Goooooal!

Yes it's kinda silly.

But if you love football then the totally over the top commentator is sure to strike a chord.

Huuuuuge thumbs up from me for agency BETC Paris

Very fruity chewing gum

Seen at actual size these ads are truly striking.

A very simple and clever idea to dramatise that fruity Viva Gum contains real fruit.

They're by Chinese agency Goodstein.

Given the campaign is for a Chinese gum I'd question whether or not the gum really does contain fruit.

But what the hell. It's some top notch print work.

Bad briefs are your problem too

Complaining about the quality of briefs is part 'n parcel of life as a creative.

And for very good reason.

A good brief is a springboard to a great idea.

A shit brief just leaves you floundering.

And floundering.

The pic above is from a recent talk by Faris Yakob.

It really struck a chord with me.

Yes it's easy to complain about the quality of briefs.

But wouldn't it be better if we worked together to make them better? 

Say hello to Eero

Staple of bachelor pads and 1970s movies, the Ball Chair is the creation of Eerio Aarnio.

Now in his 80s Aarnio is still working from his studio a half hour out of Helsinki.

Many of his designs are currently on display at the Helsinki Design Museum.

I'd love to go. But obviously that ain't gonna happen.

So I've had to settle for this terrific online piece on Aarnio. It's well worth 10 mins of your time.

Instant Buzz!

Seriously how can you not love this kinda madness?

Anti social media

It's accepted wisdom today that poor customer experiences results in brands being taken to task on Twitter or Facebook.

Hell I've even done it myself a couple of times.

But the poor bugger who bought the VW Transporter above has taken his frustrations to a whole new level.

Here's hoping he gets his lemon replaced with a new one. 

Gamifying brainstorms

I'm not a fan of brainstorms. Never have been.

But I am open minded enough to give the Brainstorm Deck a go.

At least I will be if and when it becomes available.

Click here to find out more on Kickstarter.

Where to from here?

Melbourne's better known for her trams rather than buses.

Regardless of the transport mode those 'destination scrolls' are highly collectible.

This lovely little film shows how they"re made.

100% old school. 

Pocket computing

The old guy with the muttonchops is none other than renowned sci-fi author Professor Isaac Asimov.

The device he's describing in the headline is what kids today refer to as an iPhone.

I wonder what old Isaac would've made of that? 

Good(by) versus evil

Always enjoy seeing advertising people putting their talent to use in the battle of good versus evil. Love your work Goodby Silverstein. 

The perils of cursive

Corny bit of typographic humour if truth be told. But it certainly made me smile when I saw it on Twitter this morning. 

A hard earned thirst

It doesn't get any more quintessentially Australian than an ice cold Victoria Bitter.

And it doesn't get any more un-Australian than firing workers then offering them the chance to apply for the job for a lot less money.

So kudos to whoever put these VB posters together.

Because they tap into what the brand experience is about. Or should be about. But isn't anymore. 

Those great VW ads

This is without a shadow of a doubt the best 20 minutes you'll waste watching video all day. 

Fail and fail again

Pick a card

Fast growing agency McGarrah Jessee needed a way to keep their start-up culture strong as the agency grew. And grew.

The solution?

A fun deck of cards that tell new starters everything they need to know about the agency.

I've been doing a fair bit of work on an Immersion Program of late.

Never thought of doing something like this.

Staring out the window

Wonderful little film from The School of Life on a subject that is very close to my heart.

Wasting time is never time wasted. Well not in the creative process anyway.

Every day in any agency

Agency life is far better than having a real job.

Trust me on that.

But even so it is often a grind.

A grind perfectly captured in these stock-shot memes by the clever folks from the Incumbent Agency.

The good old days

The daily ritual

This my friends is the grim reality of life as a creative.

Every morning you are confronted by a blank piece of paper.

Or an empty screen if that's more your thing.

You can either choose to sit and stare at it.

Worried that what you put on it will not be great.

Or you can fill it with scribbles and dumb ideas until eventually a good one comes out.

The choice is up to you. 

Beer or advertising?

 I've always like these kind of anti-ads. Especially for beer brands.

But I have to say I have seen a few of them of late.

Which means they're starting to feel a little lazy.

Sorry Grey Canada.

The kids are alright

Love love love this new back to school campaign for Target in the USA.

It was overseen by an agency called Adolescent and youth creativity organisation 326LA.

But the ads themselves were written and made by kids.

The writers were aged between 8 and 11. Whilst the directors were between 13 and 17.

Makes you feel a little bit over the hill really. Don't you think?

Thanks for the memories

Here in Melbourne this week Boomer Harvey broke the record for the most games of Aussie Rules football played.

He began his career in the year Windows 95 was released. And he's still at the top of his game.

There's been much fanfare. Particularly in the press.

But why oh why did his club, or sponsors, or the league itself not produce a tribute like the one above for baseball player Ken Griffey Jr?

Such a missed opportunity. 

Camera adds 10 pounds

I'm currently overseeing a huge brand photography project.

Many people (especially clientside) can't understand why photography is so important.

And so expensive.

Of course anyone can take a great photo.

You don't need technical knowledge to capture an image.

But to take a consistently good photo time after time requires great skill. And knowledge.

This clever little GIF shows why.