Tyrone Pardue

Over the last quarter of a century, the publishing industry has measured the success of publications by analyzing distribution and sales metrics. But the future of accurate measurement will be the level of engagement between the publication and the audience. This means how successful a publication is at engaging the audience and staying relevant to them. To be engaging, a publication must first grab the audience's attention. And that is getting tougher to do. Every day your audience is being bombarded with thousands of messages coming from numerous sources. Your audience is choosing which to access and which to filter out.

Your audience does not care about the method of delivery, it just cares about the message. Today's information consumer is capable of digesting information from many sources: TV, the Web, email, blogs, magazines, newspapers and a whole plethora of other information vehicles, and sometimes simultaneously.

So in order to get their attention you have to push their buttons, deliver content that's relevant to them. They need content, information that either makes them feel better about themselves and their life, or about the product they purchased (or are about to purchase) from your company. And better yet, if the content can make the consumer feel smarter after reading it, it will make them feel good. And the Feel-Good button is the best one to push.

If your company can do these things for the audience through branded content, then you are building relationships for life. But beware: if you are not using branded content to win over the audiences of tomorrow and hold the audiences of today, you can bet your bottom dollar that your competitor is!

Further Reading

BICSI News: The ITS Industry Magazine

Military Officers Magazine

Ever had to pick up a prescription bottle and try to decipher the information in a hurry or in the middle of the night? How many you need to take, the doctor's name, the quantity, even the name of the drug itself and who manufactured it? If its confusing for you and then imagine being 75 years old with less than perfect eyesight in the same situation. Bad accidents happen all the time because of poor labeling.

In recognition of this fact and with tangible respect for their customers, Target launched ClearRx this year. They spent considerable time and effort to take the basic idea that prescriptions are meant to heal - not kill - and designed the labeling from the perspective of the consumer.

The new design is clear and effective. The name of the drug is easy-to-see at a glance as are the instructions for usage. This is achieved through good typography and visual pacing. In addition, the proper use of white space has ensured that the instructions are not cramped, so there is plenty of light around the type to keep it legible.

The result is a label with a consistent layout that ensures the user can easily see what they need to at a glance and thereby avoid dangerous mix-ups with other drugs or incorrect doses that could be life-threatening.

Bravo Target!

After the four-hour sprint to Miami from Tampa, a hot Cuban coffee was just what I needed. Actually, it did not seem that long a journey and my trusty i-Pod was loaded with Ravi Shankar and Brian Eno for the early morning start. Try listening to Ravi while the sun comes up over the Everglades! It was the perfect 'big mind' experience.

Cartoon Sculpture

My daughter slept the whole way. Her art teacher at the University of South Florida made a strong recommendation that the students go to Miami for the world famous Art Basel show that seems to get bigger and more impressive every year. My friend Mike Braun, an emerging artist from North Miami Beach, was also launching his first exhibit, so the trip made perfect sense.

Chinese Artist Fauzhi

All I can say is that after that double Cuban coffee I was totally ready for a three-hour saunter through the Miami Beach Convention Center. What a mind-blowing show! The usual suspects were all there; Warhol, Picasso and Hockney to mention just a few of my favorites. A Warhol selling for over $2 million and de Kooning for $60 million! But what I found very interesting was the conceptual thread shared by many of the newer artists; a strong use of bold bright color, luminescence, graphics and mixed media. Lots of impasto-like paintings rendered using plastics, rubber and silicones. And lots of cartoonish images repeated in sculpture and painting. I did see a lot of rubbish too.

I have to admit I just don't get some of it. Like the crushed Camel cigarette box hanging at the end of some fishing line being moved around the floor by an electrical arm suspended from the ceiling. The new Chinese artists were causing quite a lot of interest, and stirring some debate. And true to form, the German artists stood out as leaders in contemporary conceptual thought.

"Porn" in silicone

Saturday night my daughter and I went to the opening party for Mike Braun's first showing of his dramatic and thought-provoking paintings at the Odergard Gallery in the Art and design district of Miami Beach. Mike's paintings are bold and full of energy. His earlier works darker and more imposing while his latest pieces like the Curl of Luck more optimistic but still resound with a sort of primal creative force. His launch was a big success with four paintings being sold that evening.

Afterwards, the artist, his wife Maggie Kottman (one of Miami's best interior designers and a long-time family friend) my daughter and I along with a small group of Mike's admirers went to eat and debate politics, art and the politics of art until the small hours of the morning.

The trip home, as they often are, seemed tedious. And being dark and rainy, my daughter and I could not help but feel a little low returning to Tampa.

Last year I created a Holiday season card based on the idea of the dove of peace. Partly because it is the symbol of my Karate school and because it is a familiar Christmas image. I decided to stay on that track this year, but somehow felt I needed to say something about the lack of peace that actually exists in the world today.

I wanted to make a card that caused people who are able to 'see' to think about what we are celebrating during this holiday season. I can't help but notice the enormous divide that exists between our world here of shopping, eating and celebrating and what is happening in the middle east and Africa. It seems that Peace has been killed (the three dead birds, also representing the three wise men) and our sad attempt to decorate (the snow covered branches with lights) the darkness and coldness of death. But... the eye of peace, the third eye of our inner wisdom, the one-love or the Godhead looks over all starkly. Perhaps then the dove of peace can emerge after all?