In a city best known for its manufacturing, tourism, defense and agriculture industries, you would be hard pressed to find a concentration of innovative, creative, and inspiring professionals looking for way to change minds and spread good ideas, right? Wrong! At Jacob Tyler Creative Group, just one of many great agencies in the heart of downtown San Diego, we jump at any opportunity to positively influence the exchange of creative ideas and facilitate effective collaboration.

This explains why our office has been beaming with excitement since the announcement of an independently organized TED event coming to San Diego and the opportunities that come along with it. We are not only looking forward to listen, learn, and collaborate with this great independently organized not-for-profit design and technology based discussion, but we are hoping become more involved as well.

For those who aren’t in the know… TED prides itself on this core foundation: “We believe passionately in the power of ideas to change attitudes, lives and ultimately, the world. So we’re building here a clearinghouse that offers free knowledge and inspiration from the world’s most inspired thinkers, and also a community of curious souls to engage with ideas and each other (Source).”

Visit, Tedx-sandiego.com, to nominate an inspired San Diego thinker to speak, share and influence the spread of ideas and the power of collaboration at the upcoming Tedx Conference. TED is a small nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out in 1984 as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, and Design.

“In November 2010, San Diego will host its inaugural TEDx event, The Next Wave at Anthology. Participants from throughout southern California and Baja are invited to interact in a sea of change of new ideas and shared passions. TEDx San Diego brings together innovators, explorers, teachers and learners in an environment that encourages collaboration, conversation and interaction. Join us at TEDx San Diego and come prepared to be the change that makes a difference. TEDx San Diego is a not-for-profit event organized entirely by local, unpaid volunteers (Source).”

Augmented Reality (AR) tools are changing the way consumers visually interact with both the real and virtual world. Today, users can place 3D animations directly into live video streams, integrate images from the external user environment, and essentially connect the digital to the physical experience. AR is being used in everything from video games and Iphone apps, to military training programs and mechanical maintenance.

Lego has been experimenting with this technology for the last year or so as it has rapidly become a popular interactive marketing tool. The mega toy company has been using “Digital Boxes” that superimpose a rendering of the fully-assembled and functioning Lego model sitting on the product’s box when it is held up to the screen. The Digital Box was designed by Metaio for Lego, and is currently in select toy stores and Lego shops all over the world.

Lego has been pushing Augmented Reality in their packaging as well as at point-of-purchase displays and stands with the ultimate goal of increasing in-store sales. The ability for consumers to see what the fully-assembled toy will look like as well as how it can be used creates an entirely new and unique mental and emotional purchase process. Consider the kid that did not intend on buying one of these toys that is featured on a digital box: If he can actually see himself playing with it, maybe he can see himself playing with it… even though he might not have considered it beforehand… if that makes sense.

The already-limited attention span of today’s youth has been cut down even further by new and competitive technologies like this. Simply holding the toy box, looking at the pictures and imagining yourself playing with it hours later after you get home doesn’t cut it anymore. The new challenge to toy companies, their creative agencies and marketing professionals, is to create an individualized and increasingly-interactive user experience from the first moment the consumer comes in contact with the product.

by Jonathan Marshall

It all really started in the 1960s – the Golden Age of Advertising. At a time when the consumerist euphoria of the fifties was still going strong and the race to the moon was in daily conversations. The mood of advertising in the sixties was cheerful, optimistic, and at times – revolutionary.

The decade’s ads hyped perceived progress (such as Tang-”just add water”) while striving to reinforce good ole’ American values. Stars like Sean Connery, Woody Allen, and Sammy Davis Jr. endorsed everything from sunglasses and Bourbon to handmade suits in an attempt by the Mad Men on Madison Avenue to employ Americans to open their wallets and participate in the largest consumer binge in history.

Evident social change at the end of the era liberated women and minorities to a never-before conscious public. From forgotten cars such as the Studebaker Avanti, and cigarettes (“Marlboro… a Man’s world of flavor”) to food, clothing, endless consumer products, furniture, travel, and much more.

Over the next few weeks, the JTCG Blog will be featuring standouts from a colorful collection of vintage print ads that explores the wide, insightful and influential world of American Advertising. From the time of it’s inception til now, the collection includes ads from the last 100 years on a website called Vintage AdBrowser, and serves as inspiration for Advertising agencies, graphic designers, web design and marketing professionals today.

If you enjoy scrolling through these ads as much as I do, feel free to suggest ads that you would like to see featured on the blog. If you are as convincing as the ad you suggest, we will chat about it. Enjoy.

by Jonathan Marshall

In honor of the seemingly-circular debate I had earlier this morning with Jess, today the JTCG Blog features the latest viral video from Coca-Cola…. or as I like to call it — the poor-man’s Pepsi. In a San Diego Web Design agency full of advertising, branding and marketing professionals, the Pepsi vs. Coca-Cola debate seems to be split right down the middle.

Both brands have been around for decades, they have been extremely successful international companies, and they have revolutionized and contributed to much of the work we see in creative advertising today.

Regardless of what brand you prefer, ultimately it comes down to taste… and if you long for the taste of syrup with a little water in it – clearly you will choose Coca-Cola. To me, nothing sounds better than Pepsi and pizza.

Nevertheless, Coca-Cola did a great job of getting people VERY interested in their vending machine… furthermore, the enormous sandwich is awesome!! I think I’m ready for lunch now…