My Bulletins & Updates inbox gets a lively stream of mail that help us stay on top of the myriad of creative happenings and developments around the globe.
Blogging, in itself a fascinating activity, helps us keep them from being forgotten in the course of everyday tumult; others have picked up on the information as well.
The inbox is filled with delightful surprises – gifts that keep giving, free education, and inspiration. My sister Ingrid (Ice D-sign) in Amsterdam helps promoting a Dutch-owned Russian circus which features Oleg Popov,the legendary, world-famous clown turning 80 this year!
If you feel you're part of a circus of kinds, feel free to include us on your list. We love to hear what's going on in our extended community.
So, with a drum roll, let the curtain go up! Welcome, February!
Michael Henrik Holtermann, CEO
Honeysuckle: Pantone Color of the Year
Courageous, confident, vital, brave, and with a hint of nostalgia.
Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute® says, "The intensity of this festive reddish pink allures and engages. In fact, this color – not the sweet fragrance of the flower blossoms for which it was named – is what attracts hummingbirds to nectar."
Honeysuckle's striking, eye-catching hue works well in women's apparel, accessories and cosmetics, and in men's ties, shirts, and sportswear, plus adds a lively flair to interior spaces with Honeysuckle patterned pillows, bedspreads, small appliances, tabletop accessories, and a painted wall. And how about a Honeysuckle Visa Card (not kidding!) to cheer you up while paying for the new "hue"?
RELATED ARTICLES AND DOWNLOADS:
• Pantone CAPSURE – Capturing Color Inspiration Anywhere
• Astrology and Colors
• PANTONE VIEW Colour Planner Spring/Summer 2012
• Download 2011 Color of the Year Palettes for Adobe CS applications
SAS + visitnorway.us "Newark to Oslo Daily Nonstop" Campaign
Scandinavian Airlines' nonstop, daily flights from Newark to Oslo take off starting March 28.
Visitnorway.us and SAS have teamed up with a major campaign to promote this route. For us at Holtermann Design this is a fun project that takes advantage of new media and technology; one being iPad ads that are already active through The New Yorker iPad app. The campaign is utilizing QR codes, and SAS has added sweepstakes (free tickets) as one of the incentives for this campaign. There will be large billboards and bus stop ads in addition to a series of print ads and online banner ads.
The first stage of this campaign is active on The New Yorker's website, magazine, and their unique iPad edition. We are sharing some of these ideas in this newsletter, and will show more of the campaign when elements are thought out, executed, and approved. Stay tuned.
We're still having fun with our experimental QR-Code Sweepstakes #1. Some of you have received t-shirts, and there's a list of recipients who'll receive a package shortly (let's blame the delay on the snow).
There are some t-shirts left, so try it out! First come, first served.
1. Scan the QR code on the box shown to the left using the QR code scanning app on you Smartphone. (Click here to find the right app for your phone, or use your favorite app store.) 2. Now, you'll be taken to an otherwise hidden url where you can enter your information, followed up by an email requesting that you confirm your "subscription." Click the link in your email, and you're all set. 3. "Winners" receive a limited-edition t-shirt.
Clients are implementing QR codes in increasing numbers – innovative ideas have been applied and more are in the works. With the minimal cost of adding QR codes to projects, there's little to no risk in trying them out.
Feedback and suggestions are highly appreciated.
2011 Season Update
Shabana Rehman is keeping busy schlepping her suitcases to new venues. She started her 2011 season on the West Coast. In January, "Homeland Insecurity" was staged at the Working Stage Theater in West Hollywood, and as part of the 11th Annual WOW Festival in San Francisco. From what we hear and read, things are going well for Shabana.
After her finale in California, she'll go back to Norway and do "service to the nation" with the Norwegian version "For Konge og Fedreland," which was this show's original title.
She has been featured both by The New York Times and by Time magazine. In addition to her profilic comedy career, Shabana is a highly-respected columnist, satirist, and public speaker in Scandinavia and in the US. She regularly writes for major newspapers and magazines.
A frequent participant and contributor on talk shows and in public debates, she is among the most respected celebrities in Norway. Shabana has received several awards for her writing and fearless comedy. Outside Norway, she has performed in Canada, the US, Denmark, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, and Germany.
Poster design: Holtermann Design LLC
Photography: Rick Shupper and Michael Holtermann
In the February 2011 issue of Inc. magazine, Max Chafkin writes in a 10-page feature article titled "Ja, Socialism" about how he spent two weeks in Norway, seeking out entrepreneurs in all sorts of industries and circumstances. He met fish farmers in the country's northern hinterlands above the Arctic Circle, cosmopolitan techies in Oslo, start-up founders who were years away from having to worry about making money and then paying taxes on it, and established entrepreneurs who every year fork over millions of dollars to the authorities.
The introduction to the article reads: "We venture to the very heart of the hell that is Scandinavian socialism – and find out that it's not so bad. Pricey, yes, but a good place to start and run a company. What exactly does that suggest about the link between taxes and entrepreneurship?" For more, visit our blog.
Last year, the countries of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden teamed up with Icelandair to create the Faces of Scandinavia website, using interactive social media to create the buzz. The site features an ever-growing collection of "faces" who share their favorite Scandinavian travel stories with the world.
Among many, faces include Madcon, Grete Waitz, Morten Andersen, Thure Lindhardt, Marcus Samuelsson, Henrik Lundqvist, and well... Michael Holtermann with his "Tromsdalstinden" story, written with the help of our well-traveled writer/journalist/editor Kenneth Kiesnoski.
The winners of the first round of sweepstakes are announced, and the site will continue. We hear that improvements and more interactivity are in the planning stages.
As of mid January, the site recorded a whopping 4.2 million impressions through social media, and 14,000 visitors. This is a clear message that social media such as Facebook, Twitter, and others, are serious marketing tools.
Congratulations to the winners, and kudos to everyone who put this great, innovative project together.
Ski vacation in Copenhagen? Danish powerhouse BIG (Bjarke Ingels Group) has revealed plans for a new energy plant that doubles as a downhill ski resort.
Planned for Copenhagen, this waste-to-energy plant will incorporate the latest technologies in waste treatment while its winding roof serves as a 333,700-square-foot artificial ski slope.
The group aims to create not an isolated architectural object, but conceived the project as an opportunity to create a destination. A ski opportunity in Denmark is remarkable since it's a competely flat country unlike its northern Scandinavian neighbors.
"The new waste incineration plant is an example of what we at BIG call Hedonistic Sustainability – the idea that sustainability is not a burden, but that a sustainable city in fact can improve our quality of life," Ingels says. "The Waste-to-Energy plant with a ski slope is the best example of a city and a building which is both ecologically, economically and socially sustainable."
1st iPhone MovieUsing an iPhone and the highly-affordable OWLE-Bubo, which greatly enhances the video capacities of the iPhone, Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook has produced the amazing 30-minute movie "Night Fishing." Undoubtedly additional light equipment was used.
We watched it and were impressed with the video quality – to say nothing of the power of the imagery and story-telling.
In this past year, three of the largest European carriers have had some unusual events take place aboard their aircraft – the kind of things people notice!
In August aboard Lufthansa's Tel Aviv–Frankfurt flight, an in-flight pillow fight broke out between a good-natured flight attendant and economy class passengers. A Lufthansa spokesperson commented, "It's an example of passengers enjoying themselves in economy class. And it shows we still offer pillows to passengers in economy class."
Not long after that, Amsterdam Sinfonietta gave an impromtu Mozart concert on a flight that was delayed for over an hour on the tarmac. The Symphony was on their way back from performing in Shanghai and simply took to the aisles to perform for their fellow passengers.
And not least, SAS hosted the first gay marriages in flight, over Swedish airspace. With a festively decorated aircraft and a joyful hip-hop rap (Yes!) from the crew, a German gay couple and then a Polish lesbian couple were married in September 2010. SAS is owned by Norway, Denmark, and Sweden, which were among the first countries in the world to legalize same-sex marriages or partnerships. Airline spokesman Anders Lindstrom said, "It just hit me that SAS should be the airline to host the world's first same-sex marriage or partnership."
Pages from The Great Russian State Circus 2011 program book (in German and Russian). Design and production (in collaboration with The Great Russian State Circus) by Ingrid Elisabeth Holtermann at Ice D-sign, Amsterdam.
Oleg Popov and The Great Russian State Circus
World famous Oleg Popov – winner of the Golden Clown award (the Oscar of clowning) – is still performing and charming audiences in his 80th year. The circus is currently on tour in Germany. His role as a clown follows the tradition of the Russian "Ivanushka," who fools other people and who is teased himself.
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