Archive for November, 2009

Interview with designer of PBS, Xerox & Mobil logos

Over at LogoDesignLove today is a fascinating interview with designer Tom Geismar, who is the man behind those iconic logos for Xerox, National Geographic, PBS, and a bunch more.

In the interview they touch on everything from sketching vs. working on a computer; design influences; selling ideas to clients; and how you choose clients. Consider this your must read for the day.

Logos are funny things. At first they are just designs on paper. Eventually they come to embody all the qualities of the organization they represent, and most people cannot separate the “design” from their full range of opinions about the organization. The hard task the designer faces is trying to help the client see how the logo might eventually be perceived, how it will work for them, not just whether they “like it.”

Happy Thanksgiving

The Nerdery spent today celebrating Thanksgiving as it’s meant to be celebrated-with food, drink and timelapse videography.  Wanna see what it looks like when nearly 80 people descend on a 120 lbs of turkey, 60 lbs of potatoes and a literally bottomless basket of cornbread muffins?  Check it out below.

WARNING: if you’ve seen Paranormal Activity these videos might creep you out but don’t worry, there are no ghosts in The Nerdery (well, maybe a few).

Thanksgiving at The Nerdery from The Nerdery on Vimeo.

More Thanksgiving at The Nerdery from The Nerdery on Vimeo.

Great Moments in Nerdery: The Muppets sing Bohemian Rhapsody

Really, this needs no other comment.

Vote for the best advertising & marketing of the decade

The editors at AdweekMedia are slated to announce their picks for the best marketing, media, and agency performances of the 2000s in December. They’ll be pointing out stellar brands, commercials, agencies (large and small) and more in over 33 categories.

And because this is America, you too can vote on some of the best advertising, marketing, and branding of the decade. Get your vote on over at Best of the 2000s.

Even if you don’t want to vote go over there and take a look at the nominees in the 33 categories, and click view results at the bottom, right now it looks like Steve Jobs is going to be crowned king of the world.

Friday Links: All about the scrollbars

• Must click of the week, Scroll Clock. Really, you have to see this.
• On Google Wave’s scrollbars. They are kind of funky.
• Clients from hell.
• 80% of US Consumers won’t pay for online content.
• The Lazy Designer’s Guide to Success
• A real-life replica of The Simpson’s house
• How to talk like a 1950s hipster
• NerdCart: A mobile workstation and media center
• 8 product categories that were fun to advertise while they lasted: typerwriters, seatbelts, and taperecorders are amongst the list.

Agency Primer Notes: Facebook Connect makes Facebook the lowest common denominator of social networking

The Nerdery opened its virtual doors to our agency friends this week to talk a bit about Facebook and what the new technology that the 800# gorilla of the social marketing world has been rolling out in 2009 and what it means for advertisers and marketers looking to make a connection with its 325M+ users.

Being a longtime Facebook user, but by no means a savant (my 150 friends are only just slightly above the site-wide average of 130) I was lucky enough to convince our own Annette Johnson to help me navigate the frenzied waters of Facebook Connect.  Below is the deck that we shared with our guests covering some of the key things that creatives and account staff need to know when it comes to building a facebook strategy for your clients or your own brand.

The examples we discussed during the live webinar (not featured in the slide deck) were:

• Social comments and social sharing on Mashable.com
• Network advertising and social graph API capabilities with Beware the Doghouse
• Full-on, to the point of creepiness, multimedia showcase of the identity API capabilities with Shark Week Frenzied Waters

If you weren’t able to make it to the Tuesday primer live there’s still time to register for this afternoon’s session or contact us to arrange a live “private screening” for your agency or company.

And here we are on video…

Facebook Connect Agency Primer from The Nerdery on Vimeo.

Great Moments in Nerdery: Teaching your kid Klingon

If I had the ability I would write this post in Klingon. Because that’s the only thing that could make this story about a software developer who spoke nothing but Klingon to his son for three years even better.

Yeah.

Now before you start calling child protective services like the Boing Boing commenters are about to do, SPOILER alert (from the MN Daily story about the makers of a Klingon dictionary):
“As for Speers, who still gets nostalgic when he recalls singing the Klingon lullaby “May the Empire Endure” with his son at bedtime, the experiment was a dud. His son is now in high school and doesn’t speak a word of Klingon.”

Oxford University Press names 2009 Word of the Year

If you’ve ever gotten caught in the middle of a @malbiniak/ @rycera Twitter battle about how many spaces come after a period (it’s one), you know we nerds take our words/grammar/language/style seriously.

We don’t mess around.

It’s not like we were exactly waiting around with bated breath to see what would be 2009′s word of the year, but some of us were curious.

But now the wait is over. 2009′s word of the year is Unfriend: verb – To remove someone as a ‘friend’ on a social networking site such as Facebook.

If you head over to the OUP site, you’ll see a long list of other words that were in the running for word of the year including a bunch I’d never heard of like:
zombie bank – a financial institution whose liabilities are greater than its assets, but which continues to operate because of government support
choice mom – a person who chooses to be a single mother
deleb – a dead celebrity

House Party

Open House from The Nerdery on Vimeo.

To the 60-some people who came to Friday’s open house aimed at recruiting, thanks for coming and thanks for your interest in joining our staff of 87 (and counting).

As for you bakers’ dozen or so registered no-shows, please do still send us your resume – but know that you’re too late to enter the drawing for the iPod Touch (Woodrow Keifenheim, come on down!).

Mid-mingle last Friday, we had our traditional Bottle Cap Talk – but this time, a bigger-than-usual audience saw the demo of a just-launched Facebook app we built in partnership with Best Buy.

Plenty of good seats remain for our Facebook Connect agency primer webinars Tuesday and Thursday – they’re free, but please RSVP.

Friday Links: App Store transparency, Miracle Whip, and more

• Apple adds some transparency to App Store approvals
• An uncanny similarity between The Office and Mad Men. If you’re a fan of these shows this is a must read. Come on, you always though Pam and Peggy Olsen had a strange resemblance to each other (also, you should watch Roger Sterling’s one liners when you have a minute).
• Colbert vs. Miracle Whip. Ya gotta give to hearty thumbs up for bold, sassy advertising like this. Props to the copywriters on this one (also see this follow-up).
• 50 Best Inventions of 2009.
• A short history of spelling things wrong on the Internet.
• An illustrated guide to seven ways to kill an idea.
• If you’re having a rough day and need to something to make you feel good about yourself, take comfort in the fact that you’re not (at least I hope you’re not) One of the five most common Facebook Fails.
• Tim Burton at the MoMA spot.