Blowing up Chihuly.

Dale Chihuly is here at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and we made something pretty fun to promote not only the show, but his craft, as well. Chihuly, the App. Just blow into your phone, shape, color and sculpt your art, then post on Facebook. One of my favorite things we've done all year. Thanks to Travis, Lionel, Will, David, Zack, Caroline, the Chihuly team and our awesome client, the VMFA.

Lincoln hair comes to RVA.

This past year, Steven Spielberg came to our little town and shot a big movie called Lincoln. Pretty cool stuff. A lot of friends and co-workers grew out their hair - beards, side-burns, you name it - for a shot at being an extra. Lincoln cast member. Nice thing to put on the resume. Martin art producer Anya Mills had the idea to document it all with Matthew Brady-style portraits and enlisted local photographer Adam Ewing. They put it all together for "Lincoln Hair," at The Martin Agency Gallery. The big opening was the night before the movie premiered nationwide. Good press coverage here: http://creativity-online.com/work/martin-agency-lincoln-hair-gallery/29961 Thanks to all, but especially Anya and Adam for the inspiration. Can't wait to see movie.

We did it again.

We finished the job. Obama winning Virginia again in 2012. Not the same feeling as 2008, but still something we will never forget. About a week ago, we sent out this video with the help of Magnus and his crew, Trav and Darb and the kids from SVA. Nice job. We did it.

What if?

50 years ago, the world was on the brink of nuclear war. Thanks to the diplomacy of our president, John F. Kennedy, the worst never happened. But what if? That's what our new interactive documentary  "Clouds over Cuba" explores in detail. Just go to cloudsovercuba.com. The site has already been visited by thousands around the world with an average stay of over 14 minutes - amazing. Special thanks to Tool of North America and our dear partner Ben Tricklebank, the creative force behind this and another big effort for the JFK Library, wechoosethemoon.org.

One small tweet feat.

A timely tribute to Neil Armstrong and another testament to our growing in-house digital creds. Everything done at Martin. Launched three weeks ago, we're just 30 tweets away from landing on the moon. Let's get there. Wouldn't it be cool to be the last tweet that steps on the moon? onesmalltweet.com

Dave Martin lives on.

He started The Martin Agency in 1965. He believed in the power of creativity to transform a brand. He was a big guy with a big heart. I never worked with Dave Martin, but now feel like I work for him. I work everyday at the agency with his name on the door. And my mission is the same as his was five decades ago: bring ideas to clients that jump the category and make them successful beyond their wildest ambitions. Thank you. Without your courage to hang your shingle, I wouldn't be here today.

Bell Labs. At Martin.

Been reading an incredible book "The Idea Factory: The history of Bell Labs."An amazing look at innovation and how it happened systematically for over 70 years. The phone, the transistor, the information age, solar power, satellite communication - just some of the Bell breakthroughs. Basically, every important tool we use came out of Bell.  In a recent talk to the staff, I mentioned the book and sure enough, Bell Labs is alive and well at Martin. Steve Sage's parents met at Bell in the 50s and Tommy Brichett's grandfather George Pullis worked at Bell for 40 years. Check out the poster Tommy has hanging in his living room - a retirement gift to George from Bell. Even their gifts were cool as shit.

Want a million followers?

Who wouldn't? Twitter followers are the new currency. That was the inspiration behind Twitterich, a social media experiment cooked up by two Martinites, Neel Williams and Mauricio Mazzariol. No reason to do it except to do it and see what happens. So chill out, ok? http://www.twitterich.com

Pencil love.

A special night in NYC for the Walmart team. A bronze pencil for Younger Skin for Walmart. And a silver for the Conveyor TV campaign. Fitting recognition to an incredible team effort, moving mountains for the world's biggest company. Congrats Trent, Matt, V, Deric and John. You make us proud.

Cannonball coming.

The Walmart team cleaned up at the local Addy Awards last week, winning 15 cannonballs. "Younger Skin" was the big winner, taking home Best of Show. Ok, so it's not a Lion, but you have to admit, the cannonball is a kick ass looking trophy. Good start to the award season. Congrats to the whole team. You deserve all the credit.

Robin will always be with us.

You were everything to all of us. Friend. Audience. Mentor. Teacher. Parent. You knew our ticks, habits and moods. And you always had the right thing to say. We know you are gone. But we also know you live on. In us. In how we work. In how we treat each other. Even in an app called Robin's Egg which we were so very fortunate to give you early this year. We love you. Please don't worry a second. We will look after John, Ben and Gretchen, just like you looked after us all these years.

Print. Yes, we still do it.

It's been a long time since I posted any print here. These posters were created by Brian Williams and Matt Wojtysiak using Matt's original woodcuts. Created to commemorate the big issues in JFK's first year in office in 1961.

Meet Robin's Egg.

We are so proud to announce a new app created entirely at Martin. It was inspired by a close friend, Robin, who was diagnosed with cancer a couple years ago. We missed her at the office and were looking for an easy and fun way for all of us to send our love. Watch the video and download the app in the App Store. All art, design, dev, etc. by TMA.

January in the books. Really?

Crazy start to 2012. Here's a few posts right in a row to catch up. Had the great honor to be invited to the One Club for the latest Hall of Fame induction. The highlight of the night: Steve Jobs entrance, via a stirring speech by a former boss, Lee Clow. It was great to see Duncan Milner, an old partner at Chiat/Toronto, who has lead Media Arts and Apple for years. And it was perfect to be there with John, Mike and Fabio.