Insight | Page 10 of 15 | Pierce Mattie

Celebrities Get Creative with Charity Fundraising

Do new charity fundraising tactics by the likes of Madonna and Angelina Jolie signal a new trend in celebrity fundraising? Have people grown fatigued by merely writing checks or donating to a web site? Does giving them something tangible – whether a painting or pieces of jewelry – provide a necessary level of satisfaction? Or is it just a cheap trick to take a smudge or two off a celebrity’s checkered reputation?

The Lowdown on Glamour’s 2013 Spring Fashion Trends

Spring fashion roundups from magazines like Glamour are supposed to present bold concepts. Can you imagine flipping through the volumes of ads if all that passed as editorial filler were tired old stories about preppie favorites? Or just another batch of celebrity wardrobe “don’t”s? Nope. You need inspiration. And ideas. Plus the common sense to know when too much isn’t enough.

21st Century Technology That Fashionably Strains the Brain

Forty years after the invention of the cellular telephone, technological advances continue to allow people to do things that, these days, strain the brains of their older siblings, not to mention those of parents or grandparents. And many of the newest high-tech developments include wearable items, some promising the capability of being directly applied to one’s body. Which leaves practically no form of technological breakthrough beyond the realm of possibility.

Coming to Your Skincare Regimen…Probiotics?

Relatively recent research suggests the strain of bacterium could abet acne flareups or other breakouts too. Great news for those with erratic skin.

Niche Food Marketing Is More About the Message than the Menu

With more and more people determined to keep to dietary restrictions, it makes business sense for stores and restaurants to do whatever it takes to meet those needs. Restaurants, in particular, can’t simply rely on atmosphere or speed of service to keep their customers. Now more than ever, it’s critically important for foodies to pay attention to the message they’re sending as much as to the products they’re selling.

Digital Mavericks Using Social Media to Change Our Lives

The leaps and bounds taking place in social media amount to more than graduated upgrades. And the people driving the changes are no longer referred to as movers and shakers. According to Details magazine, the new social players are known as “digital mavericks” because what they bring to the technological table promises to change the way we live and interact on a daily basis.

Color It Marketable

It’s not brand new information that colors easily stir up subconscious feelings, some troubling, others completely pleasant. Savvy retailers bank on this emotional correlation along the spectrum of Roy G. Biv to attract shoppers and encourage the opening of pockets and swiping of credit cards.

Are More and More People Turning Away from Pharmaceuticals?

Most people have been through enough cycles of common illnesses to know which remedies should ease their symptoms. And the amount of available medical knowledge online makes treatments like home remedies seem a better alternative to prescription or even over-the-counter drugs. Except when they aren’t. Have more and more people lost faith in using pharmaceuticals? Or is the home remedy movement destined to die out?

Do Celebrities Want to Change Your Morés, or Line Their Pockets?

Are rule-breaking celebrities – like those defiantly under-clad women at the 2013 Grammys — just drumming up publicity by upholding the entertainer’s privilege of behaving badly? Or is there a deeper motive at play, like hoping to influence a significant shift in ordinary Americans’ morés? If so, how will celebrities’ actions affect their overall standing with the public?

African Textiles Make Their Way onto the Fashion Runway

African textiles have long demonstrated a unique artisanship and not-easily-replicated patterns, varying throughout the years in reflection of the continent’s rich but vacillating history of turmoil and peace.