June 23, 2009 • 2:05 pm • POSTED BY ahartley
Some of you may already be familiar with Duke University’s digital collection of vintage advertisements at the John W. Hartman Center for Sales, Marketing and Advertising History, which houses around 7,000 images from 20 collections, spanning from the nineteen-teens to WWII-era messaging, and beyond. Up until this point, these advertisements were only available online, but Duke just launched an iPhone App that allows you to browse through these advertisements as you stroll. Duke currently has the most comprehensive digital image collection available on the iPhone.
A few of my faves?
This anti-inflation advertisement from WWII (“Pointed Rhymes for Trying Times”), because apparently the world’s problems can be solved with a limerick.
“There was a little dope with a fat pay envelope,/ And she spent every cent that was in it. /And she wondered, by-and-by, why the prices rose so high,/ but she didn’t blame herself for a minute.”
A cologne ad for a brand called TARS (very appealing), which touts “its tingling magic, its strikingly mannish scent”.
And, of course, the good old fashioned “Chorus of Electrons” ad, which describes the visual function of a TV in terms of a kick line of ruffle-skirted chorus girls.
In the down time between seasons of Mad Men, this is a fun way examine the changing trends in advertising (and technology). Now you have yet another reason to whip out your iPhone and start playing around. (Cat Piano, anyone?)
June 23, 2009 • 9:52 am • POSTED BY Jon Fruman
During my lunch travels yesterday I stepped foot into the AIA Bookstore and came across some unexpected birthday, wedding, baby shower, etc. cards. Visit the Offensive+Delightful Website* or go to AIA (1218 Arch Street) to purchase some of these gems.
June 22, 2009 • 1:03 pm • POSTED BY brendan quinn
Some of you blog visitor folks might only know us because of our affection for inverted Ford Focuses or our fabled table tennis training regimen, but we, in fact, are an agency. One with a web site, too, that shows some of the work we’ve done with clients from all around this floating marble we call Earth.
And one of the topics that arises in nearly every new business meeting or potential employee interview is “What does 160over90 mean?” So when we were redesigning our site last year, we decided to answer that question in pretty much every way possible, which ended up sprucing up the tired old “Profile” section. However, we never actually give the true answer. For that, you’ll just have to give us new business or work for us. Or get us drunk — we tend to spill the beans sometime after our 3rd Gin Rickey.
Anyway, we just uploaded our second batch of answers, which were provided by nearly every employee that works here.
Some reference our greatest blog posts:
Some reference happy hour shenanigans:
Some reference TV shows from our youth:
Some talk about our philosophy and independence:
Some get all design-nerdish:
Some reference inside jokes and ping pong (some all at once):
And some get mildly Big Brother-ish and meta:
There are tons more over at our site in the Profile section, so take a spin around them and let us know what you think.
June 18, 2009 • 5:51 pm • POSTED BY stephen penning
OK. I get the US economy is pretty beat up. But when a piece of performance art goes wrong and unintentionally emphasizes the hole we are in you can’t help but wonder if we’ll ever escape all the negative imagery and messaging. See Mike Bouchet’s piece for the Venice Biennale here to see what I mean.
June 17, 2009 • 12:39 pm • POSTED BY mpark
Are you pregnant or know someone who’s expecting? Are you tired of guessing your baby’s due date?
Leave it to 160over90′s very own Stephen Penning to predict your unborn baby’s date and time of birth! He’s considered the Miss Cleo of the baby date predicting world.
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June 17, 2009 • 11:45 am • POSTED BY lhendler
In the world of branding, Apple goes to the head of the class. With its rapidly improving technology, its sleek and sophisticated designs, and the endlessly charming “I am a Mac” commercials, it simply cannot miss. However, lately I have been a little frustrated with my friends at Apple. How these guys can create the wonderfulness that is the Iphone and then make it damn near impossible to fix, is lame in my book.
I don’t mind paying the cost of the phone, but I expect that if worst comes to worst and it breaks, I will be getting a brand new phone for cost or cheaper. With the Iphone it costs you more! I know this because I had a little incident a couple months ago involving my birthday, my Iphone, a bar, alcohol and well, a toilet. Needless to say the phone broke and the replacement cost twice as much as the original. So imagine my dismay when I was walking to work the other day and my phone jumped out of my clutzy hands and landed square on the sidewalk. The image in this post gives you a sense of my horror (imagine that being your Iphone). How I longed for the skip back 7 sec feature that I use so frequently on my DVR, but alas this is real reality.
Lucky for me it was only the top screen that broke, the phone itself was fine. So I began my research to figure out the quickest and cheapest method of fixing my phone. I was shocked to see the countless number of people in my predicament. I reviewed over and over the youtube videos of how to fix it yourself. This seemed like the cheapest option, but a little risky as you can cause permanent damage if not done properly. Other options included sending my little guy away via FedEx to the MacMedics or others like them. But that would mean being without him for longer than I was comfortable. So, despite my colleague, Jim Walls’ skepticism, I ended up trying out a local guy via a Craig’s List ad. I know, sounds crazy, right? Well “Scotty” came to my place yesterday and in about 3min. brought my beloved Iphone back to life, and since I had the working screen from my first phone that got “water damage” he was able to charge me only $60! Now, as Jim also pointed out, the screen that I swipe my finger across and the screen that I hold up to my face, did spend a brief time in the toilet, but I feel this is a small price to pay for the peace of mind of having my best buddy back and good as new 
.
