• Like how you’ll ever top this marriage proposal
• Or what it would take re-rebrand VDay as ‘Lupercalia‘
• While on the subject of ancient traditions, you might consider giving the classics
• Where to buy them is another story, but there are lots of options
• Same goes for what to wear on the Big Night (assuming all goes as planned)
• Planning a romantic weekend? Guys & gals have different ideas
• And drink orders
• And interest in Pinterest
• One thing they agree on, though, is that those wilted roses—along with 90% of other waste—can bypass the landfill (yay!)

Share some Valentine’s-related links of your own, and help folks get ahead of this thing…

We’re tuning up the site for a bunch of reasons — to showcase new work, highlight expanded service offerings, clarify our message — and want to make sure that we’re eating our own cooking, so to speak. In this case that means getting a prototype into market tout suite and gathering as much actionable feedback as possible in order to iterate on it and make it better.

First up: the home page. We created a couple of different layouts and set up an online tool called Verify to help crowdsource input in real time. (Stay tuned: More pages — and functionality — will be coming soon!)

Check it out and tell us what you think. We’re excited to hear your thoughts and incorporate them into our creative development process.

Mmmmm, creative development process. Now that’s sexy…

• Why shouldn’t food look like the stadium? (1. It’s disturbing. 2. See 1.)
• We know why you watch: A guide to all the new commercials
• And the reason you’ve probably seen most of them already
• If you’re feeling nostalgic, check out the last 40 years worth of spots
• And if you’ve got something to say, big brands are listening
• Of course not everyone’s into the game; that’s why there’s counterprogramming here and here
• A good rule of thumb for the day: Don’t believe the hype

And, our vote for the best commercial of the 2012 crop.

First, there’s the obviously over-qualified Australian Open ballboy.

Then onto something for people who are just plain sick of just plain cat videos.

A better idea for newscasts…or courtroom re-enactments. Well, both, really.

A (very narrowcast) pop culture retrospective.

The classiest response to an infuriating act.

The coolest Rube Goldberg since Mouse Trap.

Jagger wishes he had moves like this.

And finally, a lesson in mammology with a side of cute-ness.

Not sure what happened, or why it’s even important? Well, we took some time turning out our usual Friday post  to look at the whole picture, understand everything that happened, and attempt to explain it in a way that adds clarity. So here goes…

First, what are SOPA and PIPA? The short answer is they’re different versions of the same bill, both intended to give the US government more power to fight online piracy. Sounds good right? And it would be, however, provisions of both bills allowed the government unprecedented and near-unilateral power to shut down sites with little evidenced justification.

What does that mean? Well, as written, the legislation would enable the government to make a site with ‘infringing content’ (i.e. something posted without permission from the copyright holder) unreachable. And while we all understand the intent of such an effort — namely, protecting the integrity of legitimate copyrights — the reality may be somewhat different. For example: Let’s say you upload a video of your kid’s birthday party — piñata, balloons, cake…the whole nine, and all in the name of good, wholesome fun. But in the background, just over Aunt Jean’s massive, hunched shoulder, is a TV showing a Magnum P.I rerun (yeah, it’s still on). Well, because you didn’t get permission to air that footage, the rights holder would be able to alert the authorities, and the site hosting the video would have its DNS entries altered so no one could reach it.

On its own, that seems a little extreme; but what if that site is Youtube? That’d be crazy, right? And in that light, the legislation looks  Draconian, even. That’s why so many people who know more about this than you and I spoke out against it.

So January 18, 2012 was Blackout Day. Hundreds of sites across the web either blacked out their logo or their entire site as a way of getting attention for efforts already in motion to defeat the bills. Millions of phone calls, emails and other communications were generated, and politicians seemingly got the idea that no one wanted this legislation.

Well, almost no one. We haven’t touched on why these bills were introduced in the first place. Initially, there was speculation and lots of evidence that SOPA and PIPA were the result of lobbying efforts from the media and entertainment industries. That speculation was subsequently confirmed (we’ll pause here for you to collect yourself after that shocking bit of news) in an alarmingly blunt, callous manner by a Senator-turned-shill openly admitting the entertainment industry is pissed off that they’re not getting something they paid for.

The question we need to be asking is ‘Why?’

Some say it’s a desperate attempt by old media to protect its dying business model. Instead of coming up with new ways of creating and delivering content, they’re asking the government to pass laws that stifle the very type of sharing that is responsible for artistic innovation in virtually every medium.

At the crux of the matter is a critical question: Is piracy a problem? On the surface, it would seem so. However, there is lots of data and evidence that suggests otherwise. There are ways of approaching the issue that would likely result in methods that would benefit everyone, not just just the labels and studios. Silicon Valley and the Whitehouse are openly seeking input. No one thinks the independent artist should have to face-off against Internet pirates alone. However, many are developing business models that actually embrace piracy or leverage the power of the web.

Whichever side of the issue you’re on, you can be sure of a couple of things: 1) Political contributions will be affected, and 2) supporters of a free, unrestricted Internet will temporarily retreat to posting cat pictures and riffing on memes — but only until the next bill is introduced…

Color forecasting is an industry devoted entirely to color and color trending. It’s hugely popular in the worlds of fashion design, fabric design, decorating and industrial design. The ability to predict next season’s biggest sellers based on color trends is what separates the men from the boys, so to speak; it means big business for those who are willing to go out on a limb and are subsequently proven right.

But what if you’re not one of the chosen few who gets to decide if Tangerine Tango is ‘in?’ How do you make color decisions without the aid of a Ouija board, a magic 8-ball or pulling Pantone chips out of a hat? Over the years, we’ve come up with a few sure-fire ways to to make the whole process a little less stressful, and a lot more successful.

Tip #1: Start with what you’ve got
With color, inspiration can come from anywhere, but the first place to look is at what exists — by taking stock of elements that are already present (or taking shape) in your design. It could be anything from a photograph you’re considering for use as the main image to some aspect of the logo you find particularly interesting. Whatever it is, treat it as your inspiration; your muse; the star of your production. Then build the supporting cast around it. Color Scheme Designer can can help you formulate a beautiful, balanced and nuanced palette starting with just a single color inspiration. There’s also Colourlovers a social media platform for sharing palettes, patterns, etc., with search tools to help you find color combinations.

Tip #2: Nature’s palette
The natural world is chock full of incredible color combinations that can be used to create palettes that are unique and atthe same time familiar. Take a macintosh apple, for example. It contains at least a half dozen colors that could be extracted into a palette. When used in a layout (see below) that has similar proportions to the apple itself, the result is a vibrant,balanced and yet familiar design execution. The possibilities are endless…try a few for yourself by uploading your inspiration and seeing what happens.

Tip # 3: Opposites attract
The last time most people saw a color wheel  was in elementary school. But good designers use this magical tool all the time, finding inspiration in basics (P•S•T—primary, secondary and tertiary) colors. Try it yourself, by pairing a color with its opposite on the other side of the wheel to create a dramatic contrast. Then play around with some different shades and tints to find the right combination for your project. Keep in mind, though, that most palettes can only handle one of these combinations, so you’ll want to supplement your opposite pair with a few closer ‘accent colors.’ Try this tool to help you become re-acquainted with the color wheel and experiment with combinations. Happy coloring.

There were so many great submissions, and the best rose to the top, by popular vote. The winners are:

• Seaside - Dominique Salerno
• Cliffhanger – Bob Allen
• Southfork – Faye Victoria
• Like, totally – danielkrook
• Yuletide - Dominique Salerno
• Besties - Allison Sterner
• Ahoy polloi - Byron Campbell

In the next week, we’ll be contacting each winner to determine their charity of choice. Each one will receive a $250 donation, compliments of Gabardine.

Thanks to everyone who participated. Hope you had as much fun being a part of it as we did putting it together.

Looking at the metrics (GA’s real-time tools are insane, BTW), we’ve found opportunities to improve the UE and make a few subtle changes to remove unforeseen barriers to interaction. It’s also provided some interesting statistical tidbits, including:

• Our overall site traffic went up 280% This is significant because we use the Gabardine site as a marketing communications vehicle, giving potential clients insight into our people and our work.
• Of the traffic, we had over 63% new visitors, which is great since a secondary objective of the initiative (i.e. site, social platforms, emails, etc.) was to push beyond our network of usual suspects.
• Of the total visitors, ~5% actually interacted with the caption contest, either by submitting their own or voting for others’. We anticipated participation in that range and continue to push for more.
• Of those 5%, 51% actually submitted a caption. Clearly, there is less risk in simply voting. Actually clicking the submit button and displaying your handiwork for all to read is a brave thing to do. We were pleasantly surprised by people’s willingness to be so creative.
• It’s a Facebook world. In order to vote or submit a caption, you need to sign in via FB or Twitter (more on that in another post). The majority of participants used FB. We even checked to make sure the Twitter auth was working (it was). Maybe our audience is a self-selected FB based one. We’ll keep an eye on that over time.

Of course, this is just a smattering of the goodness we’re seeing as the site continues to be shared and people contribute to it. And as positive as the results are, they pale in comparison to the ultimate goal: to donate generously to multiple charities.

Thanks for your help.

We’ve all seen holiday photos that make us squirm. In fact, truth be told, most of us have been in a bunch of ‘em. But what have any of those pictures done for the greater good? The answer, unfortunately, is ‘nothing.’ Until now.

At Gabardine, we’ve put aside our pride (admittedly not a huge stretch) and sat for some genuinely uncomfortable photos. Yes, free drinks were part of the deal, but we like to think that what spurred many to participate was the opportunity to help others. And now you can, too…

Visit http://gbrd.in/gab2011 and enter the caption contest. Then be sure to share the site with others, send e-cards to friends and call in every possible favor to get people to vote up your entries. Seven people will each win $250 for their favorite charity, which is pretty great as far as spreading holiday cheer is concerned. But truth be told, we’re also looking forward to reading through the captions and comments for our own personal amusement.

Whatever your motivation, check out the pics and leave a caption — or better yet, a bunch of ‘em — and have a happy, hilarious holiday, compliments of your friends at Gabardine.

This week, though, we’ve been busy `wrapping’ a virtual gift to you that’ll be delivered early next week.

It’s a collection of our own awkward holiday photos. Think horrific sweaters, faux reindeer antlers, inappropriate glances, uncomfortable poses…you know, pretty much all the uncomfortable stuff in pics that friends and family have been sending you since Black Friday — with one major exception:

You’ll be able to write your own captions for each photo, share them with friends and, if yours are voted most popular, win $250 for the charity of your choice.

It’s our admittedly odd but (trust us) hilarious way of spreading holiday cheer around our little community, and beyond.

Get ready: Follow us on Twitter and like us on FB for updates and outtakes.

Then spread the word. And the awkward.