Joining The Dots

I made a presentation to The Futures Company this morning called 'Joining The Dots'. It was about how some of that very powerful trend and insight work - whether it be desk or primary research - often gets lost in translation to the creative agency domain. It is a particular bugbear of mine as my career has crossed this divide. It was difficult for me to make the switch from enthusisatic and brainstorming researcher who thought he was being creative to being able to make a meaningful contribution to creative strategy and output. I have seen other people frustrated by the transition. It isn't easy and there is no manual to help you do it - perhaps that is a good idea for one - and my sense is that, inspite of my manuel idea, there is no substitute for the experience of doing it. It is a shame, as the very best ideas I have been involved with have been generated by looking 'outside', for insight or research or trends or some combination thereof. The trick is in bringing them to bear in a meaningful way that creative people can do something with.

It doesn't help that so much of this potentially good stuff gets handed across disciplines in the form of powerpoint and almost inevitably, it gets lost in translation. There is no substitute for talking rather than handing power point decks over. Because the recepient needs to internalise the nuggets of insight and somehow make it there own, in order to create from it, it is no wonder that a powerpoint slide just doesn't do it.

We have also become so specialist that in our process it has become rare for one person to champion insight all the way through the process. Back in the early days of account planning, planners did lots of groups on their own ideas. They were able to understand any creative work that was going into the groups and fed back to the creators in a language they understood. With more and more creative development work being put in the hands of research specialists the passage of good, clean, inspiring information is hampered.

I have more to say on this subject, but that will be for another day. The presentation seemed to go well. Whether the group take me up on the offer to have a further working session is another matter altogether.

Global Issues

I chanced upon www.globalissues.org during a search about child poverty for work. It is a great site, and worth bookmarking just for its coverage of big issues. However, when I was working my way around the site, I realised that it had been built and maintained by one guy, Anup Shah, in his spare time, and it is a fabulous acheivement. Anup has Indian and East African roots though grew up in Britain. He lived in America in the late 90's/early 2000's and it was his perceived lack of quality mainstream news media that led him to start the site. It is definitely worth a look, here.

Long Shadows

This picture was taken at 12.24 p.m yesterday (with trusty blackberry camera). The long shadows - and low sun - so soon after noon got me thinking about the the length of the day at various latitudes. Here are some comparisons (for 6th Dec):

Reykjavik: 64 Lat, Sunrise 11.06 am, Sunset 3.30 pm, Daylight 4hrs 24 mins
London: 51 Lat, Sunrise 7.53 am, Sunset 3.49 pm, Daylight 7 hrs 56 mins
New York: 41 Lat, Sunrise 07.07 am, Sunset 4.26 pm, Daylight 9 hrs 19 mins
Singapore: 1 Lat, Sunrise 05.54 am, Sunset 5.57 pm, Daylight 12 hrs 3 mins

Hammerfest, at 70 Latitude, in Norway, didn't have sunrise and sunset times for 6th December. I can only presume the sun didn't officially rise yesterday.

Public Spending

This is a really bad picture of some really well laid out information, the Guardian's graphic depiction of the UK Government's 2008 public spending. Instead of endless lists of numbers it has been laid out in circles, that represent the pound amount, where the money goes. Tufte would approve, I am sure. To look at the chart in its full glory, go here.

Seeing the World Differently

We normally see the world map by size of country. Imagine if we looked at a map of the world by the relative proportion of the world's population living in each country. It would look like this:

And a world map that shows the relative proportion of Muslims by territory, would look like this:

and by water reserves:

It is fascinating. Worldmapper.org enables us to look at the world in many different ways: by resource allocation, trade, religion, transport use, income, disease, energy, etc

Republicans and Democrats couldn't agree on the proposed $700bn US "bail-out" plan. Sebastian Coe and Kelly Holmes sprinted in the Tate as part of a art work celebrating humam movement.

Walkscore

Following on from my post of my journey to work, I found Walkscore. It is an website that enables you to see how good any area in the States is for walking. It calculates how walkable any area is based on proximity to a variety of amenities. There are many things that it doesn't include in its calculation (public transport, weather, crime, etc.) but I like the intent.

What's Cool

There are a lot of trends sites around. Here are a couple of goodies. First: The Cool Hunter at http://www.thecoolhunter.net/. The site, and the on-site blurb, below, is a little like a slightly overpowering perfume, but it interesting and looks nice nevertheless.

The Cool Hunter celebrates creativity in all of its modern manifestations. We are a leading online publication and an upmarket hub for what is the most creative, the most innovative, the newest, best and coolest. We value global relevance, not global trends, channeling what we find to our worldwide audience. The Cool Hunter brand is a natural fit for creative influencers, those who stay in the know and ahead of the curve. Global in outlook, culturally discerning.

I must say I rather like today's second offering, 2Modern Design Talk at http://blog.2modern.com/ blog/site. It feels a little more purposeful, a little less self-conscious and I like the fact that there is contributor commentary. Here is its blurb:

2Modern is a consortium of designers, artists, innovators, furniture connoisseurs and regular, everyday people. What is unique about 2Modern Design Talk? We provide a wide-range of views and commentary focused on contemporary design. Contributors to the blog are designers, manufacturers, editors, retailers, architects and consumers.

I suspect that 'CoolHunting', at http://www.coolhunting.com/ , served, at some point, as the inspiration for thecoolhunter.net (you clearly have to mind your "nets" and "coms" in all this). Its blurb:

Cool Hunting is a daily update on ideas and products in the intersection of art, design, culture and technology, and features weekly videos that get an inside look at the people who create them. Money can buy you a lot of things, but it can’t buy you coverage on Cool Hunting. All of our content is editorially based using the standard of “stuff we like".

The picture, in case you were wondering, was the first image that was served up to me on when I Googled "what's cool" in Google Images.

The Innovation Index Fund

The Innovation Index Fund is a fund that tracks the top 20 innovative companies in North America. The Index was introduced in December 2006. If the Index is tracked Dec 31 2001 - Dec 29 2006 it would have outperformed the S+P 500, the NASDAQ and The Dow Jones by a factor of seven. By the way, though the home page looks a little plain, the material behind it is excellent, especially the blog.

How to Make Lots of Money

Here are the 7 secrets of how to accumulate lots of cash. It is from a booklet called 'Secrets of the Super Rich' by U.S.News.

1. Perseverance beats education
2. Make your own luck
3. Gamble, but wisely
4. Know your market..intimately
5. Focus obsessively and work, work, work
6. Timing is everything
7. It's not just (or even mostly) about the money

TED Talks

TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design. It is a conference that started in 1984. TED's mission is "Ideas Worth Spreading". TED invites speakers to speak for 18 minutes and has posted over 200 of the speeches online at TED Talks . It is a treasure trove of wonderful stuff.

Scandinavian Pop Videos and Presenting Data

The reference on my last post to Junior Senior video reminded me of Royskopp's 'Remind Me' video. Apart from the track being used to great effect in a Geico 'Caveman' ad, it is a brilliant video, and given how it presents data in a such a compelling way, I think Edward Tuft would appreciate it as well.

Understanding USA, Tufte and Napoleon's Retreat

Deep in one of my favourited blogs of the moment, Communication Nation, there is a post about the website www.understandingusa.com/. It is a fantastic visual breakdown of the USA. It would be even better if I could enlarge every page so I could look at it in the detail it deserves.

What is so good about it, is the thinking behind the illustratations; that information can be presented in an interesting way, to make it more meaningful and more engaging. The master of this is Edward Tufte, and in particular his book 'The Visual Display of Quantitative Information' . Amongst a load of stuff it contains the classic map by Charles Minard depicting the losses suffered by Napoleon's during the 1812 Russian campaign.

It is a little difficult to read above so try here, or just buy Tufte's book. The map, apparently, has six variables plotted - the size of the army, its location on a two-dimensional surface, the direction of the army's movement, and the temperature at various dates on the retreat from Moscow. Tufte claims "it may be the best statistical graph ever drawn".

Shift Happens and XPLANE

You may have already come across this piece called Shift Happens by Karl Fisch. It was originally put together as a faculty presentation on what was new and different in the the Colarado school where Karl worked. This is the updated version. If you haven't, press the play button twice and watch.

If you have come across it, you may not have spent much time looking 'behind' it. A company called XPLANE helped with a redesign. XPLANE refer to themselves as "the visual thinking company". They use visualization to make complex ideas, processes and information clearer, and in turn making better decision-making. Their CEO, Dave Gray, also has an excellent blog (amongst many) called Communication Nation, which is dedicated to helping us improve our communication skills.

Interesting Data

Some less often used measures of economic performance. Firstly, increasing numbers of part-time workers can be a leading indicator of rising unemployment rates as companies try to shift full time workers into part time hours. Secondly, a rise in the office vacancy rate is also a good indicator for the economy slowing as tenants shy away from taking on new leases.