Now that AOL is spinning off from Time Warner, it has of course decided to rebrand itself. The company just released these new sneak peeks at its new look, and I’m not sure I like what they’re going for. Obviously that tired blue triangle had to go, but calling the company “Aol.” (yep, period and all) instead of “AOL” gives the impression that it should be pronounced as a phonetic word that sounds similar to “owl,” rather than being an acronym.
Minus the whole massive layoffs thing, I like the direction AOL has been going in as a company (less about e-mail for your grandma, more about editorial publishing), but I think they need to go back to the drawing board on this one. The new branding will be fully revealed on December 10. I’m kind of scared.
I’m not sure that this necessarily falls into the “digital trends” category — but I’ve always had a rather loose definition of that concept.
This is the ElectroluxScan Toaster — developed by Sung Bae Chang and entered into the Electrolux Design Contest. The premise is simple: you hook up the toaster to your computer via USB and then download an image, news story, or Cathy cartoon to the toaster. The modules within the machine then realign and toast the image onto your bread.
I don’t want to overstate this, but I’m fairly certain that this is the best thing to ever happen in the history of mankind. Take that, Guttenberg.
The paradigm of publishing is shifting, evidenced by this week’s Conde Nast closures. Newspapers and magazines need to move with the times, and that might mean literally embracing movement.
Entertainment Weekly and Esquire generated serious buzz with their respective forays into the integration of motion + magazine. What’s next? Check out the above video, which shows where the future of magazines could be headed. It is a fascinating look at what might be in store for a changing industry. It is also a helpful catalyst for thinking about how the public relations industry will shift in response.
