Thursday, 27 January 2011
Marwencol: The human brain never fails to amaze
11 years ago Mark Hogancamp was beaten up in a bar. His attacker's, having inflicted so much damage to his head, left him without any memory of his prior life. He is now regaining his motor skills but more importantly his sense of self by creating miniature vignettes from a fictionalised World War 2 village called Marwencol. This world is beautifully detailed and features miniature versions of Mark, his family and his friends meaning each of his photos have a startlingly emotive and authentic feel. His story has now been made into a film, the trailer for which can be seen below.
Fluid font video
I love this short typographic A-Z and the way each letter morphs into the next. It would also serve well to introduce the names of some well known fonts and their individual characteristics to anyone who is less accustomed to the world of fonts.
Thursday, 20 January 2011
Interesting Viral ad
EA (Electronic Arts) have used a rather unconventional method to advertise an upcoming game. The 30 second TV spot uses real footage from a selection of interviews with rather conservative American mothers, all of whom have just seen the gorier parts of the game. They then run with a strap line "Your mom's going to hate it". I think this is quite an interesting angle to take as they are effectively highlighting the bad or controversial aspect of what is actually a very gory game. It obviously shows that EA know their core market well enough that they don't mind the fact they may put off less hardcore gamers. The ad has amassed almost a quarter of a million views on Youtube already ( The extended version had 491, 194 views when I checked) so it looks like a clever move.
You can view a full article about the campaign here
Friday, 14 January 2011
New Starbucks logo raises some issues
The new Starbucks logo is the latest in a recent line of high profile re-brands to be received negatively by the general public. personally I quite like the simplification. It feels really fresh and the fact that it is still round and uses the same green is enough for me to link it to Starbucks. What people often don't think about is the context in which you will encounter the brand. After all Apple and Mcdonalds have managed for years without any type in their respective logos.
The issue it raises for me is how much attention we give to this negative feedback? The masses have been given I voice through social media, everybody's personal tastes and opinions can be shared with thousands of people in seconds. Now that everyone can be heard maybe we designers should keep our fingers in our ears.
Thursday, 6 January 2011
New years motivation
Having recently added some motivational screen prints by Alison Hardcastle to the wall behind my desk, I think all of us could do with a little lift as we trudge into the studio and out of the cold January rain. This cheery print is a great example and is available in red, green or yellow from here.
Very seasonal, very beautiful
Given the arctic Christmas and new year most of us have just endured I think this norwegian TV spot for VW is particularly fitting while also being great to look at. There are some lovely stills below but you can view the actual video using this link
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