Quality Street

Indeed they have emphasised the 'Quality' i think this Christmas ad is a great way of incorporating the sweet and time of year to make an engaging advert. It reminds me of the type posters we had to do obviously just different constraints. But a great use of all the colour and being able to use the sweets on different levels and incorporating the gentle Christmas piano playing music in the background both elements work well together. Merry Christmas.

Rugby

One way or another i have been looking at a lot of rugby material and found this as you enter the Guinness Premiership website and just thought it was great, combining the two pieces together easily its not hassle to look at and gets straight to the point.

Bad Connection?

This is great, i popped onto Saatchi & Saatchi's website for a look and this was the first piece i saw, so clever and simple. The three words (potentially) used everyone anticipates the obvious for Love which it is meant to be but obviously could be anything like hate. Taking the middle word away illustrates bad connection fantastically and is one of those likely situations where it is really important and something fails, good old technology.

Guinness

This is the latest Guinness campaign costing 10m and lasts arounds one minute 30secs.



It is filmed in Argentina in a small village where they used the locals who had a lack of film knowledge and little English. About 6,000 dominoes were used for the ad, around 10,000 books, 400 tyres, six cars and 45 wardrobes, while 24 hours of footage was captured despite the dominoes taking just 14 seconds to topple. The ad is pretty cool, created and directed by Nicolai Fuglsig who made the Sony Bravia balls advert. The ads pretty good, but I'm not entirely sure, i think it will work better in the shorter stints of 30 and 60 seconds not the full 90 seconds. Clever ending with the books, going from back to front, the problem is you know what its going to come to at the end, the Guinness Pint.

Sony

Not only are they producing great ads for the bravia but for there mp3 Walkman too. This advert is fantastic, it's great how they have used a number of people to make the music, it could have probably been done with about five or six but by breaking up the music and spreading it through more people it makes the advert more special. The timing is great and watching it happen you have great respect for music and what it can do. When i first saw it i was totally in the advert and hooked on trying to find out what and guess what it was for, my guesses were for something like the proms my brother thought radio, never did we think Sony. They are a force to be reckoned with and i say watch out apple. The advert also reminds me slightly of the Honda ad where the group makes all the sounds for the cars actions (just seen in the comments on YouTube someone else does too). All in all a great ad that keeps you captivated till the end, that is how to make an ad.

good things should never end

As i watched this advert i was undecided as to what it was for, but all the colour instantly linked it to sony bravia for me, especially at the end with the big rolls of colour material down the stairs, reminded me alot of balls down the hill, but no it's Orange. I was a bit confused and felt like they had ripped off the bravia colour style, almost a cheaper downscaled version. But what i do like is there website, this they have been clever with.


Normal opening page, pretty cool loading timer to watch and as its all about good things never ending that is just what the website is...never ending. Have a go, i don't know if it's impossible (probably) but a very clever ploy and as you attempt it there are bits along the way to play with but keeping the colours from the advert in keeping with the site by having a never ending rainbow which technically there not.



It's a 12 week campaign costing 6 million pounds to promote the current unlimited deal in the run up to Christmas. It will be running across TV, outdoor, press, web and in store so keep your eyes peeled for rainbows everywhere.

Penguin Books

I found these ads and think there pretty good, trying to emphasise that you get so submerged in the book that it is all they see or at least you wont respond because your to wrapped in this little world that penguin have created. Penguin itself seems to be on a comeback at the moment, using this retro step back phase were into at the moment to boost them back into the market and our lives. It's not that we forgot about them but they seemed to take a back seat and go a bit quiet, to be honest i don't really know famous publishers like them, but Penguin have even branched out into mugs with there book titles on it, very catchy, more so if you've got a favourite.

Not Here To Please You

Hadouken are the first band to release a mixtape by USB, you still get 12 songs, some new ones and some remixed. It's a pretty interesting ploy and I'm surprised that it's not been done yet, the other question is whether you can delete the songs and use the USB stick afterwards...But good news is that it only costs £7.99 so cheaper than your average CD. Also better for storage your end but may mess it up if your one of those who has all your Cd's lined up.

Tuk Tuk

Harrods have branched out into venturing around London in a Tuk Tuk to serve there clients with an on the spot measuring service wherever they are. Suits start from a mere £1,050 and the shirts at a small price of £135 upwards...This shows customer commitment and the lengths they will go to help and keep there clientele, other companies should look at this service and see how they can improve there's to make a loyal brand.

A Greener Life

Spudware is 80% potato starch and 20% soy oil, they are just as strong as good old plastic and more so, but the best bit is they biodegrade in 180 days.


Another recycling invention...this new Bubble Gum Bin is made from sterilised used chewing gum and bio resin. When the bin is full it is all recycled to make even more bins to keep the streets clean.

Probably the best...

Carlsberg are up to there usual advertising tricks, another simple ad well executed, it seems at the moment they cant go wrong, but it is a worry it will be taken to far and ruin the campaign.


It's quite funny when i first looked at this poster i thought it was going on about the bubbles on the woman's bath as in if they did it there wouldn't be any or if there were you could see through them, then i noticed bottles hanging in the air and the silhouettes. Funny idea and plays on the stereotypical male of wanting beer and naked women.

Kansas Work & Casual Wear

This is a great little piece of ambient media and would work really well for the the D&AD Grazia piece.

Hed Kandi

Hed Kandi and Monarch Airlines have teamed up to provide a special plane that goes to Ibiza - FlyKnadi. They play dance music all the way there, the staff are not in your average hostess uniform preparing you for your time in Ibiza. They have even gave the plane a makeover inside and out -


I wonder how it works with taking off and all the DJ equipment and if you get a bit of turbulence mid performance/boogy...

Clever marketing promo and you can more than likely charge extra for the novelty factor.

Life is short

It's not all gossip about the stars in Hollywood a recent billboard has caused a lot of controversy. It's for 'The Ashely Madison Agency' dating website, obviously someone has to kick up a fuss about an issue like this, but the owner has reasoned that if there going to cheat they will do it with or without a billboard to help them along, which to be fair is right.


The website is pretty funny, it has married dating, married women and so on so the billboard pretty much says whats in the tin. I love there slogan 'When monogamy becomes monotony'. The website isn't anything special and originally i thought it was just for the US but they also do it for the UK too...


www.ashleymadison.com

Dyson Testing

Finally found this on YouTube, been waiting for it as soon as i saw it. Thing its a great little ad showing the vigorous tests they put it through to show how durable it is but also that they understand how we all use them, pulling them by the tubes and them falling down stairs among other things.

The Battle

I saw this advert after the rugby last night. Absolutely great all the stereotypes coming out and doing battle. It is just so clever all the elements make the advert from the balls to the little dogs and remote control cars, love the ending with the dog.



At the end of it all the mail on Sunday that joins two individuals, something for him and her.

Animals

I found this animation, quite amusing, it looks simple but im sure it's not as easy as it looks, but quite a captivating little story when you think how simple the storyline is.


This was one of the ones advertised after you watch the current one and i looked at it because i liked the look of the animals. Pretty silly and funny, made me laugh anyway.

Sea Design

This sight looks so sleek, i found both this and frost on the same day, two good finds personally. Another company that shows a good range of work with many well known brands. To look at this site is visually stimulating, its just nice to see uncomplicated and well executed design. The work is easy to find and all there work looks like show pieces. I selected just a few pieces to look at -




I really like there work and presentation, i think its great. Also very interesting to see how each deign firm tackles the problem of self promotion and the outcome, in my opinion both Frost and Sea Design have done themselves proud.

www.seadesign.co.uk

Frost Design

This website and companies work is impressive in my eyes, The website is simple but nice to look at and lets you look at the work, nothing gets in the way and the website flows with no upload problems. The logo is simple and they use the star throughout the site quietly reminding you what it looks like but doubling as a means of a loading sign. A couple of pieces i particularly liked in there branding was -



Effortless work and i really like how the furnace company have used the box and manipulated it to there needs. Trio is also effective in how they have incorporated the trio and the idea of number three to make the word and show it in number form.

more stuff at Frost Design.com

Plates

Obviously with my name you can do alot, and literally just thought of another MI55 MEE (miss mee). We have R111 MEE and the BU51 MEE, both my dads but its funny what you can do with numbers and letters. PA55 MEE was found on a learners car company, R8TBY is the village i am from and someone is sad enough to own that plate and put it on there car...PH11TOM a friend saw on a Bentley Phantom, which I'm guessing they will sell with the car.


Saw this one last night not sure if it's intentional or not but not for me, you work it out...


Suppose it suited the man driving the car, probably cant get it anywhere else...

Happy driving folks.

PS

Yesterday i had to go to York to go to a joke shop for my electricity project, while walking down one of the the small quaint cobbled streets i saw the PS sign hanging from a building and was intrigued. As i got closer to it i could read Paul Smith underneath and was not very interested after this but a small novel idea mainly because PS so its like something you have forgot, i thought it would a little treasure trove of a shop...obviously not.

Projecting adverts

Another night in New York and we saw this, a giant logo projected onto an empty wall. A good use of space, you don't need to pay for advertising use and if your advertising a bar or somewhere only open by night an ideal way to promote said place.

Another bonus point to...

Apple. While in New York they had a few flyer's lying around. One was for workshops on how to use the basic apple software you get with the computer. Pretty good idea because apple realise most people will be windows fluent but once they have gone mac there's no going back. They do music, photo and movie workshops, good idea because i still don't know how to use half the stuff. I like the simple design using 'Jam, Action and Snap' to sum up what its about quickly. Furthermore with the pieces cut out of the flyer it emphasises the point further. Could be seen as missing from the ad and missing from your knowledge...


The second flyer appealed more, mainly because of content, design simple but nothing special however what its advertising is cool. On certain Fridays they had select dj's to come in and do the 'Midnight Mix' from 12-2am, such a unique idea that i have never heard of before from any other shop. They had some cool people, one of which was Mark Ronson starting the series off.

Pay what you like

On Tuesday on the BBC news web page there was an article about Radiohead and that there fans can pick the cost they pay for the music. A pretty interesting marketing ploy to get media attention, there will be people who pay nothing and others that pay a bit or a lot. There are two options to download (at your so desired price) or to by a disc box set that costs £40 for two Cd's, two records, books and artwork. I think we know what the majority will be doing, but interesting to see how much they get but it's not exactly as if they need the money but hey ho. Lets see if it inspires any other artists to do the same...

suck UK

suck UK is one of those great novelty gift shops that you want to buy the stuff from. It makes you laugh and would you believe it is practical, who knew. These ideas work because it purposely is a human shape but not one, meet the cast -

Dead Fred



Hanging Harry


Splat Stan


They are all simple ideas but funny, it could be looked at as quite sick but how can you take it seriously. Hanging Harry could be the worst but at the same time pretty stand alone in my eyes. Another product we nearly bought a friend was the voodoo knife set, just for the factor of the stand, bonus you got the knifes too. Last week Jamie had told us about a guy who had disembodied a stick man in a comic strip in the paper and because it was fictional it's funny, your allowed to laugh at it.




The voodoo knife set is separate from suck UK but is very similar in design.

Some of sucks other interesting products are Darts as coat hooks, these are funky, very heavy and industrial, look great but a bit expensive, there in Joy in Leeds. Obviously unlike a dart they have a screw end instead of a point.


Teachers across the world will love this idea, keeping your pen with your book, no excuses now unless you forget both in one. Silly present that could turn out quite handy.



Visit www.suck.uk.com for more fun.

Lucky Number Slevin

A bit behind with the times i know, but what a great movie, very cunning in its plot and lots of phrases that all come together as the film progresses - the Kansas Shuffle, Good Cat and Slevin. It is a better version of Oceans 11 when looking at the storyline, everything seemingly links even down to the small fact of the baseball. The filming of the film is clever, one part is Slevin playing chess with The Boss and then Smith playing The Boss, it flows through a three way conversation which has only ever taken place between two people; from Smith to The Boss and The Boss to Slevin. A useful way of showing how the information was received and passed on to with who was involved. The film is a mixture of gang culture mixed in with humour, a fantastic film to be seen by all, i don't want to say to much to spoil it but it's awesome.

Silent Disco

I know were not supposed to be uploading our nights out in Leeds etc but this is for the marketing of it. Every Tuesday at NU they have a Silent Disco, a strange concept you may think but actually pretty good. Everyone has wireless headphones and the choice of two channels for variation in music and their own volume. It's great because you can take off your headphones and talk to each other relatively easy and funnily you hear everyone singing which is normally drowned out from the music (must be awful for the bar staff...). Check out vid below for a bit of atmosphere.



When you think about the concept it's great, you go out with a group of friends and each has a different taste in music usually resulting in a compromise or split. So this lets you all stay together and dance to what you like, clever idea and funny when your all dancing to different channels because what your listening to doesn't match up with others dancing.

Cadbury's Ad

My sister kept raving about this as supposedly did radio 1, this is far from what i expected from Cadburys, one of the best bits for me was at the beginning - a GLASS and a HALF FULL PRODUCTION, using what you've got to reinforce the brand that bit more but in a playful way. Now the actual ad has Phil Collins backing music with which the gorilla later starts playing the drums...one of the bizarrest ads especially from Cadburys but to be fair if nothing else it will get people talking.

Section Seven

This site is for a design agency in Seattle, the layout is pretty basic but effective and interactive. It is easy to navigate and clearly labels and displays the work. A varying range bright colours are used for signifying different projects, to look at the site is nothing special but it has a nice flow to it and works well.


It's good to see all the varying layouts as you get to see what works and realise you can work out what you want, what is popular and what your aiming for - is it high tech animation and layout or simple and effective?

www.sectionseven.com

Photography

I found this site through another site, what mainly appealed was there idea - A collection of unexpected photography. It's nice that it is not all set up or have to be in certain genres, it can be anything you want. If you go on have a look at the collection through the thumbnails you get to see how random the collection is. The two pictures below i found in pretty quick concession.



Let's just say it's interesting.

www.filemagazine.com

Perfect Fools

This websites pretty funny, bit weirder than the rest and interesting to navigate. When your looking at it the trees seem to get in the way of the work and you wonder why would anyone put stuff stuff in front of there work. A small toolbar along the side and bottom allow you to go across and up and down. Thought it was very interesting to have this layout of a ground where it could interfere with viewing there material, but maybe that's the point, it makes people look harder. By the looks of it they have had some big clients but annoyingly the absolut stuff i wanted to look at would not open, but check it out even if just for the layout features, never seen anything like it.


www.perfectfools.com

Jonathan Yuen

This site was featured in one of the american design magazines and from the stills in the book it looked good, but it's even better in real life. You start off fishing and you get the choice of two crosses, one takes you into that section, the other takes you across the site and opens up more areas.


The further across you go the more you explore and end up with a picture as below. Then each section that gets added on creates a picture.


It is a wonderful site to explore and the work is pretty good too. From the main screen it takes an element and carries it through to the next section keeping it consistent. On the right section of the picture above you will notice a guy with a frog when you go into that section it follows on to the screen below.



A great site that should be looked at http://www.jonathanyuen.com/main.html

Cakes & Chocolate Shop

These cakes are amazing and slightly reminded me of the Skoda advert, they do a variety of cakes for different celebrations. It's one thing doing a good 2d cake but making it 3d adds a whole other dimension - literally. No these are fantastic, with how real they are take a peek below -






The quality of these cakes are great, they would be such a good present to receive.

http://www.cakeandchocolateshop.co.uk/