A great new book out entitled “Pantone, The 20th Century in Color” incorporates beautiful color plates with accompanying narrative by authors Leatrice Eiseman and Keith Recker that describe the last 100 years in the evolution of the color spectrum through the lens of the groundbreaking 1963 Pantone color system developed by Lawrence Hebert of Pantone.

The system codified the color spectrum, so that a certain shade of a color can be uniformly agreed upon and unknowingly revolutionized the world of graphic design. One can think back to any decade of the past century and certain colors and hues are easily associated with each time period. Serving as more than a mere color index, the book succeeds in describing the evolution of colors’ social imprint on culture, illustrated through advertisments, product design, fashion and general day-to-day life across generations.

Just close your eyes and visualize the 50s, 60s, 70s or 80s–it’s easy. That’s what’s so great about this book. From a historical perspective, filtered through the nuance of aesthetics, we have each period literally ‘colored in’ for us. Beautiful and simple.

According to Tina Brown, editor of Newsweek and The Daily Beast, the magazine’s structure and design will pay homage to 1960s America but its content will remain culturally relevant, including a cover story on the series and a feature on the role of advertising in America’s culture. In addition, Newsweek has issued a call to clients and creative agencies for ’60s-inspired creative that has the look and feel of a vintage print ad but contains modern products and messages.

We’ll have to wait ’til March to see the final print product and for the season premiere of the show but until then we can dream about the output. What type of products or creative would you like to see in the Mad Men-inspired issue of <i.Newsweek? Which agencies or clients do you think will or should contribute to the issue?

As featured in this months issue of WIRED, Desktop Jellyfish Tank pros: “Most hypnotic office/dorm room/studio decoration ever. Brainlessly simple setup and care.” The cons: “Stoned friends will never leave now. Air pump motor is about as loud as a refrigerator. Life expectancy of a moon jelly is only a year; new ones cost $50 each.”

The words“geek” and “nerd” are often used interchangeably, despite the clear differences between them. Finally, a comprehensive infographic that explains the distinctions, both broad and subtle, between the two. Click the above image for the entire infographic, as this is just an excerpted portion. Enjoy.

Whether or not you agree with author Amanda Marcotte’s interpretation of bias in the Chicago Tribune article, there’s a cautionary tale in her reaction to the Tribune’s reporting that’s worth paying attention to.  Marcotte discredits its findings because there isn’t enough data presented to back them up. In looking at the case presented, she saw contradictory and inconsistent application of information, and figured that a gender bias was the culprit.

While this may or may not be the case, it’s a good reminder to reporters and researchers alike: go ahead and use context, use that background knowledge. But don’t let these things define your work – research needs to be based in what the data says, not what you want it to mean.

It’s 2012 and the Iraq war is officially over. The cost? High in human toll, money spent and energy expended. Worth the effort? Arguably, yet to be determined. The net effect, other than a new government, well…

Iraqi youth have gone “punky” it seems, the direct effect of their socialization with American troops. A quarter of Iraquis have been born since the U.S. first invaded Iraq in March 2003, with almost half the total population under the age of twenty. A near majority of the population have spent their highly impressionable years in the presence of an occupying force. Though I haven’t personally walked the streets of Baghdad, I’m sure the troops cut a wide and colorful path in the day-to-day life of humble neighborhoods.

“Punky” youth are those that take on the persona of American hip-hop kids from a few years back, replete with baggy hoodies, closely croppped hair fading under back-turned baseball caps, and large fake gold chains. Kind of the fashion cue many an American GI took during their civilian youth in the years leading up to their military life, before being dropped into the ancient lands of the Fertile Crescent. 

Punky Iraqis see rapping as a ticket to New York, while they woof down greasy ersatz cheeseburgers and breakdance in city squares. These “hustlers,” another term they claim as their own, realize that to speak like a “gangsta” they need to learn English before they can develop their own rap banter. So, the children of Sadr City wait for months for a place in English classes, in hopes to one day board a plane to the U.S. to visit the home of Lil’ Wayne or at least eat a slice of real New York pizza.

And so, after nearly a decade, young people’s minds in Iraq open to a world beyond, even though the price of admission may be a poorly inked Ghostface Killah tattoo.

It doesn’t look like much, but it was the hottest item on Kickstarter this Christmas season, shattering its fundraising goal and acquiring nearly 4,000 donors.

This unassuming little box uses various sensors to capture information about a space or object and send it to the owner through the channel they choose. For example, with Twine attached to your front door, the built-in accelerometer can detect when someone is knocking and send you a text or Tweet while you’re away.

More sensors are in development, as is a breakout board that will allow users to gather other types of information by connecting their own sensors.

Check out the short video.

Yes, that looks like a Princess phone and an early computer had a baby.

Happy New Year!

I don’t know about you, but I am a snoozer. It’s bad. Really, really bad. I hit the snooze button 5 times yesterday.This morning it was 4 times, but I admit, I badly wanted those extra 9 minutes one more snooze would’ve gotten me.

Sadly, for those like me, snoozing has now become expensive, both financially and socially. Two new apps are on the market that will change the way you wake up. The first is Snooze by LetGive, a charitable giving organization that works with charities like DoSomething.org and Action Against Hunger. This app charges you $0.25 every time you hit the snooze button and donates it to a charity. It’ll let you know how much money you’ve sent to these organizations twice a month and I’m sure my bill would be pretty high by the end of the month. At least it’s for a good cause!

The second is OKITE by the Japanese developer Eureka. This app connects with Twitter so that every time you hit snooze a weird and/or embarrassing tweet goes out to your followers. Some examples of tweets it could send include, “Dressed as a sailor now” and “Not enough talented people like me in the world.” Depending on who follows you, this would be a great way to make sure you get up right away. Who knows what looks you’d get if your coworkers saw something like this on Twitter at 730 in the morning.

I, for one, would love to try these apps but temporarily. Let’s be honest, I would most likely have no money to buy groceries and my Twitter Followers would probably unfollow me for being even weirder than usual. For those snoozers out there, would you ever download these apps and do you think they’d be successful at getting you up and out of bed?

It will be interesting to see how mobile phone shopping and purchasing evolves. In the early days on online banking (just about 15 years ago), consumers were willing to review information on their laptops but felt the desktop was much more suitable to make actual transactions. Back then they indicated they felt that desktop computers were more secure and they’d be less error-prone when entering numbers or commands. It may be that as consumers get more and more used to employing smaller mobile screens in the shopping process, increased transaction numbers will follow.

Who knows, maybe in a few years we’ll see an easy return the Christmas presents you don’t want app.