digital art science

Hello friends, colleagues and clients,

Digital Art Science has been trucking along for a few months now.  There’s some excellent work under the belt and a lot of promising developments sitting just over the horizon.  With the end of the financial year over and done with, and a fascinating digital landscape taking shape for the new financial year, I thought that now would be the time to breathe new life into the type of commentary and attitudes that prevail online in Australia.

I don’t know if you noticed, but by and large, digital evangelists are a cynical bunch. I would say that narry a day passes where I do not witness a brand, organisation or individual being dragged across the coals by members of my previously named ‘digital nobility’. Critique (some measured, some not so) abounds for anyone for not tuning in, logging in and opening up. I understand the motivations behind this, heck, I’m probably guilty of it, but what riles me, and what motivated me to begin this post (and subsequent activities soon to be revealed), is what we do to those that actually do make the leap.

For the most part, they’re torn to shreds; “You’re doing it wrong!”, “You’re marketing to us!” or “This is a cursory/bumbling attempt to engage customers online in a faux innovative and technically clumsily executed and inaccessible way”, I’m para-phrasing, and censoring here, but you get the gist (if you add significant vitriol, awful grammar and txt-spk-esque shortenings and smileys).

So, onto “The Good Apple”.

It’s not a(nother) Macintosh fanboy rant. I firmly believe that much like one bad apple can spoil the bunch, a good apple can have a positive effect. And I take it upon myself now, with you as my witness, to be that good apple.

So sign up to the newsletter, I’ll aim to get it out every week or so and it shall contain insights into digital branding, marketing and innovation, respect where respect is due, encouragement where confidence falters, puns when a smile is needed (and because I can’t help it), and anything else that’s crossing my screen (and should grace yours too). I might even make some more videos…

Thanks team, I look forward to engaging with your inboxes.

Don’t normally rate this kind of thing, but after I ranted last week about the VB and Legacy ‘Raise a glass’ campaign, I noticed a lot of web traffic coming from searches for the advertising campaign.

It culminated in my blog being quoted in The Australian. 

While not entirely relevant to the digital world, perhaps the campaign instigators should’ve been a little more wary of their digital ‘footprint’.  From the second it was posted, my vitriolic post was in the top 5 results for a search on the campaign keywords and strapline, and now, thanks to The Australian, it’ll stay there, and among the results will be the Raise a glass website, and a bunch of negative news… clever none.

Stumbled across this article in the HBR the other day. I think it’s both pertinent and poignant.

Having worked within all sorts of agencies, I’ve been exposed to all sorts of approaches to both creative, account management, strategy and (gulp) process.

While I fundamentally understand the need for process and accept that there’s always going to be a spreadsheet or workflow that needs updating, overly complicated or convoluted process can totally strangle creative thinking. Whether its coming from an art director or the finance assistant, creative thought needs the right kind of environment to flourish and the thing it needs most is freedom.

On the flip side, no one wants to delay a website launch because the lead designer partakes of a little too much ‘creative juice’, first thing in the morning. I think a measure of restraint is required from all sides.

I was recently published in B&T magazine (February 2009) with a lament on the decline of display advertising entitled “It’s the end of display as we know it”. I love a good pun and am determined to get some more of this kind of thinking published.

Follow me on twitter (@morgwn) for little updates about all that’s going on with digital art science. In 140 characters or less, that’s a big ask, I’m pretty verbose.