lack of inspiration now lack of design

Having now come out of my serious 'lack of inspiration session' I am now starting a period of serious 'lack of design work due to an ill computer'. Not to worry, it has led me to whip out a sketchbook and sharpen my pencils! With 3 hours on the train later, I will be sure to come up with something.
Today, heading to London, I have slotted in some time to take photos, eat, partay and visit the work from the 2010 graduating year of the University of Wales, Newport Documentary Photography degree. They have recently started a new course called photography for fashion and advertising which is seriously tempting, if it wasn't another 3 years + a serious amount of moneys, I'd be interested. In the mean time, I've still been snapping away, with my selection of cameras + tripods! This supposed fashion shot: 'little black suit, little black tie, little black shoes' is being posted because if anything it's a bit different ... odd different! Yup, without a theme, assignment or topic to base a decent photo shoot around, I'm officially loosing it! Work is sending me to take photos of 30 consultant surgeons at a hospital in the next few weeks, so yes my content isn't that great.
Also heading to the University of the Arts London's summer graduate shows for another dose of inspiration. I will be heading to view the next generation of art, design, fashion, communication and performance talent - so should be entertaining. looking forward to seeing the Photography for Fashion show at the Richard Young Gallery.

Heading to the smoke.

On my search for inspiration and a possible masters, I am heading to a number of University grad shows next week, on a trip to the big smoke (London). Swansea Met' Advertising graduates work is up in the Old Truman Brewery on Brick Lane, and a friend has her photography work up in an exhibition (which I scouted the location for) in the Candid Arts Centre. Hoping to see the Central St Martins fashion and graphic design shows along with other exhibitions from the University of the Arts London. Some related news: The LCF BA Photography graduates have been featured on Vogue.com Also stopping by the Sketchbook magazine studio in Notting Hill for a quick talk about some possible design projects. They're a magazine featuring fashion, illustration, and in-depth interviews that's all curated and designed in London - so should be fun! Also swinging by the Go Viral office for a talk about future opportunities ... excited! They seem like a pretty switched on bunch of people, take a look at their recent Top 10 Virals.

Lack of blog due to ...

There has been a lack of blog due to serious lack of inspiration! To find a dose of the magical stuff, I took a trip to Birmingham City University Grad Shows to see what I could find. Snapped a good few photos from the day and saw some amazing pieces of art, design and similar creations.

















The fashion + textiles, visual communication and photography exhibitions were all pretty inspiring and made me want to get back to Uni. I am going to dust of my portfolio and see if I can't apply for a creative masters somewhere. I better start saving the mula because a masters ain't that cheap! Still it was so refreshing to see all the graduates work. The fashion design was remarkable as well as the illustration work.


















Since I work for a small agency, my work load overlaps from creative, design + marketing, to photography, web design and now PR. Since my use of the English language isn't that shit hot, I know I will never be any good at PR! I can churn out ideas, creative concepts, design, adverts and branding but as a creative so-un-so, I'm finding the whole organisation of press trips difficult. It doesn't help that for the last few weeks tabloid sports journalists have all been at the US Golf Open and now Wimbledon. It also doesn't help that I am not a keen golfer!

Here's my business card ...

I seemed to have developed a strong interest in business cards. Here is a collection of creative business card designs. If that isn't enough, here are another 44 top business card concepts, to view and be inspired by!
It can act as a simple source of information and contact, be a good conversation starter and networking tool and more importantly be the first (and some times only) opportunity to make a good impression.
This is probably the most amazing business card video ever. It's yet another smashing viral ad from those clever muffins at Go Viral...so may I present to you the Master of Business Card throwing! I think I need to hire this guy for a day, to throw some HIRE ME business cards into the offices at BBH, Ogilvy and Fallon, see how that goes down!

Let me tell you why Pepsi is better than Coke ...

...Pepsi has better advertising! I love this ad. I worked on a beach for 6 summers and sadly never came across anything like this!
However this ad from Pepsi wan't that well thought through and has a hidden message. The ad shows a little kid buying two cans of Coke from a drinks machine, using them to stand on to reach the Pepsi button at the top. The kid walks off not caring about the cans of Coke he just bought, because hey...he's got a Pepsi - however who do you think comes out on top? Is it Pepsi, showing they have the better taste or is it the Coke shareholders - because for every Pepsi sold - two Cokes are bought! Coca Cola is a powerful organisation that brought the colour red to symbolize Christmas. For me, it's not that holly jolly time of year without a few things: visiting the German Market in Birmingham, shopping more than usual and the well known 'holidays a coming' advert appearing on the TV. However, this festive Pepsi v Coke Delivery Guy ad is a strong competitor proving that there is nothing like the great taste of Pepsi.

Also this is worth a look: a youtube video simply explaining 'why Pepsi is better than Coke', from a guy in Maine. (Which is where I spent last Summer fyi).

Heineken

On the subject of 'Swinging London' in the last blog, I came across a global viral marketing + advertising agency called Go Viral, who have an office just outside Camden. 'Viral' is the buzzword that describes all activity that creates awareness around a product/brand through messages. The message is spread by word of mouth or these days by the glorious powers of social networking.

It was on their website, that sparked todays interest in one of my favorite beers - Heineken (...due to all my time spent in Holland). If you are not a fan of the following: Britains Got Talent; Dancing on Ice; X-Factor and how each new series sweeps the nations, you will appreciate Go Virals Heineken ad, 'Men With Talent'. It's truely wonderful! Heineken have put a lot of time and money into their advertising with many including some big Hollywood stars. Here are some other amusing ad's including Zoolander, the walk in fridge, Brad Pitt & Enter the world of Bond. The Bond ad is great + wonderfully put together. Starting out like a normal advert, it soon changes after buying a six pack of Heineken, slipping into the world of the famous secret agenct. The lighting changes, along with the camera angles + camera shots so it really does give off Bond-like vibes. Think about all the effort the creatives + copywriters, have put into the Heineken brand over the years. Next time you're at the bar, order a tall glass of that wonderful beer...but as the ad says, make sure it's not shaken!

some shots for the weekend...

Not too happy this weekend, missing the rugby, staying indoors trying to finishing a CIM assignment. However procrastination has lead me to read that Brian Duffy, 'the man who shot the sixites' has died at 76 after a battle with lung disease [news article]. As a portrait & fashion photographer, his best work (in my opinion) was his traditional b/w photography. These inspiring fashion shots taken in Florence for Vogue just show what you can get into one shot, which is what I like about a photo and taking photographs.

Duffy snapped portraits of David Bowie, Michael Caine, John Lennon and did some work for the Telegraph, The Times along with doing a lot of fashion work for Elle, Vogue + Glamour. Along with David Bailey & Terence Donovan they made up the 'terrible trio', whose work helped create 'Swinging London'.

There is something about 'the smoke' that is slowly drawing me there and I know I will live there eventually! Next time I'm in London, I'm planning to try my hand at 'bokeh' photography. It's the Japanese word for blurred/out of focused. Just to educate you, here is a link to 30 different shots, enjoy!

Things are not always what they seem!

I was always a huge fan of LEGO as a kid, (obviosuly the sole reason why I have uploaded this image!) but yes indeed: things are not always what they seem. Take a look at this poster advert, promoting 'LEGO for adults'. The pixelated figure is actually made out of lego blocks...or is it? That must have taken some doing. It would have been fun to have come up with the creative strategy to this! It was part of a short series of similar posters but it does do the job. Just goes to show, the key to a good campaign: keep it simple. In all fairness, it's clever, but does it jump out at you? For more LEGO antics, visit the HELLO YOU CREATIVES blog where thay have a video of a fully functioning LEGO printer. Also take a look at the campaigns section of my website where my LEGO campaign got featured in Nuts magazine!

Keeping with the fact that 'things are not always what they seem', something a little bit more traditional is the work of artist Gareth Hugh Davies. He currently has a modest exhibition in the St Davids Hall. His work is all well painted and shows his clever understanding between light and dark, attention to detail and his use of shadows around light. So much so that the paintings, both large and small scale actually look like photographs. Has been a busy week, bearly celebrating my birthday, with a CIM deadline on top of being the newly appointed 'official company web designer'. What's html again!?!