Creative Economy : Buzz

The novel “Crossbones,” from Somali author Nuruddin Farah, who lives part of the year in Minneapolis, is featured in a recent issue of the New York Times Sunday Book Review.

“Some in the media may paint Somali pirates as womanizers with lavish tastes and an eye for Nairobi real estate, but Nuruddin Farah exposes the shallowness of such depictions in his 11th novel,” the review states.

One of the book’s central characters is a New York-based war correspondent who is part Somali and part Malaysian. With the help of his father-in-law, he embarks on an international journey to track down his teenage nephew who has left Minnesota to join the militant Islamic group al-Shabab.

Warfare and poverty in Somalia’s capital city of Mogadishu are also part of the story, which reviewer Hirsh Sawhney describes as “politically courageous and often gripping.”

Sawhney writes that the Farah “takes great pains to illuminate the roots of Somalia’s turmoil in a nuanced manner.”

All in all, the book is a “sophisticated introduction to present-day Somalia, and to the circle of poverty and violence that continues to blight the country,” Sawhney concludes.

Target's new ad campaign for Missoni, a fashion line of more than 400 products, is distinctive for its nod toward Italian films of the 1960s, notes a recent story in the New York Times.

In its advertising column, the paper reports that representatives from Target traveled to Milan to collaborate with the Missoni family, in order to strengthen the brand and give the campaign an authentically Italian feel.

In the campaign, which includes TV ads and Web spots, swinging 1960s music accompanies images of a dining room decked out in Missoni products, and models wearing the brightly hued clothing line.

The ads were done in collaboration with Minneapolis-based Olson, a creative firm known for high-profile work for clients like General Mills, Amtrak, and Converse.

The Fox is Black, a national art and design blog, recently featured the Minneapolis-based Studio on Fire.

In the writeup, blogger Bobby Solomon says that the local studio is producing some of the strongest letterpress work that he's found in a long time.

He's such a fan that he'd like to get some business cards done in a style like that of Studio on Fire. "I've toyed with the idea of getting some letterpress business cards, a simple white card with a big black fox embossed into it; it would be great, and this makes me want to do it even more," he says.

He adds that the studio's portfolio "is filled with a wide variety of projects--[their] Godspeed bike print is pretty rad, especially the fact they used the pattern of the bike seat itself."

Star Tribune sports columnist Sid Hartman is featured in a piece on The Morning Delivery titled "Journalists in which the word 'retirement' just isn't in their vocabulary." [sic]

Hartman, who is 92 years old, is still meeting deadlines and speaking on the radio weekdays, it states.

Hartman, who was a high school dropout, never received any formal journalism training, but after beginning as a delivery boy for the Star Tribune at the age of 12, he was able to work his way up to full-time columnist.

"Instead of wondering who Sid interviewed, a better question might be who hasn't this celebrated veteran interviewed," the piece reads.  

Hartman once followed New York Jets quarterback Joe Namath into the shower for an interview, introduced Bobby Knight to Ted Williams, and drove to the airport with Mickey Mantle and Whitey Ford after the funeral of Roger Maris, the article recounts.

Dennis Bracken, Assistant Sports Editor at the Star-Tribune, is quoted as saying: "Name a major moment in Minnesota sports, and Sid was there and probably had his hand in making the news."

Cool Hunting, which showcases interesting new developments every week in the areas of design, tech, style, travel, culture, and more, recently featured an invention that comes out of Minneapolis.

Bike Fixtation, the bicycle-repair kiosk from the Minneapolis company of the same name, topped a recent list of picks on the Cool Hunting website.

"If you've ever ended up stranded in the city with a flat tire, you'll find the new Bike Fixtation kiosks helpful. The self-service stations are open extended hours for bicyclists in the Minneapolis and St. Paul metropolitan areas," the notice reads.
 
An international team of editors and contributors at Cool Hunting sort through all kinds of innovations to provide the weekly digest.

A stomach-churning homegrown commercial has garnered a national award from the Association of Independent Commercial Producers.

David Phelps' Star Tribune article reveals everything you'd want to know (and then some) about ad agency Preston Kelly's local, low-budget commercial for the YMCA of Greater St. Paul and Metropolitan Minneapolis, in which a woman eats a stick of butter while watching television.

The commercial shared the spotlight with more larger-company spots for Old Spice, Volkswagen, and Allstate.

A June 7 Gather.com story marks the 53rd birthday of Prince, the iconic Minneapolis rocker.

"It's a safe bet he can look down from his royal throne and enjoy the fact that he's as popular today as he was two decades ago," the story states.   

Gather.com cites the artist's recent run of 21 sold-out shows in Los Angeles, "sending fans and critics into a frenzy with his stellar performances of songs from his ever-growing catalog," it states. 

Describing Prince as an icon and "ultimate showman," the post makes the case that he rivals younger performers, especially with his impressive guitar skills.

The work of Minneapolis-based Artspace is featured in a recent Nola.com story about the rise of artist live/work spaces in New Orleans and elsewhere. 

Artspace is a nonprofit organization that develops affordable space for artists and arts organizations all over the country.

The group plans to convert the Andrew J. Bell Junior High School Property in New Orleans into a $40 million home for artists--one of a number of similar developments taking place across the city, the story states.  

These kinds of developments are appealing to many artists because they're often affordable and offer gallery space, built-in community, and other professional opportunities, it explains.

Wendy Holmes, senior vice president of consulting for Artspace, is quoted in the article, saying that it makes sense because "Artists bring a lot to the table."

A strong artist community can improve a city's tax base and turn around struggling neighborhoods. "Artist communities re-energize neighborhoods. And even though we're all businesspeople it's not always about the bottom line. It's about community engagement," she says.

How does a creative executive manage more than a dozen external creative partners and a $35 billion brand?

Tim Murray, creative director of the Creative Vision Group at Target, gave a five-point lesson at an AIGA/NY event held at the New School in New York, reports Fast Company's Helen Walters in an April 18 article.

How does Target produce "deceptive simplicity from unfathomable complexity" and "successfully [manage] collaboration and complexity," as Walters writes?

Be transparent, play nice, be open, stretch the work, and talk talk talk.

(There's a bit more explanation in the article.)

It's a little-known fact that Minneapolis-based Game Informer is the country's fifth-largest consumer magazine, according to a story from Minnpost's David Brauer.   

With 5 million subscribers, including many male readers in the 18-to-34-year-old age demographic, in some ways its reach surpasses People and Maxim, the story states.  

Game Informer, which is available at checkout counters at GameStop retail stores nationwide, grew by 33 percent in a period when so many other magazines declined.

The magazine's writers often preview games well before they're out, which associate publisher Rob Borem says is a huge advantage. "Our primary asset is still pulling down world exclusives," he states in the story.

"Sitting on a coffee table, desk, or kitchen counter, print is an evergreen," he says, adding, "We want to reflect that it's more of an art, celebrating the joy of the game."

Minneapolis-based brand agency mono has more than doubled in size to in less than three years, writes David Phelps in a profile in the StarTribune. Billings at the 56-employee company rose 50 percent to $48.5 million in 2010.

Founders Michael Hart, Jim Scott, and Chris Lange left larger local firms to launch the agency in 2004 with one client: Sesame Street.

Now, mono counts MSNBC among a list of high-profile clients, writes Phelps. Mono's innovative "Lean Forward" campaign for MSNBC debuted last fall with spots directed by Spike Lee.

Mono is located at 3036 Hennepin Ave.

A decade-old Minneapolis design firm is behind the new look of a New York Times financial blog.

The Minneapolis Egotist reports that Wink, Inc.'s portfolio now includes the design of Andrew Ross Sorkin's DealBook blog, which tracks stocks, mergers and acquisitions.

Images at the Egotist.

Advertising Age reports that Best Buy is rolling out its own media network. Best Buy On is being billed as an "online magazine," whose content will be streamed to in-store screens in the TV, mobile and portable entertainment departments. The retailer started experimenting with the publishing project in 2009 and is now "ready for prime time," Ad Age reports. To prove it, the network will be on the ground to cover this week's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Read the rest at AdAge.com.

A couple of products from Twin Cities companies showed up on Advertising Age's lost of 2010's top 10 "Best Marketing Apps."

Alvenda, a social e-commerce company that we wrote about in August, earned an inclusion for its Delta Air Lines ticket window app for Facebook. It allows users to search and book flights without ever leaving Facebook.

Best Buy is mentioned for a mobile app meant to be used in theaters during the movie "Despicable Me." The app dims and silences the phone during the movie, until the credits at the end, when it translates the cartoon characters' language.

See the rest of the list over at AdAge.com.

In a recent Portfolio.com study that analyzed 200 of the country's largest metro areas for "strongest collective brainpower," the Twin Cities comes in 18th.  

Number one is Boulder, Colorado while 200th is Merced, California, according to the magazine, which crunched numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau.  

Looking at data for post-secondary education and high-school dropout rates in various cities, Portfolio scored cities by "comparing the 2007 median income for all workers ($33,452) with the median income for those workers at a specified educational level," the article states.  

The results show that it does indeed pay to have a college degree or two.