Strong Copy Builds Brands

Folks who know me know how long I have loved this song:

The Storm Warriors will be released in Hong Kong cinemas next month.I just enjoy the artwork.  See more at www.oneinchpunch.net

...everything would be about writing, even train station seating.

Via Engadget

 My picks this week to stimulate creativity and biz success:

Filoflow is a collection of thoughts for designers, entrepreneurs and small businesses.

VisualStreak makes me happy because it's fun to look at and reminds me that I'm a creative and not just a copy geek.

The description of Brooklyn artist Thu Tran at LostAtEMinormade me feel I've found my soulmate: "Obsessed with food and cartoon animals, Tran's color-saturated aesthetic is that of a twelve-year-old girl with a killer Red Bull habit."

Above are the artist's plush landscapes I especially like. Find much more eye candy and inspiration at Thu Tran's sketchbook styled web site.

We loved this so much, we magnet-posted them on our office fridge: Korean artist Yeondoo Jung's lovely photo recreations of children's art. Jung chose crayon drawings from kindergartens in Seoul, then worked with students and fashion designers for another take on the kids' imaginations.

You must see more, via OneInchPunch: Real Life Children’s Crayon Drawings

A few resources for the next time you just can't get started:

Communication Arts

Ideaspotting: How to Find Your Next Great Idea

Small is the New Big

World Domination Design Group has a great name and a very interesting new site redesign that plays like a government training or docu film. Load time worth a look at WDDG.

A few ear-to-the-ground resources on what people are looking at, listening to, liking:

Digg.com and Techmeme.com = user developed, social voter sites

YouTube and Flickr = video and images sites

del.icio.us = tag and social search tool

Just in time for The Devil Wears Prada comes this love letter to Anna. No work of fiction can compete. We're just sayin'.

And while we're on the subject, thanks to the alert Strong Copy reader who sent me a Hello Kitty 256M.

Wired News: Weirdest USB Gadgets

Imagine a place where a hack is treated like a queen -- that was our slice o' bliss last week in one of the prettiest places I know. High five to the event planner who now leaves us wondering how this can be topped after two successive home runs.

Work has never been more fun: California Resorts | Official Ojai Valley Inn & Spa Resort Website | Golf & Luxury Spas

Good to know:

Google Blog Search

Used by Faith River Communications to keep track of trends and assorted rants.

Cary Silberman and I have been using Macromedia's Contribute 3 lately on a few new web sites. Though a little slow to kick off, the functionality is perfect for the way we've come to work together over the last 5 (or so?) years. As Cary builds, I write. It's ridiculously simple. One of our recent jobs under Contribute: Complete Project Resource.

Super job by Gari Cruze, with lots of shots like this:

Ad Blather

For all the reasons people keep journals, here's a roundup and some inspiration.

Jennifer New : Drawing From Life

Man, do I love the title of this blog.

Testy Copy Editors

Source: 80 Years of The New Yorker to Be Offered in Disc Form - New York Times

The New Yorker, the weekly magazine that started as "a hectic book of gossip, cartoons and facetiae," as Louis Menand once wrote, and has evolved into a citadel of narrative nonfiction and investigative reporting, will publish its entire 80-year archives on searchable computer discs this fall.

The collection, titled "The Complete New Yorker," will consist of eight DVD's containing high-resolution digital images of every page of the 4,109 issues of the magazine from February 1925 through the 80th anniversary issue, published last February. Included on the discs will be "every cover, every piece of writing, every drawing, listing, newsbreak, poem and advertisement," David Remnick, editor of the magazine, has written in an introduction to the collection.

The collection, which will also include a 123-page book containing Mr. Remnick's essay, a New Yorker timeline and highlights of selected pages from the magazine, is being published by the magazine and will be distributed to stores by Random House. It will have a cover price of $100, although it is likely to be sold in many bookstores and online for considerably less. The magazine also plans to issue annual updates to the disc collection, and it expects a first printing of 200,000 copies.

Daily news for online marketing professionals or consumerism junkies:
MarketingVOX - The Voice of Online Marketing

Happy to commemorate this anniversary. Viva la CNN!

New York Daily News - Entertainment - CNN's 25th ann'y

This is the list of fabulous marketing truths that I hope I communicate effectively to my clients and writing-alliance colleagues. You'll also enjoy the other entries on Seth's blog if you're a marketer, business owner, ad agency type or creative.

Seth's Blog: What Every Good Marketer Knows

Here's another terrific resource for writers -- a roundup of blogs about writing or by writers that's much more than the usual list of links. This setup gives robust excerpts from recent posts. Definitely worth a look at:

Writer Blogs :: RSS Excerpts

This is a terrific site for marketing managers, brand managers, creatives and others who need to know not only the general upcoming trends, but their associated whip-em-out-in-the-next-meeting stats. Nice, and comes with neat-O email subscription (I almost always click through).

Imagine, you get tantalizing bits like this:

Market Facts

Love conquers all -- including terrorism fears and a shaky economy. The $7 billion honeymoon business barely slowed during the recent travel slump.
SMARTMONEY 3.05

About 250 "concierge physicians" exist in the U.S. These are primary-care doctors who charge an annual retainer in exchange for same-day appointments, unhurried exams, and house calls.
NEWSWEEK 2.7.05

You might have a fine home, a fine condo, but you can't drive that around.
RANDI PAYTON, FOUNDER / CEO OF ON WHEELS, PUBLISHER OF URBAN MAGS "AFRICAN AMERICANS ON WHEELS," "LATINOS ON WHEELS," AND "ASIANS ON WHEELS," HERALD.COM 2.17.05

To check it out and sign up for the e-newsletter: Iconoculture

A great site for copywriters, journalists and serious literates. Media Bistro hosts events and meet/greets that will enhance your career, or at least your ability to pose as a media professional.

Media Bistro rocks.