I published I set of 247 billionaires and media moguls from last week’s Allen & Company Media Conference in Sun Valley, Idaho. You can see the entire set here.
Thomas Hawk Digital Connection
Posts Tagged ‘Company’
A commerical photographer accuses Taylor Swift of being a hypocrite, Swift’s management company responds
25
Jun
In case you missed it, Taylor Swift, one of the most successful commercial pop stars of all time, recently penned an angry Tumblr post aimed at the soon-to-be-launched streaming service Apple Music. She called for Apple to respect the rights of creatives. However, commercial photographer Jason Sheldon found this statement to be more than a little hypocritical. Read more
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
Apple buys camera-technology company LinX
17
Apr
Apple has reportedly acquired camera technology company LinX Computational Imaging Ltd., for approximately $ 20 million. LinX is a small company based in Israel and specializes in very small camera modules that are suitable for implementation in smartphone cameras. According to LinX, its multi-lens camera modules are capable of a range of special effects such as the ability to refocus an image after it has been captured, measurement of the true dimensions of objects, 3D object modeling and real time background replacement for video calls. Click through for more information
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
Seabed City: Chinese Company Designs Underwater Ocean Spiral
01
Dec
[ By WebUrbanist in Conceptual & Futuristic & Technology. ]
Slated to cost over $ 25 billion and take 5 years to complete, this incredible proposal starts a with a living sphere that spans over 1,500 feet below the surface of the ocean.
Designed by the Shimizu Corp’s, the spherical portion of the so-called Ocean Spiral forms a residential and commercial core from which a winding path spirals 9 further miles into the deep, ultimately terminating at the ocean floor.
Occupants would live and work both in triangular neighborhoods along the periphery as well as within a tapering, hourglass-shaped, skyscraper-like segment stretching up from the bottom to the top of the sphere’s center.
The ‘Earth Factory’ portion of the project below is set to use generate eco-friendly energy from temperature differentials and organically-driven chemical conversion processes.
For anyone wondering just when they can expect this marvel to materialize: its would-be creators concede the technology is just not in place yet to make it a reality, but hope and presume it will be soon.
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Mobile Micronations: 5 Floating Utopia & Ocean City Projects
Who hasn’t imagined living on their very own floating paradise? But imagine you are not just on a ship, but floating in a city alongside … other cities!
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Futurbanist: 10 Award-Worthy 2014 eVolo Skyscraper Designs
From 3D-printed towers of sand to garbage-powered architecture of the seas, these eVolo Skyscraper Competition entries push the envelope in every possible …
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Nautical Architectures: Electrified Reefs to Waterfall Prisons
Like a speculative fiction novelist, Margot Krasojevic creates fantastical work that manages to combine real design challenges of our times with futuristic …
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[ By WebUrbanist in Conceptual & Futuristic & Technology. ]
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Company Capers: Ten Terrible Corporate Superheroes
05
May
[ By Steve in Design & Graphics & Branding. ]
In today’s dog-eat-dog commercial arena, trusting clueless celebrities or characterless characters to pitch one’s products is a bad business decision at best; a quick ticket to Chapter 11 at worst. Inventing a unique corporate superhero, on the other hand, gives companies the means to punch up their sales while instilling a not-so-secret brand identity that will resonate with the youth demographic. What could possibly go wrong?
Kool-Aid Man
(images via: Wikipedia and The Archnemesis)
Kool-Aid Man may not fit the stereotypical superhero mold (not to mention the stereotypical superhero tights) but his MO sure fit the bill: kids call out, Kool-Aid Man responds! The big guy doesn’t take any shortcuts, either, crashing through brick walls and dense hedges that would stop mere mortal men in their tracks. Debuting in 1978, Kool-Aid Man (and Kool-Aid itself) is still around, probably ’cause moms everywhere will buy the sweet stuff in mass quantities to avoid massive home repair bills. OH YEAH!!
Atari Force
(images via: Fustians and Armagideon Time)
In the early days of the Great Video Game Revolution of the early 1980s, many social commentators predicted the nation’s youth would throw away their comic books in favor of the futuristic, electronic, paperless excitement offered by console video games. Naturally, the visionary execs at Warner Communications subsidiary saw comic books as the ideal medium with which to promote new games issued by its subsidiary, Atari Inc.
(image via: Pixfans)
The result was Atari Force, created by Gerry Conway and Roy Thomas for DC Comics (another Warner Communications subsidiary) and featured in two comic book series published by DC Comics beginning in 1982. Alas, the multiracial Atari Force team was helpless to stop the Great North American Video Game Crash of 1983 and by 1984, Atari was history.
“BAM! POW! SWOOSH!”
(image via: UPROXX)
Roberto Vergati Santos once wondered what would happen if corporate brands branded, as it were, the classic superheroes we’ve come to know and love. Would we still love them… or more importantly perhaps, still respect them? Check out “The Dark Nike” above and decide for yourself.
Jell-O Man
(images via: ComicAttack)
When danger looms, who ya gonna call: Man of Steel or Man of Gelatin? The answer is obvious, unless the danger happens to be the threat of an empty belly. Released at no charge in 1991, the self-proclaimed “Collector’s Edition” comic book The Adventures of Jell-O Man and Wobbly epitomized Kraft Foods’ slightly skewed marketing mojo. Stick to KD, guys, Jell-O’s doing fine.
(image via: ComicAttack)
As for Jell-O Man’s vaguely puppy-ish, J-shaped sidekick Wobbly, what can we say… maybe only Robin appreciated him for lowering the bar for superhero sidekicks everywhere. Bad dog, BAD! As for Jell-O Man, we can see his O-face… eww.
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Company Capers Ten Terrible Corporate Superheroes
[ By Steve in Design & Graphics & Branding. ]
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Visual Supply Company releases Film 03 presets pack for Lightroom & ACR
13
Feb
Visual Supply Company has released the VSCO Film 03 camera profiles and film emulation preset pack for Adobe Lightroom 4 and Camera Raw 7. The software comes with customized camera profiles for Fujifilm, Canon and Nikon image files and allows native non-destructive editing of desired film effects within Lightroom and ACR. The latest version includes a toolkit to achieve an ‘authentic instant ?lm’ look. Version 03 is currently available for immediate download at a retail price of $ 119 (~ £75/ €90) from the company’s website.
News: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)
Why the Instagram Debacle Just Taught Every Tech Company to Take Your Photos More Seriously
22
Dec
“Whatever kind of victory all those protests achieved, it wasn’t one for consumer rights — if anything, Instagram is the real winner here. The company just managed to score a round of positive press for retracting an unpopular change and give itself the ability to actually use photos in ads.” — Nilay Patel, The Verge
Over at the Verge Nilay Patel makes a case that the backlash earlier this week against Instagram’s unpopular TOS update was actually a loss for consumers not a gain. He argues that Instagram’s current TOS is broader than their more explicit proposed one and so consumers are worse off, not better off. Because Instagram technically still holds the rights to sell your photos under their current TOS, and even more broadly, the consumer backlash was misguided and really did more harm than good.
I disagree with Nilay and feel that actually this week’s backlash was one of the more significant movements yet for photo sharing on the web.
It’s not that Facebook (whose TOS is equally broad) and Instagram couldn’t legally sell your photos on the web under their broad TOS in the past or in the future, it’s more that *politically* it is now far more difficult for them to begin selling your photos out from under you on the web using their broader TOS.
Who cares what the TOS says, the message that Facebook got loud and clear this week is not to f*** with your photos. Your photos are important. You care about them. They are much more personal to you than Facebook may have previously considered. They have emotional importance and significance and collectively your users will rise up and bash you in the face if you try to exercise terms of your TOS that your lawyers have allowed you to screw around with photos. Whatever your future monetization strategies might be, they will not be based on a loss of control over OUR creative efforts — even our duckface creative efforts.
No, there is no question about it. Instagram lost this week and they lost big. This is in no way a positive for Instagram. People trust them less and they had to turn around and eat crow, they gained nothing.
Flickr won big at Instagram’s expense and Google+ won a little. Flickr won more because like Instagram their site is 100% about photography. They also just released a pretty awesome new iPhone app that is in fact even slickr than what Instagram currently offers.
Flickr also went out of their way last year to really drive home the ownership rights of your photos. This old forgotten post was revived with new life as a stark contrast to what it felt like Instagram was trying to pull. Kevin Systrom eventually even had to parrot back some of that “yes, we know your photos are your photos” stuff in his awkward non-apology apology.
Dan Lyons wrote a post that talked about Google+ winning some here too. Google+ smartly has a provision in their TOS that specifically limits their rights to your photos to basic operational use. Google+ is probably the most active community of photographers on the web today and are a natural beneficiary from what Lyons’ refers to as “Facebook Greedheads.”
The biggest winner or all though was you, the photographer. Whatever Instagram’s original intention was in being more specific in their TOS, it backfired on them. The idea that they could/would profit off your emotionally significant photos without your consent, authorization or most important, sharing the dough, hit a nerve with photographers and likely won’t be tried again by anyone in a long, long time.
The thing is, this didn’t have to be such a painful learning experience for Instagram. There was/is in fact a HUGE opportunity for some smart social media property make a ton of money off of your photos, Instagram just went about it wrong.
As much as Flickr’s deal with Getty sucks (photographers get a miserly 20% payout) photographers on Flickr still went bonkers for it when Flickr released it. The idea that you could actually get PAID to post your photos on a social network, paid ANYTHING, had most users on Flickr clamoring to get into the program, not out of the site.
Even though Flickr/Getty’s call for artists group is now closed (due to overwhelming demand) almost 90,000 photographers joined this group hoping to get selected by Getty for the right to sell their photos for the paltry 20% payout.
The difference with Flickr’s deal though was that 1. you CHOOSE to opt in and 2. at least you got paid something.
What if instead of Instagram saying, “hey, we might sell your photos without your consent and pay you NOTHING,” they said, “hey, do you want to sell your Instagram photos and if we sell them for you split the money 50/50″? Instead of losing accounts and becoming the scourge of the internet for three days, they would have had photographers rushing to sign up and begin marketing their images on their site.
Although there are sites out there like 500px and SmugMug that let you sell your photos now, Flickr is the only larger social network that has a selling program. Google+, Instagram, Facebook, even Twitter, all have a major opportunity to become the first large social network to allow us to license our images through their service and share in the revenue with them. This is a multi-BILLION dollar industry dominated at present by Getty who is not paying creatives enough for their work. What the internet does best is get rid of middlemen when they are being unreasonable, and an 80/20 split with photographers is unreasonable.
Instead of stealing our work and paying us zero, how about using your significant reach in reputation, marketing and search to partner with us and empower us to sell our work together. I guarantee you that whoever comes up with the best program first has some of the best photography on the web flooding your network. Even if 99% of us never sell a single photo, simply giving us the feeling that we have the opportunity to sell a photo would be a powerful incentive to get us active and humming on your network.
Thomas Hawk Digital Connection
DIY: Keep Your Turkey Company with Beautiful Photo Place Holders
15
Nov
 Extra photos for bloggers: 1, 2, 3 |
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The Holidays are quickly approaching, and it’s time to get crafty.
So what are you bringing to the table?
It may be all about the turkey, dressing and casseroles, but these handmade table place holders are sweeter than pumpkin pie.
This DIY tutorial incorporates some of our favorite things: photos (duh!), tiny pumpkins (yay!) and Thanksgiving (yum!).
They’ll make your dinner table look *awesome*, and they’ll show your loved ones how much they mean to you.
Now isn’t that what Thanksgiving is all about?
Make Photo-rific Table Decor!
p.s. Today you can win a photo-licious Camera Cookie Cutter Set! Just follow our Pinterest to enter.
Why it’s cool:
Show your family what Thanksgiving means to you.
Even if you’re not hosting the big dinner, bringing these to the table is sure to be a hit.
These two projects keep it simple and make a statement.
Make photo place settings that list reasons why you’re thankful for each person on the back.
They’re quick and easy to make, and the gesture will go a long way.
Or make a family tree centerpiece that incorporates your loved ones near and far.
It will brighten up the table, and maybe even get you an extra slice of pie! (score!)
Photo Table Settings:
Ingredients:
- Photographs
- Cardstock
- Glue
- Regular Scissors
- Scalloped Edge Scissors
- Pen and Pencil
- Ruler
- 18-gauge Floral Wire
- Baby Pumpkins
STEP 1: Prep Images:
Choose your favorite photo of each person, or even a pic of you two together.
If you don’t have photos of them, choose one that represents a happy memory or something special about them.
Use editing software to adjust the color and contrast, or turn them black and white.
Size each photo to 2.5″ square. This could be larger or smaller, depending on the size of your table, plates, and pumpkins.
Print them out using photo paper in your home printer, or take them to a nearby photo lab.
TIP: Make a mockup with a few different sizes before you print the photos. That way you can see which size will work best in your setting.
Step 2: Cut Photos:
Trim your photos with normal scissors to a little larger than you want them to be.
Use a pair of scalloped edge scissors to give your photos that old-timey feel. You can pick these up at any craft store.
Go around all four sides of the photo with the scalloped edge.
TIP: Be creative. You can cut your images square, with or without a border, or go for funky shapes… circles, stars, you name it!
Step 3: Cut Card stock:
To give your photo place card some stability, you’ll want to attach it to a piece of card stock.
Measure your image and determine how much of a border you want around the photograph.
To get a 1/4″ border on each side of your photo, place your photo in the corner, and measure 1/2″ larger than your picture.
Draw your lines and use regular scissors and cut out your shape..
Step 4: Glue:
Put a thin layer of glue on the backside of your photo.
Make sure to spread it evenly, lumpy photos won’t look so hot.
Center the photo, and press it into place.
Let it dry.
TIP: Don’t forget the edges! Make sure you cover those scalloped edges with glue. That will keep them from sticking up at the end.
Step 5: Write:
After your images are completely dry, flip them over on a clean surface.
Write why you’re thankful for them on the backside of the place card.
TIP: Practice what you will say and your handwriting on another piece of paper before putting it on the back of your photo.
Step 6: Wrap Wire:
Cut your wire into 12″ sections.
Take the top part, and wrap it around your fingertip 3 times to make a tight spiral for the photo to sit in.
Wrap the bottom of the wire to the stem of the pumpkin.
You want to make sure it has a good grip, and won’t fall over when you place the photo in the top.
TIP: If your pumpkin has a very short stem, you can use a bit of glue to hold your wire in place. Be sure to let it dry before putting your photo in the top. The thicker the wire (smaller gauge number), the stronger it will be. Stronger wire will hold it’s shape better.
Step 7: Position Photo:
Now, place your photo in between that spiral you made at the top.
Check its stability, and make any adjustments necessary to keep it in place.
You might need to reposition some of the wire at the bottom, or squeeze that spiral a little tighter.
Place your pumpkin in the center of your plates.
Set your table, and oh yea, invite your family to dinner!
Family Tree Centerpiece:
Ingredients:
- Photographs
- Cardstock
- Glue
- Xacto or Scissors
- Ruler
- Pencil
- Vase/Jar
- Small Pebbles
- Tree Branches
- 18-gauge Floral Wire
- Floral Tape (optional)
- Decorative Berries (optional)
Step 1: Prep Images:
Gather the images you want to use for your family tree.
Edit and size them on the computer, then print them out.
We made our images 2″ x 3″ to fit our branches. You may want yours bigger or smaller.
Use an Xacto or scissors to cut them down to size.
Step 2: Make Leaves:
Pencil in a leaf shape on the photo itself.
Use scissors to cut it out.
Next, place the leaf on a colored piece of card stock. This will be the backside of each leaf.
Cut the card stock to the exact size of the photograph, or leave a little border for some colorful accents.
TIP: Draw out a few leaf shapes on a scratch piece of paper first to get a feel for what you like. Using a stencil could help, but they don’t all have to be perfect.
Step 3: Glue Wire:
Glue together the photograph, card stock, and wire.
Place a thin layer of glue on the card stock, and sandwich the wire between the card stock and the photo.
Let it dry completely.
Step 4: Wrap Wire:
Once your glue has dried, you can start wrapping your leaves onto the branches.
Place the leaf at the end of the branch.
Tuck the branch behind the photo, and start wrapping the wire.
TIP: You’ll be able to adjust the placement after it’s attached, so don’t worry about that too much right now.
Step 5: Cover Wire:
This step is optional, but can look great if you choose to do it.
Wrap your wire and the branch with brown floral tape.
This will make it blend the wire with the branch, and give a nice, finished look to your centerpiece.
This tape stretches and sticks to itself. Start on the inside of the branch, wrap down to the photo leaf, then back up.
Step 6: Bend into Place:
Now you’ve given the branch some stability and flexibility by adding the wire.
You can bend your photo leaves to face the direction you desire.
The colored card stock on the back makes sure it looks good from all angles!
Repeat Steps 1 through 6 for the rest of your photos.
Step 7: Set It Up:
Once you’ve secured all of your leaves on your branches, place them in a jar or vase filled with pebbles.
Add some decorative berries to fill out the inside of those bare branches, and add some fall colors to your table.
Place these on the center of your table to really bring the family together!
More Thanksgiving Ideas
- Use photos as paper leaves to make a Family Tree Centerpiece.
- Make a Photo Cornucopia. Ask guests to bring pics of what they are thankful for.
- Set up a Photobooth after dinner to capture (thank)full expressions.
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