Hello, Valencia!

Don't you think that traveling is one of the best pleasures of our lives? I do. Not everyone enjoy at the same level going away from their comfort zone to discover new places. And not everyone travel for the same reasons or with the same purposes, although the destination may be the same. However, for all those who love traveling as much as I do, I'm sure they all agree with the fact that no matter the reason, the important point is that every trip becomes a unique opportunity to learn something new about our world.

But traveling is not only a pleasure. It is a business. Indeed, tourism constitutes one of the main sources of income for hundreds of regions all around the world. A fact that would explain why during the last decades, tourism campaigns have evolved into powerful communication tools, effective enough as to position even the smallest towns onto the international scene. 

A recent example of how creative can be the strategies used to attract tourists is the campaign developed by Hello Valencia, a magazine edited in that same Spanish city, which has launched 'Conoce Valencia de una forma diferente' (Know Valencia in a different way). 

The campaign shows the city of Valencia through the performance of four different music groups, which have composed original songs inspired by some of the most emblematic neighborhoods of the city: 'El Carmen', 'Ruzafa', 'L'Eixample', and 'Els Poblats Marítims'. 

Besides, people can participate in the campaign through different social networks. Via Facebook or Twitter, they can post or comment about their favorite bars, restaurants, local stores or any other place in the city, using specific hashtags created for the campaign. Every week, the best ones have the opportunity to win different prizes. 

The campaign appeals to its target audience in a very friendly tone of voice, thus increasing, in my opinion, its possibilities to be more effective on getting the desired purpose. I think it is a very interesting way to promote the city because it does not only appeal to the foreign tourists, but rather to its own citizens. Not only the city is being promoted, but also the local businesses of all those old neighborhoods, and obviously the artists themselves. 

I strongly believe in this kind of initiatives that combine the effort of different groups to obtain a common benefit. Especially in such a hard socio economic situation as the one that is been living in Spain right now. Campaigns like this one can help a lot of people.

I love the campaign and I love the city. Probably because it is my city, but honestly, it is a wonderful place, extremely worth to visit.

CONOCE VALENCIA DE UNA FORMA DIFERENTE

Enjoy your creativity!

Creativity can be sweet, or spicy, or bitter... In any case, what creativity can definitely be is tasty! Searching on the Internet, have you ever ended up by chance in a food blog? There are thousands of them! Either you got one day lost on your search and found yourself salivating in front of your computer screen, or you are a passionate follower of one of those mouthwatering blogs, you would have been able to realize that some of them have evolved into authentic professional websites, with thousands of visits every day. 

Food blogs are one of the most popular categories withing the bloggers world. The great number of blogs, and their variety and extraordinary depth, are some of the main factors that have contributed to provide them the popularity they enjoy today. Besides, the high quality of their content has led food blogs to be a vital part of not only the Internet, but of food journalism too. 

If this extraordinary growth has been possible, is mainly thanks to the commitment and hard work of the individuals who run the websites. Some of them may be professionals, but most of the owners of these blogs are people who have made of their passion for food more than just a hobby. Nowadays, it is not only possible to buy their creations online, we can also find their best recipes gathered either in magazines or books, which we can purchase in any bookstore. 

Although I do not consider myself a desserts enthusiast, I am always impressed by the creative effor put into sweet recipes. It is amazing the hundreds of ways in which people can play when decorating a simple cupcake, the countless number of cookie varieties they invent, or the number of layers they may arrive to use for a cake. 

And because a picture is worth a thousand words, here are some of my favorite recipes. People from Muffinella, and the woman behind I am baker, can be considered true food crafters. Get ready, all their creations look awesome!

MUFFINELLA

I AM BAKER

Sweet blogging!

Keep reading, and salivating, on: 

Muffinella

I am baker
Saveur Best Food Blogs Awards 2012

Bright street art.

Nowadays, technology, more than ever, is part of our daily life. We are so used to it that we do not usually realize how close we are to it. Have you ever take a look back to check how much our life has changed in barely ten years? Because ten years before, making use of the Internet we could search information on Google, but no one of the social networks we use now every single day existed by then. Facebook was created in 2004, Youtube in 2005, and Twitter in 2006. It sounds crazy, right? Wait to read this: the original iPhone was launched only five years ago, on June of 2007, and the iPad was released for the first time in 2010. Only two years ago! 

Communication has changed, as well as many ohter aspects in our lives. Technology is everywhere. It is part of who we are, what we do, and how we do it. And one of the areas that more noticeably has embodied technology in its processes is the arts. Technology provides artists with hundreds of new sources to inspire their work and create outstanding pieces of art that challenge our understanding. 

An exceptional example of that evolution in the arts is the project of Antonin Fourneau, 'Water Light Graffiti', which boosts the concept of Street Art to a new level. It consists of a surface made of thousands of LED that light up by the contact of water. You can use a paintbrush, a water atomizer, your fingers or anything damp to sketch a brightness messages or just to draw. It is a wall created with the purpose of giving people a chance to communicate and share magically in the city. Water Light Graffiti is a wall for ephemeral messages in the urban space without deterioration. 

After several tries, prototypes and material improvements, Water Light Graffiti took finally place in a public space the last month of July. For a few days, the inhabitants of Poitiers could discover and try Water Light Graffiti with the artist, the Digitalarte Artlab team, who worked with Antonin Fourneau on the project, and Painthouse, a graffiti collective invited for demonstration.

Keep reading on: 

Water Light Graffiti by Antonin Fourneau | video

Water Light Graffiti by Antonin Fourneau | project

Bright&dark

One of the best points about traveling is that our perception of all those places we visit becomes an opinion based on reality. After the trip, the way we think about the place where we travel changes forever. Depending on the experience itself, but also on the expectations we made before the trip, that new thinking can be better or worse than the previous idea. In any case, traveling is always positive because it helps us to open our minds to the differences that inhabit the world. But the truth is that there are trips that have a bigger impact on us than others. 

Seven months ago, I fell in love with New York City. It was the first time I visited the Big Apple, and it is definitely the most outstanding city I have ever seen. But the funniest fact about it is that it did not seem it was the first time I saw all those places. While walking around the city, everything looked familiar. 

However, it is not that surprising when I think about the countless number of movies, photographs, TV shows, songs, books, and lots of other materials that showcase the city. The streets and buildings I saw reminded me of all those audiovisual and written testimonies, but now when I watch a movie, listen to a song, or read an article that talks about New York, they remind me of the days I spent there. And it makes me always smile. 

Perhaps that connection with the city after I visited it is the reason why I liked 'New York: Night and day' so much when I discovered it. 

The video, created by Philip Stockton, is a combination of non-traditional video time-lapse and animation. The day and night scenes filmed around the city have been combined into single sequences using rotoscoping techniques. According to the author, the piece explores the relationships between night and day, by compositing together scenes shot in the same location over a speific time period. 

In my opinion, the creative concept is amazing. Cities look completely different during day or night. Thanks to the work of Philip Stockton, now we have the chance to see both views combined into one only look. 


Keep reading on:
'New York: Night and Day'
Philip Stockton website