I got my latest reading recommendation from Reese Witherspoon. The actress, who owns a successful film production company and is a leading supporter of women in Hollywood, is also a keen advocate of reading for pleasure. Read More
Design trends for 2018
Braver colour design
The Dropbox rebrand design made strong use of vibrant colour.
“2017 has been a riot of colour, with graphic designers making big, bold choices,” says Shaun Bowen, creative partner at B&B studio. “Perhaps in an effort to inspire positivity after a difficult year in 2016, we’ve seen an influx of bright colours, often with flat graphics and only one or two colours used at any one time,” he adds.
“More and more brands are also using their core packaging hue as the backing colour in posters and supporting graphics.”
Facebook News Feed Changes
The social media marketing world has been abuzz this month with reaction to Facebook’s announcement that it’s making significant changes to its news feed algorithm. The social media giant is prioritising “meaningful” person-to-person interactions among friends and family over posts from Facebook pages. These updates will result in fewer posts from pages in the news feed.
Raw addiction – the rise of ephemeral content
In the constant push by brands to win the attention of customers on social media, one of the most successful strategies this year has been to use ephemeral content.
Ephemeral content is fleeting, timely and relevant. It is often shot straight from the hip and, as such, tends to be raw but at the same time innately human. This lends a greater degree of authenticity, engages more and aids cut-through in a cluttered online environment. Read More
Marketing Renaissance
Out with the new, in with the old
A marketing renaissance has occurred for some ‘old’ means of communication and brands looking to refresh their marketing strategies could benefit from taking a new look at old ways of doing things.
Podcasts
The biggest comeback of them all must be pre-recorded audio. Whether it’s business, tech, or true crime topics, people are enjoying listening to podcasts while they drive to work, take a shower or even work out. Read More
Blockchain, the Future or a Fad?
As we evolve into the digital age the recording of transactions becomes more complex – be it exchanging goods, transferring money or making contracts.
Blockchain is the underlying technology behind all cryptocurrencies, like Bitcoin, and has the potential to change the way we work and communicate, making it more secure, efficient, and trustworthy.
The growth of global trade has created a ledger system. Often each participant has their own ledger, and therefore their own version of the truth. Having multiple ledgers can create a system venerable to fraud, errors and misinterpretations. Read More
New Zealand Spelling Bee inspires
Do you know what ‘pusillanimous’ means, let alone how to spell it?
I’d hazard a guess that 99 per cent of the New Zealand wouldn’t know that this word means ‘lacking in courage and resolution’.
Pusillanimous was the word that saw 14 year-old Lucy Jessep win the 2017 New Zealand Spelling Bee at the weekend. Read More
The art of good grammar
Socrates feared that writing would create forgetfulness.
In the 1500s, Swiss scientist Conrad Gessner feared that the printing press would unleash an overload of information that would be harmful to the mind.
With the advent of television, video killed the radio star.
And when mobile phones and text messaging were unleashed on the world, it was widely predicted that mankind was destined for a future in which we would all communicate in acronyms and abbreviations. TBH IDK (To Be Honest I Don’t Know) if that’s the case. Read More
Five ways Tauranga beats Melbourne – and five ways we don’t
Blink account manager Scott MacLeod shifted from Melbourne to Tauranga late last year. He’s found lots to love about living in the Bay, but there are a few things he misses. Here’s his take on the things that are better here – and better there. Read More
A Hundred Words for Sand
They say the Eskimos have a hundred words for snow. After hiking Ninety Mile Beach, I can think of a hundred words for sand – mostly comprising four letters.
What to call the fine, white sand that twists towards you on the ocean wind, long lines snaking inches above the hard-packed beach, seeping through the mesh of your trail shoes and forming mini-dunes in your socks, just beneath the toes? And what of the coarse, gritty sand that infests your hair, ears and squinty-eyed wrinkles? Or the aggressive, penetrative variety that somehow invades your environmentally-sealed dry-bag to assail the joints of your camera lenses? What of the sand that inhabits the streams and, by extension, the bottle you dip for water? The one that imparts an unpleasant grittiness to your dry-lipped sips and an equally unpleasant crunch to your evening pasta. Read More