Paul Stonier

KLM Surprise: Service through listening and responding with gratitude

Branding, Business, Social Media

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[tube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqHWAE8GDEk[/tube]
Thanks to Marc Benioff for showing this at Dreamforce 2011 today.

A great example of how businesses can listen and use shock & awe tactics to create impactful customer experiences.

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Seth Godin on Typography

Advertising, Branding, Business, Graphic Design, Social Media, Typography, Web Design

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“Typography is what sets Apple, at first glance, apart from just about everyone at the mall. Typography is what makes a self-published book often look pale in comparison to a ‘real’ one. Typography (or the lack thereof) is a safety hazard on airplanes (who decided that all the safety labels should be in ALL CAPS)?

The choice of a typeface, the care given to kerning and to readability—it all sends a powerful signal. When your business card is nothing but Arial on a piece of cardboard, you’ve just told people how they ought to think about you… precisely the opposite of what you were trying to do when you made the card in the first place” From Seth Godin

Read the rest here.

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Marian Bantjes on her valentine’s with Lynda.com

Typography

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A peak into the process of Marian Bantjes’ valentine project of the past year.
[tube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAOoreUZE6o[/tube]

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Where Klout will be by 2014

Branding, Business, Social Media

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Klout has become a force to be reckoned with when it comes to social data. To those who understand the social platform, your Klout score has been something that is a quick, but interesting part of the conversation. It gives individuals a rough (usually “good enough”) representation of how you are performing in creating content that is relevant to your audience. That is…for the consumer and brands engaging in social media.

However, as a business, Klout also works as a marketing tool to those using Klout. You’ll see the “perks” page on Klout where business are able to provide deals to Klout users. From what I’ve seen, this is currently the only way they are monetizing. Previously, they did it by using the freemium model by only letting you see part of your profile for free. This can’t last very long.

As they continue to bring in more social networks, like they’ve recently done with LinkedIn, 4square, Tumblr, Instagram, YouTube, LastFM, Blogger and Flickr, they are continuing to build an extremely valuable database on consumers. Especially, technology savvy ones. The information in all these profiles are enough to make companies drooling and eager to get their hands on. From what all this data brought together, you could easily query your way to finding what makes each target segment tick and market to them more effectively. This will be a touchy subject when this happens, but it will make Klout a very interesting purchase by Salesforce, Nielsen or even Google. That’s not to say these companies aren’t trying to get this data themselves, but in this area where customers are willingly linking their profiles together, it’s going to tie be able to compete on a level that Qwerly and Rapleaf never could have.

What makes this a touchy subject for consumers, is that eventually, many will feel like their being watched too much and pull out. This could even be what gets the ball rolling in the wave of privacy.

Will the privacy wave come or will it pass just as the facebook and google+ privacy concerns come and go?

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Target at Hamilton Wood Type Museum: Cool Never Fades

Branding, Graphic Design, Marketing, Typography

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[tube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cH_fqfOHmgI&feature=player_embedded[/tube]
The Target design type visits the Hamilton Wood Type Museum to develop new products from ephemera.
via COLETIVO SIMPLLES

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H&FJ, Eddie Opara, Paula Scher, Julia Vakser and Deroy Peraza on Typography

Graphic Design, Typography

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[tube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKKDL6lekmA&feature=player_detailpage[/tube]
This is a wonderful film that truly makes typography accessible and communicates that value of typography in the world. Thank you to all that contributed to making this film.

Thanks to Ginni Luipi for sharing.

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Finding the Work/Life Balance in Design: Choices with Legacy in Mind

Branding, Graphic Design

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As cliché as it sounds, being a designer isn’t a job, it’s a lifestyle. In that, I mean, there is an incredible level of investment in our work. Long, coffee-driven hours of pouring yourself into pixels and paper is not uncommon in this profession. Even by the time we get home from our day job, we devote ourselves to organizations like AIGA and SoTA to harness our skills further. We donate time to help non-profits build their brands, not to mention all the side projects we take on to help our friends.

All these commitments makes it insanely difficult to do this well and maintain a successful relationship with a significant other, let alone build a family. You come to a point where you have to make choices. There is simply not enough time to do it all. That’s when making sure you love what you’re doing during the day becomes even more important, because when you walk in that door to someone waiting for you, your work takes a backseat.

According to Gary Vaynerchuk, if you talk to someone late in their life and ask them what they wish they did differently, the answer will almost always be to spend more time with their family. Stefan Sagmeister has said that Tibor Kalman was fascinated with legacy and ultimately, when you look at the big picture, that’s what’s going to matter. This is where the divide typically happens…where that legacy lies. Do you leave a legacy by building a family and a role model for them or do you leave your legacy in the piles and piles of design books and award shows? After some serious thought, there is no question for myself, that my focus is on my family. With a daughter on the way, I could not by more excited to take this on and run with it.

To be continued…

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