June 6th is an important date because

a.) it’s my birthday and
b.) it’s international Drawing Day!

Little did I know that my life-long subconscious tendency to doodle all over my notebooks/shoes/everything would someday lead me to my design destiny. Now here’s a day to pay homage to the sketchmaster in us all. The name of the day pretty much sums it up — drop everything and draw for the sake of drawing. 

Not only should you draw, you should share it with the world, via numerous online communities such as DeviantArt, Facebook (with Pencake), and YouTube to name a few. Visit drawingday.org for more ways to share.

Feel free to draw me a birthday present!

I wasn’t aware becoming an engineer required a vow of chastity. Celibacy is a hands on job.

The following is a roundup of some creative billboards that break through the fourth wall and become a sort of 3d art installation. Please enjoy responsibly.

Last year I was fortunate to set off on a journey around the world. I had this entire inventory of cities scribbled down which I longed to see… Cites listed mainly because of what defined them: Agra for the Taj Mahal. Siem Reap for Angkor Wat. The southern part of Australia for the Great Ocean Road. But from each of these places what I left with was much more than what they’re known for. Through long walks, I discovered the unique breathing “bodies” which surround the hearts of their defined histories-through-monuments. Some of my most treasured photos were not of the ultimate destination, but of the art found throughout the journey. Here are a few images which enhanced how I defined the cities I visited…

Buenos Aires, Argentina

Agra, India

Adelaide, South Australia

Next time you are traveling – or just walking around your own city, open your eyes to the unexpected art… whether it’s a faded painted wall sign or a stencil in an array of colors.

New York artist, Devorah Sperber, is recreating masterpieces by arranging spools of thread hanging from string. She starts with a pixelized jpg of the artwork and maps out the colors/thread pixel by pixel. Watch her in action.

At this very moment there are roughly 237,483 Facebook fans of bacon. That’s right. BACON. Not to be confused with the 298,834 fans of Bacon Butty. I even know someone who proudly displays a felt flag with the word “BACON!” on it in his office. (It also contains a felt cutout of bacon.) And yes, this person is a fan of 3 separate bacon pages on Facebook. Now that’s passion.

Within the confines of Facebook – and throughout the web, we are able to define exactly who we are, what we believe in and what we’re passionate about. Fan pages are, in essence, viral altars created for the things we love, detest or just have a point of view on. People have started pages for the most basic of activities, like napping – to mowing the lawn. Currently there are 35 people who believe “mowing the grass is a conspiracy”, 2 members of “i love mowing grass” and 7 people who claim to be “lawn mowing monkeys”.

What are you passionate about?

“Paging Dr. Jack Black…!” This is a great campaign from the Noreen Fraser Foundation that all men should rally around. For Mother’s Day, send a free e-greeting card to the woman in your life and consider donating to this great cause.

Above: (l-r) Maria Pacheco, Stephanie Huynh and Tameka Kee

On Thursday April 30, 2009 the IPG Emerging Media Lab hosted the latest SheSays LA event, Ms. Gamer, on women and gaming. Attendees were able to test their skills on the Wii and then settled in to hear our expert panel share their various experiences on the state of the industry and and how they first got into the game.

Maria Pacheco, of MoboGift and formerly of Vivendi Games Mobile, shared how she successfully marketed the mobile gamer, Surviving High School, and engaged users by utilizing viral tactics, including contests, quizes and Facebook widgets.

Stephanie Huynh from Denuo talked about the changing market of gaming–with tweens and teens now generally playing the same games, the lines between hardcore (typically male) and casual (female) gamers will begin to blur as audiences mature into future.

Finally, Tameka Kee from ContentNext Media presented perspectives on life and careers in the gaming industry. She shared advice from four female industry leaders on how women can enter and advance in fields related to gaming in the marketing, media and development arenas.

During the Q&A session, our panelists discussed trends in gaming and shared their personal stories on how they got into the industry and provided their own tips for the women who’d like do the same.

The fun-filled evening, sponsored by Weber Shandwick, ended with a raffle with great prizes provided by Namco Bandai. Stay tuned for details on the the next SheSays LA event, on Cause Marketing. If you’re a woman in digital marketing and advertising and would like to get more involved in SheSays LA, please contact Kim Hoang.