I had a genuine double-take when I drove past this!
Advertising Agency: DDB London, UK - Creative Directors: Jeremy Craigen, Feargal Ballance, Grant Parker - Art Director: Victor Monclus - Copywriter: Will Lowe
Photographer: Sarah Maingot - Designer: Peter Mould
See more from the Marmite Advertising Campaign series here…
Every year the residents of Inakadate, Aomori prefecture Japan work together to create giant figurative pictures by planting different varieties of rice. Folksy yet sophisticated, the many designs reproduce images from famous Ukiyo-e prints to The Mona Lisa! Make sure you see these – if you’re in any doubt of their legitimacy, here are some more images…
The recently launched Apple iPad may not instantly deliver the commercial impact of the iPhone, but it represents another important step towards the inevitable convergence of the personal computer and the publishing industry. Whether we like it or not, the way we design is going to change forever.
Before long, graphic designers (and photographers) will have to start working in a different way. Using devices such as the Apple iPad, the consumer will be able to access all kinds of ‘publication’ electronically – which will undoubtedly feature both still images and, increasingly, video content and animation. Not only is video more engaging, it is also easier and faster to consume – an important factor in today’s ever-busier society. Like it or not, most of us that don’t currently ‘do’ moving pictures are soon going to have to learn. (There are already professional cameras on the market, such as the Canon 7D, which can capture both stills and full HD video. This is no accident.)
Currently, many agencies deal with, say, press advertising entirely separately from digital, television and video; indeed clients often use a different agency for one than they do for another; but increasingly there’s a call for integrated campaigns and for agencies that can deliver value across multiple channels. Promotions are becoming multi-dimensional, which adds complexity (and an interesting challenge) for the agencies that dream them up. Ultimately the agencies that will gain an advantage are those that can become truly media agnostic – those that can combine static content with rich media and whose ideas can work across all types of platform.
It’s up to the design and photographic industries to embrace new technology and to guide their clients on this fascinating journey we’re all taking. Sure, this will mean investment and upskilling for many of us, but the benefit will be the ability to offer a more holistic approach to corporate communications and, with it, client retention and loyalty (not to mention how interesting all of our jobs will become!).
The iPad is another signal that the publishing and design industries are in the middle of a revolution. We wait with bated breath to see where it will lead!
[Opinion: Paul Mabin - Creative Director]
Last week, after watching Shaun White win gold whilst nailing the Double McTwist 1260 (AKA the ‘Tomahawk’) on the snowboard half-pipe in Vancouver, I remembered the stylish promo animation for the BBC (seen above). The art style reminds me of early 1920s eastern european film, Frank Miller’s Sin City and the hatched illustrations of Edward Gory. For a more recent example of this 3d animation with 2d cel-shaded styling, take a look at Mad Word. It’s a great piece. A full motion picture in this style would be fantastic.
Having said that, I still love the Beijing 2008 BBC promo, ‘Meet Monkey‘, which was based on the classic Chinese tale, ‘Journey to the West’ and animated by those responsible for the Gorillaz music videos!
(Opinion: Jon Price – Graphic Designer)
2010/01 Michael Bierut from CreativeMornings on Vimeo.
A brand new talk from Pentagram’s Micheal Bierut on clients, the good and the bad.
(Opinion: Jon Price – Graphic Designer)
I saw two remarkably similar adverts from banks recently, both had building blocks on a beach in their national advertising. Above is an example of their campaigns – unfortunately I didn’t get a pic of the adverts in question. Coincidence, a new design trend, or the same agency running out of ideas? No, my guess… a mole deep under cover in their marketing team 
As recently published in Design Week, you can play the Santander Red Brick Game for some lunch time fun.
(Opinion: Jon Price – Graphic Designer)
Old news it may be, but Jérémy Clapin and Stéphane Piera’s 2008 Oscar contender ‘Skhizein’ is an absolute must see. For those who missed out on this beautifully realised and curious tale of Henry and his slightly displaced universe, here it is in full. Quintessentially quirky and French, it’s a joy to behold full of original ideas and visual cleverness not to mention rock solid art direction and admirable follow-through in all aspects of the execution.
Available here to buy on DVD with an insightful making of.
Thanks to monographer.
(Opinion: Jon Price – Designer)
Whilst perusing the affordable Scandinavian wares of Ikea, I happened upon a particular sequence of wall graphics that told the story of how Ikea’s savings are passed on to the customer. Strangely, only five of the seven ‘Ikea concept’ panels used correct spelling with the remaining ones neglecting to use apostrophes (the above example also has a rogue space before the question mark). I’m now well versed in Ikea’s efficient production and distribution methods but surely they could have spent a few extra euros on spell checking. We’ve all made mistakes, but three in twenty nine words at 124pt nationwide is quite special. At first I thought ‘trust me to notice that’, so my biggest smile came from the huge ‘Thats why!’ that came after the equals sign, where a staff member had pasted a cut-out apostrophe on the wall!
This is the Ikea concept as it should have looked!
(Opinion: Jon Price – Designer)
There are many ‘Web Design Myths’, usability and design constraints that clients request having once heard that this is best practice. Most of these have come from the good old days of web design or even from constraints imposed on printed media. It is very often the job of a web designer to gently dispel these myths and dissuade clients from forcing them upon their site designs.
One such myth is the myth of the page fold, the point at which a user needs to scroll down to access content on your site. It was said that users would not scroll the page down meaning all content on your homepage should sit above this virtual line. The term originates from newspapers where the attention grabbing headlines would appear ‘above the fold’ so as to be seen on the newsstands.
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