Social Media Superstar: Starbucks

Image via (pardon the pun) CostaPacific

Starbucks has emerged as a leader in the world of social media - in fact, Elements often uses Starbucks as a case study in our social media speaking engagements. We thought it was rather timely that Starbucks has launched a new campaign for VIA™, their new instant coffee, integrating social media with traditional campaign elements.

The idea behind the campaign is that the instant coffee is so good, no one can distinguish instant from Starbucks' "regular" coffee. One ad spot features groups of people who "can't taste the difference" in comical vignettes - including "people who look like their dogs" and - my personal favorite - "people who yell at town hall meetings".

However, Starbucks didn't stop there - they have launched a nationwide tour, Starbucks VIA™ Taste Challenge, where customers can drop by a participating Starbucks from October 2-5 for a taste-test - and get a free, tall brewed coffee for their time. Customers can also visit the VIA™ mini-site to post comments, pictures and videos of their experience. There is an event page on Starbucks' Facebook page advertising the event.

Yet another aspect of the campaign is the Starbucks VIA™ Road Trip, featuring a coffee loving duo along with their documentary film crew who captures the experience along the way - and all of the videos appear on their YouTube channel. Starbucks is also promoting the Road Trip on Twitter @StarbucksLive.

Starbucks also has an iPhone application where users can find locations, build a coffee, check and reload Starbucks cards and more. Check out the video below for more info.



We couldn't think of a more perfect example of a company who is actively engaging their audience with social media - Starbucks fans are very loyal (even in a tough economy) and Starbucks knows just how to to reach their audience - a match made in heaven. (And hey, as always, their packaging is beautiful - couldn't hurt, right?)

Polly's Pancake Parlor

In following Kerry's lead on autumn-inspired blog posts, last Sunday I visited my home state of New Hampshire to leaf peep and also to visit Polly's Pancake Parlor in Sugar Hill, NH. (Sidenote: When you have a minute, check our Visit New Hampshire's website - great design and they're heavily involved in social media - a combination Elements loves!)



Anyway, back to the pancakes! Polly's Pancake Parlor is a great little rustic, back roads breakfast joint that was originally built as a carriage house in 1830. About 100 years later, the house was converted into tea room and in 1938, pancakes, waffles and French toast were sold - all you can eat for 50 cents!

Today, Polly's Pancake Parlor uses "no prepared mixes. [Their] pancake batters are prepared from the original recipes from the flour on up. [They] use the best ingredients obtainable in an effort to serve the lightest, fluffiest pancakes possible. [Their] whole Wheat, Buckwheat, Oatmeal Buttermilk and Cornmeal Pancakes and Breads are made with organically grown grains, which [they] stone-grind [themselves]."


Adjacent to the dining room is a gift shop full of antiques original to the building, and Polly's sells maple products in all forms including syrup, sugar and even maple pepper (caution: very hot. Learned from first hand experience.) All of the products in their shop are also available for purchase online - I recommend the delicious maple spread, which is served with all breakfast selections.

So, if you're looking for a nice little weekend trip, why not hop up to Connecticut's neighbor to the north - here's a link to Visit NH's interactive foliage chart for tracking when the leaves will be at their most beautiful.

"Leave It As Is"

Leave it as it is. The ages have been at work on it and man can only mar it.
~Theodore Roosevelt

I have been watching an amazing series called "Our National Parks, America's Best Idea" on PBS. I cannot recommend it highly enough. I realize it is about Parks, but this series, which was filmed over six years, is exciting and poignant and breathtaking. If you miss it when it airs (airing schedule on link), the entire series will be available online after October 9th.

Signs of Fall

Isn't this image the epitome of Fall? It makes me think of a table set for Thanksgiving dinner, Halloween, and Fall leaves. Our friend Paul Johnson snapped this for us this week after finishing a photoshoot for one of our clients.




What else makes me realize Fall is here? Mums. I love looking at the field of mums growing at my local garden nursery. Just beautiful swaths of color floating above green leaves. And of course - The Big E! I'm at the Big E in this photo from last weekend, standing behind the Maine State House. Picture crowds of people, the excitement and noise of carnival rides, and the smell of an amazing variety of food - Oh, the food! Definitely a part of my annual fall activities.

We would love to hear what you look forward to seeing and doing in Autumn. We've seen socks from Amy and fall leaves from Chelsea. Add to our list!

Looking for Color Inspriation?

Look no further! Try this super cool color picker called Multicolor Search Lab that draws images from Flickr. This might just be my "color inspiration" find of the week! I could see this application being useful for presentations and concept boards. What would you use it for?

How Many of These Actually Came True?

Remember the 1993 "You Will" commercials by AT&T? Watch, remember and see how many of these were spot on. It's impressive they were so right!

As an aside, I also love that Tom Selleck narrated which only adds to placing it firmly in the 90's.

{via traciedesigns}

It's the Details

Fall means socks.

And you know how I love color.

So, it should be no surprise that I'm loving these stylish socks by Italian-made Gallo in bold, colorful, gorgeous striped palettes. (They even have a children's line - Addie would so love these).

Color inspiration and warm feet equals happiness.

If you know where I can find some stateside, please, let me know!

{via Cool Hunting}

Color Inspiration On Your iPhone

Pantone has just released the iPhone and iTouch app myPantone. For a mere $10, I can rest assured that I'll never be without my coveted Pantone color swatch books at client meetings, on-press or at home working. Other features I'm loving are that it can pick up colors from iPhotos, e-mail Pantone color palettes to clients and to use in my Adobe programs (so cool!). Props to my design friend Jenn for the tip-off. Happy coloring!

Welcome Fall!

Fall official began at 5:18 pm today in New England. This is my favorite season. The image above by the well-known Vermont photographer Richard W. Brown and captures how I feel about autumn: the misty, cool morning air; amazing emerald, gold, pumpkin, rust foliage and the dappled light with pink and pale yellow tinged morning sky. Just stunning. How could I live anywhere else?

AIGA Design Legends Gala

I was going to write a long review of my stellar evening at the posh AIGA Design Legends Gala held at NYC's iconic Waldorf Astoria (which was ironically mentioned in this week's Mad Men episode. Quote: "It's so good, they named a salad after it"). But then I discovered that Fast Company did a fine job (without my help!) covering everything from Debbie Millman's poignant speech to the über cool centerpieces to the sinfully decadent dessert. Read all about it at Fast Company right here.

Coco Before Chanel

You know that we love the movies and that we're passionate about design. Here is a movie that combines both loves and stars them mesmerizing and wildly talented French actress Audrey Tautou. I have high hopes for this film. Film releases in U.S. this Friday.

Ecofont

A Dutch company has come up with an idea on how to save money on toner: The Ecofont.



After testing several ways of removing parts of letters, the company settled on the above dot pattern. They had tried removing strips of each letter (think zebra pattern) but found that breaking the edges of the letters made the font much less legible. While not a beautiful font, it could certainly be used for general office documents, because at normal 10-12 point size you do not notice the missing dots.

Their website says: "Appealing ideas are often simple: how much of a letter can be removed while maintaining readability? After extensive testing with all kinds of shapes, the best results were achieved using small circles. After lots of late hours (and coffee) this resulted in a font that uses up to 20% less ink."

The Ecofont is based on an Open Source font and is free to use. You can download it from their website.

Elements in the News

Amy was quoted as an advisory board member to Package Design Magazine in their recent August Desig e-Forum. Check out her comments regarding Ivory's new packaging move here.

A Rainy Day Poll

Wow - it just started POURING!

But hey - by the way - Elements wants your opinion - please take a moment to answer one easy question about the recent co-working trend (read our blog post from Monday to learn more).

Collaboration

In the last few years, a new movement has emerged as people who work independently or from home seek a new, collaborative work environment - and it's called co-working. Co-working by definition is a gathering of a group of people who are still working independently, but who share values and who are interested in the synergy that can happen from working with talented people in the same space.

There are currently co-working spaces in cities like Boston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Orlando and more are cropping up all the time.

The Workantile Exchange in Ann Arbor, MI

Beahive in Beacon, NY

Google Maps even has a searchable map listing co-working spaces worldwide.

Elements wants to learn more: take our co-working poll on Facebook - it's easy, only one question. (We know it's Monday.)

8:46 am | 9:02 am | 9:37 am | 10:06 am 8 Years Ago...

Today is a day of memorial and remembrance for America as it marks the passing of eight years since the terrorist attacks of 9/11.

Last year, I posted about architect Craig Dykers' latest designs for the National September 11 Memorial & Museum pavilion. Since then, the museum has launched a website, and at yesterday's press conference, released new details about the memorial.

Museum President Joe Daniels said, "The Museum will provide visitors with a powerful encounter with the remains of the World Trade Center. Key artifacts - such as the slurry wal, the column remnants of the Towers, the 'Survivors' Stairs' and the last column to be removed from the World Trade Center site at the end of the recover efforts - are featured elements of the Museum's design. With 80% of the steel already installed, the very structure of the Museum is taking shape." Click here for a live webcam view of the memorial construction site.

Here are some of the newest renderings of the memorial/museum.


THE MEMORIAL PLAZA will be one of the most sustainable, green plazas ever built, with nearly 400 trees surrounding the Memorial pools.


The National September 11 Memorial & Museum pavilion is slated to open on the tenth anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks, September 11, 2010.

Note: CNN calculates that 2,646 Americans were killed in the four plane crashes on 9/11. 327 foreign nationals from 53 countries also perished.

Brown Baggin' It Was Never So Fun...

We love food at Elements, and I think it's been about TWO WEEKS since we've written about food. Which brings me to my next point...

Check out these adorable homemade bento boxes featured in a recent NYTimes slideshow. A bento box is a single-portion takeout or home-packed meal common in Japanese cuisine, and some of these are almost - ALMOST - too beautiful to eat. Art for lunch - I love it!

Photos by bentomom and NYTimes.

Blogs We Like: The Art of Nonconformity

If I had to guess, I would say Elements spends about 75% of our day online - whether that's tweeting, writing blog posts, updating Facebook, researching, sourcing images, finding inspiration, staying up-to-date on the latest trends, news and topics or just about anything else design/marketing related.


So, we have decided to share some of our favorite sources with our blog readership. Here's a new one I came across - The Art of Nonconformity authored by Chris Guillebeau - a self-described "writer, world traveler, social entrepreneur and lifelong learner". Chris has led an amazing life. Among his accomplishments are a graduate degree in International Studies, a four-year stint as a volunteer executive in West Africa and has been self-employed for all of his adult life. Wow! I'm tired just listing those! Oh - I almost forgot - he's traveled to 119 out of 179 countries - and he's only 31. (And I particularly like his website design by Reese).

Chris writes about life, work and travel - but his articles, tweets and blog posts are neat to check out every once in awhile. Follow Chris on Twitter, subscribe to his RSS feed or receive his "9 Ways to Change the World" newsletter and blog updates to your inbox twice a week.

Labor Day Weekend Snippets

For me, New Hampshire's Hopkinton State Fair always signified the official end of summer - in our town, schools returned to classes before the fair, and the extended weekend helped ease us back into the routine of classes.

Even the weather changed - hot days, chilly nights around the fire pit at a cookout. Hope everyone enjoyed the last weekend of summer.

As a little girl I overheard as she left the fair Saturday night, "'Bye, fair! I love you!"

60 Beautiful [Long] Years

Joanna Goddard, magazine writer in NY and author of Glamour's relationship blog, Smitten is on vacation - and in her absence has asked some of her favorite bloggers to share their secrets for happy marriages on her personal blog, A Cup of Jo.

Yesterday, blogger Jess R. of Heartthrobs & Villains featured images of her grandparents from their youth - having just recently celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary, the photographs were digitized as a gift. As a lover of old photographs (and advice from old folks), these are just amazing.

And the secret? According to Jess's grandmother: "Have your own life. Pursue your dreams and let your husband do the same. Being content with yourself makes you a better wife."

According to Jess's grandfather: "Any disagreement can be settled with two words: 'Yes, dear.'"

Enjoy.