XMAS 2008 - John Lewis, With Love From Me To You

Xmas is coming, which means an onslaught of cliché ads trying to tap into your emotions. With the current trend and

direction of advertising rightly getting more emotional, humanistic and from the heart, the level of ads should be high. 

But I guess there will be a lot of the same ideas, but when they're created they will feel original and fresh.

Above is the new 2008 xmas TV spot for John Lewis... simple, engaging, humanistic & heartfelt... using a well known

classic love song to help the final push on a more reminiscent and subconscious level. Nice work Lowe London ;-)

Check out last years campaign below, which is probably a little more original because of it's execution...

A WILD COMBINATION - Arthur Russell

On Friday after work I caught a great little documentary about Arthur Russell, the musical innovator who sadly died in 92.

He crossed many musical boundaries, fusing styles by working on disco, folk, dance and more experimental projects.

There was also a face to face with the director after the film, which gave more insight into the making and Arthur himself.

It's just been released on DVD, so if you're a fan of music this is a must see!

STHLM FILM FESTIVAL - 20th Nov

Last night saw the opening for the 2008 Stockholm Film Festival. I love film festivals as it's rare that I actually go to

the cinema these days, far too easy to download the latest and pre-releases. But you tend to miss the whole experience

of the big screen, it's where the films were designed to be seen.

Last night I caught the first film of the festival, The Wrester by Darren Aronofsky which was a nice flick which had a

mixture of laughs and sadness. Mickey Rourke giving a stellar performance! Great opening credits as well!

I also opted for the Surprise Film, where you don't know what you're going to see until you film starts. I love this idea...

but this film was a huge disappointment to me, so enough about that. I'll keep the reviews coming, only the good stuff!

PHOTOGRAPHER - Carlos Serrao

Check out the lovely photography of Carlos Serrao. Simple, minimal with vivid colours...

all combine to a well polished effect. He has mostly been working within the world of sport.

For the best experience, go fullscreen and zoomed in, a really nice simple and effective site...

which let's the content do the talking, no extras here as focus is on the work.

NTI - Use Your Talent In The Right Way

This week and next, NTI (a high school in 10 cities throughout Sweden) launch and rollout their campaign.

The concept and production was all produced on a very short timeline with the help of photographer 

Alexander Crispin and Agent Bauer on production duties.

As well as appealing to kids aged 15, a big part of the brief was to appeal to their parents and also create awareness

to other schools and teachers. We had more edgy concepts and looks, but chose to go with a more traditional channel and

photography style, to appeal to such a vast and mixed target audience.

There is also a digital platform to the concept which will be implemented later in the year on a much larger scale ;-)

Click the images for more detail, note nothing has been added during retouch, what you see is what you get...

apart from the car camo. Click here to see images from the making of and behind the scenes...

PROJECT TRIANGLE - Classic Model

This is a classic, always good to keep in mind. Project Triangle...

Also check out some insight from Russell Davies on this topic...

SCRAMBLING EGGS - Random Blog

Now and again I come across a random blog I love because of the insight it portrays outside of my profession,

Scrambling Eggs is one of these blogs. I especially like this post about Cabman's shelters in London, which I've

taken coffee from before but didn't know the history behind, or even the amount of them. First I thought it was just 

a very old public toilet of some type, which I didn't dare venture into :-)

UVA - Xmas Lights

UVA create the Christmas lights for Covert Garden 2008. The light players still had to pitch but won it of course.

 

Individually controllable pixels encased within the tubes will display an ever-changing display of swirling snow, 

gently falling in organic real-world patterns, and providing possibly the only white Christmas London will see this 

year. Full visitor interactivity will come through handy touch screen panels so at certain times of the day, visitors 

can create their very own snow storms. 

Nice to see The Greater London Council running with UVA and putting a twist on tradition with a mix of technology and art. 

Must catch a look at the final thing next month. Full story...

MINORITY REPORT - Becomes Reality

Science fiction technology has always written the future (especially from TV/film) and now here comes a piece of

tech we've all been waiting for. Working with web and digital, the Minority Report computer and interface would pop 

up in conversation from time to time as reference. I'm ooking forward to using computers like this, but I guess we're

all have to workout a bit more on those arm muscles down the gym. More G-Speak information...

THIS IS SWEDEN - The Golden Years

Sweden – Heaven and Hell (1968)

VOGUE - Roald Dahl

Roald Dahl influenced photo shoot by Tim Walker for British Vogue, December 2008.

Nice idea for the concept, as a kid my imagination was fueled by his books, best read for children... 

and also big kids!

ASTON MARTIN - One-77

I've always had affinity for Aston Martin and now they have really pushed the boundaries in creating the One-77.

A limited edition of only 77 cars, all handmade to the buyers specs and clocking in at 2.5 million US dollars, wow!

Video part 2 can be found on the site... Project One-77. I also hear they will revive the famous Lagonda brand, in an

attempt to broaden its range, to develop cars with different character and move beyond producing sports cars only.

UNIQLOCK - The Clock

Uniqlo has been doing some great stuff over the last couple of years, including being the most awarded

interactive campaign of 08. This clock is for your desktop, blog or iPhone and fuses dance, time and a mini fashion

show, nice! Keep an eye on this brand, they have a plan for world takeover.

CARNIVAL CRUISE - How To Promote Fun

Everyone wants to promote their brand as fun these days (part of linking to more emotional / from the
heart advertising) But how do you actually do this, especially when there are fine lines between fun and stupid...
and your brand still wants to be taken seriously.
Well this is one way, and a Guiness Book Record is defiantly a serious thing! To promote their cruises, Carnival
created a carnival atmosphere in the streets of Dallas with giant beach balls and a street party.
Fun For All. All For Fun. This company has defiantly tapped into a winning formula for these current times.