Warhols invents 'Influencers'

Bloggers.

Instagrammers.

People on Snapchat.

All of them willing to tell people about things they are being paid to tell people about.

At least Andy Warhol did it ironically.

Ashes on their way

So nice to see a good old fashioned press ad.

The kind of ad that eighties' award annuals are full of.

A clever idea. Beautifully (and simply) executed.

Kudos to AMV in London. Click the pic for a better look. 

Make love not walls

There are so many brands who could have come out with the campaign line Make Love Not Walls.

But none did.

Except Diesel.

Good on them for spending their marketing money to promote love and harmony in these troubled times.

Gap Archive Reissue

Been a while since I've seen a GAP ad. Which may explain why I really like this one. Lightweight as it is.

Not you when you're hungry

A couple of years ago I was so excited to find out we had booked the back cover of a glossy mag for an ad.

So of course we took even more care than usual to create something beautiful.

Sadly the magazine editor refused to run our ad on the cover. Offering us the inside of the cover instead.

We stuck by our guns and so the ad never ran.

No such problems for BBDO New York who created these very funny spook cover designs for the back cover and inside cover of the famous swimsuit edition of Sports Illustrated.

Huge kudos to everyone involved.

Sound & Vision

This is so lovely. It's a look into the work of foley artist Peter Bräker who did the most amazing sound design for a recent Freitag commercial. Click here to see the actual ad.

Free design resource

One of the great things about the internet is the access it gives people to things that were previously unaccessible.

The democratisation of technology I do believe it's called.

Case in point is this site where O'Reilly Media have posted 20 free design related e-books for free download.

That's free download.

Seriously what are you waiting for? Click here and dig in! 

Big ideas are hard work

Landing in style

One of the oldest rules of advertising states that when you have nothing to say then you should use showmanship. Kudos to Hackett for doing it so well. 

Words or picture?

I dunno about this ad. It's a bit too clever for its own good if you ask me.

As the old adage goes, a picture paints a thousand words.

Yet all the words in this ad from M&C Israel really don't paint a picture for me. 

Trott on Bernbach

Love Dave Trott and love his passion for the work of Bill Bernbach. Doubt 'The Donald' would be a fan but I most definitely am! 

Turning heads

Been so such in the trade press of late about dodgy numbers in online advertising.

Well here's some digital advertising whose numbers you can trust.

Why?

Because they're actually displayed on the billboard.

Using facial recognition technology each time a person looks at the Mazda it adds another number to the 'heads turned so far' headline.

Showing not only how eye catching the car is. But also how many people actually took a moment to view the ad.

Who's to blame?

Comic Sans. Its very name sends shivers. Enjoy! 

Attention to (other) detail

Attention to detail is everything for me.

It's that last little one percent that makes the difference between a truly great idea and a very good one.

But sometimes it pays to step back and look at the bigger picture.

Because when you are so tightly focussed on getting tiny details right it's easy to overlook something glaringly obviously in need of attention.

It could be a typo or it could be a detail that it took someone with fresh eyes to point out.

So here's my tip for the day - Always get someone unfamiliar with your work to take a look at it before you sign it off as finished.

You can thank me later!

Apple goes surreal

The campaign for iPod is one of my favourite campaigns of the 21st century.

The ingenious use of white against black on vivid colour made the iPod the must have device at the time.

Now those clever folks at TBWA has given the campaign a twist for the new AirPods.

The white stands out clearly in the black & white film. And the surreal dance action gives it a touch of the unexpected.

Obviously not a patch on the iPod work but lovely none the less. 

How beautiful are these paper sculptures?

There were created by Zim & Zou for Hermes.

I can't imagine how much work is involved in creating something this intricate.

Not to mention complex!

Check out a few more here.

American vs British Teeth

Greenies is a strange name for a dental care product. Even one intended for dogs.

But that name didn't stop the team at Adam&EveDDB from coming up with a fun way of selling it.

British dentistry.

After all who'd want their dog to have teeth like Austin Powers?

This is a scam ad

No client in their right mind would ever approve an ad this tasteless.

So it has to be a scam.

Which is fine. If it's work for your folio.

But please don't go posting it to ad blogs when it clearly hasn't/wouldn't run.

Shame on you BBR Saatchi & Saatchi Israel. 

Exciting insurance ads?

This has to be the most uninsurancey campaign I've seen in a while.

It's by Arnold in Boston.

The attention to retro detail in the art direction is top notch.

But what I love most of all is the campaign has a women at its heart.

So so refreshing.

Hump Day Pun