rsmithing

A Better Instagram Experience Takes Work

rsmithing — Fri, 17 May 2013 01:37:39 +0000

A look at the creation of Instagram’s new logo by artist Mackey Saturday

Exploring Instagram for what matches your tastes requires effort, but it’s worth it.

I’ve found some compelling art through Instagram, but it takes an effort to seek it out. I always peruse the galleries of those who like my stuff, and see what else they like, or other sites they’re on, for example. And commenting or interacting with originality also goes a long way. I also freely follow folks but will quickly unfollow if their images don’t hold my interest. So, as in the example of exploring selective hashtags: the reward is there, but you get out of it what you put in.

I wrote the above comments in response to the thoughts of Instagramer, _Deelusions_ over at her post referencing Duchamp, shown here – click through to read the discussion:

“The Fountain” by Marcel Duchamp via _Deelusions_ on Instagram

What do you think? Are you on Instagram? What tips would you suggest for a rewarding experience there? Let us hear from you in the comments.

New To Instagram? Top Tips For Newbies (makeuseof.com)
Starting Out with Instagram (aliciaroberts31.wordpress.com)
Designing Instagram’s Logo (Instagram’s Blog)
Pinterest for Instagram Images (rsmithing.com)
This Instagram Photo Got Two People Arrested (huffingtonpost.com)

Greenhouse Effect II – Single Image Sundays

rsmithing — Mon, 13 May 2013 02:20:22 +0000

Greenhouse Effect II, a photo by rsmithing on Flickr.

An elegant, natural montage between man and nature, generations in the making. As one who appreciates montages, I find it remarkable to spot one in the wild. And highly enjoyable.

Livable Exoplanets Could Be ‘Very Different From Earth,’ MIT Scientist Says (latinospost.com)
Greenhouse effect (dooce.com)
1988 Expert Opinion : Manhattan To Submerge By 2008 (stevengoddard.wordpress.com)

Sorry! We Want Your Business!

rsmithing — Tue, 07 May 2013 02:05:17 +0000

Artist: Banksy. Photo by Duncan Hull via Flickr.
Used with permission.

Does a corporate apology for marketing really mean anything?

There’s been a lot of apologizing going on lately. The most recent example I’ve noticed is JC Penny, doing a whopping 180-degree about-face on the actions of their former CEO Ron Johnson, having to do with their new approach to marketing (no sales, just fair prices). That CEO’s former company? Apple.

Apple also did an apology for its Maps product a while back. This would have been unthinkable with Steve Jobs at the helm, but those days are over. For what it’s worth, I’ve used Apple maps in NYC, Los Angeles, and many U.S. cities in between without fail. But I can’t remember the last time I purchased anything from a JC Penny. And it’s one of the anchor stores at the local mall.

The Verdict? Yawn.

My thinking on apologies from large companies is, “ho-hum.” My heart goes out to the PR teams and corporate communicators who are charged with carrying these out, but I’m far more interested in hearing what’s going to be done about the situation, and getting on with that. At least in the case of Makers’s Mark, it resulted in something (though I still wonder if this was a stunt). Sure, it’s nice to hear an apology, and in these days of greater corporate accessibility via social media, it isn’t altogether inappropriate. But I think what really matters is getting back to business.

What do you think? Do the actions of JC Penny or Apple or any company’s apology for their missteps get your attention? Are there any examples of this being extremely effective? Let us hear from you in the comments.

JC Penny’s Collapse (seanmalstrom.wordpress.com)
“Ron Johnson Didn’t Understand Apple” (tightwind.net)
Ship Your Pants (maeganmarshall.wordpress.com)
And the tragedy continues.. (valueacceleration.wordpress.com)
JC Penny Uses Social Media to Fix Image. “We Are Listening” (onlinesocialmedianews.wordpress.com)

I’m Artist of the Day at iPhoneArt.com!

rsmithing — Thu, 02 May 2013 19:18:19 +0000

What an honor! The good folks at iPhoneArt.com feature me on the home page today:

My art over at iPhoneArt.com

By the nature of the site’s name, you can probably guess what the site is about, and this is the second time I’ve been featured there, the first being in early 2012. My style has evolved greatly since then, becoming more refined in photomontage, and it’s wonderful to be noticed, especially among the ranks of so many other talented artists. This really makes my day.

I’ve written about iPhoneArt.com before as an alternative to Instagram, and the site continuously impresses me with all the compelling creative work shown there. And I’m not just saying that because they featured me, either. Definitely check it out and be amazed by what can be created with just a phone, some apps and creativity.

Big thanks to iPhoneArt.com for the feature!

What do you think? Have you been featured at a website before? Are you into Instagram or mobile photography? Let us hear from you in the comments.

Learning From The Masters (rsmithing.com)
Instagram (trevscompart.wordpress.com)
iPhoneography and Instagram (fashionwonders22.wordpress.com)
3 Instagram Alternatives: Beyond Facebook’s Instabillion Buy (rsmithing.com)
InstaStock wants to turn your selfies into a business model (digitaltrends.com)
iPhoneArt.com – the Next Level of Mobile Photo Sharing (rsmithing.com)

Keith Richards’ “Life” Audiobook Review

rsmithing — Wed, 01 May 2013 02:03:29 +0000

This month I finally completed listening to the audiobook of Keith Richards‘ autobiography, Life. For me, the best parts were his thoughts about the magic of performance and songwriting, along with hearing the intimate details of how some of my favorite records like Exile on Main Street came together.

“Believe it or not, I remember everything”

The parts where he gripes at length about Mick Jagger and Brian Jones got kinda tiresome, but I understand why they’re included, and the rest of the book more than makes up for it. For example, his unwavering respect and reverence of Charlie Watts is a constant theme. Also, the guy wrote Gimme Shelter, so, hey.

It’s only Rock ‘N’ Roll

I especially enjoyed the first half of the book, learning about Richards’ upbringing and what makes Keith, Keith. Hearing firsthand what it was like for a young rock ‘n roll band in the early ’60s and just how much these guys all revered American blues music was captivating and enlightening.

As for the audiobook itself, Keith narrates a few chapters at beginning and end; Johnny Depp does a few as well, and the majority is expertly read by Joe Hurley. They even won some formal recognition. All that aside, for an absolutely smashing one-on-one of the man himself doing the talking, definitely check out “Ask Keith” at Keith’s website.

Overall, this was a supremely compelling book, and I’d recommend it to anyone interested in the history of rock ‘n’ roll or even vaguely interested in the Stones. Because, bottom line: Keith is the real deal.

Musical accompaniment for this post:
Rocks Off, from Exile on Main Street

What do you think? Experienced any good audiobooks lately? What are your thoughts on the history of rock? Let us hear from you in the comments.

Keith Richards on the record (boston.com)
LOOK: It’s Only Rock ‘N’ Roll (huffingtonpost.com)
You CAN always get what you want (if you’re the Rolling Stones) (time4sleep.co.uk)
‘Spanish Tony’ – Assistant who aired out Rolling Stones’ dirty laundry (voxxi.com)
Rolling Stones headed back on the road (cbc.ca)
Keith Richards – the advertising years (wklondon.typepad.com)

Ship My Pants! Is Kmart Being Smart?

rsmithing — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 15:00:56 +0000

A little blue humor with your blue light special?

Original photo by DoppioM via Flickr

I remember being in a Kmart a hazy handful of times in the ’70s seeing a blue siren flash after an announcement over Kmart’s intercom. It was exciting, and an obvious gimmick to get some quick attention while having a little fun.

Something similar is happening now with Kmart’s latest ad campaign, dubbed “Ship My Pants.” Highlighting the retailer’s offering of in-store shipping, excited customers riff about shipping their pants, drawers, a bed, and… you get the idea.

I love some wacky wordplay, so I’m naturally a fan of the ad. I don’t know that I’ll be shopping at Kmart any more because of it, but I’ll definitely be smirking the next time it happens, or maybe even the next time I drive by a store.

It reminds me of the “Make 7up Yours” campaign from the ’90s…

I noted the similarity to Kmart through Twitter, and they acknowledge the connection.

@rsmithing Same idea! Thanks for the compliment #ShipMyPants

— Kmart (@Kmart) April 20, 2013

My take away is that, although this might be a bawdy approach, it gets us discussing the brand when there was absolutely no chatter before. It’s getting a boatload of press – positive, even – which was precisely what it was intended to do, so kudos to Kmart’s PR team for deft handling. In the case of Old Spice, this did get me interested in the product, and it will be interesting to follow Kmart’s business as consumers start to, um… ship their pants.

What do you think? Can you recall a similar campaign? Would this make you more or less likely to shop at a Kmart or similar advertiser? Let us hear from you in the comments.

Kmart’s ‘ship my pants’ ad causes shockwaves and smiles (usatoday.com)
Kmart’s ‘Ship My Pants’ ad: Genius or epic fail? (ragan.com)
Kmart and Draft FCB’s “shippy” commercial delivers boffo results along with controversy (Gods of Advertising)
Kmart’s Hilarious New Ad Will Make You Ship Your Pants (dailyfinance.com)
Ad of the day: Kmart Ship My Pants (adageinspired)
Blue Light Special: “Ship My Pants” (IMC Student Blog)
Lessons for Communicators From Kmart’s Wildly Successful “Ship My Pants” Viral Video (prnewsonline.com)
Kmart Will Ship Your Pants (Commercial Society)
How Kmart Used Social Listening (And Some Nerve) To Create A Ship-My-Pants Funny Viral Hit (fastcocreate.com)
Kmart Just Got Cool: They Shipped the Bed (Al Getler)
Dove – Playing Off Women’s Insecurities One Day at A Time (Table For One)

Focus

rsmithing — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 15:28:58 +0000

Distractions are a distracting factor; Procrastination delays the matter… Does it matter? Get there faster? More to-do we’re chasing after. (laughter)

A quick photomontage of a candle I shot along with a macro view of my eye. For a full-size look at this and others like it, check out the Photomontage set at my Flickr gallery.

Musical accompaniment for this post: Incubus – Made for TV Movie

Also, this live version:

The Power of Structured Procrastination (txcreativep1.wordpress.com)
Why and How To Overcome Procrastination (healthylifestyleplus.com)
10 Shortcuts To Defeating Writing Procrastination In Record Time (kristinnador.wordpress.com)
Procrastinators of the world unite….. Tomorrow? (pantsontheoutside.wordpress.com)
Determine to do as much good as you can, for as many as you can, as often as you can, for as long as you can (knuthblog.wordpress.com)
The Complete Guide To Procrastinating At Work (lifehacker.com.au)

Evernote, Three Months In

rsmithing — Sat, 20 Apr 2013 02:37:06 +0000

At the beginning of this year I made it a point to get in the habit of using Evernote. I’ve kept reading its praises and since I’m in the world of collecting ideas for future blog posts, it made enough sense to give it a try.

I should say that I’ve previously relied on emailing myself ideas, links, images and other content, filing them away under “read later” or “ideas” in Gmail. This has kinda worked, but I don’t really find myself going through that content often. The idea of a standalone app dedicated to capturing ideas and organizing them at least makes sense to me for that reason. I get the concept, but it’s still taking work to make myself use the program.

Part of the adoption curve for me is having content actually in Evernote. Without many notes to search, there’s not much to draw from, so I can see how some users may get turned off if, say, within a week or two they aren’t reaping tremendous benefit.

But so far for me, it’s been at least good for peace of mind, knowing that all the stuff I’d otherwise be emailing myself is now tagged and easily referenced. In fact, it was the process of going through my notes in Evernote that led to this blog post, so hey… there’s something! I’m interested enough to keep using it, and I’m surely only scratching the surface, given the capabilities some of its power users explore. There will be more to come on this for sure.

What do you think? Do you use Evernote or a similar service? What’s your process for capturing ideas, to-dos or things go investigate later? Let us hear from you in the comments.

The Ultimate Evernote Guide, Part 1: Getting Started with Evernote (teleread.com)
Evernote-branded device coming. Wait, what? (bizjournals.com)
Evernote Promises Its Own ‘New, Magical’ Hardware Gadgets Are Coming (embargozone.com)
Evernote is my Everything (raventools.com)
Three Third Party Evernote Apps for iOS (centralisious.com)
Why You Should Be Using Evernote As Your Go-To Place For Remembering Everything (TimeManagementMagazine.com)

Learning From The Masters

rsmithing — Sat, 13 Apr 2013 03:58:25 +0000

As a young guitarist, I learned how to play by listening to my favorite songs and figuring out the riffs. As a young graphic designer, I figured out techniques by recreating ads and absorbing the principles of layout. I sought out the occasional tutorial and picked up things along the way, but a large part of what came to be my creative expression has it roots in studying and emulating the work of others.

Comparison of “Untitled 1989″ by Jerry Uelsmann and my own study after.

That’s the approach I took recently with my growing photomontage fascination. Over the past few years I’ve been making photomontages with my iPhone and image editing apps like Photoforge2 and Dynamic Light. It’s been particularly rewarding when developing pieces along the lines of my favorite artists, one of which is the great Jerry Uelsmann.

So I was looking through one of my printed Uelsmann books for inspiration and came across this image:

I then decided to make it a weekend project to emulate the image in an attempt to gain experience and get closer to the techniques involved. Of course, apps and and iPhone are no darkroom and enlargers, but some fundamental composition principles carry over, as I discovered in creating my own version:

My take on Uelsmann. Click to view at full size. Created via iPhone.

This consists of a view of the sky from downtown Winston-Salem, about 14 stories up; a house from Old Salem, (historical area of my city); my own hands, and my flannel-shirt-wearing self at sunset.I had some help on the portrait and hands shots with the CameraSharp app’s timer, along with a tripod.

My source files for this composition. Click to view at full size.

I can say that it was at once freeing and challenging to work toward a specific vision, bringing these elements together. I make no claim to total originality here, since the idea is obviously Uelsmann’s, but I’m satisfied with how it turned out. I may yet use the elements in future compositions, and I will probably revisit the challenge again one day of emulating and learning from the masters.

What do you think? Have you ever created art after something or someone that’s inspired you? Do any other examples of this come to mind? Let us hear from you in the comments.

Jerry Uelsmann: The legend, the man, the artist. (35mmphotographylover.wordpress.com)
jerry uelsmann (emiliachiappetta.wordpress.com)
Ansel Adams and Photography Before Photoshop (whitherthebook.wordpress.com)
Memories: Acknowledging the Source of your Inspirations (ambperspectivesblog.wordpress.com)

PR and Social Media News: Ragan and PR Daily

rsmithing — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 02:51:12 +0000

A couple of my favorite sources for news and happenings in both public relations and social media are PR Daily, and Ragan Communications (PR Daily is part of Ragan). I’ve been following both sites for years, have attended a couple of Ragan events, and have even been quoted as a source in their reporting. I’ve found their coverage of the news cycle from a PR perspective to be consistently informative and entertaining. Ragan’s daily headlines is one of the few email newsletters I read daily, and in itself, it’s a study in crafting winning headlines with engaging graphics that make readers want to click through to your content.

Stories I’ve enjoyed there recently:

If you’re into PR, social media, – or grammar, online trends, and any of the communication-related other areas they cover – definitely give these sites a visit and consider signing up for the newsletters.

What do you think? Are you a Ragan.com or PR Daily consumer already? Or have you never heard of these sites? Do you have a personal or business interest in PR or social media? Let us hear from you in the comments.

Ragan Disney Conference Magic (onewholeads.wordpress.com)
Twitter Chats for Public Relations & Marketing (us.cision.com)
Ultimate list of online public relations tools (raventools.com)
How Can I Get the Job? Be Strategic on LinkedIn (us.cision.com)
PR Professionals Have A Long Way To Go With Wikipedia (pr.typepad.com)

rsmithing

A Better Instagram Experience Takes Work

Exploring Instagram for what matches your tastes requires effort, but it’s worth it.

What do you think? Are you on Instagram? What tips would you suggest for a rewarding experience there? Let us hear from you in the comments.

Related articles

Greenhouse Effect II – Single Image Sundays

Related articles

Sorry! We Want Your Business!

Does a corporate apology for marketing really mean anything?

The Verdict? Yawn.

What do you think? Do the actions of JC Penny or Apple or any company’s apology for their missteps get your attention? Are there any examples of this being extremely effective? Let us hear from you in the comments.

Related articles

I’m Artist of the Day at iPhoneArt.com!

Big thanks to iPhoneArt.com for the feature!

What do you think? Have you been featured at a website before? Are you into Instagram or mobile photography? Let us hear from you in the comments.

Related articles

Keith Richards’ “Life” Audiobook Review

“Believe it or not, I remember everything”

It’s only Rock ‘N’ Roll

Musical accompaniment for this post: Rocks Off, from Exile on Main Street

What do you think? Experienced any good audiobooks lately? What are your thoughts on the history of rock? Let us hear from you in the comments.

Related articles

Ship My Pants! Is Kmart Being Smart?

A little blue humor with your blue light special?

What do you think? Can you recall a similar campaign? Would this make you more or less likely to shop at a Kmart or similar advertiser? Let us hear from you in the comments.

Related articles

Focus

Distractions are a distracting factor; Procrastination delays the matter… Does it matter? Get there faster? More to-do we’re chasing after. (laughter)

Related articles

Evernote, Three Months In

What do you think? Do you use Evernote or a similar service? What’s your process for capturing ideas, to-dos or things go investigate later? Let us hear from you in the comments.

Related articles

Learning From The Masters

What do you think? Have you ever created art after something or someone that’s inspired you? Do any other examples of this come to mind? Let us hear from you in the comments.

Related articles

PR and Social Media News: Ragan and PR Daily

What do you think? Are you a Ragan.com or PR Daily consumer already? Or have you never heard of these sites? Do you have a personal or business interest in PR or social media? Let us hear from you in the comments.

Related articles

Musical accompaniment for this post:
Rocks Off, from Exile on Main Street