I usually refer to Thanksgiving as a relatively-untarnished holiday. Whereas Christmas has degenerated into gift-giving and materialism, Easter has deteriorated into the day for chocolate bunnies and egg hunts, and Memorial Day is a day for beer and cook-outs, Thanksgiving seems to be mostly untarnished.

However, I have been rethinking that in light of “Black Friday” and the surrounding nonsense. I’m writing this at 1:30 am. There are people who are getting up now to go shopping at sales starting at 2 am or such. Other people camp out on Thanksgiving Day itself to get into the Black Friday crowds.

While I might have a point that Thanksgiving itself remains mostly untarnished, it is overrun a bit, therefore, by Black Friday. I should hardly be surprised that merchandising and materialism have stomped on a meaningful holiday, but I hadn’t thought of it in those terms.

Why do we think there’s a need to do this to ourselves? Is a $5 crock pot really worth the stress and pressure of charging through those lines? Is it worth giving up a day with your family?

When I used to work in retail, one of my managers said that he wanted to write a book explaining in what ways retail was destroying the country’s moral values. I think that this is a perfect illustration. Consumers are willing to forgo time with their families in order to hit the special sale prices that end before sunrise because retailers encourage it.

Yes, I’m the person who sits back and watches Black Friday madness, and simply hopes that no one gets killed this year.

If I ever put together a formal list of reasons why American culture is going to fall soon, the very idea of Black Friday will be somewhere prominent on it. If any one day epitomizes what’s wrong with the United States, it’s today. That it interferes with Thanksgiving only makes it more onerous.

No stores for me.  I heart Amazon and eBates, which has a $5 sign-up bonus plus double rebates today.

It is very hot today. The kind of heat that makes you want to crawl into the shade and sleep. Miniature lizards scurry across footpaths and unusual iridescent bugs the size of pebbles buzz drowsily as they get stuck on the wrong side of my glass door. The air is heavy with the fragrance of hibiscus and frangipani. Parakeets remain active; bursts of colour that explode into the air from hidden vantage points, calling out to each other. 

The breeze does occasionally lift, but it doesn’t bring relief, it just washes over you with even warmer air. You can’t lose enough layers to get comfortable. Venturing out without sunscreen is a serious risk, at best a painful red burn; at worst, the very real risk of melanoma. The only places of solace are either air-conditioned or near the ocean. For those lucky enough to live near the beaches. The inner city in summer must be a claustrophobic choking nightmare, 40 degree heat combined with dust and exhaust fumes and the relentless pace of the CBD. No option there to strip down to boardies and take a refreshing swim at lunchtime. The main beaches are inundated with tourists and locals alike seeking relief from the heat. The crowds are carefully watched over by the red and yellow clad lifeguards, who will have to endure the pain of not being able save an estimated 80 people from drowning this summer.

It isn’t even summer officially yet…it starts on the 1st December. Summer in Sydney means dry lightning and bushfires and sand too hot to walk on. Shops keeping their chocolate bars in the drinks coolers so they don’t melt. It means celebrating Christmas in the middle of summer, Santa depicted wearing boardshorts and flipflops. It means month after month of almost guaranteed temperatures over 30 degrees. I will spend a good part of this summer indoors in pleasantly air-conditioned surroundings. Summer + Christmas = no time off for those working in retail. It works for me, I’ve spend much of the past 3 years in colder snowier places and sometimes the heat here is too much, I admit. I’ll leave next March after 1 year and 1 month in Sydney. Long enough for a small  pale person from Scotland I think.

 (This was intended as a bit of practice to improve my descriptive writing, but if it comes across as a slightly rambling heat induced stream of consciousness…I apologise. It really is very hot today).

It seems like every where I turn, there is that annual cry of Black Friday this and Black Friday that. Bloody hell. I don’t ever do Black Friday. Ever. Never have and possibly never will. Why, pray tell you might ask? Well there are two reasons. One reason is deeply founded in massive bouts of paranoia and conspiratorial bollocks. And the other is … well … just blooming practical and time tested.

First the paranoia and conspiratorial bollocks. There is a part of me that suspects (even though I lack the proof) that Black Friday was invented so a bunch of rich, snooty corporate wanks can get some fun at average folks expense. Huh, you say? Think about it. Somewhere in the Exclusive Avenue, America, a bunch rich highty-tighties are gathered around a television, sipping coffee and cognac and placing bets of a dollar, receiving vid feeds of poor sods freezing their bums off in the cold as they press up against some storefront hoping to get x percentage off of something that they really don’t need. The truly sick ones will be sitting in a chair with their undies around their ankles, pipe in on hand and a jar of Vaseline in the other. Blimey. All for the annual event of the rush of the working class as they cave into their consumer lust (at low, low, discounted prices). Sort of like the running of the bulls at Pamplona. No, I don’t think so.

As for the practical part. I usually get the same deals or even better several weeks down the line … all without having my minerals turn a nice navy blue. Yes, I’m afraid my second explanation is not as long-winded as the first. Dreadfully sorry about that. And that, mates, is why I don’t bloody do Black Friday.

Photo: Daniel Wildman | Stock.xchng

When the dragons start their interrogation of entrepreneurs, one of the most essential questions they ask is “How do you make a profit?” In other words: How is it a business? How do you make your money in this setup? What is your business model?

The past seven seasons have, of course, brought a variety of entrepreneurs into the den, so we’ve had the privilege to see many business models falling under the scrutiny of the investors. Franchises, exclusive clubs, licensing, retail, and pyramid (!) schemes are just some of the many models presented before our fierce five. Very often, after a thorough dissection of them, the dragons are simply unconvinced that they could work, i.e., that they could make money.

It’s really very important to determine what the business model is from the outset. Just today, I was reviewing another DD episode, when I came upon a father-and-son team hoping to sell their ladder box invention. When Theo Paphitis asked them what their plan was (to make money, of course), the son answered, “We’ll sell lots of them”. Nice quick answer but very ambiguous. After all, every business IS supposed to sell something (product or service), but the how-to of it must be nailed down pat to leave no room for doubt as to its viability. That’s what a business model answers.

Again, flashback to my early days as an entrepreneur. It’s now cringe-worthy that in those times, I used to talk at length about the quality of CAN-DO! but very little about how it could be profitable. And, of course, these days, with publishing establishments falling by the wayside almost every week, I can’t just simply rely on selling the usual advert space, even if advertising is the recognised bloodline of magazine publishing. So one of the primary questions I’ve now learned to ask myself: What is my business model here? How do I intend to make money from this?

Very soon, a new thing will start with CAN-DO! (Teaser!) And even as I’m excited about its possibilities, I’m making sure that my entrepreneurial neck is steadily holding up my head. I have to focus on the fact that the new thing is not just an opportunity to be more creative. The bottom line question is “Is there a solid business model behind this new thing?”

I’ll end this point of reflection by sharing a link my assistant gave me today. It’s a short article in a Kenyan newspaper, detailing a “futuristic” business model, appropriate for e-commerce entities like CAN-DO! It’s something I’m currently marinating on as I figure out the new business model for our new thing in CAN-DO!

http://www.nation.co.ke/blogs/-/445642/687968/-/view/asBlogPost/-/wqumpp/-/index.html

The Londonist

Fin Flickr pool, også.

London er min by!

/Kenneth Tangnes

Well, this week has crept up on me and left pretty quickly.

Here are some more youtubes of the band in action, or inaction.

The other night a couple buddies and myself spent some time hooking up a few Xbox 360s and televisions to play some Gears of War 2 on Horde. The setup worked pretty well and it turned out to be a lot of fun. It reminded me of LAN parties past; World of Warcraft, Diablo, Starcraft, all the way back to Classic Doom. Only with far less cramping and claw-hand from a mouse.

All I can say is thank god science fiction and fantasy are thriving somewhere. This allegory business is important, and I have to say science fiction in film and television have been a serious disappointment lately. With all these advancements in technology lately it seems that content has taken a spot on the backburner. The people I know have seen me turn my nose up at almost every movie and television show I’ve seen in the last ten years. Here’s to hoping that The Road turns out a little better than damn near everything else I’ve seen lately. My point is that despite all those absurdly terrible movies out there at least I’ll always have that devious concubine Video Games. Yum indeed!

Finally I’d like to share this. After my last stint working at a gas station I too have many stories about ignorant customers starting arguments regarding the stupidest stuff… “what do you mean I have to pay Tax?”, “What do you mean I can’t smoke while I’m pumping gas”, and my personal favourite “What do you mean you don’t have any gasoline? What happened to it?” I know it’s a lot to ask, but please don’t be a goon when you need goods and services.

Cartoon by:

Dave Granlund (Cagle.com)

In Point, click and discover the future of advertising? I documented how advertisers and marketers were getting hyped up about the ultimate advertising and promotions platform.

In A Telco you can Bank on? and MasterCard shows its hand in the high stakes game of Mobile Payments we had a look at the new mobile banking and payments platform.

Now let’s take a look at the ultimate retail platform. The New Plastic Fantastic.

“The iPhone is poised to be a game changer in retailing and mobile commerce.”  Retail Touch Points

Over the past 18 months we have seen an explosion in SmartPhone Mobile Commerce Apps. Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Starbucks and 1800flowers, to name but a few, have all published iPhone apps in the past 12 months (Mobile Retail Apps Skyrocket on iPhone) .  While eBay, the company that revolutionised the online newspaper classified advertising business, announced in TechCrunch this week that Our Mobile Users Will Spend More Than $500 Million On Goods This Year.

In support of all this development activity CIO magazine has published the Five qualities of a great retail iPhone app. While Retail Touch Points suggests “The best approach for retailers is to have a full features application where you can browse every section of the Web site, every department and product, and physically buy them from the phone.”

So what makes mCommerce different from eCommerce? Is it a game changer or just another retail sales channel?

It always hard to see the real opportunity when you’re on the inside looking out and, just as it was with the eBusiness revolution, it is the start-ups who are changing the retail landscape with new and innovative ways of using the mobile phone to enhance the customer’s experience.

It was the New York Times’ Bob Tedeschi who pointed out this time last year that the “online shopping services are quickly building applications that bring a new dimension to your next trip to the mall … giving you the chance to use the (online) applications when you actually need them“

Both Red Laser and Shopsavvy are free apps that turns your mobile smartphone into bar code scanner. But that isn’t all they do. Take a look for yourself  how mobile apps like Shopsavvy will change the face of retail shopping forever. 

“(Shopsavvy) has the potential to revolutionize the retail industry by converging brick and mortar shopping with e-commerce. You point your phone’s camera at any bar code and it will read it, do a product look up, and give you information about the product, as well as where you can find it online or at nearby stores and for how much.”  Razorfish Digital Outlook Report 2009

What happens to the retail experience when the High St shops, Strip Malls, Big-Box Warehouses and the neighborhood Mom and Pop stores all have to compete with the in-the-moment capabilities of the New Plastic Fantastic?

Simply walk in the store, see something you like, scan it, run the product search, and you’ll be bartering with the shop assistant to match the lowest price you have found on your mobile phone.

As Joshua-Michele Ross says in his Forbes review of the  RedLaser App (When Your iPhone Knows Everything).  ”Here is the trend line: We are becoming accustomed to using our phones in-the-moment to answer all manner of questions… This small behavioral change has enormous consequences as more and more of our physical world finds its “data-doppleganger” online“

The Killer Mobile Retail App however is just that… An App with the potential to Kill Retail as we know it.

Will apps like the ShopSavvy and RedLaser ultimately change the way we shop? Are we going to see a MobCon revolution in shopping habits or will the New Plastic Fantastic prove to be a passing fad?

At the risk of sounding obscure I think the simple answer is this.

There are to types of time in the marketplace.

• Kronos (Greek: Linear time), and
• Karios (Greek: Opportunity or synchronicity). 

Kronos is the road you travel in search of a bargain (ie the Beginning, Middle and End of the retail journey). Karios on the other hand is the moment when impulse takes over and the urge to buy is satisfied by the act of buying.

Kronos involves control and thinking. Karios is about impulse and action.

All successful advertising and marketing people know intuitively that they are in the business of preparing the customer for that Karios moment.

As we all know from experience, price is just one aspect of the impulse to buy. Availability is another. Will the real-time knowledge that you can save $5.00 in the next suburb or $10.00 online really change your shopping habits? Or, will the urge, the impulse to buy now and pay later continue to, by and large, remove logic from the shopping equation?

I think the frugal shopper will find real value in smart apps like Shopsavvy. The impulse buyer I believe, will continue to shop on impulse.

My guess is the mobile bar code scanner revolution will be more about reducing the exit time of the buy:sell cycle. If shoppers can use their mobile phone to scan the bar code, pay for the item and then exit the shop by sending a message to the shop’s security system then I think they will embrace this technology in preference to waiting in line to be served at the cash register.

This self-service option will improve the overall customer experience and reduce the retailer’s service costs. It’s what you call a win:win scenario.

Sure price checking is part of the Kronos shopping cycle. But the purchase decision is a Karios moment and what could be better than a one click, on the spot purchasing retail high?

As I said in the beginning. It’s the New Plastic and yes, using it will make you feel Fantastic!

I work in retail and have for the better part of 10 years. I can honestly say that I have encountered just about every walk of life. Those who work in retail can tell you that they can honestly read a person just by glancing at him/her. They can also tell you that they are some of the worst treated people out there. Which brings me to my topic.

How difficult is it to be nice to that person behind the counter? How hard is it to get off your phone and actually acknowledge the person attempting to complete your transaction? I understand that most of you have had a long/bad/hectic day of work by the time you do your shopping, but just remember… so have we. We’ve dealt with people making rude & inappropriate comments. We’ve dealt with people trashing our stores. We’ve dealt with people, overall, just giving us a hard time.

Now don’t get me wrong. This isn’t a rant. Not in the least. It’s more of an eye opener for you. The next time you go shopping, instead of getting annoyed at a clerk, just remember, it’s more than likely not his/her fault. He/she is doing everything in his/her power to make sure that you get what you want. When you get up to the counter to pay for your items, get off the phone. It’s rude to completely ignore someone who is trying to help you. Don’t, don’t, DON’T call the person behind the counter an idiot or yell at said person. It’s only going to make that person nervous and make unwanted mistakes. Don’t make a mess. We don’t go to your place of work and create mess, so kindly please give us the same respect. And lastly, even if you don’t want to, even if you had the longest day in the world, listen to the our entire spiel. Trust me, we often times don’t want to say it any more than you want to hear it, but we are required to do so by our bosses.

As we enter the busiest shopping season of the year, just remember this. It’ll make your entire experience smoother. You’ll get better customer service, because I’ll tell you, we won’t give you 100% if you’re rude and degrading. Who knows? You may even enjoy your experience a little more.

Til then.

The National Christmas Tree in Washington  DC, is scheduled to be illuminated on December 3, 2009 and NBC continues to roll out the holiday festivities on Wednesday, December 2 (8-9 p.m. ET/PT) with The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree in New York NY, one of the season’s most treasured traditions, the 77th annual tree lighting extravaganza dates back to the Great Depression. Bringing the holidays home, June Blunt of Aruntx.US Premium Shopping, a division of Aruntx Publishing Company, in a recent interview stated ‘consumers are increasingly using the online Aruntx Shopping Marketplace to complete their holiday shopping needs and purchasing easy to care for Live Table Top Christmas Trees which brighten the Christmas Holiday Season for distant family and friends, delighting the eye and promulgating the holiday spirit with lovely holiday season aroma, an elegant way to honor the season’. Blunt articulated, ‘our live two foot tall Alberta Dwarf  Spruce Christmas Trees easily fit on a tabletop, with hand-crafted beautiful decoration are hand-selected to ensuring freshness and the Aruntx high standards for shape, fullness, color and quality. Aruntx provides the freshest, most beautiful trees available, includes free Christmas card with note inscription exhibiting Santa Claus, free hot chocolate and candy canes, the option of sparkling color or brightest white lights and cute fluffy Christmas Teddy Bear, with free telephone support and UPS Tracking Notification Service for delivery right to your door.’ Live Table Christmas trees are ideal for holiday celebration and according to reliable sources when planted outdoors provide long-term benefits for both the environment and the landscape long after the Christmas season. When spring comes around you can transplant the tree in your garden where it will continue to grow for decades, not only providing habitat for birds and wildlife but replenish the air with oxygen, increases soil stability, and generally makes the landscape more beautiful. Live Christmas Trees are grown on farms just like any other crop and to ensure a constant supply Christmas Tree growers plant one to three new seedlings for every tree they harvest. Blunt added ‘There is nothing better than a fresh Christmas tree for the holidays.’ www.aruntx.com  # # #

Courtesy A2AD Newswire http://a2ad.com/news/2009/112609/

Hola a todos

Ya hace casi un año que empezamos a escribir en este blog. Gracias a todos vosotros hemos seguido escribiendo con regularidad y con muchísima ilusión.

Ahora hemos decidido que ha llegado la hora de dar un paso más y pasar el blog a un dominio propio. A partir de ahora seguiremos escribiendo como Marketing Take Away, pero lo haremos en:

marketingtakeaway.com

Por favor, os rogamos a todos que modifiquéis vuestros RSS y/o enlaces al blog y uséis a partir de ahora la nueva dirección.

En el nuevo blog seguiremos hablando de experiencia de cliente, de marketing y de todo lo que nos divierte, como hasta ahora

Gracias por hacer todo esto posible

borjaime

According to KPIX (CBS 5) in San Francisco, the Banana Republic stores in San Francisco are hiring foreigners at minimum wage and putting them up in hotels because they claim they can’t find qualified local workers.  So, KPIX had their staffers try to apply for jobs.  “Oh, we’re not hiring” they said.  When contacted, the Gap/Banana Republic operation said that the store was “mistaken” and that they really are hiring.

Donald Fisher, the now deceased founder of the Gap, was a lying sack of shit and always had been throughout his life.  His purchase of virgin redwoods which he claimed he would preserve (only to be logged when nobody was looking) was just one in a string of lies he laid during his life. 

So, now the legacy of Donald Fisher continues at the Gap and Banana Republic.

How about some honesty in business for a change.  Is that so hard?

Express Avenue is the new Mall to be coming up soon in the City of Chennai’s Landscape. The work is on full swing and there were announcements of tie-ups with various Retail Stores and Entertainment Service providers.

Expected launch is March 2010, i guess.

Stores are stocking less inventory this holiday season, so Traci Lunsford decided to start her shopping last month.

“I will receive the bill in November and have it paid off by December,” says the Thornton resident, who has been using coupons and daily deals from Upromise.com to help curtail her holiday spending.

Marketing experts say zealous coupon clippers and tenacious bargain hunters such as Lunsford will reap the greatest savings this holiday season.

But they also warn that shoppers are unlikely to find the usual last-minute price cuts in the days before Christmas.

Why? To compensate for soft sales throughout the past year, retailers are keeping inventories low to prevent stock from languishing on shelves. Black Friday and Cyber Monday — the weekdays immediately after Thanksgiving — promise shoppers the deepest discounts.

“The more expensive the item . . . the more open the store will be to negotiating,”says Scott Testa, a business-administration professor at Cabrini College in Philadelphia.

“Consumers have nothing to lose,” he adds. “If you have money to spend, you will get as good a deal as you will ever see.”

Wal-Mart and Best Buy both advertise price-matching. To take advantage of it, shoppers should arm themselves with mailers and inserts before hitting the stores.

“Bring your laptop into the store,” Testa says. “Show them the ad you found on Amazon with a $999 price compared to their $1,050 and ask them if there is something they can do for you.”

http://www.denverpost.com/lifestyles/ci_13835889

November 25, 2009

It’s not even thanksgiving yet and people are pissed.

so today was my first day back for the holiday season.  it was crazy, who knew that the day before thanksgiving would be so busy!  and people so pissy! oh my jesus.

so this guy, thank god he went to my manager’s register cuz i think i would have choked him if he talked to me like this.  He insisted that he should be able to use two coupons on one jacket.  (first of all let me say that if you want a North Face Denali jacket, act fast, cuz i rung up about 10 of them today so they are going fast).  but those jackets are rather expensive, $160.  well this guy wanted to use both the $10 and the $25 coupon on the same jacket, and that my dears, is fraud, and it is literally impossible to ring up in the register.  but this guy could not take no for an answer.  my manager calmly told him that there was no way she or anyone could do what he wanted.  he called her names and said she was stupid and couldnt do her job, he’s like “im just gonna go to another cashier, they’ll do it for me.” but of course we all talk and we were warned that he was up to, so he was rejected at each register.  score one for store.

later that day there was this really cute old couple that came in a bought something, idk what i wasnt paying attention because they were just so cute! you could tell that they were still madly in love, and he put his arm on her back to lead her out, it was so cute.  so score one for customers cuz that was nice.

but back to ranting.  well this story isnt as much a rant as posing a question, i guess. this older lady came in and insisted that she only sign a paper reciept instead of the electronic screen, “i never sign electronically.”  okay, on a good day that would have been no problem, but since it was crazy that day, and the company likes to randomly change the way the registers work without telling us, we could not figure out how to print the reciept to sign. since there was a line, it was lunch time, and it was such an unusual request, this lady really annoyed me.  finally she just decided to pay in cash.  she was really nice about it though, which helped, and idk maybe she had problems in the past with the way her signiture showed up so she refuses electronic signitures?  it took the manager calling the company help desk to figure out how to actually do it.  so i pose this question to my fans, the two of you, (ha ha ha cliche), what would make you forgo electronic signitures?

so finally, this man. oh my god. talk about bitter.  you know there are those people who can never be wrong, he was one of them.  we have an ad in the paper for a thanksgiving day sale. if you buy something or other on thanksgiving you get $15 or so bucks in SA cash. cool deal.  that ad was put in the paper today, because well not everyone reads the paper on thanksgiving, idk if we even get the paper on thursdays. nonetheless, he brings the ad up to me and asks me something like what he could get for that.  i said that the deal is for thanksgiving day and if he wanted the deal he would have to go to another SA tomorrow.

so he’s like “well when i read it i didnt read the dates! i shouldnt have to read the fricken fine print on every ad.” first of all “thanksgiving day sale” was not fine print, it was the gigantic headline. if it was “thanksgiving sale” okay i could see the confusion. but there was a nice big sentence that said “buy so and so on thanksgiving day nov 26th and recieve blah blah blah, redeemable between november something and christmas.”  he requested a manager, he didnt even want the deal anymore, he just wanted to rant to someone, (dont try to waste our time telling us the problems you think we have when we cant do anything about them, you arent gonna get what you want and you are wasting our time) he proceeded to blame us for retail sales being so low, and the bad economy in general.  he’s like “these ads are insulting and misleading, your company is shit” andso on. then he said “dont think im giving you a hard time,” yes he actually said that. like what else are you doing? talking to “the man” vicariously through me? how is that not giving me a hard time? all my manager could say is “i’m sorry you feel that way” because of all that “customer is always right” shit.  which is not true. if a customer disrespects employee’s, they are not right, and they get kicked out. we are a “take no shit” company. but anyway, finally he left, grumbling to himself. i think he was mad that we would put an ad in the paper for a day that we werent even open.  he must have missed the part when i said that every other store is open.  and we would be open, except that we are a mall store and we have to follow mall hours.  and we are the ONLY mall store. ever. anywhere. of the thousands of SA’s, we are the ONE store that is closed. i kind of had a feeling that he misread the ad, got to the store, reread it and figured out that he came for nothing and got pissed that he didnt figure it out until he already got there.

you know what else i hate? sports center.  im so tired of watching the same news all day long.  and i cant escape it cuz i cant change the channels.  just thought i would point that out.  but i did enjoy all the news guys dressed as pilgrims.

finally i had to deal with no boxes.  IT IS NOT THE HOLIDAY SHOPPING SEASON YET.  THAT STARTS FRIDAY. i dont care what society says, the big boys dont send us wrapping boxes until black friday.  we have a few they sent just in case, but of course they dont tell me that upstairs.  one lady in particular was just completely lost on how to proceed with present wrapping without me giving her a box.  this is how it went down.

“do you have any boxes?

“no sorry, not until friday” (since at this time i didnt know they were downstairs)

“what kind of store doesnt have boxes?” (actually lots of them, ive never gotten a box from the dollar tree)

“I’m sorry they havent sent them yet, i dont even know if we are going to get them because of the economy”

“Well what am i supposed to do? i buy gifts and i can’t even wrap them!” (you can go to penny’s and buy a box, reuse one from last year, buy a bag, wrap it as is, wrap it in something else, etc)

This went on all day, until i figured out all i needed to say was “go downstairs” and i was free.

oh the cashier life.  i basically get paid to tap a screen and get yelled at.  but anyway, there were a lot of nice people today, dont think that im a bitter person, im actually really nice, i hope lol.  but venting about these people helps me go to work and be able to stand the whole day because i know that the two of you are listening

so what do you guys think of adam lambert’s ama performance? i love him to death but that was awkward for me.  it seemed like being controvercial for controversy’s sake. but thats just me.  still deciding on whether i should buy *cough* his cd, and write what i think about it.  but according to some people im not allowed to have an opinion, so ill sit on that one.

chao

(song played when i posted: Let’s Hang On by the Four Seasons <— woot going old school)

A few weeks ago now, I ventured to Bristol in England, for a ‘graphics trip’ to snoop around the shops whilst taking photographs. How do shops layout their window designs, what nice architecture can I find etc. It’s suprising what you can find when you do this, just wander and keep your eyes peeled for anything remotely interesting – textures that you can use for photo manipulations, designs…anything!

I had a great time, and to be honest, it was the first time I’d properly been to Bristol in the day time and I have to say that the city has some amazing architecture, real amazing. Old mixed with the new. Anyway, as part of the trip, I did in fact take some photographs which I’d like to share with you. I took many, but you can view a little sample below:

A famous piece of graffit artwork in Bristol. It would seem the naughty mistress’ husband has come home a bit too early.

Topshop display window. The arrows really caught my attention, bright and vivid.

A billboard poster. I started being interesting in lighting effects ever since I picked up Adobe Photoshop, so it instantly caught my attention.

Quirky little character in the corner of a shop window. He seems quite startled, although I did ask if I could take a picture of him first!

The old parts of Bristol. A lovely old clock/tower.

Old bottles and a retro styled Guiness sign. What more do you want!?

Bit of a naughty one here. You’re not 100% allowed to take photographs of Harvey Nichols display windows because apparently they spend thousands of pounds on them. We stopped after the security guards mentioned it (we might have been competitors). Ooops!

An indoor shopping arcade (it had a lovely glass roof). I just liked the environment.

Great use of typography here, as it looks like an eye chart you might see inside, sat down having your eyes tested.

A skateboard deck inside the Vans shop. In fact they had plenty!

Great design – a bench. I hope you can see the magazine rack/holder positioned in the gap that the letter V naturally produces? Great use of space and functionality.

I love old architecture, spires and such. Lovely.

I had a great time, wandering around with my camera (I bet I looked like a right weirdo to the locals…or a proper tourist, haha). It’s really interesting getting out to these places, taking off your ’shopping hat’ and taking photographs of interesting objects you come across. Have a go, you’ll see the World from a different perspective.

http://www.cvs.com/mastercard/?WT.mc_id=EM_EBF_112509_Mastercard