Audi R8 superbowl ad

It cost 2.7 million dollars for Audi to show this commercial at halftime of 2008 Superbowl, so you can expect it to be good. Yes, it is a movie parody but it is different from the special effects-laden car ads we are usually bombarded with. The tagline suggests the Audi wants to be seen as 'new luxury' but more than anything this ad reconfirms that R8 is both cool and sophisticated.

Doritos takes over online banners

A very interesting online project for Doritos. They created an application that can replace banner ads on websites with things we actually like, this could be anything from your favorite artwork to pictures of family and friends. Whether this is a good or a bad thing for online advertising I am not sure but it certainly an original approach.

Fabien Perez

I first saw a painting by Fabien Perez a few years ago but I didn't investigate further. However I have just taken the time to look through his full portfolio and I am very impressed. I particularly like his choice of subject matter, especially the 'gangster' style examples above. His use of harsh lighting gives his work a dark and moody feel.

Le Cheval 2.1

If you have ever visited the bar 'Revolution' you may have noticed a strange black and white film playing on the t.v screens. Its the award winning short 'Le Cheval 2.1' and I have no idea why they show it in a bar, I doubt anyone is sober enough to appreciate it at 3am. Anyway I thought it deserved a post, its actually a great little film with a funny punchline.

directed by S. Scott-Hayward & A. Kirkland

drink related artwork

'Liten Ljus' or Little lager is a Swedish beer, the slick design was created by Swedish agency Amore. I have to say, its the best looking beer can I've ever seen!
On the subject of drink related artwork I also found these particularly nice Coca-Cola bottles. Coke invited graphic designers and musicians to depict what the 2008 Beijing Olympic games meant to them. The iconic shape of the Coke bottle allowed the artists to experiment with the colours and typography without risking brand confusion.

Who Wants To Be An Amerikan

This is short film from a student at the Vancouver film school. It tells a quirky tale of a boy living in soviet Russia who longs to live in America. I originally came across it last year but rediscovered it earlier today on YouTube and thought it deserved a post. Not that it needs it really, it already has a 676,000 view count.
It is very well shot and has a good strong narrative- overall an excellent piece of film making.

You can see some more brilliant work from the Vancouver Film school at their youtube homepage here

Money well spent

I heard somewhere that the Nike 'Swoosh' logo was the most inexpensive logo ever produced for a global brand. I checked this out on the logoblog website which said the famous mark was originally called 'the strip' and was designed by Carolyn Davidson in 1971. It also confirmed that Davidson was paid the meager sum of $35 for the logo, that would just about buy you a pair of Nike trainers-if your lucky!
The Rolling Stones 'Lick' mark was also produced in the 1971, a good year for logo design. Coincidentally it was also a bargain, the designer John Pasche was paid just £50 for his excellent work. He was later paid an extra £250 to cover the logos use on merchandise but It probably should have been more like £250,000 since it now features on the t-shirts of students everywhere!

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A small update to this post-
The V&A museum has recently purchased the original Rolling Stones logo artwork from Pasche for £92,000- thats a bit more like it!

Nick Dart

I came across this nice poster and typeface set. Its the work of Nick Dart a London based Graphic designer. This struck me as something a little bit 'different'. He has managed to produce a refined and simple design which still catches the eye and most importantly- it looks appealing.
more of Nick's work here

Can't keep a Secret?

Postsecret.com is a brilliantly simple blog concept. Its all in the name- you are invited to anonymously post a secret on a postcard for all of the world to see. The secret can be about absolutely anything;
"regret, hope, funny experience, unseen kindness, fantasy, belief, fear, betrayal, erotic desire, feeling, confession, or childhood humiliation".
The open philosophy of Postsecret has unsuprisingly produced some very interesting results. While browsing the site I found many of the posts were humorous, some were sad, and some were actually quite disturbing, still I was completely fascinated. The project has been so successful that several books crammed full of confessions have been published- I think I will be buying one soon.

A Christmas Classic?

I've heard people say that its not Christmas until the Cocacola 'Holidays are coming, Holidays are coming...' advert hits the T.V screens. Well I'm hoping this Iron Bru skit on 'the Snowman' achieves the same legendary status. Its already been shown for the past 2 Christmases. Its funny, well executed and enjoyable to watch, all the makings of a Christmas classic.

the Snowman style animation was created by Scottish design agency Leith

Carlberg football ground

An unusual way to deliver Carlsbergs 'Probably the best beer in the world' slogan. The 'outside of the box' thinking displayed is the ad comes from 'Saatchi and Saatchi' and works well to refresh Carlsbergs brand message.

The evolution of a logo

I have read that a good logo should be;
1.describable
2.memorable
3.effective without colour
4.scalable- effective in any size
The logo for the shell oil company is definitely all of the above and is one of the most recognizable brand marks in the world. Its iconic status of logo is confirmed by the fact that it is often used alone without the 'Shell' name. Like many popular logos of today it wasn't always so refined, it has evolved along with the company which it represents. Interestingly, you can tell which era each version of the logo was designed. This is a reflection of the ever changing trends in Graphic design.
you can see the evolution of more logos at the bestad blog

Gez Fry

The illustration of Gez Fry is closer to Art than Graphic Design. The composition of his work draws you into the image and he demonstrates excellent knowledge of the human form. He has a distinctive and realistic style which also reflects his Japanese roots. While I have no intention of becoming an illustrator myself (I very rarely even draw anymore) I have posted Gez's work purely in admiration of his talent.

A couple of interesting facts;
-While Gez uses a combination of natural and digital media he says he does "pretty much everything" in Photoshop
-The drawing and colouring process for each illustration normally takes him around 2 days.
-Gez boasts an impressive client list including Adobe, Firetrap, Namco, Evisu and the BBC

the Lillypad

I have read many times that global warming will eventually cause ocean levels to rise leaving some countries underwater and millions of people homeless. The Lillypad is the only re-housing solution for 'global warming refuges' I have seen to date. It looks amazing and designer Vincent Callebaut claims that it will utilize tidal, wind, and solar power to house 50,000 people and will be totally self sufficient. The issue of finance makes you wonder how realistic the Lillypad project is but the intial designs certainly capture the imagination. Of course this is only a concept design so don't expect to see any floating 'ecopolis' on the horizon anytime soon- instead check out some more stunning images of the Lillypad here.

Ron Mueck

There has been much controversy surrounding the 'work of Ron Mueck. Some art critics praise his super realistic sculptures, others dismiss him as a glorified model maker. Take a one look at his giant human figures however and you cannot deny that he is highly skilled. Does this mean his work qualifies as art? I don't really care, all I know is that its the kind of stuff that makes me actually want to visit a museum, which is more than can be said for some of the conceptual 'art' I saw in the Tate Modern!

Clever Copywriting

I believe that good copywriting takes intelligence, wit and an excellent understanding of your target audience. This campaign broadcast for an Argentinean political candidate has all of the above and stands out as a piece of very clever copy. Its quite a long ad but if you have time its worth a watch.

Quit in Style

A strange website that I came across claims to be an award ceremony promoting the art of quitting. It calls for the general public to send in 'crazy inventive' ways of quitting their dead-end jobs. The winner will be given the chance to 'quit in style' in real life.
I don't know what the aim of this project is or who is funding it but its worth checking out some of the better entries so far such as the one below

or if you are thinking about quitting your job and won't be needing any references
pick up a few ideas from www.quitinstyle.com


The Finger from Gomez on Vimeo.

Epuron ad

They say genius is close to madness- this ad appears to be one of those things then turns out to be the other. I don't want to spoil it because I think its totally inspired, so just watch it.

Flight of the Conchords

It's hard to describe Flight of the Conchords since they have pretty much invented a musical genre. At the very least they have carved out a niche best described as 'comedy-folk music' (think Tenacious D with a more acoustic sound).
Their songs tell bizarre and funny stories and they perform them around the world.
I came across one of their gig posters, as a visual statement it sums Flight of the Conchords up nicely. I particularly like the unusual choice of colours and the simplified line art style. This is just one of many impressive illustrations from the portfollio of tyler stout, it is also an excuse for me to post a clip of a conchord show below- enjoy!

The Small Stakes

The Small Stakes is a small design studio. It mainly produces gig posters and promotional material for various bands. A couple of their posters really caught my eye purely because of the 'restrained' design. (Assuming that anyone reading this is also studying graphics) Like me you may find that the most difficult part of creating a design is deciding what doesn't need to be there. I think it takes a certain amount of confidence in your own skills to keep a design really simple. Partly because you fear that a 'simple' design might not reflect all the effort you put into designing it. The people at Small Stakes are obviously not lacking in confidence since most of there work is simplified to the max. I have to admit not all of it appeals to my tastes. I think some of their stuff is a bit too arty- almost pretentious. However the examples above are visually striking. The subtle design successfully generates intrigue which suggests, that at least sometimes simple is best.

Pixel Art

You might think pixel art is a little out of date but you can't deny its intricate details are fun to look at. I recently dabbled in pixels for an illustration I'm working on and I quickly realized two things.
1. Pixel art is ridiculously time consuming, more so than any other digital work I have done before
2. The kings of this art form are without doubt 'Eboy'.
Eboy is a collective of three German guys who are all expert with pixels. A cityscape like the example above typically takes them 6 to 8 weeks working full time. But why does it take so long? because everything you see is created by filling individual pixels with colour- about the size of this dot --> .

With this in mind- fuck knows how they made the advert below!



take a look at some more of Eboy's work here

Sarah Graham

These may look like photographs (which is what I thought, when I first saw one of them yesterday in a Manchester Gallery) but they are in fact paintings. Talented artist Sarah Graham uses a macro lens to capture the minute detail of objects which form the foundation of her artwork. What I find most impressive is her ability to recreate the 'depth of field', giving her paintings a 'photographed' look. She says she is' entirely motivated by colour', which explains her subject matter of toys and sweets. Every colour and detail is painstakingly recreated in oil paint on canvas, each one takes a month on average to complete.Sarah’s painting are in high demand, A print of the 3ft by 3ft chupa chup will set you back around £400. Having seen some of her work in the flesh I think this price tag is justified, there is something strangely appealing about seeing a rubber duck blown up to 100 times its normal size!You can see some more of Sarah Grahams work here


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A small update on this post- I saw some more of Sarah's paintings in an art shop in Leeds the other day and apparently her work is a worth while investment. According to the shop assistant prints of the rubber duck are extremely sort after and now cost around £800- a 200% increase in less than a year.
They also had one of her slightly more expensive original paintings on the wall, entitled 'Gnome with Apples' seen here- this one will cost you £13,000!

Another interesting note is that the Kaiser Chiefs have asked Sarah to do their next album cover, apparently its not the next one but the one after that, so we will have to wait and see!