Prezi is a cloud-based presentation software that opens up a new world between whiteboards and slides. The zoomable canvas makes it fun to explore ideas…

TED is a cutting-edge conference featuring “ideas worth spreading”

It goes without saying that people want to be entertained, and video may be the ultimate entertainment. The use of [...]]]>

Prezi is a cloud-based presentation software that opens up a new world between whiteboards and slides. The zoomable canvas makes it fun to explore ideas…

TED is a cutting-edge conference featuring “ideas worth spreading”

It goes without saying that people want to be entertained, and video may be the ultimate entertainment. The use of video in marketing, and education is also becoming more prevalent. In my workshop, a student recently declared that most of her listening exercises were conducted with video. I feel mostly the same way, and maybe that has to do with the fact that we often source our media from the Internet.  The Internet, with its steady increase in content and bandwidth is an ideal platform for video.

When I conduct my “CALL workshop” – on Educational Technology – I have found that if I ask for “interesting sites” that I get a few predictable responses. In no means do I mean “predictable” as “dull.” But the two sites that are recurring with some frequency as possible teacher/student tools are TED Talks and Prezi. They are both very worthy of your time.

Presentation has come to mean two things: one a series of text and images, presented using tech like PowerPoint, and two, the actual process and art of giving a talk, with the slideshow of images and information playing a major role. the conventional knock against PowerPoint is that it is dull. In my opinion, it is not the technology at fault, but the skills and imagination of those who create them (to be simple we see too many bullets, too much text).

I happened upon some links I can share that bring it all together, and show the synergy between presentations and online video. First off TED Talks which is an amazing wealth of ideas and eloquent people speaking – and a worthy mention as great resource online. And the second, Prezi, has crept up in frequency and my be on the cusp of great things. It just so happens that I found a “talk” and a “Prezi” by TED head Chris Anderson, and it’s a cool reference from Prezi’s own blog to share with you.

Chris Anderson, not to be confused with Wired editor of the same name, is both the TED head, and one of a number of respected presenters who has shared a presentation using a web-based tool. Slideshare is a well known site, and experts such as Garr Reynolds, author of the amazing book “Presentation Zen,” has posted numerous presentations there (Check Presentation Design 411, which starts to really break the fundamentals down around slide 11). You can view Chris Anderson’s Prezi to see some of the format’s potential to be engaging and truly interactive. Watching his Prezi presentation I was reminded of the power of motion graphics tools like Adobe’s After Effects – it’s truly a visually dynamic format – the “camera” perspective pulls away, rotates and zooms in on featured content areas (which would represent slides in a tradtional Powerpoint format). Chris samples some “baby break-dancing” videos and other eclectic international footage to complement the message he has to share, which is that Internet video is changing the way we communicate in an increasingly globalized world.

If you are keen to create a whole new kind of animated Powerpoint, with highly visual transitions and different kinds of embedded media, you should check out Prezi, and Chris Anderson’s Prezi is indeed a true inspiration (see first link below).

Links:

There’s only one link you need that connects you with both Chris Anderson’s Prezi presentation and one of his TED talks:
http://blog.prezi.com/2010/09/16/watch-ted-head-chris-andersons-prezi/

Prezi – “Create game-changingpresentations online.”
http://prezi.com/

A blog article on the features of Prezi – “Finding an alternative to PPT”

http://www.k-international.com/blog/finding-an-alternative-to-powerpoint/

Presentation guru Garr Reynolds wrote about this same topic here
Garr Reynolds’ blog entry on Chris Anderson’s Ted Talk and Prezi

Alternative Online Presentation Tool – Slideshare -” Offers users the ability to upload and share publicly or privately PowerPoint presentations, Word documents and Adobe PDF Portfolios”
http://www.slideshare.net/

Alternative Online Presentation Tool - Google Docs (also create text docs, spreadsheets and more)
https://docs.google.com 

Cinemagraph by Jamie Beck and Kevin Burg - http://cinemagraphs.com

I found an absolutely stunning bit of photography and animation on the web today. I went to google and searched for “sophisticated GIF” and found some work that blew me away. Each shot is like a time capsule, a magical micro-moment – and they’re [...]]]>  

Cinemagraph by Jamie Beck and Kevin Burg - http://cinemagraphs.com

I found an absolutely stunning bit of photography and animation on the web today. I went to google and searched for “sophisticated GIF” and found some work that blew me away. Each shot is like a time capsule, a magical micro-moment – and they’re animated GIFS!

There’s a good chance you associate the concept of an animated GIF with something like a garish early nineties website along the lines of a Geocities homepage. Remember Borat? His original tongue in cheek website is no longer online but has been preserved by the good folks at the Internet Archive, and you should read my post on his insane animated GIF strewn website here: http://iam.strongandfree.ca/blog/the-internet-is-forever-wayback-machine-retrieves-borat

Above you’ll see an example of this amazing visual art. It’s like a throwback to the original days of cinema, when even the most primitive frames could spark delight and capture the imagination. Mind you, the duo of Jamie Beck and Kevin Burg are operating in modern NYC and their spin on the “cinemagraph” is very sophisticated in its execution. I going to encourage you to check out two websites for dozens of examples of the incredible imagery, before I ask you to analyze the image at the top of this post (you’ll see some teensy tiny flaws in the crosswalk area at right).

So be sure to spend a few minutes at the main page, and the blog by Jamie Beck (each site has different content)

Cinemagraph site: http://cinemagraphs.com/

Blog by Jamie: http://fromme-toyou.tumblr.com/tagged/cinemagraph

If you get a chance you must head to the Onsite gallery at OCADU and catch the Marian Bantjes exhibit. Marian recently published, “I Wonder,” a beautifully printed and design “illuminated manuscript” (as design guru Steven Heller has described it). She is definitely one of Canada’s hottest [...]]]>

"I want it all" - Marian Bantjes

If you get a chance you must head to the Onsite gallery at OCADU and catch the Marian Bantjes exhibit. Marian recently published, “I Wonder,” a beautifully printed and design “illuminated manuscript” (as design guru Steven Heller has described it). She is definitely one of Canada’s hottest designers. She is a graphic artist who brings passion and personality to her intricate crafty work. Specializing in highly detailed illustration and beautiful typographic work, Bantjes captivates with a variety of works, from magazine covers to posters to laser-cut valentine cards. The detail is phenomenal and the approach highly original. A little bonus is the  sound recording of her reading one of her “love letter” pieces aloud,  which you’ll find in the main room. This show is here for another two weeks – so be sure to check it out.

Read Steven Heller’s review of “I Wonder” in the NY Times (with slideshow of book spreads):
http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/01/graphic-content-marian-bantjes-illuminated/

Visit the Onsite gallery is on the second floor of the main OCAD building at 100 McCaul St. in downtown Toronto (beside the AGO). The exhibit is on from March 2 – June 5, 2011
http://www.ocad.ca/onsite.htm

The Contact Photography Festival just passed and my blog’s Google rank was higher than EYE weekly magazine and both the Facebook page for the fest and a page in Yahoo Business. [...]]]> Can my site rank higher than Facebook and Yahoo? Yes, in the right circumstances, and with a terrifically crafted post on a specific subject.

The Contact Photography Festival just passed and my blog’s Google rank was higher than EYE weekly magazine and both the Facebook page for the fest and a page in Yahoo Business. The Google result for “Contact Photography Festival” placed me on the third page of results (out of millions) and confirmed to me that my online marketing strategies are paying off.

People do come to my site, read my articles and check out my videos. The question is: “How to convert that into something tangible”? You’ll also note that my blog contains no advertising of any sort, so some might ask the more elementary question “Why blog?”

It’s interesting to mull the answers and talk about what motivates me and how I’m marketing myself on the WWW.

Motivations to Blog

First of all I am an expressive person and I’ve always liked writing. Designing a blog was fun and graphic design is my main focus, but I’m interesting in reaching a wide audience and exposing people to interesting people, places, and events, and engaging people in issues I care about. If you check out my site, you’ll see I have postings on a variety of topics but they fall mainly under these 10 categories: art, design, Toronto, film, books, blogging, WordPress, education, school, workshops etc. I write about what I know and what I’m interested in.

Recently I had an interesting experience while taking an informational interview with a design industry person many years my junior. After I introduced myself and my wide background of work, the designer took a deep breath and offered up this comment: “I think you have to ask yourself, ‘Do you want to express yourself or do you want to communicate?’” Later I had a chance to mull it over. I realized that I was doing both. I understand how communication works in the digital age and I’ve capitalized on it — and I express myself through my art and my blog (and other sites).

Represent Yourself – Online Identity and Branding

“Whether you realize it or not, you have an online “brand,” too. Do you have a Facebook or MySpace account? Do you comment on blogs? Have you tried out Twitter? When you post content, engage others or share information about yourself on the Web, you are creating a unique identity—branding yourself, in a sense.”

- Patti Church / Whyhire.me

In an article in Career Options magazine, which is targeted toward Canadian college students, Ms. Church describes trends in branding and marketing and puts forth the argument that we all need to fine tune our online brands, because if we don’t, others will do it for us. She quotes the amazing statistic that a giant majority of employers will google a job seeker, and often they find publicly accessible web pages, such as Facebook, Google or blogs and forums. Read Patti’s terrific article at: http://careeroptionsmagazine.com/creating-your-online-brand/

In “The Long Tail,” one of the more interesting business books of the last decade, Chris Anderson of Wired Magazine analyzes trends related to business and the rise of the collaborative community-based Internet. There are two things he writes about which I find relevant and interesting. One, products are increasingly being made and distributed by prosumers (yes – it implies a combination of professional /producer and consumer) — regular folks who take it upon themselves to avail themselves of some semi-professional gear and produce hi-quality art, music, books and utilize the digital tools of our age to get their message out. An important chapter takes a look at the “Democratization of the tools of Production.” Anyone today can develop their own product and marketing materials – and online aggregators like Amazon and  iTunes allow us to pitch our product to the whole world. Two, a smart person can develop what might be called “traction” or “cachet” – a certain respect and professional prestige which, if it doesn’t directly earn money (and it can if you publish a book for instance), can indirectly boost your career by opening up opportunities to you in your industry. Some speaking engagements might be non-paying but that presentation, like the blog entry, impresses upon your peers that you have a valuable contribution to make. Convert your reputation, in other words, into professionally-related reward.

You are a product, a brand. What are you doing to promote yourself? Are you pro-actively managing your online identity? If you build a website or blog, Google will find it and rush your personal page to the top of the results page. this ensures you present the most professional side of yourself when the world comes calling through digital age channels.

Build it and They Will Come

If you put a modicum of time and energy into a blog you shall reap some reward. If you pay attention to certain practises and principles then it should bring you traffic and reach a lot of people. I have some basic recommendations and they can all easily fit into a summary I could just describe as “Google-ize” yourself. Are your meta tags tweaked? Do you even know what I’m talking about? Here are some tips to help you get going.

Google / Search Engines – Make sure you update your site frequently, use relevant keywords in your headings and page titles, and always be sure to add media to your posts and pages. I am convinced that much of my success has come from exploiting tools like Google Maps, YouTube, social media websites etc – in part to diversify the kinds of content on my site, and also to simply provide links back to my content. Your site probably has the ability to put “meta tags” into the source code – meta tags includes areas like “description” and “keywords” – this helps search engines understand your site and what it’s all about.

Overall there is probably no substitute for good craft – take some time for design and write well. Or hire someone like me to get the job done.

Thanks for reading!

Mike

mike | strongandfree.ca

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Mike Simpson is offering a free online course. The topic is “Do It Yourself” Graphics and Marketing. iDIY and uCan too! You are invited to participate! (Printable PDF [...]]]> Thank you for your interest – please note that this course took place in summer 2010.  Many thanks to all who participated!

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Mike Simpson is offering a free online course. The topic is “Do It Yourself” Graphics and Marketing. iDIY and uCan too! You are invited to participate! (Printable PDF Version).

If you have an entrepreneurial streak or have always wanted to learn a little about graphics, websites/blogs, or multimedia (audio/video) then this course may be the perfect opportunity to “get your feet wet.”

Class Level / Objectives

The course is targeted to beginners and intermediates. The class will last 6 weeks and be done online – where we will have the opportunity to share our discoveries and our work via chat, message boards, and blog postings. How far you go, how much you create is up to you – everyone will be expected to contribute to the process by creating a simple website and posting their work and comments.

At the simple end of the “prior experience” range, beginners or “newbies” will be encouraged to edit photos for an “e-card” or create a graphically-pleasing PowerPoint presentation (too often an oxymoron!). Intermediate students will develop vector illustrations or perhaps a video podcast. Many of the tools are free and the only limit with be your time and imagination!

Class “Time”

All of your work is done, for the most part, asynchronously. This means on Monday we have a virtual class – I upload documents and instructions. Students ask questions. We “meet” virtually for a few hours. However, if you are busy, you can log in and do your work anytime in the following week. When you study is up to you.

Class Difficulty

This class is ideal for beginner and intermediates. You must have fairly strong general computer proficiency and some curiosity about creative work done via computer. Please don’t be intimidated by the idea of having a blog – it is simply a website page where we can share our work and the tools are easy to use (WordPress for example, has an interface that is similar to Microsoft Word).

iDIY course overview:

Week 1 – Introduction to course and materials / create blog (a simple place to post and share your work)

We will go over a) DIY philosophy and practice, b) computer setup / operations and c) software options / blog setup.

Week 2 - Photo-editing and Basic Graphics

We look at design and color theory, essential photo editing techniques, and file formats for print / web (i.e. bitmap vs vector image, jpeg vs png).

Week 3 – Print vs. Web – Getting your message out

Overview of 21st century marketing and the history of self-publishing.

Exploration of marketing options – from brochure / business card to website /blog.

Week 4 – Multimedia – Audio and Video

Do you want to clean up the crackly sound in your family’s home videos? Want to upload a promotional video of your business or community group to YouTube?

The fundamentals of audio and video editing will be reviewed.

Week 5 – Independent Study

Students work on projects and review progress with peers / teacher.

Week 6 – Exhibition of Work and Evaluations of Course

Each student posts their best work to a gallery page. We meet in an online chat / message board to share and critique.

Students submit course evaluation and comments to Mike.

QUESTIONS? Want to “get tech”?

Please contact me to register.

Thanks,

Mike Simpson

mike | strongandfree.ca

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About Mike

Mike Simpson has developed his own websites and marketing materials since 1996 when he founded a street wear company. He made clothing that sold in a dozen stores around Toronto, published small magazines, and developed skills in graphic design and marketing. More recently Mike has worked as an ESL teacher and currently leads teachers in workshops that explore the use of computers and the internet in teaching/learning. Mike is writing a book on DIY graphics and media, business philosophy, history and techniques.

About DIY

“DIY” has been a motivating concept and practice for independent-minded self-starters since the 1970s. Its origins were in music / lifestyle sub-cultures such as American and British punk. These artists, musicians, and publishers founded their own small businesses and established communities that organized their own concerts, books and magazines, and clubs / retail stores (sometimes in the form of “cooperatives”). DIY has since been co-opted by corporations like HomeDepot but the essential ideas and core values of independent spirit and self-reliance have not changed. It’s an exciting time! The 21st century is the age of communication tools like social media and blogs – never before have computers and the internet so easily enabled regular people to get stuff done themselves.

Located at John and Richmond St. in downtown Toronto, the National Film Board’s Mediatheque centre is an inspiring place. You can check out all kinds of short films, animations and documentaries. Once I took a group of students there for a field trip. The presenter was amazing – it was one of my favorite [...]]]>

Located at John and Richmond St. in downtown Toronto, the National Film Board’s Mediatheque centre is an inspiring place. You can check out all kinds of short films, animations and documentaries. Once I took a group of students there for a field trip. The presenter was amazing – it was one of my favorite all-time field trips. The staff are always friendly and helpful.

One of the main reasons to go to the NFB Mediatheque site is to check out the viewing stations. I have taken my students there just for that purpose on a number of occasions. Recently I watched an animated short, “The Necktie,” that’s also available online. In fact, the NFB are digitizing most of their catalogue and making it available via their website. Another favorite is called “Film Club,” by Cyrus Sundar Singh. It’s about a 20-year reunion of former childhood friends who were immigrants and in grade 8 banded together in an after-school film club. So far this title is NOT online – so get thee down to the Mediatheque and watch it!

Check out:

Mediatheque
http://www.onf-nfb.gc.ca/eng/mediatheque/

The Necktie – animated short – 12 mins.
http://www.nfb.ca/film/necktie/

Flemingdon Park – Global Village – documentary – 47 mins
http://www.nfb.ca/film/flemingdon_park_the_global_village

“Across Cultures” – NFB clips from 60 different films!
http://www3.nfb.ca/acrosscultures/toutvoir.php?print

Mediatheque
150 John Street
Toronto, Ontario, M5V 3C3
416-973-3012