Snickers : Pool

Mr. T can still get work in this economy?




cred:
AMV BBDO, London
Creative Team: Mike Sutherland, Anthony Nelson
Agency Producer: Carol Powell
Production Company: Sonny London
Director: Guy Manwaring
Producer: Alice Grant
DP: Fede Afonzo

Illustrator: Sarah Singh

Sarah Singh makes the most lovely watercolor illustrations. We need more illustrated ads.

cred:
http://www.sarasingh.com

Design Inspiration: Card Observer

Card Observer is a new site that showcases only the best business card designs. They do this for a couple of reasons: to shine the spotlight on the talented designers who create these beautiful cards, and to inspire you.


get your card pulled here:
cardobserver.com

Heavy Metal Urban Art: Matthew Small

Matthew Small’s work has strong urban roots. By painting directly onto found pieces of metal, he brings physical elements of the city directly into his work. The subjects of his portraits are also found anonymously on the streets of London. Executed with astonishingly textured brushstrokes, Matt's pieces feel both abstract and incredibly real and vital.

These images were recently taken at Matt's show, “Youngstarrs”, at the Black Rat Press Gallery in London. Of the many stunning pieces throughout the exhibit, the most impressive had to be the large painted car hoods that hung from the ceiling.
~eugene


scoped:
mymodernmet.com

Natural Hair Care: Henna Powder

Henna Powder is used in India largely for mehendi designs - a traditional art that uses a woman's hands and feet as its canvas on special occasions, mostly weddings. Henna Powder is also used for hair conditioning and nourishment, making the hair shiny, smooth and beautiful.


cred:
Mudra Advertising, Chennai, India
Client: Natural Hair Care - Henna Powder
Executive Creative Director: Joono Simon
Associate Creative Director: Arvind Ramalingam
Art Director: Krishnamurthy Iyyappan
Illustrator: Murali

Dell: Adamo

Problem: We (people of color, various orientations & women) are too often used or related to as inanimate objects. Various coat hangers, products stands and props. We are evocations that underscore a product's coolness, sexiness or to approximate diversity. I gotta give it to the agency, the ad does say what they intended. The black model gives you sleek, sexy and fashion savvy. My indoctrination (read programming) to all of this does not fail me here. But we are tired of this portrayal and most general market agencies are far to comfortable with it. There-in is the problem. We are rarely implored to facilitate the intelligence a product's brand might impart as a white male would be.

But it's ok, baby-steps for now, we aint mad at ya, yet. The people who made this ad have probably never noticed how often a brother is the first to die in most every movie (that's right we're keeping count). Even in The cult classic "A Christmas Story." What did that kid do with that Red Ryder BB gun?? But that's another blog post, don't even get me started.

Suggestion: How do you make this work and nobody gets hurt? Well, for one thing minorities could toughen up a bit and stop whining about ads and sh*t. Nope, that is not it. Maybe art direction could be abstracted more. Or if they want to keep the minimalist feel the model could give off just an inkling of life. Whatever happens it needs just a pinch, a hint of... I don't know, more conceptual support.


cred:
Enfatico


Stared at blankly over at:
Adfreak

Jay-Be Bloggin'

Check out the new ROC4LIFE scocial networking platform. You can shop gear, let the new blog pull your ear and watch videos until your eyes start to tear.

http://roc4life.com

Artistic Inspiration: Brian "Deka" Paupaw

Hoods to Woods
Brian "Deka" Paupaw is a broadcast designer, creative director of the Se7en Nations clothing brand (still kicking?), a serious snowboarder, and now a filmmaker. He chronicles his journey from Bed-Stuy to South American back country mountains in his recently completed documentary, Hoods to Woods.

Hoods to Woods trailer #2 from Brian Paupaw on Vimeo.

This is amazing thinking. This is how you promote a brand. Taking two totally different worlds and merging them together and completely freaking the form.

African American Agencies should use this kind of innovation in a campaign instead of the family reunion... again.

It was screened in the NYC (March 5th, 2009):
Hoods to Woods Screening
Hosted by Filmmaker Brian "Deka" Paupaw
The Blue Seats
157 Ludlow Street, New York, NY 10002


another hot cop from the blindingly brilliant:
Style Noir

Design Inspiration: Character

The Olympics are the ultimate celebration of sport and culture. For the 2008 USATF Olympic trials, Character collaborated with Nike in creating limited edition athlete posters, event and retail graphics as the athletes compete for a spot on The Hardest Team to Make.



cred:
Character

Artistic Inspiration: Delphine Diallo

This collage-- aptly titled, "Stay Strong"-- by French-Senegalese photographer/art director/painter/designer Delphine Diallo.

Borrowed and never returned from:
Style Noir

Clothes in Closets: Knucle bag

Every touchpoint is an advertisement, right?




cred:
Leo Burnett Lisbon, Portugal
Creative Director: Chacho Puebla
Art Director: Luciana Cani
Copywriter: Pedro Ribeiro

The cARTer Family Reunion Trailer (just some inspiration)

Ill ass artwork for an album cover.



The Carter Family Reunion Coming Soon... from CARTER on Vimeo.


fresh wrest from: FRESHNERD check dude out!

Ebony Covers: August 2008

I know these are here a little late to satiate blogophilia (my word, but you can use it ;-) standards. But, I wasn't blogging here when these came out, blog-gods forgive me. Wether you love Ebony magazine or were forced to look at them on your Big Ma's dollied coffee table. You have to give thanks for their unwavering love and constant uplift of Black people. Kudos to Ebony old school, the new editors, new style and Harriet Coles.

**UPDATE***

I just learned that Ebony/Jet may be on it's/their death bed (like many other popular publications). Some people are suggesting we subscribe en-masse. What do you think?

Thanks H.J.

POP Africana

POP’AFRICANA,the blog-voicing a new paradigm of what it means to be African.

Great cover.



peeped & then creeped from;
www.popafricana.com

Padma's hamburger ad redefines food porn

Well, here it is: the new Padma Lakshmi commercial for Hardee's/Carl's Jr. that we mentioned back in February, when it was being filmed. It certainly doesn't skimp on the sexual imagery, as the Top Chef beauty opens wide (really wide) to take her first bite of the Western-bacon monstrosity. Plopped down on an apartment building's front steps, she hikes up her skimpy dress and licks the burger all over until, in the heat of the moment, it promptly drips its sauce on her lower leg. Outside of the car wash, it doesn't get more food porn-y than this. Paris Hilton, please pack your knives and go.


Perp walked from:
Adfreak

Net#work BBDO: The face of Net#Work BBDO Cape Town

A South African advertising agency shows what diversity can/should look like. This is a composite image of all the employees. In South Africa really?! This is great.


(Side note; If you put them all together they look like Shaun Will of Prostituted Thoughts)


cred:
NET#WORK BBDO
South Africa

NCAA: Ambidextrous

cred:
Young & Rubicam, San Francisco
Executive Creative Directors: Scott Larson & Brad Berg
ACD/Art Director: Hilary Wolfe
Copywriter: Brandon Reif
Executive Producer: Debra Trotz
Director: Grady Hall
Executive Producer: Javier Jimenez
DP: Jeff Cronenweth
Editor: Colin Woods

Minfab Mattress: Hair

I don't know what this is. Can anybody help?


cred:
Saatchi&Saatchi, Shanghai, China
Creative Director: Awoo Lai
Art Director: Chao Xu
Copywriter: Hesky Lu
Illustrator: Teoh Kok Joo
Photographer: Kk Fong

Marketers in Agency Diversity Fight

Letters Sent to 25 Leading National Advertisers

Posted by Ken Wheaton on 03.25.09 @ 08:54 AM
The NAACP has sent a letter to Procter & Gamble Co. Chairman-CEO A.G. Lafley and 24 other marketers previously on Advertising Age's Leading National Advertisers list asking that they "require their advertising agencies to use diverse teams in creative and account-management positions." (read the P&G here.)




Aside from P&G, letters went out to AT&T, Verizon Communications, General Motors Corp., Time Warner, Ford Motor Co., GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson, Walt Disney Co., Unilever, Sprint Nextel Corp., General Electric Co., Toyota Motor Corp., Chrysler, Sony Corp., L'Oreal, Sears Holdings Corp., Kraft Foods, Bank of America, Nissan Motor Co., Macy's, Anheuser-Busch InBev, Honda Motor Co., Viacom and Berkshire. (Last month, the Association of Black-Owned Advertising Agencies sent a letter to the ANA challenging marketers on diversity.)




The letter, from NAACP Interim General Counsel Angela Ciccolo, was sent in conjunction with the Madison Avenue Project, an effort by the group and civil-rights attorney Cyrus Mehri to bring diversity to advertising agencies through either persuasion or a lawsuit. Designed to open up another front in the battle and put pressure on clients, it requests that each company "identify a senior executive to serve as a point of contact on the issue of racial bias in the advertising industry and to meet promptly with the NAACP."

After a couple of pages of data combed from MAP's previously released report, the P&G letter dispenses with the niceties.

"The behavior [of the agencies] documented in the report is illegal, and we are sure that Procter & Gamble does not wish to be associated in any way with illegal behavior. The behavior documented in the report is not only illegal but also clearly out of step with the moral climate of the times, and again we are sure that Procter & Gamble would not want in any way to be so out of step with the times."

See the Ad Age article here.

Design Inspiration: Stubborn Sideburn

cred:
Stubborn Sideburn

Design Inspiration: Oliver Barrett

cred:
Oliver Barrett

Design Inspiration: Fatoe

cred:
www.fatoe.com

Interactive Sharpie e-cast Billboard

Interactive e-cast billboards have been scattered around cities, which allow people to experience creating their own graffiti minus the jail time.

Galaxy 92 FM: DOGMA

cred:
Lowe
Agency location (City, Country): Athens, Greece
Creative Director: Anna Maria Spiliotopoulou
Art director: Gianna Polydouri
Copywriter: Nadia Santorinaiou


Harlem shuffled from: Ad Broad

ESPN: Brazilian Soccer Cup

Ogilvy & Mather Guangzhou Office - A Carnival of Ideas

Ogilvy & Mather’s Guangzhou office has been selected as one of the recipients of the third annual China's Most Successful Design Award 2008, sponsored by FORTUNE China magazine and China Bridge International.




The height of the space and the central staircase create a background for a theme park of environments that flow freely and openly from one to another.
Tuija Seipell @ coolhunter



And you thought those 1990's digs you're officing in were still cool!?

Transport for London: Optical

This is damn good advertising.

cred:
M&C U.K.
exec creative director: Graham Fink
art directed by Mark Goodwin and Graham Fink
co-directed with Marcus Werner-Hed

Adidas: Adidas Ali vs Ali

Isn't this great.


Thanks for reminding us and submitting this Audrie!

cred:
Agency 180/TBWA, 180 Amsterdam
Director Lance Acord
Creative Richard Bullock / Dean Maryon
Production Co Park Productions

G2: Kevin, Kerri, Candace

I almost have a new favorite agency. It's called Smith/Jenkins or J+S or something nutty like Funktion (you know how these agency types do it). You see these are a few more poignant examples of great work by the great team that features Jayanta Jenkins & Jimmy Smith. I'm certain the other members of the team are truly equally important and worked just as hard, but you know I gotta keep working this whole black angle. It's kinda my schtick. These guys are rocking this ad game. I must do a post about Jimmy exclusively. Yo Jimmy holla at ya boy! Me and Jimmy go waaay back (about 30 blog post ago, I mentioned him). Get at me Jim. There are kids out there googling you right now. You need to be centralized here at "Black-ad-ah-pedia." You have my number, right Jim??



cred:
TBWA\Chiat\Day, Los Angeles, USA

Global Director of Media Arts: Lee Clow
Executive Creative Director: Rob Schwartz

Group Creative Director: Jimmy Smith
Associate Creative Director: Jayanta Jenkins
Art Director: Brent Anderson
Copywriter: Steve Howard
Group Account Director: Brynn Bardacke
Management Supervisor: Jiah Choi
Account Executive: Adam Bersin
Art Buyer: Dogan Datillo
Photographer: Thierry Des Fontaines

Orange Uganda: Hello

Aaaah, this is beautiful stuff. That is exquisite storytelling, sweetly flavored with a touch of fragrant sentiment.

Bravo.


cred:
Access Leo Burnett Nairobi/Publicis Conseil Paris
Agency Producer: Annette Martyrs
copywriter: Daniel Chandler
Art Director: Nicolas Ermakoff
Copywriter: John Whelan
Director: Bo Platt

Ebony: June 1960 Black Advertising

I've been getting a little overwhelmed with all the insensitivity going on in advertising today, so I thought I'd go back and have a look at simpler times. You know when "skin lightner" was all the rage, smoking with while reading with your kids was common place and relaxing your hair was a good wholesome "Perm!". Ah yes, pre-post racial America... I miss it.






Some of the ads were of a more common fare.




cred:
Ebony Magazine

Old Navy: Supermodelquins

I wasn't going to post about this. Then, I had a little kid comment on this commercial. She wondered why the lady with her skin color always winds up naked. This is who really gets hurt.

See NewsOne for the opine.


cred:
Crispin, Porter, Bogusky

Obama Fried Chicken?

I'm not making this up. A company in Germany has just introduced a line of snacks called "Obama Fingers": frozen chicken fingers with curry dip. To American ears this carries an offensive racial connotation Should the Germans have known better?

Vogue: Beyoncé

Duet Ice-Cream: Obama

Ooooooooooooooooh! Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaamn!

What level of f*ckery lurks here???

NNNNNNNNNNNNNNope! I aint gonna touch it. You already know how I feel. I think I just made a minor shittle...

...in my pants.

one, warm little... shitlet.


Excuse me, I have to go potty.



cred:
Voskhod, Yekaterinburg, Russia
Creative Director: Andrey Gubaydullin
Art Director / Illustrator: Vlad Derevyannykh
Copywriters: Aleksandr Parkhomenko, Evgeny Primachenko

Li-Ning: Sports Wear

Crazy 76ers, Fight Fearlessly


Emperor in Cavaliers, Fight Fearlessly




cred:
Leo Burnett, Shanghai, China
Creative Directors: Eddie Booth, Attlee Ku, Tao Lei
Art Directors: Huang Haibo, Kevin Wu, Ocean Ye, Ricky Xu, Mellow Yu, Gordon Wang
Copywriter: Ray Lei
Illustrators: Zhang Minsheng, Lu Min
Photographer: Adam

Frosted Mini Wheat: History Lesson

Couldn't they ask the kid just one little Black History question. Something subtle, you don't have to ramble on. Better still, something about a woman, I guess that's another blog. But, uh, one just... you know... Crispus Attucks, Sacagawea, something or other. I mean we just finished black History Month.

Michelle Obama comic book

Michelle Obama comic book (Bluewater Productions) (March 13, 2009)
She's not faster than a speeding bullet or more powerful than a locomotive.

Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound? Hardly.

But First Lady Michelle Obama is poised to become a superhero next month when a biographical comic book hits the stands.

Chronicling Obama's path from South Side schoolgirl to White House occupant, the comic is part of the "Female Force" series showcasing powerful female leaders. Issues featuring Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sold out immediately upon their release this week.

copied & pasted from:
chicagotribune.com

Dubai Advertising Festival

The 2nd Dubai International Advertising Festival, incorporating the Dubai Lynx Awards, the Middle East and North Africa advertising awards for creative excellence, was held from 15-17 March 2009 at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre.

Presented by the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival, together with regional partners Motivate Publishing and sponsored by
Gulf News, Dubai Lynx is held with the support of Dubai Media City (DMC) and in association with the UAE Chapter of the International Advertising Association (IAA).


See the winners here.

Kind Of Blue Skateboards

more here.

How to double that pitiful starting salary you agreed to.

Click pic, get paycheck thick quick.

How to double that pitiful starting salary in 18 months.
1. Be humble.
2. Listen.
3. Go overboard. Make somebody say “you didn’t need to do that much.”
4. Don’t listen to them. They’re jealous of your work ethic.
5. Go out for beers when anybody offers.
6. Don’t get sloppy and puke on your bosses shoes. The smell will follow you for years.
7. Take notes. Copious notes.
8. Look up copious if you need. And any other words that stump you. We’re in the business of words.
9. Buy bagels once in a while. And none of that flavored cream cheese.
10. Refuse to let your boss buy lunch.
11. But not all the time. That’s butt-kissing.
12. Ask if anybody needs help before you leave.
13. Do anonymous acts of kindness.
14. Thank people.
15. Have a good attitude.
16. Which means taking criticism with an open mind.
17. Don’t blame it on the client (immature and naïve).
18. Don’t blame it on the AE (immature and naïve).
19. Smile.
20. Pick up some lazy ass’s crap left behind in the conference room.
21. Ask a million questions.
22. Be yourself.
23. Tell your boss when you don’t have enough to do.
24. Bring 4 ideas to the table instead of 3.
25. Show personal interest in those below you (if there is anyone down there).
26. Never attempt to make the boss look bad. It’s never worked in the history of the world. If you’ve got a problem, talk it out in private. You’ll be respected.
27. Ask if it’s OK to take a vacation.
28. As opposed to telling someone you’re going to take a vacation.

- Ernie Perich www.perich.com
copped from:
Adverspew
A great blog, one of my new favs, Check'em out.

Shepard Fairey: Saks Fifth Avenue

Shepard Fairey of the Obey Giant and the Obama poster fame has whipped up some new retail weaponry for Saks. It seems a little pricey for the proletariat, but hey, it looks good.

G2: KG

Gatorade drops another "G" commercial, this one is for "G2". It shows an interesting contrast between the every-man and the life of a star athlete. Despite the epic cavern between the two, the agency manages to align the portly pool fellah with KG by narrowing the scope to their best intentions. Because they both "...have tried ... to be the best..."

I see little portly fellahs everywhere lacing up to hit the courts and throw back some G2.


Thanks Tammy Q!

Design Inspiration: Alamo Poster Archive

cred:
Alamo Poster Archive

Adidas's NBA stars finally make it to college

Here's a fun idea from Adidas. To celebrate March Madness, it's taking four of its endorsers who jumped straight from high-school basketball to the NBA and imagining them on the college teams of today: Kevin Garnett at UCLA, Dwight Howard at Kansas, Tracy McGrady at Louisville and Josh Smith at Pitt. See all four ads here. It would have been fun to see Kobe Bryant, another college dodger, in this kind of situation, though of course he's ex-Adidas and now shills for Nike. Via American Copywriter.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

heisted from:
AdFreak

Indiana Live! Casino: N'Obama

Can someone please help me. You see I've runout of acronyms. I'm open, I'll take anything. "Who the damn" WTD??? "Why the sh*t" WTS, "You pissin' me off" YPMO??? I just don't know what to say anymore.

I got into this to show great great creative, black white, Polynesian, it didn't matter. Lately it's just more and more sh*t on the carpet.

Innoxa: Firming neck and bust treatment

cred:
Morrisjones&co, Johannesburg, South Africa
Creative Director: Angel Jones
Art Director: Bernie da Silva
Copywriter: Michelle Kreuiter
Photographer: David Prior

LEAN MEAN FIGHTING MACHINE: "Dem Phones"

I laughed, I cried, I hated, I liked, then I wonder why'ed.


Here's the thing about this spot as it relates to being African American today. It can be seemingly a very confusing melange of sensibilities, feelings and understandings. In most ways we've moved past being offended by this kind of thing. We have bigger concerns. On the other hand the original context of which this song "Dem Bones" was recorded and made popular is where the offense lay. Back at the time of this song's "popularity," to sound like "slaves" was catchy and favored amongst white audiences, thus, it would earn you valuable TV and radio air time. "Oh look at them cute negras sangin'... they just love sangin'!" It was and in some ways still is degrading. There's no difference between this and most of the popular "rap" language of today. It's what is acceptable by main stream media and satisfies a thirst for images of people of color in disparaging roles.

Initially I laughed. I thought it was a very clever use of wordplay. Dem Bones - to - Dem Phones. Technically it was sound. The execution was spot on. But then, so was O.J.'s (alleged) murders. Just because something can be done flawlessly, does not mean it should be done.


Hattie McDaniel was famous for her "Mammy" roles. Her eloquence and poise rarely made it to the screen. This acceptance speech shows the stark contrast of what was expected and what really was.

Stepin Fetchit made over a million dollars by entertaining white folks with is brand of "coonery".

The agency that did this viral advertisement won Cannes interactive agency of the year. (just above Crispin, Porter, Bogusky)



cred:
Lean Mean Fighting Machine

Mitsubishi Pajero: Animals

cred:
Africa São Paulo
Photographer: Platinum
Executive Creative Director: Nizan Guanaes, Sergio Gordilho
Creative Director: Humberto Fernandez e Flavio Waiteman
Art Director: Humberto Fernandez
Copywriter: Flavio Waiteman
Country: Brazil

Papyrus club: Gods

Short rationale: At IIT (Indian Institute of Technology), students congregate each year at a festival to learn about the latest advancements. At this fest, students had the opportunity to play 'God' by learning how to create robots at a special robotics workshop.

cred:
JWT India
Agency website: http://www.jwt.com
Creative Director: Ashwin Parthiban
Art Director: Vinci Raj
Copywriter: Ashwin Parthiban
Executive Creative Director:Senthil Kumar

SOS: Mata Atlântica

cred:
JWT Brasil
Title: Bones
Client: SOS Mata Atlântica
Product: Institutional
Diretor Executivo de Criação: Mario D'Andrea
Creative Director: Mario D'Andrea, Roberto Fernandez
Copywriter: Christian Fontana
Art Director: Pedro Izique
Illustrator: Pedro Izique

KFC SA: Head

Is that how they get down in South Africa? Is your head a napkin? Then somehow magically when you eat the "White man's" brand of fried chicken you evolve to the point of licking your fingers? Stranger things have happened.


cred:
Agency: Ogilvy Johannesburg, South Africa
Creative Directors: Fran Luckin, Graham Lamont
Art Director: Peter Little
Copywriter: Sanele Ngubane
Other additional credits: Tsakane Mhangwani, Sithabile Maphumulo, Thabang Butelezi

Design Inspiration: Alex Trochut

cred:
Alex Trochut

J*DaVeY: Concert Poster

cred:
culture advertising design

Georg Olden on Game Show

I posted about Georg Olden a while back here on KMBA. I saw this video on adage.com and thought I'd share it here. It's always nice to hear/see a historic figure move and speak. It fills in the persona image gaps one may have.

IESU: sushi delivery

"We attract many Japanese. But it's OK, we don't have karaoke."

"The same day a Japanese stole another one's sushi, karate was born."

"Japanese are crazy about miniatures. Check out our prices."

"It's better having Japanese cooking than studying for tests."

Sniff... is that...

Sniff, sniff... smells like...

hot fresh...

sniff... yes it is!

twice warmed over stereotypes.

I know that smell anywhere.

Well it's been a while and I really hate to do it. But they had to go there and it's only fitting that I go there as well. I'm not mad at the art direction but, these are ass-tastic ads.




cred:
Advertising Agency: Fields
Creative Directors: André Sartorelli, Fernando Lopes
Art Director / Illustrator: Lucas Zaiden
Copywriter: Paulo Lima

Snickers

cred:
TBWA/Chiat/Day, New York
Creative Directors: Rob Baird, John Matejczyk
Art Directors: Dave Sakamoto, Brad Wood
Copywriter: Jonathan Marshall, Ryan Ebner
Executive Producer of Media Arts: Matt Bijarchi
Senior Producer: Jason Souter

Production Company: Furlined, Los Angeles
Director: The Perlorian Brothers

Baby Bangs? Why?

This is a real product.


Folks, this is when advertising just goes wrong. At least the spot doesn't look professionally done. Below is a quote from the company.

Any parent with a baby daughter whose hair is slow-growing or non-existent has undoubtedly encountered a stranger who says, “What’s his name?” or “What a cute little guy!” BabyBangs were designed with that common occurrence in mind. One of the company’s taglines is “I’m not a boy,” and their innovative product helps little princesses to make that clear.

What's next "infantile extensions" or maybe "Wittle Weaves." My eyes burn.

Virgin Mobile: Vanilla Ice

Droga5 Sydney have created an amusing campaign titled Right Music Wrongs. The campaign has launched with a YouTube video of Vanilla Ice apologizing for all the bad things he did when he was in his prime, things like that hair and them clothes.



There's also a pretty funny web site where they give the business to everybody from Hasselhoff to Soulja Boy.



cred:
Droga5

Foot Locker: Puma Archive

Here's the latest campaign from Puma and Foot Locker: “Foot Locker Unlocked - Puma Archive” It's simple, clean, strong. Noice type!

Africa has the sexiest cola on the planet...

... if not the weirdest.

(Afri-Cola is actually a cola soft drink produced in Germany.)

I love it.


cred:
Directed by Charles Wilp (shot through a frozen glass window, as the ice melts)

President Obama Unveils New Logos

This assignment to create two logos, one for projects completed under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), and the second for the U.S. Department of Transportation’s TIGER (Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery) team.

President Obama has a very keen awareness of branding and the messages therein. This is knowledge is quite timely or even "Hip-Hop-like, in that his brand(s) and seal(s) will be on every thing. Sorta like Diddy saying, "take that–take that" to the GOP. This level of transparency is unheard of. Even though the TIGER striped logo looks a little cartoonish but, it will have a high degree of visibility.

Coming soon to a congested slow moving roadwork project near you.

See video of the unveiling right chere.

Adidas: Young Jeezy vs. KG

This ad has a little age on it about three to four months to be exact. But hey, better late than never. I dropped the earlier portion of this campaign a while back.

Cutting Station: Scissors/Combs

cred:
Grant McCann-Erickson, Colombo, Sri Lanka
Creative Directors: Eranga Tennekoon, Shehan Karunatilaka
Art Director: Eranga Tennekoon
Copywriter: Shehan Karunatilaka
Illustrator: Wijesiri Mathugama
Other additional credits: Sugiban Sathiamoorthy

Avon: J-Hud

Jennifer Hudson for Avon's Imari fragrance.

Advertising Inspiration: ThruYOU

This guy mixes his smarts and music with random Youtube musicians. What a concept. Very nice.



This kind of thing makes me love where technology is going. It's not just convergence. Technologies and talents are literally running through each other leaving beautiful new forms in its wake.


Check it here.

Diversity by Casting

So often a campaign goes through all the usual procedures, creative briefing, media planning, strategizing, concepting, creative directioning, creative re-directioning. After all of the "real" thinking goes on, someone remembers the real world, you know, the one outside of the agency. Then and only then do they decide to sprinkle in a lil' color. Or sometimes they forget to flavor an ad all together. It's really hard to think about the real world when for the most part your world is clannish and insular.


Thanks for sharing E.T.

J*DaVeY: concert PROMO

AMP FEST J*DaVeY moxiejoe Concert PROMO from MOXIEJOE on Vimeo.
My man Jamal over at Moxie Joe just dropped this dope animation promotional for the blazing hot group J*DaVeY! They defiantly shred up music genres and rank as a group who music I'd love to see in a commercial.

Jobs, Almost as diverse as we are.

Vocay is a job board that brings diverse candidates and employers together.

Job Seekers
Vocay helps you weed through jobs to get to the companies who are actively interested in building diverse teams.

Employers
Vocay is the only place on the web that will send candidates from diverse backgrounds straight to your inbox, helping you build more effective teams through diversity.

See more here @ Vocay.com

Thanks for the heads up Andrew Thompson!

Kaya FM 95.9: Platinum

cred:
The Firehouse, Johannesburg, South Africa
Executive Creative Director: Steven Richards
Creative Director: Rowan John
Art Director: Ryan Liedeman
Copywriter: Tamara Kotelo
Re-touch: Neels Malan
Photographer: David Prior

Adidas: The Adi lookbook

As part of the Spring 09 campaign Adidas Originals has launched a digital lookbook to present its women collection.



The agency is Sid Lee.

Nike iD: REALCiTY Anime

Anime created by Studio 4°C, directed by Koji Morimoto, for Nike Blazer, an option on Nike iD customization program from Nike Japan. Check out the website for an interactive experience painting the city with a custom Nike iD Blazer.

Nothing is Original

This is the fifth rule of Jim Jarmusch, an independent film director and I love it (read it).

One way to start a fight with most African American creatives is to "steal" their idea. The fact is nothing is original. This is not an attempt to stifle creativity but to encourage innovation. I once worked at a general market agency where weekly someone would stand over my shoulder, lurking but, not commenting on what I was doing, only to later have their version of my work show up in a creative meeting. It pisses me off just thinking about it. The funny thing is, I wanted nothing more than to be a collaborator in that shop. Instead of this oddity to tip toe around or the occasional idea vending machine. I like the concept of sharing ideas, borrowing knowledge and down-right ripping something off to use in another market, for another product, with my own tweaks to deliver to fresh eyeballs.

Lastly, I don't completely agree with Jim. If I add a soft or hard innovation to something current, it becomes new. Now, if somebody happened to do it before... I'll probably end up starting a fight.



cred:
Jim Jarmusch

U.K. Design Awards ‘09 Category Winners

Italian Vogue - A Black Issue, July 2008, fashion category winner

The winners in each category of the Brit Insurance Design Awards 2009 have been announced, ahead of an overall winner that will be revealed at a gala ceremony at the Design Museum in London on March 18.
The judges chose Italian Vogue: A Black Issue, July 2008 (shown top) as their winner in the fashion category. “Deemed a cultural watershed, A Black Issue firmly placed the debate about the lack of black models in the fashion industry to the very forefront of the fashion world’s consciousness as well as causing widespread debate outside fashion circles,” said the judges of their choice.


Shepard Fairey’s Obama poster won in graphics

Shepard Fairey’s Barack Obama poster is the winner in the graphics category. The judges commented that “if there ever were to be a ‘poster of the year’, the Obama poster would be it. The US election was a watershed in contemporary history and this poster demonstrates the power of communicating ideas and aspirations from grass-root level. Just as the presidential candidate’s campaign speeches recaptured the lost art of oratory, so this poster breathed new life into a form that had lost its purpose.”

Gatorade: Quest for G (The Loooooooong version)

(NSFW) That means Not Safe For Work (I didn't know that for years). Not due to content. Not because some parts will make you chortle with enough decibels to pierce your cubicle's carpeted walls. NSFW because virals should be short enough for you to watch at work. You could get your pay docked about an hour for watching this.


That's all I'm sayin'.

Good Knight Aerosol: Clap

cred:
JWT, Mumbai, India
Creative Directors: Tista Sen, Shammsunder Gooud
Copywriter / Art Director: Shammsunder Gooud
Director: Rajesh Sathi
Production company: Keroscene

Is there a new creepy optimism in design?

Smile.

Half-a-smile

Smile-"E"

10 Million Dollar graphic design job smile!

Pop goes the weasel – Jack in the Box smile.

I'm noticing a new zeitgeist of late across the annals of design. I'm seeing positive overtures in the looks of things. Maybe it's because the economic slump has robbed me of my snobbish wealth and granted me the "euphoria of broke ass-ness" (don't laugh, it exist. Somehow, I'm happier with fewer clients). But the advertising and design work I'm seeing seems happier. Is everybody realizing life isn't all about money. Funny how that's easy to do when there's not so much money to go around.

Images right clicked and saved as from:
Brand New

HOW MANY MULTI/CULTURAL CREATIVES HAVE LOST THEIR JOBS? (Newer post below)

**UPDATE** Please visit The Marcus Graham Project

I understand times are hard. I know everybody is feeling the pain right about now. I've seen quite a few lose their jobs and I want do something. There is something we can do. I've heard of someone starting a blog for unemployed creatives. I've also heard of someone asking corporations to "gift" one job to unemployed creatives. Maybe we can put our heads together and come up with something.

"African American unemployment rates for January 2009 were at 12.6% and rising. That was two moths ago."

So get at me; here (leave a comment), email me or hit me off-line. Let's put some of that creative energy to work and see what we can come up with.

Yes, you too, don't be bashful, just leave a comment. Don't be a lurker, we see your IP address, we know your out there.

We really need your help too. Give us a shout. Let's do something about this diversity gap.


We are looking for ideas.

P.S. Success comes in all colors. (See evidence below)


Even in advertising.

Kumbaya Y'all

In Obama era , more television ads project images of racial harmony


By Todd Lewan
The Associated Press
(March 2, 2009) Ever see an inner-city schoolyard filled with white, Asian and black teens shooting hoops? Or middle-aged white and Latino men swigging beer and watching the Super Bowl on their black neighbor's couch? Or Asians and Latinos dancing the night away in a hip-hop club?

All it takes is a television.

Yes, that mesmerizing mass purveyor of aspiration, desire and self-awareness regularly airs commercials these days that show Americans of different races and ethnicities interacting in integrated schools, country clubs, workplaces and homes, bonded by their love of the products they consume.

Think about one of Pepsi's newest spots, "Refresh Anthem," which debuted during the Super Bowl. The ad, which features Bob Dylan and hip-hop producer will.i.am, is a collage of images from the '60s and today that celebrate generations past and present.

Whites and blacks are shown returning from war, surfing, skateboarding, dancing and waving American flags at political rallies, while a boyish Dylan and a present-day will.i.am take turns singing the Dylan classic, "Forever Young," each in his signature style.


scooped:
Target Market News

Becks Modelling Clay: Black is beautyfull

Becks Modelling Clay: Fun religion




cred:
Agency: Scholz+Friends Hamburg
Photographer: Bernd Westphal
Chief Creative Officer: Matthias Schmidt
Executive Creative Director: Stefan Setzkorn
Creative Director: Gunnar Loeser, Stefanie Voelzow, Markus Daubenbuechel
Creatives: Marius Koopmann
Copywriter: Philipp Cerny
Art Director: Philipp Cerny
Country: Germany
Modeller and coolest person involved: Anna Gawrilow


Junior Art Director (and smartest person involved!!!!): Christian Reichelt