The narrative construct of Andy Bruntel’s music video for The Liars track, Scissor plays like something of a train wreck. This one definitely appeals to my more cynical half. And speaking of cynicism and train wrecks, Lars Von Trier has been tapped to direct a new tourism advertising campaign for Denmark.
The Ritual Project documents the creation of a Stella Artois ad that covers the side of a Manhattan building.
My friend and very talented editor, Damion Clayton shared with me this wonderful project that he just completed for Lego. The short film is an inspiring tale about incomplete creative ideas that finally click together.
Swedish fashion label Whyred commissioned a rather surreal short film, La Vitesse Et La Pierre which is composed entirely of still images. The project reminds me of Chris Marker’s La Jetee.
I first saw Liu Bolin’s unique brand of camouflage art a while back. This blog posting reminded me that I wanted to share his work with more people. I also recently saw this ad council commercial that is clearly inspired by his work. Another advertisement using the same idea for the anti-psychotic drug, Seroquel has been on air quite a bit lately.
Mel Ramos’s Pop Art Fantasies imagines sexy female celebrity icons as pinup style objects of desire. The women pose around products that represent over indulgence, mass consumption and bad habits.
Several years ago, a friend showed me street-art by his ex-roommate, a woman who went by the named of SWOON. I was enamored with what I saw and it certainly was no surprise that in the immediate years to follow, her work would be championed by Deitch Projects and the Museum of Modern Art. Here she is featured in a segment from D.I.Y. America , a serialized show produced by Wieden & Kennedy, that features people at the forefront of America’s creative counter culture.
The American Heart Association has launched an unexpected web based project to inspired people to learn CPR. Based on the notion that hands can do incredible things, the site allows you build and share an orchestra of beats using a selection of hand clap samples.
Joe Vanhoutteghem’s music video for The Hickey Underworld track Blonde Fire is one of the most bizarre and intriguing clips I’ve seen in some time. His commercial work seems to be a touch on the darker side as well.
I don’t speak Turkish, so I’m not entirely sure what this visually striking commercial is about. I’d venture the guess that the message has something to do with breaking out of the proverbial box.
Whether or not you realize it, the corporate visual environment that you live in has at it’s best been designed by a few select people. Ivan Chermayeff is one of those people. With his partner Tom Geismar, he has designed the identities for some of the most known brands worldwide. He has done this with an intellectual sense of elegance and class that has always proved an iconic result. His identities for NBC, Chase, Mobil, PBS and Barney’s New York are all case in point examples. Here is an interview in which a very experienced Chermayeff gives greater insight into his work and process.
Ever since the internet became intertwined with our daily lives, people have commonly fantasized about creating the next big thing website or service that they could cash in on. Social networking sites like Facebook and Myspace have been sold in the last few years for outrageous sums that truly can’t be rationalized. On the other hand, there have been sites that actually can quantify their success in real numeric terms. Many of these sites like Zappos for example provide a very necessary service. A few months back I posted about a website called Kickstarter. The site which is still in beta speaks to this kind of ingenuity in which common people will be able to find themselves doing something that they simple couldn’t do before. In recent weeks, Kickstarter has been picking up traction and even received two write-ups on the NY Times in one day. One article explains how the concept works and why micro-patronage is the big idea. And this one, the story of how a record label used the service to avoid trashing a large collection of overstock.
Director Pete Candeland of Passion Pictures was assigned the dream project of creating an animated opening cinematic for The Beatles edition of Rockband. The brilliant medley tracks through different musical and aesthetic periods of the band’s career, and concludes with a picture perfect visualization of I Am the Walrus. While I’m not quite sure of what John Lennon would think of using his music for video games, I’d be pretty certain that he’d be moved by this short animated film. The project is so wonderful that it actually gave me chills and goose bumps.
Nathan Love is a 3D design/animation studio that was started by some of my old school-mates. These guys absolutely excel at strange character design. I’ve always been impressed with their work, but think that they really outdid themselves with this short horror film piece called Blood Trail.
Lack of fresh water in poor nations is to blame for a number of illnesses that result in millions of deaths each year. Charity:Water is a non-profit whose mission is to drill sustainable wells in underdeveloped communities to eliminate these completely preventable deaths. There is truly no acceptable reason that over a billion people are deprived of fresh drinking water each day. The organization put together this moving film for World Water Day.
Tribal DDB Amsterdam have collaborated with director Adam Berg to freeze time in Carousel. This beautifully executed short film was created to promote the new Phillips 21:9 TV. Here is a behind the scenes making of the project.
To promote the release of their next album entitled It’s Blitz, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and director Barney Clay collaborated on the Snakesweat Trilogy. These quirky promos seem to give a nod and wink at the works of Russ Meyer and Alejandro Jodorowsky.
Today while doing some research, I visited the site of one of my favorite graphic design firms. Why Not Associates have created many brilliantly unique typographic projects over the years, ranging from environmental works to short films. Ever since I first saw this piece created for Virgin, I’ve been dying to use neon in a project.
I’m not the biggest consumer and tend to abstain from buying things that I don’t really need. But every now and again, I see an advertisement for something and think “you know I really could use that.” Since it’s been perpetually cold in my apartment, I’m contemplating buying a ridiculous product that I saw on one of those annoying-as-hell infomercial style ads. The Snuggie is a blanket with sleeves. Or I could go with the Slanket which has a better name and comes in an array of colors. Then again the Snuggie comes with a free book-light. Decisions decisions. Guess what everyone is getting for Xmas next year.
100 classic illustrated horror film posters part 1 & part 2.
The holiday season usually means it’s that time of the year when we’ll catch half naked models frolicking around on a beach in a black & white fragrance commercial. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but it seems like a bit of a tired formula. I look forward to the day that I turn on the tube and find a perfume ad as bizarre as this short film created by fashion photographer Eugenio Recuenco for Loewe’s odor “Quizás, Quizás, Quizás”.
(via Wicked Halo)
It would seem appropriate on this holiday to re-visit last year’s Coca-Cola commercial titled It’s Mine. In the spot, two balloon characters at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade go rogue chasing around the city for an inflatable bottle of Coke. You can view The Mill’s making of the spot here.
This is what happened when a desperate John McCain asked some Hollywood directors to create attack ads for him.
Parkour is a sort of sport that combines spirituality and the body in a physical challenge to overcome our made environments. Parkour originated in France about 20 years ago and has now grown in popularity in the US, especially among woman. I first had seen the sport on display in the following commercials and music video; I just didn’t know it had a name.
Nike “Angry Chicken”
Nike “Young Love”
Nike “The Scary Cat”
Madonna “Jump”
(via Kottke)
The politics of food is very important to me. How we cultivate our food, obtain it and ultimately eat it directly affects our quality of life. I was pleased to learn that the super creative ad firm, Mother had launched a unique venture that speaks to this very topic. Dogmatic is a new kind of sausage vending experience that offers grass fed and free range foods. Additionally, some of the ingredients are locally sourced and this is absolutely an imperative trend to set for a sustainable agricultural system and economy. Former Burger King CEO, Brad Blum has bought a majority stake in the company and has hopes to take the sausage shop across the country. My big suggestion is for them to obtain a beer and wine license as well. What is a sausage without a beer?
Here is more on Dogmatic Sausage Systems. In celebration of the “sausage” I share my favorite episode of The Kids in the Hall (has something to do with the love of meat stuff intestinal lining).
The gang over at Shilo and my friend, cinematographer Martin Ahlgren are some of the most inspiring and creative folks that I’ve had the pleasure of working with. I was so excited when I heard that they would be collaborating on a project for Guiness beer. The results are pretty brilliant.
For more on Shilo and how they do what they do, check this out.
I heard some great nicknames for Sarah Palin: Carbiou Barbie and Bible Spice. Its just bone chilling how appropriate either one is for her.
Peter Greenaway has long been one of my very favorite filmmakers. His experimentation and fascination with: language, books, painting, typography, design, cinema, theater and future forms of expression guides him to create in a language all his own. When considering his obvious desires to expand the visual language of film outside of cinema’s proverbial frame, it was no surprise to read that he had been working on some sort of online video game. What I had no idea of was that Greenaway has been up to much more than that. With the launch of his new official website, you can keep tabs on Greenaway’s lastest endeavors.
I’ve always believed that the great power that artists carry with them is the ability to evoke an emotional reaction from a stranger without even stepping foot in the same room. Nagi Noda’s whimsical work makes people feel good; it reminds us to use our imaginations no matter how wild they may be. As a young female artist she has truly defied obstacles and traditions while fully embodying the title “creative director.” With a vision all her own Nagi Noda has seamlessly slipped from one medium to another charming us along the way. So it is with a profound sadness that I share the work of Nagi Noda, whose life was cut way too short just a week ago at the age of 35.
Nagi Nada’s official website
Nagi Noda’s Music Video Work
It is quite interesting to see how films are marketed outside of their country of origin. Here is a collection of Polish poster designs dating back to 1940
For about two seconds, John McCain’s campaign ad “The One” created a stir. Aimed at the kind of fuck-nuts who actually believe in and look forward to “end times,” the ad uses their crazy evangelical secrete handshake codes and likens Obama to “The Dark One” himself (no pun intended). I find this quite disturbing on Mr. McCain’s behalf. Mind you, what’s more disturbing is the overwhelming number of people who believe these kinds of messages.
Tim LeHaye is a lunatic and the author of the unbelievably popular book series Left Behind, based on the end time prophecies. Terrifyingly over 63 million copies of this garbage have been sold. Not only does LeHaye bare a striking resemblance to many an interpretation of Lucifer himself (see below), but he also has some keen views on whether or not Barack Obama is in indeed the devil.
“I can see by the language he uses why people think he could be the antichrist,” adds LaHaye, “but from my reading of scripture, he doesn’t meet the criteria. There is no indication in the Bible that the antichrist will be an American.”
No shit Tim. He couldn’t possibly be the devil because you are.
A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of working on a shoot with Golden Gloves Champion Rena Anakwe. Below is a teaser frame from the dailies.
In sponsorship and celebration of the Beijing Olympics, Johnson & Johnson have created a pretty amazing giant marionette performance. My best friend Howie, whom now lives in Shanghai is one of the producers tapped to create the event. Not a bad gig.
A production casting company called House made a pretty clever promotional film in which a gang of models sing an a capella version of I Wanna Be Your Dog (by The Stooges). The film was directed by Georgie Greville.
Doug Pray is a documentary filmmaker who has made several films that deal with the creative fruit of counter culture. He was commissioned by Clorox to make this short film documenting the making of a reverse-graffiti mural by Paul “Moose” Curtis. The mural is created by simply washing away dirt. Its good to see a chemical company like Clorox starting to think in a greener way.
Heinz created a socially relevant commercial with a surprise twist. That twist drew complaints from 200 viewers and led to the banning of the commercial. There is nothing like a little self censoring to appease a few bigots. I find it hard to understand how Heinz signs off on the creation and airing of this commercial, and then retracts because of a little heat. Either the corporation wants to be a socially progressive voice or they don’t.
Though I don’t own a car and have no need for car insurance, I’ve always thought that it was clever that Geico has maintained several distinct ad campaigns at the same time. There has long been the too cute CG gecko with an inexplicable British accent. And of course, there are the disgruntled civilized cavemen brothers who found an extended life in a short lived TV comedy show. The newest campaign pairs real people with B-list stars and celebrity wash-ups including: James Lipton, Peter Frampton, Joan Rivers, Little Richard, Charo, The Pips, Michael Winslow and yes Mrs. Butterworth (the maple syrup bottle lady).
When football star, Michael Vick, was arrested for running a dog fighting ring, there was finally a reason to talk about a very real problem in this country. Now that Vick has been locked away, the issue of dog fighting will continue to exist and draw very little attention from the media. This PSA stands as a reminder that it is never the dogs fault; some people are the real beasts.
What do robots and soccer have in common? I have no idea. However, these ads for UEFA Euro 08 coverage have made me realize that I’d give a pinky to go to the tournament.
Recently I posted about Pascal Dagin, the world’s premier fashion photo retoucher. I’ve also recently posted about Unilever’s brand Dove and some of their practices, both good and bad as a cosmetics manufacturer. Their global Campaign for Real Beauty was aimed at portraying what women truly look like in the real world. Ironically, the company hired the world’s greatest photo retoucher for that very campaign. Why? Because even real beauty needs a little post production help from time to time.
Some illegal immigrants in the US have spent a lifetime in this country. Many have families and loved one here. And many have worked hard as cheap labor, taking the work that nobody else will do. This is obviously a complex issue. To those opposed to amnesty for these illegal immigrants, this wraps up your argument in a nutshell. (Look closely)
In the last few years Dove, the manufacturer of soaps and beauty products has been running their Campaign for Real Beauty. The idea is a global campaign focused on a social change that recognizes that real women come in different sizes and shapes. Dove’s online viral Evolution spot was truly something special to see; again they were punctuating the notion that real people don’t walk around looking like touched up photos.
With this kind of advertising one would think that a company like Dove is not only socially concerned about those who buy their products, but the world at large. I was terribly disappointed to see an ad created by Greenpeace designed to raise awareness of Dove’s not so friendly practices in Indonesia. Unilever the brand’s parent company is participating in trade for palm oil that is leading to the destruction of valuable forest and wildlife. See the very telling ad and lets make Unilever reconsider their trade.
Young entrepreneur Mark Ecko has helped to define the look of a generation. Starting with t-shirts, his empire has grown to include: G-Unit, Avirex, ecko unltd., and Zoo York. Recently he has branched into the interactive and entertainment worlds with Mark Ecko Entertainment and Complex Magazine. Last year Ecko pranked the world with his viral advertisement depicting a person sneaking onto a runway and tagging Air Force 1. The story was picked up by just about every major news organization, and apparently the White House actually had to investigate and confirm that the event never happened. Ecko is back at it with a new prank for his Zoo York label.
