I’m constantly on the lookout for design inspiration—typography treatments, color combinations, innovative user interfaces. Anything that makes me stop and think, “Man, that’s so awesome. I wish I thought of it.” Enter J. Walter Thompson’s (JWT) brilliant campaign for the A.C. Camargo Cancer Center in São Paulo, Brazil.
My desire to sit through four hours of professional football to see Super Bowl ads as they first air, faded somewhere in the mid 2000s. Super Bowl commercial breaks started leaving me disappointed. I was seeing commercials and movie trailers that had already been out for a couple weeks. I missed the successive, over the top, often humorous and entertaining ads. I don’t know if Super Bowl commercials stopped cutting the mustard because commercials in general started setting the bar higher or if I just came to expect too much.
I have left the City of Brotherly Love for the warm weather and proximity to family North Carolina has to offer. The abundance of sweet tea, barbecue and comfortable cost of living doesn’t hurt either.
489 miles, a new home, a new school for the kids, a new job for me and finally, three months later, I decided it’s time to get back in the swing of things. I always look forward to Halloween and all the festivities that surround this time of year, so why not jump right in with a short little post inspired by the holiday?
Fast. Cheap. Great.
Unless we’re talking about food, I have a hard time thinking of an example when all three come into play. And having said that, I’m sure some of you may be questioning my culinary credibility.
Last week I received printer samples for a direct mailer I designed. I was less than thrilled with results. However, the job needed to be completed quickly and cheaply.
I was watching a college basketball game several months ago (let’s be honest—my husband was and I was in the room). During a commercial break, I saw an ad featuring an anthropomorphized ostrich and giraffe. They were sitting in a bar exchanging catty remarks about other female animals. The characters compared the customization (a rhinoplasty and hump augmentation) of these animals to what MiO liquid water enhancer allows you to do with water.
Yesterday, I saw several tweets and Facebook posts about this P&G commercial. I finally snagged some time to watch it. I did so following a night when I was summoned at 3 and 4:30am before my alarm woke me for good at 5:30am (okay, there were definitely some slaps on the snooze button). Moms, grab some tissues and enjoy.
Earlier this week I tweeted about Warby Barker, Warby Parker’s April Fools’ joke. The ‘joke’ reached me via email. I suspiciously clicked through to a microsite featuring canine eyewear. After spending several minutes browsing the meticulously designed site, I was momentarily convinced this may actually be a legit business venture. Still doubtful, I selected canine eyewear to add to my shopping cart. Finally, the April Fools exclamation I had been anticipating.
Last weekend my husband and I rented The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. My husband mentioned the kiosk warned him the disc was intentionally designed to look like a bootleg. This sparked my curiosity.
My in-laws picked up a souvenir for my son during a recent cruise to the Bahamas. Based on the hang tags and detailing in this simple t-shirt, I have a feeling Piraña Joe’s has a great handle on their brand. It’s just a shame this little design gem is tucked away inside the shirt, never to be seen by the public.
“I love them.”
“I hate them.”
“I don’t get them.”
When it comes to the Kia Soul commercials, I fall in the latter. Last year’s “This or That” commercial has always perplexed me. Now the latest “Share Some Soul” commercial, which adds dancing robots to the famous hip-hop hamster trio, leaves me thinking, “I’ll just never get it.”
