Concept is the highly regarded holy grail in the advertising business. If the ‘concept’ or idea behind whatever you are doing is good enough to give people pause and shine through the media then you will be raised and carried aloft on the shoulders of your fellow ad geeks. Concept is the battle cry of the agency I work for and when we work on a project we often give ourselves as much time as we can for ‘concepting’ as we call it.
I rarely post about this sort of thing here because for better or worse, this site has kind of become a site mostly about creative design, whether it be in motion graphics or for print, that is what this site has been about. I have been on the fence as to whether or not I should write more about advertising since that is what I do so maybe I should. It just doesn’t seem to interest people in design as much as it does people strictly in the ad business.
Every once in a while though I find something that crosses over because there are so many good concepts that everyone can appreciate them. The best to me is when the design also helps communicate the concept even more smoothly and then everyone wins. There was a lot of that happening in this long list of creative outdoor advertising and some of the ideas and design were just fan-friggin-tastic. They gave me a lot of ideas for when I get back to work next week. Now if only I could secure some work with the kind of client that lets you get away with something like that.
Well, if you live in Denver and you work in the advertising or creative community and, yes one more and, you spend some time online, you have probably heard of the Denver Egotist by now. They have stirred the best and probably more the worst in us over the past year but all in all, those of us who have participated in their rise have no doubt experienced a bit of a group catharsis. They have been supportive of me and I can’t express how much I appreciate that since Denver really is a tough town to have a go as a creative. Regardless of how you feel, they have got everyone talking and sometimes flat out yelling at each other. That to me, is a good thing. That is also what the internet is for. They have provided an outlet and we have vented.
They are celebrating their 1 year anniversary tomorrow, Thursday this week from 5 to 7:30 at the Breckenridge Brewery. So, if you want to get together and maybe hug it out after all the mud-slinging, then this is your chance. Better take advantage.
Paris based UFO recently signed with California/NY/London based production company The Ebeling Group . You can now view their amazing body of work at both their own and Ebeling’s website. They are responsible for some really amazing motion work.
I recently worked with ZeegenRush & EURO RSCG & Citroen UK on this three ad “Green” Campaign for the new range of Citroen C-Cars. This project was an honor to work on for many reasons. First of all, it is positive (The C-Cars get between 60 and 70 MPG. No joke). And it is not entirely about the cars, the campaign highlights simple things you can do to be more “green”… like riding a bike and hanging clothes out to dry. The campaign also provided me the opportunity to get super-focused on realistic illustrations with my “Vectorfunk” style. Every detail had to be just right, the contours and angles needed to be dialed… but each illustration also needed the funky flair to bring it to life. This campaign is now live, running heavily in The UK. It is truly an honor to have been a part of this project. It was the most earth-positive illustration commission I’ve ever had.
More Images at - MWM News Blog.
This new spot for the Samsung f480 is pretty awesome. I am not so interested in the phone as I am the spot itself. The nice subtle little jab at industrialization and society’s tendency to find the worlds beautiful places and destroy them through commercialization is what I am in to.
I just finished watching 30 Days of Night for the first time and I loved it so much, I did some research on the Director of Photography for the film. Jo Willems is a director working with Method Studios, the people behind some fantastic motion advertisements such as the one featured above for Mountain Dew. Ever wonder whose responsible for all your favorite commercials? I just introduced you to them.
German creative agency Mutabor just relaunched their website and although it takes a few click-throughs to finally get there, once you do, there is some pretty stellar work in their portfolio. The entry of the site is nice as well, it ran a little slow on my machine but I love the idea. The option to view the site in either black or white is a nice touch and they take the ‘I am so cool I hold my poster up’ idea to a whole new level.
Ahh, these spots for Coca-Cola that ran in sets of 3 make me laugh every single time I watch them. They are just brilliant. Everyone in the agency must have gotten in on these somehow.
This was another spot brought to my attention today. It runs a little long but I think it is just brilliant. It builds and gets better as it goes on, not to mention how amazingly it moves from scene to scene.
A writer I am currently working with, Ashley Billings, has been alerting me to a lot of great television spots that escaped my attention in recent past. I know this spot is old but it is just so brilliant. It makes me laugh every time I watch it. Thanks for sharing the laughs Ashley.
A great new video site from the crew at FWA featuring the best in Motion Graphics, Advertising, Animation and Short Films. No more trolling the internet to find that sweet Nike commercial you saw 6 months ago.
If you have seen a television commercial that blew your mind at one point or made you stand up and ask, ‘My God, who the hell did that?’
Chances are, you were watching the work produced by one of the heavy hitters at Gorgeous. Some of the best Directors producing for broadcast call Gorgeous home.
All of their work is either hilarious or spectacular. Also, it is probably worth noting before you visit the site, that they also introduce themselves as cuddly little kittens.
London-based Up the Resolution have crafted some amazing creative in the form of commercials, music videos, and virals for clients both large and small. There is some really amazing work on their reel and there is also some great behind the scenes footage on their site.
Johnson Banks is a really interesting creative agency based out of London. They have created work for a broad spectrum of clients with no real discernable style. They prefer to be style-less and create according to the client’s needs, generating creative the most aptly solves the problem at hand. It’s a sincere approach that is worth taking note of. No surprisingly they have some really accomplished work in their portfolio including the stamps created for the Beatles above. Talk about a cool project, how much fun would it be to make stamps for the Beatles?
I am surprised I haven’t written about Un.titled before. I have mentioned some of the people who work for them in previous posts. Un.titled is a creative agency in the UK comprised of an eclectic group of thinkers, designers, developers and artists.
07/04 NO MORE BOZO Bozo the clown died. Man, what a bummer. I loved Bozo the clown.
07/04 FIREWORKS FUNERAL I guess having your ashes shot out into the fireworks display is one way to have your funeral. It’s creepy as hell but it is one way to do it I guess.
06/23 GEORGE CARLIN DEAD Comedian and actor George Carlin passed away Sunday at the age of 71 of apparent heart failure. I was shocked. He has been my favorite comedian for a very long time.
