Super8: Eight intriguing articles from July.

A lot can happen in a month. When you last laid eyes on a Super8 collection, there was no Pokémon Go. Niantic Inc’s market valuation was around half of what it is today. And you probably had a lot more time on your hands.

While the month of July has seen people bounding through the streets in search of fictional monsters, it has also seen boundless articles packed with very real — and very awesome — insights.

It’s our first month working at August and we’ve put our heads together to catch eight excellent pieces on web design, persuasive psychology, digital transformation, and, of course, Pokémon Go. So here we go — it’s Super8 in July.

1. Pokémon Go shouldn’t have full access to your Gmail, Docs and Google account — but it does.

technology

• Read the full article here.
• Written by: Devin Coldewey.  
• Submitted by: David Baddock.  

Read this if: you’re sceptical of providing made-up animals with full access to confidential, personal information.

If you’ve been consumed by the hysteria of Pokémon Go, along with the rest of the poke-planet, this is a fascinating read. The aim of Pokémon has always been to ‘catch ‘em all’, but it seems the new aim of Pokémon Go is simply to ‘capture all’ – taking a comprehensive, and somewhat questionable, blanket approach to the collection of personal data.

When you use Google to sign into Pokémon Go, for some reason the popular app grants itself the highest possible access to your Google account. That means your email, location history and pretty much everything else are up for grabs. Why? And why aren’t we being told? Information and privacy awareness – I choose you.

2. Telling a good story is everything.

culture

• Read the full article here.
• Written by: Jason Toff.  
• Submitted by: Sarah El-Atm.  

Read this if: you want to be the best team member possible.

Last month, we looked at taking lessons from Steph Curry and applying them in daily life – even though the majority of us don’t ply our daily trade on NBA courts. In a similar vein, while most of us may not reach the c-suite heights of General Manager at Vine, Jason Toff still offers some interesting insights that are applicable in any reality.

From product development to management, hiring and leading teams: there are practical tips and techniques here for everyone. My personal favourites include:

‘Appreciation is your best tool for getting people motivated…’

And ‘your team is watching you more closely than you realise’. Which of Jason’s tips resonate with you?

3. The ten best new agency websites of 2016 so far.

content + creative

• Read the full article here.
• Written by: Tom May.  
• Submitted by: Zoë Warne.  

Read this if: you want some agency-facilitated inspiration.

Find yourself smiling at the screen when you land on an aesthetically awesome site?  Homepage where your heart is? Then check these out – ten of the best websites from ten of the most creative new agencies in the game today. It’s always important to check what our peers and contemporaries are up to around the world.

If you’re an agency, it’s essential that you capture your audience’s attention, ASAP. You need to stand out in a climate where many sites increasingly look the same. After all, the top agencies get paid to do epic stuff and think outside the box – not deliver out-of-the-box creative.  Here’s a couple doing exactly that, in an engaging and innovative way.

4. Why a visual really is worth 1,000 words.

design

• Read the full article here.
• Written by: Gregory Ciotti.  
• Submitted by: Emily Duckham.  

Read this if: you’ve ever stumbled over a confusing passage in a text book and found clarity thanks to ‘See Fig. A’.

Like a great agency website, good visual and design work should demand your attention. In today’s world of bite-size content and microscopic attention spans, engaging and retaining users is both the number one challenge and priority. This article explains how certain visual elements can help in achieving both.

‘Keep it simple; don’t be afraid to get obvious; connect to existing ideas.’

There’s a variety of techniques to toy with when you’re next creating blog or website material. If you’re going to make content, you may as well make it awesome!

5. The psychology of persuasion.

content + business

• Read the full article here.
• Written by: Jory MacKay.  
• Submitted by: Elliott Grigg.

Read this if: you want to defend the purity of your decisions – or to persuade others like a pro.

When up to 95% of our decision making happens subconsciously, it’s worth looking into some of the ways the best (or worst) of us use influence. The power of suggestion is practiced by everyone who trades in persuasion: politicians, con men and salespeople. How do they manage to pull one over on us every time?  It’s all about owning the conversation and exploiting our poor understanding of what is influential.

Take a look at this article and learn the techniques people use to transform our rational decisions into more emotional propositions. On the flipside, try the tactics yourself to bring about stronger negotiations, targeted designs or content that really resonates with your audience.

6. I’m having a ‘digital transformation’ right now.

business

• Read the full article here.
• Written by: Tim Malbon.  
• Submitted by: Aziza Mohamed.

Read this if: you want to know what ‘digital transformation’ looks like in 2016.

With almost every company – tech or otherwise – boasting of transformation in the quest for relevance in the digital age, it’s easy to lose sight of how we mere humans can contribute.

So, what is a digital transformation? As technology continues to race ahead, we find ourselves in a state of constant flux and rapid change. While the transformation might be referred to as digital, it is anything but. Everything is transforming in its wake – customer experiences, service platforms, business models, leadership and culture.

‘We have the opportunity right now to design a compassionate, human value system into the heart of all the new experiences, platforms, products and services we create in this exciting next wave of transformation.’

Regardless of how we feel about it, digital transformations are happening to all of us – as users, companies and people. While the sheer rate of change may be daunting, the opportunity to do more and create better is surely cause for celebration.

7. Three steps to get up to speed on any subject really, really fast.

culture

• Read the full article here.
• Written by: Nir Eyal.  
• Submitted by: Steph Little.

Read this if: you’ve ever felt the fear of a lack of time and knowhow… combined.

Instead of diving into a Google search and ending up in a bottomless digital pit, use these techniques to get your head around a topic – and fast.

As someone fresh out of uni and new to the workforce, the learning curve is steep. Sometimes we find ourselves in positions with limited time and much to learn. That can mean getting acquainted with a subject you know nothing about, upping your skill base with a new program, or simply leaving your comfort zone for the unfamiliar. Whether the stakes are high or low, we’ve all been there.

The three steps outlined here focus on building clarity by keeping things simple. Start a search and sketch out what you know. Then, once you think you understand a topic, have a conversation with someone who can show you where you don’t. Get the hang of it, then teach it to someone else.

Go on, get started. It’s really, really quick.

8. Interactive storytelling: 7 examples of online graphic novels.

content

• Read the full article here.
• Written by: Richard Bazter.  
• Submitted by: Rowan Barnes.  

Read this if: you’re after some brilliant examples of how online graphic novels use interactive storytelling to enchant their audience.

We’ve all heard that great advertising should tell a story. But how often does it inspire the kind of readership and devotion we see for artistic works? Although the vast majority of online graphic novels are not created for marketing purposes, this is where potential lies dormant. By virtue, novels are an immersive experience: pulling them from the page to a digital platform only enhances the way we experience the story.

‘Interactive storytelling is the art of telling stories enhanced with technological, social or collaborative interactive features, to offer content adapted to new behaviors in a rapidly changing cultural ecosystem.’

This article asks us to consider how marketers can apply these qualities to inform and engage. When we ask an audience to scroll, click or contribute to a campaign, or even just ask them to follow characters through a basic narrative arc, we’re asking them to participate in interactive storytelling.