The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Most of you have heard about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. But how many of you actually read it? This is a superb animation made by Seth Brau with the declaration as moving typography. It reminds me of the art from De Stiji from about 90 years ago. I like this video as it transforms what is a very old piece of text into nowadays media. It is long but very interesting.

Social Network with a twist

This is a social network designed specifically with the 30+ crowd in mind. The Lamato network's have taken the best components of other more established online social networking sites- Facebook, Bebo, Twitter, etc.- and enhanced them to their maximum social potential. They have achieved this by encouraging you to get offline in order to do these activities in person with those you care about. 

 Single feature spotlight vignettes released via online video sharing landscape all lead the audience to Lamato.net where a full tour of the sites features awaited. Spoofing a wide range of social activities people of all ages now do with great vigour online (sharing photos, reconnecting with lost friends and so on), the video tour for the fake Lamato Network site ultimately revealed itself for what it was. It then directs everybody interested in learning about more genuinely social ideas to the main Mott's Clamato website for further inspiration.

 I think online videos a quite weak, but I think the idea behind the whole site is very strong. It is a good idea for the age group as most people that age are quite skeptical about the internet and the site almost backs up heir feelings. This is good as it will build up a trust between the user and the site and will therefor make the user comfortable when directed to the real site. 

Fly

To increase awareness of Fly Pizza's night delivery service especially among young targets. Many Fly Pizza's customers are young smokers and save money by rolling up cigarettes, so they created a special business card, made of smoking paper branded package, in order to be always in reach of the smokers and hit them during hunger attacks.

This shows great awareness of who is your target market, and is a innovative way of increasing awareness as it is both interactive and needed/used by the target market. Would be even better if these young smokers were rolling something a little stronger than tobacco as the 'munchies' would follow and the papers will be right there. However, on a more serious note, this could be seen as unethical as they are promoting smoking to a young age group and may receive bad press as a result and lose potential customers. Do the cons outweigh the cons?    

Jamie Fobert Architects

This is the Martian Museum of Terrestrial Art at the Barbican Art gallery. The principle behind the idea of this exhibition design is the artworks are infiltrating the empty gallery and spread out in a pattern of networks reminiscent of computer boards and scientific diagrams.

Into the space arrived a mother board, a 4 meter high monolith in bright green acrylic. From this element copper strips emerged onto the floor creating thematic circuits. These physically mapped the curatorial process of the exhibition. A great interactive design to get visitors involved and links the whole museum together.

 

The use of plinths and cabinets create a sense of desire to treat the artworks as artifacts.

I like the way the whole design gives of the vibe that the exhibition has invaded the gallery with its own agenda.

Givenchy Boutique- Jamie Fobert Architects

Box No2, Eighteenth-century moulding embossed into dark leather.

Box No4, The walls are chestnut panelling and the floor is parquet featuring the four G's of Givenchy.

The brief was to capture the elegance and craftmanship of Givenchy's august history while creating a new spatial and material experiences for the Parisian shopper. It's simple elegant, stone and brass detailing could have existed for the past fifty years. The three front windows are open to the full drama of the space within, the shop itself is the window display. Inside, each line has it's own 'box'. The below image is my favourite, made from grey plaster, capturing the urban, functional tone of the menswear pret-a-porter. Each box encourages visitors to discover collections through an exploration of the physical boundaries of the boxes and the memories triggered by the materially and romantic forms contained within.

 

Box No5

'The Upright Figure'

I actually went to see this exhibition in 2002, Tate Modern London. I immediately was intrigued by the figures but was not sure what interested me at first. After looking up the exhibition again I began to appreciate how spectacular it actually was. I admire the way Jamie Fobert Architects were able to create and display life size sculptures in such a vast area without losing their impact. This was helped by a brilliant structural decision to erect two free standing walls, creating a sense of enclosure.

 I enjoyed the fact that they didn't follow the traditional method of display for many of these works- raised on plinths. This way enabled the viewer to get up close and personal, and meet the sculptures eye-to-eye. This rigor and simplicity of the installation unifies the exhibition and gives the work a sense of "calm and strength."  

Should of gone to Specsavers!

This is quite a funny advert but I think it is slightly pointless. They have just picked on a subject/situation that is seen to be funny but I am not sure it is relevant to the audience, may be just as a joke?

Why spoil it Mr Cadbury

I don't know anyone who didn't like this advert when it first came out, but I refer to the new version of the ad, when I say a 'glass and a half' too much for me. This new version is exactly the same but with the song Total eclipse of the heart instead. I just feel there was no need for this new version and has slightly tainted the first one for me, and the airport one is even worse!

Need your energy?

Great ad for the target market, but I am not so sure an energy drink would be enough for me, several pints might be a better option.

Fanny Fringe.

Levis Slim Jeans

These are posters advertising slim jeans for Levis jeans. The idea of using a jean thread to create images of people suggests the jeans fit perfectly like skin. A great campaign.

Meltdown

A great way to announce who is performing at a festival, simple but very effective visually.

Dyland

This is a limited edition print by New York based Aaron Meshon, referencing important NYC Dylan locations in a quirky pop art style. The style captures the feeling of that time and the colours are exuberant helping the poster give off a positive vibes that were present in all Dylans gigs, so I have been told.

AVE IT!!!!!

These set of adverts by Peter Kay for John Smiths are hilarious, but on a serious note very good in terms of the target market and brand personality.

There's nothing bad about advertising as long as it's good.

A set of funny self-promotion announcements from BFFP & Fils. I like the dry humor of the posters and they remind me of one of my posters I did in the first year(visually). 

Night cream

Simple and minimal but still says all that needs to be said, great idea.

Virgin-guess the band.

These are a set of poster by Virgin music. They are an image of a random scene and the above one challenges the viewer to name all the bands associated with all the different images. It is very difficult to name all the bands showing that Virgin music play a huge amount of varying artists and songs. The posters are very interactive and put the message across in a typical fun Virgin way. By making the posters interactive and playful Virgin get the message across aswell as strengthening their brand image as a light hearted and fun company.

The answers are below but try and get as many as you can first.

DIESEL XXX- "Best party ever"

This is the invitation to 30th birthday party that went on around the world. It is a brilliant invitation for a party named XXX and perfect for the target market. The fact the images are from the 70's and the crudeness of the graphics just makes it even funnier!

Simple but LOL

I have just mentioned E4 so I thought I would put one of my favourite shows from that channel up. You have probably seen fonejacker but if not it is hilarious and worth a watch. Apart from the obvious funny element of the show I admire how simple the idea is and how creative the producers have been. By using mainly still images they have created well known and established characters. There are no frills, it is a simple but brilliant idea and has been executed in the same fashion.

Splash

As some people know I am a Preston North End fan and this is one of the clubs most famous images. It is a photograph of Sir Tom Finney (one of the greatest ever footballers) taken during a match against Chelsea in 1956. The iconic image has now been made into a statue that is situated outside the ground. It is very impressive and looks magical when the sprinklers are on resembling the water. I am not sure if it is a great sculpture or if it's just a great memory for Preston supporters...... 

Allrounder

This is a blog to praise the branding team of channel 4. The sister channel E4 was born in 2001, set to be a cutting edge channel with a eccentric and witty personality combined with strong purple branding. Since 2001, E4 have been able to premier special commissioned pieces such as Skins and The Inbetweeners showing that the channel has got the capacity to successfully launch big hits. The brand identity, brand image, brand essence and brand positioning are all in harmony. This is thanks to some brilliant brand management. From the logo to the intros to the voice overs to the program selections E4 have achieved their aim of being an innovative, cutting edge, young persons specialised channel.

Faceless Businessman

This is one of my favourite scenes off a film. The scene is from the remake of 'The Thomas Crown Affair' 1999. I just think it is such a clever idea and an even better one as it ties the whole film together and stays with one of the themes of the film, art and paintings. On top of all that the music is just as important in film as the images and Sinnerman by Nina Simone is perfect.

Frank Lloyd Wright

I realise that this architect will be popular on the old blogger so I will keep it short. Frank Lloyd Wright developed a contempt for the beaux-arts architecture that was so popular in the late Victorian United States. One of the many reasons I think Frank Lloyd Wright was a great architect is that he was one of the first to recognise that architecture is as much a social manifestation as it is an art. I also like the way Wright has been influenced by the people around him, Sullivan to be specific. These influences have allowed Wright to develop architecture that is daring, creative, and unique. 

  Like any great architect Wright is a great problem solver. He has solved many problems in different areas, landscapes and for varying social sectors. For example, Wright does expensive one off specialised projects aswell as projects like Usonian directed at middle-income families. This is the area I can learn from as graphic designers are basically problem solvers.

Good choice

I think this is a great example of using the right persons at the right time to represent a product and get a message across. Mac's are different and playful and in comparison PC's are boring and awkward. By using characters from the peep show Mac automatically say so much about their product with very little effort and it is relevant to their target audience.

Cancer Research UK

On the topic of charities, this is one of my favourite campaigns I have seen. People were asked to paint one of their nails pink to increase the awareness of breast cancer. The one finger painted resembled the 1 in 5 chance women have of getting breast cancer. A very simple, clever and effective idea.

Respect to the charities

I always have great respect for charity campaigns by organisations like NSPCC, cancer research and Christian Aid to name a few. I admire their marketing teams for many reasons; the cause they are promoting for, the lack of money that is available to them and their bravery to produce and release images with maximum shock value in order to get the message across. On top of all that they produce very clever ambient media.

Photography

Sorry but I am going to have a little rant and moan now. I like photography but there are a few things that really annoy me in this discipline. Firstly, there are a lot of people who think they are good at photography or believe they are photographers. These people take millions of pointless photos that just look "cool" or even "cooler" in black and white. I also have a dislike for photographs that have no purpose, in  my opinion. For example, taking random photos of plants that represent a business park or a shed that represents a home etc. Sometimes I can kind of understand the meaning but never know why they have done it, there is no need. Don't get me wrong, I love photography in advertising and marketing. I have put up some action/sport photographs up because they look good aswell as having a purpose. These photos tell a story and produce a memory of that particular event and often can portray the whole event/result with just one image, who won and who lost for example, as there is often so much passion captured in the image. I also admire that these moments have not been set up or man made, you have only a split second to capture that particular moment in time and if missed it is impossible to recreate. I am slightly biased because I do like sports but If a photograph has no purpose then why is it there at all?

Action

I like this last photo because it shows the two totally different sides of winning and losing and the emotions involved. Also, with the cut on the head it implies that you have to give it your all and put your body on the line to taste victory. 

Bradley Ormesher - Daily Mirror

These are the winning photographs of the 2008 Barclays Photographic Awards.

This final photo is my favourite as the ball is at the point where there is nothing anyone can do to prevent the goal, as Van Der Sar and Vidic look on helpless.

Sin City