Digital Signage, ?New avenues for profitable VJing?

[BrainStove]

Well, as I posted on Oli's thread "Other Forums", lately I?ve been hanging out & digging a little bit on http://www.digitalsignageforum.com/ looking for new ideas/inspiration in order to place REAL FOOD on my table. (!!Shit, each day it's getting harder to achieve!! and certainly not just in my country but everywhere cuz this current globalization economy is killing us fer sure)

I kinda see all this "Digital Signage" thingy like a new emerging technology, trend and opportunity to play in a more profitable way/field to squeeze every and each one of our Visuals TechKnowHow, Content Creation and Mind Blowing skills accumulated through the VJing experience working in our economical advantage without necesarily become ourselves Corporate whores.

I?m curious about what you think on the matter, so feel free to fullfill my pauper table with whatever you bring for the Comilona... Be my guest. :love:

[LEVLHED]

ever since I got to jam on Jumbotrons, I LOVE LED. especially the so-bright-I-can't-look-right-at-it ones :)

[visualove]

Digital signage is still booming, but it would have been better to become involved about 4 years ago.

Now any advertising agency, interactive house or small media studio can author signage. For non interactive signs usually you just have a bunch of MPEGs and maybe JPEGs. Maybe in your area you can be the pioneer!

You could also get into the integration on the technical end, very similar skilz to vjing, but simpler! Or be a content producer for an integrator who has the sales types to get new biz. Typically the integrator would have the contracts to get flat screens and projectors wholesale.

I would suggest using sign apps, not vj apps to run the signs though. On the other hand vj app producers could branch out to make sign apps.

[BrainStove]

I?m seriously wondering how easy or hard this new surfacing Digital Signage workfield/market would be for so many talented & creative people in our community as a great resource/complementary activity to invest time, energy & effort trying to make a decent living out of our accumulated VisualArts/VJing/Inmersive experience, expertise, skillz and Tech KnowHow at the same time as fulfilling our wishes to stay still active as VJs & Real Time A/V performers with no need to be dragged into exclusive & fulltime Corporations Workship and still enjoy the adventure.

To give an idea that embracing Digital Signage activities and assuming the job as a complementary source/stream of incomes and revenue for us not necesarily mean get swallowed in producing traditional, boring, and crude forms of conventional corporate advertising everybody are sick of it nor quit to our original dreams/goals which took us to get into VJing in first place... take a look at This site (http://www.reactrix.com/) first entirely and then tell me if our brilliant VJs community of developers, programmers/coders, content creators, performers and creative people in general are not able to step in successfully in this potential market given the big ammount of unique HW/SW interactive/inmersive tools & solutions already available out there specifically for VJs that ONLY US are experts using it.

Well, it's just the tip of the iceberg which I can envision right now from my humble rocking chair, so I encourage all of you to beat the Pi?ata (http://www.longgreenbc.org/images/06-05-02%20Missions%20Picnic/pinata%20whack%202.jpg) with your best swing so everybody here could see the caramel rain. :yep:

[DrEskaton]

I'm not sure I get it... :confused:

Why is working on digital signage any different to working on content for tv / web advertising or visuals for corporate events.....

I'm not saying there's anything wrong with either of those but I don't see how this is in any way more creative or innovative.... it's just another content delivery system that allows advertising to be EVEN more ubiquituous.....

If you work on advertising, just be honest and admit it....

and then follow the advice of bill hicks...

"By the way, if anyone here is in advertising or marketing, kill yourself. Thank you, thank you. Just a little thought. I'm just trying to plant seeds. Maybe one day they'll take root. I don't know. You try. You do what you can. Kill yourselves. Seriously though, if you are, do. No really, there's no rationalisation for what you do, and you are Satan's little helpers, OK? Kill yourselves, seriously. You're the ruiner of all things good. Seriously, no, this is not a joke. "There's gonna be a joke coming..." There's no fucking joke coming, you are Satan's spawn, filling the world with bile and garbage, you are fucked and you are fucking us, kill yourselves, it's the only way to save your fucking soul. Kill yourself, kill yourself, kill yourself now. Now, back to the show.

"You know what Bill's doing now, he's going for the righteous indignation dollar, that's a big dollar, a lot of people are feeling that indignation, we've done research, huge market. He's doing a good thing." Godammit, I'm not doing that, you scumbags, quit putting a godamn dollar sign on every fucking thing on this planet!"


I kid... I kid.... I've worked on plenty of ads myself.....

[atomicone]

Well, I guess I better kill myself....

I do work with digital signage, not the large scale stuff, but with a company that does lcd screens in washrooms, high traffic hallways, stores etc. I do all the in-house ad creation, as well as prepping others peoples ads to work on our wireless media network. I do video design for corporate events and product launches as well.
While this is definitely not the most creatively rewarding, the advantages outweigh the 'artistic cons'.
I get to work from home all week, follow my own schedule and be my own boss. I also get the comfort of paying the rent and buying the gear and software I need for my live video mixing. Lastly, I have access to a lot of toys as well, such as our holo-screens, lcd screens, and projectors.
For anyone involved in vjing (who is aware of the fact that we are all 'sellouts' and has no problems cashing in on it), I think working in advertising is a great way to help finance your artistic endevours. The skill set for making content for vjing or for advertising is the same, if anything it just gives me more practice, especially at creating content with a specific final objective in mind.
If you can get in on the market, I'd say its a great idea, especially if you can get in on a part-time / freelance basis (that way you aren't married to the machine!).

cheers

[DrEskaton]

i think you missed my point atomicone. should have used more smilies....

I honestly don't think there's anything intriniscally bad in working on advertising...

I was questioning brainstoves claim that working on digial signage is somehow different or more rewarding than working on other forms of advertising.... a corporate whore is a corporate whore... and very few of us on here are not in one way or another....

[atomicone]

No worries dude, I got your point, too bad there isn't a smiley for 'tongue-in-cheek' eh? :P
My bit wasn't so much a reply, just my 2 cents on the whole thing. I'm quite fine with being a corporate whore, in fact I rather enjoy taking their money, as long as I use it to try and meet my own artistic goals.
I would agree that no matter the media, advertising is advertising, and I think any form can be rewarding both creatively and financially.