A collection of great ideas from advertising, writing, design and the great wide void
It’s a scientific fact: everything was better back in the day.
To put that maxim to the test, designer Peter Stults has created vintage movie poster mashups that combine today’s hottest box office hits (read: crap) with yesteryear’s coolest actors and designs. Consider it blockbusters from a bygone era.
Hell, before it just felt as if the plot of “Avatar” had been done a million times before — now here’s the proof.
The billion-dollar beauty industry is about to bite the dust. And it looks like the wunderdrug that will put it out of its glossy, glitzy misery has been under the nose of every graphic designer for years.
This great mock ad from Jesse Rosten gives beauty advertising — and the unrealistic, unrelenting image of the “ideal woman” that it promotes — a taste of its own medicine.
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
The concert hall at the Syndey Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 11,000 times in 2011. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 4 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.
There are a few things I love: original art deco designs, iconic Chicago landmarks and blue collar Northside neighborhoods.
And now you can add the visionary work of local Chi-town artist StudioChris to the list, thanks to a series of pieces dedicated to the legendary landmarks of some of Chicago’s Northside ‘hoods.
Grab a piece of Windy City architecture for yourself at StudioChris.com.
The NBA is finally back (horray?). But if you’re a Bulls fan, you probably hardly noticed the missing action since Derrek Rose became one of the hottest ad All-Stars in the off-season without — characteristically — hardly having to say a word.
One of the best spots comes from Adidas and although it’s almost stuffed with overhanded symbolism, it’s still pretty damn cool.
The only thing I love more than a great ad is a great ad that makes fun of a bad ad.
I’ve been over this before: there are lame ways to do PSAs and unique ways to do PSAs. So, I say kudos to the proud Mo-Town crew at Team Detroit for making fun of the lame ass PSAs that everyone — everyone — roll their eyes at. The great part is that the ads they did for the Detroit College of Creative Studies are probably not far from the truth: most parents equate art school with drug use. Right, well law school leads to more lawyers, so get over it.
So to my arty/druggy/clever artists out there… just say ‘yo’ to funny ads.
The image below is as funny as it is frightfully true. But it’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Brad Shorr put together this damn good article for Smashing magazine on Content Strategy and why it’s important for design. It’s targeted as a primer for designers and the like, but it’s also a good refresher and direction for writers and content strategists.
And talk about lead by example; the clear structure and language is ideal proof that smart content strategy can get your point across more successfully.
Now, if I could only remember where I left that damned ”I <3 blogs” sweater…
Image credit: Chris Depa, Straight North
As a small agency, it’s hard to stay relevant. But it’s even harder to have the balls to know when to take a leap that no one else will. Furry, mesmerizing little balls.
Well, Toronto-based shop John St. did — forsaking the ‘outdated’ realm of traditional advertising and focusing solely on the growth medium of tomorrow: online kitten videos.
Of course, this is a parody of the ad biz and a clever one at that — after all, these are the chaps that came up with the now-classic Pink Pony case study – but it makes you stop to think: damn, if that isn’t a decent idea.
Sample the cat nip and discover how self-promoting really can be the same as self-depricating.
Like a lot of advertising — or 80′s hairband music — you either get it or you don’t. These guys obviously get it.
Honestly, I can’t think of a better way to celebrate Movember in style.
Well, with Mad Men on hiatus, what else will you people find to fill that nasty dark hole? How about an infograph from the clever peeps behind Grip Limited’s The Big Orange Slide blog.
The part about the desk drawers is mostly true… if only it were easier to find a handgun in continental Europe.
