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Showing posts with label trends. Show all posts
Showing posts with label trends. Show all posts

And That's A Wrap, Folks. Here's What Mattered To You In 2013.






Here's how the world 'searched' in 2013, broken down by categories, courtesy of... Google, of course. These are based on search topics with the largest global search volume.

Trends:                    People:


Events:                    Athletes:


Consumer Electronics:  Hashtags:


Movies:                    Performing Artists:


TV Shows:                YouTube Videos:



And here's how the U.S. searched in the categories that really mattered:

Apparel:                   Beer:


Books:                     Blogs:


Cars:                       Dating Sites:


Deaths:                   Dogs:


Internet Animals:     High Fashion Brands:


Memes:                   Movies:


Popular Gifs:            Reality TV Stars:


Restaurants:            Shoes:


Songs:                    Sports:


Tech Gadgets:          Toys:


TV Shows:               Video Games:


What Is...:               Workouts/Exercise:


I hope your 2013 was everything you wanted it to be and that 2014 is even better. Happy New Year!





Pantone Pumps Are A Kick Of Color. Pumptone Universe by Christian Goldemann.



*Please note: this is not an officially licensed Pantone Product, nor is it available for sale

Continuing to exploit Pantone Colors is this dream project that gives high heels a hue. Pumptone is a concept that art director /graphic designer and illustrator Christian Goldemann of goldesign wishes to produce in cooperation with Pantone Universe and famed shoe designer Christian Louboutin. This collection is yet another imaginative effort combining Pantone colors with a product.










If it did come to light, I would sport a pair, that's for sure.


See more of Christian Goldemann's work here on Behance.

Chew On This: Upscale Flavored Toothpicks From Daneson Include 200 Year Old Single Malt Scotch.



Lest you think only tacky folk and rednecks chew on toothpicks, let me correct you. Ryan Gosling, Bradley Cooper, Zac Efron, Robert Pattison, Ashton Kutcher, Jude Law (and son Rafferty), P. Diddy and Chace Crawford are all toothpick chompers.

How The World Searched in 2012 and A Little Analysis of Google Search Trends For The Past Five Years.




I recently saw a recut of this video for a television ad that I really loved and tried to find to share with you, but sadly, I could not locate the 60 second version of this (which I actually preferred to the original video), so I figured I may as well share the entire 2 minute and 46 second version with you:



Music: "All I Want" by Kodaline, Video production by Whirled Creative

Mark Lee from the blog Overthinking It did a little data analysis of his own regarding the past five years of Google's Zeitgeist (their year-end round up of search trends on Google) that I'd like to share with you. I've reprinted his findings, complete with his hypotheses and commentary below.

His first step was to compile the last 5 years of Google Zeitgeist Top 10 Trending Search Terms and assign each item to a category:


A few things to keep in mind regarding these lists:

• These are lists of top trending Google search terms, not highest volume Google search terms. Google defines “trending” as “search queries with the highest amount of traffic over a sustained period in 2012 as compared to 2011.” (Emphasis is his.) Hence the “flash-in-a-pan” nature of the more derided results like Rebecca Black and Chatroulette.

• These lists reflect worldwide Google activity. Remember that Google’s share of the web search market is not as dominating in some parts of the world as it is in the United States; China being the most notable example.

• He used his own taxonomy based on his intuitive understanding of the different phenomena presented in the results. For example, rather than lump both Whitney Houston and Rebecca Black into the “music” category, he put Whitney Houston and Steve Jobs together in the “celebrity death” category.

• Although Google Zeitgeist goes back to 2001, Lee only went back 5 years, partly because it’s a nice round number, partly because there was no year-end roundup for 2006, and partly because he wanted to limit the amount that changing search habits and demographics could skew the results.

Here’s what the data looks like when you aggregate across the years, by category:


All fine and good, but what we really want to see is if there are any changes in search interests over the past five years:



So what do we make of this? Here are a few possible takeaways according to Lee:

• TV and movies are surprisingly underrepresented. The sole TV entry in the Top 10 over five years is Big Brother Brazil 12, and the sole movie entry is Twilight: New Moon.This is consistent with the idea that our media landscape is more diverse and less mass-market than it was in the pre-internet age. That being said, I’m still surprised that not even Avatar made the list, perhaps due to the year-over-year comparison calculation that powers these results.

• Searches for various social media sites has steadily declined since 2008. Is it because people are using social media less? Far from it, if Facebook and Twitter’s statistics are to believed. Instead, it’s probably due to two things: 1) the growth of social media is slowing as Facebook approaches near-total saturation and 2) the growth of social media web searches is slowing as more people access them using smart phone apps instead of a web browser.

• Sports cracked the Top 10 only twice, both in Summer Olympics years (the Euro 2008 soccer tournament also made the list). Why less love for the Winter Olympics? It may have something to do with the lack of beach volleyball (and exposed skin in general). Just a wild guess.

• Celebrity deaths are a reliable source of spikes in Google search activity, but 2010 had no such searches make the top 10 list. He perused several awful slideshows of 2010 celebrity deaths (so you don’t have to), and reports with some confidence that no one of the iconic stature of Steve Jobs, Whitney Houston, or Michael Jackson left us in 2010. Not that iconic stature is the only requirement for making this list; Ryan Dunn of Jackass fame seems to have qualified based on the alignment of the circumstances of his death and his daredevil image.


To Lee, the biggest surprise in this exercise was the tailing off of social media searches. As a reminder, it’s not because the total volume is declining; it’s because the year-over-year growth in searches isn’t enough to get these terms into the top 10. Still, if his theories are right–that social media is approaching full saturation and that the usage of it is moving towards mobile devices–then we do have a finding that approaches the idea of a “zeitgeist” in the traditional sense of the term: “the defining spirit or mood of a particular period of history as shown by the ideas and beliefs of the time.” Social media–this potentially radical revolution in how humans interact with each other–not only became a “new normal” over the past five years, but is also undergoing a radical shift from the stationary computer screen to the mobile, always-on-you device. And if this radical reinvention of the radical reinvention isn’t reflective of the zeitgeist, Lee claims he doesn't know what is.

One last thought on the nature of Google Zeitgeist itself: Lee wondered if he was imbuing it with outsized importance by assuming that the Google Zeitgeist is more of a part of the popular imagination (the zeitgeist, if you will) than it actually is. To find out he asked none other than Google:

Over the last five years, Google Zeitgeist has remained a popular year-end search term, though not with any consistent growth or shrinkage in popularity:



That being said, it’s still dwarfed by other popular search terms like “iPad” or “Michael Jackson.” Even “lolcats,” a niche but once-hugely popular internet meme, has towered over Google Zeitgeist over the past 5 years:



Granted, the gap has narrowed recently as searches for “lolcats” has declined while “Google Zeitgeist’ remains more or less consistent, but the point should be clear: the Google Zeitgeist itself is far from a cultural juggernaut compared to the items it contains. It’s not surprising, but it does provide some needed perspective on the matter.

About Lee
Mark Lee is, depending on the day and the hour, a management consultant, a musician, a technologist, and one of the managing editors for Overthinking It. He is a devoted fan of the Terminator movies and Microsoft Excel. Follow him on Twitter: @goestotwelve.

YouTube Rewind 2012. The Top Watched Videos and A Mash-Up Of The Most Viewed Videos Of The Year.




This year, Korean Pop music transcended boundaries and took the world by storm. Cover songs, parodies, and "do-it-yourself" music videos from all genres entertained us in countries near and far. And you participated in conversations at a global scale, uploading videos to share ideas on everything from nonprofit campaigns, to political satire, to new and surprising voices and talents. Plus, all over the world, you tuned in for the most up-to-date news footage of presidential elections, natural disasters and more.

Rewind YouTube Style:


2012 was a big year for YouTube. You’ve been watching over 4 billion hours of video a month. Millions of creators are using YouTube channels to experiment with innovative forms of entertainment, explore their passions and interests, take creativity and pop culture to new levels. 2012’s top trending videos and top channels showcase this creative ingenuity in ways we'd never before thought possible.

Here's a "Behind The Scenes" video featuring a look at the making of the Rewind YouTube Style 2012 video:


Globally, here’s what we were all talking about in 2012:

Top Trending YouTube Videos (playlist):
PSY - GANGNAM STYLE (강남스타일) M/V
Somebody That I Used to Know - Walk off the Earth (Gotye - Cover)
KONY 2012
"Call Me Maybe" by Carly Rae Jepsen - Feat. Justin Bieber, Selena, Ashley Tisdale, etc.
Barack Obama vs Mitt Romney. Epic Rap Battles Of History Season 2.
A DRAMATIC SURPRISE ON A QUIET SQUARE
WHY YOU ASKING ALL THEM QUESTIONS? .. #FCHW
Dubstep Violin- Lindsey Stirling- Crystallize
Facebook Parenting: For the troubled teen.
Felix Baumgartner's supersonic freefall from 128k' - Mission Highlights

Top YouTube Channels of 2012:
boyceavenue
ERB
HolaSoyGerman
JennaMarbles
lindseystomp
PrankvsPrank
TheFineBros
ThePianoGuys
theslowmoguys
Vsauce

METHODOLOGY and FAQS:
How they determined the top video list:
This year, YouTube looked not just at views, but also shares, searches, likes and responses to identify the 10 videos that everybody was talking about in 2012. On YouTube people don’t just view a popular video, they remix, share, and parody, building a fan community that extends far beyond the watch page. They took all of this into account to ensure that they truly captured the “watercooler moments” of the year.

Is "Gangnam Style" the most viewed YouTube video of all time?

Yes. Currently, "Gangnam Style" is the most viewed video on YouTube and it will likely become the first video to hit one billion views.

Where you can see the trending videos that were popular in other countries this year:
You can see the top trending video lists for each country that has a list on the 'Browse' tab of the global YouTube Rewind channel. You can also choose from this list of country channels to visit the channels in their native languages.

Why isn't a top trending video list available for every country?
YouTube tried to make top video lists for as many countries as possible based on available information. YouTube is popular globally. 70% of views come from outside of the United States, so their global list is also representative of what people all around the world were watching in 2012.

Just how much YouTube were people watching this year?
An astounding four billion hours of video every month on YouTube.

Why they decided to make "YouTube Style" and what went into the making of this video:
For the last few years YouTube has made a video to highlight the top videos of the year. This year talented YouTube creators had billions of views on their channels and they helped entertain the world all year long, so YouTube wanted to celebrate these creators and have a little fun while they were at it.

A full list (and links to their videos) of the stars who appeared in this "YouTube Style":
PSY
Walk off the Earth
AlphaCat
KassemG 
DailyGrace
MysteryGuitarMan
DaveDays
DeStorm
PyroBooby
BarelyPolitical
RealAnnoyingOrange
FreddieW
CorridorDigital
RhettAndLink
Smosh
FeliciaDay
ChesterSee
iJustine
EpicMealTime
MyHarto
JennaMarbles
ShitGirlsSay
JuicyStar07
GloZell
ClevverTV
SmoshGames
RyanHiga

all information courtesy of YouTube

From Teddy Bears to Technology, The Top 50 Christmas Toys For The Past 100 Years









If a child of 1910 could glance at today’s toys, he or she would likely be confused by the endless games consoles, gadgets and TV-inspired toys. Back in the early twentieth century, the teddy bear was the most popular toy, followed by train sets and construction-themed toys. There was not an electronic device in sight!

However, you can see definite themes running through the popular toys of the past 100 years. For example, although the construction-based toys faded from fashion for a while, in the 1980s Lego became a must-have toy. And the board game shot to the top of wish-lists in the 1930s and 1940s, and experienced another surge in the 1970s – and even today, although replaced in many homes by the computer game, board games are still wheeled out when the family gets together for the festive season!

Dolls continue to be popular too, with the Bratz Dolls of 2000 following the success of the first Barbie in the 1950s. Similarly, boys still have action figures on their Christmas lists, perhaps changed in name from GI Joe to Power Rangers but fundamentally the same.

The computer marks the big change, though. From the first video game in the 1970s to nowadays, games consoles have soared in popularity. This Christmas, a console or handheld device is sure to be on most children’s wish-list.

source: cashgenerator

Cake Pops Like You've Never Seen Before. Kiss and Bake Up Puts Pop Culture On A Stick.



above: Zombie cake pops

You may have heard about the latest baking trend called "cake pops". Following closely on the heels of the cupcake craze, cake pops are a mouthful of cake coated in fondant or hard frosting and placed on a stick. Recipes for them are all over Facebook, Pinterest and food blogs and many bakeries and individuals now sell them. But no one makes cake pops like Sarah Downham of Kiss And Bake Up.



above: Mermaid, cherry blossom and Star Wars Bantha Raider cake pops

Prepare to be blown away. Sarah Downham doesn't just make Cake Pops, she makes sculptural desserts on a stick that are nothing short of art. The 'rock chic' baker of equally beautiful cupcakes and whoopie pies lovingly hand crafts each cake pop by herself with a process of hand modelling, carving, coating, hand painting and painstakingly adding texture.



above: Dragon and Antique Clock cake pops

Most cake pops are spheres of cake, coated in colors and rolled in sprinkles, with the occasional 3D flourish. These are way beyond that. Sarah sculpts cake pops in the form of Pop Culture characters and trends. Star Wars, Tattoo-Inspired, Pin Up Girls, Zombies, Day of The Dead, Animals, Birds and yes, traditionally romantic hearts and flowers, too.





above: Day of The Dead, Star Wars and Wizard of Oz and Alien Face Hugger cake pops

The results are so beautiful, it would be hard to eat them.

Sarah is impressively prolific and has so many great cake pops (not to mention, her stunning cupcakes) to choose from that these are only a small example of her tasteful talent.

Star Wars Cake Pops:






Pin Up Girls Cake Pops:


Tattoo-Inspired Heart Cake Pops:



Octopus, Fish, Birds, Frogs and Wildlife Cake Pops:










Tiki Torch Cake Pops:

Lucky Cat Cake Pop:

Floral Cake Pops:





She also makes custom cake pops from photographs, pets, kids, flowers and the like. Her impressive desserts have been used for movie premieres, special parties and other red carpet occasions.

Custom Pet Cake Pops:



I can't think of a better dessert to serve at parties, weddings, business functions or any celebration. They keep well, they are not messy, they are not too much food and they can be taken home to show them off.



Kiss & Bake Up is run by Sarah and assisted by her partner Darren in Exeter, Devon. It was launched early 2010 and has since grown into the bakery it is known for today. Full of original ideas and concepts, top notch decorating and baking with flair, and a firm grasp on today's tastes in culture and style.


above: some of Kiss And Bake Up's amazing cupcakes.

Sarah works full time in the bakery, and has modified her house to support the ever growing and evolving demand of KABU.

Kiss And Bake Up supports a local produce and trade, and bakes with Exeter based farms delicious free range eggs from Lucy at Devon Eggs and butter from Topshams own Country Cheeses, and is proud to be among the foundations of local businesses of Devon supporting one another.


above: they sell this great t-shirt, too!

Kiss And Bake Up

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