for marketers

2011-04-19T13:38:00.005+01:00

Facebook has launched a stand-alone community site where creatives can share ideas, comment on campaigns and learn what it takes to create a successful page for a brand.

Facebook Studio is a sortable gallery of marketing campaigns and it looks like it will be very useful to digital marketers and creatives.

You can search for the most liked campaigns, the most shared campaigns, by language, region and other criteria, and it’s been created because Facebook has been asked for examples and tools for social media campaigns.

You can also search by brands and by sector, and in the Learning Lab tab are detailed explanations of all the Facebook marketing tools available, so it’s easy to keep up to date (or even get up to speed if you’re a complete beginner).

And even if you’re one of those people who derides any borrowing of ideas, it can also be a good way of checking out if you’re idea truly IS a first for Facebook.

Anyone can look at it. You can also upload your own work for others to admire (agencies and clients are credited).

I know it’s an ill wind that blows no good, but are there winds that blow no bad? Facebook benefits because it gets more brands signing up for campaigns; consumers benefit by getting more entertaining campaigns (hopefully); and agencies benefit from sharing intelligence. Go and explore!

facebook-studio.com

Source: The Wall

T-Mobile's Royal Wedding Entrance Video Goes Viral

2011-04-16T18:27:00.003+01:00

T-Mobile has released a Royal Wedding entrance dance video à la the couple that boogied to "Forever" back in 2009. Prince William, Kate Middleton, Queen Elizabeth, Camilla and Prince Charles lookalikes all bump and grind their way down the aisle and into the Internet's viral void.

The ad (by Saatchi & Saatchi, London) will be released solely online, unlike the previous 'Life's For Sharing' spots.

For the record, I was most impressed with Fake Harry's moves.

Freelance Designer vs. Design Agency

2011-04-16T17:59:00.007+01:00

There used to be advantages in employing large agencies for big jobs. Economies of scale, strength in numbers, experience and access to resources were benefits of the big boys over a lone ranger. Nowadays, this isn’t true. All a freelancer needs is a Mac and a broadband connection. Large files can easily be moved around quickly, huge jobs – series of billboards, brochures, books, presentations, videos, websites – can sit on secure servers anywhere in the world.

If the scale of the job is too much for one freelancer they can simply call on someone else to help. Files can be downloaded from the freelancer’s FTP site and uploaded when finished. Every freelancer has a network of contacts each with their specialities.

Essentially there are benefits which ever way you decide to go, and neither one is the wrong choice. The first decider is often cost. Freelance designers tend to be significantly more affordable than design agencies because they don't have the same overheads and staff costs and primarily because you are usually paying a single person to work on your project.

So here's my list of advantages of each. It’s also worth noting there’s a certain amount of overlap. For instance, my first reason for choosing an agency is because they’re well-versed in dealing with large accounts. The same can be true of a freelancer.

Reasons to work with a freelance graphic designer
1. From start to finish, the client is talking to the top creative designer on the job, so the project specifications don’t need relayed before action is taken.
2. There are no separate account managers, senior creatives or junior designers, each with differing interpretations of the design brief.
3. The client is hiring the person responsible for 100% of the design portfolio
4. Client phone calls go directly to the designer working on the project — not a sales person or account manager.
5. With many freelancers working from home, they can often transfer considerable savings made through low overheads.
6. Design revisions can frequently be made almost immediately after the request.
7. Billing enquiries and delivery time frames can be clarified at the same time as specific design discussions.

Reasons to work with a graphic design agency
1. Well versed in dealing with large accounts.
2. The client isn’t reliant on the health of one person for the successful completion of the design project.
3. There is often a group of designers collaborating on ideas, offering a broad range of outcomes.
4. Agencies tend to be made up of a number of staff each with their own specialty meaning the overall skill level involved in your project could be higher.

Should the advantages I’ve listed differ from your own experience, please feel free to add in the comments section.

Google’s new trivia game demands that you search

2011-04-12T08:49:00.015+01:00

Google’s new trivia game defies conventional rules by requiring players to perform search queries to find the answer to a daily question.

It’s called A Google a Day and beyond being a game that will attract web savvy pub quiz aficionados, it may serve multiple purposes for the search engine giant.

Probably the most obvious reason for creating a game like this is that it reveals new data on how users are searching for ultra specific pieces of information, and in ways that were previously only discovered by deduction of whatever data was available. Having users seek out predetermined results (using the search tool on agoogleaday.com, which doesn’t contain real-time results that might reveal the answer and ruin the game) allows Google to reverse engineer how they’re currently tracking and evaluating data.

Daily questions (example pictured above) will apparently be more difficult to solve as it gets closer to the end of the week, according to a post on Google’s official blog by User Experience Researcher Dan Russell. Answers will be revealed the following day as well as what search methods were employed to find that answer.

While A Google A Day is more puzzle-based than an actual mini game, it’s still the company’s first serious step into the space, and it looks likely to be a perfect breeding ground for social success as well as advertising revenue potential.

Source: Venturebeat.com

Karen Cinnamon wins Advertising & Design Freelancer of the Year Award 2011.

2011-04-04T10:55:00.024+01:00

Karen won the accolade Xchangeteam Advertising & Design Freelancer of the Year 2011 at the UK’s only awards ceremony to recognise freelancers in the media, marketing and communications industries.

Advertising & Design was the highest entered category this year with 53 nominations in total, with 6 finalists.

Judge Matt Potter said, "Karen’s sheer joy in her work shines through, not just in her award entry but in the quality of the work she does, and in the feedback she gets from clients.

Her ability to cut through the hyperbole and find the heart of the issue is her true strength and in a competitive market for freelancers, she’s a great example of someone who pulls off difficult work for demanding clients... and makes it look easy."

Karen additionally was Highly Commended in the Digital Excellence category.

More details on the results here.

See Karen's work at www.cinnamoncreative.com

Groupon's brilliant 'Unsubscribe' page

2011-04-03T12:31:00.000+01:00

This has, apparently, been around for quite some time. So you’ll have to excuse me if you’ve seen it before.

Groupon.com have built a great unsubscribe page for their email newsletter. They express sorrow to see you leave and offer a funny video to punish their IT guy responsible for sending out the email. Adding this bit of humour and the simplicity of the unsubscribe leaves you with a positive feeling about their company and service.

Click here to see their interactive Unsubscribe page.

New Google Chrome logo unveiled

2011-03-17T11:32:00.003Z

A redesign of the Google Chrome logo has just been unveiled.

I think the removal of the previous logo’s tacky 3D effects is a step in the right direction. Another good move towards simplification.

The old Google Chrome logo is pictured below.

Source: Logobird

Nice work for Richard House by The Partners

2011-03-11T14:05:00.003Z

The Partners have created a great fundraising website for children's hospice Richard House in London. The site allows visitors to create a unique 'exquisite corpse' print using drawings by 120 of the UK's top illustrators...

There are 64,000 possible combinations of heads, bodies and legs to choose from on the site, and users can scroll through them online until they are happy with a selection. For only £60, they can then buy a print of their creation, with all proceeds raised on the site going to Richard House. Act fast though - only one of each combination will be produced as a print, so get in quick to get the one you want.

www.goinggoinggone-red.org

Source: Creative Review

Nike tattoo eyebrows.

2011-03-10T14:12:00.003Z

The thin line between brand advocacy and being a moron...

Source: Digital Prescriptions

Freelancer of the Year Awards

2011-03-07T20:13:00.003Z

Karen Cinnamon has been shortlisted for the upcoming Freelancer of the Year Awards 2011, in two categories: Digital Excellence and Advertising & Design.

The winners will be announced at an Awards ceremony in central London on 31st March 2011.

Circle of no life

2011-03-01T07:41:00.007Z

via The Cool Hunter

iPad 2 to be launched next week on Wednesday 2nd March

2011-02-24T10:25:00.002Z

The rumours have been floating around the web for the last week or so that Apple will be holding a press event on March 2nd to announce details of the iPad 2. Well today Apple have gone and confirmed those rumours and have sent out invites for the official press event entitled ” Come see what 2011 will be the year of”

It’s fairly obvious to assume from the picture that it will be an iPad that’s going to be the focus of the event. It's not clear as to whether or not the iPad will actually be available on March 2nd or not, but one things for certain we will at last find out whats going to be in the iPad 2. It will be interesting to see if its any smaller in size as rumours have suggested and Apple will almost certainly want to be putting at least one if not two cameras in there if they want to keep up with the competition.

All will be revealed next Wednesday… the event will be held at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco at 10:00am where Apple have launched products before.

An app for instant idea evaluation

2011-02-23T13:10:00.002Z

Creatives always have the same problem: is an idea any good? With this app we can apparently get an instant evaluation. You record your idea into your iPhone and then hold the phone over your head. After a few seconds of "processing" you either get a bright lit light bulb (a good idea) or an unlit lightbulb (a bad idea).

More of a fun app then a serious one methinks...

Download it here.

Very clever livery idea for FedEx (Always first)

2011-02-21T10:38:00.001Z

The concept was created by an Ad School graduate.

New Old Spice

2011-02-07T23:06:00.001Z

How far are they going to take this? Very, very far I hope.

The colours of the Top 100 web brands

2011-02-07T00:23:00.013Z

In the world of brand design, choice of colour provides the potential for a wealth of carefully crafted and powerfully communicated messages about your brand.What is the most popular and dominant colour online?

Creative community blog COLOURlovers researched the brand colours of the world's top 100 sites and discovered that the web landscape is dominated by a large number of blue brands, however red does occupy a large amount of space. What’s driving this? You would expect that companies organise extensive branding research and market tests to select the colour/s that project the correct message to entice the consumer to the brand. Unfortunately many of the brands that have grown to be global web powerhouses started as small web startups, while large corporate giants with branding departments spend quite a lot on market research, branding, etc.

Lots of the sites listed above got started with brands created by the founders themselves with little to no research into the impact their color choice would have.

Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook was once asked why he chose blue for his site design… “I’m colour blind, it’s the only colour I can see.” …and now 500 million people around the world stare at his mostly blue website for hours each week. (COLOURlovers)

While the initial rationale for the brand colours may be trivial, the impact that these dominant brands now have in the web landscape will no doubt influence smaller companies wishing to share the positive colour associations they created. Therefore blue and red will most likely continue to dominate, but we can hope that new brands entering the market take a different perspective and decide to push the colour boundaries of their brand.

Source: Truly Deeply

Good gift for graphic designers

2011-02-02T21:11:00.002Z

No it's not Photoshopped - you can buy it here.

Source: The Cool Hunter

Google Art Project has launched with 17 museums, including MoMA and Tate, bringing "street view" inside the museums

2011-02-01T20:11:00.002Z

Even the director of the Tate was unaware that if, with patience, you look really close up at Pieter Bruegel's world-famous 16th century painting The Harvesters, which hangs in the Metropolitan Museum, then you will see a family enjoying a jolly Shrove Tuesday game of throwing sticks at the tied-up goose.

"I didn't know about this rather cruel game, no," said Sir Nicholas Serota. "Next time I'm in New York I shall take a closer look."

Serota was speaking at the launch today of a significant new art project by Google. The reason we can now examine Bruegel's painting in such astonishing detail – every tiny scene, every brushstroke, every hairline crack can be seen – is because it has been captured using super-high resolution, or gigapixel photo-capturing technology.

The project, unveiled at Tate Britain in London is an extension of Google Street View in which real views of streets from across the world are captured and displayed on screen.

With the Google Art Project, anyone with access to a computer can take a virtual 360 degree tour of galleries in 17 major museums across the world, without queuing and without other people getting in the way – and look in superb detail at one work from each.

The museums include the National Gallery and Tate Britain in London; the Met, MoMa and Frick in New York; the Uffizi in Florence, the Hermitage in St Petersburg, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam and Reina Sofia in Madrid. They have all signed up to the unique project developed over the past 18 months, which allows unprecedented access to 385 rooms and about 1,000 artworks.

Serota called the project "another great step forward. It gives people an unrivalled opportunity to come really close to great works of art."

The galleries are already digitising their collections and offering whizzy websites, but Google's project offers something new, Serota said. "This is a second generation view of the way museums will use the internet. Ten years ago museums were obsessed with getting thousands of objects on the screen, now we're interested in getting depth of understanding of the works."

Nelson Mattos, Google's vice-president for engineering, said the Google Art Project had started off as one of the company's "20% projects" which allows employees to take a fifth of their time away from their regular day job, to work on innovations. "What has been accomplished is fantastic, really amazing. We hope it will provide a very different and new way to interact with and explore art," Serota added.

Other tricks on the website, include the ability to save artworks such as Rembrandt's Night Watch or Van Gogh's The Starry Night, then create your own collection and email it to friends.

Among the 17 paintings captured using technology that is 1,000 times more powerful than an average digital camera, are Manet's In the Conservatory, Bellini's St Francis in the Desert and Holbein's The Ambassadors, from the National Gallery.

Tate Britain's choice – Chris Ofili's No Woman, No Cry – is the only one by a living artist. One reason for its inclusion is the large, hidden ultraviolet message the website reveals (RIP Stephen Lawrence), which can only be seen in the dark.

Google and the museums believe the website will prove popular, as well as provide encouragement and inspiration for people to travel to the galleries and see the paintings up close in person.

The plan is to keep expanding the project, paid for by Google, with new museums, galleries and paintings.

At the launch at Tate Britain the absence of institutions such as the Louvre and the Prado were noted. But project leader Amit Sood, said Google wanted to get the scheme up and running, so included the 17 museums who signed up straight away.

Source: The Guardian