Eveready Infinity

For me this is a fantastic example of something that is so simple but works brilliantly. In the battery market Duracell are at the forefront but every battery has to sell itself as the longest lasting. Eveready manage to represent this so easily by just having a train track in the shape of the infinity symbol. By itself you can imagine the train just going around and around the track constantly but once the eveready battery is added at the bottom the message immediately associates itself with the power of the batteries.

A perfect example that an advert can be simple in concept and idea and also cheap to generate yet be brilliantly effective.

Earth Love Movement

A campaign here to illustrate the effects of carbon emissions from everyday vehicles etc that affect climate change. The issue has never been more in the headlines than now and new approaches have to be taken to get the same message across. Although quite crude in its approach the message is simple these objects are killing the world. The adverts themselves work so that you see the weapon from a distance and it is only when viewed up close that you become aware of the objects that make the weapon up.

Nintendo Wii Magazine Campaign

A simple yet effective campaign from Nintendo to promote the new Wii console. The USP of the console is the interactive nature of its controllers and how the user gets involved with the game like never before. These two-page adverts use the simple action of turning a page to show how the user interacts with a sports game on the console, essentially acting as a kind of flick book. Simple but effective.

Carlsberg Ambient Campaign

This ambient media from Carlsberg continues their long running 'probably' campaign. Carlberg distributed £5000 worth of £10 and £20 notes around London with this removable sticker on. A costly campaign on face value but probably cheaper than running another advert and instead of being a fantasy like many of the other adverts this was for real, suddenly Carlsberg were making "probably the best litter in the world".

LSC Skills Adverts

I have been searching for this advert on youtube for a few weeks now since i first saw it. The idea reminds me of the Talk Talk adverts where a similar thing was done on a larger scale with people rather than hands.

All in all I feel this is a quite stunning campaign and an idea that has been well thought out and executed.



Watching the advert really makes you appreciate how a pretty simple idea can be executed to make you appreciate the potential of the design and advertising industry.

http://inourhands.lsc.gov.uk/

The website has different imagery created from hands in the various sections ranging from the tulip to a swan and mountain. The advantage of this campaign is already evident in the billboards that can be seen for this campaign where this imagery is used on a large scale. For anyone who has seen the adverts they can relate straight away whilst those that haven't see it for what it is, clever design.


http://www.mad.co.uk/Main/News/Articlex/bf02c24b75d04d8380f67e41f73da9df/LSC-gets-hands-on-with-new-ads.html

As mentioned in this article(above link) the advert is made by agency Leo Burnett whose website i have already talked about in my Glog. It came as no suprise to me that a company that impressed me with its interactive and innovative website could be behind this idea.

An interesting statement in this article is the idea that they "hope that it will generate discussion around dinner tables, pubs and water coolers across the country.”
Speaking from my own experience it has been a campaign so far that has been successful in doing this.



This advert, working under the same campaign, is for business customers but works again under the same principle.

Piccadilly open to new campaigns

One of London’s brightest branding landmarks, the Piccadilly Lights Complex in London, is going to become available to brand owners for short-term leasing for the first time in almost a century.

Launching on 1 December, ‘Piccadilly Lite’ will make it possible for UK and international brands to advertise on short-term contracts, to the audience of one million who pass through Piccadilly Circus each week.

Land Securities has owned the iconic site since the 1970s, and has decided to change the traditional long-term lease period – dominated by super-brands such as Coca-Cola and Sanyo – to respond to demand from shorter-term TV, film and music advertisers.

James Birkett, asset manager for Land Securities, says: ‘We are excited that we can make it possible for UK and international brands to advertise in this unique location on short-term contracts and at short notice.’

Piccadilly Lite uses LED signs to run digital sequences that can be regularly changed and updated, offering brand owners the opportunity to advertise tactically around specific product launches.

Birkett says: ‘Piccadilly Lite is a prime example of how recent technology enhancements are shaping how we communicate to the consumer.’

MT2 is the agency responsible for booking and running the advertisements for the new site.

http://www.designweek.co.uk/Articles/135352/Piccadilly+Lite+switches+over+.html

This should be an interesting development to watch and observe which brands opt to take this route. It would seem to me that Land Securities stand to make a hell of a lot of money from this even with the assumption that the current adverts pay them quite a bit anyway. The move should increase competition and break the monopoly the current brands have in this location.

Jeffrey Milstein

Jeffrey Milstein is an American photographer whose latest project, Aircraft, featured in June's Creative Review, focuses on the "The Jet as Art".

Standing at the end of LAX airport runway Milstein photographed the undersides of incoming aircraft to look at the designs that distinguish companies from competitors and plane models from others.

A somewhat boring medium you would think but what the photography has captured is the beauty of the machines by removing all motion and simply placing the images on a white background.





http://www.jeffreymilstein.com/

This project of Milstein's is available in his book "AirCraft, The Jet as Art," published by Abrams.

I was reminded of the project after looking at the stamps created by True North for the 100 years of motor sport. Both using the idea of removing all motion to represent the beauty of the machine.

Some of Milstein's other projects are also very intriguing, especially his project "Industrial Archeology". Examples of this project are shown below.

Roobis Tea

South African tea brand, Rooibos from Kromland Farm, has undergone an image overhaul courtesy of London design consultancy Pearlfisher.

The group has created the identity and packaging, including logotype and copy for the specialist tea, which is imported and distributed in the UK by Only Natural Products.

Through the use of bold colours and a simple, expressive typeface, the packaging is designed to convey a brand that is contemporary and quirky, while also reflecting South Africa’s cultural heritage.

Pearlfisher designer, Natalie Chung says that the success of the design is rooted in its simplicity. ‘This is a simple but beautiful piece of design that has enormous shelf standout. We wanted to capture the magic and energy of South Africa and this fresh, youthful design perfectly fits the bill.”

The tea has already been launched in health food stores across the UK and is expected to appear in Selfridges and major supermarkets over the next few months.

http://www.designweek.co.uk/Articles/135283/Rooibos+picks+a+fresh+identity.html

As soon as I saw the packaging for this tea it was clear straight away its African origins and it's natural/organic properties. The redesign of the packaging and brand have managed to create a sense of exactly what the product has to offer. The choice to have its own individual typeface that is chunky, bold and very aboriginal in its appearance makes it different from other similar products but it would not look out of place in its expected selling points in health food stores and Selfridges.

Commemorative Stamps created by True North

Royal Mail today releases a series of special stamps commemorating 100 years of motor sport, with design by True North.

True North was appointed by Royal Mail’s Stamp Advisory Committee last summer to participate in a general ‘scoping’ exercise and was selected to develop its concept through to final artwork, with photography by James Callaghan.

The six stamps depict some of the UK’s best known racing car drivers, including Graham Hill, winner of the ‘Triple Crown’ and Monaco Grand Prix, Scottish legend Jim Clark, winner of 25 Grand Prix before he died tragically at the age of 32 and Sir Stirling Moss, who this year celebrates the 50th anniversary of winning the Grand Prix, as well as the 1986 driver of the Williams FW11, Nigel Mansell.

The presentation pack includes profiles of all the drivers by motor racing journalist Richard Rae.

True North has also designed a series of Harry Potter stamps, which will be released on 17 July to mark the last Harry Potter novel by author JK Rowling.

http://www.designweek.co.uk/Articles/135287/True+North+on+pole+position.html



Having already looked at some recent stamp designs I think its an interesting area to explore when it comes to design. When a company is given a brief like this to create a set of stamps the canvas is a very very small and the idea has to be represented within these restraints. Here True North have been given the task of creating stamps to represent 100 years of motor sport. They have not gone for action shots however. These shots would be busy and perhaps take away from the aesthetics of the vehicles and the development in shape over the years as technology improved. They have instead gone for plan views of the cars to capture their design and shape.
I think this is a brilliant solution to the design needs of the brief.

Faldo launches new brand

British golfer Nick Faldo is launching a new brand created by Yorkshire design group, Island Earth Creative.

Designed by Island Earth founder Gary Millard, the brand identity is set to appear on a range of sports items from clothing to golf clubs and on-site signage at luxury sports club venues.

Millard says the work is designed to achieve recognition outside the world of golf, ‘drawing together the wide variety of business interests operating under the Faldo name, with a distinctive and uniting image’.

‘It has been great working on such a well known global brand,’ adds Millard.

‘The Faldo name is associated not just with golf clothing but also a series of teaching academies, golf course design and the Faldo Series tournaments which provide an opportunity to identify and nurture the next generation of young golfers,’ Millard says.

‘We believe that the creative solution we have provided will stand the test of time and provide strong, recognisable reference for the Nick Faldo brand wherever it appears.’

http://www.designweek.co.uk/Articles/135341/Top+golfer+launches+own+label.html

I like the identity for Faldo's company but I on first look I can't see where the design has come from. OK so the white circle represents a golf ball but I can't see how the 6 shape represents Faldo. I would have thought that the design would incorporate Faldo's initials or something similar but the designers have decided to avoid this it seems. Perhaps the shape is more to suggest the coming together of Faldo's companies as a whole brand rather than focusing on the man himself?
As an identity though I guess is works!

Stadiums

Now, being a Liverpool fan at the moment there is a lot of talk about the new stadium plans. The new American owners have scrapped the old plans for the New Anfield and have re-designed the stadium to emphasize the Kop as well as allowing room for expansion at a later date. The plans are to be released soon but it has made me look at other stadia being developed and built around the world. My question is about the seemingly generic appearance of many stadia around the world. They are all becoming the same 'bowl' shape and are moving away from the old 'atmospheric' feel, something which i feel is integral to the whole football experience.


Original Plans for the new Anfield, above.


and an alternative design emphasizing the Kop and keeping an 'old fashioned' look.

The search for these new stadia led me to many different examples:

Nottingham Forest's proposed new stadium, bearing in mind they are in league one do they expect to fill it?


Similar story in Brighton...

...and Doncaster...

...and Luton...

...and Milton Keynes...

...and Southend, with a wierd little growth off the side of it. Bizare!


Of course the Americans have always been into their bowled stadia and this is just the latest edition, the new Dallas Cowboys Stadium - http://stadium.dallascowboys.com/



For good measure though...

...Oldham Athletic, that's more like it!

Do people agree that the designs are generic? or are they a mark of the modern era of architectural designing?

SE7EN Opening Credits

By Kyle Cooper, Jennifer Shainin. 1996. Nominated for D&AD.

"Cooper's celebrated opening titles for David Finsher's SE7EN set the dark mood of the film with their jumpy, out-of-register graphics superimposed on fetishistic shots of a serial murderer's grubby paraphernalia. The normal practise of using a pin-register camera to prevent titles from 'weaving' against the background plates was deliberately avoided in order to exaggerate the out-of-kilter sense of menace." Rewind. Forty Years of Design & Advertising." D&AD (2002) p.316

The title sequence to this film reminded me of Alan's lecture on the use of semiotics. Each piece of imagery in this title sequence relates to a specific moment in the movie as well as setting up the "dark mood". A great start to a truly fantastic film.

Wimbledon 2007

Here is the BBC advert for this years Wimbledon Championships. Like the Bob Monkhouse advert mentioned earlier the advert has used computer generation to create a championship point that includes many of the great past champions. The advert is therefore successful in using nostalgia for the older audience as well as catching the younger audience with the newer players. It therefore relates perfectly to the historic nature of the tournament.

giveafewbob

The new advert for prostrate cancer featuring the deceased Bob Monkhouse, who died himself of the cancer 4 years ago.

The advert shows the advanced nature of TV advertising, especially in the field of charity advertisement. Bob's widow has said how she cannot watch the advert because it upsets her but she does not have any problem against it. It is after all a brilliant way of creating awareness for the disease.

Swedish vodka brand Absolut has unveiled a new range called Absolut 100, with packaging and identity by Pearlfisher.

Developed for the duty free and travel retail market, the vodka’s look uses a minimal, masculine colour palette of semi-opaque black glass, with chrome typography contrasted with grey lettering.

The design aims to convey ‘strength through masculinity and exclusivity’, ensuring that there is no confusion among the flavoured vodkas in the market.

1Absolut 100, with packaging and identity by PearlfisherThe 100° proof/50 per cent abv spirit is aimed at the discerning, responsible drinking business traveller.

Pearlfisher, which is a long-term strategic design partner for Absolut, was briefed to base the design around strength, and has used the iconic Absolut identity and bottle shape.

‘Absolut 100 is a drink that is not for everyone,’ says Pearlfisher creative partner Jonathan Ford. ‘The concept needed to reflect masculinity and exclusivity, and we were inspired by the contemporary visual language of performance cars and cutting-edge technology.’

http://www.designweek.co.uk/Articles/135141/Pearlfisher+creates+packs+for+new+Absolut+vodka.html

Interesting that to reflect masculinity there was a link to performance cars and the sleek look. Does the "responsible drinking business traveller" favour this image? It is also interesting how the new design is limited to the duty free market. Personally i think the sleek black minimal look would increase sales in up-market bars...saying that its probably the same market!

3D Adverts (continued...)

Following on from the other 3D signs...this one from Niagra Falls.

Funny Canadian Signs

Ok so this was more a case of see a silly sign take a picture. A little project while i was on holiday. Funny none the less!

"Turn Your Knob To Bob" -> Bob FM


"Jug City - More Than Just Milk"

Street Art in Toronto

These images are again taken in the heart of Toronto. To watch this guy in action was fantastic and there was an immense sense of respect for what he was doing. In a busy street that is crowded at the best of times the public did not walk on his work, instead they stopped and admired even for a few seconds. Debatable whether that would be the same in the UK.

3D Advertisements/Billboards

Here are four photos taken on a trip to Toronto last summer. The top two images show a 3D billboard for Dairy Milk whilst the last two show, amongst other things, a large inflatable Labatts can. It was amazing to see a different advertising culture, one where every last bit of space is used to advertise brands to the public. The use of different forms of media in this busy section of Toronto is obviously a way to differentiate the product from the other media messages the public are being bombarded with.
It also makes me look like an obsessed design student who took pictures of adverts on his holiday!

2012 logo designed to be a ‘blank canvas’

Chairman Brian Boylan’s claim in an e-mail to Wolff Olins staff that the London 2012 branding will get the ‘recognition it deserves’ may refer to the revelation that the initial logo format is intended to be a blank canvas.

According to reports, which have now been confirmed by a London 2012 spokesman, images will be used to fill the spaces, such as photographs and sponsorship messages, many of which will be created by the public following competitions held every six months.

1Already, the London 2012 sponsor Lloyds TSB has advertised in the press using the logo, but with its own corporate colours, as an example of the brand’s adaptability.

Separate versions of the logo, each with their own theme, will appear at sports venues throughout the games.

These plans link back to claims by Lord Coe and London 2012 chief executive Paul Deighton that the logo will ‘evolve’, and will be ever-changing and not static.

Separately, Ken Livingstone’s office has declined to comment on reports that the word London was only added to the completed logo at the Mayor’s insistence.



http://www.designweek.co.uk/Articles/135080/2012+logo+designed+to+be+a+%e2%80%98blank+canvas%e2%80%99.html

I'm becoming more intrigued by the logo. The fact is that it is not a logo, it is a brand. Wolff Olins is a brand management company more than anything and this article highlights this approach. They have in fact produced an identity that can be evolved and changed to suit it's needs and environment. It is therefore a more versatile logo than previous Olympic identities.