I’m pretty psyched that everyone around me- boyfriend, friends and colleagues included finally convinced me to make the trip to Austin this year for SXSW Interactive. The next few days have extraordinary media line ups and I’m looking forward to listening to speakers and meeting with some of the best content creators  in the industry. Idea sharing will be at an all time high and I’m sure the energy will be felt via thousands of twitter feeds. If you’re in Austin, send a virtual hello, as I’d love to meet up.

Ahh, the good ol’ school days where slapping someone on the back during recess gave them the opportunity to slap someone else. Well, tagging these days has matured from playgrounds to the web-interface, but it has maintained it’s most fundamental element: its social counsel.

What, you may ask? How did a semi-violent, super competitive child’s play transform into the Web 2.0 system of classification system? Truth be told, it didn’t; yet, the game of tag identifies someone as a leader of a social context (even if you were super fast in Pre-K and immediately purged yourself of being ‘it’) and tags today identify information as important through a social media context.

Tagging, which we have all come to know, love and ubiquitously use, is a Web 2.0 (or semantic web) ontological system of classification system. Yikes, that sounds scientific jargon heavy.  Basically, [...]]]>

Ahh, the good ol’ school days where slapping someone on the back during recess gave them the opportunity to slap someone else. Well, tagging these days has matured from playgrounds to the web-interface, but it has maintained it’s most fundamental element: its social counsel.

What, you may ask? How did a semi-violent, super competitive child’s play transform into the Web 2.0 system of classification system? Truth be told, it didn’t; yet, the game of tag identifies someone as a leader of a social context (even if you were super fast in Pre-K and immediately purged yourself of being ‘it’) and tags today identify information as important through a social media context.

Tagging, which we have all come to know, love and ubiquitously use, is a Web 2.0 (or semantic web) ontological system of classification system. Yikes, that sounds scientific jargon heavy.  Basically, remember the ancient days of clunky Netscape and the Internet Bubble Burst of 2001? Well, after many dot com-ers saw their dreams being crushed, some intrepid programmers, who weren’t ready to give up, revolutionized the Web platform. More specifically, a man who is still a preeminent web innovator today named Tim Berners-Lee created an interface system that incorporates artificial intelligence to make humans and computers understand the same language (hence the semantic part).  For Web 2.0 to work seamlessly, bits of information have to be classified by a controlled set of vocabulary that humans determine and computers understand; these are known as ontologies.  And for those of us who suffered through freshman-year Philosophy of the Mind, ontology should ring a bell as the study of existence.

The geek in you cares about web 2.0 because it is the reason why we have smart phones, cloud computing, Google and Facebook. Web 2.0 allowed thousands of us to make web pages, start blogs and create social networking spaces (raise your hand if you were on Friendster!); the onslaught of content on the Web made its organization rather difficult to keep orderly and well, necessity is the mother of all invention, right? Say hello to the Tag. They started as bookmarks on del.ici.ous and spread like wildfire with the emergence social software sites, such as Flickr, YouTube, blogs and now, Twitter.  The reason? For the people, by the people.  Tags are user-generated, community-driven classification labels that do not rely on traditional methods of taxonomy or The-Man telling you what’s important.

Tags are written in the speech of the community it reflects and promotes information that the community deems as necessary, essential or just plain freakin’ funny.  Don’t take it from me; entire IT university departments have conducted research on this very particular topic and have repeatedly demonstrated that tags are the voice of the people.  But, tags actually go deeper than that, I say.  In fact, keywords chosen for tags offer a personal reflection and analysis of the presented information— no, not some Freudian deconstruction of the matter at hand, but rather a counsel or phenomenon deeply embedded in to our culture.

Many of us when we tag our blogs, Flickr or Tweets have been known to just slap on a tag like ‘art’ or ‘pretty things’ or ‘funny’ but even those tags reflect values of our culture.  As our lives become more and more enmeshed in the Web interface (just look at the prevalence of social media as business mechanism or the fact that Obama tweets…), tags refer to staple cultural proverbs, anecdotes and other defining phenomenon.  The ones from the days before the Internets– the values of our culture that no semantic ontology can recognize, even if it can ‘understand’ the words.  My M.A. writing professor always said, “information dies on the page” (although, I’m sure he stole that from cultural theorist Walter Benjamin), but tags are a parting memento, a stamp of our values in the web-o-sphere. It’s as if tags are storytellers or the new oral tradition a la Homer or the wandering Minstrel.

Now, this may sound entirely loony, there has been a prominent trend, one hard to ignore. If you don’t believe me, here are few examples:

We live in an information-rich, real-time mentality these days; most of us toting a Blackberry or an iPhone, constructing the future as our own and quick to forget the past. So, while no computer or code-program can ever understand what “kids these days means” or “you can run…”, they will enable the permanent storage of those sayings.  Tags can always draw us back to the lessons and values (even wives-tales!) instilled in us during childhood, the very ones we probably overheard while playing tag.

Coverage by: Julie Baumgardner

Our team keeps getting better and better! Meet Julie Baumgardner. Baumgardner spent much of her childhood engaged in the activity of imaginating.  The hours logged spent in her mind creating images, stories and ideas have lead to a diverse life path.  She grew up in the boisterous and glorious metropolis of Manhattan but has lived in places as far and wide as Prague, Paris, Peru, Madrid, Dublin and Washington, D.C. Julie’s intense belief in spirit and style has led to careers in art curation, fashion, public relations, brand strategy and writing. You can probably catch her on the disco dance floor in fuchsia lipstick, Dries Van Noten shoes, silk peonies in her hair and a copy of Monocle and Headlong stuffed [...]]]>

Our team keeps getting better and better! Meet Julie Baumgardner. Baumgardner spent much of her childhood engaged in the activity of imaginating.  The hours logged spent in her mind creating images, stories and ideas have lead to a diverse life path.  She grew up in the boisterous and glorious metropolis of Manhattan but has lived in places as far and wide as Prague, Paris, Peru, Madrid, Dublin and Washington, D.C. Julie’s intense belief in spirit and style has led to careers in art curation, fashion, public relations, brand strategy and writing. You can probably catch her on the disco dance floor in fuchsia lipstick, Dries Van Noten shoes, silk peonies in her hair and a copy of Monocle and Headlong stuffed into her clutch. Follow along as Baumgardner dissects pop culture and helps make sense of how trends affect our desire to consume and what that means for the future of the business.

There are a lot of logos out there- some stick in our psyche, however most are quite forgettable. Everyone knows that the stickiness factor is very important when building your brand identity. Whenever someone excitedly murmurs, “We need a logo!” the pressure is on. Where do you go from there? How do you create an effective visual that’s both attractive and purposeful?

David E. Carter, the author of countless books on the subject will be speaking at the Marriott Orlando Downtown today in a program entitled, Visual Branding and Logos: What makes the leaders resonate with buyers? Carter will cover how identity and image create the foundation for a strong and successful brand. Learning the techniques and strengths of some of the most recognizable brands is valuable information for one looking to start a business, or better [...]]]>

There are a lot of logos out there- some stick in our psyche, however most are quite forgettable. Everyone knows that the stickiness factor is very important when building your brand identity. Whenever someone excitedly murmurs, “We need a logo!” the pressure is on. Where do you go from there? How do you create an effective visual that’s both attractive and purposeful?

David E. Carter, the author of countless books on the subject will be speaking at the Marriott Orlando Downtown today in a program entitled, Visual Branding and Logos: What makes the leaders resonate with buyers? Carter will cover how identity and image create the foundation for a strong and successful brand. Learning the techniques and strengths of some of the most recognizable brands is valuable information for one looking to start a business, or better market themselves and their ideas.

Marriott Orlando Downtown: 400 West Livingston Street, Orlando, FL 32801, 11:30-1pm

At my first job out of college, I worked as a pattern designer for women’s and children’s footwear. I think I must have churned out hundreds of patterns a year, and of that total, a good majority of those were filled with animals and insects . Kids love these little guys, as do parents, so you can imagine my delight when I stumbled upon Wee Gallery’s sample sale on One Kings Lane today. Surya Sajnani’s lino cut style is very trend forward and quite reminiscent of Hugo Guinness and Perla Anne’s illustrations. The cards are half off, and perfect for framing or for just letting someone know they’re special.

The United Nations General Assembly has proclaimed 2010 the International Year for the Rapprochement of Cultures. In collaboration with Design 21, they are holding a worldwide design competition to create a poster that reflects this mission.

Those looking to submit work should highlight the beneficial effects of cultural diversity, and should incorporate the headline, “2010, International Year for the Rapprochement of Cultures,” in any of the six languages that they feel most comfortable using, be it English, French, Spanish, Russian, Chinese or Arabic.

Fifty posters will be selected for display in an online gallery linked to UNESCO’s website, and from those fifty, thirty will be printed for an exhibition to be held at UNESCO’s Headquarters in Paris in May 2010. From those thirty, an overall winner will be announced and he or she will receive a $2,000 cash prize and [...]]]>

The United Nations General Assembly has proclaimed 2010 the International Year for the Rapprochement of Cultures. In collaboration with Design 21, they are holding a worldwide design competition to create a poster that reflects this mission.

Those looking to submit work should highlight the beneficial effects of cultural diversity, and should incorporate the headline, “2010, International Year for the Rapprochement of Cultures,” in any of the six languages that they feel most comfortable using, be it English, French, Spanish, Russian, Chinese or Arabic.

Fifty posters will be selected for display in an online gallery linked to UNESCO’s website, and from those fifty, thirty will be printed for an exhibition to be held at UNESCO’s Headquarters in Paris in May 2010. From those thirty, an overall winner will be announced and he or she will receive a $2,000 cash prize and the opportunity to travel to Paris for the poster exhibition at UNESCO Headquarters.

Today is the final day to submit! For more details, click here.

I spent some time walking round the meat packing district today while waiting for my laptop to be maintenanced at the 14th St. Apple Store. Though I’ve seen D*Face’s mural close to a thousand times, it’s relevancy was elevated after noticing Generra’s storefront. Black and white blocks stacked together comprised of Flora and Fauna were a complete parallel to D*Face’s baseline concept.  Both compositions are beautifully designed, interesting to dissect and provide social and political commentary of our current global climate. Whichever brand of culture you choose to identify with- be it historical, branded or generic, these geometric “quilts” are a thoughtful reflection of current creative styles, not to mention an interesting window into a now popularized counter-culture.

Camille Rose Garcia’s dark and beautiful creatures have been captivating the “lowbrow” art world for years. Her most recent collection of work entitled, Down the Rabbit Hole: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, is currently exhibiting at the Merry Karnowsky Gallery in Los Angeles. The dark tale of Alice in Wonderland has always captivated her; “She falls down the hole and no one is really nice to her at all. So (in) re-reading it I realized I could do a little bit darker of an interpretation than the original illustrations.” Garcia has produced a new set of drawings for the adored tale which coincides with the recent release of Tim Burton’s feature film. If you can’t make it to LA for this impressive show, you can purchase her book online at Amazon. To see more sketches [...]]]>

Camille Rose Garcia’s dark and beautiful creatures have been captivating the “lowbrow” art world for years. Her most recent collection of work entitled, Down the Rabbit Hole: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, is currently exhibiting at the Merry Karnowsky Gallery in Los Angeles. The dark tale of Alice in Wonderland has always captivated her; “She falls down the hole and no one is really nice to her at all. So (in) re-reading it I realized I could do a little bit darker of an interpretation than the original illustrations.” Garcia has produced a new set of drawings for the adored tale which coincides with the recent release of Tim Burton’s feature film. If you can’t make it to LA for this impressive show, you can purchase her book online at Amazon. To see more sketches and a behind the scenes look at the process, watch Garcia’s YouTube video.

MERRY KARNOWSKY GALLERY: 170 S. La Brea Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90036

Background: See Yourself At Target

See a company like no other.

We’re a company living a clear vision; to be the best. In every area of our business. In everything we do.Our nationwide channel of retail stores, distribution centers, and corporate offices offer you thousands of opportunities to join our diverse team and bring your best.

Responsibilities: Help shape one of the world’s strongest brands. Develop innovative, eye-catching campaigns that increase brand awareness, solidify guest loyalty and, ultimately, drive sales. You’ll partner with internal and external teams to deliver on our Expect More. Pay Less. brand promise.

- Use your skills, experience and talents to be a part of groundbreaking thinking and visionary goals. As a User Experience Engineer, you’ll take the lead as you…

- Develop team processes, policies and procedures and work with [...]]]> User Experience Engineer/ Interactive Developer at Target Corporation
Minneapolis, Minnesota, Posted 3/2/2010

Background:
See Yourself At Target

See a company like no other.

We’re a company living a clear vision; to be the best. In every area of our business. In everything we do.Our nationwide channel of retail stores, distribution centers, and corporate offices offer you thousands of opportunities to join our diverse team and bring your best.

Responsibilities:
Help shape one of the world’s strongest brands. Develop innovative, eye-catching campaigns that increase brand awareness, solidify guest loyalty and, ultimately, drive sales. You’ll partner with internal and external teams to deliver on our Expect More. Pay Less. brand promise.

- Use your skills, experience and talents to be a part of groundbreaking thinking and visionary goals. As a User Experience Engineer, you’ll take the lead as you…

- Develop team processes, policies and procedures and work with server side development, interactive creative, and project management teams to ensure the timely delivery of high quality, secure and standard-compliant interactive projects.

- Design, develop and implement client side interactive marketing and selling tools utilizing Flash Actionscript, Javascript, HTML, XML, CSS, and Web Services.

- Scope, design, develop, and test content management and associated systems and train team members in their use.

- Work in conjunction with development resources including TTS and external vendors to support technology infrastructure utilized by creative and project management resources. This includes, but is not limited to: software development, change requests, enhancements, bug fixes, workflow design and analysis, software/systems integration, functional requirements, and resource benchmarking.

- Develop and communicate requirements specifications, tracking, escalation, and solution implementation procedures.

- Research and educate self on new web production and development technologies as needed.

- Contribute to evaluation and problem-solving for the organization, trying new ideas and partnering with other departments.

Requirements:
- Computer science or equivalent preferred

- 4-5 years interactive development work experience

- Macintosh and PC hardware and software knowledge. Specifically Flash, Photoshop, Illustrator, and Microsoft Excel.

- Advanced, hand coded, HTML, JHTML, XML/XSLT, CSS, Actionscript and Javascript (jQuery, YUI, non-framework, and JSON)

- Experience establishing repeatable processes, frameworks, and developmental standards

- Creation of technical design documentation and comprehensive functional specifications

Benefits:
Eligible team members will receive one of the best earnings packages anywhere, including competitive pay, all-around insurance coverage, 401(k), flexible scheduling, training and development and many other perks and benefits. Target is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer and is a drug-free workplace.

To Apply for this position:
Submit your resume online here.

Background: Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. is one of the world’s leading and revolutionary cruise lines. The company operates under the Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity and Azamara Club brands. Currently the fleet has 31 ships in service visiting over 180 attractive destinations. Combine your experience and sense of adventure by joining our exciting land-based team of employees. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. is pleased to offer a competitive compensation and benefits package, excellent career development opportunities, each offering unique ways to explore the world.

Responsibilities: This role executes advertisement development and final release for consumer and trade media including newspapers, magazines, direct mail, and special projects. The designer/creative operations specialist also builds all templates to mechanical specifications for all non-online media. In an operations type of role, this person develops and refines a production [...]]]> Creative Design & Production at Royal Caribbean
Miami, FL, Posted 3/3/2010

Background:
Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. is one of the world’s leading and revolutionary cruise lines. The company operates under the Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity and Azamara Club brands. Currently the fleet has 31 ships in service visiting over 180 attractive destinations. Combine your experience and sense of adventure by joining our exciting land-based team of employees. Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. is pleased to offer a competitive compensation and benefits package, excellent career development opportunities, each offering unique ways to explore the world.

Responsibilities:
This role executes advertisement development and final release for consumer and trade media including newspapers, magazines, direct mail, and special projects. The designer/creative operations specialist also builds all templates to mechanical specifications for all non-online media. In an operations type of role, this person develops and refines a production workflow that guides the process for timely development of all advertising in the Marketing department from project brief through final release. They will also prepare production schedules for all media and liaison with IT to ensure that we have the proper infrastructure (server space and storage, robust connectivity, archive architecture, emergency preparedness plan) to support in-house Creative development.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

- Build templates to mechanical specifications for all in house produced consumer and trade advertising material including newspaper, magazine, direct mail pieces, banners, tradeshow graphics, catalogs, special projects, etc.

- Responsible for final preparation and release of all trade and consumer inhouse produced ads accurately and on time.

- Drive brand consistency through ongoing development and implementation of brand guidelines. Provide design direction/support to other communication teams (sales, ops, online). Review final material and suggest improvements as needed.

- Partner with Sr. Designer/Creative Design Manager and Copywriter to execute all creative updates to inhouse produced media.

- Partner with any external agencies to drive asset development and final approval.

- Timely review of all Creative work at weekly approval meetings.-

- Review and recommend most effective workflow processes for managing inhouse ad development. Prepare production schedules for all inhouse produced consumer and trade media. Coordinate timely production process of all ads with Account Executives.

- Manage archives of all job files for reference and future use. Partner with IT to ensure servers can support storage, connectivity, etc¿

- Partner with AVP & Manager of Brand Communications to review additional opportunities for further in house creative and production opportunities.

- Performs other duties as required. This job description in no way states or implies that these are the only duties to be performed by the employee occupying this position. Employees will be required to perform any other job-related duties assigned by their supervisor or management.

Financial Responsibilities

- Partner with Manager, Brand Communications to stick within specified budgets for projects

Requirements:
- Bachelors degree (B.A.) from four-year college or university; or 4-6 years related experience and/or training; or equivalent combination of education and experience.

- Candidate must have proven experience in a Graphic Designer/Art Director role in a fast-paced, multi-project corporate environment.

- Experience in the pre-press process and a working knowledge of lithography.

Knowledge and Skills:

- Experience in a pre-press creative/production environment.

- Accuracy, attention to detail, flexibility, and ability to work in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment are essential.

- Software: Proven experience in Mac and Windows applications including InDesign, Quark Xpress, Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop is required. Knowledge with Word, PowerPoint, Excel and Final Cut Pro is a plus. Portfolio of work samples required.

To Apply for this position:
Apply online: http://jobs.rccl.com/