2. INNOVATION & TRENDS
Louis Vuitton Taxi Encounters – Venice
Louis Vuitton presents “Taxi Encounters – Venice”, the second in a travel
series about unique taxi experiences in the cities of the world. The first
video takes a look at taxis in the city of London. Current
4-15-12
In Munich, Students Go to School in Slides
The university of Munich in Germany has installed in its hall two impres-
sive slides that carry students down three floors in a few seconds. There
are entry-points to the slides on every floor with a final exit on the
ground floor. InnovCity
12-3-10
iPad App Helps Kids With Autism Communicate
The older brother of a child with autism has released an iPad app de-
signed to be a communication and therapy tool for people with autism.
AutisMate allows you to add your own pictures, videos and voice re-
cordings to the app. The goal: to create visual scenes that help pro-
mote social skills and communication. Mashable
4-16-12
3. TECHNOLOGY
Inside the ‘Battery-Powered’ Brain
In this video, CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta reports on treating depression
with electrical stimulation to the brain – particularly an area called
Area 25, a so-called “junction box” for brain circuits that control our
moods. CNN
4-13-12
What Google would have looked like in the 80s
GoogleBBS, from MassWerk, allows you to surf Google as if it were
the 80’s and running on the old-school Bulletin Board System. The page
accesses search and news services by Google™ in order to provide
realistic results in an artistic layout. Mass Werk
4-12
World’s Largest Rube Goldberg Machine Created at Purdue
The Purdue Society of Professional Engineers team has crushed its own
world record for the largest Rube Goldberg machine. The latest ma-
chine from the team at Purdue has 300 steps and rotates large sections
of the machine some points for more steps to happen. Slash Gear
4-9-12
4. CULTURE
Coachellagram
Curious what everyone is up to at Coachella? Check Coachellagram, a
collection of Instagram photos from this year’s epic music festival in In-
dio, California. The web app was created by two indie designers Chris
Kalima and Aaron Van Bokhoven with help from the brilliant minds at
Fueled, a mobile design agency in New York City. The Next Web
4-15-12
An Abandoned Amusement Park Becomes a Public Art Space
Hidden in a lush forest along the Spree River in East Berlin sits an aban-
doned amusement park filled with wild grass, sun-faded dinosaur mod-
els, roller coasters frozen in time, and much more. This June, a group of
creatives based in Berlin plans to revamp the newly christened “Kultur-
park” as a haven for public art. Good
4-1 12
1-
The Golden Forty-Year Rule
In the new issue of the New Yorker, Adam Gopnik talks about pop cul-
ture’s 40-year cycle of nostalgia. The prime site of nostalgia is always
whatever happened, or is thought to have happened, in the decade
between forty and fifty years past. New Yorker
4-16-12
5. AGENCY NEWS
Aetna Taps Ogilvy for B2B in Latest Agency Change
Aetna continued its wave of agency changes as it named WPP’s Ogilvy
& Mather its new B2B marketing shop. “Our advertising and marketing
needs are growing globally, in particular as we become more consum-
er-facing, and we wanted to ensure we have the right strategic partners
to work with,” said a spokeswoman. Ad Age
4-12-12
News From the Advertising Industry
Creative Artists Agency, Los Angeles, won two prestigious advertising
awards that are more typically presented to ad agencies. The talent
agency was honored for “Back to the Start,” an animated commercial
an animated commercial for Chipotle Mexican Grill that features a
song by Willie Nelson and celebrates sustainable farming. NY Times
4-15-12
Omnicom Acquires Majority Stake In UK Firm Portland
Omnicom Group has acquired a majority stake in UK public affairs
agency Portland. Portland’s senior management team, lead by founder
and former Tony Blair aide Tim Allan, will retain a “significant stake” in
the business, according to an Omnicom statement. Holmes Report
4-12-12
6. SUSTAINABILITY
Swedish Fast Food Chain Makes Bank by Becoming ‘Klimatsmart!’
Sweden’s No. 1 burger chain got rid of its kids’-meal boxes and, con-
trary to expectations, sales of the meals rose. Max Burgers has gone
“Klimatsmart!” in other ways, including green roofs, company-wide
reductions of energy consumption, and offsetting 100% of its carbon
emissions by planting trees in Uganda. Grist
4-13-12
QR Codes Used to Encourage Citizens to Adopt Neighborhood Trees
The District of Columbia Department of Transportation’s Canopy Keep-
ers project has hung QR codes on newly-planted trees in the state, en-
abling residents to easily sign up to care for them. Springwise
4-12-12
Are Games The Key To Educating Children About The Environment?
By leveraging the attention grabbing potential of gaming mechanics,
parents and educators can tailor content to instill lessons of sustainabil-
ity in subtle ways while avoiding a formalized education. Through re-
peat engagement and continued use over time, these platforms can be
leveraged to instill life lessons in children at an early age. PSFK
4-14-12
