Content Comments
Canright staff comments on effective and ineffective marketing pieces such as emails, newsletters, websites, and other marketing/advertising communications.
June 2nd, 2009 by Aya O'Connor
Today, I learned about another one of San Francisco’s offerings to its citizens on The Design Blog.
By 2013, San Francisco will boast 1,100 solar-powered bus shelters which will offer “a red color roof of photovoltaic panels…[that will] will exploit the sun’s rays to power the integrated intercom, LED lighting, and even wireless routers that offer [a] blanket of WiFi throughout the city.”
Below is an image of the first of these that were designed by Lundberg Design and contracted through Clear Channel. For more photos, click here.
It doesn’t have the cutest design, but its features present an innovative and eco-friendly solution with an incentive for those who choose to commute using public transportation. Two thumbs up!
Here’s to hoping Chicago (and other cities) will follow suit…
-Aya
Tags: bus shelter, bus stop, solar-powered
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March 24th, 2009 by Canright Communications
Have you ever stopped to point out a typo or misspelling? Did you ever wish you could fix it? Well, Jeff Deck has been traveling around the country doing just that. Equipped with Sharpies, Wite-out, and crayons, he approaches businesses that have errors, pointing out their flaws. Some receptive, some indifferent, and a lot of “boss ain’t here, come back tomorra’.”
Read more at ChicagoTribune.com and NPR.org.
-Michael
Tags: Typography
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March 23rd, 2009 by Karen Maylone
On my way to a liquor store this past weekend to buy vodka for a friend’s birthday celebration, I noticed this ad for Svedka vodka:
I then walked into the store, went to the vodka section, and, after briefly perusing my options, decided to purchase a bottle of Svedka vodka. Advertising at work!
-Karen
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March 13th, 2009 by Collin Canright
March 6th, 2009 by Canright Communications
One of my friends attended an American Association of Independent Music (A2IM) conference, and Red Stripe Beer gave away 1GB flash drives. Companies have been using flash drives as promotions for a few years now, but as you can see in the above photo, this breaks some new ground in terms of customization.
The flash drive is shaped in the form of a Red Stripe bottle, and once you remove the top half, the USB port is revealed. To help prevent losing the top, the creators thought ahead and included an additional piece of material on the keychain that the top can be attached to. Hooray!
-Michael
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March 4th, 2009 by Canright Communications
A few days ago, Collin posted about the frontrunner candidates’ Web sites for those running in the special election primary for Illinois’ 5th Congressional District. The results are in, and Mike Quigley won the Democratic primary by a few thousand votes.
What gave him the edge? Anyone living in the district knows it wasn’t poster signs, because his competitor John Fritchey’s name is plastered everywhere across local residences and businesses. I don’t have a definitive answer, but his Web site was the only one that could brag of endorsements from rival newspapers the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun-Times.
-Jesse
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February 25th, 2009 by Collin Canright
For those of you who are concerned tax payers and worried about where your money is going, a new Web site is offering some comfort and transparency. Recovery.gov is a special Web site set up to give you a report on where the government’s stimulus money is going in your state, how it’s being spent, and how many jobs are being created as a result of it.
The site breaks down the massive bill into broad categories, and provides state-by-state estimates of how the stimulus is impacting each geographical area.
-Lukasz
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February 20th, 2009 by Collin Canright
If you were voting March 3 in the special Congressional election in the Illinois 5th Congressional District, who would you vote for based on looking at the websites of the three leading candidates?
http://www.saraforcongress.com/ http://www.quigleyforcongress.com/ http://www.fritchey.com/
Notes: "Leading candidates" is defined by fund raising totals. The seat is vacant as a result of Rahm Emanuel accepting an appointment to be President Obama’s Chief of Staff.
-Collin
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February 5th, 2009 by Karen Maylone
This afternoon I received an email from the women’s clothier Anthropologie with the subject line: "Frugal never looked so fine." I was intrigued so I opened the message to find the headline: "Big on Impact, Small on Price." Still intrigued, I clicked and was led to a special section on the Anthropologie site dedicated to clothing, jewelry, handbags and more that the seller deems, "Pocket Pleasers."
I had hoped Anthropologie was highlighting a new line—a more affordable line—for shoppers watching their wallets. Owned by Urban Outfitters, Inc., Anthropologie is Urban Outfitter’s big sister, known for higher-end (read: pricier) products.
To my dismay, the "Pocket Pleasers" section features $98 wedge shoes, a $38 headband, a $68 tank top! All items are under $100 but still not pleasing to my pocket, and likely the pockets of many others who are looking to cut back expenses.
-Karen
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February 5th, 2009 by Aya O'Connor
Every week, iStockphoto and GettyImages send their users “Hot Shots”—a quick overview of the top eight most downloaded images from both of their sites.
The copy is very minimal but always clever. “Short and sweet” is their method.
The best part for me, the visually orientated designer, is that the email is really just a collection of images I can quickly look at. I generally don’t want to spend a lot of time reading through a long-winded email. iStock is effective in this way, directly providing for the needs of its busy clients.
The information conveyed is also useful, to see what other designers are using in their work. You can observe visual trends if you have the discipline to look at these images week by week.
Separately, GettyImages has also provided a beautiful white paper about current visual trends.
-Aya
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