RUSSIAN SPEAK

Propaganda style posters were used to advertise this Russian Beer Vodka, at first glance this poster appears to be in Russian. However, the placement of these ads is detrimental to the message, placed opposite the mirrors in the bathrooms of pubs and clubs the message becomes clear...in English "Real Men Don't Drink and Drive". A refreshingly different take on the don't drink and drive adverts that we are used to seeing.

MORE BANTJES...

More stunning work...

"The Audacity of Hov", a piece of typographic work for Vibe magazine for an article on the king of bling J-zay. Intricate work created from glitter.









"Design ignites Change", laser cut design on white paper. No printing required. These are shots of the same poster in different locations to show how differently they can be viewed.

KRONENBOURG BUBBLES

I saw this advert when I was at the cinema last week and it stuck in my mind. Kronenbourg 1664 is the new product being marketed and it is fantastic to see such a simple idea be executed in such a striking way. Bubbles! A quality of every beer/lager has been used, its USP being that the bubbles are actually smaller in Kronenbourg and therefore it tastes better. Paloma Reed and Nick O'Brien from M&C Saatchi are the masterminds behind this playful advert. A simple and effective concept.

LOVE STORIES

This months Monograph in Creative Review showed off some stunning work, a series called "Love Stories" by Marian Bantjes. She created images about the people she loved, but what is most interesting is the different materials she used to do so and how she used them. Its refreshing to see an illustrator using other means other than the computer, and I think that it what makes here work so appealing. She's not scared of using other materials to achieve what she wants. Similar to a brief we did in first year, Banjes creates her work from materials such
as wood, felt tips, photographs, paints and even cake.

R.E.M GET DIGITAL

R.E.M wanted a video that was "frantic and dense and not overly polished or fretted over" and that is just what animation and motion graphics agency Crush gave them.

The choreography between the imagery and the music are intrinsically linked through the timing of the beats and the flashes from one image to another. The lyrics, appearing as text on screen almost serve as a parody of previous music videos, for example Dylan's "Subterranean Homesick Blues" depicts a man in an alley holding up cue cards which could be compared to the amateurish style seen in Crush's video. Visuals included in the video such as computer file icons and desktop windows almost pay homage to D.I.Y home video editing software and the premise that anyone can create a music video.

All these effects, plus its low resolution pixelated quality and black and white imagery serve to create and enhance an unpolished and seemingly amateur aesthetic which not only fulfills the brief criteria but in itself becomes post modern in that its a music video is for one of the worlds biggest bands.

B&Q BRANDED FOR WOMEN

Design Week announced this week that now under new management hardware store B&Q is looking to project its brand at women. Creative Director Lewis Moberly said that "Traditionally it has had a very masculine image, but B&Q is looking to position itself as more of a lifestyle retailer, recognising the importance of female consumers."
B&Q wants to align itself in the market with other homeware stores such as John Lewis and Homebase. Its unsure as of yet who has been commissioned to do the re design but at the moment Im unsure if B&Q can ditch its image and appeal to a wider female audience in the same way that John Lewis does.

DESIGNERS IN LEEDS

ATTIK
Leeds based agency Attik has come a long way since James Sommerville and Simon Needham founded it in an attic bedroom in Huddersfield. It now boasts an impressive portfolio of works in advertising, branding, broadcast, events, environment, interactive, guerrilla, print and packaging and has offices in San Francisco and LA. Attik is soon to be expanded across Europe and Asia too. Being a design student in Leeds I have heard of the company, but they came to my attention this week when I read that they had just been commissioned by coca cola to do some branding projects.
One of which is the promotion of coca cola to tie in with the 2010 World Cup. The other two are based on the graphics for Christmas and Ramadan festivals later in the year.
Other clients of Attik include Adidas, nikewomen, Mercury records, Formula One, Carlsberg, Virgin Mobile and many more.
Click the link above to see their work- definitely worth a look.

WE LOVE HAVAIANAS

by Marcello Serpa

PABLO LOBATO

I love these celebrity portraits by Argentinian Artist Lobato. His abstract style captures the identity and personality of each individual making them recognisable to the audience. Really nice simple and fun illustrations.

VISIT LONDON

This is London's first global advertising campaign which was launched in time with the end of the Beijing Olympics to celebrate how well our British athletes had done and begin creating interest in the 2012 games in London. This is the start of a £4million campaign for the Olympics. The London map is imposed onto the globe, promoting how the whole world is represented in England's capital city and encouraging people from allover to visit, thus promoting tourism to the city as well as excitement for the games. The campaign is largely going to be online for the international market, http://www.visitlondon.com.
Visit London chief executive James Bidwell said: “The campaign celebrates our city in a unique way, capturing our truly global status and underpinning the importance of London as the number one international tourist destination.” And of course boasting that is is the perfect place for the next games.
While looking into this campaign, I found this advert from last time London hosted the prestigious event which was interesting to see the "now and then" ads. It will be interesting to see how this campaign develops between now and 2012.

BOOK

A brilliant book for anyone interested in the power of visual imagery. A collection of works from 100 designers across the world and their thoughts on graphic design. Thought provoking and enjoyable.

THE SCHWEPPES BURST

This advert was launched in Australia earlier this year by George Patterson Y&R agency in Melbourne. It instantly reminded me of the Sony Bravia Balls commercial so for me not a very original idea, however I still found myself watching it over and over as it still has that magical appeal. The expert slow motion filming, beautiful imagery and music give the advert an artistic quality that makes the viewer really capture the moment which is being created.

LONDON DESIGN FESTIVAL 2008

13th - 23rd September

THE DESIGN COUNCIL

This weeks 'DesignWeek' magazine has announced that one of the highlights of the 2008 London Design Festival will be launch of a new event, 'greengaged' focusing on sustainability in the design industry.
Sophie Thomas, one of the 'greengaged' founders, explains the need for such an event by saying that it is time to 'focus the design industry on the urgent problem of climate change and start one big conversation'.
DesignWeek break the event down like so:
• A creative space for designers, suppliers, clients, researchers and students
• A place to meet, exchange ideas, share expertise, learn new skills and debate sustainability issues and new roles for design
• A platform for debates, practical workshops, seminars and focus groups, exhibitions, tours, knowledge-sharing, networking events and film screenings
• Events will examine ecological imperatives, political and social drivers and sustainable design strategies across all disciplines.
The Design Council says that a 'Green manifesto' will be drawn up at the conclusion of 'greengaged'. This is definitely a very topical issue and it will be interesting to see what the result is once the festival is over. Hopefully this will help clean up the design industry and make us all much more informed.

NESCAFE SIMPLICITY

BUCKLE UP

"YOU KNOW YOU'RE NOT THE FIRST"

Advertising Agency : BBDO Athens, Greece.

Sex sells but have BMW taken it too far? When I first saw this advert I laughed, but then it sunk in that this was a serious advert for BMW. The advert hasn't been released in the UK, just Greece and is quite clearly aimed at the male market. The advert for second hand BMW cars maybe effective, but is it appropriate?
I think as long as you don't take the advert to seriously it's okay but I expected more from a respectable company like BMW. It is easy to see why people, especially women, may take offense to this advert. Maybe it appeals more to the male mind, but come on, who wants sloppy seconds anyway?!

LORRIES GET CREATIVE

Advertising space you may not usually think of using, but look how effective and attention grabbing it can be.

GOOD LOOKING MONEY

Graphic designer, Matthew Dent won the competition for the design of the new coins for the UK. The design is based on the Shield of Royal Arms. An idea which is uniquely and cleverly split over the coins, and then repeated on the £1 coin. This is the first time that a single design has been used across a range of United Kingdom coins. These coins should be in circulation now, although I haven't seen any myself yet, I think Dent has come up with an intelligent idea and solid design which represents Great Britain's history and heritage sucessfully.

LEGO IMAGINATION

I loved these adverts as soon as I saw them! This is such a powerful idea and execution that no copy is needed. This series completely captures what Lego is about, the magic of children's imagination. Simple.

WORLD NO TABACCO DAY

HOOGERBRUGGE

This is an image from Hoogerbrugge's Modern Living/ Neurotica series (you can find here, http://ml.hoogerbrugge.com/). He focuses on creating online flash animations, which are often quite dark as well as humorous. He uses himself as the character in his stories, as he is interested in creating a character that will age, and eventually will die. He says, "I wanted the character to have funny moves and gestures. If you loop those moves you've got neurotic behaviour... I like creating a character that is completely self- absorbed, someone that is keeping himself busy with something that is utterly stupid." He is not "suffering from actual neurosis, but its more like..you know, when you're bored and you're just sitting around doing something and suddenly what the hell it is that you are doing."
Visually these animations look very simple, with very few having any text reference in them. The majority of them are black and white, with some music incorporated in some. This is a very simple concept and there is something appealing about the animations even if they are a little strange.
For more of his work visit Hoogerbrugge's website: http://www.hoogerbrugge.com/

EELCO VAN DEN BERG

Designer, Eelco Van Den Berg was showcased in Digital Arts magazine a couple of months ago where I first saw his illustrations. Designs which he developed from being a graffiti artist for over 20 years. His website, www.eelcovandenberg.com, is full of interesting designs with a very distinctive style throughout an array of work spanning advertising, graphic design, music, magazines and some ambient design such as live wall paintings.

GOOD DESIGN

CEREAL SCRIBBLE