Making art out of food is not necessarily anything new. However, there is a difference between happy faces made out of salads and the kind of food portraiture done by Nibrasso as presented in his Youtube videos. The one I'm going to take a look at today is "Food Art 1: Marilyn Monroe made of Cucumbers."
Nibrasso begins his video with a humorous text "today I work up and felt like eating…" leading into an image of presumably himself munching on a cucumber, the word "cucumbers!" appearing in a cartoon bubble to the side of his face. Then the video truly gets started.
The food portrait is being created on a while canvas, against a black background. The artist himself is wearing a dark shirt, so he fades into the background as well. On the opposite side of the white canvas, there are two long cucumbers placed lengthwise. These items give a sense of scale, how large the portrait is going to be. They also provide a sense of symmetry, something on the other side of the art and artist.
The result of the setup is that of a very positive/negative spacing. The figure is being created on a white background, which is counter to everything around it. And since the art is being made with cucumbers, it is in varying shades of green, very different from the back and white surrounding it. The darker green of the cucumber skin provides a contrast against the lighter slices and the white background.
This arrangement brings a kind of unity to the composition. Although the artist moves and the image of Marilyn Monroe slowly begins to grow on the white canvas, the setup remains the same. The artist brings in a bit of variety, injecting another image of himself eating a cucumber halfway through the video, as if he was reloading his food supply.
The viewer's eye is drawn through the piece, following the movement of the artist's hands as he constructs the portrait. His movements create rhythm, especially since the film is sped up to run faster than normal time. However the focal point is always the slowly growing piece of art in the center of the screen.
At times the lighting of the video upsets this carefully constructed composition. It becomes too bright and the viewer cannot see the portrait on the canvas. The pale green of the cucumber flesh washes out and there is nothing to see.
As for the portrait itself, Nibrasso creates an amazing likeness of Marilyn Monroe with only shavings of cucumber. At first the image grows slowly, the slices creating the images of lines without there being any actual lines. The viewer fills in the missing pieces, seeking closure in the image. Then the artist uses dark green shavings from the cucumber's skin to create shadow and depth.
Unlike a pencil drawing or painting, this piece of artwork has a very real texture. The shavings of food are three-dimensional. In the final few shots of the video, the artist captures the portrait from different angles. From far away it is very clear who the image represents. The last shot is taken too close and angled off to the side so instead of the beautiful rendition we see mere slices of vegetables on a tray. The meaning is lost.
Lastly, the typography used in this video is very simplistic. It is a serif font, white on a black background. Type begins and ends the video, introducing it and promising more food art soon. It gives symmetry to the entire production. Though the type used isn't very important, the way the artist uses it to bookend the video is.
"Food Art 1: Marilyn Monroe made of Cucumbers" is a striking piece of video. The artist creates a unique and beautiful piece of art out of nothing but cucumber shavings. Seeing the actual creation of the portrait makes the process come alive and allows the viewer to marvel at the creativity and discipline of the artist.
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Typography
What is the role of type in design? Specifically, what role does type play on the internet? Most of the time when I am scouring webpages for information, the style of the typography used is not the primary thing on my mind. Unless, however, the creator has used some garish and illegible typeface, perhaps pink text on a black background, or even some tiny sized decorative font. Then the design has thrown me out of any content the creator wished to share.
Since content is so important on the web, regardless of design, there are ways around poor design. Browser setting and scripts allow viewers to quickly change an illegible typeface design into one they are personally comfortable with reading. If this is true, then what is the purpose of typography? Does it matter how someone uses type in a document if it can be so easily changed?
The web, and web 2.0 (the dynamic web and social networking) in particular is more than just text on a page. There is more to the web than static html text on a screen. The typeface chosen in an embedded video, for example, cannot be changed by a simple script. Thus, the choices made by the creator have a very real impact on the viewer.
To explore the importance of typeface, how type can impact how a viewer reads the content, how the personality of a typeface can influence content, I'm going to look at two pieces of animation. Both use type innovatively and both accomplish very different things.
They Might be Giants "New York City"
The first is an animation of the They Might be Giants song "New York City" by jhester25. The song is very upbeat and sweet. (It happens to be one of the songs my husband and I listened to a lot while dating, which is why I chose it.) The video uses text in an innovative and ingenious way to illustrate the song.
The video is completely in black and white; the absence of color makes the viewer really notice the variety of typefaces. And the animator made careful typeface choices appropriate to each specific lyric. For example, every time the Giants sang "New York City" the creator uses a typeface from a famous New York City publication. I recognized The New York Times, New York Post and the New Yorker headings. For the text "it's snowing, it's snowing" the creator uses a cursive, flowing typeface to match the words.
Even though the typeface is constantly changing, each "New York City" is in a different font, the creator consistently uses the same typeface for important concepts. For example the lyric "you and me" is always the same typeface. Unlike most creations where only one or two separate typefaces are used, jhester uses a variety of typefaces to match the lyrics of the song.
Not only does the author of this piece make careful choices about what typeface to use, he also does things with text to match the frivolity of the song. Words scroll across the screen, sometimes backwards in order to fit the lyrics. For example "I'm three days from New York City and I'm three days from you..." repeats the words from the first half of the lyric, they then zoom backwards across the screen.
This video makes a good case for the claim that type has a personality. With the ever-changing typeface to match the lyrics, viewers are caught up in the song. The text guides the viewer through the video.
This video is very effective. However, it would be even better if the creator could have solved his syncing problems after uploading. Some visuals clearly do not match. It's ironic that the timing of the text being off works better than the clipart he uses. If a lyric shows up before the words are sung, the effect is similar to a karaoke machine. When the Giants sing about the Brooklyn Bridge and the Staten Island ferry is shown, the effect is jarring and disappointing.
Would the use of multiple decorate typefaces be as effective in print? Part of the fun of this video is matching lyrics to the song as they are sung. However, if I saw these lyrics printed this way, I could still appreciate the effect.
"The Lover's Tale"
The second video I'm going to review is called "The Lover's Tale" and was created by mamamasonic. I chose to analyze it because it's very different from the They Might be Giants video and yet does expressive things with text. Unlike the first video, this has no music; it is only text. It uses full color, not merely black and white. And instead of a variety of typefaces to illustrate lyrics, it's just one simple san serif typeface to illustrate a poem.
The poem is weaving a tale of "fireworks night" and the text rises and explodes to mimic the effect of fireworks. Letters separate from the words and drop down against the black background. The most effective bit is there for only a split second, a jumble of letters together that functions almost as a textured page, the words aren't important, only the effect of an explosion of color like that of a fireworks show.
The creator of this piece also uses color effectively to create a sense of mood. The text describing the fireworks are bright and colorful, bold pinks, reds and blue. The line "I am warm in bed" is depicted in golden hues, giving the mood of being safe and warm in bed.
Because the words are important and the movement of letters so integral to this video, the typeface is clear and legible. Unlike the first video, there are no decorative or hard to read typefaces. However, the movement is necessary. This poem would not be the same if it were just the text on a page.
This video is effective in it's simplicity. It uses a few elements (color and the falling letters) extremely well in order to tell a story.
Since content is so important on the web, regardless of design, there are ways around poor design. Browser setting and scripts allow viewers to quickly change an illegible typeface design into one they are personally comfortable with reading. If this is true, then what is the purpose of typography? Does it matter how someone uses type in a document if it can be so easily changed?
The web, and web 2.0 (the dynamic web and social networking) in particular is more than just text on a page. There is more to the web than static html text on a screen. The typeface chosen in an embedded video, for example, cannot be changed by a simple script. Thus, the choices made by the creator have a very real impact on the viewer.
To explore the importance of typeface, how type can impact how a viewer reads the content, how the personality of a typeface can influence content, I'm going to look at two pieces of animation. Both use type innovatively and both accomplish very different things.
They Might be Giants "New York City"
The first is an animation of the They Might be Giants song "New York City" by jhester25. The song is very upbeat and sweet. (It happens to be one of the songs my husband and I listened to a lot while dating, which is why I chose it.) The video uses text in an innovative and ingenious way to illustrate the song.
The video is completely in black and white; the absence of color makes the viewer really notice the variety of typefaces. And the animator made careful typeface choices appropriate to each specific lyric. For example, every time the Giants sang "New York City" the creator uses a typeface from a famous New York City publication. I recognized The New York Times, New York Post and the New Yorker headings. For the text "it's snowing, it's snowing" the creator uses a cursive, flowing typeface to match the words.
Even though the typeface is constantly changing, each "New York City" is in a different font, the creator consistently uses the same typeface for important concepts. For example the lyric "you and me" is always the same typeface. Unlike most creations where only one or two separate typefaces are used, jhester uses a variety of typefaces to match the lyrics of the song.
Not only does the author of this piece make careful choices about what typeface to use, he also does things with text to match the frivolity of the song. Words scroll across the screen, sometimes backwards in order to fit the lyrics. For example "I'm three days from New York City and I'm three days from you..." repeats the words from the first half of the lyric, they then zoom backwards across the screen.
This video makes a good case for the claim that type has a personality. With the ever-changing typeface to match the lyrics, viewers are caught up in the song. The text guides the viewer through the video.
This video is very effective. However, it would be even better if the creator could have solved his syncing problems after uploading. Some visuals clearly do not match. It's ironic that the timing of the text being off works better than the clipart he uses. If a lyric shows up before the words are sung, the effect is similar to a karaoke machine. When the Giants sing about the Brooklyn Bridge and the Staten Island ferry is shown, the effect is jarring and disappointing.
Would the use of multiple decorate typefaces be as effective in print? Part of the fun of this video is matching lyrics to the song as they are sung. However, if I saw these lyrics printed this way, I could still appreciate the effect.
"The Lover's Tale"
The second video I'm going to review is called "The Lover's Tale" and was created by mamamasonic. I chose to analyze it because it's very different from the They Might be Giants video and yet does expressive things with text. Unlike the first video, this has no music; it is only text. It uses full color, not merely black and white. And instead of a variety of typefaces to illustrate lyrics, it's just one simple san serif typeface to illustrate a poem.
The poem is weaving a tale of "fireworks night" and the text rises and explodes to mimic the effect of fireworks. Letters separate from the words and drop down against the black background. The most effective bit is there for only a split second, a jumble of letters together that functions almost as a textured page, the words aren't important, only the effect of an explosion of color like that of a fireworks show.The creator of this piece also uses color effectively to create a sense of mood. The text describing the fireworks are bright and colorful, bold pinks, reds and blue. The line "I am warm in bed" is depicted in golden hues, giving the mood of being safe and warm in bed.
Because the words are important and the movement of letters so integral to this video, the typeface is clear and legible. Unlike the first video, there are no decorative or hard to read typefaces. However, the movement is necessary. This poem would not be the same if it were just the text on a page.
This video is effective in it's simplicity. It uses a few elements (color and the falling letters) extremely well in order to tell a story.
Friday, September 14, 2007
Roles of Bloggers
Anyone with an internet connection and some ideas can blog. But what does it mean to be a blogger? What roles do bloggers need to fill? Are they creators of content or merely regurgitating information? Bloggers can fulfill multiple roles, depending on the focus of the blog and the intended audience. Not all bloggers carry out all roles, but the majority of them have many of the same roles in common.
First of all, bloggers are writers. This can be very different from authors/storytellers. The writing on a blog can take many forms. Just as in "real life", there are different types of writing, such as business proposals, memos, personal letters, or short stories. Bloggers write, and the type of writing on a personal blog may take on different modes depending on the type of writer that blogger is. Bloggers may also take on different writing roles throughout the career of a particular blog, depending on things like readership and audience.
Blog writers who are authors or storytellers create content. This content may appear as entertaining tales about an event, someone's day or can be complete fiction. An example of a blog as fiction is What is happening to me where the writer takes on the persona of a fictional character who slowly discovers he is a werewolf. There are many other blogs like this one that are complete fiction, some written from the point of view of fictional characters. Sometimes these fictional bloggers interact with other fictional bloggers. This blend of creativity could not be possible with the interactivity inherent in running a blog, which I'll explore a bit later. This sense of interactivity, of an event happening in real time differs from fiction appearing in books or magazines because a reader can comment on the story at any time and possibly affect changes.
Another type of blog writer is a reporter. A reporter chronicles events as they happen. A blogger as reporter has many challenges. Unlike a reporter who works for an established newspaper or other publication, the blog reporter (unless hosted by a reliable news outlet) has no such guarantee of reliability. Even if the blogger is perfectly honest, their credibility is difficult to prove.
A reporter or chronicler of events is different from an editorialist. The kind of writing involved in writing an editorial differs from both of the above examples. Editorialists describe their own opinions based on facts or other situations. These opinions can cover anything from the war in Iraq to the best type of muffins to bake for the holidays. Like much of the content in some blogs, these editorials come from personal experiences. Unlike the editorials published in newspapers, there is no guarantee of authority or credibility.
Lastly in this list of writers we have historian or journalist. Bloggers can simply be chronicling their daily life experiences. Similar to the diaries of historical figures, these diaries serve as written (if electronically written) record of the life lived in the twenty first century. Archaeologists of the future will be able to piece together our daily lives from what's left behind, like the imprints left behind in Pompeii. (This is assuming of course that digital archiving takes place and the data lasts long enough, which is a topic for another post).
We've established that bloggers are writers, though the kind of writing that might be done will vary. Bloggers also function as aggregators of information. I found a great comment on Cal Evan's blog on the idea of the role of blogger to be a librarian who finds information and shares it. The librarian may vet the information, to give readers the good content and not the bad, or the librarian may be completely impartial, giving the user all information available, including the good and bad aspects of a source to let the reader make up their own mind.
Blogger librarians differ greatly from true librarians. Bloggers might be scavenging for information, links, urls, etc based on a particular field of interest. And while librarians in real life might do the same, creating pathfinders for users, their role goes beyond what is available online. (And let's save the roles of librarians for another post!)
Bloggers might be evaluators of content. They might review particular sources, sites, urls or other blogs before passing them on. (see above re: editorialist). This role might act in concert with others. An evaluator might be given items to evaluate or review, such as novels, and then discuss them. Or they may pick and choose items on their own which to share.
Bloggers who are researchers might straddle both of the above roles. They might share the information they've found, they may merely share links, they may evaluate or they may do nothing more than collect information in relation to a certain topic.
Blogs are interactive. Users comment on specific posts and hopefully the blog owner will respond to these comments. Bloggers can be leaders of discussions. They can lead communication by posing a question or a conundrum in posts and moderate the discussion that follows.
Bloggers who are involved with readers and comments may be commenters themselves. A blogger's reputation will be formed when they sign their name to comments in another blog's posts. Someone who blogs in a platform such as Livejournal or MySpace has more of a dialog with other bloggers through the "friend" functions. So in these circumstances, the bloggers' role is to be a 'friend/commenter.' Now, sometimes those friended by users of these types of blogs are actual friends of the individual writing. Other times they may be merely fans of the blogger in question. There should be no assumed actual "friendship" relation in this dynamic.
Public relations may be key to the identity of a particular blogger. Some blogs attached to a corporation like the ones looked at in the previous entry are dedicated to showing the user new content and products put out by that particular company. So the role of that blogger is to be a PR person for that firm. This may differ from traditional public relations because the efforts are limited to the readers of the blog.
A company may also use a blog to direct a particular project. So the blogger might be a project manager. The blog can update the potential user of a product, as well as members of a team on the status of the project. An example of this is the Sony Playstation Developer's Corner blog, which keeps gamers informed on the status of game development and other Playstation issues.
Bloggers are often gurus: experts in a particular topic or field. For example, see Librarian in Black or Miss Snark, the Literary Agent. These experts set up their blogs as testaments to their experience and know-how, so others may learn from them. Miss Snark especially, since she has closed her blog to new posts, leaves behind a record of her knowledge. It may be difficult to find a mentor of a particular topic or subject area in person, so this function of a blogger makes vast amounts of expertise available to anyone with an internet connection, not merely disciples of a particular school of thought at a university. This is particularly useful in areas of technology where readers can find experts in software development to answer specific questions about specific products or programming languages.
Expanding from this idea of being a guru, bloggers are also teachers. Bloggers can teach readers in many ways. This differs greatly from a traditional teacher in a classroom. A blog can aid students; it can be a place to go for clarification or more information. This doesn't replace face to face contact, however it can supplement it.
Bloggers can be students themselves. Posts can function as learning experiences. Unlike in a normal classroom however, anyone can stumble upon these learning experiences. This can make the learning interactive, and possibly embarrassing, as it opens mistakes to others who the information was never intended for.
Bloggers have a unique role as web designers of their particular blog. Various blog services provide users with different levels of control over their blogs, some have templates, and others require some knowledge of coding. Some bloggers may choose to customize their blogs more than others. But the design of a blog affects more than just the aesthetics of a web page. Poorly designed blogs make it difficult for readers to find past posts on related topics. This illuminates yet another roles of bloggers - that of information organizers. They are responsible for the arrangement of their own content. Some blog software makes this easy, providing archives and tags. But bloggers must make use of these functions if readers are to make sense of the hundreds of posts of a just discovered blog, or the blog of a guru whose expertise they want to tap.
Lastly, and most importantly, bloggers are readers. Blogs don't exist in a vacuum. A blogger must read, not only information on the internet, but other print resources. (of course, that could be the librarian in me) Bloggers read other blogs, evaluate the information and then choose to share it or not. Without reading and evaluation of ideas, there can be no writing. And that brings us full circle back to the main role of bloggers: writers.
First of all, bloggers are writers. This can be very different from authors/storytellers. The writing on a blog can take many forms. Just as in "real life", there are different types of writing, such as business proposals, memos, personal letters, or short stories. Bloggers write, and the type of writing on a personal blog may take on different modes depending on the type of writer that blogger is. Bloggers may also take on different writing roles throughout the career of a particular blog, depending on things like readership and audience.
Blog writers who are authors or storytellers create content. This content may appear as entertaining tales about an event, someone's day or can be complete fiction. An example of a blog as fiction is What is happening to me where the writer takes on the persona of a fictional character who slowly discovers he is a werewolf. There are many other blogs like this one that are complete fiction, some written from the point of view of fictional characters. Sometimes these fictional bloggers interact with other fictional bloggers. This blend of creativity could not be possible with the interactivity inherent in running a blog, which I'll explore a bit later. This sense of interactivity, of an event happening in real time differs from fiction appearing in books or magazines because a reader can comment on the story at any time and possibly affect changes.
Another type of blog writer is a reporter. A reporter chronicles events as they happen. A blogger as reporter has many challenges. Unlike a reporter who works for an established newspaper or other publication, the blog reporter (unless hosted by a reliable news outlet) has no such guarantee of reliability. Even if the blogger is perfectly honest, their credibility is difficult to prove.
A reporter or chronicler of events is different from an editorialist. The kind of writing involved in writing an editorial differs from both of the above examples. Editorialists describe their own opinions based on facts or other situations. These opinions can cover anything from the war in Iraq to the best type of muffins to bake for the holidays. Like much of the content in some blogs, these editorials come from personal experiences. Unlike the editorials published in newspapers, there is no guarantee of authority or credibility.
Lastly in this list of writers we have historian or journalist. Bloggers can simply be chronicling their daily life experiences. Similar to the diaries of historical figures, these diaries serve as written (if electronically written) record of the life lived in the twenty first century. Archaeologists of the future will be able to piece together our daily lives from what's left behind, like the imprints left behind in Pompeii. (This is assuming of course that digital archiving takes place and the data lasts long enough, which is a topic for another post).
We've established that bloggers are writers, though the kind of writing that might be done will vary. Bloggers also function as aggregators of information. I found a great comment on Cal Evan's blog on the idea of the role of blogger to be a librarian who finds information and shares it. The librarian may vet the information, to give readers the good content and not the bad, or the librarian may be completely impartial, giving the user all information available, including the good and bad aspects of a source to let the reader make up their own mind.
Blogger librarians differ greatly from true librarians. Bloggers might be scavenging for information, links, urls, etc based on a particular field of interest. And while librarians in real life might do the same, creating pathfinders for users, their role goes beyond what is available online. (And let's save the roles of librarians for another post!)
Bloggers might be evaluators of content. They might review particular sources, sites, urls or other blogs before passing them on. (see above re: editorialist). This role might act in concert with others. An evaluator might be given items to evaluate or review, such as novels, and then discuss them. Or they may pick and choose items on their own which to share.
Bloggers who are researchers might straddle both of the above roles. They might share the information they've found, they may merely share links, they may evaluate or they may do nothing more than collect information in relation to a certain topic.
Blogs are interactive. Users comment on specific posts and hopefully the blog owner will respond to these comments. Bloggers can be leaders of discussions. They can lead communication by posing a question or a conundrum in posts and moderate the discussion that follows.
Bloggers who are involved with readers and comments may be commenters themselves. A blogger's reputation will be formed when they sign their name to comments in another blog's posts. Someone who blogs in a platform such as Livejournal or MySpace has more of a dialog with other bloggers through the "friend" functions. So in these circumstances, the bloggers' role is to be a 'friend/commenter.' Now, sometimes those friended by users of these types of blogs are actual friends of the individual writing. Other times they may be merely fans of the blogger in question. There should be no assumed actual "friendship" relation in this dynamic.
Public relations may be key to the identity of a particular blogger. Some blogs attached to a corporation like the ones looked at in the previous entry are dedicated to showing the user new content and products put out by that particular company. So the role of that blogger is to be a PR person for that firm. This may differ from traditional public relations because the efforts are limited to the readers of the blog.
A company may also use a blog to direct a particular project. So the blogger might be a project manager. The blog can update the potential user of a product, as well as members of a team on the status of the project. An example of this is the Sony Playstation Developer's Corner blog, which keeps gamers informed on the status of game development and other Playstation issues.
Bloggers are often gurus: experts in a particular topic or field. For example, see Librarian in Black or Miss Snark, the Literary Agent. These experts set up their blogs as testaments to their experience and know-how, so others may learn from them. Miss Snark especially, since she has closed her blog to new posts, leaves behind a record of her knowledge. It may be difficult to find a mentor of a particular topic or subject area in person, so this function of a blogger makes vast amounts of expertise available to anyone with an internet connection, not merely disciples of a particular school of thought at a university. This is particularly useful in areas of technology where readers can find experts in software development to answer specific questions about specific products or programming languages.
Expanding from this idea of being a guru, bloggers are also teachers. Bloggers can teach readers in many ways. This differs greatly from a traditional teacher in a classroom. A blog can aid students; it can be a place to go for clarification or more information. This doesn't replace face to face contact, however it can supplement it.
Bloggers can be students themselves. Posts can function as learning experiences. Unlike in a normal classroom however, anyone can stumble upon these learning experiences. This can make the learning interactive, and possibly embarrassing, as it opens mistakes to others who the information was never intended for.
Bloggers have a unique role as web designers of their particular blog. Various blog services provide users with different levels of control over their blogs, some have templates, and others require some knowledge of coding. Some bloggers may choose to customize their blogs more than others. But the design of a blog affects more than just the aesthetics of a web page. Poorly designed blogs make it difficult for readers to find past posts on related topics. This illuminates yet another roles of bloggers - that of information organizers. They are responsible for the arrangement of their own content. Some blog software makes this easy, providing archives and tags. But bloggers must make use of these functions if readers are to make sense of the hundreds of posts of a just discovered blog, or the blog of a guru whose expertise they want to tap.
Lastly, and most importantly, bloggers are readers. Blogs don't exist in a vacuum. A blogger must read, not only information on the internet, but other print resources. (of course, that could be the librarian in me) Bloggers read other blogs, evaluate the information and then choose to share it or not. Without reading and evaluation of ideas, there can be no writing. And that brings us full circle back to the main role of bloggers: writers.
Saturday, September 8, 2007
A look at corporate blogging
Companies and corporations are realizing that more and more business is conducted on the web. With the advent of Web 2.0 and the abundance of blogs on the internet, it seems to be a good business practice to set up a corporate blog. Blogs can give a human face to a faceless corporation, can inform users about new products and developments and can increase advertising and the web-presence of a company on the web, leading to increased search engine hits and more web traffic. However, different companies approach blogs in very different ways.
Stephen’s Lighthouse
SirsiDynix is a big name in the library world. The average person probably has no idea how much this company affects how they might use their public library. SirsiDynix produces Integrated Library Systems (ILS), among other software products for libraries. You might be more familiar with an ILS as your library’s online book catalog.
Stephen’s Lighthouse is a blog written by SirsiDynix's Vice President of Innovation, Stephen Abram. This blog is linked from SirsiDynix's main page and is the only official corporate blog that Sirsi lists. Abram himself is a librarian, with over twenty five years in the library business. His blog is directed to librarians, sharing interesting links, article excerpts, and other pieces of information valued by librarians. These entries can vary anywhere from a few paragraphs to lengthy article passages.
What this blog does not do is act like an official mouthpiece of SirsiDynix. Abram doesn't talk mainly about Sirsi products or development. In fact his stated purpose is to "help the good ship Library World navigate to its vision of the future." So his blog ends up giving a more human face to the sometimes nebulous SirsiDynix Corporation. Instead of a faceless corporate publication, he provides a place where comments are welcome and discussion is key.
Visually, the blog is pleasing to the eye. It makes use of the movable type engine and resembles most other blogs created with the same software. The text is rather on the small side and gray on white is a bit tricky to read. It uses right hand navigation in a two-column format. The search function is a nice touch, as are the links to articles and other writings by Mr. Abram. However, the link to the RSS feed is way at the bottom of the navigation column. The lack of an icon or other way to indicate the feed made it easy for me to miss in my scanning of the column, it looks just like any other link.
Google blog
The Google blog seems to be what I would expect from a corporate blog. A number of individuals post to this blog, from different areas in the Google Corporation. Most posts revolve around some new Google service or product. Earlier entries in the blog included frivolous things like recipes; however, the most recent entries seem to be clearly focused on informing customers of new products and services.
The blog's stated purpose is to provide "insights from googlers into our products, technology and google culture." The relatively short entries seemed geared to the average google user, probably those who like and use advanced Google features. Although the owners of the blog say they "love feedback" they require you to send an email instead of opening up comments on individual posts. This makes the blog seem less open to discussion and feedback from Google users and more like a public relations tool.
Google makes use of blogger, their own blogging platform. The site uses a two-column format, with the navigation in the right-hand column. The color scheme is reminiscent of Google's logo, with the primary orange and blue used as headers and link colors. The site feed link is right at the top, so a user can make use of this feature quickly, without having to hunt for it. That is good because the lengthy right hand column not only links to archives and labels (which seem to be comparative with tags in other blogging sites), but provides a rather long list of other Google blogs. There is also another extensive list of what the bloggers are reading. This information is nice and well defined by headers, but it can be a bit too much.
A tale of two Amazons:
Amazon web services blog
The Official Amazon Associates blog
While doing a search for an Amazon.com corporate blog, I came across two very different blogs associated with Amazon.com. The "official" Amazon Associates blog is directed to members of the Amazon Affiliates program, those who provide links to Amazon products on their webpages to earn revenue. The Amazon web services blog is a much more technical blog, directed to programmers and developers interested in Amazon’s web services, which include things like online file storage.
Both of these blogs have very different purposes and styles. The Associates blog is similar to the Google blog, and is more what I expect a corporate blog to look like. It provides information on new services and products. Most entries seem to be written by "Sean, Associates Product Marketing Manager" although other members of the associate team may post as well. All entries are signed. However, no comments are enabled in this blog. A way to get around this lack of discussion is to "digg" a post and then comment on the digg.com site.
The Web Services Blog is directed less as a marketing tool and more as a place where developers and programmers can share information. The entries are much longer than the Affiliates blog, providing links, images and video on a variety of topics, not always related to Amazon.com products. The most recent entry asks users to help find Steve Fossett using Amazon mechanical turk. Unlike the Affiliates blog, the Web Services blog openly accepts comments, although they are moderated.
In visual appearance, both blogs are very different. The affiliates blog uses a two-column structure, with navigation along the right hand column. The color scheme is very clean and reminiscent of the one used on Amazon.com. It makes use of multiple RSS links, and other web 2.0 technologies like delicious and digg.com. The Web Services Blog uses a three-column structure, with navigation along the rightmost column and helpful links in the left one. It makes much more use of the column space to provide links than the Affiliates blog.
We’ve looked at four different blogs – two very different ones attached to the same corporation. Each blog gives a different impression about the company they represent. Stephen’s Lighthouse makes SirsiDynix seem more human and librarian-friendly. Google Blog portrays Google as hip and with it, informing users of new features. And the Amazon blogs approach their particular readers with an individual and direct approach.
Of all the four, the two I'm most likely to add to my bloglines profile are Stephen’s Lighthouse and Google Blog. Abram's blog seems to apply to my and my career. And I want to know about Google's next big thing, so it would make sense to add that to my profile. Both blogs have successfully added a new person to their readership and that is, after all, the point.
Stephen’s Lighthouse
SirsiDynix is a big name in the library world. The average person probably has no idea how much this company affects how they might use their public library. SirsiDynix produces Integrated Library Systems (ILS), among other software products for libraries. You might be more familiar with an ILS as your library’s online book catalog.
Stephen’s Lighthouse is a blog written by SirsiDynix's Vice President of Innovation, Stephen Abram. This blog is linked from SirsiDynix's main page and is the only official corporate blog that Sirsi lists. Abram himself is a librarian, with over twenty five years in the library business. His blog is directed to librarians, sharing interesting links, article excerpts, and other pieces of information valued by librarians. These entries can vary anywhere from a few paragraphs to lengthy article passages.
What this blog does not do is act like an official mouthpiece of SirsiDynix. Abram doesn't talk mainly about Sirsi products or development. In fact his stated purpose is to "help the good ship Library World navigate to its vision of the future." So his blog ends up giving a more human face to the sometimes nebulous SirsiDynix Corporation. Instead of a faceless corporate publication, he provides a place where comments are welcome and discussion is key.
Visually, the blog is pleasing to the eye. It makes use of the movable type engine and resembles most other blogs created with the same software. The text is rather on the small side and gray on white is a bit tricky to read. It uses right hand navigation in a two-column format. The search function is a nice touch, as are the links to articles and other writings by Mr. Abram. However, the link to the RSS feed is way at the bottom of the navigation column. The lack of an icon or other way to indicate the feed made it easy for me to miss in my scanning of the column, it looks just like any other link.
Google blog
The Google blog seems to be what I would expect from a corporate blog. A number of individuals post to this blog, from different areas in the Google Corporation. Most posts revolve around some new Google service or product. Earlier entries in the blog included frivolous things like recipes; however, the most recent entries seem to be clearly focused on informing customers of new products and services.
The blog's stated purpose is to provide "insights from googlers into our products, technology and google culture." The relatively short entries seemed geared to the average google user, probably those who like and use advanced Google features. Although the owners of the blog say they "love feedback" they require you to send an email instead of opening up comments on individual posts. This makes the blog seem less open to discussion and feedback from Google users and more like a public relations tool.
Google makes use of blogger, their own blogging platform. The site uses a two-column format, with the navigation in the right-hand column. The color scheme is reminiscent of Google's logo, with the primary orange and blue used as headers and link colors. The site feed link is right at the top, so a user can make use of this feature quickly, without having to hunt for it. That is good because the lengthy right hand column not only links to archives and labels (which seem to be comparative with tags in other blogging sites), but provides a rather long list of other Google blogs. There is also another extensive list of what the bloggers are reading. This information is nice and well defined by headers, but it can be a bit too much.
A tale of two Amazons:
Amazon web services blog
The Official Amazon Associates blog
While doing a search for an Amazon.com corporate blog, I came across two very different blogs associated with Amazon.com. The "official" Amazon Associates blog is directed to members of the Amazon Affiliates program, those who provide links to Amazon products on their webpages to earn revenue. The Amazon web services blog is a much more technical blog, directed to programmers and developers interested in Amazon’s web services, which include things like online file storage.
Both of these blogs have very different purposes and styles. The Associates blog is similar to the Google blog, and is more what I expect a corporate blog to look like. It provides information on new services and products. Most entries seem to be written by "Sean, Associates Product Marketing Manager" although other members of the associate team may post as well. All entries are signed. However, no comments are enabled in this blog. A way to get around this lack of discussion is to "digg" a post and then comment on the digg.com site.
The Web Services Blog is directed less as a marketing tool and more as a place where developers and programmers can share information. The entries are much longer than the Affiliates blog, providing links, images and video on a variety of topics, not always related to Amazon.com products. The most recent entry asks users to help find Steve Fossett using Amazon mechanical turk. Unlike the Affiliates blog, the Web Services blog openly accepts comments, although they are moderated.
In visual appearance, both blogs are very different. The affiliates blog uses a two-column structure, with navigation along the right hand column. The color scheme is very clean and reminiscent of the one used on Amazon.com. It makes use of multiple RSS links, and other web 2.0 technologies like delicious and digg.com. The Web Services Blog uses a three-column structure, with navigation along the rightmost column and helpful links in the left one. It makes much more use of the column space to provide links than the Affiliates blog.
We’ve looked at four different blogs – two very different ones attached to the same corporation. Each blog gives a different impression about the company they represent. Stephen’s Lighthouse makes SirsiDynix seem more human and librarian-friendly. Google Blog portrays Google as hip and with it, informing users of new features. And the Amazon blogs approach their particular readers with an individual and direct approach.
Of all the four, the two I'm most likely to add to my bloglines profile are Stephen’s Lighthouse and Google Blog. Abram's blog seems to apply to my and my career. And I want to know about Google's next big thing, so it would make sense to add that to my profile. Both blogs have successfully added a new person to their readership and that is, after all, the point.
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Interesting Web 2.0 video
First post to the blog, so let's play with embedding some video:
I got linked to the above video by my husband, who's a high school teacher. And let me just say I'm thrilled that there's a place like teachertube out there to archive educational content.
The one comment I really wanted to address from this video is when it mentions the billions of searches posted to google and wonders to whom these questions were addressed before google. The short answer? Librarians, of course.
In the "olden days" when you needed to know things like, oh, who won the world series in 1969, or statistics on current labor trends, there wasn't a quick google search to unearth that information. You needed someone with specialized knowledge to point you to where you could find that information (Sports Almanac for the first, and perhaps a specialized government document for the second.)
Now most people can get the information they want pretty quickly. However, there's a big difference in the quality of information. Sure, they may end up on the Bureau of Labor statistics homepage if they do the search right. But the average person isn't going to notice things like that right away, or why information on a certain page is more legit than others. That is the new role for Librarians in the web 2.0 era.
I got linked to the above video by my husband, who's a high school teacher. And let me just say I'm thrilled that there's a place like teachertube out there to archive educational content.
The one comment I really wanted to address from this video is when it mentions the billions of searches posted to google and wonders to whom these questions were addressed before google. The short answer? Librarians, of course.
In the "olden days" when you needed to know things like, oh, who won the world series in 1969, or statistics on current labor trends, there wasn't a quick google search to unearth that information. You needed someone with specialized knowledge to point you to where you could find that information (Sports Almanac for the first, and perhaps a specialized government document for the second.)
Now most people can get the information they want pretty quickly. However, there's a big difference in the quality of information. Sure, they may end up on the Bureau of Labor statistics homepage if they do the search right. But the average person isn't going to notice things like that right away, or why information on a certain page is more legit than others. That is the new role for Librarians in the web 2.0 era.
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