Quick follow up to my post last year re Monty Python posting their entire video catalogue to YouTube.

It seems that the idea has paid dividends. Big time!  Monty Python DVD sales have gone up by a staggering 23,000% since the YouTube channel was established.

Excellent article in SlashFilm asks some very pertinent questions…

Could it be, despite all of the RIAA and MPAA’s clamoring about piracy killing their business, that free and less restrictive content is actually the answer to their woes?

Thanks to Dave for the head’s up!

We were called on to develop wireframes, provide user experience consulting and produce interface designs for main areas of the site.  The festival brand was completely overhauled in 2009 which meant Tenacity was tasked with developing a contemporary interface which would showcase the iconic event’s exciting new look. Key to the success of the final site was the presentation of a mountain of festival related data in a logical, usable way.

Development aspects of the project were handled by Creative Spark with social network and commuity elements by The Social Collective.

I wasn’t overwhelmed by the three initial designs, there are elements of each that I like but I think they still need a fair amount of work. What I am really impressed with, is the depth and quality of feedback literally flooding in from the community.  I am sure that Mozilla will arrive at a pretty special design if they take on board some of the excellent advice they are getting.

Bold and very interesting idea!

For a week ITC transforms Cape Town into a city-sized gallery exhibiting provocative, cutting-edge international and local artworks that resonate with one another within the urban landscape. It is a huge theatrical happening to stimulate discussion and disturb the humdrum and concrete.

The site features multiple user generated content streams which include press releases, reviews, collaborator’s thoughts, children’s impressions as well as the curator, Brett Bailey’s personal notes.  The site will act as a conduit for discussion and collaboration that will continue long after the final performance is over.

Much kudos to Toby at Two Shoes Graphic Designers for the spectacular Infecting the City brand work.

Please visit www.infectingthecity.com for more details.

Read up a bit about the psychology of colour and apparently yellow is “considered an optimistic color, people lose their tempers more often in yellow rooms, and babies will cry more. It is the most difficult color for the eye to take in, so it can be overpowering if overused. Yellow enhances concentration, hence its use for legal pads. It also speeds metabolism.”

Maybe blue would have been a better choice for our times as  apparently people are more productive in blue rooms. Studies also show weightlifters are able to handle heavier weights in blue gyms.

I suppose it would have been a bit of a downer if they chose Cool Gray 10C.

Absolutely brilliant!  Huge whack of Monty Python videos posted by the Pythons themselves.

You can actually see the pain on Cleese and Palin’s faces at the prospect of giving away material for free! Must have been one tough sell from their lawyers/marketeers, wonder how this will drive sales of their physical products?

Got me wondering how the Obama campaign, with its beautifully crafted brand is going to affect the design of politics going forward.  Have politicians finally woken up to the branding realities which manufacturers and marketeers have always known?

Interestingly, the DA seems to have appropriated Obama’s CHANGE mantra for their new volunteer site too.

There is something extremely painful about designing your own site. We did mockups, we got busy with other things, we came back to the mockups… and we hated them.  Does everyone feel this?  Do chefs hate what they cook for themselves?  Do writers rubbish their own books on re-reading them?  Can photographers ever take a picture of themselves they actually like?

Anyway, we finally got there and hope to use this site to present the best of what we do.  We will also discuss our industry, air our thoughts, share our client testimonials and quite possibly vent the odd bit of designer spleen!