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Why simple? 3 Summary of Qualifications Product development/ (Curriculum Vitæ) 4 – 5 brand architecture 18 – 31 Coca-Cola booths 19 Coors Light 20 Digital Bradesco 21 content management 6 – 17 dpz.com 22 MAC Virtual 7 Coca-Cola Light 23 Telemig Celular 8 Costa do Sauípe 23 Element^n 9 Starmedia 24 – 25 AOL (re)design 10 – 13 AlmapBBDO/ONMedia 26 McDonald’s McInternet 13 VISA 27 FIAT Marea 14 Volkswagen Polo 27 MTV Brasil 14 JR Duran 27 Cineclick 15 .comDominio 27 Shop160 (UK) 15 Kropki 28 Telesp Celular 16 BankBoston 29 CarltonArts 17 Klabin 29 Jontex 17 MOODs 30 FNAC 17 New Media consultancy 31 2 Digital should mean “simple”. tech shouldn’t be the 21st-century bureaucrat.
Efficient digital solutions must be straightforward: the average user doesn’t have time and/or patience enough to figure out what was in a programmer’s mind.
That’s my motto: “If you can’t make it simple, why make it?”
My name is Luli. I’ve been working with digital media for quite Academic / texts / lectures some time now, as stated in the next pages. I usually work as a and collaborative projects 32 – 39 Creative Director, but this is quite an inaccurate term, so I’d rather Education 33 define myself as a Creative Planner, whatever that may mean. LOV (Location Of Value) 34 Teaching (postgrad) 35 Besides that, we all know that there are times, places and Teaching (graduation) 35 situations where you just can’t help dealing simultaneously with Tutoring 35 quite a handful of subjects. Keynotes and workshops 36 Articles published 37 Therefore, I have grouped my major activities in three categories: Book on corporate behavior 38 Digital Content Management, Product Development/Brand Books written on digital design 39 Architecture and Academic/Texts/Lectures . If this sounds a little chaotic, there’s a more conventional resume on the next spread – it doesn’t show much information, but may work quite as well. collaborative projects 40 – 45 DWD:3 40 – 41 STOA, Fotoblog, Digiblog 42 – 43 WECA 44 Best regards, Jump Radio Podcasts 45
On Radfahrer 46 4 b curriculum vitæ (summary of qualifications)
LULI RADFAHRER Luiz Guilherme de Carvalho Antunes ADVERTISING AWARDS AND JURIES Over 50.000 Google references Three Cannes Cyber Lions; three The One Show pencils; New York e-mail: [email protected] Festivals winner and juror; MEMEFEST – Radical Media Festival juror; Address: r. Edson, 53 ap 31 MOBILEFEST – Mobile Media Festival juror; awarded many Brazilian 04618-030 São Paulo SP Brasil creative prizes and juror in many local and national contests. Phone #: 55 11 5531-3688 Website: www.luli.com.br/blog IM: [email protected] Skype: luli_radfahrer LANGUAGES
Fully bilingual in English and Portuguese. EDUCATION Intermediate Spanish. Basic German.
PhD on digital communication in post-modern times, granted by the School of Communication and Arts of the University of São Paulo – ECA/USP in 2002. PERSONAL
Masters degree on language and hypertext, ECA/USP, 1998. Born in Oct 04, 1966. Married, no children, presently living in São Paulo, SP (Brasil). Graduated in Social Communication / Advertising, ECA/USP, 1991. Able to relocate in 2-3 weeks or less if needed.
Graduated in Computer Science / Technology, School of Technology of Mackenzie University, in São Paulo, 1986.
95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07
Kropki Volks Polo VISA AlmapBBDO MTV BankBoston FIAT Marea StarMedia dpz.com WAAAP Coca-Cola Light Shop160 Bradesco AOL McDonald’s CineClick Element^n MOODs Coca-Cola Molson MAC Virtual Assistant Professor: Graphic Design Associate Professor: Graphic Design and Photography Professor: Graphic Design, Photography and Digital Communications Featured Columnist: Design Gráfico and Propaganda magazines Book: Design/Web/Design (1 & 2) Featured Columnist: Jump and Webdesign magazines Book: The Art of War... Book: DWD:3 Keynote speaker, universities, on Webdesign Keynote speaker, universities & corporate events, on Digital Culture Collaborative Projects Podcasts curriculum vitæ (summary of qualifications) b 5
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE WRITER / FEATURED MAGAZINE COLUMNIST 1994-PRESENT Consultant on innovation & digital media 1993-PRESENT FEATURED COLUMNIST OF THE MAGAZINES: McWorld Brasil; Publish Brasil; Design Gráfico; Propaganda; WebDesign; Jump; iMasters. Major clients in Brazil: McDonald’s, AOL Brasil, FIAT, MTV, DPZ, AlmapBBDO, Leo Burnett, VISA, Citroën, British American Tobacco, BOOK Author - on digital design: Design/Web/Design; Design/ Bradesco and Coca-Cola. Web/Design:2. Third book in production. on Corporate behavior: The art of war for those who moved the cheese from the rich dad. international clients: Element^n (Beyrut, Lebanon), StarMedia (New York, USA), Shop160 (London, UK), Coca-Cola (Toronto, Canada). lecturer / keynote speaker 1994-PRESENT
ACADEMIC PROFESSOR 1994-PRESENT KEYNOTE SPEAKER in universities, national students conferences, professional conventions, forums and seminars. UNIVERSIDADE DE SÃO PAULO ESCOLA DE COMUNICAÇÕES E ARTES CORPORATE WORKSHOPS on Innovation. Main clients are big DEPARTAMENTO DE PUBLICIDADE E PROPAGANDA Brazilian banks, telecommunication operators and multinational corporations like Autodesk, Samsung, Pfizer, FedEx and McKinsey. Academic professor, post-graduation. Subject: Digital communication, meta-interfaces and hyperrhetoric. colLaborative projects 2003-PRESENT academic professor, Undergrad courses. Three subjects: Graphic design and production; Photography and WEBSITES, BLOGS, WIKIS, PODCASTS and online collaborative visual literacy; and Digital communication. projects aiming to spread knowledge and to develop discussion forums on themes related to the digital environment.
95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07
Kropki Volks Polo VISA AlmapBBDO MTV BankBoston FIAT Marea StarMedia dpz.com WAAAP Coca-Cola Light Shop160 Bradesco AOL McDonald’s CineClick Element^n MOODs Coca-Cola Molson MAC Virtual Assistant Professor: Graphic Design Associate Professor: Graphic Design and Photography Professor: Graphic Design, Photography and Digital Communications Featured Columnist: Design Gráfico and Propaganda magazines Book: Design/Web/Design (1 & 2) Featured Columnist: Jump and Webdesign magazines Book: The Art of War... Book: DWD:3 Keynote speaker, universities, on Webdesign Keynote speaker, universities & corporate events, on Digital Culture Collaborative Projects Podcasts
Digital Content Management The Internet is messy. There are a lot of places you may want to spend your spare time. I don’t believe a commercial website should be one of them, do you?
The jobs under this category gathered a combination of marketing skills, user knowledge, information architecture and interaction design to provide all that’s needed as soon as possible.
Fetch. Find. Leave. Simple as that.
Digital Content Management bb 7
MAC Virtual, 2007 Museum 2.0 proposed Content: Museu de Arte Contemporânea, one of the most important Contemporary Art museum in Latin America, deserved its Your museum online action to be broader than a plain website. Despite • Theme guides (organized by artistic movement, the fact that this kind of cultural institution were among the color, mood, group recommendations etc) first to go online, the digital presence of museums and art • Personalized guides (to be printed in booklets and galleries had changed very little since the 90’s. Meanwhile, guides; the best-rated could become leaflets) the Internet had undergone many changes, specially in what • Your catalog (your selection of major works) relates to its usage (from reference library to publication and • Recommendations communication channel); and in what is usually called “the • Preferences user” (from an ordinary reader to an information prosumer). • Permanent Collection (open to tagging, ranking, linking and downloading) Since today the majority of available content is produced, recycled and referenced by common people rather than the news traditional information sources – media, schools, research • Arts, artists and shows news centers – what is a museum’s role in an online world? • Calendars • Museum and Expositions Blogs (updated by My proposal: museums, like classrooms, should be discussion researchers, press releases, staff, interns and volunteers) forums, the raw material for knowledge building, not anymore absolute centers of knowledge. They should not interactive Art only open their doors, but also grant access to all collections • Wiki and open Encyclopedias and reference centers, in order to become a reliable source • Widgets and open applications and a transparent institution, like it should be. • Special actions in expositions • Suggestions Each user could then define how to organize the art works, • Educational activities having access to the whole collection in a personalized and • Sources for public access and manipulation flexible way, something impossible in the real world. That would show a museum true vocation: interaction, research, education and participation.
8 bb Digital Content Management
Telemig Celular, 2007 mobile phone shops are not pharmacies
I strongly believe that a transaction environment should reflect the spirit of the products it sells. If it is business-oriented, it should be straightforward and objective; if it is built for entertainment, it should be fun; above all, it can’t be boring nor inefficient. Mobile phone shops, although, are the opposite: generic, vague, a little oppressive and not informative. There’s almost nothing about the thrill of the phone it sells in it.
My work with an advertising agency to redesign Telemig Celular’s online shop (visual, navigation and business tools) headed in that direction. Our proposal was to give the shopping experience some personality, in such a way that it could stand out in the business.
We wanted to build a tool for relationship between brand and consumer. To do so, we had to focus on research to define key user groups, their behavior and responses concerning mobile phone usage. That took into account the “new” uses of these devices that go way beyond talking: SMS, pictures, videos, radio, music.
When the device main function changes, so does its business language. Or at least it should, for no business sells digital cameras by the megapixel, nor MP3 Players by the megabyte. We focused on the needs and uses of each key group, what would lead to the development of tailored products.
The project is still being assessed.
Digital Content Management b 9
Element^n, 2006 MyRadio (personal playlists / podcasts to be set in What do you need a handset for? a computer player than sent to the Mobile when update – kind of a MobRSS) Mobile Internet is the answer! But... what was the question anyway? Book4Me (books places in shows / restaurants)
Everyone talks the mobile talk, but there still are few companies WhereRU? (LBS service to find friends and/or people of focused on developing true (and relevant) cross-platform similar interests) applications. HiTunes (hip ringtone downloads once a week) Element^n, a development company based in Beirut, Lebanon, hired my services to develop a broad range of products to their SimBeyrouth (city simulation game, based on real client - MTC Vodafone Bahrain - to be run in 13 countries in the places in specific towns and dealt with real people) Middle East. NewsRoom (news tailored for specific business I helped them define a combination of products based on USAGE area, based on dependable sources and (entertainment / services), LOCATION (mobile to mobile / mobile recommendations from editors) to fixed), DEVICE FEATURES (basic / mid-range / multimedia) and USER AGE. 2Do2Day (to-do list, connected to office to help business decisions) We developed a set of 48 product prototypes, in order to cover most user needs. Many are under development now. They were Jam (info on traffic, alternative ways and map, set on assigned self-explainable titles in SMS-like language, such as: computer and sent to mobile)
LUshdknow (celebrity / sports gossip with quiz & WhoRU? (business profile of company / place to visit, trivia, based on TV programming) address, contact)
MobGotchi (virtual Pet to be raised by a community, KeepTrack (keep track of teamwork with a common using computer and Mobile) blog/webpage that can be fed by individual participants and checked by all) 2Night (lists all venues / events on request and sends them via SMS) 10 b Digital Content Management
HOME PORTAL
APLICAÇÃO DA LOGOMARCA: FULL BANNER Para não deixá-la muito grande BARRA JORNALISMO + SERVIÇOS ENTERTAINMENT SHOPPING (468X60) na home, optamos por aumentar a área de respiro ao redor dela. Assim, mesmo ficando um pouco mais reduzida, ela se destaca de AOL.COM.BR uma forma mais elegante, sem 12 de fevereiro de 2003 - 17:16 BUSCA EDITORIAL: poluir muito a página. Aqui o usuário encontra Guerra à vista links pré-selecionados Nome de ttella Busca busca avançada Shopping EUA têm pouco apoio sobre algum assunto que ÁREA DO ASSINANTE: buscar esteja em evidência. Senha Submarino Como o target do portal Senha para a guerra Discurso de Powell, ontem na com resultados MPB ao vivo são usuários que ainda em português ONU, não conseguiu o aval para em toda a web por R$20,90 não conhecem a AOL, entrar o ataque imediato a Bagdá SHOPPING: em vez de usar uma Resposta: Paquistão desmente Mercado Livre Com a utilização de uma barra horizontal de Powell: "provas" não Kelly Key convenceram Conselho acusações de Powell Aparelho de Defesa leve variação cromática, serviços, que acabaria AOL Mail Os melhores links pessoal R$49,00 diferenciamos um pouco sobre a nova musa roubando muito espaço Últimas Notícias Brasil | Esportes | Mundo | Economia Mensagem Últimas Notícias do pop brasileiro. mais cada oferta. do conteúdo, criamos uma Instantânea Shoptime área vertical exclusiva IBGE: indústria registra uma expansão de 2,4% em 2002 Pen Cam Trio Plus para os assinantes. Desttaques por R$299,00 NOTÍCIAS: Nottííciias Casal acusado de tentar matar os filhos vai para cadeia Mantivemos a mesma Copa Libertadores CompraVip Aviação: Varig e TAM se unem para reduzir os gastos estrutura do primeiro Esporrttes Santos massacra Kit para massagem modelo proposto, com a BARRA DE CANAIS: Igreja russa quer canonizar Rasputin e Ivan, o Terrível América de Cali por 5 a 1 com 8 peças R$96 divisão do conteúdo em Músiica e começa com o pé Para não frustrar os Bêbado dorme nos trilhos e sai ileso à passagem do trem 4 temas navegáveis. direito a Taça Catho usuários, destacamos na Busca barra de canais somente Inclua seu currículo Tempo Trânsito Game: 'Need For Speed' por 7 dias grátis SERVIÇOS: aqueles já contemplados Downlloads Coloque o sinto de com um novo layout. Transito intenso na Radial Leste. Confira Assim como fizemos no outros trechos aqui. segurança e pilote as Assine Abril Só na AOL horóscopo, nosso intuito A barra, no entanto, pode Só na AOL máquinas mais cobi- Leve 3 revistas SP foi otimizar a navegação, ser facilmente expandida Mapas çadas e modernas do e pague 2 Assiine AOL min. 22 reduzindo o número de com a inserção de Aqui você encontra as melhores alternativas mundo subprodutos dos canais. máx. 35 cliques do usuário. para o seu caminho. Clique. Novo round na TV O Boticário Ouuttrrooss Caannaaiiss Loção Hidratante Assim, já na home, ele Record aposta em atração com encontra uma prévia da Horróscopo escolha aqui seu signo Pré e Pós Sol OUTROS CANAIS: ok Otaviano Costa para ganhar audiência previsão do tempo, das Serviços AOL Os demais canais e serviços, Serviços AOL Novo emprego Flores Online condições do trânsito e Vestibular Senadora rebelde ainda não reformulados, Faça um check list e encontre Todo estilo e arte do canal de mapas. serão acessados por um Confira agora a lista de Mercadante convence possíveis erros na elaboração do seu para todo o Brasil dropdown situado na base aprovados na Unicamp Heloísa Helena a se alinhar. currículo da barra, que levará o ClickCasa DESTAQUES: usuário para um promo do A volta do dragão Guerra sem fim Receita de verão Luminária de mesa A estrutura também futura em 3X canal em Flash. Inflação em SP é a maior Tropas de Israel fazem nova Espaguete com camarão é rápido e permanece a mesma, desde começo do Plano Real incursão na Faixa de Gaza fácil de preparar com duas chamadas com foto e duas sem. HORÓSCOPO: Assine AOL Só na A O L - Exclusivo para assinantes © 2003 America Online, Inc. Para eliminar um step da Alanis Morissette está de volta Folia na Bahia Todos os Direitos navegação do usuário, ele Reservados. A cantora canadense prepara o lançamento do A AOL vai levar você já pode selecionar, direto Notas Legais CD 'Feast on Scraps'. Ouça em primeira mão o para passar o carnaval na home, qual signo deseja Controle dos Pais COPYRIGHT novo disco e assista entrevista com a Alanis em Salvador! consultar, sem precisar Política de Privacidade passar por nenhuma página intermediária. ÁREA DE CHAMADA PARA CONTEÚDO EXCLUSIVO
BANNER PROMOCIONAL
Based on the “Running Man” logo (left), a whole iconographic set was developed. Digital Content Management b 11
AOL (re)design, 2003/4 Let’s put America Online
AOL Brasil is the Brazilian branch of America Online, the world’s largest Internet Service Provider. Crazy as it may seem, nobody there thought of developing a true, web-based service. The turning of the 20th Cen- tury was gone for more than three years, but the portal still depended on a CD-ROM to run its browser. Outdated, but untouchable.
I was hired as a consultant to restructure the Content / Experience Gen- eration area (more or less everything but infrastructure, finance and marketing). My main task was to lead the company’s change toward an open standards (HTML Website) model. before This may sound easy, however it required a group of specialists working hard to redesign the content, plan for scalability, research and adapt content formats for new target groups, develop business leads, restructure the creative, graphic, photo and editorial teams for new market opportunities – while keeping the old service online and connecting the dots for a smooth transition.
I hired a top-class creative team and we started to design a new portal. Since it was already 2003/4, it would be pointless to ignore all other portals’ design efforts. So we learned from their success stories (and mistakes, of course). In a sort of “standing in the shoulders of giants”, the team developed a new portal based on true user’s needs, provided by extensive research on their habits while using the competition.
It worked so well that, a year later, UOL (one of the biggest Brazilian news portals) redesigned its pages. Some say that our layouts were copied. I’d rather believe that some interface guidelines which we used were universal. after 12 b Digital Content Management
AOL Games, 2003 A gaming channel that’s fun to play with
Gamers are pragmatic. “No matter what we do, they’re only looking for bandwidth”, I’ve been told. Research proved that it was right – to a certain degree. It couldn’t be disregarded that they were looking for FUN and that information is an important part of the game. AOL Brasil had neither, and an important part of the gaming community was aware of that.
To solve the information problem, a gaming portal was called to become a content partner. The development of a new graphic project for the whole portal allowed us to create a Flash interface that resembled a gaming atmosphere and became quite popular. Especially among beginners, our preferred users.
AOL Maxx, 2003 What IS THE USE OF BROADBAND?
Dialup Internet was free and worked well enough. Why pay about US$50/month to make it faster? A Flash-based multimedia channel was developed to show the average user reasons to do so.
This channel was rather cross-media: it integrated movie trailers with MP3 downloads and online games, focusing on what was new and hot among all channels. Its dynamic “x” shape referred to the “MAXX” brand, meaning “extra” features. Maxx became AOL’s Home Page for service subscribers and, to our surprise, many visited it repeatedly, coming both from AOL dialup services and from the competition. Digital Content Management b 13
AOL Busca, 2004 Is there a model for search engines?
AOL Busca had a never-used search engine. It wasn’t hard to figure out why, for it had EXACTLY the same features of Google (including the same search engine, licensed) and no direct access from the desktop. The user’s efforts to get there had to pay. They didn’t.
The search service should get to better results than Google, but how? Well, take a good look at Google. The service strength is undeniable, but the interface... by making its typeface a little smaller, removing the URL displayed at the bottom of every result and color-coding some features, it would be easier to get more results in the first screen/scroll, making it even more efficient.
Some services (like people / address /service / product search) could be added to that, keeping the main graphic project.
McDonald’s McInternet, 2004
McNuggets, TCP/IP sauce
This may sound awkward, but I truly believe that newspapers and restaurants DO have a lot in common. At least fast-food ones. That’s where the newspaper concept fits. Depending on the day, Soon after I finished my consulting for AOL, McDonald’s hired me time and location the machine was set; there should be relevant to develop a content portal. It was to be used in their free-access content available on the home page, based on research. internet machines, open to consumers. Example: if it’s Saturday, 11 A.M., in a suburban area, chances are The main task was: the user should regard the McDonald’s you’re either with your kids or looking for a new place to live – the computers as something useful, which would enhance their content highlights should focus on that. Lunchtime in weekdays experience, rather than an e-mail facility. could have career advice or financial information. And so on. 14 b Digital Content Management
Fiat Marea, 1998 Ad atmosphere
To launch the new Marea automobile, FIAT’s agency Leo Burnett developed a series of TV commercials, all of them with a very catchy soundtrack. Two weeks later, a two-page magazine ad, which featured the car, had a CD attached to it. It had (of course) the commercials soundtrack and a bonus interactive track, which featured most of the car features, connecting the user to the Internet for pricing information.
There was a huge number of copies: 750.000. With all the info which would never fit a single spread: the colors and accessories in an interactive way, complete profiles and technical data, connecting to FIAT website for pricing / financing.
MTV, 1996 Too much “attitude”
Restructuring the Music Television website dwelled on a simple idea: it had to be ABOUT music, ON television and using interactive features. Quite basic.
The original website was black, heavy, obscure and moody. It was something like a “ghetto” channel, which no useful information. We reviewed the information architecture and navigation, easing the access to information. We also developed a digital community, “club MTV”, with many interactive products, trivia and games focused on specific publics, grouped considering musical taste, attitude and urban tribes. Digital Content Management b 15
Cineclick, 2003+ Everything about movies
Cineclick, the most important Brazilian movie portal, displayed a huge list of artists, directors and movies, had an updated news services and one of the most complete theatre schedules in the country. Despite being huge fans of IMDb [the Internet Movie Database], they wanted something fancier, closer to the movies environment (meaning lots of images, colors and sounds) than to the austere internet database style.
I’ve been working for them as a consultant for some years now, helping the staff to define its interface and develop its information architecture, in such a way that all information is modular and customizable – what makes it easier to build content partnerships with newspapers, telecom operators and other portals.
Shop160, 2001 SMS. Buy. Go.
Shop160 was a provider of mobile marketing campaigns to brands and media companies. During the final report of my Ph.D. I worked It worked more or less like this: user writes a keyword of what’s as a branding and information architecture consultant in the wanted (say: “Harry Potter”) and sends via SMS to a specific number building of this m-commerce system. – an answer is received in the form of a multiple-choice text (say: “1- Sorcerer’s Stone; DVD, 2- Chamber of Secrets; Book...) – user answers They knew quite well that nobody would buy a car using SMS, the question and receives the price – if agreed, user sets delivery but what to say of impulse purchase of things like MP3, ringtones, format – user confirms purchase – all set in a matter of seconds. books, games, tickets? The idea we developed was based on a short dialog between user and system would define product, When necessary (first contact, complaints, special requirements), delivery format and cost. an attendant would contact the user.
16 b Digital Content Management
Waaap, 2001 Pocket Internet. In all senses.
Telesp Celular, the leading cell phone carrier in Sao Paulo, wanted its advertising agency DPZ to develop a media concept for its WAP services. I was working with dpz.com ,its digital division at that time. We engaged in developing a portal explaining all what WAP technology was about.
The main idea behind the WAAAP portal was its “pocket internet” concept. Meaning portable, but also meaning that it had fewer features. The same idea of a paperback book. The “triple A” in the logo reminded visually the “triple W” of the web.
Glorinha&Siqueira sitcom, 2001 Next e-pisode
Teachers know well that there are times when telling a story is the best way to toss a rather tough subject to the public. The cuter/ funnier the story is, the better. What to say if, besides that, it’s a bit interactive? That was the idea of Glorinha&Siqueira, a series of TV commercials for Telesp Celular in a somewhat sitcom format, which showed hip people WAPping each other.
While the WAAAP portal had a strong focus on business, this one emphasized the fun part of the technology. This website had a quite different mood, like “explaining” what the actors did on TV and teaching different ways to use the product for social benefit –meaning FUN, not technical nor professional benefits – was quite an easy way to show the benefits of WAP. Digital Content Management b 17
Carlton Arts, 2001 - Classic arts. Postmodern stage.
British American Tobacco, facing Brazilian advertising restrictions, sponsored a major performing arts exhibition, under the Carlton brand. Its website was originally intended to work as an online guide, for everyone thought that computers and classic arts simply didn’t match. But aren’t both all about opening doors to unprecedented experiences by using the imagination? At least isn’t that what art curators and videogame marketers preach?
The team I coordinated developed an online environment intended to merge both experiences in a gallery-style (MMORPG-style? You name it). The website evolved to become an interactive art experiment by itself. The “digital gallery” lasted all event long. In it the user lost track of direction, time and dimensions of what to expect, which resulted on a true unprecedented digital happening.
Jontex, 2001 - Boy meets girl... does he?
Young men and women face the sexual experience in different ways, but the media is usually single-sided. It seemed kind of obvious that Jontex condoms needed a couple (no pun intended) of websites – one directed to young males and other to their female counterparts. Research, though, told us that there was – how to state it? – a strong “voyeur” effect. A significant amount of teen boys were quite fond of reading the pages directed to the girls, and vice-versa. My team developed a website exploiting the situation. Every page showed both sides of the same question, but in a way that only one answer could be seen at a time. It was illustrated by a well-known cartoonist and soon became very popular as an entertaining sexual education tool.
FNAC, 2000 - Picture this
FNAC wanted, like all retailers, an efficient e-commerce website. But since almost everyone, from Wal-Mart to Harrods, had the same cold, three-column boring website, they wanted to have as much personality as possible. I went after Art Deco sources to develop a classic layout, filled with design attributes universally regarded as “French”, without losing track of its main objective: selling goods. It worked well for some time, but international design guidelines buried the idea. Product development & brand architecture In the virtual storefront of the Internet, big and small businesses do have the same opportunities, don’t they? No, they don’t. There was a time when being online was enough. Now that virtually everyone has a web presence, what a brand does online and how it engages users is almost as important as its history.
Still the basic problem remains: how to get the user to visit a website? The answer is, as always, the same – by providing relevant services and keeping them updated.
I believe that the task to build an online brand has more to do with providing a great user experience than to any technological tour de force. Therefore, the teams I work with tend to focus on the user, providing the best products and services available.
That’s what this section is about. product development / brand architecture bb 19
Coca-Cola booths, 2007 images not publicly available Your inner child
There was a time in which the ultimate online experience was a game. Animation technologies allowed the creation of almost any game something really easy – so easy that it lost its appeal. In the world of true gaming, it makes much more sense to play with a Nintendo Wii than to waste time on unattractive brand website content pieces.
But what seemed to be taken for granted is that, in modern life, people miss the sense of pure play. Everybody plays to win. Nobody seems to play for fun.
When working with Coca-Cola, I was introduced to the brand concept of “The Coke Side of Life”, which seemed to fit perfectly to a movement sensor-based digital graffiti. The idea couldn’t be any simpler: Coca-Cola shaped kiosks the size of phone booths would host a projector and a video camera for motion capture. When empty, the huge bottles would project a simple dancing waveform with the shape of an extinguished candle smoke, only varying in color.
But whenever someone got in there, he/she would have 30 seconds of fame. Every movement would be “translated” into a series of random colors and shapes, projected onto the walls. At the end of the interaction, the light would turn back to the smoke shape and the system would print a message with the web address in which the animation could be retrieved. The animation would also be used as a live ad, broadcasted in screen wallpapers, web pages, banners and skyscrapers, in a truly living kaleidoscope.
It was a perfect match to the brand concept, for the client had already commissioned traditional sculptors and graffiti artists in Europe to paint forms in building facades. Having an ever-changing virtual front was considered something beyond expected. Due to the cost of its buildup and maintenance; and to legal implications, the project is still under evaluation. 20 bb product development / brand architecture
Coors Light, 2007 images not publicly available world’s greatest snowball fight
Despite all the fun of winter sports – from snowboarding to dog sledging – it seems undeniable that one of the loveliest childlike activities of the cold is a good snowball fight. One of the best parts of it is that, unlike most sports and physical activities, there are almost no official regulation or properties, therefore it could only loosely be referred to as a game.
When Coors Light wanted to develop a brand campaign based on the unique proposition of being “cold”, it is unnecessary to say that the marketing department was overflown with “Mr. Freeze”- like ideas. Some wanted to freeze a batch of beer cans, others wanted to suspend things in ice... yeah, right. As if nobody had ever thought of that. It seemed that the fact that they were talking about beer, not ice, was being taken for granted. And by beer I could only think of fun, happy crowds. Beer relates to gatherings and laughter, so why stick to the cold?
Using sensors, video projections and a couple of empty walls, the idea I proposed was a virtual snowball fight... among people living in two or more different cities, gathered randomly together. It could also be a target competition between people online (who would set and move the targets) and people on the streets (who would try to hit them).
The activity was intended to trigger spontaneous media. For instance, it could easily be extended to multi-city online projects; which would certainly break the current world record of 3,745 simultaneous players. It was a pitch. We lost. Nobody dared to put that into practice (yet). product development / brand architecture b 21
Bradesco, 2002-3 Money when you need it
Why aren’t there bank advertisements in surf magazines? Or in fashion shows, sports events, car sale catalogs? Better: why are bank ads usually placed in economy / business / finance magazines? Were their readers the only ones dealing with money?
I posed that simple question to the staff of Bradesco – the biggest bank in Brazil. Surprisingly as this may seem, nobody at that time seemed to figure out one good reason for that. My proposal was to make both ends meet: user needs (credit, advice, savings) and bank services meeting at the same place.
A series of interactive ads, strategically placed in very targeted media (young women’s online magazines, for instance) asked relevant questions, closely related to the subject of the page where it was placed.
Unexpected questions arose, like “calculate here when you can take your next trip to California” (in Surf portals); “save a bit of your monthly wages to buy a new notebook” (in IT pages); or even “you can afford that lifting – let us show you how” (in women’s editorial pages on plastic surgery); and so on.
Since these questions were very focused, they grasped the user’s attention to a tiny finance simulator, which could be used uncompromisingly. If the user needed more information, an online chat service with bank consultants was available. 22 b product development / brand architecture
dpz.com, 2000-1 Who needs a Digital Agency?
Despite being one of the leading and most traditional advertising agencies, DPZ had some worries regarding its future.
In the beginning of the “digital age”, many advertising clients had a web presence as something desirable in their media plans – regardless of what that meant. In that scenario, some regarded DPZ as an outdated agency, what couldn’t be farther from truth.
I was hired as a managing consultant to develop and manage dpz.com, a new media department responsible for developing and updating some of the agency’s communication strategies for many of its clients, like Coca-Cola, British American Tobacco, Johnson&Johnson, Citroën, Portugal Telecom and Banco Itaú.
One of my tasks was to be a “digital media evangelist”, teaching clients and agency personnel what that new media stuff was about. By the end of this one-year job, most of the agency staff was developing online services and dpz.com could be merged to the rest of the agency. product development / brand architecture b 23
Coca-Cola Light (at night) , 2001 Coke. Light. Now what?
To tell the truth, there’s not much to say when the subject is Coca- Cola Light. The product maketing team in Brazil had a cool idea, though. They wanted to state that it was the perfect drink to have when going out at night.
My team at dpz.com developed some interactive products (like the “night agenda” for the user to list all parties and places to go in a shareable mini-Microsoft Outlook, starting at 6PM and ending at 8AM) and a website listing cool bars and clubs. To develop this list we contacted Veja magazine, which had a very good entertainment guide for the cities we were interested in.
Once branding the guide, the rest was quite simple: we developed a community interface and Coca-Cola gently printed our URL in big, bold letters in about one billion cans. That’s a true high- penetration media, which awarded us (a 4-people creative team) with the biggest Brazilian media award.
Costa do Sauípe , 2000
You work too much It consisted of MS-Office-like icons placed over important topics in news magazines (even over pin-ups’ private parts in men Among the many places a resort can advertise its services, the magazines). It also had sea sounds on business web pages; Internet surely isn’t the most privileged – small pictures, dull “misplaced” pictures and so on. portals, tiny space, low-resolution pictures and pixel art aren’t by far, admirable features. So what’s the use of fighting the interface? Sauípe’s website had to pay the campaign promise. I believe it did. Instead, my proposal was to develop an online campaign based on It consisted of a collection of huge 360o pictures, with hidden texts the theme “you work too much”. showing, playfully, some of the unique features of the resort. 24 b product development / brand architecture
StarMedia, 1999 Branding means good news
How to make a profitable news portal? One may say that it’s a million-dollar question. Well, maybe. The answer, though, provided StarMedia about 20 times this amount.
It was, like always, a simple idea. As a consultant in Vice-President level, working with all Latin-American branches, I reported to the main office, in New York. After a long study of their business plans, I proposed that, instead of using advertising banners as a source of revenue, they should try branding some of its channels to be solely sponsored by major brands, provided they kept editorial independence.
The patron brand should provide support and advertising resources, which could make the channel stronger and more popular, receiving, in return, a premium place for opportunity ads, access to a premium mailing list and lots of data gathering – for CRM purposes.
That collaborative work helped strengthen both partners’ image, leading to powerful and in-depth coverage of many subjects. product development / brand architecture b 25
StarMedia Mais, 1999 You need more
Teenagers usually have a huge curiosity about everything around them; only surpassed by the strong need to belong to a group. In these gatherings, there is strong competition among most members, each one of them wishing to stand out of the crowd.
That was the concept behind StarMedia’s teen portal: in a pre- blog era, instead of hiring editors to develop teen content, we encouraged users to willingly contribute to our pages, in exchange for their 15Kb of fame.
The number of channels – and the precision of the information stated in each – although edited, was variable, and not to be taken seriously. That worked so well that, later on, Pepsi acquired the channel and merged with their “Ask for more” campaign.
StarMedia Mulher, 1999 Symbiosis
A brand-new magazine can be neutral, but is usually unknown. A popular brand is the opposite. We wanted the StarMedia women pages to be both profitable and popular. It was a brand new channel and there as no budget for advertising. Since it was not meant to be a L’Oreal magazine, StarMedia women channel could even criticize its products (it wouldn’t, but The solution came surprisingly from one of the channel’s main knowing that it could was indeed an assuring thought). advertisers, L’Oreal Paris, who wanted to develop an online beauty magazine. We proposed the opposite: branding our pages as a solo The operation was quite successful, and the channel was later sold sponsor, provided that the news independence remained absolute. to L’Oreal, becoming a part of their website. 26 b product development / brand architecture
AlmapBBDO / ONMedia, 1998 Smooth transition
How to move from one stop-shop to consultancy?
My studio was a digital strategy and development partner to AlmapBBDO for almost two years. In strategic meetings with the Agency directors, we all came to the conclusion that digital media had come to stay and it was necessary for AlmapBBDO to have its own digital department, which was called OnMedia.
My task was to make the transition as smooth as possible, in such a way that their clients wouldn’t discern one business model from the other, what eventually happened. product development / brand architecture b 27
VISA website, 1996 - When is the right time to access a website?
Who would go to a VISA website in a Saturday night? If it is “nobody” your answer, you should better think again. My proposal focused the communication on the discounts and promotions provided to card members. It was a quite thorough guide of bars and restaurants, feature quite uncommon in Brazil at that time. The integrated advertising campaign suggested visiting the site and searching for entertainment opportunities before leaving home (or town).
Volkswagen Polo, 1996 - Online. Or bust.
Volkswagen had a problem. It was scheduled to launch its new Polo automobile soon, but the advertising campaign was planned to take place only three weeks later. In other words, the dealers didn’t have a single brochure. The solution was in a teaser campaign using billboards and two-page ads with the text: www.volkspolo.com.br. All the launch media efforts were made by its website.
J.R. Duran, 1997 - Photosite
No matter how creative the photographer may be, their websites are usually big thumbnail collections, as innovative as any personal web photo album. J. R. Duran is a well-known Brazilian advertising and fashion photographer. I wanted to call the user’s attention to the rich character of the man behind the work, making a testimonial website that was quite popular. It was online until some of years ago, when he had to make a more conventional website, due to client demands.
.comDominio, 2000 - Brandwidth
.comDominio is an ISP/Data center whose greatest strength was its scalability, something hard to prove when you’re a startup company, with almost no clients. My team developed a series of animated logos showing the dot in “.com” evolving to a square, then a cube, which replicated itself into other cubes, building bigger ones. Their proposal was to show that, when their clients’ data demands should increase, the servers would multiply, in an interconnected, solid network. 28 b product development / brand architecture
Kropki, 1995 - 96 Irreverence as a punch line
Since its beginning, Kropki, my digital design studio was focused on developing assertively creative jobs, in order to explore all digital media elements available.
At that time, our company profile – the portfolio / commercial website – had to stand out, showing radical examples of what could be done.
We had a problem, though: very little of what we proposed got eventually to be done – the average client was too scared of the new panorama to take full usage of it. So we used our own website as an experimenting ground and, to our surprise, it became quite popular, awarding us with two important prizes – in the digital art category. product development / brand architecture b 29
Bank Boston, 1997 - Navigating in style
BankBoston was already well known for the way their private banking clients were flattered. They wanted to develop a web campaign proving that their online services were flawless – and upscale. The website’s major strength was security, but they were a bit afraid of boasting it in a pre-millennium bug era, for that could magnetize a mob of hackers that, despite being incapable of doing any serious harm, could scrap the corporate image.Besides that, security is the one bank service that has to be democratic. Exalting the safety of its private accounts could scare off clients from ordinary ones.
The advertising agency Leo Burnett hired my consultant services and we came to a “navigating in style” concept, showing in a stop- motion animation the difference between sailing in a paper boat (meaning unsafe financial services) and going on a cruise with BankBoston’s ship.
Klabin, 2001 - Toilet paper. No budget.
This is one of those typical advertising challenges, and one of the main reasons I love my job. A rather unattractive client, a rather plain product and close to no money to advertise it (for some quite obvious reasons, one may say).
A series of cartoon-based screen savers were developed, many of which became quite popular. In a quite simple way, the user was asked of what kind of “substance” to use as a toilet paper – and the effects they could cause (jokingly, of course). The character became quite popular and was distributed in a “viral” way. Later on, it was used in a series of animations in TV commercials. 30 b product development / brand architecture
SYSTEM PHYSICIAN PATIENTMOODs, 2006 STEP 1: PROJECT PRESENTATION How are you today? PRESENT TEST USER GATHER AGGREEMENT RECEPTION / DATA BipolarHANDSET Disorder USAGE, also HABITSknown as manic-depressive illness, is a DATA GATHERING SEND COMPLIANCE DEVICE BRAND / MODEL AND SYSTEM CUSTOMIZATION DATA TO SERVICE serious medical condition that causes shifts in a person’s mood, energy, and ability to function. Different from the normal ups and STEP 2: INSTALLATION + TRAINING downs that everyone goes through, their symptoms are severe. LEARN In some cases, the mood swings may happen many times a day. INSTALL AGGREE TEST To these patients, waiting a couple of days for the next psychiatric TRAIN QUESTION SUPPORT appointment may be very painful. CUSTOMIZED SYSTEM PROPOSE STEP 3: FIRST APPOINTMENT A psychiatrist client of mine, who is finishing his Ph.D. at an American hospital, has developed a question sheet to be answered TEACH daily by BD patients, so their doctor could follow-up whether the PATIENT LEARN ACCEPTANCE FEEDBACK medicationDEVELOP takenHABIT was being effective or if the patient needed ASSESSMENT closer supervision.
STEP 4: PATIENT USAGE The problem with the poll was its support – it couldn’t be on paper, for the patient might not have it at hand; if it were HANDSET STORES DATA ON STARTUP AND SENDS IT ENCRYPTED, SEND computerized,N TIMES A DAY the patient might also be far from the computer. PERIODICALLY, VIA SMS, TO SYSTEM (COMPILED) AT SPECIFIC MOMENTS DATA MyON-DEMAND proposal was to use text applications on mobile devices. They STEP 5: REMOTE DIAGNOSIS would ask preformatted questions at regular intervals and send them via SMS to the computer of the physician, who could make DELIVER DATA IS DECRYPTED, COMPILED, a more accurate follow-up. That’s what MOODs stands for: Mobile GROUPED AND STORED IN A INTERACT Observation Data-Gathering System. PASSWORD-PROTECTED AREA DATA LOOKUP STEP 6: FOLLOWING APPOINTMENTS
DIAGNOSE ACCURATE ANALYSIS INTERPRET BETTER FOLLOW-UP COMPARE FEEDBACK FASTER RELIEF PATIENT HISTORY PATIENT COMPARISION STEP 7: SYSTEM COMPILATION
COMPILE DATA DOCTOR SEND ENHANCE SYSTEM TEAMS DATA HELPS RESEARCH product development / brand architecture b 31
New Media consultancy, 2003+ $POWFSHFODFVTBHFWTDPOWFOJFODF What kind of appliances will replace TVs? &/5&35"*/.&/5 HOW WILL computers LOOK LIKE? $0/40-&4&/7*30/.&/5 3"%*0(14 57 )"/%4&5 Some advertising agencies in Brazil ask for my advice when developing projects for their new media clients. When )0.&5)&"5&3 $".&3"4(".&4 new buzzwords and scary terms like Interactive Television, '*9&% .0#*-& High-Definition TV, Podcasts, Blogs, RFID, PVRs, m-commerce, /05�, 1$ Collaborative Communications and Emerging Technologies show up, I 1%"$6450. am usually called to help their teams to look for new insights. 803, My advice is usually required by Branding / Advertising agencies looking for new technological scenarios in changing urban areas – and also by corporations looking for new ways to communicate to their emerging markets based on new technologies.
On the subject Media Convergence, for example, I worked with a client to develop strategic planning and win two high-tech Ciclo de “Novas Mídias”: product accounts. IGNORÂNCIA The scenarios were: FASCÍNIO
* Fixed entertainment: TV sets and consoles, close to diversion * Fixed work: computer, converged DESCOBERTA * Portable entertainment: devices and handsets, diverged; and * Portable work: notebooks, PDAs and meters, close to conversion. HÁBITO EXPLORAÇÃO
DECEPÇÃO ANGÚSTIA Academic, Texts, Lectures Aside from the work as a creative director, I’ve spent most of my career teaching, mainly at the School of Communication and Arts of the University of São Paulo (ECA/USP), the most important university in Brazil. Dealing with classes of young, bright and outstandingly imaginative young fellows is quite a passion. They challenge me almost every term – and my greatest accomplishment is to keep up to their demands.
That activity make me used to dealing with vibrant (self-centered, mostly) teams of innovative personnel, leading them to focus on results while dealing properly with the rest of the teams. That’s quite a skill - I discovered that when working with advertising agency teams.
Besides that, I am also keen on writing. I’ve written more than 200 technical articles on web design, digital culture, innovation and mobile communications. I also wrote a handful of books, lectures, keynotes, workshops, seminars and academic works. Academic / texts / lectures b 33
Education
I am now developing my post doctorate research on collaborative digital work, emerging communities and online education.
My PhD thesis was on digital communication in post-modern times, granted by the School of Communication and Arts of the University of São Paulo – ECA/USP in 2002. Under the name Digital Cyrano – the quest for identity in a transforming society, it situated the role of communication in postmodern times. Dealing with an array of themes – from piercing, tattoos and plastic surgery to emoticons and virtual reality – it intended to show that these cultural manifestations were part of the individual’s intense effort to search for identity in an ever-changing society.
My Masters degree dissertation was on language and hypertext, also granted by ECA/USP in 1998. Under the name The three- dimensional text, it showed the power and possibilities of hypertext-based literary systems. It had 162 “text units” (kind of minor chapters), which were linked in many ways but the ordinary, sequential form. It sometimes lead the reader to dead ends and “non-existent pages”, to show that hypertext, like ordinary text, follows some codes and rules – and that some of its possibilities could only exist in a web-based system.
I have two graduation degrees: one in Social Communication / Advertising at ECA/USP in 1991. My paper was on desktop publishing and how it changed the role of print advertising; the other one was in Computer Science / Technology, with a paper on LOGO, computers and digital education, by the School of Technology of Mackenzie University, in São Paulo, 1986. 34 b Academic / texts / lectures
LOV Will bring us together
How to develop micro markets?
It is boasted everywhere that the internet connects people and As a teacher / researcher at ECA/USP, I’ve developed my laboratory, provides new business opportunities. But does it? I mean, really? called LOV – Location Of Value. Is there any true possibility for an outstanding illustrator who happens to live in a remote small town to connect to a company It dwelled on a simple idea: the Internet could be used as a huge in need of his services, considered that this company is situated in marketplace for communication professionals. Each would have a another remote city, thousands of kilometers away? 5MB space to present oneself, to be accessed (and assessed) by the whole community, while offering services without having to leave Probably not. What usually happens is quite the opposite. Due hometown. to lack of business opportunities, professionals flee from small villages – where they could enjoy a high living standard in a very The project could ensure lower communication services fees, low cost – to big cities, where an expensive and overcrowded greater job opportunities, higher quality of living and local market market await. In this process, their local markets remain development, in a national business network. undeveloped. LOV is my only academic project in this case-study resume. Like Since life is usually expensive in big cities, prices should rise. But most university projects in Brasil, it is now stalled, due to politics. then again there aren’t job opportunities enough for them all, One day I intend to restart it, for that’s what I believe the Internet therefore competition forces them to work insanely – and hardly really stands for. making a living.
Small to medium companies face the same problems. Since there’s no reliable quality standard, they have to ignore their local markets and search for communication jobs to be done in big cities, where prices usually are way beyond budget, what, eventually, cancels most communication jobs. Academic / texts / lectures b 35
Academic professor (post-grad) Mentoring
Since 2003, I’ve been working as an Associate Professor at ECA/ The most awesome part of my professor activity is, undoubtedly, USP for post graduation students. My subject is called Digital mentoring undergraduate students for their graduation papers. communication, meta-interfaces and hyperrhetoric, and it covers Since I deal with a great variety of themes – and since most subjects such as post-modern times; digital culture; luddism; of them are related to innovation, post-modern and digital technophilia; information fetish; information anxiety; identity culture – I am sought by students who wish to develop the most switching; cyberspace; interface culture; hypertext; hypermedia; unexpected themes. Things like blogs, Viagra, e-music, raves, information architecture; blogs; multi-author interfaces; digital fashion, money branding, automobile tuning, digital counterculture communities; and emergence processes. and piracy are quite usual.
As an academic researcher, I also tutor postgraduate students on Like a friend of mine once told me, it’s like sitting still at my desk, digital communication and related areas. while new trends come knocking at my door. That’s more or less how it happens. Any better reason to love it? Academic Professor (undergrad)
My experience as an academic professor for the undergrad course on Social Communication / Advertising at ECA/USP predates my Masters degree. I started in 1993 as an Assistant Professor for the graphic design and production subject, and late became its titular.
By the year 2000, with my Ph.D. under development, I became Associate Professor, also responsible for the photography and visual literacy subject.
Two years later, I developed the digital communications subject.
I teach all three disciplines (and the post-grad), two each term. This usually takes me Monday morning and the evenings of Monday and Tuesday, allowing me enough time to work as a consultant during the rest of the week. 36 bb Academic / texts / lectures Keynotes The rather novelty of the themes I research and work with, combined to my rather dynamic personality (and my experience as a teacher) have earned me a lot of lecturing invitations. It’s been more than a decade that I’ve been keynote speaker in universities, national students conferences, professional conventions, forums and seminars.
The same happens in corporate workshops and private events, to which I am usually called to address the innovation issue – and how to update the overall corporate culture.
As a rule, the kind of company that hires me is a big, uptight corporation. I’ve already talked to big Brazilian banks, telecommunication operators and multinational corporations like Autodesk, Samsung, Pfizer, FedEx and McKinsey.
My average evaluation in these workshops is 90% of excellent and very good grades. To what I can only say, “Thank you, thank you, thank you very much, you’re very kind. Any further questions?” Academic / texts / lectures bb 37 Articles published On digital design – my first technical articles were requested by McWorld Magazine Brazil. I started as a technical specialist, mostly on desktop publishing, 1n 1994. Two years later I became a featured columnist – and never stopped since then.
In 1997, I started as a featured columnist on digital design and communications to Design Gráfico, a Brazilian magazine on Graphic design. We worked together for about 60 issues, from the premier one to the last one, when the magazine went out of print.
For almost three years now I’ve been a featured columnist to Webdesign magazine, writing about digital design and interfaces. I also have quite a handful of articles and interviews published in many Brazilian communication magazines and websites.
On digital CULTURE AND INNOVATION – since 1996 I’ve been interviewed on subjects related to changes in modern society due to technology. For about five years, Propaganda magazine had me as a featured columnist on digital advertising and since 2003, Jump magazine has my monthly contribution in an article on innovation and digital media. 38 bb Academic / texts / lectures
Book on corporate behavior The art of war for those who moved the cheese from the rich dad
In 2004, after being facing corporate meetings for quite some time, I wrote a small text mocking the absurd of automated corporate behavior. It was called A arte da guerra para quem mexeu no queijo do pai rico (something like The art of war for those who moved the cheese from the rich dad).
Its subtitle states that the book is a “sarcastic probe of the corporate (un)reality”. In fact, it is a clear caricature of corporate self-help books. Its chapters show the spirit:
“I’ve never taken Viagra, dear” (introduction) The power of Negative Thinking®©TM Redundancy denial is the soul of a business How to instantly become very lucky Union makes wrong: never underestimate mediocrity Fun with meetings Nerve and idleness: a quick guide to efficient teamwork The 7 habits of the highly effective yes-men Beauty is an external thing The glamour bazaar for the cosmopolitan esquire Sexual harassment: a guide for the modern naïve
The book, issued by Editora Planeta in 2004, is in its 4th reprint. To be honest, I am afraid that its success may cause me some problems among unenlightened businessmen. Academic / texts / lectures b 39
Books on digital design design / web / design series
While developing my Masters degree, I realized that there weren’t many comprehensive books on digital design edited in Brazil, so I started developing mine. It was called Design/Web/Design and became a popular reference on the subject, used by many schools.
Two years later, I became aware that, despite the fact that the book was selling well, it demanded an update. So I rewrote almost 70% of it and collected interviews for a new book, which was uninspiredly called Design/Web/Design: 2.
Both were edited by Market Press, a publishing house that went bankrupt in 2002, in a process that took my books out of the shelves and left me quite disappointed with editorial work. This January, after giving a lecture in a university, a student came asking for an autograph on a photocopy of my second book. I laughed at the fact, telling him that he could face some serious legal problems. He answered that, despite being out of print for years, my book had been extensively photocopied, for the lack of a better one on the subject.
That was truly inspiring, and made me develop a third book on that theme. For lack of a better name, it is called DWD:3. Part of its development is a collaborative ongoing process, that can be seen through its blog, http://dwd3.blogspot.com
40 bb collaborative projects
DWD:3, 2006-7 Theory in practice
There is much talk on collaborative communications, Web 2.0 and user participation, but the fact is that most featured columnists and authors – the well-known “decision makers” – are usually extremely assertive in their positions. Is it really so hard to make a true open book, open to user interference and suggestions? Specially these days that the Internet and the Blogs had made everything a lot simpler?
With these questions in mind I created a blog to talk about themes related to my new book, which is being written. For the lack of a better name, the blog was also called DWD:3. Although book was a little delayed, in the meantime the blog developed a life of its own, becoming a discussion channel for themes of high relevance in the digital environment.
Its format may seem a little unorthodox for someone used to the category: the posts are very long, they don’t have a fixed schedule and the themes are not focused on news, but in new media concepts, therefore the texts usually last over time.
Despite not having originally a well-defined strategic plan nor format, the blog turned into an open arena for its readers, being an “open space for questioning”, rather than a list of technical guidelines. Its posts are about design history and theory, market analysis and insights on digital design and the future of interfaces.
I believe that almost everyone has something valuable to say, so any comment is welcome, no matter its depth. Some of the most relevant will eventually make it to the printed book.
collaborative projects bb 41
One of the very first questions posed to evoke the collaborative spirit was: “why comment the posts in this blog?”, followed by some suggestions of reasonable reasons to do so:
For money – nobody works in Design for money. I don’t know anyone who writes technical books for this reason either. This is not the spirit, all content shown here has to be open and free;
For fame – well, it’s up to you. If you make top-level comments, you may be considered smart by your colleagues. Talk about things you know and praise may follow.
For networking – You will surely meet interesting characters around here, but please behave. Meeting people is not a value in itself, it’s what one does for the group that really counts.
Because you don’t have anything better to do – OK, just use your spare time with relevant comments and suggestions.
Because you liked the idea and would like to help – that’s the spirit that takes people to review books at Amazon.com; it’s the greatest strength supporting the CreativeCommons. Exchanging ideas is a rich, fruitful experience, just for the sake of it. I believe that if you exchange one piece of merchandise for another, you always end up with one piece. Instead, ideas traded are always added to the inventory. You don’t lose your ideas by bringing them here. And everyone wins. Even you, by reading the comments of others.
The community response to the blog is going so well that, despite purposely not being optimized for search engines, some of its posts make it to the top of Google page rank in relevant topics like Creativity and Post-Modernism (in Portuguese). 42 bb collaborative projects
STOA, Fotoblog, Digiblog, 2007 classrooms, everywhere
Many believe it’s a teacher’s role to supply information. With that point of view in mind it seems logical that many educational professionals feel threatened by the content-packed environment of the Internet and its blogs, online encyclopedias and by the ease to research (and to copy) other people’s works.
I believe it is a false threat, and that it can be reversed with a slight change of scope for teachers. But it is essential to review the goals of the profession first. In traditional communities, since the ancient Greek, the job to search for information was not a task for experienced tutors, but, rather the opposite, for soldiers and messengers, who were younger, stronger and more agile. The hard duty to select, among all facts and options displayed, which ones were relevant and how to use them was the duty of the Wise.
Over time, this scenario has reversed. A significant part of the teaching activity today consists in repeating the same pieces of information, over and over, to new students. When the class finally is aware enough of the subject to start a debate, the year is over, not letting the teacher the opportunity to share his experience. If that’s not sufficiently uninspiring, I wonder what is.
It comes as no surprise that a teacher’s interest in research usually decays as experience grows, while it should be the opposite. Teachers should be like experienced professionals in other areas – and, again, like wise counsellors in ancient communities. They should let their students bring all the new information, while helping them in the evaluation criteria to select the best possible content among the offers. collaborative projects bb 43
Some millennia ahead, it’s easy to note that digital technologies can restore this scenario, by freeing teachers from the tedious task of forwarding information. But to do so is essential to understand the collaborative tools, instead of trying to fight them. When well used, these tools will enhance students’s interest to search individually, taking the results of that effort to classroom debate, under teacher assessment.
The results of this process can be stored in a Wiki for further access by other students and can even be used as a resource for remote education. Each term, more and more content can be added to this reference material, what tends to make the class activities less and less discursive and more debated, therefore more interesting both to students and teachers over time. The Internet acts, this way, as a helper, not as a threat.
One of the research centers at the University of São Paulo has developed a collaborative tool, called STOA, that was used as a testing ground for these new teaching experiments for a short period. The results were astonishingly positive and the tool was proven successful.
It had the following applications: Blogs - to record course program, class by class, and to solve content-specific doubts; Wikis - for student assignments; e-mail lists - to stimulate student connection, help solving doubts and forward useful information to the whole group; and Reference albums - for collective storage of image, sound, media and presentation files to be used in classroom reference.
The project is going quite well, with exciting results among the students. Some of it can be seen in www.ecafoto.luli.com.br and www.digital.eca.luli.com.br. 44 bb collaborative projects
WECA, 2007 Group work - in a broader sense
Most under grad academic works shouldn’t deserve their name. It’s the inefficient system, not the student, that is to blame. No matter how interesting the theme or subject may be, the results are, in most cases, weak. This happens because students make their assignments in a hurry, by themselves and with no debate whatsoever, what tends to a very low knowledge retention level.
The assignments are usually handed to a professor who already knows the subject, therefore has very little to learn. The master gives each work a grade, meaning a degree of “righteousness”. That has little relevance to students, for it does not show future paths to follow - it’s rather a punishment than a guidance.
This way, few are the assignments which truly result in learning or horizon broadening. To make things even worse, the student has little contact with the research developed by the rest of the group, so there’s no way for learning from the mistakes of others. The professor has also no motivation to improve the classroom intelligence level, since the teachings are taken away with the learning students, no legacy left.
The WECA project is a system I’ve created for research purposes. It uses blogs and Wiki pages for classroom support, in order to help both students and teachers to develop a dynamic and updated reference material - all assignments turn into encyclopedia entries, and become available to public domain. It can then be edited by anyone, regular student or not, who can enhance, discuss and recycle parts of it in the following years, in an infinite knowledge expansion process. The more it is used, the better it gets. collaborative projects bb 45
Jump Radio Podcasts, 2007 Learn as you go
Despite changing the way people listen to Radio, audio programs for on-demand listening via the Internet, also known as podcasts, aren’t very different from the radio programs everyone knows. Their main use of the digital technologies seem to be the ability to be heard anytime. Not a big deal, considering what can be done.
Jump Radio Podcast is a series of audio interview programs with the main executives of the Digital Communication and Online Marketing business segments in Brazil. More than a talk radio show, it is built to act as a reference on the new tools, media and processes. It will provide a quick update on the new innovations in areas such as Information Architecture and Search Engine Optimization, in a straightforward way. The main features are:
Length - long enough to act as a learning tool. The ideal time is around 25’, the average traffic time to the office; Interview level - the executives selected for the interviews need to be in a top management position or/and have a thorough knowledge of the debated theme; Relevance - the themes must be both updated and lasting, so the content doesn’t get outdated easily; and Critical mass - it will have about 75 to 100 recorded programs before launch time, so it can act as a portable workshop.
Each program will have a companion webpage, in which the user will have access to links, glossary, reference content and a way to contact the executive interviewed. The main goal is to turn the audio program and the written pages into a reference and business training material. A true value viral action. On the Radfahrer subject... My real name is Luiz Guilherme de Carvalho Antunes. If you know a little German, this Radfahrer may sound a little odd. It means “cyclist”, and chances are you’ve never met anyone of that family. If your knowledge of German is a little higher, you probably know that this surname can’t exist. Although occupation names were quite popular in the Middle Ages, they hadn’t been used for centuries – and bicycles aren’t that old.
The story starts when my little brother was learning to speak and wasn’t able to pronounce my name, mumbling something like “LU–LI”, what became quickly a nickname. Working in Advertising, I realized it was too late to go back, for there were a lot of homonyms. Keeping the nickname only wasn’t an option either, for many formal clients would take that as a synonym for recklessness. Therefore Luli needed a surname. But it would be pointless to hire someone else’s familienname, so I decided to make one. Searching the things I was known of got me to my favorite sport: cycling. That’s the true story.
Now, if you really speak German, you may know that the surname also means apple polisher. To that meaning I can only say that I wasn’t aware of, otherwise I don’t believe I would take it, for I truly hate empty flattering.