The Real Life Social Network v2

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A really great presentation about how we live and interact.

It's come around again this year. Submission's for the Cardiff Design Festival that is. We are again helping out with the design work on the website and few other bits of brand communications. We are also going to be arranging some of the events through various other things we are involved in such as Creative Wales, and ThinkARK.

For us I think the great thing about the Cardiff Design Festival is that it has grown year on year. Sometimes through the sheer amount of events other times through networks and links created during the festival that turn into new projects/adventures.

A lot of this is common sense but hopefully it gives you an idea of what people are expecting in the future (now).

Net Promoter and Social Media - A Strategy for Retailers

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Challenges and Opportunities for Business from Design Council on Vimeo.

This morning I was lucky enough to go and listen to Jana Bennett Director of Television at the BBC. The talk took place in Cardiff Bay with the new BBC development in plain view across Roath Basin. Having previously attended an invitation from Igloo to help shape their Media Centre. Which is proposed to be built near the BBC site in a few years time. I s was interested in hearing why the BBC had started to move out of London. The talk covered a number of issues that seemed to link nicely into recent thinking about brands and businesses as a whole.

While business are becoming ever more global in terms of reach, these same channels are allowing for ever more intimate relationships to take place in a much closer proximity. Tools like twitter help you talk to people across the world yet they also help to make contacts with local people who have the same interests. So the BBC's recently commissioned research which found that people want to feel like the BBC represents them and this should be done through local programmes. That have a few attributes.

- Above all else they must be good stories
- Secondly they must have levels of information that are universal as well as strongly local. thus catering for the largest possible audience.

This kind of thinking reminded me of a theatre group called the Spirithouse Theatre Company, and their play Vigil. In the play they decided that people go to see people in a play because they know them. In the same way do you watch a TV show because you know the area?


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Last night myself and Carwyn got out in Cardiff to play a quick little game with ARK LAB. It was the first time ARK LAB has held a game event and so it was interesting on a number of levels. I think the biggest thing that everyone found was the ease of which people slip into playing and ignoring the world around them. It's a very powerful aspect and something we are looking into for future workshops.

Well it's been a few weeks now but we have got a few photo's through from Truly Scrummy Organic. They have been running a treasure hunt. Which you can see on their facebook page. We are going to be working with them over the next few months creating further content and journeys for people interested in Truly Scrummy Organic and nutritional information about babies and weaning.



So if you are walking around your local Sainsbury's store check them out. Also they should be launching in further stores later this year. Fingers crossed.

BIG BANG BIG BOOM - the new wall-painted animation by BLU from blu on Vimeo.

Has to be one fo the all time greats.

Got back from the Hide & Seek weekender and pretty exhausted. Never thought gameplay would be so tiring, looking forward to seeing if we can work some of these techniques into strategy and workshops.

It's going to be hot. This weekend, so I have decided to go and run around London all day??? Crazy I know didn't think it through at the time. Seriously I am going to London to find out more about pervasive games and the impact they may have on steering future BRanding strategies with Hoffi and community based projects with ARK LAB I think I have been interested in the idea of games being integral for a number of years but it only now seems like these maybe genuine journeys to look into.

We (me and Allie) are going to get involved in Hide & Seek's Weekender which looks really interesting and something I can't wait to get involved in. You can see some ideas of the games through this lovely video.

Playmakers from thinkpublic on Vimeo.

It's the second week in a row that Hoffi has managed to get into Design Week. It's like buses. You wait for one and two come along at once. The piece is about this years Cardiff Design Festival and talks about the launch of the new website. This year we are aiming to align the festival slightly differently. So the website is more about attracting a wider audience to the festival events.

This last week I found myself doing allot of photography so I thought I would write a long overdue blog about it. Saturday I was with Julian helping him with a project for Ark, we were going out to video interview some people on the street. Seeing i was meeting him at an empty shop in the Castle Arcade (where the Ark project is being held) I thought I would have a look around the shop, and I found the basement!





Next stop was doing the video interviews, I was on video duty for half of it, then Julian took over and I managed to get some shots of him and Allie in action





Also on Saturday was the National Military Day, I was just in time to catch the parade and then pop down to Cardiff Bay to see all the Military goings on.







After all that I was done and sunburnt a bit I was knackered, roll on Sunday, the day of rest. Unfortunately i got a text off Andrew saying he was going kite boarding, if anyone hasn't read Andrews blog I suggest you check it out here as he has recently taken up kite boarding and has been blogging about it. So off I went down to Aberavaon to meet Andrew and have a go at his kite, really suprised of the power of the kite, when the wind picked up it was dragging me across the beach! and now he wants an even bigger one. Unfortunately while I was having a go on his buggy the lines of the kite frayed and the fun was over! gutted!, but here are some snaps:





Next was Monday and a trip up to North Wales, me and Julian and meeting on Tuesday morning, so after the meeting we took advantage of the situation and headed to Llanberis to do some road side bouldering. I have done some indoor climbing but have never been outside climbing, Julian thinks this is hilarious as I grew up a few miles from Llanberis, never climbed, moved away and now i'm back there climbing! Here are some shots, Julian looking skilled, me looking like i'm hanging on for my life!







After all that, the last few days I have been trying to get out to take some photos for my course, I think I have decided on my theme 'Unloved/Left Behind'. Here are some more shots:





That is all... for now!