If you look around the THINK-TANK site very long, you’ll quickly understand that I am an extreme advocate of sharing Unique Business Cards that help you stand apart. From my trademarked “CardChure” (combination Bus Card and Brochure) to Motion Cards and beyond, setting yourself apart rarely, if ever, happens by having a Business Card that looks like everyone else. Other than a personal logo, your most valuable marketing tool is often your UNIQUE business card. Click on the BUSINESS CARD CATEGORY in the right sidebar to see some samples that I’ve designed.
But, is the future of card sharing becoming more digital and less physical? Possibly. However, just as I think that sending someone a handwritten note in the mail is way more powerful than sending them an email, I still believe that giving someone a “can’t-throw-it-away” Business Card that has a WOW factor to it is brand-building 101.
However, if you are wanting to move to a digital brand, there’s an interesting app that might intrigue you. Here’s the video that shows how it works. The only disadvantage that I see with this and other electronic cards is that often (almost always) the other person has to have the same app installed on their phone for the sharing to work.
Nonetheless, this video will give you a peek at what’s coming in the years ahead.
Several years ago, Marco Caporale, the co-owner of Family Firearms in Tampa, Florida, was involved in a completely different business. He had retained THINK-TANK at that time to help with designing a visual brand and multiple marketing strategies for that business.
So when he and his partners decided to update the look of their current business, he contacted us again to assist.
One of our associates is a masterful designer and world-class illustrator, so I tapped him to assist with this project. Marco and his team were so thrilled with that logo-design project that they asked us to provide a followup ad/poster design for their BUILD AN AR Project.
Their happiness with that led to us providing a BUILD-N-AR Certificate that they could run through their printer showing the details about when the student completed their AR Building Project.
See the results here.
When Holly Miller began writing her book, The Face of an Arrow, she contacted me to discuss designing the cover. As a Christian author, she had previously published Life After the Games. Her new book was an ambitious project, taking over a year to complete. In addition to the book cover design, I suggested that she utilize social networking strategies as a way to deepen her connection with readers and PROSPECTIVE readers. The first component was shooting a video about the book and launching it on a YouTube Channel which I designed to have a congruent look with the latest book. Finally, I suggested that she link her www.HollyMillerMinistries.com domain to her business Facebook page to improve her communication with readers.
Buy a copy and see how she connects with spiritual topics in such a meaningful way!!
One of the favorite THINK-TANK slogans is “Forget Out-of-the-Box. Try Out-of-this-World!
While Thomas Heatherly and his team haven’t REALLY moved into the extraterrestrial with their architecture, they are close. Now, I realize that there are MANY very innovative architects the world over, the case studies shared in this video were, well, STUNNING! Click HERE to see if you don’t agree.
Since we’re in Wichita, KS, the “air capitol of the world,” this concept caught my eye. The founders of this concept tap into the MANY unused or underutilized private planes around the country AND the desire of many flying customers to ride on a private jet vs. a commercial jet. Rather than having a “broker” to arrange flights, people self-connect, travel on a private jet and save a bundle in the process. Get the details HERE.
Although Apple really doesn’t think that a stylus is needed for use on the iOS devices, there are some who think that it is a more natural way of writing, drawing and interacting with devices such as the iPad2. Since the iPad2 includes a magnetic screen cover, an innovative solution (Maglus) has been designed that will allow you to magnetically secure your stylus without always trying to remember to put in in your pocket or purse. Before this innovation is brought to market, it’s developers need to have a certain minimum in funding raised. Check out the video below to see if this is worthy of your investment (you will not be charged if the minimum funding amount is not reached).
Maglus from Applydea on Vimeo.
Some time ago, I raved about the Flipboard App and it has matured since then. However, as the iPad 2 gets ready to launch tomorrow, there is a new App called Zite that could just possibly revolutionize the way you get your news and information. Zite actually learns what you like in order to offer incremental personalization. Take a look at the video and see if this FREE App might be for you.
Check out the “futuristic-looking” office that seems to have some practical and health benefits.
Who would have thought even 5 or 10 years ago how significant a role technology would play in virtually every facet of our lives?
Well, Corning® (the maker of glass and many other things), has made a video of how things might look in the not-to-distant future. While it’s a blatant commercial for their wide range of glass products, it’s an interesting and compelling look at how our business and personal lives might “look” with their technology or that of other companies working with them. Check it out here and give me some feedback (via the COMMENTS icon) on your thoughts about its potential to become reality.
Also, think about how you might begin to plan for the future to take advantage of these emerging technologies to help your business stand apart from the rest…one of our primary messages here at THINK-TANK.
You don’t know Mark Coleran’s name, but you’ve seen his work. He’s the designer who creates the futuristic computer screens that characters use in movies (like The Bourne Ultimatum, Children of Men, and Mission Impossible 3). But now he’s the design director of Bonfire Labs, an agency who hired him for his “fantasy user interface” (or FUI) skills.
But what do flashy movie UIs have to do with solving real-world design problems? Plenty, says Coleran: “[The FUIs] look fantastic when you see them in the theater, but a lot of that is actually grounded in reality — stuff that’s not mainstream yet, that I’ve been researching and experimenting with.” Coleran’s design for a near-future music player in Children of Men looks uncannily similar to iTunes’s “Coverflow” interface, which came out nine months later. Get the details in the FastCompany Design Daily or watch a video of some of Mark’s cool and “futuristic” UI interfaces.
