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If you want to buy or sell items with Bitcoin, you need to be able to send and receive your funds from a certain location, kind of like sending and receiving mail through a mailbox.

But since we’re talking about sending and receiving Bitcoins — and not postcards — the location where you send and receive Bitcoins is actually on the internet and represented by a long series of letters and numbers. It’s called a Bitcoin address.

Most blockchain experts recommend generating a new Bitcoin address each time you send or receive a payment, though. This personal security measure makes it harder for people to trace where your Bitcoin funds come from and where they go.

How to Get a Bitcoin Address

To get a Bitcoin address, you first need to download a Bitcoin wallet, which is software that allows you to securely send, receive, and store Bitcoin funds in the Bitcoin network. 

Bitcoin wallets also store your private key, which is essentially your Bitcoin password. The software will generate a brand new Bitcoin address for you every time you create an invoice or receive a payment request for Bitcoins too.

There are four types of Bitcoin wallets that you can use: mobile, web, desktop, and hardware.

Mobile Wallets

Mobile wallets are the most convenient wallets to access, but your wallet provider will store your key on its app or your phone, so if someone knows your phone’s passcode and accesses it, they can easily send all your funds to one of their Bitcoin addresses.

To combat this security issue, consider only letting fingerprint authentication open your mobile wallet app.

You can download mobile wallets in the app store on IOS, Android, and Windows Phone. 

Here’s a list of some:

• Airbitz Bitcoin (IOS & Android)
• ArcBit (IOS & Android)
• Bitcoin Wallet (Android)
• Bither (Android)
• Bitpie (IOS & Android)
• Blockchain (IOS & Android)
• BRD (IOS & Android)
• BTC (IOS & Android)
• Circle (IOS & Android)
• Coin.Space (IOS, Android, & Windows Phone)
• Coinomi (IOS & Android)
• CoinText (IOS, Android, & Windows Phone)
• Copay (IOS & Android)
• Edge (IOS & Android)
• Electrum (Android)
• GreenAddress (IOS & Android)
• GreenBits (Android)
• HandCash (Android)
• Jaxx (IOS & Android)
• Mobi (IOS & Android)
• Mycelium (Android)
• Simple Bitcoin (Android)

Web Wallets

Web wallets are equally as convenient as mobile wallets, but they’re also just as risky.

If someone knows a few of your personal details, like your phone number, email address, and birthday, they can impersonate you, telling your wireless service provider that you need to switch your number to a new phone — their phone.

Then, they can go to your email account, click “forgot my password”, and your email service provider will text a “change my password” code straight to their phone. This allows them to break into your email account, prompt your Bitcoin wallet provider to send a “change my password” email, and hack into your Bitcoin wallet account, stealing all your funds.

Consider telling your cell phone carrier to ask for a passcode before any of your account details can change — it’ll be nearly impossible for hackers to uncover it.

You can sign up for a web wallet on a wallet provider’s website.

Here’s a list of some:

• BitGo
• Blockchain
• BTC
• CoinBase
• Coin.Space
• Jaxx

Desktop Wallets

Desktop wallets are software programs that you can install on your computer. They’re more secure than mobile and web wallets, but hackers can still exploit vulnerabilities in a desktop wallet’s security, like extracting unencrypted account recovery phrases, to steal your bitcoins.

Consider only using a wallet that encrypts your private key and account recovery phrases.

Here are some desktop wallets you can install on your computer:

• ArcBit
• Bitcore
• Bither
• Bitcoin ABC
• Bitcoin Core
• Bitcoin Unlimited
• Bitcoin XT
• Bitpie
• Copay
• Electron Cash
• Electrum
• Exodus
• GreenAddress
• Jaxx
• mSIGNA

Hardware Wallets

Hardware wallets are like external hard drives for your Bitcoins. They’re physical, offline pieces of hardware that you can plug into your computer to buy and sell items with Bitcoin and store in a safe place when you’ve finished conducting business.

Hardware wallets are the most secure way of storing your bitcoins because they limit your funds’ exposure to the internet and potential hackers.

Here are some hardware wallets you can buy online:

• BitBox
• CoolWallet S
• KeepKey
• Ledger Nano S
• Trezor

Bitcoin Address Example

Bitcoin addresses are 26-35 characters long, consist of alphabetic and numeric characters, and either begin with “1”, “3”, or “bc1”.

Currently, there are three Bitcoin address formats in use:

1. P2PKH (address starts with the number “1”)

Example: 

1BvBMSEYstWetqTFn5Au4m4GFg7xJaNVN2

2. P2SH (address starts with the number “3”)

Example:

3J98t1WpEZ73CNmQviecrnyiWrnqRhWNLy

3. Bech32 (address starts with “bc1”)

Example:

bc1qar0srrr7xfkvy5l643lydnw9re59gtzzwf5mdq

Bitcoin is new and exciting, but it’s also relatively ambiguous, so it polarizes the general public. Its potential as a global currency exhilarates some people but terrifies others.

Bitcoin skeptics doubt the cryptocurrency is secure enough to become a global currency, but Bitcoin wallets, especially hardware wallets, are getting tougher to crack, and the one-time use of Bitcoin addresses make your transactions nearly untraceable. 

The first time I truly took an interest in augmented reality was when I almost died from it.

Okay, no — that might be dramatic. But during the summer when Pokemon Go was taking over the world, my brother and I were driving on the highway when my brother suddenly jerked the wheel to the right. We were flying straight towards the guardrail, just so he could catch a Pikachu resting on our dashboard. Let’s just say it felt like a near-death experience.

Augmented reality (AR) is different from virtual reality (VR). With virtual reality, you’re fully immersed in an alternate universe. You put the googles on, you press “play”, and you explore the inner jungles of Africa while firmly planted in your office chair.

Augmented reality, on the other hand, is the result of superimposing technology on our physical world — and, as these books will show you, Pokemon Go is just the beginning of it.

While my augmented reality knowledge doesn’t stretch far beyond my own limited experience, there are plenty of exceptional books that explore the full magnitude of AR, including what it has to offer us, and where it’s headed. Whether you’re a student, hobbyist, or engineer, these books will offer new, extensive, and well-researched information to ensure you’re soon an expert in augmented reality.

Books About AR

1. Augmented Reality: Principles and Practice (Usability)

By Dieter Schmalstieg, Tobias Hollerer

Dieter Schmalstieg and Tobias Hollerer have been researching augmented reality since the 1990s, and they also teach classes related to their knowledge on the subject — teaching, in fact, is what led them to write this book. The book extensively covers augmented reality as it relates to researchers and engineers, so it’s useful both as a textbook and as a general resource. Whether you’re a developer or a student, Principles and Practice offers enough insight over subjects ranging from computer graphics to human-computer interaction to satisfy anyone’s lingering questions.

 Image courtesy of Amazon.

2. Practical Augmented Reality: A Guide to the Technologies, Applications and Human Factors for AR and VR (Usability)

By Steve Aukstakalnis

AR technology is often discussed in conjunction with computers and gaming — leaving a gap in the industry for professionals who are interested in AR but don’t focus on those disciplines.Steve Aukstakalnis’s preface for his book begins by addressing this disparity: “[…] a new generation of tech-savvy youth, college and individuals, and professionals has emerged with the same interest and fascination as two decades prior, but with relatively few up-to-date resources clearly explaining the enabling technologies […], or which show the variety of existing, problem-solving applications outside of gaming. This book attempts to fill that void.”

Practical Augmented Reality covers the technology, applications, and human factors involving augmented reality and focuses on both existing tools and theoretical visions for the future — making it ideal for students or engineers attempting to join the field. The book includes case studies from a variety of industries including medicine, law enforcement, and engineering. If you doubt AR’s potential effects on our world outside of computers and gaming, Aukstakalnis’s book might start to convice you otherwise.

 Image courtesy of Amazon.

3. Augmented Human: How Technology Is Shaping the New Reality

By Helen Papagiannis

Whether you’re an artist curious how augmented reality will change storytelling, or a computer engineer devoted to exploring how haptic technology syncs what you see with how something feels, this book covers it. Dr. Helen Papagiannis explores how augmented reality can, and will, one day impact our everyday lives. As a leader in the field, she also offers opportunities she sees for the future of AR, so if you’re interested in pursuing a career in the industry or designing an AR product, this is a good place to start.

Image courtesy of Amazon. 

4. Augmented Reality: A Practical Guide

By Stephen Cawood and Mark Fiala

If you learn best by doing, you’ll like Stephen Cawood and Mark Fiala’s book, which teaches you about game development and then offers both demos and practical advice for you to try it yourself at your own computer. While some of the other books in this list focus on augmented reality in general, A Practical Guide dives into the specifics of AR for tablet PC’s, camera phones, and computers — and offers downloadable code samples to create something yourself, using your own webcam and computer.

Image courtesy of Amazon.

5. Augmented Reality: Innovative Perspectives across Art, Industry, and Academia

By Sean Morey, John Tinnell

Sean Morey and John Tinnell’s Innovative Perspectives explores an usual aspect of augmented reality — how it relates to art and culture. The book impressively attempts to merge various disciplines to create a fuller picture of AR in relation to design. Morey and Tinnell incorporate essays from humanities scholars, interviews with software developers, and artwork by AR-inspired artists. If you’re interested in exploring AR as it relates to humanities and the media, both today and in the future, this is a good book to consider.

Image courtesy of Amazon.

For about 10 years now, Google has relied on an army of human evaluators to provide feedback and critical insights on countless experiments run by the search engine. The core of the job is to rate the relevance of search results based on a user’s search query and, to assign a rating, Google raters must strictly follow the instructions provided in a document known as General Guidelines.

Since 2015, Google has released to the public the full version of its search quality rater’s guidelines whenever an update is available. As expected, many marketers and SEO strategists have tried to use that document as a reference for their optimization strategies. However, those guidelines were not created for that purpose — they’re too broad and not actionable for marketers.

I’ve been doing search quality rating for Google for over three years. Being ranked in the top 5% of raters for most of this time has given me some confidence that I know what Google is looking for in terms of relevance. So I decided to transform this expertise into actionable pieces of advice to the SEO and content marketing community.

My objective with this series, “Learn From a Google Rater”, is to teach you how to approach search through the lens of a seasoned evaluator, so that you can use this knowledge to the benefit of your own content marketing strategy. The concepts and techniques you will learn here are the same that I put together in the SEA Model, a search evaluator course that I created to be used as a supplementary resource to Google’s guidelines.

Let’s begin.

Understanding User Intent

Every search occurs because of a need from the user that must be fulfilled. We will call this either user intent or query intent. These terms can be used interchangeably.

Sometimes, it’s very easy to infer what the user intent is, based on the query they used. For example, “I want to order pizza”. What’s the user intent? To order pizza, most likely from nearby restaurants.

“Pizza delivery”. What’s the user intent? To order pizza to be delivered, most likely from nearby restaurants.

In these examples, the user intent is very clear. Whenever the user intent is very clear, we call this intent the correct intent.

What about this query: “pizza”. What is the user intent?

This query is not as clear as the previous examples. It is possible that the user is looking for pizzerias nearby, pizza recipes, images of pizza, etc.

In these cases, we say that the query intent is somewhat clear. Although it’s hard to tell what exactly the user is looking for, we are still able to think of several different results that could be relevant or useful to them.

Classifying Intents by Likelihood

When the user intent is just somewhat clear, it means that there are several possible things they could be looking for – several possible intents. Some of them are more likely, some are less likely, and some very unlikely.

Approaching possible intents through these three basic levels of likelihood helps you get an idea as to whether your content stands a chance of ranking well in the SERP for certain queries.

Let’s illustrate with an example.

Assume that you own a travel blog. You like to produce content that is original and of high quality — after all, your blog is known for providing interesting and in-depth information on travel topics.

Recently, you decided to launch a section about dishes that are popular for representing specific regions of the world. Your objective is to provide detailed information about the history of the dish along with the real, ‘original’ recipe.

Although you include a recipe in these articles, you are not looking to just rank for recipes. You are targeting curious individuals who like to increase their cultural knowledge by reading your posts, and you want to provide the most interesting information available on the web regarding that specific dish you are writing about (its origins, history, variations, etc.).

You are currently looking for a representative of the Italian cuisine and you realize there are two dishes you’d have a lot of interesting things to write about: pizza and tiramisu (an Italian dessert).

As a matter of habit, you go to Keyword Planner to check the expected search volume in English for the keywords “pizza” and “tiramisu”. 7.5M for pizza and 1.5M for tiramisu.

One common mistake many people make in these cases is assuming the topic pizza would attract more viewers simply because the keyword pizza is more popular. You don’t want to be that person!

First and foremost, instead of just looking for the search volume of the keyword pizza, you should try to find information about more specific, intent-driven keywords, like “pizza recipe” (165K monthly searches), “pizza dough recipe” (246K monthly searches) “history of pizza” (10K monthly searches), etc. These are the keywords that represent the exact type of content you are looking to create.

Then, for the broader keyword pizza, a helpful technique is to convert keyword into query and assume those 7.5M people are issuing the query “pizza” to Google. Based on that information, you need to try to figure out possible types of content they would be looking for with this query, and this is when classifying intents by likelihood comes in handy.

More likely intents for the query pizza:

• Find pizzerias nearby,
• Order pizza,
• Etc.

Less likely intents for the query pizza:

• Look for info about pizza (history, types, etc.)*,
• Look for pizza recipes*,
• Look for images of pizza,
• Etc.

(*) intents addressed by the content we are looking to create

Very unlikely intents for the query pizza:

• Look for info about, or watch any of the films titled “pizza”
• Etc.

I like to include ‘etc.’ because there could be countless possible intents associated with a query, and we shouldn’t bother trying to figure out all those possible intents. What is most important here is to list those intents that come up to us naturally and try to classify the intent(s) that are going to be addressed by the content we are looking to create.

Now, let’s do the same thing for the keyword “tiramisu”. We will approach it as if it were a query and classify possible intents.

‘More likely’ intents for the query tiramisu:

• Look for tiramisu recipes*
• Look for info about tiramisu (origin, history, etc.)*
• Look for images of tiramisu
• Find restaurants that serve tiramisu**
• Order tiramisu**
• Etc.

(*) intents addressed by the content we are looking to create

(**) intents that would occur on larger cities with a good variety of Italian restaurants

Please note that I classified all the intents as ‘more likely’ intents. The reason is that none of these intents seem to really stand out from the others. They are all similarly likely.

Why Understanding Intent is Crucial

Google exists to provide results that are relevant to the user. In other words, the search engine’s purpose is to satisfy the user intent. When the query is just somewhat clear — meaning, it has many possible intents — it’s reasonable to expect that Google will try to prioritize results that address intents which are ‘more likely’.

In light of this, a smart strategy is to aim to rank for queries for which your content addresses the correct intent, if there is one, or any of the more likely intents, if there is more than one more likely intent.

Introducing Diversity

If result relevance is intrinsically connected to the likelihood of the intent they are addressing, the relevance of the SERP (Search Engine Results Page) is also affected by the diversity of intents addressed by the results displayed. In other words, a helpful SERP not only prioritizes results that address most likely intents, but it also includes results that would satisfy other intents, as well. However, this depends on the amount of different results for the most likely intents.

For instance, if there are many different results to satisfy ‘more likely’ intents, a helpful, diversified SERP would probably only prioritize results addressing ‘more likely’ intents. In such cases, results addressing intents that are ‘less likely’ would possibly be relegated to much lower positions, maybe on the second page or beyond.

On the other hand, if there are few different results to address more likely intents, a helpful, diversified SERP would also display results that address less likely intents in prominent positions.

So … Write About Pizza or Tiramisu?

From the perspective of a content strategist, I think writing about tiramisu would be a better idea. Even though the keyword pizza is much more popular, most people searching for pizza have other intents in mind and the results that are prioritized by Google will most certainly try to reflect the likelihood of those intents. There are pizzerias everywhere, and people are much more interested in eating pizza than looking for historical or more general information about it.

With tiramisu, it’s a bit different. Since this dish is not as popular as pizza, many people looking for results about the Italian dessert would likely be interested in more detailed information about it, which is exactly the kind of content you are looking to provide. As I mentioned previously, “a smart strategy is to aim to rank for queries, and keywords, for which your content addresses the correct intent, if there is one, or any of the more likely intents, if there is more than one most likely intent”.

Tiramisu would allow you to rank well for more specific, intent-driven keywords like “what is tiramisu” and also for the generic term “tiramisu”, something that wouldn’t be nearly as easy with pizza. Furthermore, since your article would also include a recipe, it would be addressing a ‘more likely’ “look for recipe” intent with tiramisu, but only a ‘less likely’ “look for recipe” intent with pizza.

Peanut butter and jelly. Batman and Robin. Eggs and ham. You’ve probably heard of these famous pairs (or, in some cases, noshed on them), but for inbound marketers, there’s one pair in particular that goes hand-in-hand: content and marketing.

Ninety percent of marketing companies use content marketing as part of their strategy. Still, that doesn’t mean all the content they create is top-notch, compelling, valuable content.

But what does it take to become a good content creator? How do I become one that peers in my industry would look to for advice and opinions? Let me tell you a secret: It all starts with what you do before you put your fingers to a keyboard.

Whether you work on a content team at your company or you’re riding solo, there are some tried-and-true habits you can adopt that will put you on the path to being a truly successful content creator.

Fair warning, though, marketers: Like all good things, it’s not going to happen overnight. And it shouldn’t, because you’re trying to get good at it, not just simply do it. But the sooner you start working these five habits into your routine, the sooner you’ll be well on your way to becoming a high quality content creator.

Habits of Successful Content Creators

1) Read Industry-Related News Daily

Creating great content that really resonates with your target audience requires you to know what’s going on in your industry. And the best content creators scour — not just read, but scour — the internet for industry news and trends. This sets them up nicely to understand the context behind what’s happened historically in their industry and how that shapes their target audience’s mindset in the present.

Get in the habit of reading by putting everything you read in one place. You can set up an RSS feed with an app like Feedly for blogs you know that contain relevant industry news. Also, ask a few colleagues what they’re reading these days and follow suit. Discover where your buyer persona spends time online and snag those blogs, too. Ahead of the game and have a few favorites already? Add ‘em to the list.

2) Write on the Regular

If you don’t use it, you lose it. Successful content creators understand the importance of constantly flexing their writing muscles. Doing so helps them work through ideas that might be jumbled in their head and identify nuggets that could turn into fully realized ideas later. Successful content creators may not always be inspired to write, but they know something inspiring can come from their writing.

Get in the habit of writing by doing it daily or every other day. I’m not saying you need to write a polished, 1500-word essay on an industry-relevant topic daily. Rather, I’m talking about setting aside 10 or 15 minutes to jot down some thoughts and ideas. Figure out when your mind is the clearest — for most people, that’s after or during a cup of coffee — and just free-form write. What did you read yesterday that stuck with you? What didn’t you understand? Asking yourself those questions should start the flow.

3) Curate Content (When It Makes Sense)

There’s no shortage of people curating content these days. In fact, anyone on the internet can take someone else’s content and retweet it, share it on Facebook, pin it — the list goes on. But successful content creators know it’s not enough to take relevant industry news and spit it back out to your fans and followers.

“You must also position yourself as an expert and genuinely interact with your communities,” says Guy Kawasaki, the New York Times best-selling author. Sharing content isn’t enough. Engaging with the content you’re sharing now makes it unique to you.

Get in the habit of curating content when you have something valuable to add. Now that you’ve started scouring the internet on a regular basis for industry news, you probably have a wider depth of knowledge than you think. So be confident, and give your readers additional, useful information or even a thought or opinion when sharing others’ content. Your networks will appreciate it, and the author probably will too (or it could at least spark a debate — bonus!).

4) Network at Every Opportunity

Successful content creators know their success is due not only to their passion, but also to those who taught them, inspired them, and pushed them to think in different ways.

This is one way content creators grow into successful content creators. They’ve accepted the fact there’s more to learn than what they already know, and they’re open to new ways of thinking. Networking forces you to do just that. It’s a time to listen to others’ ideas and take them into consideration alongside your own.

Get in the habit of networking by seizing the countless opportunities you have to do it. They aren’t called social networks for nothing! Spend some time on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to check out who the thought leaders are in your industry and follow them.

Once you do that, you can ease into in-person networking. If you’re not a natural extrovert, the thought of networking can make you cringe. Make it easy on yourself and start small with colleagues. You already have something in common, so striking up a conversation in the kitchen or at your desks shouldn’t be too scary.

5) Question Everything

Polished content creators are curious by nature. They’ve learned to be curious about the internal knowledge they already have and the external information that’s being promoted out in the world. It’s the insights that come from this inherent curiosity that makes great content.

“You need to be curious to identify problems worth solving,” says Lorraine Twohill, head of marketing at Google, “and then come up with new solutions.” It’s these proposed solutions to age-old problems that gets content creators on the radar. 

Get in the habit of questioning the status quo by constantly playing devil’s advocate. Taking the contrarian view of a piece of content can be difficult at first, but if you start to question why the author thinks this way and what happened in the industry that triggered this viewpoint, you’ll begin to think more critically about the content you’re consuming. And if you didn’t know, critical thinkers make great content creators.

There’s a lot of pressure on inbound marketers today to churn out great content as part of their marketing strategy — so much so that 18% of marketers confirmed that developing quality content was their top priority this year. If you’re part of that 18%, know that being a successful content creator starts with the habits you form, as they’ll set you up to produce some seriously valuable content for your target audience.

Image credit: Sebastien Wiertz

 

Marketers spend a lot of time trying to nail down abstract concepts. They’re tasked with turning brainstorming sessions and comments sourced during focus groups into campaigns that sum up everything about a brand’s identity in a neat, tidy, and most importantly, interesting way.

But what if a consumer could walk into a room and fully experience your brand with all their senses? Pop-up events offer just that — the chance for consumers to get up close and personal with their favorite companies in a truly immersive setting.

In their simplest form, pop-up events are temporary retail spaces that give companies the opportunity to sell their products in an environment completely designed and controlled by them. Since they’re temporary, they offer a relatively low-cost and low-commitment way for companies to take creative risks, generate buzz, and introduce their brands to new audiences.

Consumers love the lure of exclusivity, and brands love the unmatched opportunity for experimentation. To inspire your next branded experience, we’ve curated a list of 15 innovative and visually stunning pop-up events.

15 Examples of Next-Level Pop-Up Events

1) COS Los Angeles

Experimental architecture firm Snarkitecture was inspired by mirrored surfaces and simple silhouettes when designing this temporary retail space for LA-based fashion label COS. The folks at Snarkitecture transformed an empty industrial space into two identical, monochromatic rooms — one white and one pale pink — leaving the focus on two racks of minimal clothing. The reflected space “creates an unexpected and altered world for visitors to experience and share.“

Image Credit: Snarkitecture

2) BarkShop Live

Shouldn’t your dog be able to shop for his own toys? Bark & Co, the ecommerce company behind BarkBox, certainly thinks so. For one week in June 2016, the dog-centric retailer set up shop in Manhattan, inviting dogs and their owners to try out their squeaky, bouncy, and chewy offerings in-person. The lucky pups in attendance were fitted with RFID-enabled vests, which tracked the toys they played with the most. Owners were then able to view and purchase their dogs’ favorite playthings directly from the event’s custom mobile app.

Video from Digiday

3) Glossier Summer Fridays Showroom

In Summer 2015, online makeup and skincare brand Glossier styled a floor of its Manhattan headquarters as a temporary retail showroom — the closest thing to stepping into its beautifully curated Instagram feed. The space offered Glossier products for sale, but as founder Emily Weiss explained, selling tubes of moisturizer and lip balm wasn’t necessarily the pop-up’s top priority. “It’s not really just a store,” Weiss said in an interview with Racked. “It’s almost like this is a giant mood board for the company we’re hoping to build.”

Created under the direction of set designer Marguerite Wade, the penthouse featured custom floral arrangements by Meta Flora and an installation by multi-media artist Grace Villamil.

Image Credit: Glossier

4) Fast Food Aid

Creative directors Ikkyu and Junya Sato of Kaibutsu design studio noticed that young adults in Harajuku had a serious fast food problem — and they decided to do something about it. To promote organic food chain Dohtonbori, they launched Fast Food Aid, a pharmacy-inspired vitamin pop-up that offers a selection of health supplements aimed at junk food lovers. And all it will cost you is a receipt from a fast food place.

After a guilty indulgence, exchange your receipt for a customized bottle of supplements that will replenish the nutrients missed at your last meal. Each canister is aimed at a particular junk food — ramen, pizza, hamburger, etc., — to make sure your system gets what it needs.

Although Dohtonbori isn’t actually selling anything for profit at the shop, its been able to educate visitors about health and wellness, hopefully driving them to opt for healthier food options in the future — like Dohtonbori’s own restaurant.

Image Credit: Fast Food Aid

5) Pantone Café

What does color taste like? If anyone knows the answer to that question, it’s Pantone. The world’s most well-known color company has been running a pop-up café in Monaco for the past two summers, selling a minimal menu of pastries, lunch options, coffees, and fresh juices — all branded with Pantone’s signature color swatches.

So does this mean Pantone is permanently branching out into cuisine? Not quite. The seasonal eatery is perfect Instagram-bait, and it has successfully generated a ton of buzz in the press. It’s a perfect example of a pop-up event enabling a company to take creative risks with its brand by stepping outside of its typical business model.

Image Credit: Pantone Café

6) Real Life At Work

To offer passersby a glimpse into its world, London-based ad agency Wieden+Kennedy invited graphic artist Emily Forgot to transform the front window of its office into an imaginative, cartoon-inspired pop-up workspace. Using exaggerated monochrome imagery, Forgot crafted a whimsical office scene from paper, complete with a typewriter and a clock that ran backward.

For a few weeks, real agency employees took turns “working” in the window. The whole thing was then broadcast live via webcam on the agency’s website for anyone who was curious enough to watch. The pop-up was a unique way for W+K to shrug off the stereotype of the ad agency that takes itself too seriously — plus it was a creative chance for the team to engage with the community.

Image Credit: Wieden + Kennedy London

7) Früt

How do you make inexpensive, packaged underwear appeal to high-end consumers? Just create a “luxury” lingerie pop-up with a fake, fancy-sounding name. CP+B Boulder helped client Fruit of the Loom open up an intentionally pretentious and ludicrously over-priced boutique for its underwear, complete with colorful intimates hanging from over-the-top tree displays. Früt sold only Fruit of the Loom undergarments, but shoppers who usually wouldn’t deign to buy the brand were lured in by the high-end guise.

Image Credit: Wieden+Kennedy London

8) Organic Valley Coffee Shop

In a clever shot aimed at the artisanal coffee movement, creative branding agency Humanaut opened up a pop-up cafe to promote its client Organic Valley’s new coffee creamer. The temporary Manhattan storefront adhered to all of the typical hipster tropes — a minimal logo featuring arrows and X’s, modern glass mugs, and trendy sizes — Lil Bit, Double, and Lotta. And they cast a real Organic Valley farmer as the shop’s folksy proprietor.

There was one catch: The shop only sold measured portions of half-and-half. You ordered your creamer at the counter from a barista and added your coffee separately. The spoof was a major success. Unperturbed by the irony, New Yorkers lined up to order shots of plain cream for $2 a pop. “No one had a problem paying $2 for a pour of organic half-and-half,” said Humanaut’s creative chief David Littlejohn. “In the end, the idea wasn’t as crazy as we thought it was.”

Video Credit: Organic Valley

9) 5-Minute Internship

Solve, a Minneapolis-based creative agency, wanted to re-vamp its summer intern hiring process to attract recruits who can really think on their feet. So naturally, they created a portable, small-scale replica of their office — complete with a receptionist-staffed micro lobby — and set off on an epic college-campus road trip.

Students at participating campuses were given a 5-minute challenge based on their area of interest — and those who performed the best were invited to interview on the spot. The pop-up event tripled the amount of applications the agency received to its internship position.

Image Credit: Adweek

10) The Picture House

Capitalizing on the Instagram food photography craze, Birdseye opened up a temporary restaurant in London where diners could settle their bill with an Instagram post — all they had to do was take a snap of their meal and add the hashtag #BirdsEyeInspirations. The event was a creative social media experiment that helped generate free publicity for the frozen food company’s Inspirations line of products. Branding agency Slice was behind the world’s first pay-by-picture pop up.

Image Credit: Slice

11) The Period Shop

For one weekend, Kotex launched a pop-up in New York aimed at alleviating negativity and spreading love for women during their periods. The store, which was developed by ad agency Organic, featured ice cream, manicures, chocolate, comfy clothing, and Kotex U products for sale. Women were invited to browse the brightly colored offerings and share their experiences. And it was all for a good cause, too. Proceeds were donated to a women’s homeless shelter.

Image Credit: Adweek

12) Birchbox’s Tour

Pop-ups give online retailers the chance to show off their goods in person, interact directly with their fans, and take their brand to the next level. Birchbox — which sells subscription boxes of curated beauty products — went on a national tour in 2015, opening up temporary brick-and-mortar stores in multiple cities. In addition to selling beauty products, they offered manicures and astrology readings to entice beauty-lovers inside.

Image Credit: Racked LA

13) Fendi Spring/Summer 2016 Flower Shop

The mobile flower shop that botanical designer Azuma Makoto created for Fendi is proof that not all pop-ups need to be large scale productions. The artist adorned a three-wheeled Italian vehicle with an intricate floral display and outfitted the side of the truck as an open storefront. The vendor/driver sold limited edition Fendi bags and vases of Makoto’s floral arrangements to promote the fashion label’s 2016 Spring/Summer collection.

Image Credit: My Modern Met

14) Arnsdorf

What’s a designer to do when they’re facing a tight budget? Experiment with creative materials. This pop-up retail space for Australian clothier Arnsdorf was created by using 154 pairs of neutral-colored pantyhose, and the effect is otherworldly.

Image Credit: Fast Company

15) The Poundshop

This design collective is a recurring pop-up platform for artists to offer their goods for affordable prices. “The aim of The Poundshop is to spread design to a wider audience by making it accessible through price and engagement,” the website explains.

The pop-up shops are just as visually interesting as the art they sell.

Image Credit: The Poundshop