Our favorite cereal's and their mascots transformed by illustrator and designer, Guillermo Fajardo and they are fantastic. He call's his collection The Breakfast Time Cereal Collection which includes digital art recreations of Captain Crunch, the Trix Rabbit, Count Chocula and Frosted Flakes's Tony the Tiger. Check out more of Guillermo HERE.
Independent commercial director Nickolas Duarte directs his first US national broadcast spot, "Bear Down" for the University of Arizona.
The commercial takes a different approach to university advertising, showcasing the inner strength of the university and its community through the legend/myth of a former quarterback's dying last words "Bear Down" (http://www.arizonawildcats.com/trads/bear-down.html). The visual style and poetic tone were selected to take the heart of that message and present it in a contemporary and artistic manner.
Nickolas is currently self-represented through his company, Crown Chimp Productions, and has earned a National ADDY for his work with Adidas, along with recently directing an international broadcast campaign with the NBA airing in Asia.
Credits: Client: The University of Arizona Title: Bear Down Director: Nickolas Duarte Production Company: Crown Chimp Productions Voice Over: Chris Andrews 1st AD/Editor: Matthew King Project Producers: Ben Lopez, Rosie Zwaduk Co-Writer/Creative Consultant: Drew Grubich Director of Photography: Will Turner 1st AC/2nd Unit DP: Oscar Rivera Sound Design/Mix & Location Audio: Mike Clark Production Design: Adam Ray Make Up: Sonia Campbell Set Design: Jessica Van Ravenswaay 2nd Unit Director: Jacob Turrentine Color/Mastering: Copper Post Colorist: Robert Beadle Production Assistants: Keith Wagner, Ben Oman, Schuyler Copeland, Monty Montemayor Talent: Dancer: Piper Stoeckel; College Guys: Tad Sallee, RJ Markham, Jesse Pickering; Artist: Janet Henderson; Mirror Lab Engineer: Hector Ayala; LEO Project Researcher: Chris Koval; Business Man: Paul Tumarkin; Construction Worker: Alan Zwaduk
A tablet that's a unique expression of entertainment and creativity. A tablet that works and plays the way you want. A new type of computing. Surface....
Surface, Microsoft's first promo video created by 22 year old Caleb Slain, a relative unknown in the ad world, might just have Microsoft snubbing their major ad agency partners: Crispin Porter & Bogusky, Deutsch or Razorfish, again in the future after the success of the video (6 million+ views to date).
Caleb Slain said, "I've had no direct contact within the agencies at all, ours was originally supposed to be a product showcase by myself and Keith Rivers." Rivers produced the video.
"We just wanted to make the most awesome, badass video possible, so that when we gave it back to Microsoft they would either love it or we would never work for them again."
Keith Rivers / keithrivers.com
Caleb Slain / Facebook
Not bad for a video that was originally created just to show people in the trade how the product looks.
Think Work Play (http://think-work-play.com/), the webzine that charts the creative process in London. A recent interview with Kate Moross, a well-acclaimed London-based illustrator/designer who has done work on Cadburys, Topshop and Samsung ad campaigns, as well as the who’s who of music and culture (Kate has just finished the latest music video for the electronic duo Simian Mobile Disco). In the video, Kate talks about how a certain company approached her about designing a bong, her favourite colours and her admiration of the Queen Mother’s fashion sense.
New spot for Reebok, ZigTech features the music of a friend of ours here at Great-Ads, the music is composed by Glyn M. Owens and the vocals are by the lovely Davina Jones.
Helping out a fellow Torontonian...Jeremy is "The Out Of Work Ad Guy". Brilliant idea best of luck to you, 2010 will be a good year for you.
Jeremy Salzman is a creative director who has been laid off by the ad agency he worked at along with 52 other people, but Jeremy took this brilliant self promoting idea to find work. Check out the site: http://OutOfWorkAdGuy.com Advertising Agency: OutOfWorkAdGuy, Toronto, Canada Creative Director: Jeremy Salzman
One Gift.A Thousand Fantasies. The Victoria's Secret commercial directed by Michael Bay. This premiered during the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show on 12.2.09. Includes a lot of things Michael Bay is known for, including a helicopter and of course, explosions.
Thirty-five years ago, Richard Wilde launched the BFA Advertising and Graphic Design Department at the School of Visual Arts in New York. Today, he still is still chair running the program with enthusiasm and unparalleled leadership, recruiting the top industry talent as instructors to maintain the college's reputation as one of the best of its kind. He is nothing less than a living icon in the world of graphic design and advertising. So when Director Benita Raphan (SVA alumna) approached SUSPECT CD Hoon Chong (also SVA alumunus), to handle the open for, "The Wilde Ones", a documentary tribute for Wilde's 40-year anniversary at the school, he readily accepted. Raphan quickly expanded the offer to include all post and effects for the film.
The film is built around a series of interviews with some of Wilde's most accomplished professors and industry icons, including George Lois, Paula Scher, Carin Goldberg, James Victore, Paul Sahre, and Gail Anderson, extolling the enthusiasm, professionalism, consistency and brilliance that helped Richard build the school into one of the world's preeminent graphic design and advertising institutions.
But these testimonials don't stand alone, SUSPECT created a stunning and surreal graphical montage that is laced throughout the film, old photographs, countless samples of student work, and other artifacts that lend the narrative context, scope, and a sense of history.
"I would not want to work with anyone else in the industry for my graphics - SUSPECT is top notch, and the owners are the most generous and gracious people imaginable" stated Raphan, who has worked with Chong on three other projects, including Great Genius and Profound Stupidity, (with Merce Cunningham currently airing on The Sundance Channel), and The Critical Path (also on The Sundance Channel). "Hoon has impeccable taste and a great graphic sense. His team embraced the project with passion and dedication, and I cannot wait to work with them on my next project."
SUSPECT also handled the open and close, which featured extensive and elaborate stop-motion scenes shot on a Canon 5D MARK II and constructed of found objects, handmade props, and tin toys (part of Richard Wilde's personal collection) in honor of Wilde's playful nature, collection of antique toys and love of Outsider Art. They also crafted the name title cards. The stage, props and technology were all on hand for stop motion, research and test shoots.
"It was an incredible honor that Benita came to us and asked us to do graphic art for a film tribute to an industry legend," stated Hoon. "Benita was very open and gave us tremendous freedom, so we were able to truly tap into the awesome creativity and imagination of our staff. We played the role of students and only created with things we could borrow or find, making objects with our hands and only using computers to put the pieces together."
"Working on this film allowed us a glimpse 'behind the scenes' into the world of the very accomplished and talented faculty at the School of Visual Arts," noted SUSPECT Executive Producer Rob Appelblatt. "It is educators such as Richard Wilde and his fine department that are helping to nurture, refine and grow talent that will in turn define and shape the future of our exciting business. With a portion of our staff being alums from SVA it was nice to see this come full circle. It was an honor to be included in this tribute to great educators."
"The Wilde Ones" was shown at the School of Visual Arts as part of "The Wilde Years: 4 Decades of Shaping Visual Culture", an exhibit celebrating Wilde's 40 year career that was on display at the college's West 26th Street gallery in Manhattan, and is tentatively scheduled to be reprised the Art Directors Club in NYC in 2010. The film premiered at the AIGA, selected by Chapter President Drew Hodges, (SVA alumnus). Wilde's exhibition included the work of 125 graduates of the department and included magazine and book covers, subway ads, spots, music videos, and many other artifacts. Raphan is pushing it to film festivals, industry award shows, design museums and TV networks. Credits: Film Title: The Wilde Ones A Film Written and Produced By: Benita Raphan Written By: Richard Wilde; Benita Raphan; and Richard Pels Commentary: George Lois; Paula Scher; Carin Goldberg; Paul Sahre; James Victore; Gail Anderson Director of Photography: David Morabito Additional Cinematography: Robert Aumer Sound Mixer: David Powers Production Assistant: Pablo Delcan
Post/Effects: SUSPECT Creative Director: Hoon Chong Executive Producer: Robert Appelblatt Designer/Animator: Frank Lee Designer/Animator: Donnie L. Miller
Music Composer: Hayes Greenfield Sound Design: Marshall Grupp Audio Mixing House: Sound Lounge VIA: Trust Collective
A typographic celebration of our five senses stunningly beautiful, created for the Typophile Film Festival.
Handcrafted by BYU design students and faculty, for the 5th Typophile Film Festival. A visual typographic feast about the five senses, and how they contribute to and enhance our creativity. Everything in the film is real—no CG effects. Shot with a RED One, a Canon EOS 5D Mark II, a Canon EOS 40D, and a Nikon D80. Stop motion created with Dragon Stop Motion.
Creative Director & Faculty Mentor: Brent Barson Writing & Storyboarding:Brent Barson, Jessica Blackham, Analisa Estrada, Meg Gallagher, John Jensen, Regan Fred Johnson, Colin “The Pin” Pinegar Construction, Paint & Glue:Brent Barson, Wynn Burton, Analisa Estrada, Meg Gallagher, Olivia Juarez Knudsen, Casey Lewis, Reeding Roberts, Deven Stephens, Brian Christensen (Brain Sculpture) Animators:Brent Barson, Wynn Burton, Analisa Estrada, Meg Gallagher, Olivia Juarez Knudsen, Reeding Roberts, Deven Stephens Cinematographer: Wynn Burton Editing:Brent Barson, Wynn Burton, Analisa Estrada, Meg Gallagher, Reeding Roberts Hand Models: Analisa Estrada, Meg Gallagher, Olivia Juarez Knudsen, Deven Stephens, Michelle Stephens Original Music: micah dahl anderson
New Ad industry related books, "Baked In", Creating Products and Businesses That Market Themselves | The Power of Aligning Marketing and Product Innovation by Alex Bogusky, John Winsor, order your copy now, set to be available October 13, 2009. Synopsis The old way of selling was to create safe, ordinary products and combine them with mass marketing. The new way is to create truly innovative products and build the marketing right in. But how does a brand make the transition from old to new? According to advertising gurus Alex Bogusky and John Winsor, it starts with the realization that the message is not the product, the product is the message. In Baked-In, they offer a step-by-step guide on how brands can adapt and thrive in this brave new world. Using these tools, Bogusky and Winsor have successfully marketed some of today’s most important brands, including Google, Nike, Microsoft, Patagonia, Toyota, and Burger King. They reveal how, through tools at hand — product design, brand history, internal collaboration — and the new tools of digital technology — YouTube and the web in general — companies can succeed in the 21st-century marketplace. ORDER BAKED IN HERE
A Q and A with Gary Thomas, Crush Creative Director, on the Generation A films and the new book Generation A by Douglas Coupland. via: Glossy Inc.
This is your follow-up campaign to Coupland’s The Gum Thief, tell me about how this project was different? In both campaigns we let the content of the books drive our creative. The books are quite different, structurally and thematically. We had Doug this time, and since the characters in Generation A are all isolated and asked a series of seemingly random questions by a disembodied voice, we decided to subject Doug to the same experience.
How involved was Douglas Coupland? He liked the premise, and let us take it and run with it, similarly to The Gum Thief pieces. He followed the progress as we worked and added his input, which was always really considered.
Tell me about the shoot day. David Hicks (director from Sons and Daughters), Stefan Woronko (Crush’s Art Director) and I went out to Vancouver on a Friday at the end of July, had a prep day at Doug’s studio (the location), and then shot Sunday from 10:30 in the morning until 4:00.
Tell me about the animated segments in the films. We love interpreting Doug’s writing visually, and had a really good time with The Gum Thief stuff. We didn’t do as much this time, because the piece was more about Doug, but still wanted to do some. We included two stand-alone animation pieces to accompany the main film. The first one is an excerpt where one of the characters in the book helps himself sleep by reciting paint colour names from the Martha Stewart catalogue. Stefan opted for a simple, graphic treatment. He also did the voice over.
The Tragic Death of Channel Three screamed for a graphic novel treatment because of its lurid subject matter. Yoho Yue designed the panels and animated in After Effects along with Sean Cochrane and Kaelem Cahill. We wanted the piece to have a really basic feel, almost like an animatic.
I hear you used a lot of recourses at Crush, including your sister company Sons and Daughters and; numerous staff members in cameos. Tell me about that. With all our little side projects we use as many in-house resources as we can. We usually edit at Crush Cuts, our offline edit house. Kim Knight is a fantastic editor, (she cut the R.E.M. Man-Sized Wreath video last year). This time David Hicks, who is one of our partners, came to us when he heard we were working with Doug, and asked if he could help. David is a really busy commercials director, and was formerly one of the top editors in Canada. We jumped at the chance to work with David. He was great on the day, is great with people, and got something really filmic from our day at the studio. He also did the fantastic edit of the live material.
We also made three ads for a fictitious Channel three News team (which makes sense when you read the book). Once again, we did an internal casting session within Crush, our sister companies and alumni and put together the very convincing News Team you see in the final piece. Stefan drew on his years in the City TV empire to create the on air look. Click image to order Generation A from Barnes and Noble. Credits: Douglas Coupland Generation A Films Titles: 10 Question for Douglas Coupland, The Tragic Death of the Channel Three News Team, Colour Samples Client: Random House Canada Directors: Crush and David Hicks Crush Creative Director: Gary Thomas Production Companies: Crush, Toronto and Sons and Daughters, Toronto Animation and Visual Effects: Crush, Toronto
What makes an ad campaign great? Aside from the obvious creative directors, art directors or the production team, we rarely give enough to credit to the music composers behind some of our favorite campaigns. From my own experience here at Great-Ads, I regularly receive emails from individuals wanting to know who composed/sings or song credits for many of the ads here on the site and they are not always the easiest credits to find. With that in mind a new section devoted to Media/Music Composers begins.
Who is Glyn M. Owen?
Glyn studied at the Royal College of Music and now works as a media composer from his studio near London, England. His clients include Audi, BMW, Disney, O2, Schwarzkopf, T-Mobile and Volvo. Glyn writes in many musical styles not only in the world of advertising but also in music branding for companies such as ITV and SKY in the UK and further afield with ETV and MBC in the Middle East, SBS and NED 2 in Holland and POLSAT TV and TV ROSSIYA in Eastern Europe.
More recently he composed music to launch BMW’s new X6 for this promo clip titled "Experience"(video below) and earlier this year he was commissioned to write a 50’s style song for Braun’s ‘'Mafia’' commercial filmed especially for the Cannes Lions Festival 2009 (see it here on Youtube).
He has won numerous awards including a Cannes Lions Gold for Olympus’ "Red Eyed Baby" (see it here) and "Distorted Dogs" (see it here) and a Silver award for Volvo/Disney’s The Hunt "At World’s End" and "Dead Man's Chest" commercials (see it here).
Glyn also writes for the EMI and KPM Music libraries. For more info on Glyn M.Owen or to contact him directly visit his website at http://www.glynmowen.com.
The old way of selling was to create safe, ordinary products and combine them with mass marketing. The new way is to create truly innovative products and build the marketing right in. But how does a brand make the transition from old to new? According to advertising gurus Alex Bogusky and John Winsor, it starts with the realization that the message is not the product, the product is the message. In Baked-In, they offer a step-by-step guide on how brands can adapt and thrive in this brave new world. Using these tools, Bogusky and Winsor have successfully marketed some of today’s most important brands, including Google, Nike, Microsoft, Patagonia, Toyota, and Burger King. They reveal how, through tools at hand — product design, brand history, internal collaboration — and the new tools of digital technology — YouTube and the web in general — companies can succeed in the 21st-century marketplace. 
Click image to order Generation A from Barnes and Noble.
Glyn studied at the Royal College of Music and now works as a media composer from his studio near London, England. His clients include Audi, BMW, Disney, O2, Schwarzkopf, T-Mobile and Volvo. Glyn writes in many musical styles not only in the world of advertising but also in music branding for companies such as ITV and SKY in the UK and further afield with ETV and MBC in the Middle East, SBS and NED 2 in Holland and POLSAT TV and TV ROSSIYA in Eastern Europe.