Written and Doodled by Rex

Earlier this summer, at the annual conference of our client, Association Media & Publishing, I enjoyed a presentation on "visual thinking" by Dan Roam, author of the best-selling book, Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures. As you can see in the photo on the right, I got into the spirit of the presentation and took notes about his presentation on the back of a napkin -- more on that in a minute.

At Hammock, we're constantly challenging ourselves -- and the photographers, illustrators and videographers with whom we work -- to tell stories visually, not just to think of their work as something to support the words in our stories. It's true what they say about pictures and a thousand words -- but for some reason, people don't feel comfortable with trying to solve problems and develop strategies with pictures.

At Hammock, we appreciate the way in which new media and approaches allow one to share stories in ways other than the traditional linear approach. We demonstrated this with our 2008 T-Shirt map, for example. So it comes as no surprise that we were intrigued and impressed with a digital project in the UK by book publisher Penguin called, "We Tell Stories." The project features six authors sharing six short stories in six weeks. Each story is told using a different set of online tools and approaches -- the same types of of tools and approaches we believe can help companies and associations effectively share their stories with customers, members and others.

For example, the story, "The 21 Steps" by Charles Cumming uses a Google Maps mashup to present a round-the-world story. And the story, "Slice" by Toby Litt uses two different blogging platforms (LiveJournal and Wordpress) and Twitter.

Yes, we're impressed. Perhaps not with the stories themselves, but with the experimentation taking place. And by a book publisher, no less.

(via: Springwise.com.)

We're big fans of the folks at Wired magazine. Indeed, in the Hammock Inc. Library, you'll find a complete collection of every issue of Wired ever published. Flipping through the February issue we were reminded once more how creative they can be when we saw this spread in a feature story on "33 Things That Make Us Crazy" that includes some inside-magazine humor. It's the first time we recall seeing the lowly blow-in card serve as the central visual element of an editorial feature.

While in the background (and on the website version of the story), you can see a photo illustrating the piece, the full impact of the design is experienced when flipping through a newsstand version of the magazine that is carry 3-4 blow-ins. If you catch it perfectly, the cards fall out into your lap, animating the story even more. We're so impressed, we'd think the Folio: folks should give them an Ozzie award for best use of a blow-in card in an editorial feature.

It's a bit fuzzy in the photo, so here's what the copy says:

"You know all those subscription cards cluttering up this issue of Wired? Well, um ... sorry. We understand you detest the deforesting paper rectangles — "bind-in" or "blow-in" cards, to use industry parlance. Honestly, we do, too. But they're part of our business model. It's not just about money, really — it's about your eyeballs. See, advertisers pay based on audience size. And blow-in cards are a cheap way to snag subscribers and boost numbers: It costs a glossy monthly about $10 to acquire a new reader through one of those cards. But using direct mail? $25 — or more. We'd be happy to get your business through the Internet, which we hear is the wave of the future. But for now, just 10 percent of new subs come via the Net. And 12 percent come from those damn blow-in cards. The worst part about 'em? They cover up some really good stories."

We'll admit we're also not the biggest fans of blow-in cards, but we now realize we're huge fans of clever editorial concepts and graphic treatments about blow-in cards.

[Photo: Shot by Rex with his iPhone at Davis-Kidd Booksellers.]