6x6x2011 Global is the fourth exhibition of thousands of original artworks, made and donated by celebrities, international & local artists, designers, college students, youths, and YOU. Each artwork must be 6×6 square inches and signed only on the back, to be exhibited anonymously. All artworks will be for sale to the public for $20 each (at RoCo and online) to benefit RoCo. Artist names will be revealed to the buyer upon purchase and all artworks remain on display through July 10, 2011.

For more information go to www.roco6x6.org.

If you are a freelancer there is still time to exhibit at the event and showcase your work. RSVP to exhibit.

Marketing directors and agency peeps. Do you use freelancers now? Do you feel you may have the need to hire a creative freelance employee? Even if you not have an immediate creative need. I encourage you to come to the Freelance Expo. Our goal is to bring freelancers and decision makers in the marketing profession together. To make a contact. Network. So that when there is creative need, you have someone to contact.

Admission is free. The food is complimentary. So come on over to the MAG, and who knows, you next big idea could come from a freelancer exhibiting at the event. The Freelance Expo. on Thursday, April 22, and the Memorial Art Gallery from 5:30-7:30pm.

Prez Joe

1. There is a large community of non-profits in Rochester, most of which do not have staff or money to publicize their services.
2. There is a large pool of bright-eyed, bushy-tailed arts/communications students in the area that are eager for real-world experience prior to graduation.
3. Additionally, we have this great service in the Ad Council, that helps non-profits figure out what their messaging is, and some tactical ideas of how to execute. But I always have the sinking feeling that the execution won’t happen due to lack of resources.

So, the percolating idea is that we (the marketing/advertising community) find a way to coordinate student workers for non-profits. I know this is not a new idea, but I don’t know where it fell down in the past. I realize this is not only hooking up workers with work — there will need to be some oversight by a volunteer mentor, to keep the work on strategy. Perhaps this is a rotating responsibility, or one mentor is matched up to each agency.

I’ll be checking in with the Ad Council to see what role they may play, but would love to hear from all of you as to if and how you think this may work.

This is not an official RAF event. It’s an event sponsored by the AIGA, and I encourage you to go out and see what the Dock 2 Letterpress is all about. Why? Because our new RAF mission is to strengthen our creative community, to educate, and inspire great work. And this shop is freaking sweet.

The Grand Opening is from 5pm to 9pm, this Friday the 18th.

Dock 2 Letterpress is located across from Webster Thomas High School on 855 Publishers Parkway, DOCK #2 in Webster, NY, 14580

Hope to see you there. I’ll be the one drooling over the Bookman woodblock typefaces in the back of the shop.

JOE

Mega drop-downs fly out from shortcuts sidebar

The new Yahoo! homepage sports a “favorites” bar along the left hand side. Icon/links for key areas of interest like sports, finance, facebook, eBay and a dozen or so other topics are included. Here’s the mega part: when you hover over any of the icons, a mega drop-down pops out, with a few key piece of info — stuff you’re most likely to want to see (or at least that’s what the designers are banking on). For example, a quick hover gives you the state of the Dow, Nasdaq and S&P. Place your mouse over eBay, and you’ll see the most-watched items, and a search box. Facebook gives you direct access to your login. True to its original intent, Yahoo! has once again made itself a reason to be your portal.

This is also a brilliant move for advertising, as each of the mega drop-downs has room for an ad… which of course, is targeted to the area of interest. Nice job of combining user benefits with money-making options for the site.

— Andrea Zuegel

Apparently, advertising talent runs in the family. David is the nephew of Rochester ad & marketing veteran Joe Nardone of Eastman Kodak.

With over 60,000 entries annually, the ADDY® Awards are the world’s largest and arguably toughest advertising competition. The ADDY® Awards represent the true spirit of creative excellence by recognizing all forms of advertising from media of all types, creative by all sizes and entrants of all levels from anywhere in the world. The American Advertising Federation, a not-for-profit industry association conducts the ADDY® Awards through its 200 member advertising clubs and 15 districts. It is the only creative awards program administered by the advertising industry for the industry.

Check out all the 2009 winners here.

Looking for something to do this weekend? The man who designed credit sequences for Star Wars, Taxi Driver, the Exorcist among other film classics, will be at the Eastman House this Saturday at 8:00 pm. Title Designer Dan Perri, will present a selection of his clips and discuss his movie career. Mention the RAF and you’ll receive a $2 discount at the door. Click here for details.

But here’s some insight into what we, on the Dundee team, knew. Packaging sells beer. No one is buying beer because of a story on the back of the label. Sure, it gives them something to read while they drink…all by themselves. But the cool new look of the Dundee labels and Craft Pack is what stops people in their tracks in the beverage aisle.

And that is the genius work of Paul Hill and Tim Downs, two of the finest I will ever work with.

So I’ll never admit I said this, but save your reading for the cereal box, be shallow, and just choose a Dundee for its good looks.

Better yet, who remembers about a year ago when everyone, including me, totally freaked when the layout was upgraded to a more “intuitive, user-friendly” interface?

How did they know I would grow to love the new layout and eventually dismiss previous, technically-inferior layouts as Web 1.0 rubbish?

Well, they’re at it again.

And this time…(deep breath)… I trust them.

What are your thoughts on the proposed upgrades to Facebook?

Hundreds of dollars will be awarded in this digital art competition, with brackets for professional artists, college students, and high school students.

There are 9 categories to submit in – any art that includes a digital element in its creation or display is eligible!

Submissions will be juried by a panel of faculty and professional artists from across the Genesee Valley region.

Winning pieces will be displayed at ArtAwake on March 27.

This competition is open to everyone in the Rochester area!

Hurry – submission are due by March 2 at midnight!

— Scott Wolf