Sure, we Nashvillians are spoiled by the likes of some real amazing songwriters and artists. Many of us are officially music snobs, but you know you love some oooowy gooooey popgoodness.

So check this idea out. The lyrics of the song are made up of YouTube comments, compiled into a song by another YouTuber. The lyrics were released and then YouTubers wrote a melody for the lyrics, and the best were picked. Then YouTube auditions were held via video response to pick the band, find the producer, and the music video is made up of literal interpretations of the lyrics, clapping and singing along, by YouTubers!

It’s a bit YouTubey, alright. But the best part, is that all of the money from the song goes directly to Children In Need.

Let’s help these guys jack the charts. Spread the word, via mashable.

Sure, this video is ridiculously ridiculous. But hey, ridiculous things make people laugh all the time, and laughing means you’re happy.

So, the ferrets are here to make you happy.

Just a bit of fun, using puppet show principals in a simple animation.

Music is “Buddy Holly” arranged by The Moog Cookbook (A cover version of the Weezer song).

Ferrets are based upon a print by Jill.C over at www.jillustrate.com

That’s all. Are you happy now?

But it’s not. Not any more. And perhaps it never was.

Most advertising agencies would like their clients to believe that there is such a thing as “the best way to advertise.” Of course, this is out of a professional obligation. They are perceived as experts in the field. As such, they are relied upon to develop advertising campaigns that yield some kind of result. In most cases, sales. And historically, the goal of increasing sales was approached by developing “advertising” ideas.

These days, however, advertising agencies face a grueling set of circumstances that makes it difficult, if not impossible; to operate the way advertising agencies have for the last half a century. (By the way, if you watch Mad Men and think, “So that’s what it’s like to work in advertising, you’d be…well…mistaken.)

According to the American Association of Advertising Agencies, there is less demand these days for what agencies are good at, more demand for help with social media, shrinking marketing budgets, tighter deadlines and a high demand for accountability. All these leave the traditional advertising agency crippled while trying to achieve results using their “time tested” model which focused on churning out advertising ideas.

On the client side, the same hurdle exists but on an even more complex level. Many clients still believe that a great ad campaign can turn things around. In some cases, they’re absolutely right. However, as advertising legend Bill Bernbach once said, “A great ad campaign will make a bad product fail faster.” Which suggests that advertising that works has little to do with the advertising itself. (Bill was on to something.)

These days, agencies are stuck in a structure that churns out “advertising” ideas instead of “business-building” ideas. And, as it turns out, some of the best business-building ideas in history have been some really great ad campaigns.

But those campaigns weren’t about a product. They were about what the product (or the company) does for the person who buys it. Hence, “the best way to advertise” starts not by thinking, “How do I make a good ad?” Rather, “How do I make something better?”

Which can often lead to ideas that look and sound nothing like advertising.

The thought of revisiting my alma mater as a ‘judge’ felt a little strange (and we do love strange), so we packed up and headed south for a monday morning field trip, hyped to see some student work and have some good healthy debate.

The first annual show had a nice turnout, and the array of entries ranging from silk-screen to motion design was a stimulating reminder of a few collegiate principles we can all hope to retain no matter how far removed from academia we may be.

Students experiment. They’re fearless and many of them run they’re own show like it’s a serious business. There isn’t the necessity in school to only do one thing, get good at it and then repeat. Alternately, there is actually a push to try it all. There’s no art director/copy writer tandem. There are instead writer-animator-designer-programmer-photographer’s, all tucked up in to one person, and the work feels really distinct for that reason. The vision from start to finish in many pieces was noticeably unwavering making the concept all that more poignant.

Personal ownership in the work we do as paid people should be no less enthusiastic. Often when things venture off into design-by-committee-land we deem it ‘clientized’, letting go of any real personal accountability. But for me at least, that’s sometimes a sorry excuse for lack of persistence.

So, thanks MTSU students for serving as a nice kick in the arse. Your passion for design was apparent and reminded me that fighting through momentary creative set-backs is all part of the fun of being in this world anyway.

Here are a few pics from the judging.

This photostream from Arnaud Loumeau is pages and pages of pure pen-on-paper goodness.

The psychedelic colors and vivid pattern details are intense and somewhat overwhelming. There’s enough tension in some of these daring doodles to make your head spin.

Nice to see doodling at it’s highest art form.

It’s Halloween weekend, so to celebrate we bring you this amazing piece of eye trickery (it’s way better for you than all the treats, you were considering consuming).

Watch it once. Watch twice. Watch it every 60 seconds for the rest of your weekend. Chances are you’ll still be confused. We certainly are.

Thank you :weareom: — we love weird!

With the likes of Facebook events and Evite services, printed invites are no longer a mandatory for special events.

So, how about this one? A save the date stop-motion piece. We’re not sure if Jana and Enrico are really getting married, or if this piece is just for fun. Either way, the wide range of materials, delicate music selection, and experimental typography make this Save the Date a keeper.

Terrible Yellow Eyes is a collection of works inspired by the beloved classic, Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak.

Over the coming weeks and months the blog will display a growing collection of works created by invited contributing artists and the site’s creator.

It is truly invigorating to see so many different varied artistic responses to one single book-turned-film. The quality of the work is a true testament to one inspiring creative act leading to another.

Now, who’s pumped to see the film?

For example, two competing car companies both make a car that’s roughly the same price with roughly the same specifications and advertise features that claim to beat the competition. To most people, however, small differences in the product aren’t a good enough reason to choose one brand over another. And to make matters worse, people trust traditional advertising less and less as time rolls on. Which is just one of the many reasons why progressive marketers and advertisers are rethinking strategies for attracting customers.

Forward-thinking companies are infusing their marketing with “business-building” ideas that involve reputation management, experience design, analytics and, of course, social media as a supplement (or even in lieu of) “advertising” ideas.

For instance, one well-known brand recently put up a website at TheFunTheory.com. The site “is dedicated to the thought that something as simple as fun is the easiest way to change people’s behavior for the better. Be it for you, for the environment, or for something entirely different, the only thing that matters is that it’s change for the better.”

On the site’s home page are three videos that shows how the “make it fun, change behavior” theory holds up in the real world by: 1) causing people to nearly double the amount of trash they put in waste baskets; 2) causing 66% more people to use stairs instead of an escalator, and 3) causing roughly 90% more people to recycle their glass bottles. The site also invites visitors to submit their own thoughts about how to use “fun” to change behavior.

Nowhere on the site will you find a car or any mention of an automobile. Just a small VW logo floating in white space in the upper-right-hand corner of the site.

VW’s efforts are a prime example of social media and experience design in full effect.

The results of this initiative have yet to be determined. However, in the end the effort will have influenced the behavior of many visitors and given them a reason to appreciate the VW brand that has nothing to do with making a good car, or even good “advertising” for that matter. It has everything to do with making people feel good about Volkswagen. Which is the emotion required for anyone to buy one.

Or buy anything, for that matter.