Tremor Video and Ad Age Super Creative Video Ad Challenge

I normally don't share work related stuff, but I'm especially proud of this little tidbit. When I was at Scanscout, before it got acquired by Tremor, I worked really closely with the Product and Business Development team to create Super Video ad formats like the Super Pre-Roll. This ad format turns plain vanilla pre-rolls into a more interactive and engaging ad unit and makes it a lean-forward experience. The very first one I created was one for Unilever's Vaseline Sheer Infusion.

Other old articles about Super Pre-Roll:

ScanScout Introduces the Super Pre-roll Ad Unit
IAC Outstanding Online Video award for Scanscout Super Pre-Roll

Fast forward to a couple of years later and now this ad format makes up the majority of our ads at Tremor. What's even cooler is that we, at Tremor Video, have teamed up with Ad Age to create a competition for ad agencies to put together the best Super Creative Video Ad:

We know you're silently judging creativity every chance you get. Here's your chance to weigh in on some super star contenders who put their creativity to the Super Pre-Roll test in Ad Age and Tremor Video's ultimate challenge. See how they

transformed their pre-roll into a super experience that moves people to lean forward and interact.

How'd they do? Visit the Contestant Gallery to rate all the contenders for the People's Choice Award!

Check out the creative ads and vote! 

http://superadchallenge.com

Jildy: List-a-mania!

I love Jildy, the iPhone app. It's election day and the app is my gauge of social media sentiments within my own group of friends on who have voted and for whom - all in one nifty snapshot.

I admit it. I'm a Facebook addict. But as much as I like FB, it drives me insane when I see the same poster show up 25 times in a row in my newsfeed. This is why I was so excited to have the opportunity to work with Mark Drummond, the CEO and his amazingly talented engineering team from Jildy, a mobile app company that sorts your Facebook (and Twitter and Linkedin) friends and their posts.


When we first started out with version 1, the UI focused mostly on lists AND on PSI (Personal Social Infographics) which created on-the-fly infographics of your friends' age, gender, relationship status and Zodiac signs.


With the second version, Mark narrowed the focus to be all about lists, which really sharpened the value of Jildy and solves this common problem with feeds in Facebook. Jildy's main power is the technology of auto-magically grouping my friends with photos or by posts or by my preferred topic using algorithms, or manually, and also using lists that were set up in Facebook. Download the Jildy app now and take control of your Facebook/LinkedIn/Twitter

Jildy Mobile App

Jildy Website

NY Times Review of Jildy 1.0
Jildy
See more on my portfolio site

One super burrito, please

Please make my burrito, super. Apparently, my love for burritos has just gone "plush'. This genius, Lauren Venell, created the burrito body pillow. In my opinion, the best thing since sliced bread. I want to meet this girl.


If I truly became what I ate, this would be me frolicking around SF.

Buy your burrito body pillow from Bold Italic

Open Studios in Boston

One of the things I dearly miss in San Francisco is Open Studios that happens twice a year (which started off in Bayview but has expanded to so many neighborhoods). I finally checked out the Fort Point Open Studios here in Boston this past weekend.

Two highlights from touring various artist's spaces and art, were Lara Loutrel and Luther Price.

I love Loutrel's work and am a proud owner of a Russian eye chart-like screenprint. Loutrel's work is really arresting - abstract black and white prints. Her more recent pieces are more sculptural and 3-D which extends her very structural lines in her pieces. I really love this evolution she's embarking on with her work.

Luther Price is an experimental film maker whose studio was this enormous warehouse that featured his installation, The Sound of Singing through Dust. There were hand-made slide projections that was a combination of old personal photographs, found film stills that had various music pieces accompany them. His process is so interestingly different in that he really deconstructs the concept of mainstream film and physically collages these found-objects and reshoots them on Super 8mm. After turning them into slides, he manipulates and destroys the slides with mold, dust and overexposure. To me, they seem rough, sometimes perverse, but somehow delicate and poetic at the same time.

Infinite Pictures and Sound at the ICA

There were two exhibits that I found thrilling on my first visit to the ICA (Institute of Contemporary Art). The first was Some Pictures of the Infinite by with Josiah McEhleny. In a large room, there were gigantic galaxy-like chandeliers that hung from the ceiling. The highly stylized planets, stars and galaxies were mesmerizing to walk around in and see various reflections in the shiny mirrored materials.

The Center Is Everywhere by Josiah McEhleny

Another aspect of McEhleny's exhibit was the sculptural and performance piece called the Infinite Repetition of Revolt, performed by Maggie McBrien. While McBrien stands planted in front of a blackboard like structure with silver drawings of boxes, she poses the question of how revolt should be pursued – lead by a small group of trailblazers or built on consensus? She turns around and erases all remnants of the silver boxes and leaves a black reflection of us, the audience's faces.

Infinite Repetition of Revolt Performance  by Maggie McBrien

A few months ago, there was a lot of outcry from the Boston public regarding a mural painted at Dewey Square because people interpreted it as the main figure as a terrorist by the Brazilian artist duo, Os Gemeos. To me, I see a vivid painting of a boy with a shirt wrapped around his head in a playful manner. What do you think?

By Os Gemeos

This mural complimented the full exhibit of paintings, sculptures, and interactive sound organ that was on display at the ICA. The Os Gemeos style has an underground graffiti-tone that is also playful, whimsical, and bright – like they are throwing a Carnival party with their artwork. Os Musicos was a sonic sculpture that had a piano or organ placed in front of a wall of yellow painted speakers. Apparently, each key creates an analog sound that pumps through the speakers. I missed the performance and couldn't convince the Gallery Docents to let me bang on the keys to see what sounds came out.

Os Musicos

Babyvision - the Summer Edition

This is a bit of an overdue post, but I finally got the chance to see the babies during the summer. Highlights: Evie is a cupcake and cuddle monster who recently just turned one. Ivan and I discovered the magic of wiffle ball and helmets - looks like he'll be a promising baseball star. Aden was stoked with the auto-tune microphone and has been practicing his renditions of Coldplay's "Para-para-para paradise and "We Are Young" by Fun.

I miss babyvision with the Tsangs.
x ♥ x ♥

NYE Resolution update:
Crossed off 1 and 5. Am working on 4...stay tuned!

Scrabble-tabulous!

This is the perfect gift for a Scrabble lover and a typophile, like myself.  This gorgeously crafted game comes in your favorite font or an assorted font pack. If I were to get one, I'd have a difficult time choosing between Mrs Eaves, Chalet, Neutraface, though the assorted pack would be a great way to change fonts depending on the day/weather/outfit.

"The purpose of this project was to revive an old, but loved game. The idea was to excite people about typography by giving them the ability to choose what font their scrabble set would come in. " - Andrew Clifford Capener

The waiting list for the A-1 Scrabble designer edition by Andrew Clifford Capener is now open. Sign up here.