Tree cosies

It's the wrong time of year to be keeping trees warm, but who said there was any logic to these beautiful tree cosies?
I would think they're just for decoration only, and how good they look!

Stop and Smell the Stilton

Pat on the back for me as I was pleased to discover the book I did for Nexavar, 'Stop and Smell the Stilton' has received critical acclaim at some industry awards. It won an RX Gold at the RX Gold club awards and a New York Global for excellence in direct marketing. The book is aimed at oncologists treating terminal cancer patients, and is designed to help patients cope with the little time they have left in an uplifting way. The book is full of real patient anecdotes, illustrated or created with unusual popups, or craftwork, making it a delightful little read.

Watch a short clip here:

Stop and Smell the Stilton

Goodbye Cellulite

Spotted this in Cr, and thought "cool". It's quick, clever and good use of media.

Unfortunately while searching for the Nivea image, I was disappointed to discover someone had got there first two years ago in Russia. It's hard to know if the creatives at TBWA NY knew of this, and one could argue they have made much better use of the idea. However, it spoiled my initial "ahhh.." reaction.

Stop motion of the 70's

Here's some of those animations from the seventies/early eighties I was going on about below - God, we found them entertaining when we were little!

Some Colourful Ads

I've had hardly any time to devote to my little Blog since I started at Tribal and felt increasingly out of touch with all things creative so have a done a little trawling on some of my favourite blogs, and good ol' advertising sites, just to remind myself what business I'm in.
It's often quite frustrating when you see an ad in print or on Tv that has used an idea you came up with yonks ago, but got ditched somehow, and the latest Saatchi ad for NSPCC is a good example for me. And I personally don't think the tool of the butterflies work as well as we had in our concept. I'm referring to the coloured butterflies that flutter about around children's playgrounds, weaving in and out of children, then one comes up against a glass window and can't get in. On closer inspection you can see that the butterflies are actually two ears flying - representing the counselling service that the NSPCC offer.
Years back while working on a brief for the COI, my partner and I had an idea for a campaign against fraudsters who cheat the system and don't pay their taxes. The Inland Revenue were setting up a hotline for people to call up and 'dob' these people in. (I know, a REALLY effective way of catching tax evaders!) So we had these sweet butterflies fluttering about while some guy was blagging to his mate how to always pay cash, that way you don't have anything on paper to catch you out.. These innocent cute butterflies were actually conniving ears flying about. I think we may have even ended with them splitting apart and smacking themselves onto an earwigging neighbour...! Anyway it used the whole thought that if walls had ears - watch out.
A much stronger strategy don't you think?
Oh well.
An ad I do like at the moment is the Ford Fiesta ad created by Ogilvy.



I was reading in Creative review the other day that they commissioned 20 artists/designers to create the films on the tv's that move about. They are really cool, but it is so quick you can't appreciate the hard work that probably went into them. The reason it caught my eye when I first saw it was it reminded me of the cut and paste style animation they used to use on Sesame Street - you know, sometimes for learning the eight times table, or sometimes for no reason at all. They were always really eighties and graphical. The endline 'this is now' has recieved a lot of criticism within the industry e.g 'What is it saying?' But I like it. How deep can you be about a new car? This is now. Done.

Are You being Served? Exhibition.

Before I started my new job at Tribal, I managed to squeeze in a quick exhibition at the Bethnal Green museum of Childhood. As well as housing a large collection of dolls, toys and childhood memorabilia (remember Strawberry Shortcake!), the space at the front hosts exhibitions of local artists. The current one on show entitled Are you being Served is a collection of photographs by Tom Hunter, portraying the variety and communities of local shops in Hackney and Bethnal Green. All shot front on, to give the viewer the idea of what they may see if they were to be served by the subjects, it is fascinating to see them all as a collection. Yes, as individual images they are intriguing, but it is by seeing the whole series that you really get a feel for the area and the people that inhabit it. The shops give a hint as to the cultural mix of people that are drawn to theses areas and the services or products required. You also get a sense of which shops have staying power or may have been passed down through generations, even those not stopping.
What I liked about them was the great sense of human presence and activity within sometimes a very small space.

Santogold music video

Continuing the paper cut-out theme, santogold have done a beautiful video with folding paper people. Not sure who made it - anyone?

My own craftywork

While I wait for the final publication of the book I worked on at Langland, I thought I'd put up an element of it that I worked on, that wasn't my usual art direction. This, I carefully handmade with hundreds of sequins and some beading. It will be form part of the pages in the upcoming book 'Stop and Smell the Stilton', aimed at oncologists who deal with terminal cancer patients. It is then aimed at the patients to give them a positive take on their remaining months, once the initial shock of the diagnosis has set in. The book will make more sense once I put up the final piece, due out at the end of July.