BrandArt

Random Web Comic

Just a random web comic idea I had the other day and finally sketched up.

This is absolutely incredible, being able to make a copy of anything so quickly will revolutionize how 3D models are built. This 3D scanner is another development that will interface the virtual and physical world. Functional AR applications that recognize gestures and respond to GPS coordinates presage a natural user interface that will eventually make mouses and keyboards obsolete and blur the boundary between the real and the virtual.  There will be all sorts of ways to leverage 3D scanning technology, but the most important will be those that will advance science, medicine, education and communication.  Maybe researchers will use it to scan and share important artifacts.  Crime scene investigators could use it to share data more quickly with the lab.  Maybe it could help doctors diagnose patients from far away.

I found this on my friend Tristan’s blog This is a Curated Life and I think it’s one of the most remarkable presentations I have seen of the potential convergence of ambient web technology, data visualization, and touch screen/heads up display technology. It’s produced by Microsoft Office Labs. Envision a future where information is ubiquitous and free (notice the digital newspaper without advertisements).  It’s great, but who will pay for the installation of all this technology, or the generation of all the information that populates the systems?  When we can curate our information uptake with complete control we will no longer exist in a society with shared cultural experiences like news, advertising, movies and TV.  Only social, enterataining, immersive and useful content will survive.

Eric Schmidt,CEO of Google, talked at VCU about how Obama will have a positive impact on America’s economy. Dependence on fossil fuels, creating export jobs, investing in technologies that matter, lowering oil prices, making America safer and reducing climate change can all be adressed through new national policies.

Wired recently interviewed Benjamin Palmer from the Barbarian Group in order to investigate the accuracy of the fictional TV show Mad Men.  Palmer is on the cutting edge but he did a good job of briefly summarizing the last 50 years of advertising.

Packaging design is a crucial part of the advertising and marketing of packaged goods.  It can be a challenging disciple.  The Dieline.com and greenUPGRADER are a couple of inspiring sites that exhibit great package designs.

Blender is an open-source 3d program that a co-worker showed me over the summer.  I’ve begun to learn the program since then because 3d and motion programs are will probably become part of the advertising business.  I helped work on banner ad projects that involved CGI and 3d components.  I think there are a couple of barriers to working in 3d, the price of the software and the complexity of these programs.  Blender is unusual because it is free and it can create and edit a variety of file formats.  The community of artists that work in 3d is filled with talent that should be more widely recognized.  Adobe’s CS4 is including 3d capabilities.  This is definitely a technology that will become increasingly important online.

Jakob Trollbäck came to speak to the Brandcenter last Friday about his company that specializes in motion graphics design.  It was an inspiring talk for me because I didn’t know anything about the motion graphics business.  We’ve probably all seen his firm’s work when we watch cable TV.  Trollbäck+Company designs much of the segments that identify channels or upcoming shows on networks like A&E, and ESPNEWS.  Trollbäck explained how his work was often times as conceptual as the best advertisements.  Technology like CS4 continues to integrate the programs that are the tools of the trade for all the creative industries.  It’s becoming more clear that we’re all working in the same business.

So CS4 is out.  You can donwload a beta version of the new Dreamweaver here.  CS4 Dreamweaver has menus that follow the patterns developed in the other CS3 programs.  Live View is a new preview function for Deamweaver that should make web development easier.  Photoshop CS4 is able to paint 3D objects and Flash CS4 will make it easier to work in 3D.  At the Brandcenter we won’t be upgrading for quite a while but it’s interesting to see how the tools of the trade are developing.

Richmond’s age is apparent in its old painted billboards that are still visible on many brick walls.  These are poor outdoor ads, but they are like archeological relics from the past.  These layers of paint are ads that became part of our culture and altered the physical landscape.  Advertising can say a lot about the people who made it and it can last a lot longer than we might think.  These were mainly taken on Cary Street.  Here’s a blog just devoted to “ghost signs.”