19 films in three and a half days. This was the experience both Justin Ahrens and I (alongside our friend Eric) had at the Sundance Film Festival this past week. And if you’re curious what it takes to get 19 films in within this amount of time, let me put it this way. At 2 a.m. Sunday evening/Monday morning we were still in the Q & A session with Pfife of A Tribe Called Quest (“Beats, Rhymes, and Life: The Travels of Tribe Called Quest”) and at 6:20 a.m. the same morning, we are in standing in line for “My Idiot Brother.”

This was my fourth trip to the festival in the last five years and continue to return home with the same reflection/realization… Ironically, the festival is not about seeing movies. It’s about the conversation, about what is being “said.” There is no doubt that the festival’s leadership team views their role as somewhat of a cultural guide – point viewers to “stories worth discussing.” In fact, this was the sentiment after (almost) every film. Someone in the audience would ask the director something like, “So, what’s your position on environmental terrorism?” And the director would respond… “Well, we simply want to have a conversation regarding. This is why we made the film.”

So, what’s in store for this year’s cultural conversation? Here are a few films we saw worth discussing… Read the rest of the entry >

Here’s the deal. (For the most part), we take safety seriously at Rule29. We have an alarm system. We use pocket protectors. We have limited Justin’s use of exacto blades. And most nights we remember to turn off the space heater (not really). But recently, we were paid a visit by our local Fire Chief. He’s a nice guy and is certainly looking out for our team. While we don’t want to get into the numerous violations we had, we did want to share about one that caught our attention… Apparently, our fire extinguishers were “out of date” and needed to be “disposed” of properly. How does a creative firm “dispose” properly? Well, how about we simply show you…

Filmed with our shiny new iPhone 4′s

I’m sure that by this time most Americans have had their fill of turkey, what with it being five days after Thanksgiving, but not us at Rule29. We love us some turkey…especially in hand drawn form. We’ve talied up the results of this year’s hand turkey illustration contest.

Find out who was victorious in R29′s Show of Hands competition after the jump.

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I have been a fan of Ze Frank since I first saw him speak at AIGA and watched his show faithfully in 2006 and 2007.  What I most admire about him is that he goes for it. He tries things to gain a new understanding, and he shares it. I also admire his perspective, humor and the way he has been experimenting in connecting with people online for almost a decade. Why is this important? Because at Rule29 we think it’s always valuable to wonder, to play, to learn and to try different and creative ways to connect. As designers, we of all people need to realize that connections are now made in an ever expanding new world as mobile and online social interactions increase. So pull up a chair and spend the next 18 minutes watching the video above, and I guarantee you that you will laugh and get a deeper understanding on how we are connecting, all presented in a way that is uniquely Ze Frank. You can also get more Ze by watching his 2004 Ted talk, follow him on twitter, and facebook, or explore his site.

What do you think? What’s your favorite Ze Frank project?

As the weather turns cooler and the leaves begin to change to their rich fall colors many Americans start to turn their thoughts to the more important things in life. And by more important things I mean football.

The long awaited kickoffs, the fantasy leagues, and dissection of plays of the previous game and speculation of what is to come have all commenced and are filling the discussion space of offices everywhere. Also, the Chicago Bears are currently 3-0 (even if just by sheer luck) so currently all is well with the world.

One thing that we always love about sports teams, especially in the college realm are the mascots. They make the experience of the game that much more enjoyable. As large dancing characters they are fun when the game is going well, but it’s when the score is not in our favor that they really shine, rallying everyone together reminding us to cheer. They bring a sense of unity and sometimes quirkiness to the games that we love so well.

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