I get quite a few emails about art director and designer gigs and positions. This last one caught me a little off-guard. Microsoft Word Designer? Who the hell designs anything in Microsoft Word? The only thing I've ever designed in Word was a birthday card for my mom when I was 10 and that didn't even make it onto the damn fridge. I guess she didn't like the birthday cake clip art I chose. "You must be able to build this e-mail in Word."? So now anyone who can format an email is a designer? Must be quite the full-service ad agency when they need to bring in more designers for Microsoft Word. Good luck filling the position.
So, I'm sitting eating my Golden Crisp this morning, when a story about cleavage in the office comes on The Today Show. The segment was all about how appropriate/inappropriate it is for women to dress in the workplace and how that can affect how men perceive and treat them. I was intrigued already, but then they introduce Donnie Deutsch (CEO of the ad agency Deutsch and host of The Big Idea on CNBC) as a guest on the subject. Just from my prior knowledge of Donnie, I knew we were in for an entertaining segment.
Donnie didn't even seem to attempt to act as if he thought this subject was a valid one. He basically made a mockery of the whole thing, almost to the point where Meredith Vieira became visibly agitated. To cap it off, Donnie even unbuttoned his own shirt to see if it effected how the other women in the interview acted. No Donnie, I don't want to see your damn chest. I think we've all seen quite enough already. Most of us already know about the stigma of sexism and male dominance in advertising. Thanks for reinforcing that stereotype, Mr. Deutsch.
I like the illustrations on these Airbus A380 ads a lot, but I'm a little confused by them. Why the giant bird as the plane? I like the drastic change form more typical airline ads, though.
Agency: Ogilvy & Mather, Beijing Executive Creative Director: Nils Andersson Creative Director: Wilson Chow Art Director: Bo Deng
Pretty clever. These Jeep parking spots were placed all over Copenhagen, making Jeep part of the urban environment. I like simple, subtle guerrilla ideas like these. Nice work.
I'm not real sure that this Volkswagen Golf GT commercial makes any sense, but it's entertaining. Serves them damn frogs right for all these years of eating defenseless flies.
Agency: DDB, Berlin, Germany Creative Director: Wolfgang Schneider Art Director: Wolfgang Schneider Copywriter: Wolfgang Schneider Agency Producer: Marion Langer Production Company: Outsider, London/ Marken films, Germany Director: Henry Littlechild DP: David Luther EP: Toby Courlander Producer: Ben Roberts Editorial: Marken Films/Germany Post/Effects: The Framestore/London VFX Artist(s): Ben Cronin Sound Design: Jungle Studio/London Sound Designer: Cris Turner
These are interesting visuals. I would have liked to see more of an interaction with the illustrations and the ashes, like maybe the people running from them. But, they are still pretty nice ads. Copy translates, "With cigarettes, your life goes to ashes."
This cartoon is the twenty-eighth in a weekly series drawn by a talented illustrator named Victoria Levan. Check back each Friday for a new Shedwatoon.
Well, if your magazine is really used for choking the chicken, you might as well advertise it as such.
Agency: Smart, Melbourne, Australia Executive Creative Director: John Mescall Art Director: Mal Chambers Copywriter: Scot van den Driesen Retoucher: Todd Riddiford Photographer: Christopher Tovo Studio: C.I. Studios / Richmond
Nice looking ads and a good idea to go with the copy. Good work.
Agency: McCann Erickson, London Executive Creative Directors: Brian Fraser, Simon Learman Art Director: Jay Phillips Copywriter: Neil Clarke Illustrator: John Martin
It took me a second to realize what these visuals were actually of, and I guess that's the point. Copy reads, "Sonax Xtreme Car-polish." Nice work. The photography and design look amazing. So clear and vivid. If you need some help viewing the ads, click on them to enlarge.
Agency: Serviceplan München/Hamburg, Germany Creative director: Ekki Frenkler Art Director: Miro Moric Graphic Design: Patrizia Marroni Photpgrapher: Anatol Kotte
These ads are pretty original. I like the illustrations and the ideas. Copy reads, "Make plants grow faster." The kid with the noose, however, seems a bit inappropriate and morbid. Are they trying to look like a suicide aid? Kudos on the others, though.
Agency: DDB, Dusseldorf, Germany Copywriters: Tim Jacobs, Dennis May Art Director: Thomas Schwarz Illustrator: Dino So
NSFW. These viral ads are for Elle Macpherson Intimates and feature some bored models appearing to video blog. It's a good thing someone told me what these were for, because I would have had no idea. How are people supposed to connect the videos to the brand? See more of the ads below.
This American Apparel ad ran full-page on the back cover of The Onion last week. I think American Apparel ads are provocative and definitely get people talking about the brand, but I don't like them. I think they are tasteless at times and do not have much thought behind them. The strange thing is that a brand who sells mostly plain clothes that aren't that revealing or sexy can have such sexually based ads. I guess sex can sell anything.
These ads get right to the point. Copy reads, "Extremely fast delivery." When you have something simple to say, you can still say it creatively. Nice example of that.
Agency: NBS, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Creative Director: André Lima, Pedro Feyer Art Director: Bernardo Romero, Marcello Noronha, Ivan Loos Copywriter: Sabrina Villar, Rodrigo Dorfman
One of the great perks of living on the Upper West Side is the proximity to Riverside Park and the Hudson River. It's really nice to walk on the water and there is also a few restaurants along the river. One of those restaurants is The West 79th St Boat Basin Cafe.
I finally ate at the Boat Basin Cafe today and it was great. We sat on the patio and had a great view of the water and all of the boats. The menu was made up of things like burgers, salads and sandwiches. All of which were very reasonably priced. I definitely recommend hitting up the Boat Basin Cafe for lunch with friends or a casual dinner date. But do it quick, the restaurant is seasonal and will only remain open 'till the weather turns cold.
This cartoon is the twenty-seventh in a weekly series drawn by a talented illustrator named Victoria Levan. Check back each Friday for a new Shedwatoon.
This is one of the craziest milk commercials I have ever seen, but I like it. I love when the milk comes flooding out of the cow, haha. There is also a website where you can play lots of games in the same style as the commercial.
It's been a long time since I had a celebrity sighting, but that drought ended tonight. On my way to the subway after work, I came across Mos Def. He was just standing on the corner of Christopher Street and 7th Ave. I wouldn't have even noticed him, but another guy said to him, "You're way too famous to just be standing out here."
To which, Mos said, "Man, I've lived in New York my whole life." He blended right in with fellow New Yorkers in simple sweatpants and hoodie with his trademark hat. A few others recognized him and struck up a conversation about his up-coming movie.
Wow. These are some great Burger King ads. If I wasn't completely opposed to ever stepping inside a fast-food restaurant, I might actually act on these ads. I love the photography and the ideas. Copy reads, "Italy's finest coffee now at Burger King." Stereotypical Italian visuals, but they work really well. Nice job.
Makes sense, but doesn't make me want an air freshener. It just makes me think of that freakin' skunk stink. This is one idea that should have made its way to the trash.
Agency : Grey Hong Kong Executive Creative Director: Keith Ho Creative Director: Eddie Hui, Edmond Chan Art Director: Edmond Chan, Gloria Fung, Leslie Wong Copywriter: Eddie Hui, Wilson Ang Photographer: Garry Chan Retoucher: Shing
These ads are pretty great. I love the art direction with the pencil drawings. Very well done. Copy reads, "There's something scarier in the house. 80% of abused children are victims of their parents." Great idea to throw the kids in with the monsters in their closets and under their beds.
Agency: JWT San Juan, Puerto Rico Creative Director: Jaime Rosado Art Director: Héctor Buscaglia Copywriter: Lixaida Lorenzo
Living in New York City is a blast. There is so much to do, so much to see and so many places to get lost in. It can be pretty overwhelming for tourists who are new to the city. One way many visitors try to take it all in is by going on a sightseeing tour. There are many to choose from, but Trusted Tours is here to show you all of the sights and sounds.
Trusted Tours has many New York Tours to choose from. You can see the city on a double decker bus and hit all of the famous spots such as The Empire State Building, Times Square and Central Park. It's a great way to see a ton of the attractions while being informed by a knowledgeable guide.
One tour that I would personally love to take is the New York Splash Tour. The splash tour shows you New York City by both land and sea... all in the same vehicle! The AquaBus takes you through the streets of Manhattan as well as on the waters of the Hudson River. It looks like a fun, exciting way to see both the busy streets and the skyline views on the river.
If you're planning a visit to New York City, or even if you live in the city and just want to see a little more about your neighborhood, these New York Tours are a great idea. They also have tours in many other cities, such as Chicago Tours. Schedule one today and see the city tomorrow!
Here's a handy little tool for any of you printers, art directors or designers out there. Cartridge Finder is a nice site that helps you track down what type of ink cartridge your printer, copier or fax machine needs and where you can find it for sale online.
From Cartridge Finder: CartridgeFinder.com has an easy to use interface that makes it simple to figure out which cartridges are required for more than 10,000 different models of printer, copier, and fax machines.
The site also checks PriceGrabber.com's merchant listings to find you the best price on the product you need.
Seems like a very useful site to have bookmarked at work or at home. This is a sponsored post.
Opening your own bar or restaurant? Building your very own bar in your house? Then you definitely need a good bar sink. Faucet.com has lots of bar sinks to choose from. I built a bar for my house back in college and one thing that I should have installed in it was a sink. It's very practical and handy to have at your fingertips.
Faucet.com has a variety of styles in a range of prices. You can choose from round sinks, square sinks, deep sinks, shallow sinks or whatever else you may be looking for. They have stainless steal and white finishes.
The website also offers phone assistance for purchasing and picking the right sink for you. So, start looking for your sink now and have it sooner than you think. This is a sponsored post.
Here's some ads that are part of the new New York City tourism campaign. I like the illustrations and the idea, but I really like the commercial version, below. I love the mixture of animation, illustration and video. I wish they would have taken more of that into the print executions. Explore more about the campaign on the This is New York City website.
Living in New York City gives you the opportunity to experience so many things. There are always tons of things going on in and around Manhattan. There's parades, street fairs, night life and much more. But, it's not always easy to find out about what's happening and what's available. There are lots of resources however, and one of them is Shecky's. Shecky's is a website designed to give you the scoop on everything happening in your town from nightlife to fashion.
There are many articles on the site that tell you what you need to know about events and recommendations. For instance, Oktoberfest is upon us and you want to know the best places to celebrate. Shecky's has a great list of bars and pubs hosting events. Read up, then drink up. You can even search by neighborhood and find a spot close to you. You may even find your new favorite bar! There is also fashion and beauty tips on Shecky's. Read all about shoes, bags or whatever else you have a soft spot for.
There is so much great New York City stuff, as well as other cities, on Shecky's, it's impossible to tell you about it all. So, get over to Shecky's and check it out for yourself.
Here's even more coverage of the Sony BRAVIA Play-Doh ad. The video features lots of interviews with crew members and agency executives, as well as lots of behind-the-scenes video of the rabbits. Sorry you can't see the video right in this post, but you can see the whole thing over at AdGabber. More info and video will be on the Sony website later today. Enjoy.
This is a short little ad for Christina Aguilera's new perfume of the same name. Not much to it, but there rarely is in celebrity endorsed stuff. But I'm a sucker for celebrities in ads, so here ya go.
Well, this one comes as quite a shock. Just days after the release of Sony BRAVIA's Play-Doh ad, another spot from the campaign pops up. This one seems more like an Egypt local spot, draping a pyramid in colored thread. And, like most local spots, it lacks the greatness of the rest of the previous BRAVIA work. I think it's just the editing that doesn't do it for me. The situation could have been great. Please try harder next time BRAVIA, please try harder.
I really, really like these Sprite ads. The illustrations are very well done and look awesome. I also love the logo treatment in the bottom right corner. The world one also has a pretty great copy that reads, "2/3 of the world is covered in water. The rest is covered by thisty people." Too bad they spelled 'thirsty' wrong. Great work, nonetheless.
Agency: Ogilvy&Mather, New Delhi, India Creative Director: Emmanuel Upputuru Art Director: Arnab Biswas Copywriter: Godwin Martin Illustrator: Arnab Biswas Additional credits: Pooja Trehan, Krishna Mani Published: September 2007 Media: Posters during college fests in New Delhi
Nothing too special about these 206 Escapade ads, but I just think the visual is a good one. Nice art direction. Copy reads, "Ready for the weekend with you."
Agency: Euro RSCG Brasil Art Directors: Fábio Onofre, Rodrigo Corbari Copywriters: Jader Rossetto, Rodrigo Mendonça Creative Director: Jader Rossetto Photographer: Alexandre Salgado
I posted a few weeks ago about the fine folks at Greenpeace crashing the Kleenex couch party in Times Square. Now they've gone and made a mockery of another let it out campaign shoot, this time at Wrigley Field in Chicago. The crew has even come up with their own Kleercut website. Enjoy the activism chaos.
These Newton running shoe ads are kinda funny, but they are kinda obvious as well. And what is with the copy that reads, "For every action there is an equal and obvious reaction at newtonrunning.com"? Seems like they have too many partial ideas going on here and not enough solid execution.
It's here! It's here! The new Sony BRAVIA Play-Doh ad is here! This is like Christmas. Well, maybe more like Easter with all of the rabbits and colors. The spot looks great. The hi-res spot is available on the Sony website, but you must sit through a bunch of colour facts to get to it. It looks great though, and is well worth the wait.
This spot is a little different than the previous Balls and Paint, in that those were in slow-motion, this one is in stop-motion. From the Sony website, "The third TV commercial for BRAVIA is the most ambitious piece of stop-motion animation ever undertaken. Devised by Fallon and shot over three weeks in New York, the commercial employed 40 animators from Passion and used 2.5 tonnes of plasticine."
All the hard work was worth it. The effects are wonderful, the rabbits are fun to watch and the song "She's a Rainbow" is a perfect choice. Enjoy! Long live the Sony Bravia spots!
Agency: Fallon, London Creative Directors: Juan Cabral, Richard Flintham Agency Producer: Nicky Barnes Account Director: Ben Cyzer Production Company: Gorgeous Enterprises, London Director: Frank Budgen Producer: Rupert Smythe Animation Production Company: Passion Pictures, London Animation Supervisor: Darren Walsh Post Production: Moving Picture Company, London Model Making: Artem, Middlesex Music: "She's a Rainbow" by The Rolling Stones
These Sony Wega Theatre ads don't have the most original idea, but they are nicely done.
Agency: Euro RSCG, Buenos Aires, Argentina Executive Creative Director: Gustavo Reyes Creative Directors: Mariano Duhalde, Maximiliano Sanchez Head of Art: Maximiliano Sanchez Art Directors: Diego Fernandez Brun, Guadalupe Covas Copywriter: Hernan Kritzer
The copy on this Audi Quattro ad simply reads, "Play." I get it and I don't like it. Why the hell are you sideways in the Audi? Does it have horrible traction and you lose control on windy mountain roads? Stop forcing your stupid idea to work and just bury it in the trash already.
Agency: DDB Milan, Italy Creative Director: Vicky Gitto Art Director: Hugo Gallardo Dominguez Copywriter: Marta Francesca Agostini
Copy reads, "Your clothes are full of memories, take care of them with Omino Bianco laundry detergent.” I kind of like the idea, because it's true that you have memories with your clothes. I think they should have chosen a more memorable experience to portray. I don't think anyone would really remember their trip to the Brooklyn Bridge just by the clothes they were wearing that day. They should have chose an event you specifically get dressed up for, such as prom or Christmas with your family. But this ad is from Italy, so maybe a trip to New York City is a bit more memorable for these clothes.
Agency : Publicis, Milan, Italy Creative Director: Alasdhair Macgregor-Hastie Art Director: Patrizia Modena Copywriter: Cinzia Crociani Photographer: Giovanni Altana
Copy reads, "Too many people eat on the streets." These Israeli Food Bank ads have a nice visual, but I just have one question. Where the hell did the homeless get water and dish soap to clean those plates so nicely? And why aren't they using these products to clean themselves?
Agency: Shalmor Avnon Amichay/Y&R, Tel Aviv Executive Creative Director: Gideon Amichay Creative Director: Tzur Golan Art Director: Shirley Bahar Copywriter: Avital Pinchevsky Original Photographer: Chema Madoz @ VEGAP 2007 Photographer: Melanit Turjeman Account: Michal Green and Chani Maslo
I've seen this Nissan Rogue commercial a few times now and really like it. It's very well done, and was a well executed idea. Great way to show the handling while still being creative. Nice job.
Agency: TBWA\Chiat\Day, Los Angeles Creative Directors: Curt Detweiler, Rob Schwartz Art directors: Ken Lin, Curt Detweiler Copywriter: Jason Rappaport Production: Paranoid US Director: Thierry Poiraud
Well here is one of the sexiest ads now running 50 million times a day on television. It's Mariah Carey getting naked for her new M fragrance line. If they are going to run this spot constantly, could they please have used a less repetitive soundtrack? I've only seen it about 10 times so far, and I'm already over it. She does look damn good though.
I get quite a few emails about art director and designer gigs and positions. This last one caught me a little off-guard. Microsoft Word Designer? Who the hell designs anything in Microsoft Word? The only thing I've ever designed in Word was a birthday card for my mom when I was 10 and that didn't even make it onto the damn fridge. I guess she didn't like the birthday cake clip art I chose. "You must be able to build this e-mail in Word."? So now anyone who can format an email is a designer? Must be quite the full-service ad agency when they need to bring in more designers for Microsoft Word. Good luck filling the position.
