Ten Images

Ten Images for Wednesdays seminar

Images
Best viewed as a slide show.

moBlip

Interesting viral adverting for Thom Yorkes album The Eraser.

moBlip

The aim of this project was to promote the Mercury Prize-nominated album ‘The Eraser’ by Thom Yorke, frontman from Radiohead. This took the form of a global viral mobile campaign, utilising java and mobile internet across over 70 mobile networks. MoBlip spread through word-of-mouth and was shared directly from user to user, spreading internationally across fan communities. Recipients of the text message are asked to submit their location. In return they receive:
• A marker on the map at xlrecordings.com/moblip.
• An exclusive Realtone from the new album.


Users can then track the spread of MoBlip across the world. To view MoBlip, go to www.xlrecordings.com/moblip. To join MoBlip, enter the address http://moblip.xlrecordings.com into your phone browser. The website included full integration with Google Maps allowing fans to zoom in on satellite images to track the spread of the MoBlip per district. We witnessed a viral spread of 1200% in 5 days. The campaign was recently nominated for BT Digital Music Award

Key words

MA Statement of Intent Key Words

Challenging work that balances aesthetics with technology is a valuable skill.
The ability to use this technology is a becoming a crucial part of professional practice for artists and designers
Ability to deliver work to an audience quickly
Potential audience
Careful consideration to how people will use this new technology
Designers also need to explore how they can use this technology to their advantage
Rated and commented on by visitors
Publish your creative thoughts easily
Help artists and designers, develop, promote and sell work
How work can reach an audience

Law in Action

Law in the virtual world Radio Four 24/10/06 4pm

Brief discussion about legal issues in virtual worlds, such as Second Life. Who's law do you obey in spaces like this. American, European, UK? Is this an opportunity to create a new global legal system? Who will decide these issues?

This ties into the idea of content creators in these virtual spaces, it brings up issues of copyright, intellectual property rights etc.

Content Creators

Content creators

Interesting article about the sale of YouTube, discussing who should be paid out of the deal. Is it YouTube who provide the service that allows people to upload movies or should it be the general public, the "content creators", who are filling YouTube with movies. This is also bring ups issues of copyright and legal issues of who owns the work once it is on a site.

BT Digital Music Awards 2006

Stumbled across this after "Dusk 'til Dawn" on Channel 4. A couple of interesting pieces on how bands and musicians can use blogs and social networking sites, (MySpace, Bebo etc) to generate interest, promote themselves, find an audience and so. Interesting ideas on how to find work, filtering work, sites which can now do this "So much music out there how do you know what's good? Who tells you these things" Comes back to promotion, I guess.

Shame it's being presented by Alex Zane otherwise it might have been more enjoyable to watch, and Steve Lamaq is on it which is probably why it's on after midnight or maybe because Sandi Thom is peforming live.

Just had look at what these awards are actually for. A bit of an odd mix of awards for blog sites and websites that in some way promote digital music.

The top 200 websites is a great example of democracy in action, Chris De Burgh, Trail of the Dead, Duran Duran all in the top 50.

These actually look like interesting links relating to mobile download promotions
Best Artist Promotion
White Stripes - Denial Twist project
www.xlrecordings.com/denialtwist

Best Use of Broadband
MTV Overdrive
www.mtv.co.uk/overdrive

Best Use of Mobile
Thom Yorke Moblip
www.xlrecordings.com/moblip

Tutorial notes

Notes from tutorial with Ian on Thursday

Is it a website, software, hybrid
Ring fencing ideas
Does this create more intense or focused work?
Who decides the content of the site?
How do you make users return to the space to see new work or upload new pieces of work?
Personal connections, the ability to meet people
How this informs the work on a site
Anonymity
Does it matter if similar sites already exist? No as there are always new approaches, new ideas, a different angle (Fizzy drink)
Don't waste time trying to create something new, explore what is already out there
Ability to redesign the site
Personal taste
Giving users the power to create their own space
How much power?
Too much power
Legal issues, owner of these sites (YouTube, MySpace) conflict of interest, copyright
Wiping out your site
Connections lists
Seeing things on screen versus how you imagine them
Bolt on, mash-up, plug in
Who decides how a site or programme is used?
Does it matter if something is altered re-interepted by the users?
As a designer how comfortable are you giving up control of something you have designed?
Do you give users a range of options to limit what they can do?
Hierarchies. Based on what? Personal opinion, democracy, dictatorship
Archiving work as a way of generating content for a prototype
Fodder
Second Life

Noise Festival

Noise. This is an excellent site and an excellent way of promoting work. The idea is it runs as a virtual gallery and festival space. People submit creative work (fine art, 3D design, music, fashion, and word) which is rated and commented on, anybody can do this; the most popular work makes it to the front page. A panel of judges decides on the best work to be selected for media showcase. I actually found out about this the same week I submitted my MA proposal. It incorporates all the elements I'm interesting in researching. It is well designed, easy to use. There are starting to incoporporate, gallery space, blogging elements, links to My Space, mp3 play lists and so on. Back in February they had a great flash version of the site which allowed you to re-design the site yourself. The scope of the site has also changed, initially it was a regional festival in the North West of England but it seems to have expanded to cover the whole of the UK. My only criticism is why it has to limit itself to a time frame, what happens in November when the festival ends? Can you still submit work? I prefer the approach of the original Australian site which is has no deadline and people can continually upload and showcase work. Another approach would be to allow continually uploading of work, the highest rated make the front page or front gallery space. Alongside that there could be separate festivals/competitions for different creative areas.

Your Gallery

This is the Saatchi Galleries online web gallery.
Your Gallery
I personally think it is very poor in terms of layout, design and usability. Uploading your work is a pain; there is no simple "upload new work" button you have to go back through your user control panel to do that. It would be good to allow people to comment directly on work, in the same way Flickr does. Even simple things such as you can't enlarge images on an artist’s page. This may be designed to stop people stealing or copying images but for a site promoting visual work it is annoying not being able to explore work in the same way you would in a real gallery space.

Five Questions

Five Questions

What are you creating?

At the moment there is no obvious model. My initial thoughts were a website that would be the main focus. With offshoots that allow people to upload and download work onto a variety of platforms, (mobile, handheld, DVD, PC) Already that is changing.

How is it changing?

There are a number of interesting, connected websites that could be brought together in some way, not just as a traditional website but more of a social networking site. The web browser Flock is a good example of this approach. It takes existing technology, in this case the Firefox web browser, adds a new skin and elements from Flickr, YouTube, Blogger etc. to create something new.

Do you need to create something new?

No. It may be a case of researching what already exists. Finding out what works in terms of aesthetics, interface design, ease of use and so on. Then using that research to start developing and designing something from there.

How much input will you have into the content of what goes on the space?

None. At this stage I want the work that is uploaded/showcased to be unedited. I will be designing something that allows people to show their work how they want.

Will the site have an effect on work that is shown?

The site won’t be used to create work. I don’t want it to have a direct effect on peoples work but I would like users to think about how they develop their work If they have a video piece can it be adapted in some way for mobile streaming or quick downloading, this might start generating new work or ways of working.

What type of work will be shown?

Anything. I want as little control over the content as possible. It will be up to users to generate their own content.

Is their a wider scope than just web based media?

Yes, for example DVD’s, live events, magazines, books and so on; One Dot Zero is a good example of this approach. Again though it would be the users who are producing the content I would be offering an outlet to sell and promote their work. It may take the form of publishing on demand, similar to T-shirt site Threadless where users rate submissions and the most popular shirts are printed and sold.

What effect would publishing on demand have on work that is created?

Again it may not have a direct effect but it may mean designers have a better understanding of what people think about their work. It would allow opportunities for feedback from potential customers or clients. You would also know if there was a market for your product.

Is it important that work is sold through the site?

The point of the site would be to generate interest, showcase work, prompt discussion, get feedback but at the same time have opportunities for people to sell themselves and their work.

What potential problems can you see with the project?
If the projects becomes too broad and starts to lack focus. Not enough users. I don’t want to become bogged down in the technology behind these types of site and end up wasting time on technical exercises.

How can you overcome some of these problems?
The project becoming to broad is not a problem as such, I need to research as many different areas as possible and allow for different outcomes. What I need to be sure of is my research is relevant and can be applied to what I’m creating. Studying at the Leeds Met gives me a base of potential users within the Art and Design departments. I’m also keen to explore ways of marketing and promoting whatever I create, it is an important aspect of many social networking sites. How do you generate interest and maintain interest in your site?

Is it possible to market these types of sites?

I’m not sure; it may not be marketing the traditional sense of advertising and press releases. Sites such as Last FM or YouTube work through word of mouth, but you need to generate some initial interest. Again it may be down to user content that generates the interest or it could be the ease of use and design of site. Ideally it would be a combination of the two.


Where will you start?

My starting point will be a blog site. That pulls together initial thoughts and ideas. Links to resources, images, websites, pieces of code, anything that I feel is relevant. It will also enable me to start putting together a rough prototype of the type of site I want to create and some of the elements that will make up the site.




Do you normally work in this way?

No. I normally approach a project by sketching and coming up with a finished idea before starting to create work. But this approach to generating ideas and designs is new which is good as I’m not repeating work I’ve done in the past. I’m able to change the skin, layout, design, content of the blog quickly and am starting to get a better idea of the direction the project could potentially take.

Will you be using any traditional art and methods in this project or will it be purely screen based?

For generating ideas I will also be using sketchbooks and notebooks. I would also like to incorporate some traditional art and design techniques (collage, animation, hand drawing) into the design of whatever I create. I like the aesthetic of collaged, hand drawn images and how they change once they are incorporated in digital design.

Can Britain produce a success like YouTube?

Guardian article from Monday about Web 2.0, current popular sites and the difficulties of setting up a site such as YouTube in Britain.
Can Britain produce a success like YouTube?
Don't give up the day job ... yet. Dotcom difficulties

There was also an intersting short news/discussion item on Radio 5 last Sunday talking about googles purchase of YouTube. It mentioned that what had made YouTube popular was that it appealed to peoples vanity, that they want to be famous or be on TV. This was in contrast to the previous wave of dot.com start ups that had to rely on selling a product to succeed.

Flock

A possible approach to what I create is Flock. A "social web browser" which uses Mozilla technology. It has Flickr, Photobucket, Blogger all built in. This is a different way of thinking about networking, rather than a website. Does it have more potential than a traditional website? Could you apply the ideas of adaptability, reskinning, personalizing the site. (See Googles personal home page)

Blog Skins

Currently playing around and reworking the layout and design of this blog.

A couple of useful starting points sites for basic blog templates,looking at other peoples layouts, finding ideas, resources for code etc. I will upload images/links to some of the more interesting skins from Blog Skins later (the site is down at the moment)
http://blogtemplates.noipo.org/
http://www.blogskins.com/

Heart Sugar was designed by Camilla Henrikke, I found the link to this site a couple of years ago. I've always liked the layout of this site. It's a simple design but the use of the hand drawn elements and real objects really appeals to me (as you can see from my ideas for the MA poster) I also think it works well as a digital/ screen image. It's an interesting contrast to the aesthetics and layout of a lot of other websites. Her other site Wallflower has a lot of interesting layouts and images.

http://gothbrooks.blogspot.com/ I like for the little drawning of the train in the corner. Again it is the hand drawn contrasting with the digital that appeals.

I must listen to more Schooly D and less Coldplay

At some point I will fix the "My links" section on here but don't want to while I'm messing with the layout. In the meanwhile here are some interesting "social networking sites"

Threadless is one of my favourites, it allows anybody to submit T-Shirt designs. The designs are then scored and the most popular ones that month printed and sold. It's an interesting approach to selling and marketing a product. The layout of the site is also one of the better ones around. With a simple but well designed interface. One of my favourite features of this is the Whats in Stock? section. Far more interesting than listing the numbers.

I've only found out about Stickam recently, it launched at the begining of the year. The main site is similar to MySpace, YouTube, Flickr etc and combines elements from those sites (video, pictures, chatrooms etc) What makes this site unusual is the use of webcam and live streaming, and being able embed these elements in other sites or 'blogs. It can be a very odd and voyeuristic site.

Here's a couple of articles about it
Who will use it
Review of Stickam

Last FM

It's elementary! Once you've signed up and downloaded Last.fm, just listen to music through your computer's music player – as you do every day. The name of each song you play will be automatically sent to our servers and saved in your musical profile. We call this “scrobbling,” and it's the basis of everything we do at Last.fm, from personalised recommendations to radio, music charts to musical neighbours, and much more.

Over ten million times a day, Last.fm users fuel the social music revolution by scrobbling their tracks. Ready to share your musical insights with friends, family, and the world? It's free, easy, and a lot of fun: go ahead and scrobble!

I've not used this much recently as i've got a new computer which has no music on it yet. It's always amusing to see the charts or your most played songs and realise that your music taste is not as eclectic as you thought. I must listen to more Schooly D and less Coldplay.

The Hype Machine

is an experiment that keeps track of songs and discussion posted on the best blogs about music.

It a simple databse of MP3 blogs that allows users to search for tracks and artist but it's a useful way of grouping blogs together.

Ideas for MA Graphic Arts and Design poster

A couple of starting points for layouts.

The Ragged School postcard/advert. The Ragged School is an excellent space in London. Just behind Borough Market, it’s mainly used for fashion shoots but I’ve seen a couple of exhibitions there and it makes a very interesting and unusual gallery space.

MA Proposal

This is the short, 500 word version, of my statement of intent that I submitted to the Arts & Humanities Research Council

The longer version that I submitted to the Leeds Met can be viewed here

Neil Owen
Arts & Humanities Research Council

The development of multimedia technology, such as websites, online media streaming, interactive CD/ DVD and downloadable video content is a rapidly changing area of graphic art and design. Over the last few years the number of people using technology such as broadband internet, video iPods, camera phones and video phones has increased. This presents new challenges for designers: what is the best way to showcase work? How can this technology be used to sell work and attract new clients? Being able to use this technology to create innovative, challenging work that balances aesthetics with technology is a valuable skill for designers. As a self employed designer, I am keen to research new ways that my work can reach an audience and potential clients. The ability to use this technology is becoming a crucial part of professional practice for artists and designers. This technology can be used to develop transferable skills that can be applied to a wide range of different art and design disciplines. I have also worked with a number of artists and designers, who are unaware of the range of technology available and the potential it has to reach an audience. I will use the MA in Graphic Art and Design to research how new technology can be used to develop, promote, showcase and sell work. I will also explore the opportunities that this technology offers designers to reach a potential audience and how this technology can be used to generate interest in work.

What I intend to produce

I intend to produce a cross media- platform that will allow artists and designers to upload and showcase their work. The main focus will be a website, which I will design and develop over the course of the year. Alongside the website I will use a range of different media and technology to present the work that is uploaded. This could include online interactive technology, video streaming of work, the use of subscription services, interactive CD/DVD, delivery to mobile devices such as video iPods and phones, downloadable content and an area for users to comment and produce online blogs. I will also explore ways that this technology can be used to in the advertising and promotion of the online hub.

I will initially ask students from the Leeds Metropolitan University art and design departments to upload their work. This will give me a base of potential users. Over the course of the year I will develop the site to allow artist and designers based anywhere to upload work.

Work that will be uploaded will be unedited; artists and designers from any discipline will have the opportunity to show their work. I want to encourage cross promotion and exchange of ideas from different art and design disciplines.

The users of the site will be able to document, discuss and develop their work as well as presenting finished pieces. The website will be a continually, evolving space that will allow users to test, explore, share and showcase their ideas.

The car was four foot long ... fucking Noddy

Ok this is the blog for my MA research. This will have links, images, ideas, code, statement of intent, work for the Wednesday sessions and so on.

The title for the blog comes from this sketch from Chris Morris's "Jam" radio/tv show. There's a lot of swearing involved but it is very funny.

4ft Car