If you spend any sort of time on the freeways here in Phoenix, you’ve most certainly come across one of Clear Channel’s digital billboards. Scattered along the I-10 and I-17, these billboards allow advertisers exceptional flexibility with their messages. Whether you want to change up your advertisement throughout the day, purchase multiple spots to increase your number of impressions, or get your specials out at a specific time during the day, digital billboards are gaining steam and emerging as a dominant outdoor medium.

How it works:

Once your digital billboard space has been purchased, you’ll need some eye-catching creative to ensure your message gets out to the target audience. On the Phoenix outdoor network, each billboard has eight rotating advertisements at eight seconds each. As with printed billboards, you’ll want to keep your message short and sweet as viewing time is at a premium. After getting the design aspect squared away, your outdoor ad can be up and running in as little as 24 hours. So not only are printing costs wiped away, but the ability to get your ad displayed is no longer restricted to a monthly basis. Want your ad displayed one day per week? One week per month? Wednesdays at 5pm? A great example is the way various television stations use the medium from around the valley. Got a hot news segment showing on the nightly news, or does Oprah have a special guest on today? As the advertiser, this is about as flexible as it gets, and you can even switch out an ad during the course of the campaign should you feel the results are below targeted expectations.

While some may argue that digital billboards aren’t all I’m cracking them up to be due to exclusivity issues, it all depends on how you approach the situation. Who ever said the advertiser could only buy one eight second spot? With eight spots, each running eight second ads, couldn’t one purchase all eight spots on a billboard? I think so, and with those eight spots, you could display eight different messages that are not only branding your company, but highlighting several important factors of your campaign… And for all my stats people out there, even with 1 spot every 64 seconds, at 17 hours of up time per day, that’s 187,376 spots over the course of a 4 week period. Not too shabby if you ask me.

Digital Billboards in Phoenix, Arizona

All this being said, we recently finished an outdoor digital billboard campaign for London Gold. Being that this is still a somewhat new technology, we were excited to experiment with different color contrasts, and make those diamonds “pop” off the screen as so many clients request. We worked with London Gold to create a variation of ads in order to keep the consumer engaged. Just think, you can hit drivers with variations of the message all while strengthening your brand and gaining exposure. It truly is the new era of outdoor advertising.

I’m just waiting to see when animation will come into play on digital billboards in Phoenix. Is animation something digital billboards can support? If so, are there state and federal laws against motion graphics due to motorist distractions? When I spoke with a rep at Clear Channel, I didn’t really get a definitive answer, and when conducting a search on Google, I came up empty. If you’ve got an answer for me on this one, I’d love to hear it.

While there is an infinite amount of greatness happening across the valley, here’s a few events taking place that Splinter will be attending and/or helping out with…

Phoenix Design Week – It’s the inaugural event and it’s happening October 21^st – 25^th. The week will be filled with exhibits and galleries featuring the work of local graphic artists, interactive and motion designers. Phoenix Design Week kicks off on Friday with the Typophile Film Fest at MadCap Theatres and then moves to the weekend conference at the downtown convention center. The lineup of guest speakers looks amazing and it is sure to be the start of something great. Visit the PhxDW website to purchase tickets and get all the details. The folks here at Splinter are looking forward to checking out the exhibits and taking in some knowledge from the speakers. Should be a great one!

Ignite Phoenix #5 – This pile of awesome was brought to life by a group of folks passionate about lighting a fire under the Phoenix creative community. Gearing up for the 5^th installment of Ignite, Splinter is eager to jump in and help out again by providing killer design services along with a few other juicy items. In fact, we’ll be donating enough goods and services that we’ve been offered the opportunity to put together a 30 second spot showcasing who we are and what we do. Hopefully it turns out as awesome as this video by @bwilley and @krysvs from Ignite Phoenix #4.

PodCamp AZ 2009 – Originating in Boston, Massachusetts and heading into its 3^rd year, this event takes the original concept of PodCamp and changes it up a bit to meet the needs of Phoenix. Contrary to its name, this event isn’t just about podcasting, it’s about the creation and delivery of new media and how people use the information. Taking place November 14^th and 15^th at the University of Advancing Technology, this unconference has been coming together over the past several months and is sure to be the different event you’re looking for. And hey, it’s FREE. If you’re interested in sponsoring or attending this new-media focused event, make sure to check out the website for more info. While the event is new media based, we’ll be assisting the crew with some printing and graphic needs as the date nears.

The only question I have… Who’s coming with me?

With pre-season action coming to an end, and a hint of the NFL regular season in the air, Splinter decided it was time to take Agency Throwdown to a new level with a fantasy football challenge of epic proportions. The snag — We only have a few days to pull it off, but with the amount of awesome people scattered throughout agencies all over Phoenix, we’re not too worried about it.

As I write this post, I’m still working out all the details in my noggin, but here’s how I see the first ever Agency Fantasy Football league goin’ down…

1. We get 8-24 agencies to get involved, where each agency would represent their team collectively as a whole. Whether you have one person who’s interested or a group of people, make sure someone represents like this guy!  Any and all agencies are welcome, you just have to be within the wide scope that is Phoenix.
2. Fees would be $50 per team (get 5 people on board at your agency and it’s only a whopping $10 each. WOOT!).
3. What’s the $50 going towards? Great question… $40 will be donated to Twestival Local – Phoenix and their pursuit to support the St. Mary’s Food Bank. The remaining $10 will go towards food and drinks at the end of the season party (Location TBD. It will be an establishment with food, booze and wifi… Heck, maybe even Gangplank would work if they’re interested and could broadcast the games through the projector).
4. Amended: Tentative Draft Date: 6pm on Tuesday, September 8th or Wednesday, September 9th – and can be done remotely as we’ll be setting up the league on Yahoo’s free fantasy football site. Once more teams sign up, we’ll figure out a time that works best for most.
5. The draft will consist of 15 rounds to allow room for both starters and bench players.
6. Teams will consist of: QB, RB, RB, WR, WR, TE, R/W/T, K, DST and 6 bench players.
7. We’ll do a random draft order once everyone has signed up (I may or may not be accepting bribes for draft position )
8. Our regular season will consist of 13 games with the playoffs taking place during weeks 14, 15 and 16 of the NFL’s regular season.
9. Top 8 teams (assuming we get at least 12 to sign up) will make the playoffs.
10. Anyone who is interested, please get in touch with me by end of day on Thursday, September 3rd (I know, it’s short notice, but I just had an epiphany this morning) and we’ll work out the details from there.
11. Recommended you create a unique yahoo login so everyone who is part of the team in your agency has an opportunity to login and check updates as needed.
12. League scores, rankings, etc will be posted on the Agency Throwdown site every Tuesday as they change (Tentative. I still need to work this out).
13. The winner won’t receive any money (gambling is illegal in Arizona in case you didn’t know) but being the King of Fantasy Football amongst Phoenix agencies doesn’t seem like too bad of a consolation prize (or bragging right for that matter) if you ask me.

Sound like a plan? The way I see it, we’ll have about 4 months to “talk smack” and build relationships with our fellow creative/marketing/advertising/web peeps while enjoying the most popular sport in America. Competitors can feel free to meet up on a weekly basis to give each other the business in person, use the hashtag #phxffb to chat it up on Twitter, or wait for the end of the season when everyone convenes to watch the final game and enjoy food/libations at a local watering hole.

If you’re interested, feel free to drop a comment below, send an email to bhatfield at splintercreative dot com or hit me up on Twitter. Just don’t be that guy who drops a comment and leaves no way for me to track you down

I’m also directly calling out Phoenix Metro Area Agencies: McMurry, The Lavidge Company, Forty Agency, Sarkissian Mason, Keane Creative, Off Madison Ave, Moses Anshell, Cramer-Krasselt, E.B. Lane, Mullen Advertising, Reister, Martz Agency, Crosby Wright, Santy Integrated and Zion & Zion in hopes they have Google Alerts set that will get their attention. For the agencies I missed, my bad. Everyone is welcome to compete. You can take it out on me and the Splinter crew via the fantasy football field…  Bring it!

So let the games begin… And spread the word!  Here’s a short link to this post – http://bit.ly/eS8St

Confirmed Teams as of 4:03pm on Wenesday, September 9th

• Splinter Creative
• Sarkissian Mason
• Liquis Design
• Keane Creative
• Canyon Communications
• Amanda Vega Consulting
• Terralever
• @ousooner44

Have you ever wondered how they make those wicked web advertisements you see floating along the sides of your favorite news and social media sites? This type of moving media has been coming on strong for a while now. And although, I personally believe that print media is still alive and well (design critic Steven Heller gives two prime examples here), the creative minds at Splinter want to be able to assist with anything and everything our thriving clients need, whether those projects stand still or do a little dance on screen. Until now, we have always collaborated with exceptional web developers to meet the expectations of our clients’ online presence. However, we want to bring at least some of this web development in house so that we can control production time and quality ourselves (and also because we think it’s awesome!).

[kml_flashembed fversion="8.0.0" movie="http://www.SplinterCreative.com/flash/Splinter_Banner.swf" targetclass="flashmovie" publishmethod="static" width="600" height="90"]

[/kml_flashembed]

As a designer who works mostly in static media, I’ve always wanted to delve deeper into understanding Flash and the ActionScript involved in creating dynamic visual elements. This week I began my exploration into learning basic Flash elements to improve our client’s ability to communicate in an increasingly web-centric market.

I am starting with a basic knowledge of how Flash works, but I also understand that what goes on behind the scenes is a much more complicated thing. If you’ve ever tried to learn another language as an adult, you know my frustration in learning ActionScript for the first time. I know what I want to say, now I just have to figure out how to say it in AS! My first assignment was to develop a basic Flash image gallery with scrolling thumbnails. This is an element that many companies with a web presence could find useful, from displaying examples of their own range of work to showcasing event photos, etc. You can see my work below!

[kml_flashembed fversion="8.0.0" movie="http://www.SplinterCreative.com/flash/flash_scrollingGallery.swf" targetclass="flashmovie" publishmethod="static" width="600" height="400"]

[/kml_flashembed]

What is astounding is the amount of scripting that goes in to something that, on the surface, seems so simple. I’ve pasted below only a small portion of the language that sits behind the visually pleasing surface of this basic Flash gallery.

If you are unfamiliar with any sort of web development, this might surprise you. (If you are familiar, go easy on me, I am just starting out!) In any case, creating Flash elements is, to say the least, a time consuming endeavor. If you are in the market for something like this, be sure to expect a legitimate turn-around time if you want your message to be exceptional. One lesson to take away is that there is a lot more than what meets the eye when it comes to moving messages!

It was a quiet Thursday night, and good ole Cox Communications decided to stick it to us with a cable outage in our neighborhood, so my roommate and I headed over to Hollywood Video to see what kind of entertainment we could drum up.  I know, who goes to a video store anymore with redbox and netflix available, but we were in search of entertainment higher than a movie.  We needed something to activate our carpel tunnel syndrome.

As we entered the store (it had been months, if not a year since I rented a video game) I couldn’t help but take notice of all the great product packaging and point-of-purchase displays.  Even though most of the games seemed lame or not my style, I was sucked in by, A: the audacity that there was such a video game, and B: the great design used in product packaging… Then again, it may just have been my passion for how awesome ninjas are, but that’s a completely different blog post

While perusing the aisles, I noticed every wall, corner, nook and cranny had some sort of advertisement for video games.  I entered with the intention of renting “MLB The Show 09” and getting out as fast as possible, but I quickly became distracted by video games relating to television, movies, music artists, etc.  Did you know the TV show “Lost” has its own video game?  How about 50 Cent?  Clearly, the big marketing execs know what they’re doing to get America’s younger crowd hooked in more ways than one.  I was impressed with the way brand standards were followed when transitioning from television, movies and music to product packaging for video games.  With just a glance, I knew I had seen it before.

What blew me away even more were the P.O.P. displays throughout the store.  I have and always will hate the game “Halo,” (thank my college buddies for that one) but the four foot tall cardboard cut out with awesome graphics stole my attention within seconds.  Everywhere I turned there was a static cling, magnet poster or P.O.P display for a video game staring me down.  Hell, even Hollywood Video did a great job with their signage to entice America’s youth to rent multiple games and receive a discount.  Whether the consumer is paying attention or not, these ads were for the most part unavoidable and well placed.

The moral of the story and inspiration for this post: Good Design Goes a LONG Way.  No matter what your product or service is, your initial impression on the consumer can be easily won by communicating a message effectively.  Just ask ME.  I went in with the intention of renting one game (I even called ahead to make sure they had it) and ended up walking out with not one, but four video games.  What can I say, even as an Advertising Junkie, I’m still a sucker…

A little Friday afternoon Brain Candy for you…

Logo makes me barf |  You know you’re a copywriter when

Rad Coffee Tables |  Hardcore Body Art |  Sick Screen Prints

Crazy photo manipulations |  Awesome Outdoor Campaign

Too often, when we bring up the term environmental graphics, clients look at us with the old ‘what the hell are you talking about’ expression. Well strap on your seat belts, we’re about to take a wild ride on the large format graphics train.

Wikipedia refers to Environmental Graphic Design as, “the profession embracing many design disciplines including graphic design, architecture, industrial design and landscape architecture. Practitioners in this field are concerned with the visual aspects of wayfinding, communicating identity and brands, information design, and shaping a sense of place.”

I couldn’t have said it better myself, but of course I’ve got a few things to add using layman’s terms. Environmental graphics have the ability of transforming any setting into an informative, mind-blowing advertisement… or at least they can depending on how risqué the client wants to get. Whether you’re looking to advertise on your store front, or take an outdoor branding campaign to new heights with building size graphics, the array of materials available today gives you endless possibilities.

We recently completed a set of window graphics and building banners for the City of Tempe’s new parking garage. The new structure not only offers some much needed parking to the Mill Ave. area, it boasts 12,000 square feet of office and retail space. Our job was to create a campaign that not only met city code for exterior signage, but presented information in a clean and highly visible manner. Needless to say, we nailed it.

And window graphics are just the tip of the iceberg. Environmental graphics most commonly show their face in windows, on buildings or a variety of other outdoor applications, but most don’t realize their extensive capabilities indoor as well.

Currently the hottest trends in environmental graphics, digitally printed wall murals and floor graphics can be applied to any flat, non porous surface. Looking to cover a portion of the floor, or an entire hallway? No problem. 3M adhesive vinyls make any project feasible no matter the scope.

Probably the coolest thing about printed wall murals, besides their ability to be fully customizable, is their flexibility allowing the graphic to take on the texture of the surface to which it’s being applied. Take a look at an example we did for the City of Scottsdale (that’s not paint people).

So whether you’re looking for a new way to communicate your brand’s message, direct customers through your store, or just make a wall look absolutely killer… give environmental graphics a shot. I assure you, they won’t disappoint.