how we are photographing britain

For anyone with an interest in photography there is currently an exhibition on at the tate modern exhibiting a journey of british photography. It is currently running and ends on the 2nd of september. The exhibition has work displayed by many famous names including william henry fox talbot and david bailey also there is work by many photographers from different cultural backgrounds. It has had some excellent reviews so its well worth a look for any keen photographers out there. I'll be heading down next week so ill post a review when im back.

2012 london olympic bid logo

Looking on the website http://www.foundation33.com i found a logo bid for the 2012 olympics to be held in london. The logo sums up every aspect of london and the olympics well. The 5 rings symbolise each of the 5 continents and the logo looks similar to a target which is supposed to symbolise aspiration. The logo is modern and contempory which associates with london, as a city, well. The logo is neat and compact and shows london, in the centre, showing that it will be the centre of attention. Altogether for me a simple yet sucessful logo.

environmental concerns with packaging waste

For anyone researching environmental concerns in design for their dissertation this article may be of use to you.

'Packaging waste is a major concern for consumers in the UK at the moment. People are highly critical of excessive packaging and are frustrated that much packaging is not recyclable. They believe that manufacturers and retailers are not doing enough to reduce packaging waste. This concern is not yet resulting in mass rejection of current packaging formats, but it is leading to consumer frustration and irritation with brands at the point of disposal. On the other hand, minor innovations in packaging, communicated strongly, are eliciting disproportionate results in terms of approval for brands.'

Read the article in full at:
http://www.designweek.co.uk/Articles/135403/Under+the+skin.html

new olympic identity

The five rings of the olympic identity must be up there in the top five most well known and recognisable logos, so why does it only occupy a small percentage of the new logo? Did the designers think about how it will look on promotional material at a small scale? Hardly visable I think! Personally I feel that the weighting is completly wrong and the logo just doesn't reflect the values of the brand.

apparently 'no digital talent at d&ad awards' this year

Whilst browsing the design week website i came across this article which had been written by an attendant of the d&ad awards from design week. Just wondered to those that attended what they think of this review?

16.07.2007
New Blood stream dries up at the digital frontier
Source: Magazine
Publication date: 05 July 2007

Last week, I took some of our team to the D&AD New Blood event in London. This event is supposed to showcase the best creative talent from across the UK higher education system.

If you are a student creative, this is the place to be seen and try for that elusive first job. We arrived just before 8pm and then spent over 30 minutes queuing to get in - even though we had private invitations.

When we did get in, we were informed that all the beer had been consumed within the first hour. I was offered warm white wine or a coffee. No thanks.

Fed up with queuing, we decided to hit the task at hand, until the size of the task became apparent.

The event has grown to cover three floors. How are you supposed to be able to see everything in a few hours, with no air con, no cold drinks, serious heat, and after a 35-minute queue?

We split up, looking for someone with a flair for creativity and digital work. I can count the number of websites I actually saw on screen on one hand, and some of these did not even work.

This is a serious issue. When we have such a shortage of on-line skills, colleges are vomiting out thousands of students who know nothing about digital and have not been made aware of it.

Why is digital treated as the bastard brother to traditional creative? Why is the system churning out print designers when there are hardly any pure print jobs left?

Look on any creative job page and you will see that most jobs expect experience or an understanding of digital. These kids have none.

Digital is the future, so why are our future generations so unprepared for it?

Benn Achilleas, Managing director, Neoco, London WC2

life is a laugh

'Life is a laugh' is the largest commission yet by London Underground for its Platform of Art Scheme. This 70m long mock stage that will depict 'inspiring' scenes and uses recovered items such as a pandas' head, half a caravan, bicycles and tyres. This large than life display is currently at Londons Gloucester Road Underground Station and it is Brian Griffiths' largest ever public installation.

skoda cake car

From first viewing the skoda cake car ad, to me it posed many questions, so when reading this months issue of creative review my questions were answered as i came across an article with an interview on the baking of the skoda advert cake car. It astounded me that the advert was shot in only four days with not even any time for a research phase! The team was made up of people who were willing 'to lay their professional reputations on the line and take a gamble'.

I also found intersting the part that explained what happened to the cake car after the advert had been shot...
'originally the cake car was meant to be cut up and sent to local charities, schools and hospitals but as the car had been under hot studio lights it posed a health and safety risk so the ended up being composted and used by the residents of Clapton, East London, to fertilise thier gardens and allotments.'

To me this ad shows just how much can be done in so little time!

This article can be found on page 20 of creative review in the july 2007 edition.

virtual advertising agency

Top advertising agency Bartle Bogel Hegarty has opened a virtual advertising agency. BBH's move is a virtual creative department within Second Life, to bring together its agency creatives from around the world.

Second Life is different from other online social networks because it is a 3d virtual reality world that mixes gaming with commerce. Subscribers create their own virtual alter egos to live an alternative life. Activites start from making friends to clubbing, shopping and purchasing. They use their own virtual currency which is contervable into dollars, just another money making scheme? Interest of this virtual world is growing as it currently stands at a massive 7,982,631 residents.

Visit the website to start living as your alter ego in your own virtual world at http://www.secondlife.com

Also check out advertising agency BBH's website at http://www.bartleboglehegarty.com, clients include audi, warbutons, lynx, barnados, google, vodafone and levis.

the producers

For my birthday i was treated to the last night performance of the producers, the Mel Brooks musical, starring Peter Kay at the Palace Theatre in Manchester. Mel Brooks is one of the most accomplished filmmakers in Hollywood. He has served as a writer, producer, actor director and a composer who has brought us serious films like The Elephant Man and 84 Charing Cross but also spoofs such as Blazing Saddles and Spaceballs. His achievements have been recognised with winning four of the main entertainment awards in America: Oscar, Emmy, Tony and Grammy and his decision to turn The Producers into a stage show won him 12 Tony awards!

For you who do not know, a general overview of the story involves a theatrical producer Max Bialystock and his accountant Leo Bloom, who hatch a scam to raise more money than they need to produce a broadway disaster, so they turn to the worlds' worst director Rodger DeBris (played by Peter Kay) and produce a sure flop Springtime for Hilter-the musical, however the musical is a complete hit!!!

The production was fantastic which was of course helped by Peter Kays' witty one liners. With excellent direction and choreography and some great songs, The Producers was hillarious and i had a fantastic weekend, im sure if any of you saw it you'd agree it was a sure sell out smash hit!!!

ghd

One advertising campaign that interests me of Propagandas' is ghd (shown above) im sure by now everyone knows the world wide famous, and fantastic may i add, ghd stylers. The whole concept of the brand is based upon a 'gospel according to ghd'. The website www.ghdhair.com is shown as a book/gospel and is really easy to use as you just flick through the pages, for both women and men who like to take pride in their apperance and people who are always looking for new ways to use their ghd stylers and also it displays their extensive range of ghd products. The images above are taken form one particular advertising campaign which was also made in to an advert for tv. One particular ad caught my eye as it is so true as many will agree who have sisters, the proverb reads: 'thou shall not borrow your sisters without asking'.

cape wrath

Last night was the start of a new drama on channel four called cape wrath, after seeing numerous advertisments for this new drama i decided to see what all the fuss was about.

Set in Meadowlands live a new family called the brogans who move here to escape something from the past, however they soon realise that thet are not the only ones hiding from the past and that they are living in a village surrounded by other criminals all living under a protective custody program. Not knowing what each has done in the past to bring them here, one by one their past comes back to haunt them. This strange village is watched 24/7 to protect the villagers by someone who seems to have some control over happenings in the village.

I instantly took a liking to this eerie and frankly weird new drama which to me is a cross between 'big brother' and the film 'the truman show' and i will be definitly tuning in to watch more episodes.

cape wrath is shown tuesdays on channel four @ 10pm.

propaganda

Whilst gaining some work experience in the field on design i got involved with a PR company called Propaganda who are a creative agency that answers the needs of clients in a brand building process. Some of its' clients include seabrook, st. tropez, greggs, fox's, the car people, heinz, ghd and oxfam.

Revolver is a consumer PR specialist operating within the Propaganda group whos' core value is to to produce work that is not only measurable but helps to sell products. Revolver is a great brand in its own right and delivers fresh and effective work for many well known clients. below is revolvers' own ad campaign based upon the principle that revolver is 'not for everyone'. The images below are taken from its own campaign for revolver which is quite witty yet is based on true statements, an interesting take.