Fresh Work: Twelve South LookBook

Here’s a look at the cover of the new Twelve South LookBook, a 62 page showcase of beautiful made for Apple products. This is our fifth year working on this annual book and it’s always a down-to-the wire, collaborative blast. (If you’re not using Dropbox to mark up proofs, you’re really missing out.) The big snow storm in Charleston was an unanticipated bump in the road, which meant the books weren’t finished until about two hours before a flight to Las Vegas for CES 2018. In case you’re wondering what you’re seeing on the cover, it’s Curve for MacBook, a modern, minimal stand for any MacBook.

Under the influencer?

Last week a British social media influencer contacted The White Moose Cafe, a Dublin Inn & Pub, about a free stay in exchange for social media posts. Rather than a polite no, the pup owner posted the influencer’s letter on Facebook and topped it with a rant about free stuff.

“If I let you stay here in return for a feature in your video, who is going to pay the staff who look after you? Who is going to pay the housekeepers who clean your room? The waiters who serve you breakfast?”

Elle Darby, the influencer responded with a video of her own. As you would expect on the Internet, both parties were praised and attacked. Both also received a lot of exposure.

The lesson here for influencers is to do your homework before reaching out a company you’d like to work with. The owner of The White Moose Cafe has a significant social media following of his own and he’s stirred up controversy in the past by banning vegans from his restaurant. He’s not afraid to pick of fight. If you’re brand is looking to work with influencers, do your homework. Just because someone has a zillion followers, doesn’t mean that person resonates with your customer base.

You can read more about The White Moose vs. Elle Darby battle on Gizmodo UK.

A German shelter turns Spotify into Adoptify.

Tierschutzverein München, a pet shelter in Munich, introduced a clever way to connect people to dogs based on similar music tastes. Studies have shown, like humans, dogs have their own taste in music, each dog was observed to see how they reacted to different music genres and labeled based each pup’s reaction.

Videos were shot and the shelter teamed with Spotify UK to promote the unique way of matching dogs to their new owners. Watch more fun Adoptify dog videos here.

Are your customers above you?

We’re not sure who had the idea to extend truck wraps around the roof of Peapod trucks, but whoever did it deserves a gold star. When you consider how many eyes are above the streets in an urban setting, it makes all kinds of sense to put messaging on the roof of a truck. It’s a totally unexpected and memorable surprise when people see it.