Ben-Hur vs. Anakin Skywalker

Watching a documentary on the making of Ben-Hur, I saw an interview with George Lucas. He compared the excitement of the chariot race in Ben-Hur to the race in Episode 1. He talked about wanting to convey the same excitement he first experienced while watching Ben-Hur.

While I don't think Lucas did a bad job of it, I think it shows the difference between live-action of old, and computer-generated-images of modern cinema. I've seen Episode 1 a few times, and the race isn't bad, but the sense of danger just isn't there. We rewatched Ben-Hur, and the race was absolutely engaging. You can just tell when it is real people riding real chariots in real danger. For all the advances of cgi, I sometimes long for the days when you saw something on the screen and were in awe because you knew someone really did it.

Stephenville represented by "older gentleman" with pocket knife

Imagine my surprise finding a story about Stephenville, Texas on a national advertising blog.

Thumbs of Fire

Probably one of the funniest ways I've ever seen Stephenville represented.

Apparantly I'm not the only one this week

More adventures from the waiting room.

Why do I think this is one thing that will never change?

Serving like doctors

A recent doctor's visit by my wife made me wonder what the world would be like if all businesses had customer service like the doctor's office.

After arriving on time for an 8:45 appointment, she was forced to wait over an hour before she could even see the doctor. In our current society where time is so precious, how could a business survive by treating customers like that? Well, doctors are essential. Where else are you going to go to get diagnosed and fixed? We have to remember in our businesses, however, that we are not quite as essential. We need to always respect people's time.

How would your business do if you made your customers wait for an hour for each meeting?

Doctors seem to make the most money by piling the day with appointments (even though they know they can't meet them all in a timely manner). I'd be curious to see if a doctor could make more money by adding staff and seeing clients in a timely manner. Wouldn't they become more popular for treating their customers differently and therefore garner more business?

Competition is good, even in fields like healthcare.

Rearranging inspiration

While we're on the subject of desktops. If you find yourself in a funk and need something to inspire you, rearrange your desk. You'd be surprised how something as simple as moving a few monitors around will make things seem so much different.

After spending a little time doing this today, though, I would have one piece of advice. Don't move the trash can. You'll find yourself throwing trash on the floor where it used to be for days.

Tabletop influences

We are all a sum of our influences. Everything we take in influences us in some way, and the things we like help shape our personalities. This is incredibly important in the creative business. So much of our creative output is influenced by everything we have taken in since birth.

It's always interesting to me to observe other people's offices and see what they have around them as influences. I thought of this when I looked at the table in my office. It's contains a Communication Arts Advertising Annual, the coffee table book "The Cinema of George Lucas," and three books on church planting. This really tells a lot about my personality. So what's on your tabletop?

It's hard to get it right

In this day and age, it's hard to "get it right." When you are trying to launch a new venture, rarely do you have the resources, people, or experience you need to really do something great. With time, you can, but most don't survive long enough to reach that point. There are just too many factors working against any new venture.

I point this out to bring your attention to the perfect storm happening right now in Stephenville, Texas. We just received the second issue of the Business Journal. Is it perfect? Nope. But, it's great. Why is it great? Because of the dedication each member of the team brings to the project. These are true professionals who are bringing their years of experience to bear on a single goal: creating something great.

Disclaimer: Yes, I do handle the creative direction on the Journal, so I am tooting my own horn, so to speak. But, you know what, that's ok sometimes.

I just wanted to thank Hal, Lainey, Pat and Michael for all the hard work and dedication they put into each issue. It's rare that you can look around at a particular moment in time and just feel you are part of something great. This is one of those moments.

Coolest thing (literally) ever

If you have kids (of which I have 3) you will probably think this is a really great product. Unfortunately it's not available in the U.S. so far as I can tell. Otherwise, they'd be sitting in my freezer right now.



Lego Ice Bricks

The importance of EVERY transaction

Every business has a bad day. The key is not letting your customers feel it.

My wife and I recently had a date night and went to one of our favorite restaurants. Because of the crazy hours involved in the advertising business, date nights are rare for us. We have to make each one special. So naturally, our favorite restaurant was having a bad day. The food was bad, and the service slow. People at tables around us were quite verbal about their feelings. We decided to simply smile and tell the waitress everything was great. She was having a bad day and it wouldn't do any good for us to jump on the bandwagon. The thing is, not everyone is as understanding as I am.

What the owners may never realize is that they were paid $25.00, but they lost so much more. We trusted them with our precious time, as we have in the past. That trust was betrayed. The next time date night rolls around, I'm not sure we would trust them again.

Most people would then proceed to tell all their friends about the bad experience. I'm not going to do that, because I genuinely want this restaurant to succeed. However, every business needs to realize it's not about you. It's entirely about the customer their mind set towards you. These days, time is as precious as money. Whether they are trusting you with time or money, you have to deliver 100% every time. You never know who's date night you'll ruin.

Headline of the day

I for one am very relieved.

Physicists: Despite Fears, Black-Hole Factory Will Not Destroy Earth

Via Fox News.

Oh! That hurt big time!

I knew I was missing something by not watching those home shopping networks.

Building brand loyalty through good design

Ask me what kind of shampoo I use. Go ahead.

Garnier Fructis.

I'm a guy, I shouldn't car what shampoo I use, right? Right. And yet, here I am, loyal to a particular brand of shampoo. Why? Because of well thought out design. Does the shampoo make my hair look different than any other? No. I don't really care. What I do care about is the fact that the bottle is designed well.

See, the shampoo my wife is loyal to has a lid that you practically have to pry open with a knife. Not convenient when showering. I've always hated that thing. Along come Garnier with their bottle. The lid has a ball molded on the end so it's easy to push with one finger and pop open. Because of that one feature, I'm now loyal to a brand. Without that feature, I probably never would have used Garnier. Fructis just sounds a little too fruity for my taste.

Once again, great design wins the day. Because someone didn't settle for "good enough" on their lid design, they sell a few extra bottles a year. How often do you settle for "good enough" when it comes to design.

The "Asian" brand

Driving through many towns, you may notice a sign (usually in a shopping center) that simply says "Asian." Usually in bold red letters. Everyone knows it's a place to get Asian food.

My question is: Is there more value in simply using the word "Asian" as your brand than in building a unique identity? Sure building your own brand can be a long and hard process. Plus, if you don't know what you are doing, you can build a bad brand far easier than a good one. So is it just easier to piggy-back on the already established Asian brand? It is easier, but ultimately it's a mistake. Asian? So what? It doesn't speak to me as a consumer. If I see a McDonald's sign, I know exactly what to expect. If I see the famous Chili's sign, I know what to expect. What does Asian say? Nothing. You don't truly know what the food or atmosphere will be like.

But maybe I'm wrong. I've seen this multiple times in different cities.

So now ask the question, what does your brand say to people?

Hot Off the Presses

We just recieved our first copies of the first issue of the Business Journal. It turned out great, but the deadlines were responsible for a complete lack of posting here. I want to thank Hal, Lainey, Michael, Pat and Tommy. It turned out incredibly well and is probably one of the smoothest "1st Issues" we've ever been involved in.

Image welcomes AWB&CJ.

Stephenville will be the home of a new monthly publication; the Area-Wide Business & Commerce Journal. Image will handle the creative design, art direction and some photography for the publication. We look forward to working with publisher Hal Graham and his team of incredibly talented writers.

More Bond Villain Bases

Japan must be a hotbed of super villian activity. Here's some more great shots from "Underground Japan." I would love to go shoot these things one day.

We do not tolerate failure number 3.

Small Design Touches Count

Ever since Target began to focus on design and bringing it to the general public, I've noticed lots of little design touches from other industries. Over the past two weekends we've stayed at two different hotels and I've noticed design seeping into the most interesting of places. Shampoo bottles. The little complementary bottles that you get in every hotel room have had cleanly designed labels and interesting bottle shapes. I just thought it was interesting. Sure the shampoo inside is probably the same cheap stuff it's always been, but you just feel like you're getting something nicer.

Superman Returns

I finally took my 6-year-old son to see Superman Returns this last week. I won't get into a full review, but it was pretty great. My only complaint was it was a little on the long side at 2.5 hours. Bryan Singer did a fantastic job. He seems to be the go-to guy along with Sam Raimi to guarantee a great super hero movie.

Many people complained about Brandon Routhe as the choice for Superman/Clark Kent. He was the perfect choice. Sure he was just a model before this, but it turns out, he can act. He is Superman as much as Christpher Reeves was back in the day.

Go see this movie.

"It all comes down to hot dog management at this point."

Flipping through the channels last night I came across what I think was titled the "Major League Hot Dog Eating Contest." I was enjoying some Arby's at the time and let me tell you, this is not something you need to watch while eating. I actually wanted to throw up for these guys. Especially the winners who ate 53.75 and 52 hot dogs repsectively. It was probably the worst thing I've ever seen on TV. And that includes the show on Discovery about hiddeous wounds that wouldn't close up.

The best part was the announcers in the background giving a play-by-play. My favorite line was something like "Well, were in the last four minutes now, and it all comes down to hot dog management at this point." They act like this was a real sport, talking about strategy and technique. You shove hot dogs down your throat. Where's the strategy in that.

Maybe it is a sport. Maybe I just don't get it. However, it does make ESPN 2 look at lot more like ESPN 8 from the movie "Dodgeball." "The Ocho. If it's almost a sport ... we cover it."

Japanese Flood Tunnels

I have this fascination with architectural design on a scale of this size. These are some amazing shots. Sometimes I'm amazed at what the human race can accomplish.

Via Coudal.