The Executive Creative Director at Rockfish Interactive Bob Robinson said a great quote today that's worthy of a young aspiring artist or ad man, he said: "remember...Branding is who we are. Advertising is what we say and Marketing is who we say it to."

This is a great look inside the add-on feature for Adobe In-Design CS5 for building magazine format iPad apps. But, where this leaves off is the game changer for the magazine industry as a whole where I believe that format looks more like companies are content aggregaters where content is served up via any device for truely immersive experiences on those devices. Because we know 500mb/per issue download is not a sustainable model right Wired?

Yes, I frequently download songs from iTunes and yes, I remember a commercial where VW was making fun of a Hybrid because of the noise it made (or should I say didn't make...) but, never did I imagine an iTunes for car sounds for electric cars because currently they don't make any noise. And while this might be good for people living near noisy intersections it can be disastrous for pedestrians and bicyclists. To me this is an intersting concept and an awesome revenue stream for the music industry as a new marketplace arises for licensing rights. Instead of downloading the latest tune to jam on the way home you can turn your car into a Lamborgini, Harley Davidson or maybe even the Starship Enterprise, that would impress a hot date for sure.

This concept may have some merrit as organizations representing the blind are lobbying governments to pass laws requiring that electric cars and trucks make sounds to warn blind pedestrians. Nissan is alreay this year rolling out the LEAF and touted at the auto show in Detroit that young people would be drawn to the sounds it makes, not sure if they can be swapped out or changed though. For more insight into this concept here is a link to a story that showed up in my RSS reader today titled "The New Ringtine Market - Your Car"

Photo courtesy Mitsubishi

Recently I've had the opportunity to be around some great talent and leadership at Rockfish Interactive and after sharing my passion for mobile and interaction design they shared a few companies and resources for inspiration related to interaction design. Check out the work by both Obscura Digital and Second Story, both create some amazing interactive experiences that go far beyound the browser. Anyone looking to expand in their Interaction Design careers should be inspired by their designs and technology.

Also, I've been impressed lately by how companies are using Microsoft's Surface and they have a great collection of video case studies that can be found here. Check out the interaction from the Sheraton Hotel's app, I can't wait till the world is filled with this type of daily experience interaction. 

NYC IxDA - Tap is the New Click - Dan Saffer from Interaction Design Association on Vimeo.

While doing some research for an upcoming touch screen experience for the iPad I wanted to dig deeper in the realm of Interactive Experiences vs. traditional web design or branding. IxD as they call it, encompasses many things like touch interfaces, gestural interfaces and mobile devices it enhances or aides the user during their time with it and basically provides satisfaction during interaction.

Surprisingly there is very little knowledge on the subject after doing a Google search; after you weed through all the agencies trying to capitalize on the keywords to promote their web company very few stand out as experts on the subject. I did read about Kicker Studio which seems to be doing some impressive work in this field. Also, check out the video by Dan Saffer from Kicker that has some great insight to the subject.

I've been designing websites for the past 6 years and what I've found with a project such as a kiosk or mobile app it's a whole different approach that should be taken for delivering success. In my web design I want users to engage with the content, the content that tells a story and delivers the business objectives. In Experience Design I want the application to become an extension of the brand and enhance the experience for the user and become integrated into their life. I think mobile devices leverage the best chance for this along with devices like the iPad. So when a client comes to me and says they want to take their old analog magazine and bring it to the iPad thus enhancing a new unique experience for its subscribers I can't help but get excited and really want to deliver on the experience. Stay tuned as I keep you updated on the learnings, discoveries and processes as I start working on this project at RFI. 

A collection of pictures from a recent brainstorm session at the Rockfish Interactive Frisco, TX office. http://www.flickr.com/photos/calvinly/sets/72157624387098430/

I came across this infographic over on Blitz Interactive Agency's website as I was doing some research for a multimedia kiosk project. The illustration shows how different devices touch us at certain points in our day and how marketing campaigns can span multiple mediums to interact with us. Each of these touchpoints should be an extension of the campaign and in the near future I'm sure info will be stored on us and a history will be built up that the messaging gets crafted specifically to us and becomes more of a suggestive system. What this graphic does do a good job of is showing how successful campaigns should be a 360 degree digital strategy that might use all these touchpoints or just a few so the brand becomes a part of my day or integrated in to my life.