Emoji, the genius mobile marketing tool

Really interesting (and scary) article from Wired about the mass appeal and allure of emoji when it comes to mobile advertising: link

curly hair...and darker skin -- a recent development in the available selection (DOVE/WIRED)

The idea here is pretty simple: Mobile advertising is really hard. Grabbing your attention inside your mobile messages is even harder. So instead of creating, say, a series of pop-up shampoo ads that drive you crazy, Dove wants to give you the chance to share a curly-haired smiling face if you want to. And, if you do, you may think of Dove and its products when you share that emoji.

Brands, celebrities, and marketers know that we spend so much of our time on our phones. But traditional pop-ups and banner ads don’t work well on those small screens. Emoji, however, increasingly rule our digital interactions. Sure, we, the people, have to choose to download and use a corporation or celebrity’s emoji, stickers, or GIF keyboards. But once we do, brands have a direct connection into our private messages, the place on our phones where we pay the most attention.

These kinds of emoji keyboards could actually capture our attention in a way that we want—and in a place that could become central to the future of advertising. And yet, for it to work, we have to want to play along.

To me, all of this is pretty terrifying. Emoji is an emerging language, much like how bitcoin is now a legitimate currency. I'm not going to deny its importance and dominance in the current digital (and social) landscape. Emojis have a way of heightening and enhancing typical conversations (a well-placed smiley face in a heated text convo could make or break a friendship, depending on the context.) But what this article predicts is the increasing length that corporations will take to intrude in our inner lives. Not even the smiley poop emoji is safe, after all...you can find its pillow counterpart in Walmart. Verdict: No me gusta.
 

3D print project - toy weapon

My toy weapon was a bunny switchblade. However, when I printed it out, I realized I modeled it incorrectly in Blender. I was so disappointed...mostly because I'm THAT person who had to pay a total of $9 at the Poe parking garage in Downtown because I'm an idiot and lost the yellow ticket AFTER I PAID IT (my fee: $1.20, in there for 5 minutes? Lost ticket fee: $7). That made me so pissed that I vowed to never go back. I still think about it sometimes and I fume with rage. The Breaking Bad spin-off, Better Call Saul, captures the scene perfectly:

My bunny switchblade mock-up; it printed out too thin: 

paper airplane

For the paper airplane project, I decided to take two paper airplane designs on the internet that were very popular. I'm not very gifted with paper crafts, so I blame my airplane's mediocre performance on my poor folding abilities. I also think the quality of paper used matters a lot, and I don't see that discussed in any tutorials.

I think I was feeling particularly grumpy that day, and was debating whether or not to use a paper ball for my 'airplane.' Cheeky. But I decided against that...too predictable, even for me (maybe not for the class though).

Clip Art MAKEOVER

As a (soon-to-be-retired) slave to the office, I'm ABSOLUTELY ELATED (yes) about this news. Yes! I hated everything about Microsoft Office, but I think the one thing I hated the most was the shitty clip art. That's the only worthy adjective, honestly. Also, let's not even mention Bing's image search.

The images on Pickit are uploaded by individual photographers and stock image banks, which get 60 percent of revenues made, meaning they should be sharing things that beat the old Clip Art catalog.

Since Clip Art closed, Microsoft users have been directed to open Bing image search, but there’s no telling how many of those images are actually free to use – Pickit reckons 85 percent of all pictures used in presentations are just stolen from the internet.

Now, rather than pinching pictures from the Web, there’s a database of images right in the Microsoft dropdown. Just like the heady days of Clip Art, but better. - link

Manus x Machina: Fashion in an Age of Technology - MET Gala 2016

 

I thought the theme of this year's MET Gala fit in well with the course content...my favorite looks:

Lea Seydoux

Claire Danes in Zac Posen (cameo by the adorable Hugh Dancy)



Solange ...biased, I love latex.

from one of my favorite subreddits - r/shittyrobots

Oh, to live a life like Agnes does...so simple and pure. 

I like to think
       (it has to be!)
   of a cybernetic ecology
   where we are free of our labors
   and joined back to nature,
   returned to our mammal
   brothers and sisters,
   and all watched over
   by machines of loving grace.

Richard Brautigan, All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace (1967)

3D printed vases by DesignLibero that screw into empty water bottles to reuse.

I need to garden more and have plants fill my entire house. I never thought of making a vase with a 3D printer...this seems like a fun and relatively easy project.