Insight & Analysis

Complex thinking, mandatory for the past 10,000 years…»

There’s no magic bullet to fixing the food system. A problem with so many distinct pieces needs just as many creative solutions. Luckily for us, the tide is turning – the last six years or so have given rise to a new kind of food activism.

What Pizza Can Tell Us About the New Economy»

A vital aspect of Totonno’s, beyond the deliciousness of the pies, is the way he chose to run the shop: it opened at 3pm, they made a certain amount of pizza dough for the day, and when it ran out they closed up shop, no matter how long the line of potential patrons remained. The business did not go out of business, nor did it balloon into a national brand (which seems to be the progression of most food enterprises these days). The place has remained a vibrant business for nearly 100 years, buzzing along merrily.

Where the Work will be 2010: The End of the Middle, the Rise of the Middle»

For small, entrepreneurial, creative and passionate business the marketplace has been hit hard to the point of evaporation. To succeed in the downturn many businesses have shifted focus, either through hyper-specialization, or by the opposite, seeking new and larger markets. It’s a repositioning of businesses to the polar edges of a marketplace scale.

Trend Analysis: The Lace Economy»

We are now entering the Lace Economy (exiting the Web + Bubble Economy). The Lace Economy is both a fine-tuning of our networks and relationships, and a demand for services and products that are well crafted, genuine, and trend towards supporting the local and regional…New networks are being amassed through a mix of web-based tools (Facebooks, LinkedIn) and traditional channels (networking, associations). These form into a tangled, limitless, and underproductive web. Though there is an intoxicating excitement in the chaos of tangled relationships, the ever-increasing girth of networks makes these connections fragile and meaningless.

The End of Intelligence, The Birth of Doing, The Decline of Newspapers»

Intelligence has a diminished bearing on economic prosperity. Employers are shedding workers by the price-tag regardless of merit, experience, or potential. If business revenues fall off a cliff the first instinct is survival, not productivity. This opens the door to a renewed emphasis on “Creativity,” which implies less investment in goods, and more emphasis on making something from nothing. Call it “Doing.” In our new economy either you do something that resonates, or you don’t.

A Bitter Pill to Take, Mayor Baker’s “Total Collapse”»

Mayor James M. Baker of Wilmington DE, speaking at the GCECS2009 this past Tuesday, made a striking point. To paraphrase he said: This isn’t a recession. It’s a total collapse, a time for a restructuring. It’s a hard pill to swallow, but a restructuring of how you run your business might be the necessary medicine, especially for creative professionals, small businesses, freelancers, etc.

One Piece of F-Train Brooklyn, an Expansive Creative Economy»

The foundation for each has been affordable rent for both live and work, public transportation or ease-of-movement (foot, bike), decent schools, cheap yet good food, and easy access to transportation hubs to be accessible to, and to connect with, the greater area. These elements attract boot-strapping creative professionals who both live and work locally, and lead towards greater prosperity, not only for themselves, but for their overall neighborhood (increased property values, greater choice of services, more infrastructure attention, safer streets).

Eye Candy

Boxing photos from Chia Messina»

Boxing is a mystery to me, a violent game of strategy and pain that honors a tradition of rules, fellowship, and personalities. I can make lists of favorite boxers; Joe Louis, Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard, Boom Boom Mancini, Marvin Haggler, Larry Holmes, Thomas Hearns. Beyond the violence, there were deeper stories about risks, strategy, [...]

Rivka Katvan, Editorial Photographer, Catskill Boxing Gym»

In tandem to our guru interview with Rivka Katvan we are posting this selection of images from her series Catskill Boxing Gym.

Arne Meyer, creative professional: Self Portrait Series #9»

Our 9th self-portrait series belongs to Arne Meyer. Arne is a creative professional working in the video game industry. Though video games are his business, photography and film are his passion. Arne created a self-series that stripped away inhibitions and exposed himself in a most natural form, the moment of waking up. This [...]

Strategy & Planning

Don’t Be A Sucky Presenter (via NewComBizz)»

Ask First: Before you prepare your presentation gain a list of the attendees and see if you contact them via email. Ask them what they expect from the presentation. If you can’t email them, research them.

The “Hidden Who”»

Kevin Berrey, the Writer/Director/Filmmaker and principal of Screaming Panda, posted this question to Twitter this morning: What happens when you cross this Edelman study on trust (who trusts who) with the Dunbar number (how many friends can you really have)?

My answer is: Nothing, because generalities are irrelevant.

Q: The questions for those working the middle are, what can go wrong and who gets left behind when the wave comes?»

A: The middle shouldn’t be the default; it should be a choice, a hard one, and include a commitment to the long haul. Also, it’s not about waiting, you have to make a business there, not bring a business to there…

Note for Freelance Creatives: Make Work Happen»

Freelance creative professionals increasingly ask me these two questions:

1. Is there any work “out there?”
2. Is that work for me?

The answer to both is no, not right now, and maybe not for a while, if ever. There is no work “out there” for anyone anymore in the way it used to be. There is no low hanging fruit; there is no regular gig. If you keep asking these questions then there is no work for you.

Social Media: Risk or Reward (slides)»

These are the slides from my presentation to ISACA and IAA (the Chicago chapters of national Internal Auditor and IT Governance organizations). The goal of my presentation was to point out the necessity of developing a company-wide social media policy based on these main observations:
- Employees are the new marketing department
- Marketing is now Communications; Conversations/Engagement
- While the adoption rate is high (and growing), most companies don’t have a policy

Short-ish Note on Brevity»

Similar to an ecologist pointing out that the culprits of bad-recycling-habits are actually the manufacturers who create all the packaging, NOT the consumer who is then left with the rubbish to dispose of, if we want to figure out “why brevity?” we need to focus on the people/places/things who say that messages, “are too long,” as we cave to this demand and chop-up our daily language into sound-bites via Facebook, Twitter, email, etc.

My “Active Marketing” Presentation (Slides/Video)»

Here are my slides and an edited-down video from my presentation. The content of this presentation includes both tools and tactics that creative professionals should be using to be “active” in their marketing. The goal of “Active Marketing” is to display to your audience your verve for your subject…

Dennis' Design Links

• Make Remote Team Collaboration Work: http://sixrevisions.com/project-management/how-to-make-remote-team-collaboration-work/

• Web Design Criticism: A How-To: http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2010/03/02/web-design-criticism-a-how-to/

• The Hidden Art of Achieving Creative Flow: http://zenhabits.net/2010/02/creative-flow/

• Hospitality in Web Industry: Good Service is Good Business: http://www.onextrapixel.com/2010/03/02/hospitality-in-web-industry-good-service-is-good-business/

• Ways for Creatives to Reduce Procrastination Without Planning: http://www.redlemonclub.com/general/10-ways-for-creatives-to-reduce-procrastination-without-planning/

• Finding Inspiration in Uncommon Sources: http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2010/02/26/finding-inspiration-in-uncommon-sources-12-places-to-look/

• What Personality Traits Do Designers Share?: http://www.fastcompany.com/1557979/what-personality-type-makes-the-best-designer

Briefs

• Brooklyn Small business owners get creative, take risks in order to survive slow economy: http://shar.es/aSTAW

• Pub Culture? Burger King seeks to build-up business in the middle market: http://bit.ly/5eBVtu

• There is no middle for fashion mags, “Fashion magazines should go up market, not down”: http://is.gd/6O5I7

• Top 5 innovative cities of the world? 1. Boston 2. Vienna 3. Amsterdam 4. Paris 5. San Fran. full list here: http://bit.ly/NmCzW

• Shout-out to Brett Beyer on his Nat Geo Adventure Interview (Parkour images): http://is.gd/2dpiU

• “At Getty, 70 percent of revenue is generated by the sale of stock images” http://is.gd/2bSn4

• the shift is shifting: Hasbro Toys opening an LA production co to make shows centered around their brand http://is.gd/22ePG

Loose Ends

How do you define “Local?”»

We need new words to cover these intricacies. The historic “local” is defined by proximity. The associative local is defined by relationship. My reading of the undertone is that there is a greater shift towards the historical local which is burgeoning on the associative one. There seems to be new interest (and potential cash flows) in providing services/platforms for the historical local.

What makes a good photograph?»

During filmmaker Astra Taylor’s interview with philosopher Avital Ronell they touch on photography and film as a capturing, an archiving, and a deadening. If an artist can more deeply understand what makes their work “good” ideally they can make their work even better.

Lawns to Gardens (abandoned lots to gardens, too)»

Shawna Coronado’s recent post on Gardner Rant points out how green lawns can be put to use as food producing gardens . Not only for the owners consumption, but importantly to help feed the hungry…

Concert Review: The Breeders, The Vogue, Indianapolis (August 6, 2009)»

Kim Deal can see the world in a cold clarity that would make most mad; a ramble pile, a mess, a happenstance, and thrives amidst the foibles by generating her own upward forward lift thrust. Bulldozing through the trials there’s no BS, no plastic pleasantries, and in the rude truth of her songs…

Example Projects

Jeffrey Fiterman, Photographer (via Agency Access)»

We make follow-up phone calls on Jeffrey’s behalf in response to his email statistics. We gain Jeffrey sought-after portfolio requests from specific, targeted, contacts.

re: The Auditors, Blog»

Francine McKenna, the author and owner of the blog re: The Auditors, originally approached us to assist her with moving her blog from blogger to a more robust and custom platform…Ever since we’ve been assisting Ms. McKenna with marketing and business development advice…

O’Fit Personal Training Studio»

O’Fit asked Wise Elephant to help to solidify their branding and marketing messages while ramping-up their blogging and direct marketing.

Thomson / All4MP3.com»

Thomson needed a refreshed look & feel for their All4MP3.com website. Plus they wanted to use new technologies to keep the site current and more interactive.

The Design Vote (network)»

To build/alter a modifiable blog-template for one main site (thedesignvote.com) that could be used to create new sites within the growing “Vote Network”.