Lately there has been a big buzz over the new ad campaigns from Burger King. From what I’ve read their new ad agency is looking to tap into the professional 20-something market. While I don’t eat a lot of fast food I will say I like how they are diversifying themselves from the likes of McDonalds and Wendy’s.
But back on topic, BK’s latest ad spot features a very Mugatu (Will Ferrell in Zoolander) like character, even down to the personality and body language. While I do find this a bit of a rip off I somewhat enjoyed the spot. The character in this case is named Ugoff and he features his own site much like the subservient chicken did.
The 20-somethings love stuff online and love sending their friends links to stuff like this and put it in their blogs.
The Japanese love using Hollywood actors in their commercials much like we do in the states as well but the Japanese always make hilariously fun ads. Over the years I’ve come across a few links online which feature some of these ads but today I found the ultimate resource. Japander.com has a huge collection of ads in quicktime format.
Just hours after I posted the entry about the Sonos System Apple releases Airport Express. The unit is basically an access point but Apple added some really nice features to it. The one that is in reference to the Sonos system is the audio out jack to a stereo. Plug in the unit next to a stereo and plug the line out into the stereo’s line in. Now in itunes you have the ability to stream music to that access point which in turn plays on the stereo via a feature Apple has dubbed AirTunes.
The kicker is that the unit is only $129 as opposed to $1200 for the sonos system (granted I am not including the cost of purchasing a mac but it is assumed you have a computer).
Some of the other features include a usb port for hooking up a usb printer and also wireless internet access.
Another great thing I love about some of the Apple products coming out as of late is that they are standardized for the most part. If you own an iPod or a Powerbook you’ll surely know what I’m talking about. They have these easily interchangable plugs which can be swapped for the extension cord plug or even to different country plug formats.
If I lived in a large home this would be the first thing I put in it. I am constantly listening to music where ever I am and having the ability to have your entire library of music throughout your house is just unbeatable. I don’t live in a big house and as of right now the system is only available for pre-order at $1200.
The controller for the system has a very iPod-like sleekness which from an asethetics point of view gives me the impression that the device would be a joy to use. The UI also looks to be very easy to use but only a test of the unit will determine that.
On the technical specs one of the things I found to be a definite plus is that it supports AAC which is what I am encoding all my new music in.
I recently picked up 37signals new book Defensive Design for the Web. The book offers some good insight into some of the more basic usability design issues on the web and while it is a quick read I wouldn’t recommend it to the more advanced designers. If you’re new to web design or finally realizing that there is more to creating web pages than just html this book is probably a good read.
I do still think that I will use it as a reference in my library of books. Defensive Design for the Web does one thing that most usability design books don’t and that is showing bad design. Many books out there exclaim how they are not writing a book to scold designers but to laud those which are designed well. Unfortunately that doesn’t always help because as humans we learn from mistakes and showing bad design helps us learn what not to do.
If you do get a chance to pick this up I highly recommend getting Steve Krug’s book Don’t Make Me Think as well since his book I feel makes a great companion to Defensive Design for the Web. Krug’s book shows a lot of great design and a lot great ways to make them even better which is something that the 37Signals book does not do.