This is not a pipe

I am currently taking an art history class this semester, and we have already covered centuries and centuries of magnificent artwork that has impressed me. I’m amazed of the immense talent and creativeness found in the great artists who have constantly been evolving art over the years. This week my teacher put up a slide with a particular work of art that I had seen several other times, but I wanted to share it on my blog because it reminded me of a type of print advertisement one might see.

Rene Magritte started out as an advertising designer until he received sufficient funds to become a full time Belgian Surrealist painter.

The Treachery of Images, 1928-1929 ->

When the image came up I thought how this work of art we are studying in my art history class could also be used in an advertising class to teach print ads and copy. The simplicity and very creative copy catches people’s attention and could easily pass as a print ad for a pipe or tobacco company. Translated the copy says, “This is not a pipe”. Surrealism is when you take an ordinary object and place it in an unusual space or context. It is not an actual pipe but an image of a pipe, genius!
I have gained more appreciation for fine art while taking this art history class. Through this intro to advertising class I have also seen how advertising can be a very creative form of art. Why not blend the two together?
What are your thoughts, do you think this would be a decent print ad?

Spry Canyon

Located within the beautiful Zion’s Nation Park is a canyon called Spry Canyon, which was the main attraction this weekend for our group of adventure connoisseurs.

Canyons in Zion’s have been carved deep in colorful sandstone rock and are famous for their narrow slots. The canyons have slowly been eroding away providing canyoneers a unique place to discover the wonders of the earth. Water of course is the main contributor of consistently shaping the canyons, as well as posses some of the most dangerous threats and obstacles when exploring in narrow slot canyons. During the hot summer the majority of people enjoy being able to cool off from the heat by wading through pools of water found in the slot canyons; most canyoneers just plan on getting wet through their journey. Even in the spring and fall, those planning on going through a canyon where you can get wet will ether wear a wet or dry suit. Not us. We are frugal college students who don’t want to rent an expensive dry suit, and would rather spend our money on new gear… So doing Spry Canyon (a canyon with several water pools) in November, without a wet or dry suit only added to the adventure of the journey.

Everyone was layered up from head to toe for protection from the cold and ready to experience some breathtaking rappels and views. The hike to the canyon provided some great insight to what lied ahead, we found ourselves crunching through frozen ice sand. Seeing water ice and sand all in one place is rather interesting and hard to believe, but it does exist.

Parallel to our first rappel of 165 feet, a small drizzle of water froze creating an icy sandstone cliff, starting our legit canyoneering experience in Spry Canyon.
As soon as we approached any water in Spry with no way around it, we were forced to get creative. Only two members of the group of nine had wet suits and so they were able to get wet if needed; to ether set up zip-lines for those who didn’t want to get wet and catch hypothermia or even helped carry people across.

My favorite rappel consisted of a 90 foot free hang rappel into a narrow slot canyon of maybe only 7 feet across (See Pic).
The drastic change in scenery was amazing, especially when you were at the bottom staring up at a sliver of sky being surrounded by sandstone.

During our canyoneering adventure in Spry we had the opportunity to experience all that you would expect to in a technical canyon: from stemming 20 feet above the water covered canyon floor, creating make shift zip-lines, enjoying a dozen rappels, great bonding moments, and unfortunately a group member who sprang their ankle off one of the rappels.

Those who appreciate a good adventure, I recommend Spry Canyon for you.

Let the Tweeting Begin...

I have always been a bit skeptical when it comes to Twitter. Several times I have seriously thought about signing up for my own account and letting the world experience my very own tweets. Every time I have found myself on the actual website thoughts come to mind about how Twitter looks confusing and complicated, as well as the idea that I already have a Facebook and why do I need another social media website to influence my life.
I was very impressed with the personal example Prof. Hadley shared on his experience to successfully publicize an entire event on Twitter. Being able to reach such a large audience through connections on Twitter is a brilliant idea to create buzz about your product or service, or in Prof. Hadley’s case, his unique CoWork Utah, Orem Tweetup.
So the other day, I caved in and decided to finally created my very own Twitter account and have SLOWLY been figuring out how it all works. I would definitely consider myself a noob to the tweeting world but would love any insights and pointers. Feel free to follow me on Twitter @robmwitt. I need to work on expanding who I follow....
I am already pleased with what I have observed in my short time on Twitter. Just like Facebook you are able to take advantage of special sales, coupons, and offers if you are connected with specific companies. I like the idea of people simply sharing what is on their mind, and being able to search words and see what people are saying; which is extremely helpful for companies to see what is being said about their brand.

Hiking 2 Other Planets

Very few hikes do you first descend almost a vertical mile in elevation then regain it to finish the hike. The Grand Canyon introduced me to this unique hiking pattern. Descending from the South Rim at 8,000 feet to the Colorado River at 2,700 feet is a mind expanding experience. The further you dip below the rimmed plateau you immediately begin to witness how grand the canyon really is. It is one thing to see the vast canyon from the top, but once you are surrounded by the massive rock walls you recognize how minute you are in compassion as well as how impressive it is that water was able to carve out such a natural wonder. While we hiked the South Kiabab trail we were able to see the first rays of sunlight highlighting the canyon walls, sooo beautiful!
I recommend that hike to anyone. Deep in the canyon it almost feels like you are on another planet, with few people around, and encircled in a very foreign and different terrain.

Usually I am use to ascending several thousand feet first to the summit, then enjoying the easier descent down the mountain. A week before the Grand Canyon I was able to finally able to check off something from my summer bucket list, hiking Mount Timpanogos. If anyone wants ideas for making sure your Mount Timpanogos hike is memorable and adventurous, here are a few tips from personal experience:
• Begin the hike in the thick blackness of night at 4:30 a.m. with your only light source from headlamps.
• Make sure you are the first care in the trail parking lot (or make it the first group on the mountain if you really want a thrill), this way you will be sure to run into wildlife in the dark that will scare you big time! Especially when all you can see is the area where your headlamp is pointing and you can see huge glowing eyes in the distance….
• Go when the early morning forecast calls for clouds and some precipitation, allowing you to hike in mist and thick heavy fog that forces you to stop moving forward because you can’t see 3 feet in front of you, and have no idea where you are.
• Hike it in October so once you get above 9,000 feet there will be snow and you then are able to make fresh footprints in freshly fallen snow, as well as enjoy the crunchy sound under your shoes.
• Plan on eating a cold breakfast in the Emerald Lake Shelter, that provides a nice place to sit down but no protection from the chilly breeze.
• Ascend the rocky slope to the saddle only once you are completely engrossed in a literal cloud, which provides a ghostly atmosphere that makes the terrain look like you are on another ice planet covered in rock, ice, snow, and hiking cairns.

• Once on the saddle pretend like you are approaching the summit of K2, or Mount Everest, as in it will look like it with all the rock, snow, and clouds. You might as well use a caption like that when you post your pics on Facebook, as very few will be able to tell the difference.
• Enjoy the descent down that will feel like a whole new hike, because you will be able to see your surroundings in a new light, the sun.
I live for adventure and am always anxiously awaiting my next. Which is hopefully Canyoneering Zion’s this weekend that is if it doesn’t rain. Cross your fingers!!!
Happy Trails.

National Parks & Advertising

Over the weekend I experienced firsthand one of the Seven Wonders of the World, The Grand Canyon. This was the first time I had ever seen the magnificent natural monument in person. It is incredible that a river was (and is still) able to carve such a beautiful landscape. In order to take in the entire canyon beauty, we hiked all the way to the Colorado River and looped back up to the rim. While on this short weekend getaway, I thought about what does the National Park Service do for advertising?

So I did a little research and found The National Park Conservation Association (NPCA) uses public service ads to promote the National Parks, as well as to send a message about how we as a people need to protect them. The NPCA is run by donations and funds from the government, but uses mostly print ads in national magazines and a limited amount of advertising on the web.

In 2016 the National Park Service will hit their 100 year anniversary, and so the NPCA did a few min promotion ad video to help inspire people to restore our National Parks. This ad campaign in entitled "Renewing Our National Park Promise".

I love the National Parks and hope to visit most, if not all, of them in my life; and I think that the NPCA should use other mediums to advertise the beauty of this country. For more info check out the NPCA’s website:
http://www.npca.org/

Rain, Rain...

Tonight on my stroll home from the reliable Harold B. Lee Library, there was a light sprinkle of rain. Nostalgic feelings came to my mind of simply one of the greatest feelings. The feeling I am talking about doesn’t come all at once, it is a remarkable process which I will explain. This process begins with preferably a several mile hike, backpacking to a remote location in the wilderness to set up camp. Tents are pitched and every adventurer enjoys their dinner while relaxing around the toasty fire. As the embers slowly burn throughout the cool night, you notice thousands of stars doting the dark sky in patches as clouds begin to take over the tiny specks of light. You notice the remaining coals have called it a night and decide to follow suit. After a refreshing session of brushing your teeth with fresh cold spring water, rain starts to sprinkle as you crawl in your dry tent and sleeping bag. Once in your comfy mummy bag, the rain patter starts to come down harder. Protecting you from the downpour, your tent provides the perfect place to enjoy the peaceful relaxing sound of rain while trying to sleep. Bliss is reached as long as the downpour doesn’t turn into a sort of intense storm causing flooding and soaked gear.
Note to self: do not listen to Dane Cook when you need to study and do homework, too distracting.

Ads That Stick... Literally

Just over a week ago there were some Calle reps on campus handing out free stickers and wrist bands, I totally took advantage and snagged a few for my enjoyment.  Then soon after we talked about that company in class and how they have used guerrilla advertising tactics.  Below is the example mention in class, luckily I was able to get one of those DOT stickers and most likely will cleverly spread the word of Calle.  Very subtle but just enough to catch your attention and spark some curiosity. 

I decided to look into finding other creative ways to advertise through stickers.  Here were a few of my favorites from a website I found http://www.toxel.com/inspiration/2010/03/02/clever-uses-of-stickers-in-advertising/.

I liked this one because it shows the power of the batteries in a clever and humorous way.  Image the amount of people that take this particular escalator and most likely everyone saw that add and thought about batteries.

This sticker ad is found in an airport and does an excellent job in giving those who are sitting waiting around to think about their next flying adventure.

I love stickers-I put them all over my notebooks, folders, snowboard, pretty much anywhere there is a boring surface.  I wish more brands and companies gave stickers out for free more often.  Such a simple yet powerful way to advertise your name, product, or service.