Ad Fed Blog

Who says there is such a thing as bad publicity? I’m guessing the guy hired to place devices around Boston to market a cartoon show for Turner Broadcasting might after being arrested today.

I don’t use tiled patterns very often, but I couldn’t help but bookmarking and sharing this great resource: Pixel Patterns.

Following a social model, they allow you to submit, search, and use the patterns as long as credit is given to the author. The interface is sleek and full of AJAX wonderment. They are at 903 patterns and growing, so finding something you can use shouldn’t be an issue.

And while you’re there, be sure to check out the parent site Kaliber 10000 - The Designers Lunchbox. Lots of great stuff throughout the site.

The title says it all. Check out Lord V’s Flickr set of incredible insect macro photography.

In recent years there have been numerous referrals to the rise of the creative class both nationally and here in Charleston. The beauty, the setting, and the people of this area have been key factors in attracting talent from such disciplines as Graphic Design, Photography, Public Relations, Marketing, and Web Production. This Blog is an effort to rangle the thoughts, ideas, and aspirations of this talented group of people and to eventually become the place to come to for Charleston area creatives. What is the plan to do that?

To start, we are going to be asking creatives in the area from a variety of disciplines to share their expert opinions and ideas with you. Interspersed with these short articles by our local “experts”, you can expect to find postings on everything and anything to deal with the marketing and design world. These postings could be anything from a reference to a new design tool to help you out in your daily work, to a link to an amazing ad that someone saw the other day on YouTube. As we hope to develop a fairly expansive group of trusted users to post, we hope that there will always be fresh content for you to enjoy and learn from.

The next step is you. We will never know what matters most to you unless we see some comments on the site, questions about becoming a blogger yourself, maybe even some inquiries about out our club. And while you can live an entire Second Life on the Web, this blog hopes to get ideas and discussions going both online and offline. Attend an AdFed, PRSA, AMA, or some other local club meeting…start your own group or just meet up with friends to discuss the hot topic of the day (can anyone say iPhone?). Now is truly a great time to be in the city of Charleston and we hope this Blog becomes a representation of the energy and talent that we see all around us.

Shaveeverywhere.com has been around for a few weeks now, but I thought it was still worth a look in case you missed it. It got some good viral buzz for Philips and Norelco, and is a well-produced site and interactive experience - never mind the humour.

It’s online.

This summer’s World Cup is getting the hype it deserves as the biggest sporting event in the world, but I’m just as interested in the Adidas vs. Nike marketing battle that’s shaping up online.

Last week’s post covered Nike’s social networking site, Joga.com. I figured it wouldn’t be fair without cheking out Adidas’s efforts, so I’m posting both links for you to decide yourself:

• Nike: Joga.com
• Adidas: Adidas.com/football

Why is Nike making such a big push online? Why not just show a bunch of great TV commercials (they make some good ones, in case you live under a rock)?

Here’s why: Adidas has sole sponsorship of the World Cup. So Nike’s going viral.

The battle lines are drawn. Keep it tuned here this summer and help me decide a winner.

Want more details? Here’s another take from BusinessWeek.com.
P.S. I’m still waiting on my invite from Joga.com…please send me one if you’re a member!

Have you ever wondered what would happen if CNN let its viewers pick which stories they should air? Check out Digg.com for your answer.

Most of the articles are tech-focused, but according to a recent interview, the sky’s the limit.

P.S. If you join the site, don’t submit anything too generic — my friend got booted for such an offense…

In anticipation of the 2006 World Cup, Nike and Google teamed up to create *another* social networking site, apparently trying to capitalize on the popularity of MySpace (and others, of course) and the world’s most popular game, soccer (full disclosure: I love soccer).

Check out Joga.com for a sneak peek. Did I mention it’s invite only, a la the Gmail launch? I’m waiting for mine…
You can also read a more detailed commentary here.