The results of holding your augmented reality copy of Esquire up to your webcam.

Although Esquire are not the only people using this technology online, tobi.com are using a shopping system with augmented reality that allows you to virtually try on items of clothes and using social media allows you to get your friends feedback on items you like!

The future integration of print and web is actually quite interesting, you could hold a DVD case up to your webcam to reveal hidden content, promotional products for events to get hidden information or a catalogue to see what that sofa would like like in your living room. The latter has been suggested for the furniture giant IKEA in the document below, the 2009 Future Lions winning campaign.

2009 Future Lions winning campaign, “IKEA Augmented Reality”, by Gian Jonathan and Wai Wa of Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts

This is a font or is it?

I’ve become bemused at the proliferation of fonts that look like handwriting – after all why can’t people just write things anymore? There’s even a typeface that looks uncannily like my own handwriting – see above. I seem to have developed a classic creative scribble over the years and I’ve noticed many other arty types from architects to fashion designers to fine artists also share the same personal font, (someone even asked me once whether I’d been taught to write like this at art school!) However, everyone can now turn their handwriting into a font, thanks to this new site called ‘fontcapture’, but personally I still suggest you use a pen… Link

Email is a great way of marketing and works wonders for the big media companies. But how effective is it?

Email marketing only works if you have permission of the recipient, otherwise it’s junk mail. Print can go anywhere without permission, so that’s one up already. But email marketing costs little money compared to print which makes economic sense, plus it’s greener; or is it?

In recent years print has changed dramatically with everyone aiming to be as green as possible. All the printers we use are now responding to the market’s expectations for them to take environmental issues seriously. They use non-toxic vegetable inks, use local resources to cut down their carbon footprint and all the paper they use is either 100% recycled or from sustainably managed forests.

The linked article shows that in the America, print still has has more of a presence than viral marketing. Three quarters of people prefer printed matter to electronic communication. Email these days is so quick to the inbox but let’s not forget, if it hits a junk filter, the respondent is on holiday or is deleted, then it is very quickly gone too. With printed material, it is looked at and held onto for much longer. How powerfully the message gets across is down to the designers. More thought has to be put into making print effective, but the returns can justify the greater costs involved in producing it.

Print vs Electronic Media

We received the ‘Studio Culture’ book this week through the post and what a great book it is. It’s really well put together – both the design and the content. It was also signed by Tony Brook from Spin! Definitely worth getting hold of …

We’re also featured in Unit Editions’ ‘Your Studio’ collection, showcasing studios around the world.

http://www.uniteditions.com/