Now you can read about eco-friendly eating, kids’ activities and crumbling Antarctic ice-shelves in an unusual place.

Your electricity bill.

These are just three of the stories that appeared in the inaugural edition of GLOW magazine. Developed in conjunction with the team at TRU, it’s a feel-good addition to TRUenergy’s quarterly bill and a reminder that they do more than just supply energy.

Our lead story is about a team of TRUenergy engineers who were sent to Antarctica earlier this year to repair damaged equipment at E-Base – an educational base on King George Island, set up to tackle the issue of climate change and send a message that you can generate renewable energy anywhere.

The magazine also includes practical tips, like hints on saving energy. So if you’re a TRUenergy customer, keep an eye out for GLOW in your next bill.

A bunch of CUBED kids headed over to ACMI last night for a little inspiration at the Tim Burton Exhibition.

For those who’ve been living under a rock, Tim Burton is the director of blockbusters like Edward Scissorhands, Beetlejuice, Batman and, most recently, Alice in Wonderland. Not content with being one of the world’s best known directors, Burton is also an artist, puppet maker, sculptor and seems incapable of not being insanely creative all the time.

We oohed and aahed at rooms filled with paintings and drawings, storyboards and film, model toys and costumes – including the Edward Scissorhands suit which, let’s face it, is as close as any of us will get to Johnny Depp.

The exhibition was overwhelmingly inspiring, so if our next batch of concepts includes ANZ scissorhands and University of Ballaratman, just blame Burton.

PS. If you happen to get a ticket for Tim Burton, or any ACMI exhibition, make sure you read the conditions of entry on the back very carefully. Any legalese that includes this line is a big win in our book.

..but I’ve learned a few lessons from Taiwanese computer animated sequences.

Last week, The Age featured an article about the new viral sensation of Next Media, an animation company from Taiwan that specializes in reenactment of real news events.

It all started with the Tiger Woods scandal, and then Lindsay Lohan, and more recently the ’so sad yet so funny’ Australian election.

Anyway, these videos have taught me five lessons:

Lesson one: Viral can happen anywhere, even the tiny island of Taiwan. It’s all about the story. If it’s interesting, it will generate interest.

Lesson two: If you’ve watched the clips, you’d notice that most of them last for 60–90 seconds. In less than 2 minutes the production team managed to craft complicated messages into a simple, understandable, engaging form. (Sounds familiar?) Even if we don’t understand Mandarin, we could pretty much get what’s happening in the videos. These animations understand and apply the art of simplicity.

Lesson three: Apparently it only takes a few hours for this Taiwanese company to churn a video out. I know Asia is speculated to dominate the world’s economy in the next decade or so. Now I’m wondering if the domination includes advertising production.

Lesson four: It seems that, because the company is Taiwanese, they’re able to apply fresh, daring takes on western events and news. To have a ground-breaking solution to a problem, perhaps we first need to step away from the problem?

Lesson five: If you find yourself in a Taiwanese animation, you’ve made it and you’re famous.

H.

Like this piece? Think Harvard’s full of it? Let us know by adding a comment or emailing him here

Our ‘Learn to Succeed’ campaign for the University of Ballarat has proven (appropriately) to be a great success.

Not only was it well received by university staff and students.

Not only did it pick up a Certificate of Excellence in the International ECHOs this year.

But last Thursday it also took out the state Australian Marketing Institute (AMI) Award in the Education category.

There were smiles all round at the AMI lunch last week as the prize was announced. And for all of us, the victory was that much sweeter as the University beat one of its biggest competitors to take out the top prize.

The campaign now goes on to compete at the national level with the results announced at the AMI Gala Dinner in October – where we’re all looking forward to some more success.

A new client rolled into CUBED last month. Literally.

Specialized, the Californian bike manufacturer whose bikes came first, second and third in the 2010 Tour De France, was launching a distribution chain in Australia and needed us to convert all the American dealer information to suit the Aussie market.

It was a huge job with the dealer books comprising over 400  pages. That alone would be a test enough, but it was also needed fast.

Really fast.

Riders on the Tour De France have 21 days to finish their challenge. We had just 8 to finish ours.

Up for the challenge were Carbon-Fibre-Framed Production Manager, Brendan Hanrahan, Full-Suspension Senior Account Manager, Laura Campbell, and 21-Speed Finished Artist, David Santolin*.

In the finest tradition of the Tour, our CUBED Team Time Trial got off to a fast start – placing fast food orders late into the night, and making coffee runs early in the mornings, they kept up a smooth and steady pace. With a support crew working hard behind the scenes it was a true group effort.

After a sprint to the finish, the team claimed an emphatic victory, with all dealer books delivered on time and on brief for the launch.

Specialized were as pleased as we were proud.

Well done all involved.

*Santolin later tested positive for KFC and was disqualified.

This week, we were stoked to welcome on board our long time friends and collaborators, Harvard and Andre.

A talented and gifted team, their credentials are unquestionable, as is their desire to work with CUBED.

Together they’ve already worked on our successful V/Line Autumn promotion. And don’t tell us boys can’t multi-task – not only is Andre an award-winning copywriter, he’s also an accomplished jazz musician. As for Harvard, he’s fluent in 5 languages and is also quite adept at putting his foot in his mouth, as anyone who’s a follower of our CUBISMs wall will already know.

Welcome to CUBED, boys! It’s going to be fun.

It’s only fitting that CUBED Creative Director and resident outspoken opinion-giver, Dave, will be jetting off to Sydney this Thursday to give his two cents worth as a creative judge at the 2010 ADMA Awards.

CUBED and ADMA have enjoyed a close partnership for years now. Mike Chuter was Chairman of ADMA in Victoria,  Kim McDonnell tutored the ADMA Direct & Digital Marketing course for 4 years, plus we’ve competed in (and won) a couple of ADMA pitch challenges, not to mention creating the artwork for ADMA events.

So Dave’s taking his role as a judge very seriously. He’s already packed his best red pens and is setting his standards high.

And, after warming up by judging the ADMAs, he’ll be jumping on a plane heading for Europe and the USA. We can only assume that in London he’ll be judging the weather, in Boston the tea and in Miami the vice. (He won’t tell us why he’s going to Amsterdam).

Anyway, Bon voyage Dave. Be sure to send us a postcard.