8th September 2018
‘The world is being flooded with technology designed to monitor our emotions. Amazon’s Alexa is one of many virtual assistants that detect tone and timbre of voice in order to better understand commands. CCTV cameras can track faces through public space, and supposedly detect criminals before they commit crimes. Autonomous cars will one day be able to spot when drivers get road rage, and take control of the wheel. But there’s a problem. While the technology is cutting-edge, it’s using an outdated scientific concept stating that all humans, everywhere, experience six basic emotions, and that we each express those emotions in the same way. By building a world filled with gadgets and surveillance systems that take this model as gospel, this obsolete view of emotion could end up becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy, as a vast range of human expressions around the world are forced into a narrow set of definable, machine-readable boxes.’
Adweek on why Nike’s 30th anniversary ad featuring Colin KaepernickIs a worthwhile risk despite the, inevitable, social media backlash. As the debate rages around whether it’s an inspired piece of purpose-led branding bravery, or a cynical monetisation of resistance, Creative Week suggests there should be one area of calm agreement – the writing is brilliant. This is the film causing all the commotion. Dream Crazy.
Awesome case study resource from @juliancole of BBDO – Latest Brand Actions Library contains 200+ examples of innovative advertising from 2018 (HT to @andygreenhouse).
From Fast Company. Amazon, Airbnb, and Asos are all investing in this one simple design idea. Service Design has revolutionised our lives. Here are 15 principles for getting it right, as illustrated by some of the world’s most prominent companies.
Two interesting upcoming exhibitions that are worth a gander. From the V&A, this could be a good one to get the kids into a gallery/museum – ‘In a landmark exhibition dedicated to video games, the V&A is uncovering the behind-the-scenes design of some of the most groundbreaking titles of the last decade.’ and I Object: the British Museum celebrates everyday items of dissent. Private Eye editor Ian Hislop has picked out over 100 unassuming objects from the British Museum collection, dating from 1300 BC to 2016 – all of which share the common goal of sticking it to the man.’
A new book by writer Emily Gosling, offers insights into the working practices of 56 of the world’s greatest creative thinkers, past and present. Including, Wes Anderson, Wolfgang Tillmans and Grace Jones. Great Minds Don’t Think Alike.
Ever since the ’60s, the recording industry emphasised the album over the single. By the ’80s, they were milking as many hits as possible from an album to convince you to buy it—from Thriller to Hysteria. But in the ’90s, labels changed tactics and tried to kill retail singles—promoting hits to radio that you could only buy on full-length albums. This is how the music industry tried to kill the single and in the process brought their own industry to its knees.
Nice idea from Visit Flanders. The perfect destination to enjoy the Flemish Masters in all their glory – is denouncing artistic censorship on social media platforms in a playful manner. At the Rubens House, ‘nudity viewers’ with a Facebook account are being blocked from viewing nudity by a group of “social media police agents”.
Experience a beautiful timelapse journey through the landscapes of the Dolomites.