Hello! Lovely to meet you!
Welcome friends! Lovely to have you here. So where exactly is "here"? And what on earth is a ThinkerBelle? "Here" is a blog space on all things that interest this little strategist, namely design, social media and technology. I like to think that "ThinkerBelle" (my strategist persona) lives at the intersection of these three domains. I hope you enjoy this space, please comment and don't be a stranger. I appreciate you being here. Follow me in the tweetverse if you like @thaz7. Stay groovy.
Latest
The Best of the Best.
As the year winds down, inevitably the “top lists” start to creep back into our inboxes along with copious trend reports, evaluating 2009 and predicting what the world will hold for us in 2010. While we all start to turn our noses a bit at it all (after we’ve seen the fortieth list of the day) I have to say, this year I’ve seen some of the most INCREDIBLE content start to aggregate online. I feel infinitely more informed and think there’s a ton of value in anyone (planners and beyond) to look at these, reflect back on the year and how some of these ideas (BIG, small and best of all GOOD) resonate in your life, your brands’ lives and of course, culture.
Please feel free to comment on and add in your favorites as well!
For true online (incredibly designed) experiences:
1) The GOOD 100
(http://awesome.good.is/good100/good100.html)
What isn’t GOOD about GOOD? Saving the world with good design (intelligent, functional and beautiful design has been a part of their ethos and this GOOD 100 is no exception. Simple iconography is your navigation for 100 of the most important, influential and intriguing ideas/people/things in culture.
2) digg Labs 365
The extraordinary digg Labs presents a year overview, proving information and content aggregation can be quite beautiful. Pick a day and digg will help you find the top stories, images and video.
3) Forty for 2010
Wolf Ollins/Wallpaper (http://www.wallpaper.com/fortyfor2010)
In a great partnership brand consultancy and Wallpaper join forces to bring a very fresh perspective to a “trend” report. Categories ranging from money to communities to energy to computing, they do a great job of illustrating truly innovative brands/mindshifts and beyond in a very clean, well designed experience.
4) A Year in Ideas
NY TImes (http://www.nytimes.com/projects/magazine/ideas/2009/#a)
The consummate year in review from A-Z the freshest ideas of the year. Ad folks have plenty to play with, as well as a ton of great cultural, sociopolitical, tech and even sports innovation. Each idea is coded with a handy icon, incredibly well organized piece of NY Times goodness. Lest we forget the ad that watches you…
As for presentations my favorites were:
1) Most Contagious Report (http://www.digitalbuzzblog.com/slideshare-most-contagious-2009-pres/)
I find this to be the most comprehensive of any ad industry cutting edge case study reports. Great format, interesting writing and fabulous examples that will intrigue and inspire.
2) FEED Report from Razorfish: (http://feed.razorfish.com/)
Now that we have all (thankfully) shelved the phrase “Web 2.0″ we can all collectively sigh in relief and sit back and take in what the future TRULY holds for us in technology.
3) Top 10 Trends by David Strutts: (http://www.slideshare.net/Stutts/10-trends-to-watch-in-2010)
Some really nice tech trends from David Strutts, with a good balance of cultural trends as well. Idea of “niche user-generated humor” is a fun one to explore.
