I had the very cool opportunity to speak at this year’s SXSW Interactive as part of the Future15: Diversity series, which was organized by Glenda Bautista. The presentation, titled “The Online Latino: A New Digital Native,” was all about Latin Americans and the web.

While it is a myth that Latin Americans are not online, only 30% of them are. The presentation went into the challenges (poverty, inequality, censorship, and the social/economic/digital divide), as well as what is changing (tech hubs, encouraging governments, businesses rolling out infrastructure, and a rapidly growing online community).

If you’re interested in learning more about what is happening online and offline in Latin America, including Streisand effects, citizen journalism, social networking, innovative start-ups, and stories about the people that are converting ideas into movements, check out the slides and videos below. Feedback (through email or comments) is appreciated :)

Thanks to Diego Contreras (aka Diegoliath) for helping me with the design, Jon Gipson for recording the video, and Kara Andrade for writing the original proposal with me and helping out with ideas, insights, and stats.

These are Diegoliath’s Top 5 Movies of 2009. The “Creative In5piration” series is a showcase some of the things that can brighten your day and re-ignite your creative thinking. In this case, it’s all movies. Leave us a comment. Share your top 5 if you feel like it. 

1. District 9
If you haven’t seen this please shut your computer down right now and head to the theaters because this is probably one of the best movies coming out this year, and probably one of the best movies you’ll see in a long time.  It’s been up in the Twitter trending topics since its release a week and a half ago, if that means anything.  What makes it even better is that it’s the first full-length film by new-comer director Neil Blomkamp (who was supposed to direct the Halo movie). 

2. Where the Wild Things Are
Narnia and Domo Kun come together in what looks to be, like, the cutest film ever by Spike Jonze.

3. Inglorious Basterds
A war film by Quentin Tarantino. Enough said.

4. Zombie Land
Looks amazing and funny. I can’t wait to see Woody Harrelson come back from the dead, to fight the undead…

5. Paper Heart
Michael Cera plays the same character in every single movie he’s ever made. Paper Heart is no different.

It’s been a while since my last Top 5 post and to compensate for that, I’m bringing you two posts of creative nutrition this week. One today. One in a few days. Or else you’ll get a bit too excited. As always, I’ll be using this space on the web to showcase some of the things that brighten my day and re-ignite my creative thinking.

Enjoy!

1. Target – Every Color You Can Dream

This beautiful stop-motion campaign for Target takes you through a colorful, dreamlike journey made of fabric.  The song is “Everything & Everyone” by Boys & Girls.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4EaiSVQGWw

Oddly enough, the commercial looks very similar to Coldplay’s latest video for song Strawberry Swing.  Check it out here: http://www.coldplay.com/videostrawberry.php

2. Olympics – The Best of Us

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From great advertising and branding to incredible art, design, music, films, and anything worth a second look or  second thought, this is Diegoliath’s weekly source of creative inspiration. I’ll use this space on the web to showcase some of the things that brighten my day and re-ignite my creative thinking. So here we go!

1. Morinaga Chocolate Spot from Japan – non blinking record
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ia-XqY0aIT0

I love everything about this spot for Morinaga Chocolate by DENTSU, Tokyo.  This funny, beautifully shot commercial just won a bronze award at the Cannes Lions awards.

2. Fiat Panda
http://bit.ly/YGukK

Fiat confirmed that no pandas were harmed during the production of this hilarious spot by agency Marcel Paris. Great concept and art direction.

See the print ads http://bit.ly/15ieux and here http://bit.ly/4Dmm5p.

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From great advertising and branding to incredible art, design, music, films, and anything worth a second look or  second thought, this is Diegoliath’s weekly source of creative inspiration. I’ll use this space on the web to showcase some of the things that brighten my day and re-ignite my creative thinking.

If you have some inspirational sources of your own, please leave a comment and a link.

1. Rock Band: Beatles Cinematic Intro
http://www.thebeatlesrockband.com/cinematic.php

Please take a moment to soak in this beautiful dreamy animation by Passion Pictures for the upcoming Rock Band: Beatles game.  Each colorful scene is directly inspired by song lyrics from the Beatles. From an art direction standpoint, this game is a great example of how a unique visual style can really spark interest in people and even bring out emotions. It really made me happy when I saw it.  My love for music games has been slowly growing cold with the extensive amount of releases this year, but this animation definitely got me back in the game.  It seems like I won’t have to wait for DJ Hero to experience something new.  Enjoy.

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