Deep in Create

The last time I posted here (one year ago), I was a fresh and hopeful creative banana as part of the Texas Creative program. Two semesters later, I'm still here, but instead of that firm green banana I once was, I'm a little less fresh, a little more bruised. The one thing I've noticed most immediately this past semester or two is a lot, if not too much, self-editing. Something that is obviously discouraged, especially early on in the creative process. Don't limit yourself, put it all on paper immediately. In getting better at recognizing good ideas, I've been skipping that part for better or worse. Last semester I felt I was in a bit of a creative slump, a victim of this self-editing. But, as they (I) say, recognizing a problem is half the battle. We're about one third through my senior semester, and I'm feeling like I'm on a bit of a hot-streak recently. The problem is just getting everything down and done. This semester has been the busiest of my life, and also the most important. That's all I have for now.

Power of Branding

I went back home for the holidays.  I went to my parent's house.  I went to my little (6 year old) brother's room.  I went to play Legos with him.  I went.

While we were playing, we came across a classic piece (pictured).

This piece once belonged to an entire set  of mine when I was his age.  UBICS, the name, has an inconsequential meaning to the story, but belongs to an IT company by the same name (perhaps a promotion for their company).  I have a particular enthusiasm for keeping up with how my brother's schooling is doing.  Pop quiz;

"Owen, do you know what this Lego says?  Can you sound it out?"

"Geico!" he exclaims, quite proudly.

" :o " <-- my face.

Well, my brother can definitely associate symbols with meanings.  He hasn't memorized the sounds of the alphabet, but young minds can clearly detect even subtle changes in text.  The point here is the power of branding.  If your client thinks the difference between one type and another is inconsequential to their new corporate identity, educate them.  Geico dominates this typeface and color combination.  If Geico is your competitor, get as far away from their look as possible.  I'll end with this tidbit of information;  my little brother hardly watches any TV, but this association still came easily to him.  Geico and effective top-of-mind awareness.  And/or the scary power of advertisers over children.  All that and a bag of chips for another day.

- Jacob Mardi Philpott

Facebook's first commercial

Facebook has sat down with Wieden & Kennedy to create their first full-fledged ad.

The push is definitely that Facebook is a philosophy, not a company.  And they do an effective job at this.  Their best move was not showing a single part of the product.  A screenshot of a news feed would have brought it back down to earth, and instead they bring the climax of the ad all the way to outer space.  Makes one feel that Facebook is really out there to do good, to be there for people.  Despite this, they are a company worried about monetizing their product and fixing a struggling IPO just like any other business.

Unbig. Smartcar

Razor Sharp

Here's a brilliant idea coming from Martor Solingen of a unique billboard placement.

Needless to say they accomplished their point

Ebay Humiliation Ad

Its a shame that embarrassment and humiliation tactics are the strategy here.  Not to mention the person they are all insulting for not being with it is using the product being advertised (ebay).  Not the best association to create, even if it is on a sub-conscious level.

Calvin Klein

Saw these in class today, very creepy vibe.  Although these were labeled as ads that actually ran for a while, it seems like there is some confusion about their origination.  After some intense Googling, I found that these ran in the 1990s, quite intentionally depicting a time closer to the 1970s (a time quite notorious in the porn industry).  They were pulled after growing pressure from consumers and a risk of charges by Feds.  Sex sells?  I mean I guess this worked on someone, seeing as it continued to grow strongly in popularity, but for me it was just creepy.