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Congratulations to top photo winner, picture above. This image captures our own focus here at Vivid Internet
design studios . . . Human curiosity is boundless. What is going on next door? How do we innovate or fabricate
solutions to technical problems? How can we find out if we're getting the best deal? What
is the nature of our existence? We are all "peering over the ledge," insatiable for knowledge.
The Internet is a wonderful resource for information and expression. It is a great
means to communicate with friends and family, and to gain exposure for businesses, products,
and ideas. But what makes it so appealing in marketing terms is that it is a "soft
medium." Unlike ads in print and broadcast, people consume data from the Internet
because they go seeking it. Hence, not only are they receptive to information provided,
but they are actually active participants in the process.
The Internet only really took off in the last decade. And, boy, did it take off! The
development of this medium alone perhaps rivals the impact of the Industrial Revolution.
Growth of Internet access grew exponentially in the U.S. throughout the 1990s. Today,
the Internet is a primary source of information for much of the US population, as well as
for millions of people world-wide.
But what does this mean to us? First and foremost, it does not mean that we as a species, or
our business and social communities, are any different, fundamentally, than we ever were or
ever will be. Advances in electronics and the "information explosion" do not change underlying
principles of human nature or behavior.
It does mean that we have the power to get a message or idea out to the general public
in a way that we could not have before. It means that "little people" can have a world-wide
audience, and that the technology of information can be as important a means of influence as
money, position, and social power.
Using the World Wide Web effectively requires translating the lasting principles of design
and marketing for it. The bells and whistles of narrowly trained, technocratic
programmers
alone cannot take the place of a solid understanding of one's subject matter and the world
surrounding it.
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