The Mighty Post-it

The Post-it is such a recognised brand and I personally love to use the loveable coloured sticky notes at every opportunity I get and so do the French, where a recent Post-it war has kicked off in Paris. French office workers have been using and abusing the contents of their stationery cupboards to battle with offices across the streets to see who can create the best window designs.

I was pointed in the direction of this interesting stop motion animation using hundreds of sticky notes. The film, which is a pure delight to watch is entitled 'Deadline' and was filmed by an individual called Bang-Yao Liu. It took him and a small crew of 9 exactly 163 hours and 23 min to place all the post-it's used and holds almost 7 hours worth of editing.

Stink'n is not yet a house hold name for producing colourful little slips of sticky paper but is attempting to make their big impression stick. They use the same concept to produce a short film in their online and social media campaign to promote their product.

Proving that post-it's are a huge success and a great source of inspiration I used the the mighty sticky square in a small promotion project. This lead me to create a series of images used for print and social media. An eye catching and identifiable image I am sure you'll agree.

No Need to Sugar Coat

There is no need to sugar coat anything, especially design. Long, clever sounding words that is just not needed. This happened to me in my first job after graduating - a snooty PR individual attempted to loose contact with our audience by taking up un-needed, extravagant amplifications in our communications!

Not quite sure how to describe the comical design and appearance of projects and brand such as these but I love it. Ben & Jerrys, Innocent Smoothies and the famous Welsh brand (formely known as Mr Creemy) Subzero Ice cream all choose a specific approach to attract and engage with their audience. Innocent Smoothies is a prime example that doesn't offer a product range but a 'family' of smoothies, juice drinks and other creative approaches to squeezing in your 5-a-day. Their new 'Superhero Smoothie' TV ad follows a DIY approach to creative TV adverts with a simple smoothie bottle on a stick. Very Blue Peter but still quite successful.

Ben & Jerrys have a strong presence in the UK and provide as much fun, games, flavour and goodness as it possibly through colourful TV adverts which drive traffic to their website, successfully making you want to go out and get your head into a tub of chunky monkey.
Mr Creemy has been around for years but due to a dispute over its trademark, it opted for a rebrand and what turned out to be a whole new direction.

Subzero was the result to compete as a contender against big names on the supermarket isle. The 'ultra cool', contemporary and sophisticated new look with quirky website was obviously all aimed at attracting a younger, more affluent audience and I hope it has.

My conclusion for this approach to design and advertising ... very art-and-craft-esque! Enough of this pretentious hogwash and baloney - keep it simple!

Photo of a bin.

From this: To this:

These are a few of our favorite things ...

I created this advert as a concept for a campaign to encourage the use of sending air mail packages through the Post Office and Royal Mail. In todays society, it would remind people how pleasant receiving a package from friends and relatives really is, instead of text or email. Designed to show that the handlers care a great deal about what they do, this could easily be adapted and work well in magazines, newspapers, street billboards as well as online

You're going places!

Today was GCSE results day and this morning I was explaining where my sister could get to with the right attitude and determination. Even though I am still trying to get where I want to be in the art & design world, I offered her suggestions and inspiration as to where she could end up! Two examples of successful female arty names, that came up were:

1. Vivienne Westwood: A Designer who started off in the world of Fashion by selling her own jewellery on Portobello Road who later became British Fashion Designer of the Year in 1990, 1991 and again in 2006. Since then, she has been recognised by the Queen for her services to fashion and is now Dame Westwood.
She first studied silversmithing and I was told by someone who worked with Viv, that she is always very hands on. Well known for her own personal dress & flamboyant style, her outrageous and outlandish designs came from a wide variety of inspiration including Hobo and Buffalo, Pirates and Punk. I am proud to say that I am lucky enough to own a Viv tie, which I have included a photo of!

2. Jamie Nelson: Not so well known as the above, but still successful as a New York based photographer with a well established portfolio. Having mastered photography for beauty & fashion she's also lucky enough to have bridged the gap into advertising photography. Here's a collection from Online Fashion Mag' Trendland. The point I was trying to get across was, if you are talented and have the right motivation, you'll eventually get far. Congratulations to my sister for getting an A* in GCSE Art!

Anyone for Pimm's?

In the last week, like a game of cricket, our glorious Summer sun has been called off due to rain. Yet this doesn't mean we can't all still enjoy a well made glass of Pimm's. This 'classy' and very British drink has seen a sharp growth in the last three years, establishing itself as the second most valuable brand during Summer. Over the last decade, the success of the brand has been supported by the humorous upper-class character Harry Fitzgibbon-Sims seen in the TV adverts, played by actor Alexander Armstrong.

In 2005, to further boost sales outside the summer months, some clever thinker came up with the idea of relaunching Pimm's No 3 as the Pimm's Winter Cup. This is a brandy based drink blended with orange zest and spices. Re-launched, it came with a branded teapot and tea cozy that brought limited success, other than being a novelty.

Pimm's TV ad's over the years have been a triumph and emphasised the link between the beverage, summer and all things British. This ad from the 1980's is an early example of the drink that's long on style showing that chic trends come and go, but Pimm's will never go out of fashion.
The new ad for Summer 2010, created by London agency Mother is an original and clever concept that will be sure to help boost the Pimms brand strength. Filmed in areas of Notting Hill and Clapham, it shows a typical English gent branded with the screen message 'Pimms No. 1'. He struts around the streets, picking up followers that are all labled as a required ingredient for a decent Pimm's. Costumes give each character a sence of importance and taste, carried out by new age Costume Designer and Stylist Mr Gammon. Whilst keeping the well established 'It's Pimm's O'Clock' message, it is a well executed campaign. With all the awful 'go-compare-the-money-super-market-with-the-use-of-a-meerkat.com' that has been all too common this summer, Pimm's 'The Call Up', is an ad that shall be remembered with an excellent creative answer to campaign brief and enjoyed by all. "Now ... Anyone for Pimm's!?"

Campaign Concepts - Levis

I have to admit: I am not a copywriter, so no good at juggling around words. As a wannabe creative, I am never short of a few good ideas. If you haven't heard, Bartle Bogle Hegarty (a company I would love to work for) has just ended their 28 year long account with Levis. (Take a look at this Guardian article for more info). Due to this, I set about seeing what I could come up with and have produced three campaign concepts ...

Concept 1. Fat Guy Friendly

Not a p**s take but a comical approach to promoting how flexible and comfy Levis branded jeans can be. It has hidden messages showing that it's not about body size, it's about feeling comfortable and in Levis jeans - anyone will.

Concept 2. You too could look this good*

A cheeky campaign stating that in a Levis pair of jeans...you could look as good as this average everyday Joe/Josephine.

Concept 3. nothin' butt

Again showing how comfortable you can be when wearing a pair of Levis branded jeans. Snug and sitted yet flexible and snug!

Concept 4. take note

Instructing the viewer to pay attention to what Levis have to say about, you and their products.

I'll put more visuals and mock ups on the ol' facebook page and see if I can't submit some on the Creative Review Feed. Take a look and let me know what you think!

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.

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!

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!?!

Gaga for Advertising

As if Lady Gaga, the crazy icon isn't filthy rich enough as it is, she has decided to cash in on product placement. I am not exactly what you'd call googoo for Gaga but the music is original, the music videos insane, on top of the original outifts and her fashion sence, all make you wonder what could she come up with next! (A little FYI: This global phenominom has some of her outfits made by British Fashion Designer Pam Hogg). She has become a style icon and I guarantee that sales of leopard print, leather and big sunglasses have soared!

During her recent telephone music video, which is over 9minutes long, hoasts a wide variety of big named brands. I watched it again and I spotted 10 products - all probably paying hundreds of thousands of mula to appear. Wonder bread, diet coke, polaroid, plentyoffish.com, Hewlett Packard, chevy trucks, monster heartbeats headphones, coors light (my personal favorite), miracle whip sanwich spread, some other brand of honey bun snack for 50c, while coming out on top was Virgin Mobile who was endorsed as the official network provider for Gaga! Lady Gaga actually landed a job out of all this with Polaroid, as Creative Director on their new product line. Well if she can land a creative job, my chances are looking up!

Other product placements include: redbull appearing in computer games; sony ericsson being the choice of the recent James Bond; Old Spice, Powerade & Wonderbread in Talladega Nights; Mini Coopers in both the Italian Job movies; FedEx in Castaway; probably the biggest is the Sex in the City movie - I have never seen/heard so many fashion labels in such a short space of time and I am sure SATC2 will not be lacking in promoting Jimmy Choo's jelly shoes, Chanel egg cups or Louis Vuitton headge clippers!

These big names have an advertising spend of millions so can afford just a few seconds of exposure. Millions yes, but they are obviously not the industry number 1. Keep an eye out next time you're munching away on your popcorn in front of the big screen and count how many brands you can spot!

Do you Virgin!?

"Heck yes I Virgin!" And where-ever possible when it comes to transport, and can say: I am a fan. Still I don't drink virgin coke & wasn't too impressed with TV & broadband customer service, but that beardy Branson (who has appeared in some of the ad's) and his Virgin transport marketing boffins have got it right. I hate to give in to advertising but glad I did when it comes to air travel. Rather than flying Kuwait Airways, the last two times I flew Virgin Atlantic, the 'inflight everythings' had an element of funky-see-through-blue-plastic-edgey-ness.

When I used to visit Birmingham every 2weeks with Virgin Trains, the carridges did smell, they were far too busy and I almost always had to give up my seat to someone else and stand for the entire journey and there was an absence of windows to stick your head out of BUT none of that matters - their advertising and marketing campaigns are just spot on! My trips up to Brum were similar to their 'Booty Train: Where do you want to be?' advert, where for about a year after graduating I made the trek up to see my long term loved one. Their Native American ad, directed at business types is quite amusing however their launch advert was seen on platforms, billboards, online and TV. The Return of the Train campaign re-launched train travel and set the standard for other rail providers.

With all this recent commotion with British Airways, Virgin have now proved to be the flag flyer for Britain. Their 25th celebration is a perfect piece of creative, followed up with faultless production and direction. 'Still Red Hot' was launched and was aimed at such a wide target audience. There were complaints about how the ad was insulting to women, which you are bound to get, but was dismissed by The Advertising Watchdog. It was created by London based creative ad agency RKCR, whose website is certainly worth visiting. There is now so much brand awareness and customer loyalty/retention through their quality of service and for what you get for your money as the CVP. (Customer Value Proposition).

I watch the Red Hot ad and BOOM! It is such a well executed ad: from the props, the costumes, the soundtrack, the lighting, the hidden messages and for the positive image it gives the brand - it really is advertising that works!

Top 3 ad's for Friday

In my current job, I spend more time making tea and waiting for photoshop to format and save, but when creating a new concept or campaign, I am never short of an idea! Whilst at a Students Union, my aim was to maximise activity whilst working to small budgets, through coming up with damn good ideas. Take a look on the campaign page of http://www.owenmorgs.com/ and see what advertising and awareness campaigns I created.

These days, with a good idea, it's so easy to create brand awareness for a product or cause using viral or hype advertising (via social media/ word of mouth). I am constantly on the look out for advertising that works. Here are my top three for this Friday:
1. Old Spice - an original ad that is planned out to the last detail. Wieden + Kennedy, a creative agency based out of Portland, Oregon took 3 days to create without using special effects. Everything you see is real! (execpt the diamonds). There is such a huge difference between how advertising effects a brand. Old Spice in the USA sponsor NASCAR yet in the UK it's known as an 'old man fragrance'! If they brought the ad over here, it would certainly boost sales.

2. In this ad, Air New Zealand send out the message that their company has nothing to hide in their air travel costs. It shows air cabin crew and pilots with their uniforms body painted on! I spotted this and had to send the link to a professional bodyartist, called John Davis. The ad isn't that amazing but a clever ad' all the same.

3. In my last blog, I mentioned the awesome Drench campaign, well Evian made a comeback with a clever computer generated gang of breakdancing, roller skating babies! After watching the video - make sure you see 'the making of...' . Vince - the cute chinease baby is just great ... 'whatup'! The global creative agency who developed the concept was BETC Euro RSCG, who carried the advert on via youtube. A London based visual effects company filmed a total of 134 babies at Pinewood Studios, UK to follow up from the underwater baby ballet of '98.

ps.

today is the 30th birthday of pac man-visit google to see what they came up with!

What to drink?

With so much choice out there, I'm just getting confused as to what to drink!? I usually drink 1 of 4 things: water; beer; tea; and orange juice. Now imagine the choice of brands for each product. That must show the massive influence advertising has on todays generation as to what to consume! Advertising and marketing has such a ma-hoosive influence on what we drink and to end up creating ad's on such a large creative budget would be awesome!

It's not so much about the product these days (unless your innocent smoothies) but it's about the image you portray. Drench seem to have a good strategy to get people drinking their water as opposed to any other H2O with the youtube hit: Dancing Brains from Thunderbirds & the Hampster Band!

Another awesome campaign was the Lambrini. Aimed at a target demographic (female 18-30) it again didn't offer a quality product (lets face it, it's cheap+doesn't taste tgreat) but the image. It was successful as it drew in a wider following. Even I attempted to learn the routine! It does offer a feel good factor and gives you that 'i just wanna dance' feeling.

The alcohol industry however can get nasty, not so much in the UK but in the USA, beer giants Miller and Bud went head to head in the 'Great Beer Wars'. Their advertisment doubted each others patriotim through TV ads. I have always been a coors light drinker (since it's less calories) and ended up knocking up an ad. Sent it off to Coors and they gave me some pretty good feedback, just hope this doesn't cause offence to drunk ex girlfriends around the world! The creative team at bud light have come up with some gems - take a look at my top 3: Appology Bot 3000; Coffee Cup; Swear Jar.

Photo's, Fashion & Fish Fingers

Something I have only just come across is the Uniform Project - a fashion challenge that starting in May '09. A girl in the USA pledged to wear one dress for a whole year! It was a exercise in sustainable fashion - a tough one as everyday the project needed to re-invent the same outfit. With it's daily blog, the whole thing raised almost $100,000 for charity - just shows that so much can come from the simplest of ideas! On the subject of fashion be sure to look at what's on offer this Graduate Fashion Week or closer to home is the Swansea Met Art & Design 'How it is' final show on May 25th. Both events are in the next few weeks are worth stopping by.

I couldn't quite put my finger on this piece of advertising: Why has hollywood actor Willem Dafoe done the new birds eye advert - is he that short of cash or do birds eye really need to sell more peas!? He plays the voice of a cute polar bear as part of the £9million campaign across radio and TV. They are obviously trying to build brand awareness with the hope people will eat more fish fingers! Well I love peas, fish fingers and ... Milky Way! Was so happy to see the old advert back on TV as it took me back to my younger years!

Moving on to the subject of photography, the search for the Great British Photograph is on + I will certainly try my best to enter! On the judging panel is Vogue UK Creative Director, Robin Derrick. Now there's someone with an impressive CV and one of the most sought-after creative directors in the world, something I aspire to be! If you're in need of some photography inspiration have a look at local photographer raywatkinsphotography, whos wife is the MD in the offices next door. And if you got another 2min, visit my website to see my recent fashion photography snaps or my flickr page. I just love taking photos!

Type & Font

With an unproductive weekend, spent not doing more of a market research assignment, I took interest in some recent typography and branding projects.

Up in Brum there is Created In Birmingham's ‘Not My Type’ Exhibition showing the work of 35 local artists who created illustrations from A-Z, 1-10 & punctuations. Visit their website or stop in if you are in the Bull Ring Shopping Centre before June 1st - it's impressive.

Not sure if you’ve noticed the new Waterstones image? Yes the beloved seller of books has re-branded. Bringing the logo up to date by loosing capital letters & trying to look a little bit more like amazon. They could have a lot of fun with it – and they have, but still I prefer the hogwartian-style older image that a book shop should represent. The more I look - it reminds me of saggy body parts!

Moving on to another typography project from advertising agency Saatchi, is the ‘Communication of Joy with Durex’. An impressive bit of work well worth the look (and a giggle!) Another re-brand was that of the famous swanky London hotel Claridge's. This was a heavy piece of work - not only was it a logo but a working image present on basically everything: 'branded teapots and egg cups through to slippers and dressing gowns'.

Day 4: Now that was clever idea!

Spent most of yesterday doing market research analysis :( but in a brief tea break, I came across this cracking creative idea that deserves some more recognition. Homebase added a slash of colour (and a heck of a lot of furniture) to an big empty train station. Their message 'make a house a home' along with the well planned stunt shows what you can do to any space.

This amazing guerilla advertising campaign created so much positive PR across social media: the video via TV+youtube; flickr; with a "Keep Carlisle Train Station like This" facebook group set up. Since it was a listed building, the council repainted the station, but Homebase will be continuing to transform more space across the UK as part of the ongoing campaign, so keep your eye's open. It would be so much fun writing a press release for this! I also wonder if they could do something to spruse up Swansea station!?

I love advertising that turns heads - have a look at the campaigns I was responsible for when working at Swansea Students Union at http://www.owenmorgs.com/ - a much smaller scale but still original. Another quirky viral ad out recently created by the clever folk at Mother of London. It's the Travelodge Zzz squad - it's so cute and runs on print, online and TV.

It seems a bit OTT putting out a 'daily' blog, it's lasted a week but will now be just a 'whenever' blog. Have to round up some web design today, proof and send design to the printer then heading to a small art exhibition opening this evening ... TFI FRIDAY!

Day 3: Wallace & Gromit still got it!

Good to see the Aardman Studios are getting work ... and why not! Wallace and Gromit are well known + adorable. They have come a long way from Christmas specials and appeared in the launch advertising for Harvey Nic's, Bristol. A large wod of the budget must have been put aside for creative work + ad space. They used the lovable characters to promote the opening and I'm sure you'll agree, Wallace wears his wool Paul Smith suit well!

NPower have again busted out the duo for their 2018 World Cup backing bid ad campaign - it's worth watching. I see Louis Spence getting his moneys worth from his new found fame-appearing in a viral video to launch a new channel for lasminute.com. Man that guy can move! I would love to be able to work on creative campaigns of such a large scale - I'll keep at it and will strike it lucky.

Finally got my website up to scratch - take a peek at http://www.owenmorgs.com/. Then if you got 2minutes, take a look at the photography belonging to Stephen McLaren - it's well worth it!

Day 1: A day of difficult clients

First day of the blog and I don't have anything juicy to talk about:

Difficult client number one - had me re-colour marketing material designs in 4 different shades of background, which to be honest all looked the same. Difficult client number two - decided they want to change the font colour across 32 insert designs, luckily this beefy alteration is being done out of house.

Spent the day: stamping + posting 350 invites to the Welsh Women Mean Business conference, trying to adapt 2 different web designs into one, bought milk and a mini camera tripod. On the subject of photography, Mulberry's flagship store in London was tranformed into a colourful Glasto' scene (below) by photographer Venetia Dearden where she launched her festival image book. Today I sneezed 4 times, filled up with petrol and gotta head to the barracks for another drill night.

Through the Cardiff Arts Institute I was able to get theatre tickets for a £1 this evening but got no-one to go with! On top of that and the height of excitement through sneezing 4 times today - I am going to head around to one of the pubs in pontcanna for a late night solo beer. Talking of beer, it's good to hear that Peter Kay has returned to the John Smiths advertising.

First daily blog ... DONE!