The Pepperspective

Textures are a great way to add some depth to your work, especially when used correctly. They can emphasize key elements and break up solid colors. Textures are totally valid in both the print and digital worlds (I’ll say it again) when used correctly. For the longest time, textures were associated with being grungy and dirty. They were used in music videos from the 80s and on old circus posters. They were often the main focus and left designers less than pleased. But with everything becoming so sleek in this age of digital, people were left craving an element of the tactile world, bringing the texture back into the limelight and forcing people to learn how to use them correctly.

We don’t usually think of Easter as the most important marketing holiday of the year. But for one category, it is the mecca of marketing. Easter (or as I like to call it: “the Black Friday of church shopping”) can actually teach us several lessons beyond the baskets of marshmallow candy and hidden egg hunts (not that I’d turn down either of those things). Maybe you’ve never thought about the marketing need for present-day congregations, but I guarantee that the congregations in our communities are thinking about it. In the end, there’s more than one parallel between evangelism and marketing, and we can certainly learn things from each other.

So, what can churches teach us as marketers (especially when churches are technically selling a product that doesn’t even belong to them)?

Let’s face it: There are dozens of things we do every day just because we have to do them. We tie our shoe strings in the morning so that our shoes will stay on for the whole day. We check our mail in the afternoon to see which bills are due. Each thing we do has a small reason why in the short term that requires us to put forth a large amount of time long-term. So what if we could find massive purpose within all of these minutia processes?

Yesterday I watched a TED video featuring Luis von Ahn which has caused me to rethink my daily processes. Luis is known for inventing a program called CAPTCHA. This acronym literally means “Completely Automated Public Turing Test To Tell Computers and Humans Apart.” More than likely, you’re familiar with CAPTCHA whether you know it or not. It’s the typing test you have to complete when you want to buy tickets on Ticketmaster, change your password on twitter and thousands of other activities on just under half a million various websites. CAPTCHA’s invention has been essential in protecting websites against bots by generating and grading tests that humans can pass but current computer programs cannot. For example, humans can read distorted text as the one shown below, but current computer programs cannot.

The most infamous day in American history, the terrorists attacks of 9/11 is fast approaching it’s 10 year anniversary. Aside from the Memorial at Ground Zero, I’ve noticed numerous other tributes from many media sources throughout the last few weeks and felt compelled to share them as a collection. Below is a list of the tributes I’ve encountered. Please share any others that are not listed here:

I remember conversations, arguments really, with my parents when I was in grade school where I was expressing frustrations about their lack of understanding of whatever situation I was experiencing. How could they possibly understand what it was like to be in my shoes, they didn’t even have color televisions when they were my age! 

How do you introduce people to a huge new website without intimidating them? With dots, of course.

Before launching their new well-being site, Healthways came to redpepper with a request: Help us familiarize users with the new interface in a way that’s approachable and will make them excited to use it.

By mixing one part personality with three parts information, we created a friendly little clip that celebrates the individual user and builds a connection between him or her and the site.

Recently, I read an article that compared social media to a dinner party. This illustration keeps coming to mind, and I find myself drawing parallels to how we, as retail marketers, play host at the social media table. 

My experience with social media engagement and customer perspective comes from my work with Kirkland’s, a specialty retailer for home décor items. Kirkland’s has an active fan base on both Facebook and its MyKirkland’s community site. Listening, and interacting with these customers daily through social media has helped me shape an understanding of what they expect and desire from the Kirkland’s brand. These customers’ expectations support the “brand as dinner party host,” metaphor in several ways:

I’d like to propose a rule of thumb that you should always consider when developing offers and incentives specifically for retail brands: the rule of narrow and deep. This rule proposes that whatever your offer/incentive/promotion may be, first start with a simple core idea and then add as many layers as possible. 

Hands-On Creativity from redpepper on Vimeo.

What is it about handmade elements that are so alluring? How do they seem to communicate on a deeper level than digital design alone?
 
It may be the combination of influence and originality in handmade design that allows for an array of unique content to create a deeper connection with the audience. But in a world of fast-food, on-demand and automated, what makes handmade still relevant in today’s “We want it yesterday!” society?  
 
We believe everyone is uniquely creative. And in this Redbit video, redpepper designer Lindsey Armstrong discusses her unique passion and abilities, and how using the power of handmade can truly enhance what we do as marketers.

You know those classic cartoons of a snowball rolling down a mountain, gaining size and speed by the second?

That’s a great metaphor for the way a brand grows. We call it a Katamari, which is Japanese for “clump.”

Once a Katamari starts rolling, it picks up whatever it touches. Good and bad, true and false, planned and unplanned.

We work at a place where everyone is encouraged to grow and reach new heights in our professional and personal lives.  So much so, it is one of our core values.

We decided to launch a series of videos to hear personal growth stories and to become inspired through others’ perspectives.

Meet Alan Knox, one of our in-house designers. The controversial motion graphics activist is leaking yet another cable the advertising industry does not want you to know about…

On April 18th, 2011, Kirkland’s appeared at the top of Media Logic’s top 10 list of fastest growing brands on Facebook for the week of April 10th.