countdown is on......

santa is coming...

posted gratitude

i would like to take a moment here to say thank you for all those persons that have supported and encouraged my endeavors this past year. my gratitude is with you.

in case i forget later...

33,194,699 views and counting...

this has to be my favorite video on youtube. where the hell is matt? surpasses boundaries, barriers and languages - all through dancing. 14 months in the making in 42 countries. watch it again. it makes me smile :)

red dress

there are dresses and there are dresses, but then there is this red dress. the folks at the tbwa/brussels agency and their photographer did a great job putting this together. enjoy and don't let the red paint splatter you...

welcome to your black friday

the day has arrived. you know what to do...

happy turkey day!

can you name the face of the brand?

companies use faces to personalize a brand since they are on the most part more memorable and personal. can you connect the face with the brand?

happy pi day (to the 36th digit)!

i like pi, don't you?

here it is, to seventy-four decimal places: 3.14 159 265 358 979 323 846 264 338 327 950 288 419 716 939 937 510 582 097 494 459 230 781 640 628

powers of 10

charles and ray eames were an extraordinary design couple with inquisite minds and spirits. in 1977 they made a nine-minute film called Powers of Ten that takes the viewer on an unforgettable journey. It starts with a sleeping man at a picnic, then takes you out to the edge of space, and then brings you back, and into, the hand of the sleeping man. every year on the tenth of october, the eames office celebrates the Power of Ten. watch this now and enjoy the journey through the powers of 10.

10,000 items or less

over the course of 2 months, blair neal endeavored to photograph each product in a local grocery store. the huge undertaking turned into this video of 10,000 images he gathered by taking as many as 600 pictures per hour. the lightning fast video below. blink and you'll miss dozens. see if you can spot your favorites...



10,000 items or less from blair neal on Vimeo.

colors, colors, colors

colors are everywhere. found this pictogram of how the top online brands use color in their logos and their respective ranking. pretty interesting and colorful online identities out there. what's your online color?

what is social media?

i get asked this question alot. marta kagan does a great job of answering it in this presentation. check it out and let me know what you think:

What is Social Media?

view more presentations from Marta Kagan.

alaska, the last frontier

i am currently visiting family in homer, alaska. here "where the land ends and the sea begins" 5 hours south of anchorage and bordering kachemak bay, glaciers are commom sites, the people are down to earth and time seems to stay still. the sun lingers in the sky for a long time, kissing the horizon but for a few hours before reappearing again. a place to reflect and appreciate the beauty around and within...enjoy the last frontier.

be safe...

here is one for the weekend. be safe everyone :)

imitation...

so you need a typeface

having a design background, i get asked that quite a bit. roberto, which typeface should i use? it is not a scientific answer and really depends on what you are trying to convey. does it fit the message? does it feel right? is it legible and appropriate? all in all it is really about gut feel. julian hansen put together a great typeface flowchart to help us choose the right typeface for the job. i especially enjoy his sense of humor throughout.

the daredevil in the clouds

on this day, back in 1974, frenchman philippe petit gained fame for walking on a high wire across the twin towers of the world trade center in ny. it took 6 years of planning and multiple visits to the towers, but finally at 7:15 am on a cool August morning, philippe took the first step off the south tower. he made eight crossings during 45 minutes, whilst avoiding the port authority police officers. His performance is well presented in the 2008 documentary man on wire. After being arrested he was questioned by the media to why he had done it, to which philippe replied "when i see three oranges, i juggle; when i see two towers, i walk." philippe was "sentenced" to perform a show for the children of ny and given a lifetime pass to the twin tower's observation deck, upon his release. 

coke vs pepsi

this is a great graphic showing how many times pepsi has changed their logo over the past 120+ years, whilst coke has remained fairly consistent during the same time period. makes you wonder if we need all those identity changes, all the time.

disclaimer: i don't drink coke nor pepsi.

reflective liquid mercury - come on in...

i am a sucker for architecture. once upon a while i come across a piece that defies form or function. such was the case when i last visited chicago. there, in the middle of the millennium park in downtown, stood a shiny, smooth blob of a sculpture - cloud gate, they call it. it is cool to look at and to the touch, highly reflective and inviting. designed by anish kappor, it has become a new defining public symbol in chicago, reflecting the surrounding skyline and the sky above, as well as all those that come close to it. and yes, they can't resist the reflective liquid mercury. can you?

marketing vs telemarketing vs pr vs advertising vs graphic design vs branding

with an open heart and an empty stomach

i do not watch much tv as i do not have a subscription to any of the tv delivery formats available (cable, dish, wire, etc.) that said, i am aware of the most popular shows in tv land, either by reading about them, catching them on netflix, or when over at family or friends' houses. i find the series iron chef america based on the japanese series, as one of the most entertaining. i enjoy the staging of the kitchen, the lighting effects, the fierce competition between the two opposing chefs, the ticking of the 60-minute digital clock, the presentation of the five dishes and of course...the secret ingredient. feast your eyes and hears in this short clip in the unveiling of many secret ingredients by the show's dynamic chairman, mark dacascos. allez cuisine!

sunday cartoon

in memory of sunday cartoons, i leave this one for you to ponder on...enjoy it with your morning coffee or tea.

6 steps toward following your dreams

how many of us have had these amazing dreams for our lives growing up? what became of them? were you able to follow them? were they transformed? were they canceled? by whom? you or others? why? umm, so many questions to ponder, yet the basic question remains...am I still following my dreams?

here are basic steps toward following your dreams:

1. recognize that you have a dream and what it is

2. move forward each day toward that dream. small progressive steps are best

3. read everything you can on what you want to pursue. become your own expert

4. surround yourself with like minded people and enlist mentors (other people that have been there and/or done it)

5. find a way to use your dream to help others

6. don't let fear, failures, or setbacks discourage you. repeat step #1 (as many times as needed:)

bonus step:

7. have fun on your journey!

welcome to social media city

with all the talk about facebook hitting their 500M mark and the impact of social media in our lives, i came across this illustration online that does a great job of depicting our social media city. i have always loved legos (who doesn't, right jaden?) so i challenge you to find as many social mediums as you can. hope you enjoy it too, and yes, make yourself at home in your new social city :)

to boldly go...

i have been exposed to science fiction from an early age. i remember watching black and white episodes of flash gordon and his adventures in planet mongo. I was also absorbed by jules verne's novels as they always took me on fantastic trips, by air, land and sea. lately i have been watching star trek, from the original series to the next generation. i have come to appreciate the various story lines, space time continuum, new and old characters and starships. and there are quite a few starships out there. they come in all sizes, shapes and colors. dan carlson does an amazing job of bringing these ships together in his starship size comparison charts, from star trek, to star wars, battlestar galactica, andromeda, and many others. check out his website for more charts and prepare to be impressed.

click on image to super size it

benjamin zander knows passion

benjamin zander knows music, classical music, and he is passionate about sharing it with us. with his energetic presentation delivery, he teaches us to tune into music in a new way. i love his one buttock approach and his goal to awaken possibilities in people with shining eyes. his charisma and energy are evident on stage and he is able to inspire us through his passion. as zander states, everyone loves classical music, even if you are not aware of it. set aside 20 minutes to see and hear zander's energy, humor and passionate presentation from ted talks. bravo maestro!

go ahead, broadcast yourself

i love infographics. it is the ultimate blend of facts and graphics, all in one place. it is very attractive to my gemini nature. and here i would like to share one with you. it was just released from website monitoring. it displays youtube phenomenonal statistics. quite mind blowing, especially since youtube is only 5 years old. go ahead and broadcast your bad self, again and again and again and again...

click to enlarge and zoom in

do you like it or do you love it?

cold stone creamery, an american ice cream chain with 1400 locations worldwide specializes in customizing customer's ice cream creations from a variety of flavors and toppings. that in itself is not new, but where cold stone shines, in my opinion, is in defining the size of the cup offering. they offer three sizes: like it, love it or gotta have it, in increasing size, respectively. the concept is brilliant, as deciding on the portion size becomes as much fun as choosing the toppings available. i chose to take this concept into my own life. let me explain. when i am out and about with my kids, be it at a grocery store, dinner or a theme park, i will often ask them the question: do you like it or do you love it? the question is beautiful in its simplicity and really makes you focus on what is good or best about the experience, whatever it may be at the time. i urge you to try it in your own life and let me know if you liked it or loved it :)

cold stone offer 3 sizes for their ice cream cups: like it, love it or gotta have it. check them out.

disclaimer: i received no free ice cream before, during or after this post from cold stone.

50 friends in 24 hours and counting...

so here was my great experiment. i signed up for facebook at the request of my 10-year old son (which has an account) and wanted to see what the fuzz was all about. from the initial set up, which was fairly easy, to 24 hours later, i had friended or been befriended by 50 people! just by following suggestions that family and friends were sending my way and by searching for some key friends that i knew were already signed up on fb. to me that's astounding that i was able to get signed up, gather some friends and post comments, photos and links (including this blog) within one day. now, some caveats were pointed out to me that are true: fb is 500 million strong, and its fairly mature as a social medium, so i had that in my favor. by now, everyone (and their mother, girlfriend, wife, ex-wife, ex-girlfriend, in-laws, classmates from kindergarten, prom queens, etc..) have already signed up. i know it is not about the numbers, but rather the quality of the conversation (thanks ds!) but now i understand what a powerful social medium fb is. want to be my friend? roberto is on facebook!

future man

i like this photo and its captions. it puts things in perpective in regards to our "current" future time and how we choose to utilize the social tools we have available. virtual breakfast anyone?

God bless this mess

for my first posting i would like to share with you an awesome graphic of what social media is. this is done in respect to our undeniable need to unify everything that we come across, especially online. if it does the job or not, i will let you be the judge of that. enjoy...and yes, may God bless this mess.