Lisa Holland Design

KONY 2012- INVISIBLE CHILDREN

2012-03-09T11:46:00.003-08:00

This film has been floating around the Internet a lot lately and I definitely think it is worth a watch. It is aiming to get Joseph Kony a notorious leader of the Ugandan Lord's Resistance Army arrested for crimes against humanity.

KONY 2012 from INVISIBLE CHILDREN on Vimeo.

BRONZE, SILVER & GOLD

2012-02-06T11:10:00.000-08:00

The Olympics are not too far away now and I am personally getting excited as I will be going to see Hockey and Basketball! The medal designs were released a while ago so I am a bit late on jumping on the bandwagon!

Designed by David Watkins, I like the purple ribbons which have been used to fit in with the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. The Greek goddess of victory, Nike has been used on the front which is a nice touch but a tad cliche. I am still strongly opposed to the logo (I am looking at you Wolf Olins). I also like the use of the Thames but I think they should use more iconic London scenery.

The square on the medal they say is to ’reinforce the sense of place, as in a map inset’ and the grid behind is said to ’radiate energy and represents athletes’ achievements and effort,’ but I think it adds clutter to the design and as I said they should have had more of a focus on London and possibly a more simple representation of sport.

What are your thoughts?

Young animators light up BT Tower

2012-02-06T10:47:00.000-08:00

On January 31 five up-and-coming animators were given the chance to have their work run on the digital display at the top of London's BT Tower thanks to somewhereto_ , a nationwide 2012 Olympics legacy project to help young people in sport, culture and the arts

Somewhereto_ funds 'ideas and local talent to inspire creativity across the UK'. Its mission is to help young people realise their ideas by providing them with the resources and spaces to do so. The project, which is run by 'youth engagement agency'Livity in partnership with Channel 4, ran a contest asking for submissions from young animators for work to appear on what is Europe's largest digital display. The five young animators chosen were Dean Wright and Emma Wilson, Joe Collins, Lawrence Simpson and Will Adams (more here).

I have recently asked some of my year 12 and 13 students to set up a blog. I have found one (Alex Carter) which you can view here

New Work

2012-01-31T11:16:00.000-08:00

I have always liked birds, they have a graceful and beautiful way about them. I am also loving blue and grey lately. so I thought I would do some illustrations based around that colour scheme and birds. The first is an illustration of origami birds. I was inspired to do something like this at work today as some of the girls were trying out origami.

The second illustration is a pattern using swallows. I love the shape swallows have when they dive. Hope you like them.

Video Game in a Box

2012-01-01T11:03:00.000-08:00

First of a very happy new year! Hope everyone had a good new years eve!

Secondly I want one of these!!

Video Game in a Box from Teague Labs on Vimeo.

Tetley Tea Folk Just The Way You Are

2011-10-16T01:34:00.000-07:00

Tetley, the British tea brand, has launched a new television commercial featuring Sydney, one of the Tetley Tea Folk, singing Billy Joel’s 1970s song “Just the Way You Are”. The ad is the fourth in the Tea Folk come-back series launched in September 2010. But in true Sydney style he cannot quite hit all of the notes and forgets some of the words. The Tetley Tea Folk have their own website, Youtube channel, Twitter and Facebook accounts. The Tetley Tea Folk will be back with an ad for Tetley Extra Strong on 22nd October and Tetley Green Tea in January 2012.

Muller Rice Cast Yogi Bear, Muttley and Mr Men to star in a £20m campaign

2011-10-09T05:46:00.000-07:00

Müller has licensed cartoon characters Yogi Bear, Muttley and Mr Men to star in a £20m campaign that pushes the yoghurt brand as “fun and delicious”.

The television ads, created by TBWA, invite people to “stir a little bit of Wünder” into their lives by eating yogurts and dessert. It introduces the strapline “Wünderful Stuff”.

The cartoon characters are seen transforming a grey city into one with bright colours, rainbows and unicorns.

Lee Rolston, marketing director at Müller Dairy, says: “Over the years we have continued to stir in an imaginative mix of ingredients to turn a product which was seen as plain and ordinary into something which is fun and delicious.

“That’s exactly what the ’Wünderful Stuff’ campaign sets out to do. It captures the essence of the Müller brand which is essentially all about the enjoyment and fun of a great-tasting product.”

Twinings Get Back to You Advert

2011-10-08T00:37:00.000-07:00

I recently saw this advert and instantly fell in love with the animation and soft colour palette. Here is what Twinings have to say:

We've created this really quite extraordinary piece of animated advertising to metaphorically explain the hectic lives that women today lead, and how taking just 10 minutes out each day to reconnect with yourself can have such an impact on the rest of your day.

We teamed up with animation house Psyop, working through the creative process from simple illustrations, to creating something that we believe is truly spectacular. To bring the animation to life we have worked with up and coming young artist Charlene Soraia, to bring you the wonderfully emotional recording of "Wherever You Will Go", which is available to download on itunes from Monday 3rd October.

Crit: Why Google has oodles of doodles

2011-09-02T02:16:00.000-07:00

Today I found this article over at Creative Review and thought I would share:

There used to be a time when trademark lawyers advised against tampering with a logo or adding superfluous elements to it. The concern was that these additions and modifications would, by changing the original design, create further unregistered and therefore unprotected devices and that the exclusive rights to the original trademark could be weakened, or even lost. Consistency was considered to be the safest way. A key objective of corporate design guidelines was to reinforce trademark protection by ensuring a standardised corporate logo and attendant visual identification system. Most large corporations still follow this principle.

Google, though, is different. It says that "having a little bit of fun with the logo is part of the brand" and the company wilfully and regularly violates its own trademark. Since 1998, Google has used over 1,000 variations of the corporate logo in the form of Google doodles, the remodelled and playful iterations of the wordmark that appear on the Google homepage to highlight various holidays and anniversaries of historic events. (If you want to see all the doodles from 1998 to the present, just search for ‘Google doodles' or go straight to google.com/ logos.)

In March of this year, the US Patent and Trademark office granted Google a patent for its doodles but, surprisingly, that patent does not cover the individual doodle designs, instead, it relates to the invention of the idea and method of periodically changing the logo to entice people to the website. You might wonder how a company could be granted exclusive rights to the concept of frequently varying its logo, but that seems to be what has happened.

I can see that Google might want to prevent search engine competitors such as Bing and Yahoo! from doing similar things, but I remain puzzled as to how the company could have been granted exclusive rights to the notion of flexible branding that's been used by many other organisations for so long. Attitudes to brand building and brand protection are always changing and if, today, Google's lawyers are happy that the doodles do not threaten the protectability of the core Google brand, then I can see no reason why the doodles should not be deployed.

Like most people, I use Google as my main search engine and when a new doodle appears it usually raises a smile as I try to guess what it represents. Some are obvious while others need a bit more deciphering. I particularly enjoy the more abstract designs: the recent Alexander Calder mobile, the Les Paul guitar and the Braille dots, for example. Some of the more entertaining doodles are interactive, whilst others use animation, sound, and occasionally, live streaming.

Google is, of course, both global and local and the doodles reflect this. Some appear worldwide while others mark local events and only appear in the relevant countries. Large corporations like Google strive to create a sense of community among users and customers and the doodles support this aim. The doodles have a keen following and, although most designs are intended to have a life span of only 24 hours or so, some have been brought back by public demand and have been allocated their own individual Google web pages so they can live on in perpetuity - the Les Paul and Pac-Man doodles are two that have been honoured with this treatment. There's even a Doodle Store on the Google website where you can buy T-shirts, stickers and posters featuring various popular doodles.

Some doodles are developed through open competition and it's possible for the public to submit ideas and designs for consideration. In this way we're encouraged to share in the Google fraternity. When local events are ‘doodled', the global corporation perhaps appears a little less monolithic and a bit more approachable.

As a designer, my main concern with the Google doodles is to do with the quality of the designs. Most of them are created by Chief Doodler Denis Hwang and his in-house team of designers. Some iterations are witty, intriguing, and well put together. Others, and particularly those that are developed through competitions, such as the Doodle 4 Google competition for schoolchildren, are, unsurprisingly, often visually crude, over cute, and amateurish. But the Google brand is probably big enough and strong enough to withstand these variations and a bit of corporate playfulness is to be welcomed.

That said, a global corporation, particularly one operating at the forefront of new information technology and openly committed to leading the way in its field, should demonstrate excellence in all that it does. Google says that its doodles are intended to "reflect Google's personality and love for innovation" and when it describes its values, the company says it has a "minimalist ethic" and is on a quest to create products that are "simple" and "beautiful" as well as "innovative". If those are core values, then it follows that all expressions of its identity, including the design of its doodles, should convey those values and be of the highest creative and artistic quality.

It's been suggested that Google may have grown too big or become too corporate to accommodate quirky and entertaining doodles, but I don't hold that view; the company describes its working atmosphere as "casual", so the informal doodles do fit the relaxed culture.

I do, however, think that Google, in its quest for ‘beautiful' solutions, is too good a business to embrace inferior doodles. I'm all for a bit of fun, but I think there is also room here for a bit more quality control.

Little Fille Amazing Giveaway!!!

2011-08-26T00:40:00.000-07:00

I have been in love with Little Fille for a while now and always find myself oogling their gorgeous headbands. To my delight the lovely Mari is doing an amazingly generous giveaway! Up for grabs are 20 bright and beautiful headbands from the summer collection and a selection of the new autumn winter collection. Being a lover of anything colourful, flowery or jeweled I am praying I win this giveaway! It is one of the most generous giveaways I have seen online in a long while and i would never have to buy another headband again! (unless Little Fille release something beautiful which undoubtedly they will :P).

Up for grabs are :

Here is what some of the Autumn/Winter new items look like on:

Beale fur lined turban (I WANT IT) and plain black suede turban (no rhinestones)

Your choice of either grey crushed velvet or lace trimmed peter pan collar

Your choice of either black or aqua stone gold tiara

Here's how to enter:

Like us on Facebook, then enter a comment here with your email address.

That's it!

Extra entries and more prizes:

Follow us on Twitter and tweet about the giveaway saying anything you like - as long as you link to this page (http://bit.ly/ogcuav), and mention that you need to be following @sarimantos to win.

Not the creative type? No worries, tweet:

Can I please have all of these Little Fille headbands?! http://bit.ly/ogcuav Follow @sarimantos and RT to win

Blog about the competition/sale and tweet us the link, or post it here.

There will be extra prize packs for our favourite/most creative comments, tweets and blog posts - and they will be generous! Contest is open internationally.

3 random winners will also win any summer headband of their choice.

Artist Mocks the Absurd Poses in Fashion Photos by Showing Them in Real Life

2011-08-25T04:00:00.000-07:00

Have you ever noticed how ridiculous many of the poses seen in fashion and glamor photographs are? Artist Yolanda Dominguez has a project called Poses highlighting how absurd and artificial the poses are by having a group of women do them in public locations and filming the reactions of passersby. It’s interesting how something so ridiculous when seen in real life can look so “normal” when done by a model in the context of a fashion photograph.

reblogged from http://www.petapixel.com

C4's Seven Dwarves: a very small ad campaign

2011-08-19T01:39:00.000-07:00

To promote Channel 4's new series Seven Dwarves – an observational documentary "following the lives of seven dwarf actors as they live together and perform in a production of Snow White" (we're not making this up) – 4Creative has subverted the notion of a huge billboard campaign by creating 20 mini poster sites...

Twenty of the miniature billboards, complete with working lights and a stand-alone frame, have been placed in various locations around London over the last week or two including Cromwell Road and Picadilly circus.

Either the mini billboards are popular with passers by, or London councils don't like them... becasue almost all of them have disappeared.

Credits
Agency 4Creative
Creative director Tom Tagholm
Art director / copywriter Molly Manners
Producer Edward Webster / Nick Reeves
Photographer Gary Salter
Business director Stephen Johnstone
Marketing manager Gagan Rehill

Music redraws Chester Zoo's identity

2011-08-17T02:51:00.000-07:00

Manchester-based Music has just completed the rebranding of Chester Zoo. The new brand identity centres on a bespoke handdrawn typeface and logotype, created in collaboration with illustrator Adam Hayes. Music also worked with copywriter Mike Reed to develop a distinctive and playful tone of voice for the brand...

This is Chester Zoo's new logo, which exists in two forms, seen above and below

The new Chester Zoo type family contains four weights to increase flexibility of usage:

And, to maintain the illusion of brand literature being written by hand, there are a number of contextual alternates built in to the typeface...

There are also a number of alternate characters available in each weight of the Chester Zoo typeface which have suitably animal-themed decorations:

As befitting any rigorous branding programme, Music has created a colour palatte:

And there are also a number of stand alone animal illustrations, all created by Hayes, that can be used as and where necessary - such as the new map of the Zoo:

"The new brand centres on a personality and voice rooted in the work of those who make Chester Zoo what it is, encompassing their passion, integrity and knowledge," says Music's Anthony Smith who worked on the project with Craig Oldham. "Add to this the license for creative expression in how the font works and is applied – and the zoo has the means to make a powerful impact and really stand out in a competitive sector," he continues, "by telling their story in a very natural and genuine way."

Music has created a wide range of the zoo's new marketing materials, as well as its site map and signage - plus the identity for The Act for Wildlife campaign that the zoo has also just launched (the homepage of actforwildlife.org.uk shown below). Music is now working with Chester Zoo on updating its website, incorporating the new look.

Art Revealed by Revell

2011-07-23T01:39:00.000-07:00

I recenlty came across this trailer on the Creative Review blog and instantly fell in love with it. i know that dropping pigment in water has been done before but it is still interesting to watch.

Revell was commissioned by Red Bee Media to create the trail for the BBC's Art Revealed series. Though long famed for his beautiful still life shots, Revell, like many photographers, has recently been exploring moving image work prompted in part by publishers needing content for iPad apps

Red Bee Media credits

Group creative director: Frazer Jelleyman

Creative head: Tony Pipes

Creative: Elie Zaccour

Producer: Deborah Stewart

Editor: Gerry Lindfield

Typographic Movie Posters by Patrik Svensson

2011-07-17T12:01:00.000-07:00

Today I came across these fab posters on a friend's blog (view her post here). the following typographic posters are by illustrator and designer Patrik Svensson. I love the simplicity of these posters and how a few simple elements can convey a message.

What should someone appreciate when seeing a logo?

2011-06-24T05:44:00.000-07:00

Today I came across this article on design daily.com and thought I would share.

Building a brand isn’t the easiest task in the world or the most important; a well-established brand requires a great deal of time and money. The tremendous effort of obtaining a serious brand, when this is successfully finished, is rewarded and the profit is huge. The examples are numerous in our global economy, but everyone should know that in this process a small element plays a big role.

A logo is a small graphic element, which may contain words, letters or/and shapes. Regardless its structure, a logo is the entity, which makes the connection between the clientele and the company/website who own this. In accordance with the previous statement that means a logo is very important; personally I believe it’s true 100%. It is unfair, but usually people don’t have the time or the opportunity to check the quality of all the products in this world and as a result they apply a superficial judgment; a logo can be the construction upon which people base their opinions.

The specialists who are building logos are called logo designers and anyone can find them inside of the freelance job boards. They are numerous, but definitely there are enough people who have no acknowledgement about logo design. This article is written especially for the potential clients who didn’t care about logos until this moment and at the moment need one but it may be a pleasant lecture for any designer in order to refresh some basic principles.

1. A logo must be versatile

Initially a customer wants a logo for his website – nothing unusual and the creator of it doesn’t have any restrictions related to the logo-the happiest case. Although, after some time (years or months, really doesn’t matter) this client considers beneficial for his affair to put the logo on a banner, thus we must have here a print version.

Unfortunately in many cases this version doesn’t look as good as the online one. Trouble might arise here. To resume and to obtain the conclusion of this situation is pretty simple:a logo must be versatile, it should look the same in the header of a website, on a banner and even on a T-shirt. It’s a sign of professionalism. My advice for any potential buyer of a logo is: think twice before saying that you need a logo only for a website.

2. The king is always in black and white format

This point came as a completion of the previous one, but because it is very important, it needs a special treatment. Always, a quality logo will look appealing in a black and white format. It can be regarded as a prolonged versatility but it hides another impressing fact. In the most cases a black and white format emphasizes mostly the concept of the logo and not the graphical realization. There are trends, which are coming and leaving and any designer should pay attention to these to keep a logo updated but the concept of a logo remains and it must be eternal.

On the other hand, a black and white logo will be always on trend and consequently won’t be a mistake to make it using no colorization.

3. Simplicity is great

A simple logo isn’t a wrong one, but still many people (some of them logo designers) are circumspect regarding this concept. Their problem is related to the feeling of unfinished project when someone is seeing a simple logo, however here is another great advantage: a not very complicated structure is more easily to remember for ordinary people. A powerful logo is one that is known by the entire community and under these circumstances what is simple is amazing.

Studying the logos of the global recognized brands this premise is set solid, nothing more than three colors, one or two fonts, simple shapes. I believe the collection below is pretty enough:

4. Originality makes the difference

An original concept of a logo puts the owner in a special light and usually the advantages are immense. The logo should be considered the graphical representation of the people behind it and in a world full of opportunities and possibilities to stand apart is difficult but profitable. Having a common logo is equivalent of nothing to say or being a decent provider in an ocean of other more colorful solutions.

5. A memorable logo is the base of a successful brand

If someone sees a logo and after a few days remembers it, then the graphical work deserves its money. The purpose of a logo is to make in the mind of the folks the connection between the owner and a quality service/product and a memorable logo is the start in accomplishing this task. The big problem is how to effectively create a wonderful & memorable work? The answer is based only on talent and a lot of work.

Artists to design 2012 Olympics posters, but no designers?

2011-06-22T04:05:00.000-07:00

Today I cam across the news that twelve british artists have been selected to design the posters for the 2012 Olympic Games. The artists include Tracey Emin, Chris Ofili, Fiona Banner, Michael Craig-Martin, Martin Creed, Anthea Hamilton, Howard Hodgkin, Gary Hume, Sarah Morris, Bridget Riley, Bob and Roberta Smith and Rachel Whiteread. Their works will shown in a free exhibition at Tate Britain as part of the London 2012 Festival, and will go on sale this autumn (more here).

This is a great idea but couldnt some designers have been chosen too? What do you think?

Watch Me Move at Barbican Art Gallery

2011-06-20T01:49:00.000-07:00

The Barbican Art Gallery in London has devoted its summer show to a celebration of animation, from The Lumière Brothers to The Simpsons. Here are some highlights...

The exhibition takes place across the large art gallery space at Barbican, and mixes familar names from the commercial world with pieces by contemporary artists who have been influenced by animation techniques. Its title, Watch Me Move, is inspired by Winsor McCay's short from 1911, Little Nemo Moving Comics (still above).

Skeleton's Dance By Walt Disney from Kornell Rastafari on Vimeo.

The exhibition is divided into loose themes, opening with a section that looks at the early emergence of the genre. Included here are experiments with photography and science, as well as early cartoons, such as Walt Disney's bone-chattering short Skeleton's Dance, shown above, which was created in 1929 with Ub Iwerks.

Gertie the Dinosaur (1914) from Living Lines Library on Vimeo.

Another delight is Winsor McCay's Gertie the Dinosaur (above, from 1914), which appears within a brief history of dinosaur special effects in the exhibition, spanning from McCay's delicate line drawing to Steven Spielberg's use of emerging CGI technologies in the 1993 blockbuster Jurassic Park.

[Looney Tunes] Duck Amuck (1953) from Arnaud TISSEYRE on Vimeo.

A large section of the exhibition is devoted to the much-loved characters that have been created via animation, with screenings featuring everyone from Bugs Bunny to Betty Boop, Felix the Cat to Homer Simpson.

The Barbican gets around the problem of such a screen-heavy show by the use of clever exhibition design, by Chezweitz & Roseapple. A multitude of different screen sizes are used; some encourage you to stop and linger in specially created booths with speakers installed, whereas others allow you just to wander through soaking up the multitude of imagery on display. There is also an expansive 'cabinet of curiosities' featuring examples of plates from cartoons as well as the original puppets and figures from a number of films. In addition, there is a display packed with enough vinyl toys to keep any graphic designer (or kiddie) happy.The end result is a family friendly show, with films here for all tastes, child or adult. For the more hardcore animation fan, Watch Me Move offers the chance to rediscover classics of the genre, and also see the influence it has had on art, while for others it simply provides an excellent opportunity to while away a few pleasant hours watching cartoons.

Watch Me Move will be at the Barbican Art Gallery until September 11. There will be a series of talks, screening and events during the run, more info is atbarbican.org.uk/artgallery.

David Meldrum's daily food illustrations

2011-06-17T06:33:00.000-07:00

Swimming against the tide of the current proliferation of food blogs, illustrator David Meldrum has been documenting every item of food consumed each day for the last year, not online, but on paper in the form of daily illustrations. He began the project on June 15 last year and tomorrow will open an exhibition of all 365 drawings at the ARCH 402 Gallery in Hoxton...

In the drawings the artist lays bare both the delights and horrors of the modern diet as salads, bowls of delicious looking spaghetti, glasses of wine in elegant glasses find themselves rubbing shoulders with burgers from McDonalds, chocolate bars (Cadbury's Freddo is a recurring theme) and packets of crisps. Here are a few, dare I say it, tasters of what to expect from the exhibition:

The Food Illustrator Project runs from tomorrow June 17 - June 26 at the ARCH 402 Gallery, Cremer Street, London E2 8HD.

See more of the work at thefoodillustrator.com

Wimbledon as you have never seen it before

2011-06-17T05:12:00.000-07:00

Sony has drawn inspiration from its own advertising archive for its latest spot, which sees the 2006 ad Balls recreated in leafy Wimbledon...

The ad, which promotes Sony's 3D coverage of the Wimbledon tennis championships, was created by digital agency Crayon. The original spot, by Fallon, saw thousands of brightly coloured balls thrown down the hilly streets of San Francisco. In the new ad these are replaced with tennis balls, which are shown bouncing through Wimbledon's quintessentially English streets. It is a carefully done homage, and the eagle-eyed will notice there is even a nod to the frog that appeared in the original commercial.

Debbie Reynolds' iconic cinema costume auction in pictures

2011-06-08T23:54:00.000-07:00

As Debbie Reynolds prepares to auction her amazing collection of movie costumes and artefacts, I thought I would write about some of the highlights.

The star of stage and screen has amassed an unparalled collection of iconic cinema costumes and artefacts which will go under the hammer on June 18 in Los Angeles. The auction contains 3,500 costumes, 20,000 photographs and several thousand original posters. Here are our pick of some of the remarkable highlights from a lifetime of collecting.

Who: Marilyn Monroe

Movie: Seven Year Itch

Monroe wore this ivory pleated "Subway" dress by Travilla, for her role as 'The Girl' in Seven Year Itch in 1955. After she stood on a subway grate and uttered the famous line "Oooh isn't it delicious?", the scene, and the dress, went down in Hollywood history.

It was acquired by Debbie Reynolds directly from Twentieth Century-Fox during the 'pre-sale' when she bought all of the Marilyn Monroe wardrobe from the studio prior to the auction in 1971.

Estimate: $1,000,000 - $2,000,000

Who: Marilyn Monroe

Movie: Gentlemen Prefer Blondes

This iconic costume was worn by Marilyn Monroe as 'Lorelei Lee' in the number 'Two Little Girls from Little Rock' with Jane Russell in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, 1953. The slightly risqué bust area once again fooled the censors by including a shear body-toned fabric from the neck right down to the waist giving the impression of nudity without showing a thing.

Estimate: $200,000 - $300,000

Who: Judy Garland

Movie: Wizard of Oz

The iconic blue dress worn by Garland as 'Dorothy Gale' in the Wizard of Oz, 1939. Made by Adrian, the cotton pinafore with polka dot trim bears a handwritten label "Judy Garland 3955."

Estimate: $60,000 - $80,000

Who: Judy Garland
Movie: Wizard of Oz
Debbie Reynolds told how she nearly lost this pair of ruby slippers when her daughter Carrie Fisher, who played Princess Leia in the Star Wars trilogy wanted to give them to her director George Lucas as a thank you gift.
Estimate: $120,000-$150,000

Who: Julie Andrews
Movie: Sound of Music
Red-brown nubby dress with ivory raw linen blouse was worn by Julie Andrews as Maria when she sang 'Do-Re-Mi' in Sound of Music.
Estimate: $40,000 - $60,000

Who: Elizabeth Taylor

Movie: Cleopatra

The signature royal ceremonial headdress from the 1963 film 'Cleopatra'. Worn by Taylor when she enters Rome with Caesar's son by her side.

Estimate: $30,000 - $50,000

Who: Rita Hayworth

Movie: Salomé

Rita Hayworth's 'Princess Salome' wore this flesh chiffon dress with halter by Jean Louis for the 'Dance of the Seven Veils' sequence in Salomé, 1953.

Estimate: $12,000 - $15,000

Who: Madonna

Movie: Evita

Elegant black evening gown by Penny Rose worn by Madonna's character 'Eva Peron' in Evita, 1996.

Estimate: $4,000 - $6,000

Ron Galella

2011-06-06T23:40:00.000-07:00

I read this article on Creative Review and thought i would share:

Two new exhibitions are showcasing the of work by US 'paparazzo extraordinaire' Ron Galella, which are showing as part of this year's PhotoEspaña festival in Madrid...

The shows offer an expansive look at Galella's archive, which includes images of just about every famous celebrity, musician or actress of the 1960s, 70s and 80s, the period when Galella's career was at its height. Known as a forefather of modern paparazzi photography, his collection includes famous shots of Paul Newman, Mick Jagger, Michael Jackson, Marlon Brando, Elizabeth Taylor, and, most notoriously, Jackie Onassis, whom Galella pursued relentlessly for years, despite Onassis twice taking him to court for harassment.

The exhibitions at PhotoEspaña are shown across two very different venues, with each offering a different impression of Galella's 'art'. The first, at upmarket clothing store Loewe (which also sponsors both shows), gives a suitably glossy impression of his work. The images here capture famous figures such as Jagger and Jack Nicholson mugging for Galella's camera, offering an impression of cheerful collusion between the stars and the snapper. Everyone here looks beautiful, and (almost) everyone looks happy. The exceptions to the latter are the figures who helped in building Galella's own fame: one image shows Richard Burton glowering into his lens, while another iconic shot (by another photographer) sees Marlon Brando striding forward with Galella himself in his wake, clad in a protective football helmet. Both Burton and Brando attacked Galella for his zealous pursuit of them, with Brando breaking his jaw and knocking out five of his teeth.

In the exhibition press conference, Galella, now 80, recounted such stories with glee, cheerfully proclaiming "he almost killed me!" while discussing Burton. He is clearly still enamoured by his subjects, and the personal fame that his interactions with them has brought, which culminated in last year's HBO documentary, Smash His Camera, also showing at PhotoEspaña. For Galella, a perfect shot is one that captures a star in a natural pose: "I like the surprise," he says. "Genuine expressons, real feeling, not posed pictures." Despite this, the emphasis, in the Loewe exhibition at least, is all on beauty, and Galella appears keen to show the stars looking at their best, rather than trying catch them out. It is hard to imagine him attempting the 'up skirt' snapshots that today's paps are so notorious for.

The second PhotoEspaña exhibition, at Círculo de Bellas Artes, offers a darker impression of Galella's craft, however. While he may insist that he is different to the "pack" of celebrity photographers that exist today, the beginnings of the modern paparazzi style are apparent here. Images of stars at premieres or on movie sets are combined with more intrusive pictures: Julie Christie shot barefoot and unawares in a supermarket, and Jackie O captured fleeing alone across a park. The image of Galella as the charming friend to the stars slips away, to be replaced by the (undoubtedly more accurate) idea of him as a kind of stalker.

As to the work's artistic merit, this is unclear. It is undoubtedly fascinating to view these images, both for the opportunity to peer at their famous subjects, and for Galella's sharp framing. For those interested in the history of celebrity, they give an insight into a time before heavy PR presence, and heavy plastic surgery use (although a poignant pairing of shots of Michael Jackson pre and post his first series of nosejobs foreshadows the trend for manufactured beauty that was soon to come).

Viewing such photographs in a gallery allows them an impact separate to their appearance in a newspaper or celebrity magazine; we are invited to study them, and, in turn, ponder the role of the paparazzi in our media. The passing of time also plays its part – it is particularly fascinating to view these 30-year-old images now, with all our knowledge of what happened to the famous people within them. Would an exhibition of today's stars prove as intriguing? Possibly, if it is sharply curated. Lindsay Lohan recently made an appearance in a Richard Prince film, and Alison Jackson's staged tabloid images have an enduring appeal. Perhaps a gallery exhibition of snatched shots of Ryan Giggs or Britney Spears may not be as incongruous or unlikely as we might once have thought.

Both Ron Galella exhibitions will be on at PhotoEspaña until July 17: more info is atphe.es. A full review of the festival will appear in the July edition of Creative Review.

British Heart Foundation kids party packs

2011-06-05T03:23:00.000-07:00

Facing statistics that over 80 percent of five year olds in England don't get their five a day in terms of fruit and veg, and also that a third of children get less than the recommended amount of physical activity each week, the British Heart Foundationcommissioned design studio hat-trick to design a kids party pack aimed at 4-8 year olds that would promote healthy fun for kids whilst communicating health messages to parents.

The BHF enlisted the services of recipe writer Lizzie Harris to create no less than 17 party food ideas with an animal theme – hence recipes for carrot cakes that look like rabbits, sandwiches styled as chickens and a Lion made out of tortilla chips. Writer Nick Asbury created playful names such as Bunny Buns, the Cluck Cluck Club sandwich, and Safari Snacks. Photographer John Ross then shot the food on paper plates complete with the odd crumb or food splat, helping to make everything look homemade and, ultimately, achievable.

The animal theme extends to a selection of 15 party activities including a good ol' Dinosaur Egg and Spoon race and a balloon stomping game called Pop Goes The Weasel. All the games are illustrated by Rebecca Sutherland using cut paper, with the game instructions carefully worded for maximum fun by Asbury.

Hat-trick also designed items in the party pack such as stickers (32 sheets per pack)...

Each pack contains 20 placemats and 20 inivitations:

"We did some research into existing [kids party] packs on the market and were surprised to find there were hardly any," says hat-trick's Alex Swatridge. "At the momet, partents have to buy almost every element separately, which costs a lot in time and money. Bringing all the party items together made sense. But using separate recipe and games cards also means parents and children can mix and match their favourite elements."

To find out more and to get hold of a party pack (£6.99), visit bhf.org.uk/partypacks

Credits:

Design: hat-trick

Writing: Nick Asbury

Recipes: Lizzie Harris

Illustrations: Rebecca Sutherland

Photography: John Ross

Intel's Museum of Me

2011-06-05T03:11:00.000-07:00

First there was the Facebook Book, and now we can view our social media content in the form of a virtual museum exhibition...

Created by Japanese agency Projector Inc (which was behind the hugely successfulUniqlock website), The Museum of Me is a campaign for Intel. It works by sucking in all your info from Facebook and turning it into an online exhibit.

The online show opens with title text bearing the user's name, and then an opening line, describing the show as "a journey of visualization that explores who I am" (appropriately enough, the designers seem to have supped from the fountain of artspeak before coming up with that description).

The exhibition then begins with galleries of images of your friends, and of photos you have uploaded. Virtual people are shown walking around the space and examining your personal imagery with due reverence. Later in the exhibit, there is a text installation, constructed from words found on your wall. Obviously, as with all aspects of the exhibition, the more stuff you have on your Facebook profile, the richer the show will be (my text wall seems to feature the words 'happy birthday' and 'lovely' a lot, highlighting my lack of imagination on the site).

Later a number of robot arms chuck images around a room, before the exhibition ends with a web of photos of your friends, with you in the centre. The site then offers you the chance to share your museum exhibit back on Facebook. The Museum of Me does raise a few concerns about privacy, which have obviously already been anticipated: the opening page states that Intel will not keep any of the content it takes onto the site, and won't use it anywhere else. It is nonetheless unnerving to see all your images so easily appearing somewhere other than Facebook, but this only goes to prove that anything placed on such sites is never really that private. Mostly though, the Museum of Me is a fun way of viewing your social media content. Check it out at museumofme.intel.com.

Michael Faraday School

2011-06-05T02:58:00.000-07:00

Cartlidge Levene is behind a new wayfinding system for a regenerated school in Southwark in London. The work includes a series of visual 'shopfronts' to each of the classrooms and a range of playful signage...

The Michael Faraday Community School in Southwark (the chemist and physicist was born in what is now part of the London borough in 1791) was developed by architectural firm, Archial.

The primary school is one of the first to be transformed as part of the Southwark Schools for the Future programme. It accommodates a primary school, nursery, adult education and community facilities, and an after-school play group.

The structure of the build is based on a 'circular footprint' with a flexible learning space, called the Living Room, in the centre. Classrooms for year groups one to six are arranged around the perimeter and are connected by the central communal space. The Living Room features a bright yellow, double height wall which encloses both the Studio and Roof Garden teaching spaces.

Cartlidge Levene was briefed to develop a wayfinding system that would engage the children, engendering a feeling of pride in their school, and that integrated with the architecture. Ultimately, say the studio, the visual language aims to provide a new graphic identity for the school and work alongside the Faraday logotype that is mounted above the main entrance.

Also of note are the year group classrooms that form a continuous row of ‘shopfronts' around the circular space over two levels. Differently coloured flag-signs fold out from these shopfronts to identify each year group. The studio also devised methods of displaying the children's work to provide an ordered but flexible system that could be easily operated by the teachers. The signage takes advantage of the intuitive building arrangement with, according to the studio, good sight-lines across the central, circular space. Furthermore, playful, 3D arrows are used to sign the 'Studio' and 'Roof Garden' teaching spaces and supporting facilities.

The use of terminology such as Roof Garden and Living Room (for the teaching spaces) and even 'Ballroom' (for the external pavilion that houses sports and dining facilities) was developed, say the studio, to create "a fun nomenclature that the children can relate to". The Ballroom sign is integrated into the building's cladding, along with a layer of decorative pattern and, in the toilet blocks a ‘paper chain' of male and female toilet icons has been applied to the doors.

Pearls Lace and Ruffles GIVEAWAY!

2011-06-04T00:51:00.000-07:00

The lovely Dee at Pearls Lace and Ruffles is celebrating her 1 year anniversary of blogging. She is doing a very generous giveaway of cute and girly jewelry.
The first prize will include A matching necklace, bracelet & toe ring set. The cute heart shaped lockets open,

The Second Prize will include Two necklaces - a long length necklace with birdcage charm, inside is a cute moving bird. The second necklace is a pretty black and gold bow.

Here Dee explains the rules:

"RULES"

♥ You must be a follower of my blog (via google friend connect in the sidebar) to enter

♥ You get one entry for following my blog (additional entries can be gained too, see below!)

♥ The giveaway is open to everyone, all over the world

♥ The winners will be chosen using random.org

♥ To enter simply comment with your name and email address

ADDITIONAL ENTRIES

♥ Blog about this giveaway OR add it to your sidebar (two entries)

♥ Tweet about this giveaway with a link back to this post (one entry)

♥ Become a fan of my blog on Facebook (one entry)

♥ Please leave a separate comment for each additional entry or they won't be counted!

The giveaway ends on Friday 24th June 2011 at 10pm GMT.

Audi ad reveals Le Mans driver experience

2011-05-30T23:18:00.000-07:00

This beautiful new ad for Audi from BBH London stars Audi Le Mans team leader Allan McNish and gives a real insight into the physical endurance required to be a Le Mans driver...

Directed by Chris Hemming at Passion Pictures, the ad is two-and-a-half minutes in length and incorporates a mixture of live action, hand-drawn sketches and stereoscopic techniques. The 2D version is shown above, but a 3D version will play out on Sky 3D during the Champions League final on Saturday and also in cinemas.

"Audi were keen to promote Le Mans, as it is an unsung success for them," says Kevin Stark, creative director at BBH. "They have won it nine out of eleven times in the last few years. I was lucky to see Le Mans winner Allan McNish at the Audi National Forum. He did a five-minute lecture on the famous endurance race, but from the driver's perspective. I thought this might have potential to answer our brief. We wanted to bring a human aspect to Audi communications and Allan's off-beat and likeable style was a good fit."

"Next step was to get this into a manageable time length film," continues Stark. "And also see if we could further increase the exciting, sensory experience of driving the race. We approached animator Chris Hemming at Passion Pictures. Chris and his artist Tim Marrs did some great, expressive style sketches that enhanced what Allan was saying but without drowning his performance. Allan was filmed using 3D live action cameras, but Chris had the idea that we could make the hand-drawn sketch style 3D too, but also using stereoscopic techniques. The result is a fresh-looking piece of animation that works well in 2D but really comes alive in 3D."

Credits:
Ad agency: BBH London
ECD: Nick Gill
Senior creative directors: Nick Kidney, Kevin Stark
Production company: Passion Pictures
Director: Chris Hemming

Coca-Cola at the Design Museum

2011-05-25T22:20:00.000-07:00

To celebrate its 125th anniversary, Coca-Cola has just opened a new display on the history of its visual identity at the Design Museum in London...

The exhibition fills the Design Museum's glass tank and features some rarities from the Coke archives, commonly housed in a vault in the Coca-Cola headquarters in Atlanta. The display also shows that while differently shaped Coke bottles have come and gone, the brand's visual identity has survived largely unchanged in 125 years.

The Coca-Cola logo itself was created by Frank Robinson in 1886 and was written out in Spencerian script because that was the favoured typeface of accounting folk at that time. Robinson was Coca-Cola inventor John S Pemberton's book-keeper.

One of the stand-out pieces in the tank (though designers will love the rare design manuals and identity guidelines on show) is the Raymond Loewy-designed fountain dispenser, shown above. First made in 1947, it resembles a sleek speedboat engine.

Occupying the rear of the Design Museum's tank is a display of several Coca-Cola bottles, charting the subtle changes in shape that have occurred since the straight-sided Hutchinson bottle launched in 1899.

When first designed, the now more familiar curvy frame of the Coke bottle was actually a reference the shape of the cocoa bean (though the bean has nothing to do with the drink) and the form has moved in and out of fashion ever since.

Take a virtual tour the Coca-Cola archives at theverybestofcocacola.com and get across to Shad Thames in London for a close-up look at the objects on display.

The Coca-Cola exhibition is on at the Design Museum until July 3.

In the foreground, above: a sheet of Coca-Cola logos applied in different perspectives.

This dispenser is one of the oldest objects in the Coca-Cola archive, from 1886. It dispensed syprup that was then mixed with carbonated water.

Denmark bans sale of yeasty Marmite spread

2011-05-24T22:54:00.000-07:00

Denmark has already threatened to reimpose national border checks to control immigration, now it has moved to expel the savoury spread Marmite.

Danish officials say the product breaks food safety laws because of its added vitamins and minerals. The Danish authorities must give their permission for products with such additives to be sold.

Over the past few years several well known items including breakfast cereals have been banned.Already a shop in Copenhagen has been ordered to remove jars of Marmite from its shelves, says the BBC's Europe correspondent, Chris Morris, in Brussels. He says outraged expats in the country are already threatening a campaign of civil disobedience and there are suggestions that the Danish ban could break European law.

TOTAL sleeve by Peter Saville and ParrisWakefield

2011-05-23T22:52:00.000-07:00

Peter Saville and and Howard Wakefield of design studio ParrisWakefield have collaborated on the artwork of a new compilation of music by Joy Division and New Order called TOTAL, due for release on June 6 from Rhino...

Endeavouring to capture the essence of both Joy Division and New Order, Saville and Wakefield agreed that the Helvetica Heavy Italic used on the cover of New Order'sTechnique album, perfectly conveyed the band's graphic look, and also that, typographically speaking, Joy Division was predominantly uppercase. So for the cover of this new compilation, the pair decided to merge the two and set the word TOTAL in italicised upper case Helvetica Heavy.

Originally the word TOTAL, as below, was set to appear as large as possible so it fitted on the front cover. However the band decided there was too much white space.

The 'O' was the sexiest letter," says Wakefield, "with the overlapping letter-forms alluding to the sleeve of New Order's Technique album and also to the band's 1989 single, Run 2. Funnily enough 'O' is also the only letter to appear in New Order, Joy Division and TOTAL." Wakefield decided to zoom in the 'O' and let the other letters wrap around the fold out CD insert. The letters also appear to wrap around from the back cover and the jewel case spine too:

New D&AD Trophies

2011-05-22T00:53:00.000-07:00

New to this year's D&AD Awards will be two physical awards for both In Book and Nominated work: slices of a coveted Yellow Pencil...

The new trophies have been designed by Turner Duckworth and will sit alongside the Yellow, Black and recently unveiled White Pencils. "The slices of pencil are relative in relation to the size and material of the Yellow Pencil award," explains TD's Bruce Duckworth. "They are also exactly the same shape and proportion of the D&AD hexagonal logo. Of course they are made of wood, to be quirky like the Pencil itself."D&AD President Simon Sankarayya added "

For many years we have endeavoured to communicate more effectively the value of winning at any level in the D&AD Awards and the slices will undoubtably help to build awareness of the great level of creativity that it takes to be recognised by our juries."

Following the recent confusion over work that was "shortlisted" for D&AD (work that survived the first round of judging but was not awarded the new physical awards certainly go some way to further celebrate the achievement of having work in the D&AD Annual and nominated for one of the top Pencils.

The new slices will be launched at the forthcoming D&AD Awards evening, which takes place on June 16 at London's HAC, Artillery Gardens.

One thing i would like to mention......WHERE IS THE LEAD IN THE MINI PENCILS????

Chanel Cruise 2011/2012 Review

2011-05-21T05:51:00.000-07:00

As the Cannes Film Festival rumbles into action, the Chanel Cruise 2011/2012 show was also kicking off.

The show was hosted at the Hôtel du Cap along the coast in Antibes, on Monday evening, followed by a film by Karl Lagerfeld. The exquisite white satin gowns on the catwalk - evocative of Twenties and Thirties Riviera glamour, American heiresses and British aristocrats - appeared again in Lagerfeld's movie, which featured a tangle of beautiful people (including several Chanel models) in a Cap d'Antibes mansion.

The Chanel Website describes the show:

The collection was magnificently defined from the outset: less “young in the sixties” than the 2010/11 Saint-Tropez Cruise collection, Karl Lagerfeld wanted this Cruise collection to be very feminine, very sexy, and very glamorous, loaded with references to the mythology of the French Riviera in the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s, yet unhampered by nostalgia. Nostalgia is the enemy of movement. The focus was placed on daffodil-yellow and purple fitted tailored suits that feel like a second skin, accentuated by wonderful neo-Japanese futuristic boots cut out around the toes. This created long silhouettes and a contemporary look!

Stefan Sagmesiter, Wally Olins, Milton Glaser, Rei Inamoto, Paolo Coelho and Sarah Moon - The Fear of Failure

2011-05-14T23:36:00.000-07:00

To promote their graduation exhibition in May, students from Berghs School of Communication invited leading figures in the creative world to discuss their 'fear of failure'

Berghs student Louise Ljungberg explains: "Once a year, in May, we hold an exhibition. 151 graduation students will present their work within communication and design. The exhibition is created by a group of fourteen selected students, the Student Agency, and our aim it is to find a relevant and engaging angle on the students' theme, which is 'courage in communication'," she says. "Courage is very much associated with fear. We students (including me) are constantly flanked by the biggest creativity blocker of them all - the fear of failure. Therefore we've decided that this year's exhibition theme will be - the fear of failure. The purpose of having this theme is to equip the students (and the Swedish communication industry) with a new perspective on failure."

The students asked prominent figures in their fields to record messages on the theme using a webcam. First to contribute was author Paolo Coelho

Other contributors include Stefan Sagmeister

AKQA's Rei Inamoto

Photographer Sarah Moon

Wally Olins

And, perhaps offering the greatest insight, MIlton Glaser

The new Little Chef

2011-05-13T23:38:00.000-07:00

Venturethree has completed an overhaul of Little Chef that sees the brand adopt what the consultancy claims is a 'Wonderfully British' approach. And 'Charlie the Chef' has a new outfit too

Little Chef has been trying hard to update its dowdy image ever since it was taken over by new owners in 2007. Heston Blumenthal was brought in to update its menu, the process of which was featured in a TV documentary.

Blumenthal introduced new dishes and new cooking methods in a trial modernised branch of Little Chef in Popham, Hampshire. The exercise apparently proved successful – the chain has opened nine new branches in the past year and plans 20 more.

Venturethree has, it says, tried to reposition the chain as a 'modern British brand' with new menus, interiors and the introduction of a take away service.

First of all, there's the logo. Venturethree has given the Little Chef himself, known as Charlie, a new outfit and relieved him of that strange bowl of white stuff he previously bore aloft in his right hand. He no longer seems to be wearing a romper suit and instead sports an on-trend double-breasted affair (new Charlie shown top, old Charlie below).

Apparently he is also "friendlier and more refined, with new energy and purpose," according to venturethree's CEO and strategic director Philip Orwell. Erm, OK. Well, he certainly looks more modern (perhaps based on Heston himself?)

The logotype has also changed, the upper case having been replaced by that old design consultancy standby for 'friendliness', the script face.

There will also be a new range of Good To Go take away food

A new colour scheme is designed to tie in with the British theme, featuring (as seen on the trays above) 'mushy pea green, raspberry ripple pink, English mustard yellow and baked bean orange'.

Most striking are a series of Pop Art style giant sculptures of a ketchup bottle, tea mug and lollipop (a normal size version of which kids get for finishing their meal) that will appear at various Little Chefs around the country.

Venturethree worked with Ab Rogers Design and Cake on the project which also includes new interiors

Having spent some dismal times in various Little Chefs the overhaul (and the promise of better food) is very welcome. With half-term we will soon have the chance to see if the reality lives up to the promise of the new image.

Mr Men on Google

2011-05-09T23:31:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the 76th Birthday of Roger Hargreaves, the author and illustrator of the Mr Men and Little Miss books. I remember the excitement as a child when reading the books because they were brightly coloured, eye catching and the stories and character concepts were always amusing.

Google have honored the anniversary by featuring the Mr Men and Little Miss characters on their Google Doodle (Google Icon). Google have pushed the boat out this year with the Google Doodles and have carried on with this, when you refreshed the page a new illustration appeared, which is nothing new for web design but Google have not done this before. I must admit that refreshing the page over and over again to see if any new Mr Men would pop up became very addictive! My favourite Mr Men Google Doodle was the Little Miss Sunshine version (below).

CHI & Partners clever print campaign for The Sunday Times Rich List

2011-05-08T23:28:00.000-07:00

Simon Cowell's plunging neckline mirrors his financial fortunes in CHI & Partners clever new print campaign for The Sunday Times Rich List

Cowell's career has seen him plunge the depths of inflicting Robson & Jerome's musical offerings on the public before his meteoric, reality TV-fuelled rise to near omnipotence. His highs and lows neatly match his penchant for the deepest of deep v-necks, as illustrated in CHI's campaign for the annual Sunday Times Rich List.

Other celebs featured in the campaign include Paul McCartney, whose fortune is predicted to recover from its Mills-induced hit now that The Beatles are on iTunes

Ricky Gervais

Amy Winehouse

Lewis Hamiltion

Alan Sugar

Snibston Discovery Park exhibits rare travel posters

2011-05-08T08:58:00.000-07:00

Rare travel posters from World War I to the 1930s have gone on display at Snibston Discovery Park in Leicestershire. Lisa Webb, curator of "The Golden Age of the Travel Poster" exhibition, said: "The posters give a fascinating glimpse into an important moment in British history."

At the beginning of the 20th Century there was an increase in all types of transport. Travel posters became a way of advertising the range of new services and destinations offered, from a short trip across London to a fashionable luxury cruise.

"In the 1920s and 30s travel was still glamorous, the suburbs were just springing up, holidays and days out were becoming more popular and Britain's long love affair with the motor car was just starting in earnest," said the curator

Ms Webb said: "Tom Purvis, one of the greatest and most influential British poster designers of the 20th Century, demonstrates his superb use of flat colour bold colour in this image." Mr Purvis began designing posters in the late-1900s.

"I love the vibrant colours of the art deco image of the Palm House at Kew Gardens - the view point appears to be high up in the canopy of the Palm House looking downwards with people visible on the ground below," she added.