facebook breakups

This is brilliant.
from informationisbeautiful.net a comic yet truthful diagram of the
facebook relationship statuses across the year!

A little bit of comedy

Ok, so I know its not exactly design news, however a friend sent me this and its just too good to not be posted!
I find spoof videos and photographs create alot of attention as they have a strong sense of clever wit making them memorable and quite simply hilarious!

Italian Vogue trumps the UK's issues

A friend of mine has been doing work experience at the London vogue office and aswell as hearing about some of the amazing things she has done, she was lovely enough to grab be some freebies.
Ive got a copy of this seasons English Vogue and the current Italia issue and I have to say the difference is remarkable.
Even without a word of Italian to my vocabulary, I was so much more engaged with the foreign copy. The layouts are more lavish and experimental, the photography richer, and the typography even more glamourous. Compared our home copy is dull and not too distinguishing from any other fashion glossy! Dont get me wrong, I am still a regular reader, but for me it is beginning to loose its element of exclusivity. Instead I am starting to tire of the same old advertisements which saturate my visual world.

Italy does have an incredible reputation of being that but more extravagant, and this is summed up in the monthly D.P pages, a contribution of the fashion world by Anna Piaggi, a designer i have been an avid fan of for years.
Her pages always appear so effortless yet unique, noticing the smallest trend on the catwalk she produces these amazing spreads which capture the idea in incredible layouts, typography and illustrations.
Why cant the UK issues live up to these standards and become the designer magazine it once was!?

The Real Olympic Brief

Having endured a whole semester working on our University 2012 Olympic brief, the GB basketball team has now become the focus of a digital campaign to raise awareness and gain support for the sport during the lead up to the games. It will be very interesting to see the success of the campaign as comparing the professional project to some of our small scale ideas will give or hinder some confidence and see a similar digital campaign live!

The design agency, Albion, have created an online community encouraging the Great British public to support the team as they are the only ones not automatically qualifying for the London games. The website has a very united and encouraging feel; a strategy making the public feel the decision is a injustice therefore needs to show support! (loving the guilt trip)
Have a look at the Back British Basketball website they have designed. Its full of Blogs, information, Tshirts and general ploys to support the GB team as they strive to do well.

...Having seen most of my fellow designers outcomes, I am yet to find anything outstandingly amazing about Albion's campaign both in delivery and content.

They have set aims which they want the sport to reach, (their 10 commandments) which does I suppose give the public a target to reaching support, in this way they can see the direct effects of their efforts to help the team. Quite a clever tactic!

Glastonbury snaps

Ok so the Orange App didnt make it to Glastonbury due to my own technical difficulties.
What a weekend though! there is just so much going on at the festival and it is just an array of creativity and wackiness!
I was only able to take my compact camera (didnt want to risk loosing my SLR) so the photos arnt as good as I had hoped but all the same thought I'd post a few of my favourites.

GLASTONBURY!

ORANGE GLASTONBURY APPLICATION

Orange have created this mobile app which apparently encompasses the complete guide to the festival from locating your tent to music listings! According to the website, the app isn't ready yet which seems rather odd as the festival opening tomorrow (cutting it fine).

I will definitely be downloading and will give the ingenious idea a full proof rating on my return,

it looks good from the screen shots but could be a complete gimmick.

All the same, the app could be very handy as I have been that person looking for there tent for a good few hours several times.

Hi-tech hoax film - hilarious

This is the most original and witty viral marketing campaign I have seen for a while.
A innovation from advertising company CCCP, the hoax viral documents the fantasy sport of walking on water...(or liqyid mountaineering) and has had the online world in stitches.
Amazing filming, editing and acting...how has this not been done before!?

loving this poster...who would have predicted 20 years ago that we would understand this?

Olympic brief...comments please!

The brief is to persuade 35-40 year old women to participate in beach volleyball.
My general idea is to create a persona of a 'volley dolly' who is an older woman who loves the lifestyle of beach volleyball and is passionate about the sport. (almost like a groupie of the sport: similar to a wag for example) In this image I wanted to portray that the woman is constantly wanting to be outside in the sunshine and loves to wear her beach attire no matter what the situation.
As it is not traditionally a competitive sport for this age range I have focused on giving the sport a fun and youthful feel focusing on getting the women to become involved socially and for a reinvention in their lives.
I have directed a series of these images showing different daily occasions where the 'volley dolly' manages to incorporate her passion into her day.
Im not sure if the copy is there yet so please leave feedback!

LEGO viral

Loving this new viral video for Lego backing up their 'click' campaign which highlights the idea that Lego is full of possibility and describes a 'click moment' as "that little bolt of excitement that hits when the solution to a problem suddenly becomes clear"
I love the style of the animation as it shows the brands traditional and iconic nature as a children's inventive toy but applies new media to the equation. Its a really engaging video so have a watch if you get a minute...

Sapient Nitro

Funny viral video which has been released on youtube to inform people that the business office has moved. The comedy sketch shows the companies managing director being transported across the street s of London to the new location and with a really comical tone exploits the brand as fun and approachable with its handmade feel...nice change to the traditional 'change off address' note card! you've got to love the digital age

I heart marmite

Following my previous post about the new extra strong marmite, thought id blog the promotional campaign designed by DDB UK.
A series of images have been diffused all over the web and in print showing a range of 'marmite' products designed to controversially show the consumers obsessive love for marmite! Days later, DDB launched the next phase of the campaign promoting the real product: a marmite cereal bar. (very excited to try this!)
Once speculation was created about the adverts, supposedly promoting radical marmite products. New images were launched stamped with 'That may be too far, but what about this?" and an image of the cereal bar.

There is a facebook page with videos of the public trying the bar and their love/hate reactions.
I think its a really witty and well executed campaign dwelling on their already established brand but adding a comical and contemporary twist.

scary new marmite!

New marmite launch with an extra strong taste! this is for hard core fans and the packaging does look rather daunting!
I love marmite but i dont know if id want it even stronger than it already is??

Ok Go outdo themselves once again

If you havent seen this yet, WATCH IT!

Responsible for the phenomenon of the infamous 'tread mill' music video, OkGo's latest viral has taken it one step further (if this is even possible!). The video is so inventive and its actually amazing the thought that has gone into every little detail!

I can only imagine the hours spent planning this shoot and the chaos that looks like the set!...can you even imagine if you had set up this entire marble run and some bright spark accidentally bumped into it and set it all off without the camera rolling?!no.

I went to a gig of theirs back in 2007 and was treated to a live performance of their 'a million ways' dance which was pretty funny. I just love their comedy and that they really dont take themselves seriously. They use every opportunity they have to create something memorable and their music video's are probably what makes them stand out as a band and so successful.

My personal favourite part is when the glasses are clinked in time to the music...and of course you've got to love the paint splatters at the end!

Happy birthday CR

Just had a quick look on the Creative Review website to see what design delights they had and found snippets of March's issue, which celebrates their 30 year anniversary: The front cover looks so good!

I love how they have captured the excitement of a child's birthday with their creative environment in one photograph. Although the magazine is turning the big 3.0. it manages to stay contemporary and fresh every single month and this image really celebrates it.

The layout of this issue looks quite different and slightly more experimental so im excited to get my hands on a copy!

Evian

I have been researching the Evian 'live young' campaign for a uni project and found this hilarious Roller babies promo video on their website. watch if you want a giggle!

x

Week 3 brief

Some mock-ups of presentation boards for this weeks 'weekly brief'. I have the challenge of researching Beach Volleyball as an Olympic sport and its relationship with 35-40 year old women. The general consensus around this age bracket is that they are very unaware that it is such a popular competitive sport: they associate it more with recreation play on holidays.

Craig Ward

Concentrating further on the idea of the written word as a series of illustrations, I have been looking at the work of Craig Ward, as he is a strong believer of this statement.

The name of his online portfolio expresses this perfectly titled 'words are pictures' as he tries to go against all traditional type design and wants to celebrate each letter as a piece of art.

I found this interview extract for 'Bak magazine' very interesting...

"Each letter should have a flirtation with the one next to it" says Mac Baumwell. In your opinion, what qualities make a typographic composition good enough?

Unlike most other creative pursuits there are a lot of rules that you can choose to follow when working with type. In doing so you’ll create something that is considered ‘right’ by the wider typographic community: there will be a grid; things will line up; if you’re working with body copy you shouldn’t have more than 15 words per line and so on and so forth. Of course, you’ll run the risk of creating something that’s been done countless times before. The best typography acknowledges the rules and work that has been done before and decides how to interpret it and to what extent to follow it’s lead.

On a personal level, one thing that unites all good typography is scale and contrast. Some people are afraid of using type above 12pt and hide it away in the bottom left corner of a page – what I try to do is the opposite; to celebrate the type. As soon as you enlarge type it becomes something else – more than just a series of letters. It becomes a shape or a set of curves – something abstract; it takes on a gender and a character and the craftsmanship of the type designer really comes to the fore.

(link to the article)

Clipper Tea

As an obsessed tea drinker myself I thought it was about time I do a post of the 2009 Clipper tea redesign. This indecisive company has been through several packaging designs to get to the point it is at now, and thanks to the artistic talents of 'Big fish' design agency, Clipper have received positive feedback about their rebrand. As fresh, organic and inviting as the packaging looks, I as the customer have had problems in identifying each different tea flavour. I'm pretty sure I am not the only one who has rushed into sainsbury's on an emergency tea dash and immediately assumed that as all of the boxes (from the front) appear the same due to the dominant grey background and so picked up the first one. Then get home and realise I have purchased fowl tasting green tea rather than peppermint. Devastating.

Design needs to be both practical and aesthetically pleasing and although Clipper have a huge big tick in one box I think the design could be made to distinguish each type much more obviously. That said, I love the imagery and style they have used and the 'cut-out' hand crafted feel the box has. They presented the organic nature of the product very well and made it a younger and more fashionable brand.

Past Clipper packaging designs and branding

Late February resolution

As i have pretty much rejected this blog recently I am going to make an effort to post as regularly as possible.
Right so, we are having weekly briefs in uni at the moment which at first I was horrified about but now i am definitely coming round to the idea and am finding it really useful for working on presentation skills.
This weeks was a much simpler task, having randomly selected a target audience from a hat (I got 35-40 year old women) we had to research as much about them as possible within the 7 days.
The copy that i wrote explains the audience well I feel and I had a great time creating the illustrations! After todays crit I can see that i need to improve several aspects but thought i'd upload what Ive done so far anyway...

COPY:

"This new and modern generation has reformed what the traditional middle-aged woman once was. No longer is it their sole duty to dedicate their days on all fours playing with plastic toys, cooking and listening to children’s nursery rhymes in the family Volkswagen. These women are staying younger for longer and closing the fundamental age gap between the generations slowing obliterating the idea of ‘us against them’.

Due to the recent rebirth of 80’s fashion, music and culture on the market, it is now ‘cool’ to be vintage and 35-40 year old women are the originals giving them an element of admiration. This age bridge does work both ways as they are becoming more actively involved with digital technology making them a new and prime target market wanting to absorb all that the 21st century has to offer, and unlike other generations, they can afford it.

The women (whether post family, career involved or a glowing new ‘yummy mummy’), are keen to rebel against the stereotype of how older women should look and behave. It is acceptable for them to wear Ugg boots, have the latest iphone and listen to current music as they want to do and have it all. These ambitious ladies are organized, passionate and not yet ready for compromise. They will stay up late, get up early and make time to look after themselves cherishing the fact that they can live a grown up lifestyle without fully growing up.

More and more 35-40 year old women are living online and judge their success not on finance or security but on freedom, and how much power they have to do what they want when they want. This does add a certain pressure however to this idealist balanced lifestyle: 23% of them are constant worriers as perhaps underneath this confident female market, there are insecurities and jealousy associated with which elements of their lifestyle they have paid least attention to."

The next stage of the brief is a pretty challenging task, again at random, we had to select an Olympic sport and are having to research it and its relationship to our target audience. I picked out 'beach volley ball'....should be interesting!
Ill upload what I find out next week so stay tuned!

Toast-its

I came across this ingenious product via another blogger and felt that the idea really needed to be applauded once more.
gone now are the days where you send a gift of wine and a traditional card, why not combine the two!? This brilliantly executed product allows the customer to choose their wine according to taste and then a label in reflection of the celebration. Within such a saturated market as the design industry, finding something that is different and captures the attention of the audience is such a rarity and this company turns the wine bottle a piece of illustrative artwork.

The audience they are obviously trying to attract is working young adults who want a simple yet personal service to send a gift. The general style of graphics they have used does just this making the product fun yet sophisticated. (Their website design reiterates this and sells the product to be quality)

http://toast-its.com/