Mister Anderson.

Chuck Anderson sounds like a character from “the Matrix”. Although he isn't, his work definitely takes you there. Not only is his work unreal, the way he came to where he is today is just too much for me to handle. What might make some struggling designers envious of him is that he is mainly self-taught and I emphasize the phrase, SELF-TAUGHT. He skipped college but not only that, he’s only 24! He truly is a natural talent. His work combines the use of strong lighting effects with a variety of colors and photography. He has a very impressive client list which include Addidas, Burton, Amp Energy Drink, Honda, Lupe Fiasco, Mcdonalds, Ministry of Sound, ESPN, Microsoft, Urban Outfitters…I could go on. He seriously is a very fortunate individual that has worked hard and has had his whole career work out well for him. Everything fell into place for him quite well and I am officially jealous. You could read more about him in various interviews posted on his website Nopattern. Check out more of his work and try not to cry while doing it, but instead have it be a motivation to step your design game up. Seriously.

Periodic Table Of Typefaces

I found this image on a website for creative professionals called Behance Network. I love the juxtaposition of typeface and the periodic table. Whoever made this was a genius because the typeface you choose in your design could make or break the message you are trying to convey. Just like different elements in the periodic table don’t mix, different typefaces don’t either. The table is ordered by popularity from different websites, and grouped by family and class. It can be very helpful when deciding what typeface to use in your design. Typefaces are like people, they have there own personalities and appearance. So save the image it might become useful someday. Here is the source.

Tearjerker?

As I try to get inspiration for my advertising project on promoting a pro and con for a political issue, I decided to search for some really powerful ads on social issues. We see tons of ads on TV over different issues from smoking to drinking and driving. Some of the ads have come from different groups like “infect truth”. When a commercial has a really strong impact on your emotions I feel it becomes successful. I posted some ads that were really powerful and had a strong message. Some of them are real tearjerkers haha.

A very strong commercial I had seen on TV about anorexia.


A very sad and creative commercial on brain cancer.


An ad for unicef and Aids in Ethiopia.


This last one is an ad about helping abandoned kids and is very creative.

Today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.

Everyone loves a person that can make them laugh, and I love a tagline that does the same. Some really good ads I found, that really didn't have anything to do with insane graphics or ingenious illustrations were ones that had a witty, humorous tagline. The ad was for J.D Hoyt’s Steakhouse and all it consisted of was a very clever tagline that was also funny. If an ad can make me laugh then I immediately like it. So a good tagline can do wonders for an ad or a terrible one can throw it off completely. I think with advertisements humor will always work but there is also a limit to how far you can take comedy before it becomes offensive. They are things to think about when working on my next project on promoting a social issue for my advertising art direction class. I also posted some taglines I found courtesy of davar.net, some of which are pretty funny. Read through them when your bored.






Taglines

A friend in need, always finds your new phone number.
A little inaccuracy saves a lot of explanation.
A man without a woman is like a neck without pain.
A seminar on Time Travel will be held 2 weeks ago.
A single fact can spoil a good argument.
After all is said and done, more is said than done.
All I want to know is: WHY ME?
All answers questioned here.
Always forgive your enemies. They HATE that!
Another brilyunt mind diztroyed by publik edukashn.
Artificial Intelligence is no match for natural stupidity.
Ask not what your computer can do for you...
Assume the worst, you'll never be disappointed.
Better to be thought stupid than to speak and confirm it.
Can you still know nothing, if you don't know anything?
Coffin for sale. Lifetime guarantee.
Computer widow: Family goes broke watching Dad have fun.
Conclusion: the place where you got tired of thinking.
Despite the high cost of living, it remains popular.
Diplomacy: the art of letting someone else have your way.

more...

Lego's Stretching The Imagination

A really good example of an ad campaign that is simple yet effective is the one by Lego. The idea is what made this ad successful. It is so simple and clean yet gets the message across so well. All the ad depicts is simple Legos put together to resemble a boat or a dinosaur. The reason I love this ad is because the shadow conveys the child’s (or adult’s) imagination. The Lego could be as simple as two pieces of blocks put together but the shadow captures the essence of what Lego is all about, imagination. It is so effortless but the message is so strong. There is no tagline just a simple image and the Lego logo. One of the most effective, and simplistic ad’s I’ve seen.




Here are some other ads by Lego.

"Builders of Tomorrow"

Dreams Of Flying, Sleeping and Dancing?

So I have been seeing this theme a lot lately and I thought it would be a great topic to blog about. The whole idea is playing around with the point of view of the scene. The whole scene is played out on the ground as if it were right side up. Its hard to explain really but the outcome of it is really cool. I’m sure that some of you have seen the music video “Chasing Pavements” by Adele where there is an accident scene that turns into a dancing scene all choreographed on the ground. A couple weeks ago I saw this new video, “Her Morning Elegance” by Oren Lavie where the whole music video uses this idea. Jan von Holleben is a photographer who basis some of his photography on this idea. I think it’s really creative and different. I love how it catches your eye and you really have to study the photographs to really see how he set the scene up. Here are the video’s and some photo’s of Hollenben’s work.

Oren Lavie - Her Morning Elegance

Adele - Chasing Pavements

Jan von Holleben "Dreams Of Flying"

Go Humans Go!

As I was driving back home one day I drove passed a billboard I noticed that I thought was really creative. It is an ad campaign for Quaker Oats to promote their brand of oatmeal. I think it is really successful because it uses humor and creativity to get their message across. The billboard depicts a man in a business suit with Quaker Oats strapped to his back like a jetpack. The tagline says “go humans go”. I think one of the reasons I liked this ad was because it played with the idea of the jetpack and how if you eat Quaker Oats you will have the power to take on the world. Here is a photo of the ad.