We spend a lot of our time as a business working out ways to communicate our clients’ core values and messages in different representations to different audiences. In light of that, I enjoyed this article about a circus troupe of Colombian street kids who now tour the world and thrill people with their skills, and in particular a quote from their trainer, who said: “What we do is change the representation of these kids … because when somebody who before maybe sniffed glue or begged on a corner is suddenly doing a double somersault, you’re not looking any more at a poor, illiterate delinquent, but you’re saying, ‘Wow, that’s a double somersault.’?”

Have you ever noticed that a large number of Hollywood movie posters have blue and orange as their two main colours? Blue for tranquility and orange for action and energy.

It’s the best combination of colours to lure people into the cinema, they reckon. Think that sounds far fetched, check this page out!

I’ll never be able to look at another movie poster again … but it does shows the power of colour in communication.

You might also be interested to read an article on an NZ Trade and Enterprise website that looks at how businesses can use colours to guide customers to action, especially on websites.

Tomorrow is e-day, an initiative designed to – excuse the blurb – “raise awareness of the benefits of recycling computers and the hazardous nature of electronic waste (e-waste), while offering an easy way for households and schools to dispose of old computers and mobile phones in an environmentally sustainable manner.”

Sure, all sounds worthy … but disposing in an environmentally sustainable manner at a “drive-through event” (as noted on the e-day website)? You can only take part in this environmentally sustainable event by arriving in one of the most environmentally unsustainable ways possible!

The e-day website even has a scoreboard on which it will proudly highlight how many tonnes of rubbish the nationwide event receives — and how many cars visit!

Now, if somebody could calculate the carbon emissions from the number of cars that visit and then subtract that from the impact of the 1000 tonnes of e-waste expected to be collected, we would have a much clearer picture of the day’s environmental impact.

Last year, 16,000 gas-guzzling cars turned up to drop off waste. I hope the people collecting the waste are given adequate protection from the exhaust fumes.