Google Goggles and the Brueghel Family

For some, this may be old hat.

For others, earth-shattering.

I don’t remember it ever having worked so well, so quickly.

I was sitting in a friend’s office and saw her stationery of a picture by Pieter Brueghel.

I said, “hey, I have a Brueghel print in my office. Is this “the elder” or the “younger?”

She didn’t know.

She also didn’t know the name of the painting.

“I’m sure there’s some way to figure it out.”

About 5 seconds later, it dawned on me…”I may be able to help.”

I pulled out my phone and used an application called “Google Goggles.”

It scanned the photo and within 3 seconds, pulled up the Wikipedia entry for ‘Paying the Tax.”

It was VERY cool.

What Mark Rothko Taught Me About Marketing…

Image by wallyg via Flickr

In his best-selling book, “A Whole New Mind,” Dan Pink (client) explains how the next age of economic development, the conceptual age, is going to require a new set of skills.

Traditional “left-brain” skills (logical, analytical) are necessary, but not sufficient. A lot of the times, they can be automated or outsourced.

“Right brain” skills that convey design and emotion are where true value will be created.

If you’re not naturally “right brained,” Dan advocates a disciplined and focused effort to train that muscle.

And that’s where Mark Rothko comes in.

The other day, I attended a seminar at the Smithsonian called “Mark Rothko and his Philosophy of Color,” with the goal of working my right brain.

It did.

But, as usual, there are a few marketing lessons hidden within.

The lecturer, Klaus Ottman, did a great job of taking what could be dismissed as “simple blocks of color” and helping us all think about the ROLE of color in our daily lives.

For Rothko, color represented “basic human emotions.”

For each color, there was/is, in his mind, a universal human reaction to that color. In other words, we all FEEL the same way when we seed the color RED.

BLUE, on the other hand, represents to us traits such as “wisdom, moral philosophy, truth, and principles.”

So, how DOES this connect to marketing?

We are all aware of how we use color in our corporate logos, for example. The Never Stop Marketing logo is red and black, in part, because I had the FEELING that those colors would convey the intensity of the emotion that goes with the name, that is wrapped up in the idea of the “shot of marketing espresso.”

But, color plays a HUGE role in many other facets of our life and they have subtle impact on our audience and our community. Sure, the clothes we wear, but also,

• what the does room look like where your event is being held? Is it a boring hotel room or a venue that has the vibrancy you want?
• What about the walls of your offices?
• How about your booth at the tradeshow?

All of these are “touch points” that are part (or not) of the marketing experience we are looking to create for our audience…giving them further reasons why they would tell themselves, “this is the company I want to work with…it just FEELS right.”

What’s more, as we move into a world where we need to make everyone a marketer and follow the principles of Maya Angelou marketing (people remember how you made them feel), what if you said, “we want people to feel X, kind of like the color Y?” 

If Rothko is right and we all have a universally similar response to color, then communicating in COLOR terminology (and visuals) to your team and community may be a competitive advantage.

 

Serendipitous Art of Arcimboldo

A few weeks ago, the kids had a day off from school and while I was tempted to get them some “playdates,” Tonka and Paco insisted that we “take the Metro and do ‘something’ in Washington DC.”

Proud of them for that alone, but even more so when they suggested the National Gallery of Art (primarily because they love the moving walkways in the basement there, but hey).

Well, as luck would have it, we ran into two GREAT exhibits. One was the drawings of Edvard Munch (yes, we saw “the Scream”), but also wel earned about the insanely good work of Giuseppe Arcimboldo.

His paintings, almost all commissioned by Maximillian II, the Holy Roman Emperor were exquisite compilations.

For example, he painted a series called the “4 Seasons,” but they were paintings of people, but made up of items like marine life and fruit.

I couldn’t believe I had never heard of him, but was doubly excited to make this discovery with the kids.

Allen Ginsberg, Beat Photographer…

I had a chance to get a sneak peak last week of the Allen Ginsberg photography exhibit at the National Gallery of Art (open through Sept. 6th).

What’s more, I had the chance to talk with the curator of the exhibit for 10 minutes or so understanding how she conceived of, pitched, and then implemented the idea.

I also asked her about the nature of the design of the exhibit (mostly chronological) and her use of the gallery.

Anyway, I had heard of Ginsberg, but frankly…he hadn’t impacted my life very much.

As many of you know, he was friends with Jack Kerouac, among others, and the curator suggested that people can get an insight into Ginsberg’s poetry through the types of photos he took.

Well, I haven’t read his poetry, but I did find his photos captivating, particularly as the chronological layout gave me a chance to see how Ginsberg and his friends of the “Beat” generation evolved and then aged.

This is a picture of Kerouac as a young man, but there’s a picture of Kerouac at the end of his life…and the guy just looks beaten down and worn out.

It’s a startling contrast and gives you some perspective that even the eternal, all-powerful, energetic people of the Beat generation are, well, human…and age and die.

If you have a chance, swing by.

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Art on a Plane…

Longtime blog readers know that I have a penchant for conversations on airplanes.
Sometimes I run into ignorant anti-Semites and lose. Sometimes, I meet awesome public health officials and win.
Most of the time, I win.
On my recent flight to Chicago, I met Heidi Neff, who is an Assistant Professor of Art at Harford Community College.
We started talking elements and principles of design and drawing (actually, she did the talking and I did the listening).
She agreed to a “design crash course” for the time on the flight from the moment when they told us to turn off our electronic devices until we could use them again.
And in that time, she managed to take the Sky Mall magazine and turn it into a textbook of design principles, explaining why photos were shot the way they were or why colors were placed as they were.
It was a great example of “world as classroom” and gave me a nice right-brain exercise early in the day.

America’s Greatest Modern Art Collectors…

Cover of Herb & Dorothy

on the salary of a postal worker and a librarian in a rent-controlled Manhattan apartment.

Ok, so maybe they weren’t the “greatest” but they donated close to 5000 works of art to the National Gallery of Art.

This is the premise of the movie “Herb & Dorothy.”

It’s so hard to fathom how they did it, but the why is clear.

They were motivated by passion.

That alone is inspirational. I love seeing people who pursue what they love with such vigor. Carpe Diem-style.

Art and Portrait Outing…

Once a month, I make it a point on a Sunday to take the kids to do something “uniquely DC.”

With birthday parties and other activities, there are always reasons to not do it.

But, we’re in such a great city with so many attractions that it is a shame not to do it.

So, in our latest outing (here are some previous ones), we went to the National Portrait Gallery and Museum of American Art. (As a native Washingtonian, I am a bit embarrassed to say that I didn’t even know it was there.)

The point of these trips is not to turn the kids into art historians, it is just to give them a sense of appreciation for the place and, most importantly, to learn to ask questions.

There is a wonderful covered courtyard there as well, which, as usual, the kids liked more than the museum.
 

Quilts…not just for your bed

My friend Lisa Chipetine is a quilter and one of the leaders of the Studio Art Quilters Association. As a VERY generous thank you gift for a presentation to her group, she sent me the quilt below (after it was on display in an exhibit).

Definitely art that makes you think!

Lisa’s contact info is below, if you’d like to reach her.

 

Join the NSM Movement…

Never Stop Marketing!

Sure, I like the name and the intensity it conveys, but this is about a mantra for businesses. It’s a commitment.

It’s a recognition of Peter Drucker’s guidance:

“The business enterprise has two—and only two—basic functions: marketing and innovation.”  (The Essential Drucker)

So, with that, I set up the Never Stop Marketing store on Cafe Press.

Now, you can have your mantra with you anywhere you want it.

The members of the NSM Fan Page were the beta-reviewers and more than one person pointed to Item 404477739 as their favorite. Not kidding.

Fritz Scholder and American Indian Art

Image by tbridge via FlickrHad the privilege of a "sneak peek" at the new Fritz Scholder exhibit at the National Museum of the American Indian.

I had never been there and the building alone is worth it. Just beautiful. And, there's something interesting or ironic about its location-the closest museum to the Capitol building.

I had zero idea who Fritz Scholder was prior to entering the exhibit, but the introductory video was just a first-rate overview for the novice.

It touched on his personal struggles with identifying as Indian (or not-as he was 25% Native), and how he put that into his art...which redefine the genre.

The art is powerful.

If you are in DC, I'd recommend a visit to both, if you can swing it.

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Abstract Rainbow...

Never really appreciated abstract art until Tonka showed me this. She said "it's a rainbow."

What's Your Style?

Was finishing up a workout and came across a show on HGTV called Find Your Style.

With my efforts to become more right-brained, I took the "What's Your Design Style" Quiz.

Good news: My style is Hip.

What's yours?

Would be curious how varied/similar the blog readers are in design style?

3 (and 3 quarters!) year old interior designer...

I've mentioned before that Tonka is left-handed, and hence right-brained, a budding artist indeed.



She's since started to deploy her skills in some very creative ways.

A budding artist in my house...

Since reading "A Whole New Mind," I've had more appreciation for Right-Brained individuals.

We've see what Calanit can do with Digital Art.

Here's a more traditional effort. We really liked it.

And yes, it's in the art gallery.