Media is our vice. We are all strapped to it and bombarded with it on a day to day basis. Whether we watch TV every night, update our facebook wall on our mobile phone, or visit a website. You name it media is anywhere and everywhere. We cast our lives online, rush home for a new season of Entourage or play video games all night long. We are media junkies, strapped to it like never before in our history. Media gives me a career so I’m all for it, but do we really need to be so media centric?

I’ve been to a couple different countries in my travels and I’ve never seen another country so focused on entertainment and media as much as the United States. Movie stars are the highest paid people in our culture, not doctors or scientists, which is seemingly odd. In media’s defense, when you look at your day to day life, you’ll notice how much your life revolves around entertainment. The more money that is made of people clicking an ad or paying 12 bucks for a movie, the more those overpaid stars and entertainment companies get. Don’t get me wrong here, I love technology but I think we need to take the time to disconnect more.

Put your phone down, don’t update your status today, or shut off that TV for a night and just talk to someone face to face. We so easily fall into the outlets and social easements that many companies exploit everyday, why not fight the man and un-strap yourself once in a while. Life tends to slow down a bit when you take yourself away from all of what technology and media has provided for us.

Media advertising works. They taunt you to click, explore and buy. They put ads in video games, in you iPhone apps, over your videos, and who know where else. As time progresses more and more advertisers are finding new and unique ways to advertise. Although not all are are bad and can be useful, most are misleading or obtrusive. So say fight the man, turn off your phone, get off facebook for 10 minutes and try something more basic. Plain old conversation with no bells and whistles.

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I came upon this issue today, figured I write a little post about since I wasn’t really too sure how to handle such a situation. Maybe someone out there will find it interesting how we handled it.

Back Story:
One of my clients who just so happens to be very “strong willed” came into a bit of a conundrum. We have done a lot of work for campaigns, re branding, and other creative endeavors…. Long story short, there was a large open balance for creative that had already been released to them. Now I love helping my clients and always do my best to support them in any way I can, but with such a large balance I had to put all work on hold, even with deadlines fast approaching.

So now I’m at a loss, could loose the client could not but how do you handle such a situation? Ideally the payments would have been made promptly and all of this would have been avoided. So I put everything on hold and missed deadlines. Either way I think it was a bold but effective move. No one works for free and we stood our ground.

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Don’t get me wrong I love my clients but some time or another we get into a situation of the client push. Push…more like a jab in the side. “I need this done ASAP”. We are a deadline driven people us creatives, ASAP when I last checked was not a date. I don’t mean to be harsh…I’m just trying a new way of writing…sometimes a client just doesn’t listen. In my experience, which is always debatable, the best work comes from a hands off client. I found this great post on Freelance Switch that defines the different types of clients to the tee. 12 Breeds of Clients

Great article and hits on a a similar point. This would be classified as the hands on client, more like all up in your $hit client. As much as I don’t like to piss off my customers…as I love them dearly… they all should know that creative minds have an unsaid way about them. Maybe it should be in the contract…The best part is when they push you so hard to get everything done then drop off the face of the planet…love that… Bottom line…everyone works differently. Constructive criticism is encouraged, but when we talk about the “Client Push” this goes beyond constructive criticism, usually ending up in a complete loss of aesthetic.

It’s frustrating to see a great design go bad, and this is a result of the Client Push. If your new to the field or a seasoned veteran my advise, always stand up for your designs and hit them home with a nice summary of your ideas…otherwise…well you get the point.

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A design has so many meanings. What we create, a brand, an element, a finished piece, what is it? I ahd a conversation with my Executive creative director and my design team and we still could not come to a decision on what design is. Its debatable… but when we step back from the literal meaning of a design we need to realize that when we are creating a website we create an atmosphere, not a design. It’s different than print, its interface design infused with creative concepts and key visual easements. A place where the visitor can be engulfed in a presence. Sites like littledeviant.com or hotelgloriasubotica.com. All of the sites out there create a network of information that is free to all, the web, a cultural conglomerate of information.

Atmospheric Creation…yea I’m making up terms again but its a great idea to keep in mind when designing. To create an atmosphere, a presence, and experience… That is what makes a site different and impactful. I’ve written about cookie cutter web design before which is the complete opposite of this idea.

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In an age where everyone has access to post the innermost workings of everyones lives, broadcast for the public eye to see we come across this idea of Lifecasting. The success of reality TV, MySpace and YouTube has shown us that people want to know all there is to know about other people’s lives. I came across this idea of “Lifecasting” the other day in one of my magazines. Its an interesting concept that people have been doing for some time now. The posting of pretty much everything and everything that has to do with your everyday life. Blogs like this one are an outlet for people to display their info or lives and have become a large part of the web containing some of the best up to date information on the web.

The popularity of blogs, the posting of random funny pictures of unusual antics by random people, the success of the media mentioned above are all proof that everyday people are becoming more interesting than the stars in Hollywood. It’s a free expression of ideas, and people love it. Sharing photos, videos and everyday life excites the viewer creating a new type of community online. The basis of the internet is the free expression of ideas, a voice to the world to say what you want with no limitations for everyone to see.

We can apply this concept to Interactive Media and capitalize on the draw that this type of idea creates. If visitors are able to customize and personalize, they attach a certain ownership to the media that they have created. Create a profile, pick out a picture to associate your account to, change the color, change the layout, control hooks the masses. X-Box Live does a great job of hooking its users by allowing the customization of gamer profiles, tags, pictures, slogans, motos, friend groups, a message center, and more. This type of engagement attracts people to keep going back and checking in time after time to see what more they can customize and change.

Forums and interactive user communities are another sample of this and add a sense of validity and ownership to a product or service they are attached to. In user forums people can speak their minds regarding certain subjects and or products and help guide the company to better serve their customers. Its the new type of customer service, a integrated database of user opinions, rants and free ideas. It’s the idea of transparency, allow your customers or people interested in your business to freely speak their minds and help guide others and aid to sculpt a company into a customer service powerhouse.

We are integrated with the web in our everyday lives. Lifecasting is the beginning of a new era of technology being fused with society. We can either embrace this new media or be left in the dust…

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