AutoGuide Video Hyundai Equus

The AutoGuide Videos keep rolling in.. Have a look at Colums Preview of the Hyundai Equus with Joel Ewanik VP of Marketing at Hyundai Motor USA.

The Best Sofar - AG Track Comparison

I have to drop this one fast - because it is too damn hot! Another AutoGuide.com Video. This time it's a Track Comparison: Hyundai Genesis Coupe 2.0T vs Honda Civic Si Coupe. Colum and David had their day on the track with these two to see just how these two un-common rivals compared. The results were surprising resulting in an even more surprising split decision victory. As far as the video goes, it's some of the best video AG has yet. It goes to show what we could turn-out if there were a little more time, a little more money and some more track days! Enjoy.

Another AutoGuide Video - Lexus ISC

Yep that's right, another Autoguide video. Listen for the Garageband track I threw together for some background music.

Another AutoGuide Video - 2010 Toyota Prius - First Drive Review

Yupp, you know it. We finished throwing this new Auto Review video up on the site yesterday. It was put together a little bit faster than the Nissan Cube video. But time is money, and I don't have either. Watch and enjoy please. Thanks!

New AutoGuide Video - 2010 Nissan Cube

I just finished uploading AutoGuide.com's latest auto review video. The 2010 Nissan Cube Review by Colum Wood. Have a look!



We're all pretty new to this but already I have been impressed with the improvements made in video quality and content made in such a short period of time. Besides, editing video is really enjoyable and provides another enjoyable task to an already extremely diverse skill set. Have a look at some previous AG videos filmed by Colum and edited by Moi.

An understanding of Experience Design

Experience design, a phrase which has gained momentum in the design community, but what exactly is experience design. The answer is not so simple, as the definition of experience design is depends greatly on who you happen to ask.

Some say experience design is a job, as in someone could be employed as an ‘experience designer’. Under this understanding of the phrase, this person would be responsible for the consistency of deliverables being created by multiple other teams working in a variety of disciplines.

Large projects may employ multiple areas of specialization, architectural, advertising, web, graphic, broadcast and environmental design are just some examples of what these disciplines could be. In mass projects like this, each team is responsible for a portion of the greater whole. Because of this, maintaining consistency among the deliverable becomes more difficult. Especially if the deliverables are being created across several studios which could possibly be separated by Country or Continent. The position of experience designer would be to ensure consistency and coordinate communication of ideas among teams to guarantee a seamless experience for the user. In a case where communication between the creative parties is not consistent brand continuity could be flawed. Resulting in a un-consistent experience for the user.

Others utilize this phrase, experience design, very specifically. In many design disciplines which create products in which users will interact with, experience design is a common word.

An environmental designer may consider the phrase and immediately have traffic flow, line of sight, accessibility and other factors come to mind. This understanding is very similar to one had by software engineers and web developers, except in this instance the space is not immersive three dimensional, it is virtual. The interaction with software devices and interfaces, such as computer operating systems and portable entertainment devices can also be experience designed.

I understand experience design slightly differently than others might. Seeing experience design as a process, a method at which to solve a problem. In this understanding, the process of experience design could be applied to solving any problem, particularly those which involve user interaction.

The creative problem solving method of experience design differs from others in that, it is comprehensive. An experience design is without boundaries, every detail of a project is considered and improved on the basis of emotion and efficiency. How well does it work and how does this make the user feel. These questions are asked at every decision in the design process, elevating the importance of human emotion. This increases the importance of knowing your specific audience as well as understanding a great deal about human interaction.

A great way to understand how users will interact with or ‘experience’ a design is to test it. Setting up scenarios with individuals from a target market to see how they go about your design. Users are observed, their behavior and opinion recorded in order to improve the design. Sometimes a designer is horrified to discover that users are not at all using the design as expected. “They just don’t get it.” Some designers may say, defending their creation. It is however, that this designer has not used experience design as a problem solving method.

Becoming the user is a better method of understanding how one will interact with the design. Be 1000 users experiencing the design 1000 ways. This involves role-playing, lots of it. Visualization exercises, such as closing ones eyes and imaging the design will force a designer to see a project entirely, before its creation. Model building will help those who are not keenly adept at visualization experience the design in much the same manner. Ghost interaction involves physically interacting with a design which has not been produced assists in experimenting with human factors and will improve ease of use. Role-playing such as dressing up just as a user would places a designer in the users shoes, literally, and will also improve a design prior to construction. It is surprising how much a designer can improve their creation by experiencing it as a problem solving process.

Users will always encounter a design organically, reception to the design, whether or not they experienced it as had been predicted, is the responsibility of the creator. Without utilization of experience design, or a process like it as a problem solving method, a designer is really just creating either for themselves or on stereotypes. Often it is the case that neither of these are accurate at reaching a conclusion appropriate for the user. It is strikingly obvious to a user when experience design was not considered in the conception of the design. This is because the user is not experiencing the design as they were expected to. This is in no way the users wrong doing, they are simply a victim of mediocre or bad design.

Way Back Fest: New Media and Opportunities for Effective Advertising

This one is a throw back. In 2005 Just before graduating we were tasked to design thesis projects exploring any personal area of interest. Being that it was a GD program, most choose to explore something along those lines. Several individuals explored outside the immediate discipline of Graphic Design, I was one of them.

Now this project shouts back some years, 4 almost now – time flies! So there are some things that I would have done differently today. The design and layout need lots of work and I’m embarrassed to find several spelling and grammatical errors. But I still believe in the ideas I had back then, and still believe the concepts to be true.

Without further adieu let me introduce the concepts of a 4 years younger, me.

New Media and Opportunities for Effective Advertising

Digital or New Media has a unique advantage over traditional advertising. Unlike print, television or radio, new-media has the ability to interact with an audience.

In a time where grade-school students are being taught the ins and outs of advertising and marketing, progressively younger bodies of target markets are putting on blinders to traditional advertising. This learned ability by the mass’ to censor themselves from advertising is the making it harder for clients and advertisers to have anyone notice their product or service.

The old methods aren’t working anymore. So, you spend a whack of cash and make a television commercial or massive billboard with a corporate logo featured prominently. Big shit, am I supposed to look at it? If I do look at it what do I get other than a second of time stolen from my day. More and more are thinking this way, and more just don’t bother noticing the hype anymore.

What does the audience get for allowing the advertiser the privilege of holding their attention for a few precious seconds of their day? To obtain and hold the attention of the modern target market advertisers need to do three things. Engage, Entertain and Benefit.

Firstly, the audience must be engaged. The modern consumer is trained to ignore traditional attempts to steal their attention. So this must be performed in a clever and totally unique way. With new media the opportunities are limitless. Audible, visual and physical devices may be used simultaneously to prompt the audience for feedback. The audience interacts with new-media instead of just absorbing.

Engaging the audience by asking a question or prompting for a response will foster users more likely to interact.

Entertaining an audience is essential and could fall under the third necessity. However this is so important to holding an audiences attention that it be stipulated individually. A happy audience will be more likely to listen to what you have to tell them and more forgiving to the intrusion on their time because they are more liable to feel it worth the while.

An audience will be more likely to listen to what you have to tell them if you tell them what they want to hear first.

What does the audience get for having their time consumed by the advertisement? The modern target audience doesn’t give things away for free. A fair trade is in order.
An immediate and obvious personal benefit will render a user more likely to interact with an interface.

Engage

Audiences are more likely to notice advertising which is engaging.

Are you reading this? Engaging the audience by asking a question or prompting for a response will foster users more likely to interact.

Entertain

Audiences are more likely to notice advertising which is entertaining.

Did you hear about the new Mike Tyson Computer? It has two bytes and no memory. An audience will be more likely to listen to what you have to tell them if you tell them what they want to hear first.

Benefit

Audiences are more likely to notice advertising which is beneficial.

By reading this you will gain something. An immediate and obvious personal benefit will render a user more likely to interact with an interface.

This project was developed as a student of George Brown College – The School of Design under the consultation of Professor Kathryn Saunders. All content is original.

A designer is a wonderful person, a super hero

We find ourselves living designed lifestyles. Never before has so much been so meticulously constructed, so meticulously planned. At present, we are witnessing a design boom in architecture, technology, media and other major industries; a creative revolution that will reconstruct the way we view our world. This time in history has produced the greatest number of individuals who hold a career as a “designer,” and this number is growing.
The design boom has lead to a larger number of design institutions and designers than ever before. However, this influx in human resources, this increase in designers, has not driven the design boom. Instead, it has been the design boom which has lead to an increased interest in design and has therefore influenced a much greater interest in the field of creative design.

Most can say that they know or have worked with a designer before. One does not have to look far to encounter an individual who claims the title, “designer.” But what does this title really mean? There are many types of “designers”: graphic, web, broadcast and interior designer are among the most common. With so many individuals claiming the vocational title “designer,” concerns arise as to integrity of this professional designation. Simply, the influx of designers into the marketplace has resulted in the dilution of the effectiveness of the title “designer.” Many facts may be cited as the cause of this. It is the public who has refused to recognize the unique skill of a true designer. It is the educational institutions which output young people into the world with a diploma and little understanding of what their training enables them to do. It is the individual who looks for an “easy” career choice in a creative field. It is the true designer who allows their title to be over-used. In essence, it is a flooded market that has led to the increased difficulty for those who wish to differentiate true designers from the rest.

A designer is a unique individual with understanding, skill and an inherent determination to improve his or her environment. Motivated by inefficiency, a designer would use superior understanding, problem solving abilities, creativity and skill to correct or improve processes and systems. A designer is a wonderful person, a super hero, with limitless powers in creative problem solving.

A discrepancy arises when individuals claiming the “designer” title have no real understanding of what it is to be a designer. This is the definition of an x-designer, where x is an area of specialization such as graphic, new-media or industrial. A situation arises out of this in which true designers are at a loss, increasingly difficult will it be for these professionals to differentiate themselves from the x genre.

It is unimaginable to think of individuals setting up shop under false professional titles such as lawyer or doctor. Why then, is this occurring in the field of creative design? There are no standards or licensing requirements for an individual to call themselves a designer. This means that anyone can claim to be one, and indeed, this is the case. This isn’t to say that anyone with the title of designer is a fraud. There are many professionals who exemplify the definition of a true designer and boast successful lives as proof.

Best Recession Proof ‘Raises’ for Employees that won’t affect your Bottom-line.

Compensating employees will become increasingly difficult in tough economic times. However, it is important for managers and business owners to not loose sight of those deserving a raise. It is possible to keep your valued employees happy while not affecting the bottom line.

During an economic slump, everyone feels the squeeze.

With businesses buckling down for the storm, cutting costs and cutting jobs it’s common for employees to feel on edge. Even highly productive employees can feel as if the axe blade looms somewhere overhead as they bid their co-workers adieu. This added insecurity in the workplace can affect job performance. Even valued employees may choose to preemptively ‘jump-ship’ in anticipation of a looming layoff.

As it approaches ‘raise-time’ for individual employees, take them aside for a candid conversation. Your job here is to instill each employee with confidence, as they would have noticed the corporate cost cutting taking effect.

Nothing is worse than being left in the dark. So, put your employees back in the information loop.

It’s important to disclose how the business is doing, while maintaining up-beat. Discussing any economic challenge of business with your employee will put them at ease and associate them with the overall success of the corporation.

Be prepared to point-out specific achievements each employee has made, why they are valued and how much. Offer constructive criticism on how they can improve professionally and how they can directly contribute to the success of the company through this tough economic time.

Perks of the job. Offer a raise other than money.

1. Flex Time

The standard 9 to 5 work day is somewhat old fashioned and may be counter-productive for business. As populations in major cities soar, congestion causes great strain on commuters as they clamor to work against the morning rush-hour.

Giving employees a flexible work-schedule will make them happier and more productive. That 1 hour commute at 8:00 AM may only take 30 minutes at 9:30 AM. So what if they get into work at 10 instead of 9. The 30 minutes of travel time a day (each way) will add up to 5 hours a week or 20+ hours a month! That’s equivalent to an extra week of vacation each year.

2. Courtesy Day

Birthdays are great to give an extra day off work. Most people feel entitled to a break on their birthdays, employees will appreciate not having to ask for this day off.

3. Working from home

Are some tasks easily completed from home, client calls, writing reports, research, etc..? Try to bundle these tasks in order to give dedicated employees an opportunity to complete tasks from home. Advantages like saving the commute, working in their own environment and time would not effect productivity.

Beware, this perk should only be offered to competent and trusted employees. As even some of the most well intentioned can be easily distracted from their task while working at home.

4. Transportation

Aside from avoiding transportation (i.e. working from home, flex hours), there may be ways of offering savings on the cost of transportation. Organize car-pooling and research group-discounts for transportation. The power of numbers will save money as large organization flex their buying power.

5. Groceries

Do most of your employees go out for lunch, coffee, snacks? How long do they spend out of the office? If your average employee takes 45minutes for lunch and coffee breaks each day you’re loosing half a day of productivity a week.

It might be worth-while to look into a grocery program for your office. The added cost of groceries will actually save money if employees are kept productive during times they otherwise wouldn’t be.

This simple equation demonstrates how easy it is to add value to your business by purchasing into a grocery program. For this calculation each employee could consume $75.00 worth of groceries per week without effecting the bottom-line. Spending less, which wouldn’t be difficult, would actually add revenue.

T = Average time taken for Lunch & Breaks a week (hours) V = Average value of employee time. (hours) C = Cost of food Budget.

(T x V) = C(3.75 x 20) = C $75 = C

6. Organize Group-lunches

Organize stress-free meetings over a catered lunch. With a relaxed environment established casually discuss business, upcoming projects and challenges without getting too deep (nobody should be taking notes). Casually discussing business over lunch will save time while creating a tighter/ more productive team.

7. Decorate the office

There are many inexpensive ways to freshen up the office and boost morale, add a plant here or there, offer a window seat or a fresh coat of paint. Creating a comfortable workplace atmosphere is critical in improving employee productivity. Giving an employee the opportunity to decorate their office will give them pride and ownership of the space. The difference between working late and leaving early could be a different paint scheme or some personal touches.

8. Corporate Cell-phone Plan

There are huge saving to be had with corporate cell-phone plans vs. personal plans. Adopting employees into the corporate plan will mean saving them lots and reducing the per. person cost for everyone.

Classic Advertising Formulae

All advertising must be:
Seen, Read, Believed, Remembered, Acted Upon.

AIDA

• Attention
• Interest
• Desire
• Action

Bob Stone’s mail forumula

1. Promise the most important benefit.
2. Enlarge on it.
3. Specify the order in full.
4. Provide proof and endorsements.
5. Say what you might ‘lose’.
6. Rephrase Benefits.
7. Incite immediate action.

Reed’s three Bs

• Benefits
• Believability
• Bounce

EEB

• Engage
• Entertain
• Benefit

Engage

Audiences are more likely to notice advertising which is engaging.

Entertain

Audiences are more likely to notice advertising which is entertaining.

Benefit

Audiences are more likely to notice advertising which is beneficial.