Show and Tell Whatever You Want: Produce Map

I found this interesting infographic showing the types of seasonal produce available in each region of the United States during the month of November. This infographic ties into the one I posted a few weeks ago and is put together in a really neat way. The darker the word, the more popular and in-season the produce and vice-versa.

Chinese Food on Christmas

Here's a seasonally appropriate video for this week's show and tell post. It was shot in Baltimore by my friend Justin Beckenheimer and it stars another friend and ex-band member, Brandon Walker. It's hard not to love this clever Adam Sandler-esque song, but the video makes you love it even more (not to mention, I have a couple of cameos). Enjoy!

InfoGraphics

This poorly designed infographic is trying to use the top parts of the flagpoles to display the data, but because there is no axis for comparison, we are forced to read the labels. The labels are not placed in a way that correlates to the curve of the flagpoles, but we are lead to believe otherwise. All we end up taking away from this infographic (if we’re lucky) is what some of the state flags look like. I had no idea that West Virginia’s state flag had so much white space.

Leon is a restaurant that changes its menu based upon the seasonality of natural ingredients. With the mindset that nature doesn’t intend for us to eat out of season ingredients, Leon has created this seasonality chart to help people visualize the times when most certain ingredients are at their best. This information could have been placed into a boxy chart that is hard to follow, but Leon has made it into an interesting visual that grabbed my attention immediately and is easy for me to understand.

Oops! Packaging With A Story

The name of this playful wine is derived from a true story based on the Carmenère/Merlot grape mixup. "Following the migration of the Old World vineyards to the New World in the 1800's, the Carmenere grape was taken to and successfully grown in Chile. As Chilean Merlot became successful as a New World Wine it was discovered that the Carmenere grape had become mixed with the Merlot grape. The grapes were finally correctly identified, the 'big mistake' rectified and 'the lost grape of Bordeaux' rediscovered."

In addition to the cute headline, the rest of the label tells a shortened version of how Oops came to be. Their slogan "some mistakes were meant to happen" turns instance from negative to positive and makes light of the situation.

Narrative

My show and tell item for this week relates to my last post. I love "One Big Happy" comic strips and I found one that pokes fun at the use of photoshop for retouching images.

I love this because One Big Happy reminds me of my childhood and I will always adore it, but also because I'm usually interested in anything that involves photoshop and humor.

Oy, there's a bumblebee on my squeegee!

I like these words because I like the way they sound when they leave my lips. I like other words because of their meanings or how they make me feel when I say them, but this list is purely comprised of words that are fun for me to say.

Call To Action

I like this call to action because it is simple and concise. Putting rabbit ears on other animals is a clever way to capture the audience's attention. After you've moved on from the image and read "It's not just rabbits who multiply like rabbits", you are told to spay and neuter your pets to help stop overpopulation. It is clear in just a few words what they want you to do, who wants you to do this, and why this is important. There is also a website you can visit to find out more information.

Campaigns

This Sherwin-Williams campaign is one of my favorites that I've seen this year. The vibrant colors of the ads are eye-catching, so I always stop to look at them. The sculptures cleverly take the normally boring swatches of paint and bring new life to them. They are so creative and colorful that my crafty switch is immediately turned on and I want to paint. The campaign itself is done very well. All of the ads share the same use of bold colors, Sherwin- Williams logo, and the saying "make the most of your color with the very best paint", but they are all also different enough to keep me interested. My favorite, the bird house, is at first the least obvious that the structure is entirely made of paint chips.

Concept

The ads below demonstrate the clever concept created by Valspar to advertise their paint. In these ads, there are randomly placed walls painted a color found in their natural surroundings. Without using words, a message is immediately relayed to the audience -- by using Valspar paint, you too can achieve any color you want, including the most beautiful colors found in nature. A third ad can be found here in Toni's blog!

Verbal Definition: Super Pasta

Introducing Super Pasta - the only pasta that has it all!

This ad is an example of a verbal definition because it comes right out and names the product, and then explains why it is so super/everything it has to offer - one serving of whole grain, excellent source of fiber, calcium, and vitamin D, 10g of protein per serving, and 260 mg of ALA Omega-3. It's to the point and might even look tasty if I didn't dislike tomato sauce so much.

Visual Definition: Häagen-Dazs Five Ads

1. These Häagen-Dazs ads are perfect examples of visual definitions. The ads clearly show the five ingredients used in the ice cream. I don't think the ads even need words, but with a maximum of five, the point comes across just as simply as the pictures. This is a clever campaign because the simplicity of the ads reflect the simplicity of the ice cream. People feel healthier when they feel they are eating simplified foods. I would probably buy this ice cream over another one just by its packaging.

Search ResultsHäagen-Dazs

Good Food Writing: The Whole Truth About Whole Grains

This article “The Whole Truth About Whole Grains” is from a 2006 issue of "O Magazine", and although it is nothing new, I find it to be a great example of food writing. It is broken down into several small, distinct columns that don’t overwhelm the reader and still provide all of the necessary facts. It is well written. The pull quote speaks directly to the key audience and sparks the interest of the reader. It’s educational; it names and defines the three edible parts of a “whole” grain. It’s scientific; it provides facts from a study conducted at Tufts University that proves eating whole grains can be beneficial in preventing certain diseases and cancers. And lastly, it’s motivational; there’s a whole section that helps the reader take what they’ve learned from reading this article and apply it to their own lives.