San Francisco: The Art of Selling Innovation

SheSays is one organization we give our unwavering support to. Originating in London, and now operating across the pond in the US, this .org serves as a global resource for women working in and around the field of advertising. The San Francisco division will be holding a round table discussion this evening, focusing on how to sell your ideas to clients when it comes to innovation and technology. One topic of particular interest will be augmented reality. If you’re in the San Francisco area, come participate in this FREE event and listen as business professionals give detailed experiences of what’s worked for them when combining business, branding and creativity. For more details and to RSVP, click here.

Speakers will include:

Nicole Califano, UX/IxD Designer from The Barbarian Group

Leslie Ziegler, Interactive Art Director from McCann Worldgroup

Victoria Graham, Management Supervisor at AKQA

Summer Oram, Group Director of Integrated Production at McCann Worldgroup

Haley Brockmeier, Media Manager at Gap, Inc.

Publicis San Francisco: 2001 Embarcadero, San Francisco, CA 94133

7:00pm – 9:00pm

February 17, 2010 | By: Shayna Kulik

New York: Bootcamp with Grant McCracken

Following trends is a fun past time for many around the world, but can tracking ephemeral fascinations help your company and brands succeed? In Chief Culture Officer, anthropologist and consultant Grant McCracken argues that products and ads succeed when corporations capitalize on culture. Join McCracken February 13^th for a day long boot camp in New York City where he shares why campaigns such as Nike’s “Just Do It” and Dove’s “Campaign for Real Beauty” succeeded where others failed, and how staying abreast on culture is now a full-time responsibility for a corporation. The interactive boot camp promises to be an interesting and informative event for anyone curious about how to incorporate trend forecasting into corporate cultures.

February 9, 2010 | By: Shayna Kulik

Trend: Effervescent Embellishments

When it comes to trends, there will always be an organic story to parallel a futurist one. Today’s feature highlight’s life’s natural influences and just how easily they can translate into salable merchandise. The gold clusters on this Donna Karan bag are nearly interchangeable with the champagne bubbles in this “Save the Champagne ad.” The grouping, color story and mood are accessory-friendly and quite glamorous. Not only do these mini sundials work on a bag, they’d also enhance home, beauty and fragrance as well.

February 1, 2010 | By: Shayna Kulik

Body Stories for the Inner Escapist

After viewing Tim Burton’s show at the MoMA, it’s hard not to draw parallels to Roberto Kusterle’s fantastical photography. Each piece is truly a show-stopper and a window into a world that challenges literal meaning. Here at Pattern Pulp, we all believe that moods can be defined in countless ways. It’s the inspirational element of a story that sticks, and if it’s done well, it will further resonate within society. Avatar is a perfect example of this. Brands continue to tackle this challenge on a daily basis, and Coca Cola provides perhaps some of the best examples in the market. When you invite your viewer into a world they’ve only dreamed of then give them a pair of wings, you have to trust that they will fly. Kusterle’s ability to convey affection and human emotion is remarkable, and sets the escapist bar just a little bit higher.

By: Shayna Kulik and Emily Gup

January 27, 2010 | By: Shayna Kulik

Event: Alt. Design Summit

Boy do I wish I could join the tech savvy troupes in Utah this weekend for Alt Design Summit, but I have prior obligations of the highest priority – a good friend’s wedding here in New York! See the list below- if you can check 3 or more items, you belong at the heart of the snowy action tomorrow!

Who Should Attend Alt?

1. People that love talking about design in all its iterations. What it is. How it’s changing. Why it’s important.

2. People that read sites like Apartment Therapy/drive German cars/subscribe to magazines from Europe.

3. Design or lifestyle bloggers who want to (finally!) meet their fellow design and lifestyle bloggers.

4. People from across all the design disciplines: graphic, industrial, fashion, interior, product, textile. Plus illustrators and photographers too.

5. Business Owners who make pretty things and want to figure out how to get their products on design sites.

6. Advertising Agencies and Marketing firms that want help creating social media campaigns for their design-minded clients.

7. Employees who would love to get credit for working while actually hitting the slopes.

8. People who create inspiration boards.

9. People who look at inspiration boards.

10. Big-Love fans that want to find out if polygamy is for real.

11. Star-struck film fans obsessed with the Sundance hype who want to spend a weekend celebrity sighting.

January 20, 2010 | By: Shayna Kulik

New Face, New Year.

It feels good to be back. The past two weeks have been filled with round ups, predictions and general anxiousness for the decade ahead. While it’s easy to rev up for the big picture, it’s important not to forget the basic qualities of life that transcend all demographics. Everyone has sentimental moments and it’s nice to see advertising and product teams shift their focus from gimmicky animation to simplistic messaging. Both American Express and Flor have chosen to step forward and focus on the emotive quality of everyday life. The above stills are part of a captivating TV spot that nearly stopped me in my tracks while running at the gym last week, a difficult feat for a non-TV watcher.

Partnering up with François Robert, Flor’s July release of rugs showcasing graphic imagery from his book, Find a Face are dauntingly similar to Am Ex’s Take Charge Campaign. While this concept certainly isn’t a new one, it’s interesting to see the cross pollination of an idea spread over a few month period.

January 4, 2010 | By: Shayna Kulik