universal positive readers already know that I’m a big fan of business consultant David C. Baker. Amazingly insightful new articles from David on the subject of creative agency management and business development continue to appear on the HowDesign.com website and inside the illustrious magazine’s newsletters, and David is also teaming up with HOW to co-host the Mind Your Own Business Conference this Oct. 17-19 in Nashville. I also encourage you to tune into David’s free DesignCast series.

Many other noteworthy experts also offer sage business development advice that you can easily find online… often for free. Here are five more that are definitely worth subscribing to right away. Read more

Uniform is a strategic, brand communications agency based in Liverpool. “We help our clients create brand stories that deliver measurable results. We believe every brand has a story to tell. We find the random and the relevant, and bring it all together as effective, compelling communication.” For further information, visit www.uniform.net and www.vimeo.com/uniformltd.

Watch My Life as a Turkey on PBS. See more from Nature.

Almost eleven years ago, my wife and I moved from Los Angeles to North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains and the small college town of Boone, North Carolina, which is home to Appalachian State University. Among many new family-focused joys of life we’ve experienced here, this move has truly immersed us in mother nature’s richness. Many species of wild flora and fauna flourish in the sprawling patch of woods right outside our windows. We can view wilderness each day, and when we’re especially lucky, we see wild turkeys.

Until recently, most of what I’d learned about these creatures had come from my personal observations of them; through different seasons over the years, our homestead has been a regular daily stop for flocks (sometimes with dozens of members), as well as the occasional lone wanderer. My basic curiousities were extremely well rewarded when I watched “My Life as a Turkey” late last year on PBS. Produced for the network’s award-winning Nature series, I highly encourage you to watch the complete episode now available online (in the U.S. and its territories), which I have embedded above. I promise you, it is a fascinating window into a secret world. Read more

When Antidote (www.antidote.co.uk) was approached by Diesel founder Renzo Rosso to create a call-to-arms to inspire and mobilize the world’s youth to join the fight to help end extreme poverty in Africa and around the world, Antidote’s creatives wrote a manifesto for The Only The Brave Foundation and approached Brand New School to create a short, powerful animated film. In his treatment, BNS founder and executive creative director Jonathan Notaro proposed the unique storytelling approach that helps the foundation deliver its message in style in the finished production. The presentation is also taken to new heights by the score from Human Worldwide.

Antidote partner Henry Chilcott said, “It was two years in the making and we’re delighted with the result. The Only The Brave Foundation is a game changing idea and the tribe behind it is growing fast. Thanks to Selina Dey, Brand New School and Human who pulled out all the stops to help us create such a stunning piece of animation.” At this moment, this project is on the shortlist for this year’s prestigious Design Week Awards and for the 2012 AICP Show. Also, it will appear this week at the annual Visueltdagene (The Visual Days, www.visuelt.org) seminar in Oslo at Dansens Hus.

The Only The Brave Foundation (www.otbfoundation.org), is a not-for-profit organization that supports and develops a variety of innovative projects designed to help tackle extreme poverty in support of the UN Millennium Development goals. Whether in the form of funding, cooperation, advice, or staff mobilization, the Only The Brave Foundation works in liaison with numerous internal and external collaborators. A local non-profit association, NGO, Social Entrepreneur… the foundation relies on the expertise of the organizations it works with to implement concrete actions and development programs to the benefit of disadvantaged people.

For further information and full project credits, please visit www.brandnewschool.com.

Many thanks to Nerida Little and Portable for sharing the film Black Herds Of The Rain featured above as part of their Feb. 16 story entitled “Going Home to Irish Graffiti.” Directed by Andrew Telling, the film documents the filmmaker’s journey to Ireland along with Irish-born international artist Conor Harrington, as well as the artist’s work in creating several new murals in his homeland reflecting the country’s history, and his own.

Little writes: Black Herds Of The Rain is a subtle film about returning home and about giving back to the place that raised you. As Harrington explains to an elderly man who asks about his murals: “[It's] a bit of color on the wall, you know.”

Last month, Adult Swim aired “Let’s Do This!” — a new live-action comedy pilot created and produced by Bob Odenkirk, Brian Jarvis and Jim Freeman. Among many well-known comedic talents, the show stars Odenkirk as Cal McKenzie-Goldberg, who runs independent movie studio Cal-Gold Pictures from a strip mall in North Hollywood, USA. In the show’s pilot, Cal is contracted by a drug lord in Uganda to make a wizard movie, with hilarious results. By visiting this link, you can watch – and even embed – the entire show: http://bit.ly/AdultSwimLDT Read more

The Children’s Playhouse was launched ten years ago by a group of local citizens in Boone, North Carolina, who wanted an enriching play environment for children from birth to age eight that at the same time offered parents and caregivers friendly support in the important job of raising children. Ann Kiefert, Kathy Parham, Cathy Riggs, Heidi Campbell and my wife Beth Darnell were all members of the founding board. Under Kathy’s leadership, The Playhouse has not only become a widely renowned creative play space for families, it has also become a very powerful force for community goodness.

This past weekend, The Playhouse held its fourth annual Great Friend to Families Awards reception. Launched by Kathy and her forward-looking board members in 2009, this event has honored dozens of Hometown Heroes for their sustained contributions to the well-being of young children and families in our area. Proceeds from this annual event help support The Playhouse and ensure the facility remains accessible to families who might not otherwise be able to use its services. Read more

“Our planet, our home is being neglected. Climate change continues unabated. It seems there’s a new ecological disaster happening almost daily. This Earth Day it’s time to mobilize the planet from the ground up to send a message that the Earth won’t wait! Learn more at
www.earthday.org/2012”

Also check out: Earth Day 2010 and beyond

Last February, I published a fun story featuring a fascinating video from Denver, Colorado-based full-service creative studio Legwork… together with links to 17 thoughtful articles from design business expert David C. Baker of ReCourses, Inc. I’ve recently discovered Legwork’s impressive profile on TheFWA.com, as well as the studio’s latest “What We Learned” brand film, which is embedded above. I also happen to know that Legwork is currently seeking to hire a senior animator. Be sure to check them out on Vimeo, too.

IdN magazine is an international publication for creative people on a mission to amplify and unify the design community in Asia-Pacific and other parts of the world. An active organiser of sensational design-related events, it is devoted to bringing designers from around the globe together to communicate with, learn from and inspire one another. It has truly become what the initials of its title proclaim it to be: an international designers’ network.

TLC is key to a good TVC: Budgets for TV commercials can match those for moderate feature films, and given their importance and the changing media landscape, creativity remains in high demand. The latest issue of IdN reviews more than 50 examples of the latest and best in the world of TVCs.