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Fed up with Christmas? Festivus for the rest of us!
How to Celebrate with the Rest of Us.
- Blow of work
Take off December 23rd.
- Get Yourself a Festivus Pole
The Festivus Pole stands in stark opposition to the commercialization of the Christmas Tree.
- Air Your Grievances
Tell your loved ones all the ways they have disappointed you over the past year.
- Feats of Strength
Tug of war, keg tossing, wrastling – “Until you in me, George, Festivus is not over! Let’s rumble”
via CableTV.com
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You can’t see it very well, because the print is small and this website will only allow an infographic to be but so wide, but you can click on the image to enlarge it, or you can go to the source to see the whole shebang. I never really thought much about voiceovers, except for my uncanny ability to point out when Tim Allen is the voice behind that car ad, etc. But I digress.
From the Top
A handy graph shows us that the most VO (voice over) talent agencies are located in Los Angeles. No big shocker there. Next is Toronto, then New York, then Chicago. Those are the top 4, but they list other cities as well. It would be neat to also see a graph of the amount of voice actors in each of those cities.
Next we see a map of the US, with the right-to-work states marked in gray, and the major market states marked in white. I guess this is supposed to show us how the three major market cities are in states that aren’t right-to-work states? Sure enough, California, Illinois, and New York are forced-union states.
At the top right of the infographic there is a small box that tells us what voice actors make. Not bad. Not bad at all.
The Timeline
The timeline takes us all the way back to the 1860′s, when a typesetter and librarian made a “phono-autograph” of a woman singing “Au Clair de Lune.” In the 1870′s, the microphone invented. In 1877, Thomas Edison made a recording of “Mary Had a Little Lamb” on a “phonograph” that could record sound and play it back.
In the 1890′s, the first talking toy was invented.
In the early 1900′s, radio broadcasts came to pass, along with some controversy as to who thought of it first. In the 1920′s, specifically in 1922, radio ads became legal. By 1929, the biggest form of entertainment were radio serials. In 1925, the transistor radio was invented, and in 1929, Mickey Mouse spoke for the first time.
In 1933, the Screen Actors Guild was formed, and in 1937 The American Federation of Radio Artists formed its charter. Also in 1937, digital recording started getting invented.
In 1941 the first legal TV ad aired. It was for Bulova watches. In 1947 the Taft-Harley Act was enacted to better monitor union activity.
In the 1950′s advertising really took off. In 1951, the Wilhelm Scream was invented and voiced by Sheb Wooley.
In the 1960′s, dubbing started taking place – so foreign movies were offered with some ferociously bad overdubbing.
In the 1970′s, we started having “blockbuster” movies and thus the need for the movie trailer. Hence, a bump in the voiceover industry.
In the 1980′s, video games came to be, so more voice work came out of that. Later, an ISDN came to life and was defined, and would provide the foundation for today’s VOIP.
In the 1990′s, the internet got really popular, and in 1992 the voice actors from The Simpsons got an Emmy.
In the 2000′s, Online/P2P Casting came about, mucking things up for the voice talent agencies. SaVoa, the Society of Accredited Voice Over Actors formed in 2007, and that same year the VoiceOver International Creative Experience launched in Las Vegas.
Scorecard
Design: C+
I hate the background color, and the words are too small.
Information: A
What a lot of information! Well organized, it may have been better to convey the same information in a different visual manner.
Source: Voiceover history from a voice acting professional.
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by OwnerDirect.com
This cute little infographic gives us the highlights of some of the fun things there are to do in Florida. There is a different little box for each type of trip you can take to Florida, along with a main recommendation and some other recommendations that are listed, not described like the main recommendation. As for visuals, there are cartoon clouds, and palm trees, and straw hats, and fishies, and cruise ships and coconuts with drinks and little umbrellas in them….I WANT TO GO TO FLORIDA! But I digress…
Family Adventures
The main recommendation for a family adventure in Florida is the Florida EcoSafari at Forever Florida. You can go to this 4700 acre wildlife conservation area that is totally eco-friendly and tour the place via coach, horseback, zipline, or SkyCycle. I don’t know what a SkyCycle is, but boy, do I want to find out. They also suggest you check out the St. Augustine Pirate and Treasure Museum, among other places.
Ladies Getaway
For the ladies that love shopping, the main recommendation is The Florida Mall. It has 250 stores, 30 restaurants, and is a “total shopping experience.” To me it sounds like a “total nightmare,” but then, it is a trip for the ladies. Do all ladies like shopping? Other suggestions include the sandy beaches of Florida, Renninger’s Antique Center in Mount Dora, and more.
Romantic Retreat
The main suggestion is Ybor City, the Latin District and home of the Columbia Restaurant, a hot spot that has been around since 1905. Other suggestions include some beachfront tikki bars, a Bahamas day cruise, and others.
Guy Time
Shell Island Fish Camp is the main recommendation for this section. There are boat rentals, bait shops, and it is one of the last full service fish camps in the southeast of the U.S. Other recommendations include an Offshore Sailing School and the Sarasota Classic Car Museum, among others.
Fun for the Kids
The Clearwater Marine Aquarium is the featured recommendation, while FLY Indoor Skydiving is another, among others.
Design: B-
The graphics are cute, but the type is a little small for the infographic to be easily read. There is too much wasted space.
Information: B
While the infographic only promises ideas for things to do in Florida, the activities presented are literally all around Florida, so if one was planning a trip, they wouldn’t necessarily be able to hit all of the recommendations in the same trip. More localized information would be nice -or the same information broken out not only by the type of fun it provides, but also what area of Florida it’s in.
Source: Vacation Rentals in Florida
Filed under: All Infographics, Entertainment Infographics | 1 Comment »
This is is a great resource to find out about festivals that take place in the UK. If you happened to have missed one this year, put it on your schedule for next year. Just make sure you confirm the dates, since lots of times events change actual dates from year to year. And I don’t want you showing up at Strawberry Fields next year and nobody’s there and you’re calling me yelling at me because you could have saved on the petrol. There will be no Glastonbury next year, so you will have time to go to some of these other festivals. You should. But double check the dates for 2012, because this is a list of August’s festivals for 2011.
The Festivals
In a word, there are festivals all over England in August. The weather is nice. Pretty much no matter what part of the country you’re in, there is a festival nearby. The first part of the infographic shows you a nice map, with each festival marked on it. Included is the name of the festival, the location, and the dates. Some have already passed, like Belladrum and Big Chill, but you still have the chance to go to Solfest, Creamfields, Strawberry Fields, Reading & Leeds, Green Man (but act quickly), One Love (again, act quickly), Beautiful Days (same here), South West Four, and V-Festival. If you scroll all the way down to the bottom of the infographic, there is a list of websites for each festival. Have at it.
Pretty Pictures
The data is thus interrupted by a cartoon with huge speakers on either side of a large tent, with three cartoony figures doing festival-like things like dancing, running, and standing still.
UK Festival Guide
Here is a chart with each festival, the price, the capacity, number of performers, camping and accommodation options, and whether or not they are suitable for children. It would have been handy had they listed the dates of the festivals again in this section, but they put them in the order in which they occur, so that’s helpful. The key works like this: price is broken out in one little gray circle per 10 pounds for Adults, and one little blue circle per 10 pounds per Children’s Tickets. For capacity, one little man equals 10,000 people. For performers, one little purple guitar equals 10 performers. Camping options show you a cluster of little brown tents if you can camp in tents, a big orange tent if you have the option of luxury housing, and the little people icons show you if it’s kid friendly – spiky-haired stick figure alone means it’s more for adults, spiky-haired stick figure with capering kids means it’s kid-friendly.
Another Large Graphic
There is another large graphic with cartoony people and tents, I think meant to show you that all sorts of different types of people go to festivals.
Genre Breakdown
This section shows you, per festival, what type of music you may encounter there. Many are very good mixes of all sorts of musical genres, while others, like One Love, is predominately reggae. Each color represents a different genre, so if the festival is heavy on light orange and you hate electronic music, that might not be the best choice for you.
More Pictures
Here we have another large picture of a field like the one before, with more tents and different types of cartoony people.
Design: C+
The informational bits are very well designed, but the graphics breaking up the infographic seem a little thrown together. It’s still fun to look at, however.
Information: B+
A comprehensive guide to each festival in the UK in the month of August. Great if you’re looking to camp out, be merry, and get your groove on.
Source: UK Festival Guide and UK Music Festivals from WinkBingo
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I have never watched the TV show The Jersey Shore. This has been a conscience choice for two very good reasons. The first reason for not watching The Jersey Shore is because, God forbid, I might actually like it and then I couldn’t feel superior even as I watch my own fair share of craptastic television. The second reason I avoid this show is that I’m sure it would decrease my I.Q. and I do not hold a surplus on the I.Q. market, but I digress…
As mentioned, I don’t partake in the Guido television show, The Jersey Shore, so I cannot reference the accuracy of the information included in this infographic. I can attest to the humor of this design and the data supplied though. Whether or not these hairstyles from the Jersey Shore are mentioned in the show or are labeled by the infographics author is a mystery to me, but that doesn’t make them any less humorous. DJ Pauly D sports the Blow Out hairdo and Ronnie Magro wears the Faux Hawk with pride. Nicole Snooki Plizzi has a hairstyle named after her, I guess, the Snooki Bump while Deena Nicole Cortese is illustrated with simply luscious curls given to her by hair extensions and lots of teasing.
Directions/instructions are given for each hairstyle so you can attempt to copy your favorite Jersey Shore “star”, at least while their 15 minutes of fame is still ticking along. The content is written with a wry sense of humor and most likely any Guido or Guidette reading it might take the content seriously, which is part of the well-done joke. Some highlights read, “hair extensions may not be for everyone,” “spray it with hairspray…5 minutes straight,” and my favorite, “I’m a a Jersey girl, I like big hair!”
The illustrations are wonderful and I’m sure the body styles and clothing choices are a dead-on match for the realty TV stars. Dresses that are too small and too tight with lots of boobage for the ladies, and tight shirts, tank tops, and exposed chests for the guys are standard fare for these Jersey people. Each illustration captures an attitude which matches the character and contain comedic value that is probably lost on the characters themselves, but will resonate with those who watch the show.
I may never watch the show, God willing, but I’m glad I caught the infographic. Playful, instructive and an all around nice job.
Design: A-
The text is a bit hard to read, but worth reading. Everything else was right on track, colors, illustration and theme.
Information: A
If you want hair like your favorite Jersey Shore realty TV star, follow these directions and live the Guido life!
Infographic provided by Latest Hairstyles.
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My wife, who is not English, was fascinated by the Royal Wedding between William and Kate. Her fascination moved her to record some 15 hours of shows in order to watch cover coverage from the United States as well as Britain. In addition, she recorded many other pre-shows building to the blessed event that would dominate the thoughts of all little girls everywhere, even if they were in their forties, but I digress…
This infographic is provided by DatingSites.org, which provides reviews of dating sites. What a coincidence, since I will be providing a review of their Royal Wedding infographic. The infographic hits the high points of any wedding, be it Royal or common. It gives facts about the wedding dress worn by Kate and some other notable royalty. Kate had the shortest wedding dress, while Princess Diana had the longest wedding dress train at 25 feet.
The wedding cake was also researched and compared with wedding cakes from Charles and Diana’s wedding and Queen Victoria and Prince Albert’s wedding in 1840. Victoria’s cake weighed in at 300 pounds, while Queen Elizabeth’s cake was massive at 500 pounds and stood nine-feet tall. That’s a lot of cake!
Did you wonder why you didn’t get your wedding invitation to the Royal Wedding? The infographic will put your mind at ease. Only 1900 people were invited to the service held at Westminster Abbey, so a lot of disappointed people were just like you, out of luck and watching the wedding on television. Other facts about the wedding included, profit from the souvenirs, information about the wedding ring and of course the price tag on the whole affair. Hard to believe, but Charles and Diana’s wedding was almost twice the price. William and Kate’s wedding was about $60 million while Diana’s father didn’t have to pay a dime of the $110 million for her storybook wedding. Kate’s wedding dress, which was much more conservative came in at a whopping $400K and Diana’s wedding dress was a steal at $45k.
So much for the fun facts and statistics about the Royal wedding, what about the graphic design in the infographic? I like it very much. The header text is a heavy slab serif font that makes it easy to read and the body copy is a very clean sans serif typeface that works well on the dark background. The illustrations are well done and playful. A uniform theme was achieved and the drawings worked well with the information and the color palette. Simple illustrations that add a splash of color and even when using white it worked. Not so subtle, but still a success, was the use of Britain’s colors and the Union Jack flag.
If you were sour on not getting an invite to the Royal Wedding, being invited to see the infographic about the wedding should have you shedding tears of joy!
Design: A-
Great choice of colors, illustration and fonts. Nice touch using Britain’s colors.
Information: A
Just showing facts about the most recent Royal Wedding would have been the easy solution, but comparing past weddings made this special.
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Infographic by Autonet Insurance
As far as weddings go, they are not the cheapest occasion and can cost a fortune for even the thriftiest of couples. The royal wedding, however, will have a viewing gallery of millions as cameras from all corners of the globe converge on Westminster Abbey, London, on April 29th. The Royal Family are not known for their austerity measures, so their need for insurance could save them from a disaster in front of the world’s prying eyes.
Royal Wedding Insurance
Car/royal coach insurance – £25,000,000
Remember the attack on the car containing Prince Charles and his beautiful wife Camilla? It just so happens that William and Kate are using the same one – a Rolls Royce Phantom VI. It is already expensive to insure – more so without the no-claims bonus. They also leave in the 1902 State Landau that carried Charles and Diana after marriage in 1981, too – £25,000,000 is a good deal to cover both.
Terrorist attack insurance – £100,000,000
It is only natural that people want to target the royals at a time when the government is watching its back and keeping terror alerts high. Quintessential Britishness is represented by the royal family, making them a top target, though the police and CCTV – our national obsession – handily lowers this insurance cost.
Pet insurance for the Queen’s six corgis – £30,000
Pembroke Welsh corgis are not particularly cheap. Owned by British royalty for 70-plus years, they’ll be invited to the wedding; they’re family, too. Still, the affectionate little blighters follow their owners around and the hustle and bustle of the ceremony may affect their safety, especially in an unplanned can-can.
Dress insurance – £5,000,000
Kate could do a runner and the dress may take light-to-heavy corgi damage. Jealous onlookers may bring scissors or ink to undermine her beauty. Naked flames, meanwhile, are not fabric’s best friend. Whichever designer she goes with, it will be expensive; however, value will shoot up after the event. Naturally, it’s up to Kate to extend her policy after the marriage.
Jewellery insurance – £15,000,000
All modern princes and princesses will have rings and wedding jewellery that is nothing short of priceless. There is therefore a necessity for protection against damage, theft and loss. Tiaras cost plenty to look after, but add the cost of any other jewellery for patrons like the Queen (who already has enough bling as it is) and £15,000,000 is a good deal.
Kidnap insurance – £100,000,000
Kidnapping may be a long shot, but if criminals know how to commandeer a horse-drawn carriage and outrun the police, it might just happen. Nobody wants William and Kate to spend their honeymoon tied up in a basement. £100,000,000 is a bargain when you consider how high the ransom would be and an insurance payout could avoid a finger being sent in the post.
Media liability insurance – £10,000,000
Always on the royals’ “You’re not invited to the party” list are journalists. These undercover agents have levels of deviousness that transcend the MI6 network. As such, insurance must cover upset that photographs and write-ups may present, as well as any damage inflicted along the way.
Holiday insurance for the honeymoon – £1,000,000
The post-wedding break shortlist includes Australia, New Zealand, Croatia and the Isles of Scilly. No-one knows where they’re going, though; there’s plenty of chance they will have problems with a volcano in Montserrat or a hurricane on a Pacific island. Lost luggage would also be a nightmarish principle for William and Kate, especially with militant eBay sellers on the prowl for new goods. Here, insurance is very necessary.
Wedding cancellation cover – £100,000,000
This whole wedding escapade may not even happen. Jealousy-based subterfuge could halt proceedings, as could the odd bomb threat or natural disaster. Kate could leg it. William may decide he prefers a bridesmaid. It is an insurance payment worth investing in, either way – imagine the money lost through unused fresh food, drink and flowers alone.
The Average Wedding insurance cost in the uk is £50 This would cover a couple for £16,000 worth of damages.
- Do I Need Wedding Insurance? (myweddingideas.net)
- Top 7 Green Wedding Ideas (weddingsetups.com)
- Intending Buy Wedding Jewellery (frommyexperience.com)
- Royal Wedding Fever (culturesoup.wordpress.com)
- London Wedding Store (londonweddingdresses.com)
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From the infographic: “People are spending more time on their mobile phones than ever before. As marketers we have to understand these new types of consumers… Technologies like mobile tagging can help us understand the mobile consumer and deliver relevant messages.”
This mobile marketing infographic does a good job at disseminating the information into easy to read bits (USA Today) and uses bright colors against a neutral gray background to help those colors pop even more. While the infographic is a bit longer and thinner than I would like, you have to give full credit for utilizing that thin space very productively. Easy to read text and large numbers make a quick can possible, without having to read every word. You want more information, slow down and look again. In a hurry? A quick scan tells you how plentiful mobile devices are – 4 billion – and how many ways people use their smartphones to socialize (twitter, facebook, youtube, etc.). Basic people objects are used skillfully and a touch of humor has been added without distracting from the data on mobile marketing. A particularly nice touch is using the “f” in facebook to act as a graph, filling it 1/3 full to show the facebook mobile user base.
The content is fun and the data is believable. I don’t think any of the numbers surprise anyone, in fact the very content is probably considered obvious by anyone using a mobile phone, about 4 billion of us. But that is par for the course for most infographics – data you most likely know, but aren’t sure about. The data does do something I like especially and that is comparing mobile devices to other forms of entertainment, after all the mobile device is primarily and entertainment device and a secondarily a communication tool nowadays. One number did surprise me…1/2 of all local searches are performed on a mobile device. I wonder if movie listings were removed from that figure, would the numbers drop drastically? Most SEO companies would find this information about local mobile searches very interesting, I would imagine, as would local businesses.
Design: B
The graphic design reminds me of top 40 music, which I like, in that it doesn’t provide anything cutting edge but it has a beat you can dance to. I enjoyed the color scheme and the graphics. Everything meshed well, both colors and graphics) and was designed with a cohesive mindset and that is saying a lot in today’s everyone-is-a-designer-world.
Content B -
Data and facts in this infographic were easy to digest and in line with what I expected for the most part. Very few “Oh, wow?” moments but the topic is fairly popular and well-covered in today’s media. Still, the research appears sound and went further than I suspected so a good effort all around.
Filed under: Entertainment Infographics, Pop Culture Infographics | 2 Comments »
With American Idol 2011 underway, it’s time to examine some statistics about the show’s rich history. Not all is well in Idol Land, according the graphic. Its ratings have been on the decline for the past few years, and many wonder if this season will in fact be its last. But strange things happen in the TV world, and by the time the competition starts, Idol may well be in the middle of a strong rebound.
As far as TV shows go, American Idol was an immediate smash right from the start. It became the most watched show in America in its second season, and by 2005, the show was drawing an average of 30 million viewers per episode. But all good things must come to an end, ay? 2008 was the beginning of Idol’s slide, and unfortunately, the shows producers haven’t been able to stop the bleeding.
The graphic displays some unique charts about the show that will either confirm or change your preconceptions. Winning isn’t everything; it’s the only thing. Right? Wrong. Turns out the shows’ fourth-place finisher from season 5, Chris Daughtry, sold more debut records than anyone in Idol history besides Carrie Underwood. The chart also reveals that none of the top ten artists from Idol competed in the last two seasons.
Another chart reveals that most winners come from the south, possibly because most of the shows viewers reside in the south, though that claim may be a bit too bold without a real empirical analysis. The final chart indicates that Marvin Gaye and Diana Ross are sung more often by the contestants than any other music superstars, racking up a combined total of 27 sung songs through the shows history. Ready for the grading portion? Hmm…to be as harsh as Simon or not to be as harsh as Simon. Simon Cowell is no longer with American Idol and has moved on to his own new show X Factor.
Design: B
The graphic has adequate colors and adequate charts, but there’s nothing eye popping about it, so we can’t reward it with an A.
Content: A-
The content was more solid and presumably involved the creators digging their Paula Abdul heels in and doing some real research, which sadly, is more than we can say for many graphics that people choose to submit to the Infographic Showcase. The debut album sales chart portion of the graphic could prove to be a nice guide for many years to come, as that particular set of statistics is stagnant and cannot change.
Graphic created by TV.com.
Filed under: Entertainment Infographics, Internet Infographics | 1 Comment »
Ok, this graphic isn’t actually about the entire history of online video: it only covers the past five years. Still, though, the graphic is cleverly made and gives you a real glimpse into the hyper-competitive, hyper-innovative world of online video. Most of the major online video breakthroughs happened in the past five years anyway, so this graphic is adequate in that regard. To create this graphic, the Techsmith team worked with The Blog Herald, and they did a stupendous job, as usual.
The graph first points out that 69% of Internet users download or watch video online. 61% watch movies and TV shows, and 23% download videos. The graphic then goes on to present facts that take no one by surprise. 18-29 year-olds are the heaviest consumers of Internet video. Now, here’s the all important fact. And bad fact if you hoped that video sharing websites were going to make money. Only 4% of users pay to watch content online. Back 2007, that number, surprisingly was higher, as 7% did.
Then the graphic goes into a timeline. Key events include the creation of Youtube in 2005, it’s sale in 2006, and the birth of Revision 3 and Podtec. 2006 was an important year not just because of Youtube’s sale to Google for 1.65 billion (who thinks that Google overpaid by the way?), but also because many people stopped downloading .mov files in 2006 and instead watched videos via flash. 2008, as the graphic displays, was the year that online celebrities started to come into their own (whatever that means). Youtubers like Smosh and Brookers bounced their way into living rooms across the country. In March of 2009, the Streamy Awards honored web series from 2009. The awards show was a complete smash, as youtubers like Smosh and iJustine bagged more awards than they could shake a stick at.
One of the intriguing stats of the graphic is the fact that 1 in 5 adults who watch online video also upload it. That number is a bit higher than I would have expected.
Let’s move on to the grading segment now.
Design: A-
There are many strong points here within. I would it gets a little bit patchy in certain sections, as in, there doesn’t seem to be much design, just words. But overall, the design elements in this graphic hold your attention, and where this graphic really wins points in variety of charts. There are bar graphs, timelines–you name it. Plenty of fixins’, as they say.
Content: A-
The content is also very strong, and filled with interesting choices about what to include. All the major events in online video history are captured. If someone forced me to use cliche to describe this graphic, I would remark, “no significant stone was left unturned.”
Graphic humbly provided by Techsmith.
