I think i'm over Viral Marketing

Its clever, its witty and its kind of a giant pain in the butt. Yes Viral marketing is the new normal. They can't just advertise something to us, they have to propose an elaborate game where the potential customer must solve a riddle of sorts in order to have the right to know what product (usually a movie) they are supposed to go buy. Having worked in marketing i'm very aware of all the subversive and non linear ways companies will use to try and sell products and I really wonder if they are effective from a cost/reward perspective.

A few years ago i loved these things. They were new and smart and clever. But now you almost expect it. You know its advertising as soon as you see it, which kind of defeats the purpose doesn't it? When i see Viral or Guerilla advertising it makes me suspicious. Its like the salesman is trying too hard to get me to buy the clunker. I have to assume whatever is being sold is garbage and thats why they are getting clever. Isn't that a funny thing... the more clever and outside of the box the design gets, the more suspicious the customer is of it being completely worthless? What happened to the good ol days when 9 out of 10 doctors recommended something incredibly unhealthy to us? In advertising, a straight forward lie is better than a big elaborate round-a-bout one I suppose.

Exhibit #1

The District 9 "Bus Benches are for Humans Only". Aliens come to earth, they're treated like 2nd class citizens. we get it. The trailer for the movie isn't half bad. Why do we need the cheesy viral marketing? It makes me think the movie is complete junk and not worth seeing since they went overboard with trying to get me to see it.


Exhibit #2

"Heel" fake street art campaign for some movie (i don't really remember what it is but remember hearing it was a stinker of a movie). This one was clever at first because they kept it small and put up this "Obey Style" wheat paste posters in usual places...like the Labrea Ave corridor in LA that is Shepard Fairey's unofficial city sanctioned private art turf. Then they started getting on billboards and faux spray painting on the sides of huge office buildings and you just knew somebody was paying a lot for that "guerilla street art". They were trying so hard it made me suspicious.


Exhibit #3

LeRoy Smith Infomercial and Website. This is an elaborate multi layered campaign from Nike (?) that is running right now during sports related shows like the NBA finals and ESPN sportscenter. They produced all these fake training videos and mock ups of video games to sell us something yet unknown. Its elaborate...and they really need people to get into it.

NUFF SAID!

The idea that there are some products that just sell themselves is cliche but also very true at times. Its not scientific, its just that some products are just so damn awesome it compels to you purchase immediately. This is the case with this new book that I came across in the store the other day. I know nothing about it besides the cover, but i mean c'mon how awesome does that sound?As Stan Lee would say..."Nuff Said!"

They've got a red blooded, sports watching, all American guy interested in buying a Jane Austin book. Somebody did something right. Now the question becomes....can Zombies save the publishing industry?

Conan new Opening Titles

I'm loving this opening sequence from the new Tonight Show with Conan Obrien. They've employed visual magicians to make Los Angeles look visually lush and attractive. Its a ruse i tell ya!!!

End Of the Line

How do you know if a Poster Design works or not? Its really easy to figure out. Show it to someone and if it causes them to stop what they are doing and go investigate what that poster is advertising then you've done a pretty good job.

Such is the case with this film poster for the upcomming film "The End Of the Line" it asks the viewer to imagine the world without fish.

"The End of the Line is not against fishing. It is not against eating fish. But it is for a responsible attitude towards the oceans."

The poster is simple, dramatic, really odd and is a bit creepy at the same time. I really like that this poster is advertising a film about sustainability but refuses to use any of the cliche'd design jargon and imagery that is used create fake urgency and greenwashing. No statistics, no arrows moving in a circle, no sick looking planet, just a really compelling image that demands your attention.

You can't get eraser shavings in photoshop

The other day i brought in some logo sketches to class on trace paper. Apparently this makes me "old skool" which i really dont mind. Frankly its so much easier and faster to put pencil to paper than try to do a bunch of first round comps in something like illustrator or photoshop. I trusted my teachers way back when they told me that drawing opens you up to discovery. Its not just a bunch of nostalgia, it really works. I like the fact that drawing makes me different as a designer.

Not to say that I hate the computer or can't use programs. I'm extremely comfortable working with those tools, but its nice to start in an analog hands on medium like pencil and paper.

Oh btw, I'm redbranding the most sacred of sacred cows....Penguin Books.

The Client / Vendor relationship in real life.

This was going around the design sites today...its pretty awesome and seems pretty accurate to me. Very funny

Don't Call Gary

Gary Taxali, the famous illustrator and guy who has no problem speaking his mind recently opened a can of whoop ass via an open letter on his blog to all of the big time corporate clients that offer him work with insulting rates and rights grab demands.

Google calls me and wants my work for their new search engine all over the web, the fee? Nothing. Editorial clients are slashing 1999's fees almost in half and citing the bad economy as an excuse. You know what? My excuse is that the economy is bad so you have to pay me MORE for an illustration. How's that for an economic stimulus package?

Its always refreshing to see an artist who has enough to tell the powers that be where they can go and not have it hurt their careers.

Old Men in Short Shorts

TNT has really outdone themselves this year with their new round of NBA playoffs commercials. The tag line "Where will amazing happen this year?" attached to great plays and superstars from recent NBA history combined with Black and White slow motion footage is really one of the strongest sports based advertising campaigns i've ever seen. They started off with clips from the last year or so...


Dwayne Wade "Off Balance"

Then as the playoffs progressed, they went back in time further to the 90's showing the previous generation of superstars making history...


Michael Jordan "The Shot"

But the other day I saw a new one which was similar but different from the rest. The famous Larry "Legend" Bird steal and pass to beat the Pistons. I love the idea of playing with memory and having these great moments fade in and out of perception. The sights and sounds fading in and out giving the viewer just enough to understand whats just happened, but still playing up the idea that great moments come and go very fast. On top of that I love how they not only paid tribute to former great players, but to a great arena, The Boston Garden that is no longer standing.



Larry Bird "The Steal"

Lets hope that the younger generation googles some of these great players and moments and learn a bit about history instead of just laughing at all the old men in short shorts.

Pepsi Throwback

Dear Pepsi,

Can you take those packaging ideas for your new Pepsi Throwback line and just keep it for your regular branding? Its much stronger than anything you've had in the past 20 years, especially that new ultra minimal concpetual branding thing based on smiley faces that you currently have.

Seriously I love the design for the throwback Pepsi and Mountain Dew. It hints back to their heritage but is new and fresh. The good news is that since Pepsi re-brands itself every 2-3 years we won't have to deal with the conceptual smiley faces that much longer.

Typographic Joke of the Day

"Comic Sans walks into a bar,
the bartender says,
'We don't serve your type."

Oh poor Comic Sans and poor type designer Vincent Connare who will go down in infamy as the guy who brought the face into existence. An interesting article on the movement to ban comic sans. What i found most alarming, was that the designer Connare, loooked at the graphic novels, The Watchmen and The Dark Knight Returns to draw inspiration for the design of his new comic face. Thats right ladies and gentlemen, the two of the greatest graphic novels ever published contributed to one of the most infamously hated fonts of all time. Craziness...nest they'll tell me that Arial was inspired by a Jackson Pollock painting...eek i hope not.

The Art of the Exchange

TOKYO, JAPAN - NOVEMBER 21: A man gives his business card to a robot at Japanese employee supply company Ubiquitous Exchange during a press review on November 21, 2006 in Tokyo, Japan. Ubiquitous Exchange has bought the Japanese robot from maker tmsuk to dispatch for YEN105,000 (roughly US$890) a day. The robot is able to automatically walk, guide, understand words, talk and project images and movies. Photo: Junko Kimura/Getty Images

One last chapter in this business card craziness. If I were doing business in Japan, the ritual of the business card exchange is very serious indeed. Via the Daily Heller & ehow.com

The practice of exchanging business cards in Japan is incredibly important. In Japan, business actually cannot take place until these cards have been exchanged with the utmost respect. A business card establishes a person's station and status in Japan's intensely hierarchal culture. Not having a business card means, in a very fundamental way, that you simply do not exist.

Step 1
Use both hands when presenting your business card. Your card should be printed on both sides - Japanese on one, English on the other. When presenting your card, the Japanese side should be facing up.

Step 2
Bow as long and as low as befits your station - being foreign, young, female, and/or unaffiliated with a corporation means you must bow very, very low.

Step 3
You receive a business card in the same way, but you should bow even longer and lower than you did before. Say thank you, or 'Hajimemashite,' as you accept it with both hands.

Step 4
Study the business card intently, even if you can't read a single line. At the very least, remember the giver's name. They will remember yours.

Step 5
If you are receiving multiple cards at once, you may leave them in a neat stack in front of you until the end of your meeting. If not, retrieve your custom-made business card holder, and slide your new aquisition inside - carefully, like it were a piece of art.

New Work: Personal Business Cards

I have a bunch of new work that i'll be updating here over the next few weeks as I re-design my website. I've really been needing a set of business cards for a while now, and as i'm meeting more people and getting more freelance work i've been feeling like a total doofus for not having any business cards to give out.

I tackled this as a branding exercise and I set out to make my cards feel like a natural extension of my website. First off, matching RGB web colors to CMYK (offset) print is pretty hard. Even if you convert the numbers they just look visually different (duh!). Overall i'm pretty happy with how they came out. Oh and BTW I made enough to give one out to just about anyone and everyone, so don't be shy if you want one!

Your Business Card Is Crap!

This youtube video that i found on swissmiss is the perfect conclusion to the business card design/printing craziness of the last few weeks.

The Dark Side is Sustainable

I've never been one for white space. Negative space sure, but white space...meh. Its always nice to see that a personal design aestheic can actually be good for the environment.

The guys over at BLACKLE, a black themed google believe that web pages such as theirs which use dark colored backgrounds used less energy than a site like google which is predomidantly white. If you remember your basic color theory that dicates that black and white are not really colors morever black being the abscense of color/light and white being the complete prescence of color/light, this idea seems to make sense.

Simply put white screens need more energy so precious whitespace that so many of us designers love is actually bad for the environment.

Thai "Spiderman" saves the day.

This is a great little story and proves that superheroes are real!!! ok maybe not, but that was some brilliant thinking by that fireman to save the day.


Thai fireman in 'spider-man' costume rescue of autistic boy

BANGKOK (AFP) – A Thai fireman turned superhero when he dressed up as comic-book character Spider-Man to coax a frightened eight-year-old from a balcony, police said Tuesday.
Teachers at a special needs school in Bangkok alerted authorities on Monday when an autistic pupil, scared of attending his first day at school, sat out on the third-floor ledge and refused to come inside, a police sergeant told AFP.
Despite teachers' efforts to beckon the boy inside, he refused to budge until his mother mentioned her son's love of superheroes, prompting fireman Sonchai Yoosabai to take a novel approach to the problem.
The rescuer dashed back to his fire station and made a quick change into a Spider-Man costume before returning to the boy, he said.
"I told him Spider-Man is here to rescue you, no monsters are going to attack you and I told him to walk slowly towards me as running could be dangerous," Somchai told local television.
The young boy immediately stood up and walked into his rescuer's arms, police said.
Somchai said he keeps the Spider-Man costume and an outfit of Japanese television character Ultraman at the station in order to liven up school fire drills.