It is truly incredible to me that great design is truly timeless. The story of the “Keep Calm and Carry On” poster is one such example. The simplicity and timelessness of this poster has had a resurgence of of popularity online and has been reproduced and parodied in a way that is a testament to the power of great design.

In October of 2010 an quirky and fun photo application named Instagram launched on Apple’s App Atore and quickly gained popularity. In fact, over the next two years the app gained over 27 million users on iPhone and Apple’s other iOS mobile devices. During this time, Google’s Android became the number one mobile smartphone platform in the world, but its users did not have have the pleasure in being a part of the vibrant social network that Instagram users had created. But Instagram made a lot of Android users very happy on Aril 3rd, 2012 when they launched their ever popular app on the Google Play App Store. In under a week Instagram had over 5 million downloads on Android devices making the application’s popularity uncontainable. Not even one week later, on Monday, April 9th, Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom announced that that they were in the process of being acquired by Facebook. Facebook Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerburg made a similar blog post the same day.

In under two years Instagram went from being a small one-platform application to being incorporated with the largest and most popular social network experience in the world. I seriously doubt that is creators, Keven Systrom and Mike Kieger, ever were able to foresee the exponential expansion and transformation their invention would undergo. It is quite clear to me that when it comes to the technology industry the traditional collegiate perceptions of what standard business growth should be tend go up in smoke. Yes, the story of Instagram is an exceptional success, but there are many up and coming technology startups that are not too far behind them. It will be very interesting to see how this generation of uncommon business innovations will shape the global economy. Just a thought.

– Daniel.

Evernote is incredible. I cannot think of a more useful cross platform productivity application. It tis he perfect assistant for a variety of taks including but not limited to managing class work, event planning, journalism, and photography.

At its very base, Evernote is a note taking application, but if you use it for any time at all it becomes obvious that you are working with much more powerful than your grandmothers steno pad. An Evernote document does more than just store your text notes. To that text note you can attach photos and website clippings, record voice notes, or even create a sketch. This means than all the information for any project at hand will truly be in one place. Just the vast array of uses for this application are testament to how useful and versatile it is.

Part of what makes Evernote so useful is that it is useable. On every platform, the developers of Evernote have provided a clean, straight forward and organized user interface. This makes curating, retrieving, and using your information incredibly simple.

Yes, there are other note taking applications that offer some similar features, but what I thing sets Evernote apart and above the rest is how accessible and cross platform this application is. Their are Evernote apps that are available for your Android, iPhone, and Blackberry smartphones, Android Tablets and iPad, as well as powerful desktop applications for both Mac and PC. Plus, if for some reason you don’t have one of your own pieces of technology at hand at the moment you can log on to your Evernote online and use their equally competent web app on any computer. Because the cloud is the hub of what make Evernote so use full their is not complicated syncing process. If you jot down a not and attach a picture on your smartphone, seconds after saving, your new note will be available on your tablet, laptop and of course online. So their is virtually no way to be without your notes as long as you have an internet connection.

The Evernote Tech Blog has posts on countless ways that Evernote can be used, I encourage you to give some of them a look.

Every day it seems that our culture become more and more difficult to reach. In order to reach a culture that is so self consumed organizations, businesses, and individuals have turned to the media to communicate their messages. The every multimedia medium challenges us be more and more cutting edge, more and more creative, and in a lot of ways it has been the catalyst for a cultural renaissance of sorts.

The need to to be culturally engaging has become very apparent to modern church. There is a lot of discussion surrounding the methods we use to communicate the gospel in an environment where mere moments are all that is available to capture the attention of a culture that is constantly inundated with media messages.The following are several notable voices in Christian culture that are actively engaging this discussion.

C3 Global is an organization of churches and pastors that has is committed to engaging this tension with one goal in mind; to show people Christ. They champion call of creatively communicating the gospel in churches week in and week out.

Cameron Strang, editor of RELEVANT Magazine profoundly says that “Even if you think that church, christian culture, religion; all these things are irrelevant to  your life, that God is relevant. They are are pioneers in Christian culture and are effectively communicating this reality.

CALALYST is an organization that directly targets church culture leaders and three times a year hosts a major conference to recharge and pour into the leaders of the church that are so often drained of all they have to offer. This experience is incredible. The CATALYST team truly utilizes mediums that capture all of the senses. Leaders leave inspired and full of fresh ideas. Each year they select a theme that that always seems to be exactly what the church body needs to hear.

Mr. Obama and I don’t see eye to eye on many things politically but when it comes to ensuring that his brand is communicated effectively I have to give him props.

Never have American politics been so effected by by branding, design, and promotions as it was in the 2008 Obama presidential campaign. “The Obama presidential campaign was an innovation in American politics and American design. For the first time, a candidate used art and design to bring together the American people—capturing their voices in a visual way.” – Designing Obama 

Scott Thomas, director of design of the Obama campaign, is truly a branding visionary. The design that surrounded this iconic campaign was a tasteful blend of classic Americana and cutting edge graphic design. it is remarkable how this collection of highly varying artwork still retains cohesiveness and communicates a unified message.

This campaign is a huge inspiration to me as a designer and a PR practitioner. Take a look.

This video it brilliant! As someone who has had a little experience working for a women’s magazine I have had to use all of these Photoshop tools for won purpose or another. But I do wonder when does it cross the line from just helping a person out with their photo to really projecting a false sense of beauty. In the industry I want to be apart of it is a question that I will have to always wrestle with. But this video is a satirical portrayal of o what really has to happen to a photo to be considered “cover ready.”