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If you have a blog, I can recommend ZoomClouds, as shown in the column on the right. Obviously it's an interesting way of navigating a blog but it also teaches you which words you tend to overuse. Something like that would be really useful for regular writing. Can you get a tag cloud for your desktop or a word document - stuff like that? That would be instructive.
As you can see, I overuse 'obviously' and 'stuff'.
Ah. I've done it again.
A simple, but effective bit of research from Monochrom (via information aesthetics) illustrates the power, or otherwise, of various logos.
Seems like people have some affection for the shields.
I like a shield too.
Nothing wrong with a bit of corporate heraldry. All that lowercase mildness seems disingenuous from a business like BP. Sorry. bp.
Grant and I are slowly getting all the entries together for APSotW assignment 4. (I'm being slow, he's not). I'll get them posted up here in the next couple of days. A very interesting bunch of papers.
In the meantime I thought I'd post Assignment 5.
This is a pitch. The client is a Russian billionaire. The project is - create a space tourism brand.
It's pretty simple.
Mr Russian Billionaire wants to start a company that takes tourists to space.
The service will be very like the one that Space Adventures already runs to the International Space Station but it has to be differentiated in some way. You have to suggest how.
You have to come up with a brand - a name, a proposition and a targeting and communications strategy. Whatever you think it might take to win the pitch. You're trying to get hired as Mr Russian Billionaire's strategic/brand consultant.
You have 5 Powerpoint slides/charts/pages to do this in.
Let me say that again.
You have 5 Powerpoint slides/charts/pages to do this in.
No other format/approach will be accepted. This is like a pitch and those are the rules of the pitch.
I will pick a winner and the winner will get a copy of Egg Bacon Chips and Beans (signed if you prefer), plus one of the APG's fabulous publications.
Make sense?
Deadline is midnight (GMT) on March 31st. Submissions must be emailled to me by then - russell at russelldavies.com
Jet-lag strikes at 2.30 in the morning. Can't get back to sleep. Ah-ha! Fantastic opportunity to catch up with work but mind won't let me. So stroll down the empty streets to Bar Italia for caffeine.
I landed at Heathrow this morning, then Heathrow Express, then tube to Great Portland Street. And walking back to the flat was lovely. It was one of those fantastic London mornings - crisp, cold and sunny.
Arthur'd made an excellent welcome notice for me and laid a trail of arrows to a welcome home gift - a Tintin book. (He's decided I like Tintin).
After a bit of catching up I popped out for a shave. It's a splendid post-red-eye ritual. You can close your eyes for a second but you can't really sleep.
The walk down to Goodge Street was great, sharp shadows and glare off the manhole covers, misspelled signs and the bar detritus of Saturday night revelry.
Then we popped out for lunch and Arthur told me everything that's happened in the last two weeks.
The only challenge now is to try and stay awake until bedtime.
