01.22.10
If you really liked Apple’s ‘Get a Mac’ campaign, and I mean really liked them, AdFreak has amassed all 66 of them. All of the ads were directed by Phil Morrison of Epoch Films for TBWA Media Arts Lab. That was quite the gig to reel in.
01.13.10
Minneapolis-based design studio Eight Hour Day continues to stay busy and build their client list with some big names, most recently Digg. Their clean, stylized, consistent and easy-on-the-eyes approach to design and branding makes them very appealing. It’s easy to see why they are keeping busy.
Pogo is a boutique design studio based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. They have some great work in their portfolio but I was particularly drawn to their branding campaign for MTV’s 16 and Pregnant show. At first I think I was drawn out of sheer jealousy for what would most definitely been a great campaign to have been awarded but then I was really impressed by what they created. You don’t need to speak Spanish to appreciate the faux-infomercial above.
01.06.10
As a part of his MFA program, designer Alex Cornell who currently works with Scott Hansen at ISO50 took a swing at rebranding Playboy Magazine. He wanted to “strip away all of the trashiness and cheapness that has come to infect the pages of the current Playboy” and bring back the sophistication he believes the publication has lost from it’s early years. The end result was an attractive print project complete with a very nice logo mark. Alex sent me an email about the project a long time back and it was one of the many things that got lost in the shuffle between my responsibilities as an advertising AD, graphic designer for Ctt and blogger. My sincerest apologies to Alex. Excellent work.
Barcelonian design agency Ruiz + Company have updated their website and portfolio. Choosing something from their body of work to represent them is nearly impossible. Every single project is impeccably produced and no-doubt analyzed and toiled over to the most minute detail. That is probably the reason for their long list of impressive awards that includes gold Clios, Gold from the New York Art Directors Club, Gold from the London International Advertising Awards and Silver from the Cannes International Advertising Festival. That is only a few of the awards they have won. If you are looking for some inspiration today, this will probably do the trick. Beautiful design. What are they putting in the water in Barcelona? I was just there, and I hope I brought some of whatever it is back with me.
12.23.09
Barcelona-based Dracula Studio is managed by Alba Plaza and Elena Gallen. The studio is focused on developing fresh creative projects. They have some really fun and sometimes retro-inspired work in their book so far.
This old Polaroid SX-70 promotional film was was produced by Charles and Ray Eames and it is a genuine piece of nostalgia from simpler days gone by.
12.15.09
AOL has tapped some bright creative minds for it’s recent relaunch and Brooklyn-based creative agency GHAVA (short for Graphic Havoc) emailed this morning to share their leg of the campaign with us. GHAVA generated more promotional video content for the AOL relaunch as well as t-shirts and outdoor that has been displayed around NYC. You can view the rest of GHAVA’s contribution to the campaign at their website.
12.04.09
Adam&Co. is a creative studio founded in 2007 by Adam Larson.
“After 10 years working for various design and advertising companies, Larson decided to start his own. In 2007 he left Arnold Worldwide, where he was a VP Creative Director, to open Adam&Co., a creative studio specializing in branding, packaging and identities.”
There is some seriously gorgeous work in the Adam&Co. portfolio.
Ad giant Wieden And Kennedy has relaunched it’s worldwide website with a clean and minimal interface that warrants an intuitive ease of use. Applause.
12.02.09
Aimizm is the portfolio of Gary Swindell who spent many years working as a Creative director for numerous agencies. He currently works privately for design agencies and private clients across the UK and Scandinavia helping deliver strategy, design and art direction.
Howard Wakefield and Peter Saville originally founded Parris Wakefield in 2002. It was then called Saville Parris Wakefield until this year when Peter Saville left to work on his own projects. Despite his absence, which was no doubt a big blow, Parris Wakefield are continuing to output some beautiful design work.
11.19.09
Alright, so it goes something like this, two very talented guys sponsored by a software company travel around making local commercials nominated by other locals through their website. The results speak for themselves. I have to be honest, I think I have watched a few of these about 20 times today and they never get old. How do you score a gig like this? Jealousy. Be sure to watch some of the behind the scenes action. The ‘making-of’ is almost funnier than the final product. The spots above are among my personal favorites but there are a few more gems waiting to be discovered here.
11.03.09
There are some brilliant ideas happening in the portfolio of Ji Lee which probably explains his employment history for places like Google Creative Lab, Droga 5 and Saatchi and Saatchi.
10.13.09
You can find an inspiring archive of advertising and design work created by Erik Nitsche here. The archive has been lovingly added to and maintained by BustBright over the past four years or so. Inspiring work.
10.06.09
Infamous design super hero Stefan Sagmeister suggests you might want to take some time off to recharge those creative batteries and help get those inspirational juices flowing through the system once again. The only thing is, we live and work in a dog eat dog, money by the minute (billable hours anyone?) society that sucks creativity dry like a ravenous vampire. We take less time off in America than any other country on this entire planet. I am taking two weeks off next week for the first time in 2 years. I can’t imagine in my wildest dreams even considering taking off an entire year.
Thanks for the advice Stefan, but until the system gives a little, I don’t see many of us that aren’t already independently wealthy taking off an entire year. Not unless you want to lose your job and your mortgage. It’s not that I don’t agree, it’s just that I also live in this country called America where I work as an Art Director and designer and exist in a reality where never before in all of history has time been more equivacol to money. My vacation usually consists of a beer at the end of a long day. Until perceptions and norms seriously shift, or until the working public has just finally had enough, I don’t see employers bending much on allowing time off for employees that are burned. That is exactly why you see so very many people burning themselves right out of the ad business. Sometimes the well just dries up after it’s been over tapped day in and day out.
I definitely support his argument, I just don’t know who the hell, other than independent small business owners with a penchant for risk and an enjoyment for bucking trends, could realistically try something like giving both themselves and their employees a real amount of time off to recharge. I think time will tell, in this system that is quite literally killing all of us with stress that he is probably right.
09.30.09
Wow, this stings a little. I am laughing…hahahahah…oh…whoa…ahh…hmm…
Now I am crying.
09.01.09
Lemonade is an upcoming documentary that will hit a lot of us very close to home. I have been laid off twice so far in this industry and the second time I wasn’t sure I could rebound from. I am back in it now, and in it deep but a lot of people are on the outs in the current recession. Lemonade is a documentary about a few of those 70,000 people in the advertising industry who have been handed a pink slip and gone out to discover who they really are and do what they really should have been doing.
