this week at Plaid:

Parker, the super cool intern is heading back to school. Which means that she worked her last day at Plaid. We celebrated like we celebrate everything at Plaid...with baked goods. Parker got a cute rainbow cake. Because little girls love rainbows.

We met our Twitter buddy GScratch in person! GScratch (Greg) is on a pretty cool (and super geeky) geocaching adventure with friends Barry and David, and they came all the way from the frosty regions of Canada to visit the northeastern states. @BenKunz even stopped by to say howdy.

We lent the design from the Plaid tour dashboard to their tour, because we're really sweet like that. Follow them on Twitter too. Always great to meet your online friends in person. GScratch: you'll be happy to know that you've inspired some new geocachers in the Plaid office!

We discovered that our holiday card from about 5 years ago is now the #2 recut video on Ebaum's World. (Thanks Brian!)

We celebrated Justus' birthday today. Yep - cake. Justus got a princess cake. Because big manly men love little princesses.

The Plaid crew enjoyed their very last half-day Friday of the summer season, coupled with a glorious well-earned three day weekend. Lots of fun for everyone. Have a great Labor day - and hope you're not spending it - laboring.

what's hot on campus: popups.

Pop-up stores have hit the college scene, big time. Temporary retail locations for the right brands, at the right time, at the right place.

When I was your age, we didn't have pop up stores. Just Pop Tarts. And we had to walk to a grocery store, uphill to buy them. Without our parent's credit cards. And without shoes.

sears: we don't understand you.

Profits at Sears fell 62%. A brand that's lost it's brand.

Their advertising has become a billboard to the world proclaiming "we're clueless about you, but will you shop here?"

Check out their print ad attempting to appeal to college students and gamers. So many inconsistencies that it would be impossible for this to connect with it's audience. A headline about "playing hard", while the student relaxes in a chair. A Sony Playstation game - yet the kid's using an Xbox controller.

A wonderous two page spread that screams: "We don't understand you." Maybe it's time they ask "who's our audience?" and really spend some time getting to know them - and defining the 'soul' of the Sears brand.

another tool for twitter users to obsess over

One of the downsides of Twitter, blogs and other social media tools is that they bring a gross personality trait to the surface that used to be reserved for "the populars" in high school. People obsessing over the number of followers that they've amassed, the traffic they pulled, and other measures of how "popular" they are, versus the real connections, friendships and bonds that they're making.

These people will rejoice with a new tool that rates their Twitter performance. Twitter Grader lets you "measure your Twitter mojo." Yech. Another measurement to obsess over. To compare against others. Watch for the many tweets about the obsessor's scores, and theories on how to increase their scores.

My advice: Ignore it all. Share. Connect. Help others. Be a part of a community - paying no attention to scores, rankings or who's dating the cheerleading captain this weekend.

everything you ever wanted to know about any website

QuarkBase is a sweet new tool that compiles all of the available information about any website. From the whois registration info, Alexa traffic, popularity on linking sites, and even the latest tweets about the site, from across the twitterverse. Really, really handy.

From Startupmeme, via Twitter

the ad agency diet

Just when you thought that you had Alex Bogusky, his hair, and Chuck Porter all figured out - they go and do something completely unexpected. Like write a diet book. Yeah, exactly.

Apparently this book will teach you to eat fewer calories by having you put your food on a 9" plate. Wise advice to be sure - but that's not all. The book apparently also details how consumers are being hoodwinked into eating things they don't need. Like ahem....perhaps Burger King and Dominos? (Two Crispin, Porter & Bogusky clients)

I'm just waiting for someone to tie this stunt to the big foot discovery and announce that it's all a big campaign for a new 9 inch big foot burger at BK. Weird.

wallpaper. not just for people living in the 70's anymore.

Check out this sweet collection of limited edition wallpaper. Actually, calling it wallpaper would be an insult. Limited edition art prints, suitable for pasting onto your walls.

Exposif is a collection of wallpapers, developed by Maxalot in collaboration with leading names in graphic design, photography and illustration. Nice.

how social media does m&a

The Social Media Group had planned to acquire Livingston Communications, Geoff Livingtson's firm. They announced their intentions and people in the social media world were aglow.

Prior to any merger or acquisition there's a process that accountants, lawyers and people who wear suits like to call due diligence. It's getting through all of the nitty gritty details of the merger. During the due diligence of this particular deal, Maggie and Geoff concluded that it wasn't going to work out. This happens every single day in every industry across the businessland. But these two firms are different. They're social media people.

How is it different? Geoff and Maggie each posted details about the deal gone sour on their blogs. Geoff's is above. You can read Maggie's post here. Professionally handled, transparent as they could likely be, and all in true social media style.

Isn't this new business climate wonderous?

the hottest place to be this weekend

Burning Man is only a few days away, and there's a load of media for you to enjoy from the safety of your living room or home office. Start with the clip above, which documents some of the (amazing) artists that converge in Black Rock City prior to the weekend, to setup their massive installations. Then follow the coverage on Current TV.

Check out the Burning Man blog or all of the kabillion Flickr photo sets that will be uploaded over the next days. Or the Flickr map of Black Rock City. Or the live video stream of the playa.

Inspired, and want to get ready for next year? Subscribe to the Burning Man newsletter by sending an email to bman-announce-subscribe (AT) burningman.com. Or take off your clothes and paint your body, and dance around the neighbor's house. The burn is only three days away!

take your canvas bags

Just tolerate the first 60 seconds of this video, and you'll be thankful. And then you'll want to watch it again and again, and sing along. And maybe work on a dance routine. Yes, it's over a year old - but canvas bags are really important now and Tim Minchin was just ahead of his time back in 2007.

street art of the dnc

The Denver Egotist is collecting pics of the street art that's popping up all over Denver during the Democratic National Convention.

Because those delegates in silly hats are secretly street artists at night. Don't let the old ladies fool you. There's spray paint cans hidden in those silly red, white and blue cowboy hats.

how to make a snowboard video fun

You'd think that just about everything has been done in the world of snowboard videos. And that watching dudes ride rails would get boring after a while.

Mike Benson proves otherwise, and re-imagines the snowboard video by adding a single wonderous effect. Totally, totally awesome.

madmen not the real madmen?

We've posted before about the MadMen using "tools of the future."

You've got to start following the cast. This is becoming more entertaining by the minute. Alan Wolk reports that it's not an AMC project. And that characters are being taken down, likely at the request of AMC. (Like my girl @peggyolsen - who has re-appeared as @peggy_olsen. Because she's got tenacity like that.)

Perhaps it's all the work of a fan? If that's the case, AMC needs to admit they missed the opportunity and let it go. Punishing the fans for doing what you could have been doing in the first place won't make it better. Embrace brand fans. Don't be bitter because they beat you to the social media party.

is the internet awesome?

Simple beats complexity every time. So lovin' this entry page for the Barbarian Group website. Well done.

silly whopper ad

A sweet outdoor ad from the BK that illustrates just how much larger the Whopper is in comparison to the Big Mac. It's fantastic that they've referenced another legendary ad slogan from Trix to make their point. Scrumptious.
From Popurls, via Twitter.

adweek lets agencies do the political ads they'd like to do.

AdWeek asked a handful of big agency shops to realize political ads just for fun. Because that's what ad people like to do with their down time.

Some are funny. Some are stupid. Some are pretty cool. I like the Kaplan Thaler Group's take, and thought the R/GA work was creative.

green beer: not just for st. patty anymore

The latest brewery trend has patrons bringing their beer home in jugs. Called Growlers, the practice actually dates way back to the ancient beer drinking days. But it's hip all over again.

Growling is a great way to bring the fresh micro-brew taste home, and it's a hell of a lot greener than a twelve pack of cans. And your friends will think you're awesome. And you'll be able to call yourself a Growler, which is almost like being in a gang.

mashups: now at big chain retail

Mashups. Not just for internet music and video geeks anymore. Big deal retail is getting into the game too.

The Gap is opening a Collete x Gap pop up store in NYC next week, for one month only. Colette is some fancy pants french designer. The Gap is some aging out of style clothing retailer. Together, they'll be a fancy pants stylish clothing retailer in NYC. (Odd that they didn't plan to extend this into the holiday selling season.)

Who could you collaborate with, to produce something super unique and stylish? What's your next great mashup going to be?

new stop and shop identity is tasty

Stop and Shop got an identity face lift. It's cute. It's friendly. And it's fruity delicious. So much of an improvement over that stupid stop sign beast. It seems like the grocery industry is waking up to this whole branding thing, and starting to pay attention.

This would seem like a great post to include Piggly Wiggly, only because I enjoy saying their name outloud. But the Piggly Wiggly has nothing to do with this. Carry on.

how design gets plaid

The September issue of HOW is covered in Plaid. First, our 2007 Plaid Summer Tour won a "Merit" award for self promotion. If that wasn't enough, they featured a two page spread on the tour as a unique self promotional tool. (Matt models the cover above)

The story isn't live on the HOW site yet, but we've scanned a copy for you to see. Read the first page of the spread here, and the second page here. We think that you should buy all of the copies at your local newstand and tell the cashier at Borders that Plaid ROCKS!

Funny side story: We told HOW that one of the clients we were introduced to on tour was the genius team at crayon. They assumed we meant CRAYOLA, and printed that we landed them as a client. I wonder if the marketing team at Crayola is reading HOW and thinking, who's Plaid???

Thanks HOW!!

what works for fortune 500: blue

ToddAnd points to a collection of Fortune 500 logos. What do they all have in common? Blue.

Something we've seen over the years, at our agency:
+ Blue is the only color that most people don't hate.
+ People don't get emotional over blue.
+ Blue makes people comfortable.
+ Blue is the committee buster. It won't get dumped, if it has to be approved by multitudes of management teams.

Which may explain the prominence of the glorious comfort color in the collection above. What can blue do for you?

when brands talk to their fans, it's like heaven.

Video game dude Levinator25 discovered a glitch in the Tiger Woods golf game that lets Tiger's character walk on water within the game. Levinator25 posted video of the glitch on YouTube and the glitch becomes something all fans of the game can enjoy.

EA Sports responds, with their own video (above), proving that Tiger can indeed walk on water. Awesome marketing response.

failed vegas. even better than the real deal.

Check out these conceptual sketches of the Vegas developments that didn't make it.

Wouldn't it be cool if we could just shake up the strip like an etch a sketch and start over? Let's trade MGM, Excalibur and Tropicana for Moon, Xanadu and Voyager. From Coudal Partners.

just when you thought you were tired of engrish...

The makers of I can haz cheezburger bring you Engrish Funny. If you swore that you were over bad english internet jokes, some of these will still make you laugh. Hard. From Adrants.

jet blue: schedules schmedules.

This hurts me to post. Because JetBlue was always one of those brands that I've loved, loved, loved. One of those brands that I've held up as an example to other brands, as someone we could learn from. And still the airline of choice for our agency.

But things are slipping. The airline industry needs help, people.

Bill Baker is the dude who was left stranded (with a couple of hundred other passengers) in Oregon for a couple of days by JetBlue. Rather than just shrug it off as "I don't expect to get what I pay for when I buy air travel", Bill decided to do something. Like any good internet citizen, he started a blog. And a small claims lawsuit.

To help make him feel better, JetBlue invited him to their upcoming terminal opening party (in the LEGENDARY Saarinen terminal). Only...one thing...they screwed up the scheduling on the invite. Read Bill's post for the glorious details. If I didn't know Bill personally, I'd swear this was a joke, or Photoshop. But it's not.

Please, please, please JetBlue: Get back on top of your game.

turning the unbox into an event

If you can't make a phone that competes with the iPhone, perhaps you can make an unboxing experience that competes with the iPhone.

Here's the unboxing of the Samsung Omnia phone that's making the rounds. From Screwdriver, via Twitter.

creative inspiration found in new jersey

At our agency, most of us love travel - even if it's to the most mundane places. Sometimes you can find the most awesome inspiration in the most unexpected places. And sometimes the locals get so used to having these awesome things around them, that they take them for granted. But not you. And not Garret.

Check out what Garret found in New Jersey. Yeah. Jersey. What can you find on your next trip?

an entire movie about posters

There's a movie opening at the Montreal Film Festival next weekend that you really need to see. It's a movie. About posters. Rock posters. Died Young Stayed Pretty.

I started in this business doing rock posters, so I'm obligated to see this. You don't have to - you can go see Tropic Thunder instead. But if you really enjoy pop culture, music inspired work and street art, I suggest that you get in a car and drive to Montreal. Or just wait for the DVD.

energy drinks? slow your roll.

Maybe you're in the habit of mixing cough syrup (with codeine) into your Sprite. In some circles, this is called 'Purple Drank'.

Now the Good O Beverage Company is releasing Drank - the very first ANTI-energy drink. You can assume that it doesn't come with codeine, and doesn't require a prescription.

Drank hits the shelves of NYC stores today. I'd say hurry down to the store to check it out, but that would be wrong. Nobody hurries to drink Drank. Slow it. Down.

retail: time to close the doors

NYC just passed a bill requiring retail chain stores to close the door if the A/C is on. Seems pretty logical. But if they close their doors, how will they pump the annoying Abercrombie music out onto the streets?

This is an interesting trend in the greening of retail. Architects, retailers and merchandisers should pay attention. Window displays and doors will have to welcome visitors in new ways - while being closed. Maybe doormen will come back. And elevator button dudes. The Greeter industry. Love it.

Photograph of the Kenneth Cole store's (wide open) doors from the NRDC

yes virginia, there is a twitter wish fairy.

Well, hopefully the actual wish fairy is a cute girl in a white dress. But maybe you're into wish fairies that look like this dude. We don't judge.

If you don't have the email address of an actual wish fairy, but would like to know what people are wishing for, you may want to follow Twishes on Twitter.

Twishes is a twitter stream that pulls tweets that feature the word "wish". So you can view the stream and get the pulse of the wish trends across the world.

is that a cell phone in your pocket?

Aram Bartholl is starting a new line of vintage style jeans. Showing their cell phone 'memories'.

What a cool way to illustrate mobile history. Imagine a shot of a vintage shop, with a rack of vintage jeans, all sporting their cell phone history. Of course if baggy jeans come back in style, they'll have to feature images of those lunchbox size 1987 cell phones on them. That would be hot.

vw delivers back end support

Nothing like a little extra back end to seal the deal. This VW spot made me chuckle.

the single best google theme ever

Google just approved the first Plaid Google theme. Over 4000 people already agree that it's nearly the best thing they've ever seen in their entire lifetime.

Add it to your Google page and stare at the Plaid design factory every time you search the internet. My desk is the 2nd window from the left on the top floor. If they didn't have this damn mirror glass installed, I could wave, and see what you're searching for.

party at my house this weekend

Tired of looking at the fashion ads/photo shoots/movie sets and wishing that you actually lived in a mid-century modern home in southern California? Now you can fake it - because several of the hottest properties can be rented for a weekend.

For just a couple of thousand dollars (a day), you can retreat in the glory of your own mid-century manse. Or Frank Sinatra's. They're all for rent. We'll have to work this into the budget of a future Plaid adventure.

madmen using tools of the future

Are you a fan of MadMen, the retro tv show dedicated to the advertising industry of the glorious 60's? Back when people smoked and drank and had sex in the workplace? Back when people used phones and paper?

Now you can stay in touch with one of the show's characters, Don Draper, by following him on Twitter.

This is a very clever use of Twitter, and other television/film properties should pay attention. Well done. From BrandNew, via Twitter. Duh.

yesterday's olympic stadiums

Wondering what the Bird's Nest or the Watercube will become in a few years? Here's a rundown of what's happened to some of the great Olympic stadiums of yesteryear, from Mental Floss.

this week at Plaid:

Here's what happened this week at the world's most awesome design and branding firm:

This was the first full week of having everyone back from tour, and getting things back to 'normal' state. We announced that our 2009 tour will take place in the midwest. Think the midwest is flat and filled with cornfields? Just wait. We've got a load of surprises planned, and we've barely started the planning process.

We edited a "best of" our Plaid tour - taking key moments from each of the daily wrap up videos. You can still view all of the individual daily wrapups on the tour dashboard, and on Vimeo.

We hired a new designer! His name is Chris, and we'll formally introduce him in the next couple of weeks.

Lots of new clients this week. Maybe it's the tour, maybe it's Plaid fever spreading across the nation. Whatever it is, we're liking where this is going, and love meeting new people. Even when it starts with an NDA.

We're featured in the September issue of HOW Design Magazine! There's apparently a sweet two page spread devoted to Plaid love. We don't have our copy yet (mail is slow here, I guess), and it's not on news stand yet either. Checking the mailbox daily.

Plaidsters will be spending this weekend hunting bigfoot, or doing whatever Plaidsters do at the end of summertime on a weekend. Enjoy.

other people's workspace

Isn't it awesome to see where other people work? NOTCOT has a cool tour of Shepard Fairey's studio and headquarters for everything that is Obey. So wish that we stopped here while on tour this summer.

if you were swedish furniture, what would you be?

I would be a bed. And I would spell my name with two of those crazy little dots that you use for smiley faces over the "a". I'd call them umlauts, but that's a silly word that sounds like it should describe a pair of pants with a bib and suspenders. But those are called lederhosen. One day, we should all agree to switch those words around.

Find out what kind of Swedish furniture you are with the Swedish Furniture Name Generator.

time to rework your ad schedules: xmas is here.

The Consumerist posts about the very first case of Christmas creep - spotted in NYC this week. Because you know, Christmas is right around the corner. You should fully expect to see the holiday retail displays this weekend.

Based on this new schedule, please adjust your media plans to the following new start dates:

Fourth of July mattress sales: January 4
Halloween promotions: April 31
Thanksgiving Ads: July 23
Christmas ads: August 14
New Year's resolution gym ads: August 31

self destructing notes. the opposite of viral.

Bub.blicio.us has found a cool tool that will appeal to the secret agent inside you.

With Privnote, you can write a note, send it to your friend, and it will automatically self destruct after they've read it.

What a cool idea to incorporate this into a promotion. Create something special and unique for the user, while encouraging quick action because they'll never ever see the message again. So many possibilities.

stuff you can make with tape

Artist Mark Khaisman has produced a series of gorgeous pieces made from brown tape. Not even that good, strong packing tape. Or duct tape. But that crappy, sticks all over itself brown packing tape that they sell at the grocery store. Wow.

is your mom on facebook yet?

Here's a bunch of numbers and stats that prove everyone is doing this social media thing. Use these to convince your boss and your IT department to unblock sites like Facebook at work, so that you can connect with the rest of the world.

meet real people when you travel

Jared Goralnick has some excellent advice on how to use social networks to improve your travel experience.

And this isn't just a theoretical blog post. Jared practices what he preaches. I met Jared at SXSW, thanks to his efforts on Facebook and one of the SXSW social sites. Now Jared's traveling the globe and meeting interesting people along the way. And he's detailed exactly how you can do the same on your next trip.

If you've ever wondered how social networks could benefit you personally, here's yet another wonderful example. Jump in. The water's fine.

if this featured girls and boobs, people would be in an uproar.

Guess the swimmer guys' abs. Is this the kind of Olympic content that NBC can be proud of? Wasn't it enough that Matt Lauer and his silly sidekick blabbered all over the opening ceremony?

Here's how this likely happened: A bunch of corporate types got in a beige colored conference room at NBC and said "we need to do one of those viral things."

Here's the thing, NBC: Regardless of what you're doing online - it still has to be on-point with your brand.

There's no problem with a 'guess the guy's abs' contest. And for that matter, no problem with a 'guess the girl's boobs contest. But neither seem appropriate for the NBC brand, nor reflect how they're promoting or claiming to cover the Olympics. Bad brand decision.

how to build a church in less than 10 minutes

The all new insta-church. Pops up in ten minutes or less. These inflatable structures would be cool for promotional events too.

wear wranglers, end up as road kill

Wrangler. Not just for cowboys anymore. All the hottest dead people are wearing them.

No thanks. I prefer my denim ads to feature the near dead - heroin skinny with racoon eyes, please.

there's no surfing in ohio.

Here's a really engaging article about Hollister - and how they've basically 'stolen' the surf industry...from the surf industry. With branding.

Many don't know that Hollister is a product of Abercrombie. And that they're not an age old surf brand from California - but instead a manufactured story from the Abercrombie headquarters in Ohio.

What's weird is that Hollister really gets branding. And they've done a stellar job at creating, building and promoting a lifestyle brand to kids who now believe they're a legit surf brand. So much so, that they're eating sales away from the real surf brands - or the other chain retailers like Zumies and PacSun - who carry gear made by actual surf companies. They've made surf style popular with mainstream youth before the real surf brands could fully capitalize on it.

This is an interesting trend in retail. It used to be that indie brands could start with a fringe audience and grow into mainstream. Plenty of skateboarding, snowboarding and earlier surf brands have built their businesses on this. But now big business is watching - and they're getting adept at identifying a trend, and building a private-label brand to satisfy the need. They're doing this even better than the indie brand could, for a mainstream audience. Which will likely stunt future growth opportunities for independent brands.

If you're in branding, read the whole piece in TransWorld . If you're in the surf industry, get off the beach and start a campaign outing Hollister as "fake." It's a huge anti-brand opportunity waiting to happen. If you're a Hollister kid, don't worry. Keep shopping.

let's get all freaky on your feet

I love this spot, and it freaks me out at the same time.

Can't remember the last time that I laughed so hard and felt squeamish at the same time. I know now that I will never ever have a foot fetish. Go Skittles for letting your agency do such notable work. They should hand out loose skittles in old socks, as a part of their sampling program.

brands as street art

Here's a cool interview with ZEVS - a street artist famous for 'visually kidnapping' outdoor work.

He'll cut models out of their billboards ("run free models, run free!") and leave a ransom note on the ad. One of his kidnapped models is still on display at a gallery. (Not sure who the advertisers make the ransom check out to. "Do you spell that ZEVS or ZEUS?")

He's also pretty good at giving logos a nice street style makeover. I want french fries at the MCD's pictured above.

those copywriters really know what they're doing.

Send this to your copywriter friend. She'll hug you. (Yes, it's long and in French or something - but you can deal with it. Trust me.) From Mave Gibson, via Facebook.

they put wine in a box, why not milk?

If I drank milk instead of soda or energy drinks for breakfast, these new cartons would be rockin the fridge. You can get them at Walmart. They're not only cool from a package design perspective - they save everyone a bunch of money.

They're easier to ship, handle, and fit squarely in your fridge. And I'll bet they stack high on the shelves at Walmart. (Or fridges, if you buy your milk chilled.)

From Michelle Serviss, via Facebook

philly: you can have your news when it's good and old.

This would be hilarious if it weren't true. Some old coot at the Philly Inquirer got the idea on how to beat the internet...by not allowing their stories to appear on the website until the printed version of the paper is available.

Because in Philly apparently, news only happens on a deadline - and people aren't interested in getting information on a more timely basis. Right. Hilarious and sad. It's also clear that the news industry still hasn't wrestled with how to deal with this internet beast.

stuff that i learned on tour: listen to smart people

We met a boatload of really smart, creative and inspiring people while on the PlaidNation tour this summer. I'm stoked to share with you interviews with three of those people - and three people that I really admire - Robert Scoble, Biz Stone and Cathy Brooks.



Robert Scoble actually invited us into his home. In this interview, we talk to Robert about a personal brands, social media, haters, and his Twitter-stream.



Biz Stone was an awesome host for the Plaid crew, at the brand new Twitter digs, in San Francisco. In this interview, we learn about the origination the fun and unique illustration work now synonymous with the Twitter brand, and how the fail whale came to be a celebrated, fun symbol of - failure.



Cathy Brooks is one of the many recognizable faces of Seesmic. Cathy gave us the royal tour of Seesmic headquarters, and then we sat back in some comfy FatBoys to chat about Seesmic, and how brands could use this wonderful tool in their marketing plans.

go ahead. make a suggestion.

We ran into the folks at SuggestionBox (kinda sorta) while on tour this summer.

A cool idea. Anyone can make a suggestion about anything. If you're a brand, and you 'claim' your suggestion box, you get all sorts of features to integrate the box into your online properties. And you make it really easy for customers (or potential customers) to make suggestions about your brand, your store, your service or your haircut.

It's $495 for the year - which if one suggestion gains you a new customer, probably pays for itself. (Unless you're selling $4.95 hot dogs, then you'd have to gain 100 customers. Or 50 customers if they were hungry ones. You get the idea.)

The non-profit package is only $49.50/year, which especially seems like a no-brainer, as most non-profits are lacking the resources (or people) to collect this type of information.

Plaid tour 2009: painting the midwest plaid.

It's official. 2009 will bring the Plaid tour to middle America. The landlocked states. Where corn grows high and creativity blossoms.

The planning process has just begun - and there's already a load of new fun surprises for 2009. Middle America may never be the same. Routes haven't yet been established - so if you're situated in the 'middle' of this great nation, give us a shout (darryl AT thinkplaid DOT com).

Plow the fields, put the animals in the barns. Plaid is coming to town.

i am donna

Dr. Who is one of those shows that I always meant to be a fan of, but it never really happened. So I appreciate the fandom that exists around the show, even if I've never seen any of the new episodes.

But that shouldn't stop us from determining what character we'd be in the show, right? The Gas Agency (awesome name, btw) and 2 Entertain created a simple quiz that helps you determine which character you would be.

I'm Donna. Since I haven't seen the show, I don't know if that's good or bad. Judging by the sour puss on her face, I think it's bad. She looks to be just a little bit of a crank. And wears a pretty lame leisure suit. Clearly, the Dr. Who calculations are flawed.

feel the burn of advertising

To promote their coverage of the Tour De France, SBS setup their own cyclist to pedal power the animated billboard every day for 21 days, from 8am to 4pm. Really cool.

I wonder if the media buyer stood out next to the rider coaching him. Faster! We need more turns on the board!

go forth. and animate.

GoAnimate looks to be a pretty cool and fun tool to create your own animations. Simple to use, easy to publish.

Right now, there's just a bunch of really crappy unfunny productions online - so it would be cool if you would produced something that's actually good. Or funny. Or clever. Or entertaining. What are you waiting for? Go. Animate. Found by Bill Baker.