Want to know not just what companies are doing on the social web but how well they’re doing it?

We have brought you just the tool to measure and monitor brand engagement: for the first time ever, ENGAGEMENTdb ranks the world’s most valuable brands based on how they leverage social media to interact with customers.

Razorfish’s “digital outlook report 2009″ – http://www.razorfish.com/img/content/2009DOR.pdf

The following report contains statements that are forwardlooking, including expectations and predictions regarding future industry trends and developments. Actual results may differ materially from our expectations or projections. This report also contains opinions, estimates, and forwardlooking statements by industry leaders. Such statements are the personal opinions of the individuals quoted and should not be attributed to any other entity or individual. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance upon forward-looking statements, which speak only as to the date of this document. Except as required by law, neither Razorfish, LLC nor any of its affiliated entities undertake any obligation to update any forwardlooking or other statements in this document, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

© Razorfish, LLC. All rights reserved.

Razorfish’s “Fluent – The Social Influence Marketing Report” – http://fluent.razorfish.com/publication/?m=6540&l=1

I’m excited to announce the launch of Fluent, the Social Influence Marketing report from Razorfish. This is the first report of its kind which understands who and what influences consumers at different points in the marketing funnel.

The insights in this report are built on three pillars – a survey with 1,000 North American consumers, six months worth of real conversational data to frame the introduction of a new social index and the experiences of Razorfish Social Media Leads across the world who advise marketers in industry leading companies everyday.

The survey and conversational driven research also busts three myths about Social Influence Marketing.

1. That companies have figured out how to build their brands in social media. They haven’t. For example, six out of 10 consumers don’t bother to seek out opinions of brands via social media.

2. That television is dead. It isn’t. Consumers view TV ads as more trustworthy than ads on social networks. Marketers need to do more in the social realm, but they need to do it in a way that builds trust first. Brands don’t have the trust today.

3. That you cannot measure in the social web. Not only do campaign specific metrics matter and can be measured but we believe a SIM Score for the social web is extremely important. Think of it as the blood pressure for the brand in the social web. In the report, we introduce this index and show the SIM Scores of 5-6 brands in 4 industries. We also compare the online numbers to offline share of voice data to demonstrate how those two worlds are blurring.

Read Fluent, the Social Influence Marketing report and come back to the blog to share your thoughts, comments and criticisms. Over the next few weeks, I’ll be delving into the insights more deeply over here. And if you like the report, please tell others about it!

Original posting – http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1191675/how_to_run_your_own_graphic_design.html?cat=55

Studio management rarely gets a credit once graphic design is talked over, but for many studios it might just make the divergence between succeeder and loser. And so what can you act to ascertain you are acting at maximum efficiency? Allow me provides you ten top tips.

The function of the studio manager is crucial to the efficient running of a design business. But usually it’s only the big design companies that can afford to pay for such services. Yet all studios – even small ones – need management. This means that most designers have to do their own,
just as they have to do their own book-keeping, IT consultancy and print buying. But by investing in a good studio manager, designers could growth efficiency and productivity, make the working day more pleasurable for everyone and, last not least, encourage profitability . The fundamental to acquiring the most out of studio management is to remember that as a designer you’re in the service sector. Don’t think of studio management as an irksome in-house overhead. Think of it as key factor in the way you look after your clients. Viewed like this, studio management (and project management) becomes a way of boosting your income. So it pays to employ someone in this role, and it pays to employ someone good. But what exactly is the role of the studio manager?

1. WHAT DOES A STUDIO MANAGER DO?

Put simply, a studio manager in a small design studio (ten to 20 people) deals with all non-design matters, leaving designers free to design. A good studio manager might be required to change light bulbs one day and negotiate fees with the studio’s biggest client the next. Studio management used to be about keeping materials such as pens and layout pads in stock, and dealing with printers. Today, a studio manager needs many skills: IT knowledge; the ability to co-ordinate multimedia projects; the know-how to monitor work; basic financial skills and experience commissioning and controlling external suppliers. It also helps if they’re likeable individuals.

Find the rest at the original posting – http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1191675/how_to_run_your_own_graphic_design.html?cat=55

Original posting – http://www.instantshift.com/2009/06/23/40-sources-to-download-high-quality-free-photoshop-psd-stuff/

Sources To Download High-Quality Free Photoshop PSD Stuff

Creativity means a lot in any kind of presentation. Whether it’s a logo, banner, advertisement or a complete design; being able to inject creativity into it not only helps in floating the message around, it also leaves solid impression on the viewer. Good design is not easy thing to emerge, or it is often a very challenging job to discover creative designs. However, there are few ways by which you can improve your designing skills. One of them is analyzing others work and find the inspiration behind every details. Infect, it’s even easier if you can able to use others creative work in your design with proper permission and guidelines. In this presentation, we present to you the best sources to download Photoshop PSD files and resources for igniting your creativity.

Find the rest at the original posting – http://www.instantshift.com/2009/06/23/40-sources-to-download-high-quality-free-photoshop-psd-stuff/

Fantastic video on the progression of information technology, researched by Karl Fisch, Scott McLeod, and Jeff Brenman, remixed By the way, I did not create this video! Search on the names above if…
By the way, I did not create this video! Search on the names above if you want more info – they are responsible.

http://webdesignledger.com/resources/20-excellent-blogs-for-those-who-love-design

Whether you’re a web designer, a print designer, or a photographer, you probably share a common trait with me and other creative types – a love for all things design related. I’m a web designer, but I love reading blogs that cover anything about design. I think there is much to be learned from exploring and learning about various mediums.

Here are some of my favorite blogs that cover various topics from web design to package design. More…

Read full article – http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2009/03/30-useful-web-design-books-for-2009/

To keep up with the fast-paced web design industry you must seek out self education sources as often as possible, such as books, or you’ll be left behind.

The year 2009 promises to bring us some excellent, and even groundbreaking, new reads. Listed below are 30 web design related books from some of the brightest designers and developers in the industry, that will likely be influential must-reads.

Certainly there can’t be any promise that these books will deliver, but it will be worth your while to check them out.

Each book has either a release date or estimated release date listed, however these dates often change due to publishing and other related issues, so please take these dates as approximations only.

Read full article – http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2009/03/30-useful-web-design-books-for-2009/

http://www.wordle.net/

Wordle is a toy for generating “word clouds” from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text. You can tweak your clouds with different fonts, layouts, and color schemes. The images you create with Wordle are yours to use however you like. You can print them out, or save them to the Wordle gallery to share with your friends.

http://www.squidspot.com/Periodic_Table_of_Typefaces/Periodic_Table_of_Typefaces_large.jpg