Drew Francis

Pause

2009-11-10T16:43:19Z

Every once in a while I have to hit that button and get super spiritual. Sometimes I think God says. Ok I need to prepare you for something. You go through a period of confession and cleansing. Then he says “I’m not going to give you something you can’t handle” ”I’m going to teach you something about yourself so just hold on.” Don’t read too much into what it is. Then you hear this song. So here goes. This goes out to you.

Family Ties I miss you

2009-11-09T14:38:03Z

I miss family ties. It brings to memory some of my fondest memories of childhood. On Thursday nights staking out my spot on the couch to watch. Alex P Keaton was very opposite of me. I was a Mallory lover. She was free in spirit. They don’t make tv like that any more. I really don’t think its just a memory. I really believe its true. They actually tried to teach something not just portray life. They discussed loss and love, pain and happiness. The scene when Alex goes through the spots on stage. I still remember the episodes. What I learned from family ties.

1. Family means something

2 Opposites can work.

3. Its ok to be funny and serious because life is that way.

4. “What is your four?”

Here is a little taste of my childhood

Oh and new photo.

Tinkering with Perception

2009-11-08T13:07:44Z

I wonder what things I need to rebrand? I’ve been working on myself for the past year. Its not an easy task. When people already have a perception of you its hard to change that. I’ve got some ways to go but I think it’s working. Take the time to watch this week’s video. What are things you can reintroduce about yourself?

from TED

From unlikely beginnings as a classics teacher to his current job as Vice Chairman of Ogilvy Group, Rory Sutherland has created his own brand of the Cinderella story. He joined Ogilvy & Mather’s planning department in 1988, and became a junior copywriter, working on Microsoft’s account in its pre-Windows days. An early fan of the Internet, he was among the first in the traditional ad world to see the potential in these relatively unknown technologies.

An immediate understanding of the possibilities of digital technology and the Internet powered Sutherland’s meteoric rise. He continues to provide insight into advertising in the age of the Internet and social media through his blog at Campaign’s Brand Republic site, his column “The Wiki Man” at The Spectator and his busy Twitter account.

“Rory is the original advocate of ‘360-degree branding,’ a persuasive and charismatic speaker and has a tremendous knack for making ideas come to life in an easily digestible way. He has been walking the walk longer than anyone.”

Gary Leih, Ogilvy Group Chairman

Fridays at the office

2009-11-08T13:02:52Z

Well so I was at the office past my flex time and decided to take some photos. Let me present to you my two Producers. They are a lot smarter than I which is why we keep them around. That’s Travis on the left and Erin on the right. Happy Saturday. Do something fun today. Oh and Sundays are creativity education so check it out. peace.

New music friday-M.I.A.

2009-11-06T13:59:50Z

OK so it was one of those days so this is going to be real quick. I think this goes without saying that New music Friday isn’t really about new bands and artist that have just made it. What it is, is an introduction to my music. You can take it or leave it. Let us begin. I was introduced a little over a year or so to M.I.A. through an Invisible children video and then again with the movie Slum dog millionaire. She is now a staple when I’m working out. Great sound and a great story, one in which I will not retell but copy and paste her story. I know really lazy. If you had the week I’ve had you would know understand. Get off my back.

(From MTV)

If you read a lot about new music on the Web, odds are pretty good that, at some point between the September 2004 release of “Galang” and the March 2005 release of Arular, you were struck with the urge to turn your computer off or maybe even heave it out of a nearby window. If you don’t read a lot about new music on the Web, the preceding sentence indicates how bewildering and draining the chatter about M.I.A. became. Arular, M.I.A.’s first album, leaked well before its official release, allowing journalists and downloaders plenty of time to dissect it and bat ideas back and forth — taking in the sounds, words, and absolutely all of the context — before average music fans were able to develop their own opinions.

Maya Arulpragasam spent the early years of her life in a number of places. She moved from London, England, to her parents’ native Sri Lanka at the age of six months, only to relocate to Madras, India. During a return stay in Sri Lanka, the civil war taking place within the country escalated to the point where Arulpragasam began to lose family members and friends. She didn’t see her father — a devout and active separatist as part of the Tamil rebellion, which has clashed with the Sinhalese majority — often throughout these years, but her life stabilized once she and the rest of her family were able to make it back to London.

As a student, Arulpragasam became involved in the arts and published a monogram book of her paintings — titled M.I.A. and heavily influenced by the Tamil rebellion. She later connected with Elastica, providing the photography and graphics for the group’s second album, and she shot footage during their American tour. Elastica’s support act, Peaches, introduced her to the Roland MC-505, a sequencer she became familiar with after returning home. Steve Mackey (Pulp) and Ross Orton became involved after hearing a demo; they made adjustments to “Galang,” a song that was then pressed into 500 copies and released, under the name M.I.A., by the Showbiz label. It didn’t take long for the song — a bold, righteous amalgamation of hip-hop, electro, dancehall, grime, and baile funk — to make an impact with DJs. She wound up signing a contract with XL, which re-released the single and, eventually, debut album Arular in 2005. Anticipation for the release was considerable, only heightened by the Piracy Funds Terrorism mixtape she put together with DJ Diplo. Her second album, Kala, was released in 2007 and was recorded while spending time in numerous countries. M.I.A. produced most of its tracks with Switch; Blaqstarr, Diplo, and Timbaland also contributed. One single from the album, “Paper Planes,” became a surprise hit in summer 2008 after it was used in trailers for the film Pineapple Express; it eventually reached the Top Ten. ~ Andy Kellman, All Music Guide

Great Commercials by creatives

2009-11-05T13:05:40Z

There are good commercials and there are great commercials. Out in the yard outside my office we had discussion on what it takes to be a good creative. I initiated the conversation talking about that horrible “febreze” commercial. You know the one where the voices were dubbed in later. I made the comment “How does something like that get to a national scale?” My next question was how do kids suddenly rise to be the top creatives in the country. Firms like crispin porter +Bogusky who I would say are massively creative have kids leading these teams. Are they more creative because they work on a bigger scale? Are their creatives more confident? Is it better to work for a client or within a firm? I know nothing about this. That discussion led to another. A commercial doesn’t have to be good to be affective. How do I know this? I have now spoken about that horrible febreze commercial in two forms. First, in conversation now in a social media form. In Birmingham there is a commercial that plays constantly for Goldberg and to this day I remember the phone number to call because of that commercial. A commercial doesn’t have to be good to be affective. Take a look at the Google search I did on bad over dub here. Bad adr here. So people talk about it. I wouldn’t say I’m a fan of vague commercials but doesn’t there have to be something more that just a jingle. I’ve learned that I know nothing. Well.. I do know the commercial you are about to see is a great commercial. Guinness changed their tag line from “Good things come to those who wait” to “Bring it to life” I don’t really know how much marketing you need to do for Guinness I pretty much think you like it or you don’t but this may make you try it. Fantastic. So what thing are you going to create today?

Hooker in Church “Whore”

2009-11-05T04:44:50Z

Here is something strange. Over a year ago I wrote an post on my old worpress site titled hooker in church. Well it continues to be at the top when you search the word Hooker. Strange. Well I just got back from a great talk with my priest in the south I think we say pastor. Pretty intense at moments but good. Good for the soul. Well enjoy. Oh and go ahead. Search the word hooker in google images. Weird huh. Well here is the article. We will return to the normal drewfrancis.com on thursday.

You ever feel like a hooker in church? For some reason I felt like that today. Hands sweaty, eyes kept looking around. Yes weird I know. I hadn’t been in a while not for any good reason or some fundamental difference with Church policy laziness. Pastor said it best lazy Christian. While sitting there I realized God had been whispering or maybe yelling all day. Like I noticed this father talking with his son. Dont know why I just did. he was about 3 or 4. I dont know what the kid did but I knew he was in trouble. Here is the part that caught my eye. He wasn’t yelling down to the kid. He was eye level with him. I heard the phrase “do you understand?” So He came down to this Hooker and said “do you understand?” When your job is doing ministry work you can become a lazy Christian. Ive been a lazy Christian for a bit. But he didnt yell down to me. He came down and asked me. No I have no theological argument of how God speaks to us. I just know I was a hooker in church today. Feeling like I shouldnt be there. feeling like I got stuff to work out before i can come back here. Feeling like im a failure right now so let me work it out and then I’ll come back. Hmm hooker in church. Well tha’s kinda all I got.

Oh I also think the phrase may be whore in church.

Hobbies are good for the soul

2009-11-03T14:45:46Z

I’m finding that hobbies are good for the soul. For a while I was the type of person that thought hobbies were… well ….stupid. Stupid may be kinda harsh but that’s just how I felt. That was until I started to throw my self into one. There is a benefit that it may help me in my job but that isn’t the main reason. We all need a little outlet. Especially when you work in a creative environment. When you are always having to create because of your job you get creation fatigue. I think I just just made that up. No, blogging is not that outlet. It’s taking pictures. I like it. I like buying stuff to take better pictures. What better way to learn. I need to print more. When it just lives on a screen its really not that cool. I’ve also started to randomly design websites. I know nothing about proper design of websites but I think that’s the point. I read and watch stuff and just do it. I like it… its my hobby. That brings me to another thing. So Cowert a dude some of us follow on twitter started this thing called Help-Portrait. Not going to explain I will just put the link to the video you can watch for your self. Chappy at ericchapmanphoto.com and I are trying to work this out for December. It’s going to happen. I’ve got a couple irons in the fire about it. This isn’t what the post is about….but I wanted you to be aware of what creatives are trying to do. This post is about finding yourself a hobby. We all can’t live to work. I’ve done that for far too long.

Photos

2009-11-02T17:03:01Z

Well for some reason the weekend has gotten away from me. There is something I do want to tell you all about but I’m going to need some time. For now here are some photos that I took this past week. These pictures are significant because while I was taking them my car was being locked in a lot next to the Fire house shelter. Oh and to add to the story I had to climb over the fence to get my computer. Yes it was a barbed wire fence. When I hit the ground of course the alarm went off. I waited for the cops to tell them it was me. All the while I was stared at because I was the idiot that set off the alarm that they all had to listen to while waiting for their dinner. That is a whole other story. Yeah fool. Anyway her are the pictures.

Design Exclusiveness-Paola Antonelli

2009-11-01T12:52:44Z

Design Exclusiveness. I wonder if this exist. Do creatives sometimes want to create a world in which they feel that everyone else is an outsider. Have they been thought of as an outsider for so long they have taken over the role. Who is to say something is good or bad or right or wrong when it comes to design? I don’t really know. I don’t have answers to any of these questions. For a long time I realized that I lived in two worlds. One that is very much administrative and one where I have to make something out of nothing. I’ve tried to live by a mantra when it comes to creation. There is nothing new under the sun. There may be new ways of doing a task but the end product is not really new. You may change the color but its still not new. I could be way off though. Right? Because there are smarter people than me out there. I get a newsletter from Creativity and this was one of the articles this past week. Love your designers. They make your world work.

WATCH ME HERE

When you get done watching that check her out at TED. If you liked last Saturday’s TED you will really like this.

(from TED)

Since she stepped back from practicing architecture in order to focus on writing about design, teaching and curating gallery exhibitions, Italian native Paola Antonelli has become a force to be reckoned with in the design world. Working at the Museum of Modern Art in New York since 1994, she now heads up the gallery’s Architecture and Design department and has worked on shows such as “Humble Masterpieces,” which celebrated traditionally unheralded design icons such as the paperclip; “Safe,” considering issues of protection, and “Workspheres,” a look at contemporary workplace design.

Ever mindful that the majority of visitors to MOMA are attracted by artists such as Picasso and Matisse, Antonelli works to ensure that if they do stumble across a design-related show, they’ll be both entertained and enlightened. Her latest book is Exit to Tomorrow: World’s Fair Architecture, Design, Fashion 1933-2005.

Saturday Night Live is back

2009-10-31T01:34:59Z

Good morning. I hope you take the time tonight to watch a little SNL tonight. I continue to laugh at this every time. There is though one part that I never understand with Andy’s video. They always seem to, what some would call “Jump the Shark” This wouldn’t be an exact definition of this. I use it to describe when something goes way past its prime. Take a look and tell me if you can guess. Where I think they jumped the shark.

Joss Stone Colour me Free!

2009-10-30T12:54:23Z

This endorsement wont be too long. Its been a rough and long week. Today’s musician is a 22 year old singer Joss Stone. The first album I had of Joss stone’s was her “mind body soul”. Good stuff. I pretty much bought it because of her single “You had Me” This album is a little different. If you are a gospel listener you will really like this. This thing is old school R&B kinda music you play for your girl after a nice dinner and you’re chilling on the couch. It has been my 4:00 music in my office to end the day. The song that gets me every time is Girlfriend on Demand. There is a story behind the cover art that I’ve been trying to research. This is what they say the album used to look like. My research brought me to this blog. You should check it out especially if you are looking for cover art. Joss Stone is a great artist that I dont think gets enough play. For me she is at the top of my play list. So take the time and have a listen enjoy and Happy Friday.

Mad Men?

2009-10-29T15:08:04Z

Why I like this show. I can’t remember if I’ve had this conversation, but here goes. The folks at Mad Men take their time in telling a story. They let the characters breathe. Not all shows do that. Some shows try to wrap it up in a nice little bow. Eric, a friend of mine at work and I had a conversation about this past week’s show. We discussed how they put so much into the details of the show. They have so much in the small details (I think all details are small, that’s why they are details). I also like that no character is free from sin. I’m not talking about small sins I’m talking about big mama sins.

The scene I remember the most from this past week is when the “Draper” is in the kitchen with his wife. She has just confronted him with the pictures of his previous life. She begins to ask him to explain himself. It is at that moment that you see Don Draper breakdown. Don Draper the ad man has nothing to say. We then cut to the final scene where he goes trick or treating with his kids. He walks up to a door with them and the neighbor looks at his children and tells each of them who they are. The neighbor then looks at him and says “Who are you supposed to be?” fade to black. That my friends is good TV… no great TV.

Late Night Update

2009-10-29T05:12:43Z

So for some reason im up. I can hear Jared snoring in his room. Wow. oh that’s not why im awake. I wonder if I do that. Well I found something that I still think is kinda funny. I was searching my name and found this video.

The Red Campaign

2009-10-27T13:39:14Z

We’ve all seen the campaign now. I don’t think you can walk into a trendy store without seeing it. Marketers have seized on the social conscience of young people to push their brand. I don’t think people are naive about it. I think know exactly the motive behind it. Everyone’s doing it. When you buy tide you can help the Indians in south America. Do I think it’s a good thing? I don’t know if I really care. The Red campaign gives their money to the Global fund to fight AIDs in Africa. They state that all the money goes to “Africa” I don’t always know what that means.