beer for rock stars

Tuned Pale Ale has incorporated a scale on their label design, so that you can drink your beer to just the right level, and then turn it into an instrument.

Everyone knows that hot girls love guys who can play "Smoke on the Water" using bottles, so you should get going on this right away. Thanks, Eliza!

the web really is dead.

You've hopefully read the Chris Anderson piece about the end of the web as we know it.

Now Ben Kunz and Dirk Singer point to another trend: Google search is down 17%. That's like almost 20%.

Dispute all of the minutia that you want to, but one thing is for sure: this isn't the internet that it was yesterday. Your three year marketing plan that kicked in 18 months ago is no longer relevant, and everything's changing. It's time to embrace change and be comfortable in planning six months at a time rather than six years. The revolution is coming.

be organized and french-like at the same time

This to do manager looks to be the sweetest, coolest designed productivity tool you've seen in a long time. Use Teux Deux to stay organized and not forget all of those things that your boss is expecting of you.

(And when you use it, say it with a French accent, to annoy your co-workers.)

internet workers: we have analyses to review, too

Here's a super cool analysis of the Antoine Dodson meme. If you're not familiar with it, just watch the video for the full report. If you are familiar with the internet phenomenon, watching a detailed analysis will make you feel smarter, and less ridiculous next to your friends who became engineers and work in the bio-medical science industry.

And think of this - when you're at a cocktail party this weekend, you can say "I was watching a detailed analysis of the Antoine Dodson meme, and I must say that compared to the Marceaux meme, empathy has played a large role in the advancement of the meme."

the single best production you've seen this year.

In case you weren't paying attention to the Twitter tubes yesterday, the internet was a buzz with this new production by Chris Milk for the band Arcade Fire. It was produced in conjunction with Google, so it's best viewed on the Chrome browser. (Worked fine in Firefox, for me.)

Once you enter your street address, sit back and watch the show (don't touch any of the pop up boxes, they're a part of the experience.) Keep watching, and it just gets better, and better and better. Welcome to the new interactive benchmark.

what nobody's watching

Ever wonder what's going on in the videos that you don't watch on YouTube? Yeah, there's a blog for that.

0 views keeps track of videos that have no views. (Until now.) This is a great picture of what's going on in the world. Or your neighborhood. Or with the people that don't get all of the attention. Once you watch one, you'll want to view more.

ouch, my nipples

Have you ever woken up with steel wool hands, and then it wreaks havoc on your life? Yeah.

Well, next time, be sure that you have some Case Mate screen protectors on hand. This spot will make you cringe. And laugh. And get in trouble at work if you're not allowed to see a naked person all blurred out.

disney war branding

Seeing a brand like Disney rally around war feels weird, but there was a time where this was totally acceptable. From Under Consideration.

just a reminder: the internet is filled with magic

Only magic could make internet goodness like this possible.

If you've had a long week, or are particularly looking forward to the weekend, we suggest that you pop open a beer and put this video on repeat. Just because.

Happy Friday. From TrusttheDust.

vampire doughnuts: a lesson in parenting, product development and creative inspiration

Our friend Scotty Hendo has a beautiful story to share that proves anything is possible.

Scott's kid had a fun idea, and in less than 24 hours, they brought it to life. In a world where everything requires 90 day production schedules, meetings of committees about conference calls, and PowerPoint decks confirming research...isn't it refreshing to know that you are probably connected to the very people that can make something happen...today?

We're inspired by Scott's story for a few reasons:
+ He's taught his kid that anything is possible, and illustrated how to bring ideas to life
+ He's realized the power of a network of friends who are only an email, tweet or drive away that can lend a hand
+ He's explored a creative idea just for the fun of it

Who knows what's next for Vampire Doughnuts...but for now, they've shown all of us the power of creative exploration. Nice job, Scott & Son!

you are totally awesome.

It's true. You know this, but there are some days where you feel less than awesome, and it wouldn't hurt if there was someone to remind you of your awesomeness.

Meet Awesome Reminders. They spread the awesome sauce by calling you once every day and reminding you how awesome you really are. Really.

Imagine starting every day with a compliment? A boost of confidence? Or getting a dose of awesome during the 3pm lull of your workday? For just $10/month, the people at Awesome Reminders will do this for you. Because you are awesome.

Thanks, @RogersLinda!!

artists who died from aids lived here

Here's a depressing tour of NYC apartment buildings where great artists lived...and ultimately died of AIDS related illnesses.

The production is a haunting look at the last place of residence for some of New York's greatest talent that's been lost over the last 30 years. Disturbing.

swipe here for instant facebook update

Check out what Coke produced for their summer Coca-Cola village event. They created RFID tags for registered attendees to swipe their arms at checkpoints, which automatically updated their Facebook status.

Beyond genius. This could be the new conference thing, or applied at retail, at museums and tours or...so many other glorious possibilities.

barbie's chest cam vs the canon 7d

Maybe you're in the market for a new camera, and you're torn between the Canon 7D and that camera that comes built into Barbie. They both sport so many of the same features, it's sometimes hard to decide what camera is best for your shooting style.

Thankfully, someone has produced a detailed product comparison of the two products. (Spoiler alert: The Canon comes out as a better camera, but Barbie's not so bad.)

a magazine all about cougars

Uhhhh...we thought you would like to know that there's a new magazine in town: Kougar Magazine. No, really.

Why did it take so long for this to happen? From @lauralsweet.

we're going mobile

Because you love info graphics so much, JESS3 created a graphic illustrating the number of mobile device users that have adopted each of the major social tools, and then how many of those users are accessing the tool with a mobile device.

Two things of interest:

+ Facebook is freaking huge. No surprise, but just a confirmation of where things are going. (A friend in higher ed yesterday told me how he surveyed 500 freshmen at their college, and only ONE didn't have a Facebook page.)

+ Going mobile. Look toward the bottom of the graphic where the newer tools are coming into play. With the exception of Friendster (lol!), we're becoming more mobile. Naturally location based tools are driving this, but even nearly half of the Facebook audience is accessing via mobile devices.

What does this all mean?? It means that you need to pop this graphic into a presentation deck, and ask your boss for boku budgets to support your social marketing plan. Post haste.

cosplay documented for your freaky pleasure

Cosplay In America is a wonderous coffee table photography book devoted to documenting Cosplayers at six different anime conventions across America.

Wow. You really need to schedule a cosplay day at the office. From @yattaken.

when retail signage becomes public art, magic happens

Here's a double-rainbow-good sign for a bike shop in Germany.

spoilers all over nyc

The MTA in NYC has installed new signage across many of the subway stations that alerts riders to the arrival time of the next train. Some people would consider this a spoiler alert...and have taken the liberty to produce and install signs saying so. Hilarious.

crowdsourcing your burger

4 Food is a new fast food concept that's just launched in NYC. They make hamburgers with the centers cut out. (Think meat donuts). Then they fill the center holes with delicious veggie fillings.

Even better, they've built an entirely interactive restaurant experience. FourSquare checkins and tweets are projected on screens in the restaurant. But that's not all...they've taken the burger making experience and made it social.

Putting filling into burger holes creates nearly infinite combination of tasty burger treats. So why not let your customers create their own recipes??

Once open, you'll be able to go to the 4Food website, create and order your burger, and save and name the recipe. For every future visitor that orders your recipe, you get .25 store credit. That's crowd sourcing, tasty delicious genius. With veggie filling.

Our resident foodie @kdel713 got to check out the pre-grand opening last night. Looks yummy! (Thanks, @travrsn!)

dressing nice: the new rebellious

These ads for Piper Lime point out a challenge: girls aren't expected to dress nice. They might even be questioned about it. Some people might not like it.

(Thankfully), we live in a world world where hoodies and flip flops are generally accepted everywhere. People wear pajamas to Starbucks. So how's a retail store supposed to sell their slightly dressier product? Positioning it as taking a stand.

A simple, elegant copy solution to a much more complicated fashion buyer. Cute.

better than any tree fort you've ever seen

The Palette Pavilion is exactly what it sounds like. A house made entirely of shipping pallets. It's a temporary structure, built with the intention of taking it down.

What an awesome idea for a trade show space, pop-up experience or showcase of recycling something people take for granted. How could you use the things laying around your parking lot for something grand?

how to cleanse yourself from social media

Mark Malkoff has decided that he's become an online addict. He spends far too much time on Twitter, Facebook, email, YouTube and blogs and news sites. So he's got a plan to cleanse himself.

Mark will be locking himself into a space smaller than a standard death row jail cell. Mark will be living in his pink NYC bathroom for five days.

His wife has agreed to takeover his Facebook and Twitter accounts for this time period. (Hopefully she won't shut them down.)

Mark will be using the time to do a bunch of things that he's been putting off (see the full list on his blog), and of course, producing a video documenting his experience.

Sounds like a painful vacation. Could you use a good cleansing? Could you live in your bathroom?

a sad moment in social media history

Just what you needed for your Monday morning: a Tumblr collection of Keanu Reeves "sad" moments. Hopefully there will be a line of greeting cards to follow. From @rosspw.

don't be a useless piece of cardboard

Here's a depressing PSA that illustrates the importance of speaking up and/or doing something when you see (or know about) family violence. Nice perspective.

google knows exactly what you want before you do

In the future, Google will deliver your search results before you even complete the search field. Because they know what you're thinking. Even right now. From @johnfmoore.

how to ruin your competitor's brand: give it to snooki

Want to take down your competitor? Just hand their product to Snooki.

Neatorama reports that some high-fashion brands are alledgedly sending their competitor's products to the bouncy Jersey Shore cast member, in hopes that she'll show up sporting the product in public.

Negative product placement...turning the Jersey Shore cast into the Jersey Sore team. Thanks, Eliza!

teen and tween super text trend

In case you've been locked in the trunk of a car or just arrived here by time travel, here's a fun info graphic that illustrates how texting is now the main communication vehicle for 12 - 17 year olds.

ge shows how they're changing your life

GE just launched The GE Show to show the world what they're up to.

We've said repeatedly that the "b" in B2B doesn't stand for "boring". GE shows that regardless of what your business produces, there's probably a story that could be told. And that story may help your potential customers better understand how your product or service fit into their lives.

In the first of the GE shows, we learn about their process in designing and creating products and systems that can solve a very real problem: the four hour emergency room wait.

What stories could you be sharing?

product design that blows

If It's Hip It's Here has yet another fantabulous photo collection...this time, of awesome hair dryers.

It goes to show you that regardless of how simple or utilitarian a device is, there's still room for creativity and hair blowingly awesome product design.

before soho was a shopping mall, this is what nyc was like

Yes, there was a time when SOHO was sketchy. And when subway cars were covered in graffiti and urine. Dangerous Minds has a handful of photos of old-school NYC subway life. From Bruce Wingate, via Facebook.

when cute girls go evil

For a while, it looked like everyone and their brother was going to be using Chatroulette for digital promotion. And then people forgot about it for a few weeks.

Not to worry...The Last Excorcism pulled off a good one. (Contains minor f-bombs). Thanks, Casey!

puma goes epic for afterhours crowd

This spot for Puma is just all sorts of awesome.

It's about time the true badass athletes got the respect they deserve. From @lefthandhigh.

ooohhh, information graphics

An entire Flickr photo set devoted to capturing information graphics.

There's so many fantastic things here, that you'll want to print them out, and roll naked in them on your bed. From @dirktherabbit.

math just got exciting

Here's an excellent introduction to two incredible things:

1. If you've never seen it before, Kickstarter is a crowdsourcing fundraising site where people can pitch their projects and the crowd funds them.

2. Punk rock mathematics. Tom Henderson is about to make math more fun than it's every been.

If Tom were a math teacher when most creatives were in school, we'd all be rocket scientists by now. From @kylecameron

this is what time it is

Finally, a beautiful realization for what time it is, everywhere in the world. From Laughing Squid

just because they use social media buzzwords, doesn't mean they "get" it...

We get plenty of "blogger reach out" communications from people pitching their campaigns for possible feature on Brand Flakes for Breakfast. The other day we received a sad, sad PR release from an agency attempting to show they world that they're social media "experts".

The agency is launching a promotion to "thank its loyal fan and follower base". The promotion? A chance at a $25 iTunes gift card, if you "like" them on Facebook.

This is in celebration of their being in "the forefront of all things social media and has implemented a plethora of campaigns for clients across several sectors, adding legitimacy to its continuing social media practice."

+ They're giving away a single $25 gift card - and sent a press release to announce this.
+ They're "thanking their loyal fan base" with...a giveaway? Really?

The release goes on to include several quotes with absolutely no meaning. This one's a gem:

“Needless to say, this is also an opportunity to grow our communities,” said (name removed). “The broader our online followers, the more we enrich our efforts to bring more brand awareness for our clients on the Interwebs.”


Here's a lesson to learn from this agency:
+ If you don't know something, don't pretend that you do. That may have worked in the olden days, but in the internet age, we can spot a fake from a mile away.
+ Before you spend time and money launching a PR initiative, think hard about whether or not your nugget of information is actually newsworthy. (A $25 giveaway is not.)
+ Just because agencies have PowerPoint decks with social media buzzwords, doesn't mean they get it. Before you hire someone to produce anything for your brand, spend time reading their materials. If it's filled with a bunch of fluff that says nothing, move on.

(I've chosen not to name or link to the agency mentioned, as I believe they've already done enough damage just sending the release to bloggers. Additional ridicule wouldn't benefit Brand Flakes readers or the agency in question.)

johnny rotten can retire now.

Unless this smells like human feces, this is the worst thing to ever happen to punk rock history. Can someone from the brand management department please contact Mr. Rotten? From @mtlb.

the ultimate customer loyalty program

There's an amazing story coming from Fleet Feet Sports in Hartford, CT. They're a running store, and they happen to sell running stickers that a lot of locals put on their cars, to declare their love for the sport. Sort of like a secret club of customers who have something in common.

Fleet Feet customer Sylvia had her car stolen the other day. Bummer.

Meanwhile, store running coach Chris (who happens to be a cop by day) was on his beat and noticed a black Toyota pulling into a parking lot, with the recognizable running stickers - including a pink "Runner Girl" decal. Knowing the community is small, he waited until the driver got out to see if he knew the runner, to say hi. Two dudes got out of the car, and at first he thought they might be the sons of a "runner girl". But then they started acting suspiciously...so he called in the plate.

Of course he learned that the car had just been stolen, arrested the bad dudes, and Sylvia got her car back.

(It's not live yet, but eventually you can read the entire story by looking for newsletter #58 on their website.)

What a fantastic story, and an illustration of however large your market may be, there are still micro-communities within the market. Good retailers are connecting these people, and forming their own tribes.

If you're a runner, Fleet Feet's e-newsletter is one of the best in the business. If you're a marketer - you could learn from how well they've tailored their communications to their customer's lifestyle. Great story.

draw a straight line, even with your drunken shaky hands

You're going to love this new super cool tool that hooks onto your pen and helps you draw a straight line. Wish they had this in grade school. From @timbenzinger.

people aren't going to your microsite

There's a lot of talk on the internet about how we're using the internet, and how the web is no longer the primary manner in which we explore the magical tubes of information.

Internet smart-man Chris Anderson shows how applications, RSS readers, social tools and other methods of internet use are pulling our attention from the traditional web.

Why should you care? Because your campaign microsite is becoming less important. Because your customers are now in multiple places. Because you'll need to find ways to connect with your audience wherever they are...even if it's not on the web.

There's some great discussion over at Boing Boing on how this chart may not be entirely accurate because of how bandwidth is consumed, video is also a part of the "web" and some other good points, but one thing is certain: the web ain't what it used to be.

redesigning money

Redesigning currency is a classic art student assignment, and fun creative exploration for designers young and old. What happens when you take objects that have been a part of our lives forever, and rethink how they might be created?

There are countless beautiful realizations or currency redesigns throughout the internet, but this new work from Dowling Duncan is gorgeous. What's cool: the bills become light educational instruments - like the ten dollar bill that recounts the first 10 amendments to the US Constitution.

Money. Finally fulfilling another duty outside of purchasing french fries. From Quipsologies.

when ad agencies get out of the way, this is how products will be sold

Isn't it awesome when retailers forget the rules, become marketers, let go and have some fun?

political spice

This has already made its way around the internet one and a half times, but if you haven't seen it, you'll appreciate a politician who's got a fun sense of humor.

Expect the Old Spice concept to live for a while now. :)

an illustrious creature: the plastic bag

This mocumentary is a wonderful tribute to how we're ruining the environment. Brilliantly produced for Heal the Bay, and probably the best non-profit production you'll see this year.

naked people make for great navigation

The new site for Vibrams, the barefoot running shoe, uses humans as the navigation. Male, female - whatever you're into, everyone wins. (Completely safe for work.) Thanks, Drew!

decipher corporate-speak

Unsuck It is a new tool that takes our industry's ridiculous buzzwords and translates them into plain English.

Alternately, if you have a meeting with a bunch of marketing dorks and want to blend, you can also take plain English and make it suck. Just enter the phrase, and click "I'm feeling douchey."

So genius.

meet the tweetpaper

Paper.li takes your tweet stream, any hashtag of your choice, keywords, or virtually any other tweet search that you'd like to do and turns it into a classic designed publication. Kind of like newspapers used to look like, when people read them in the old days.

You even get a permanent link that's constantly updated, so you can visit your stream in a well designed format over and over and over again. Here's a link to my super exciting tweetpaper.

This is a cool way to show your Twitter-fearing boss what people are talking about in the tweetstream, without him actually having to visit Twitter.

From Thought Gadgets.

what happens at the skatepark, when the sun goes down.

Photographer Ben Matthews has produced some super awesome light painting shots. At a skatepark. Isn't it cool when you do things in unexpected places?

a new way to fill your walls with books

Postertext has taken some of your favorite books from the library and turned them into beautiful wall art. Each print features the entire text of the literary work integrated into an appropriate piece of artwork.

(Maybe they'll make a cliff notes version, suitable for a desk-sized prints.) From Coudal.

power gig: your fake plastic guitar is silly

Power Gig is a Guitar Hero-style game that lets you play with an actual guitar. How do you get the word out that gaming is better with a real six string? A sacrifice to the lava gods.

The Power Gig people took about a kabillion plastic Guitar Hero guitars...flew over an actual volcano in Iceland...and dropped them in.

Anything with real lava = freaking hot.

surprise + delight: never fails.

Getting out of the shower at the MGM Grand Hotel this morning, I noticed something. Under the beauteous glass shelving in their hotel room bathroom sat...a scale.

You don't expect to find a scale in a hotel room. You certainly don't need a scale in a hotel room. But did it hurt? Did it really cost that much to add to the room?

The end result? Guests get surprised that you've thought of them in a unique way, and supplied even the things they don't need while traveling. One device, that doesn't require any human effort, and it leaves a message of "we're thinking of you" to every guest that sees it.

What could you be leaving for your clients, that makes them feel thought of?

a quest to fix america's typos

Unnecessary quotation marks? Poor grammar? Incorrectly spelling? These are the things that exist on signage across the United States, and there are two men who are on a mission to correct it.

Jeff Deck and Benjamin D. Herson have detailed their journey across the states correcting other people's mistakes, in a new book titled The Great Typo Hunt.

These dudes should be recognized as heroes. From NPR and the most entertaining man on Twitter, @tsand.

graveyard social media

Graveyards. Yep, there's a blog for that.

@Bryanloar points us to an excellent Ohio-based blog, Graveyard Rabbit, dedicated to sharing the artwork, stories...and rabbits of graveyards.

Still think you don't have enough content for a blog? There's an audience waiting for you, regardless of what you have to share, as long as it's presented in an engaging way.

social media metrics done easy

The social media monitoring business is a fast changing beast of confusion. There's so much to choose from that it can leave a Marketing Manager dizzy. From robust free web-based tools, to systems that cost brands thousands of dollars a month.

Enter Looxii. Here's a tool that falls just where you need it, at a price point that's not ridiculous.

Want to see what it does? They've taken the most random, unexpected topic...Pauly Shore...and created a sample traffic report for your review.

Want to see more? They have free levels of service in addition to different tiers of reporting that top out at $20/month. That's a smart business model that's similar to 37 Signals and other successful social products.

Seems like a smart move at just the right time, and puts them in a sweet spot to become a metrics super-power. We like.

toyota glass of water: all kinds of awesome

Toyota has created a new iphone app called Glass of Water that looks to be absolutely phenomenal.

There are at least four points of awesome about this promotion:
1. The app can be used by the driver of any car...but they'll be thinking of Toyota the entire time.

2. They've successfully created technology that impacts the driver experience without touching the car. This is somewhat revolutionary, as car makers are typically stuck behind a long production curve with auto design, that doesn't allow fresh to market technology in their vehicles. That's why the hard drive in your car's MP3 player will always seem small compared to the newest iPod. This app has broken down that wall.

3. The look and feel is completely unexpected (and fresh!) for a Toyota promotion. It's good to step out of the tried and true every once in a while.

4. As Ben Kunz points out, it's absolute marketing genius.

stock video: only boring if you let it be

This new video for Ratatat features almost nothing but stock video footage...and yet it's hauntingly engaging, a little creepy, and totally awesome.

meet the HOPA girl

By now you've seen the girl who quit her job via a dry erase board. And by now, you've learned that it was all a hoax. Have you seen the entire back story?

Techcrunch shares the details of the making of HOPA girl, from the planning, Elyse's audition, and the ultimate results. It's not often that you get a real behind the scenes look at the making of a meme, so enjoy. And then stay tuned, as it's always possible that it will take another twist...the producers have scheduled a press event for 10amPDT today.

If nothing else, we can all count on a few good weeks of parody versions. The internet awaits.

a bike with a brain...and soul?

Agency BREAKFAST has produced a really fun promotion to support Livestrong. They've built a bike with a brain.

Think about how your car tells you when it's time to change the oil, when the engine is too hot, and what the temperature is in the cabin. Now imagine adding that kind of technology to a bike...but giving it a heart, too.

Precious is indeed a special bike that's monitoring its sentiment as it rides across America, tweeting all along the way. The bike monitors everything, and expresses how it's feeling, in its own words. Check out the really beautiful campaign site, or follow the bike on Twitter. Nice.

how to make construction sexy

Retail Design Diva points to the Dior store in NYC, who while going through a store renovation, decided to turn the plywood construction facade into a beautiful marketing opportunity.

Proof that everything you do is a potential brand building opportunity.

this ad isn't real

Here's a spec spot for Quiznos, produced by Jeffrey McCarthy. Maybe it'll make you hungry. "More meat" made me laugh.

what's the best ad city in the usa?

The San Francisco Egotist is running a fun contest: What's the best ad city in the U.S.? The promotion runs in brackets, and the first bracket includes:

San Francisco vs Austin
New York vs Salt Lake City
Portland vs Raleigh
Los Angeles vs Phoenix
Seattle vs Miami
Bouldervs Richmond
Boston vs Chicago
Denver vs Minneapolis

You vote by indicating your preference in the comments section.

Don't let a bunch of west coast hippies take this over. I've included a photo above from Times Square, a popular destination in NYC that's dedicated entirely to...advertising. Pretty sure this doesn't exist in any of the other more lame places. (You may also want to think about the place where MadMen takes place.) Do the right thing.

four square...the store

Here's something that Twitter never really did...open a store. Now FourSquare users can celebrate their location based social network addiction with Four Square official product - like stickers, t-shirts and buttons. That Mayor shirt would look hot on you. From Laughing Squid.

how marketers see you

Ever wonder how our industry categorizes your neighborhood? Enter your zip code into the My Best Segments tool and it cross references it with available Nielsen demographics, all cutely summarized into marketing speak.

What a wonderful way to personalize those icky demographic PowerPoint slides that sit in every Brand Manager's presentation deck. How accurate is your neighborhood?

Apparently I should be watching Fox Sports, reading Modern Bride and driving a Subaru Legacy. (Time to move.) Thanks, Eliza!

your four square activity animated

Want to relive your Four Square life, on a live animated map? WeePlaces takes all of your check ins and animates them across a map of the world.

If you haven't yet succumbed to the Four Square crack machine, you can check out my map, or watch Charlie's map, who turned me onto this fun tool. So many possibilities...

nyc can stop building now

It's done. Everything that can be built has been built, and we now have the greatest architectural and retail creation of any city on earth: a Pop Tart store.

Jetpacks calls it a shrine to the icon. It's true. Pop Tarts have officially crossed to icon status. Have you ever met anyone that doesn't like Pop Tarts? And if you did, could you still be friends with that person? Exactly. See you in NYC. Order me a chocolate frosted, if you get there first.

can a blog be a store?

Core 77, the blog, forum, and designer's resource center has opened a store in Portland, Oregon.

It wasn't long ago that plenty of people were declaring that the internet would put retail out of business. And obviously in many categories, this was true. And now the internet is going to bricks and mortar...so could bloggers be the next revolution in retail?

where do you really want to be working?

Miami Ad School/Madrid students Santiago Cosme and Victor Javier Blanco see themselves at Crispin, Porter, Bogusky in Boulder, Colorado. So they've planned a pilgrimage.

Like most art school students, their pockets are empty. They're counting on the kindness of strangers who can offer them a place to stay, something to eat, or a ride as far as you're going in the direction of Boulder.

What an awesome way to get the attention of an agency where you'd like to work, and see our swell country in the process. (I can attest to the value of seeing our country from the road. And even a visit to the CP+B mecca.)

We suggest that you host them in your town, buy them a bus ticket to the next town, and then tell your friends. Good luck, Santiago & Victor!

you can usually trust an agency that practices what it preaches

If you're an agency and game design is your core strength, how could you best illustrate that on your website? With a game, of course.

We love agencies who actually put their money where their mouth is. Basso Design Group's website launches with a game titled Aftermath, where you learn about the agency as you progress in the game. Genius. And so much more impressive than that wall of client logos that appears on most agency sites.

I only got to the first level, because I suck at games and don't have an attention span past 60 seconds. You'll do better. From @peeet3