March: Inspirations & Observations

Welcome to the March issue of Inspirations & Observations. This is my monthly reflection on the 5 things this month that inspired me, and 5 things that were cheesy, ineffective or just plain boring.

Inspirations

1. Hand-rendering with pen & ink. Oooh, we did an assignment of rendering fur texture with pen & ink, and it was the most calming activity. Can't post the result yet though, the teacher still has it. But here is a sample from a Flickr user hanssolo.
   
   
   
2. Paper craft. I am discovering a whole world of these crafty designy things I can get into. I already love making things by hand, so it's perfect! Here is my current idol, Yulia Brodskaya.
   
   
   
3. And this month I discovered scrapbooking. I've heard the term before, but I didn't know what it was. Check out Shappy Pricess, really great "digital scrapbook" kits.
   
   
   
4. "The Artist's Way" book by Julia Cameron. It's about awaking the artist within, getting in touch with our innate creativity. I feel the changes happening already.
   
   
   
5. "How to Get Ideas" book by Jack Foster. First part of the book describes the mindset we need to have to attract more ideas. Second part is a step-by-step manual for getting winning ideas. It's interesting that "The Artist's Way" and "How to Get Ideas" frequently give the same advice. It's all connected, describing the same reality from different angles.
   
   
   

Observations

1. Using "click here and here and..." as anchor link text. It would be a lot more useful, if the link stated exactly what I'll find after clicking it. For example "learn about the psychological deviations of underwater worms." Ok, now I know exactly what's behind the anchor-text door.
   
   
   
2. Redesign of Hotmail interface leaves me asking "Where is the send button?!!!"
   
   
   
3. Sydney rail tickets, made of paper. First, I can only buy a ticket for today, it expires at the end of the day. Second, it's a paper ticket that cannot be re-used. Third, I have to put it through machine and wait for it to come out. Fourth, I can only buy one ticket at a time, no buddy rides. Need I go on? Really slows down the morning rush-hour commute.
   
   
   
4. Mini Dell ad. Trying to look like the currently popular floral style, but doesn't make it.
   
   
   
5. All respect to SitePoint, but no discrimination here. This ad was part of the newsletter I received, and I think it's feels like it was actually made by a developer. Literal metaphors for "slow" and "fast"...where is the zesty idea?
   
   

Previous months

• February: Observations & Inspirations
• January: the Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Buy Nothing Day crosstrack & visual proposal

This is the visual part of the assignment described in my earlier post. In summary, the students created a proposal to Adbusters magazine for designing a crosstrack campaign for Buy Nothing Day (the text of the proposal is included in a separate post).

Below is the PDF file of the final proposal, and the graphics of the crosstrack poster we designed. The work was done in a team of 3 ladies.





Semester 1: Ideas Generation in Visual Communication, taught by Peter Worthington and Matt Leach

Buy Nothing Day proposal body copy

This is the text of the final proposal to Adbusters for creating a cross-track poster, advertising Buy Nothing Day. The brief and research were included in my earlier post.

View the visual version of the proposal and crosstrack design!


Give Products a Voice!

Introduction
Hello, my name is… well, it’s not important. You see me every day, multiple times a day; in fact you probably see me every few minutes and don’t even notice me. I sit on shelves, hang on racks, and sometimes I just stand on the floor. People mindlessly grab me, own me, and after a short time discard me into a dumpster. Sad story, I know.

I am a Product, and my only hope is Buy Nothing Day. I dream of a day, when people will treat me with respect; when they will stop and think before taking me home. My friends at Adbusters are making this dream a reality through their Buy Nothing Day campaign. Now a team of passionate designers from Tops Creative is here to join them to create a cross-track poster, so the young Sydney residents will notice me as well.

History
This glorious path to liberation started in Vancouver in the early 1990s, when a brilliant designer decided to put a stop to mindless buying, and organized Buy Noting Day. To me, it’s better than a Birthday! For 24 hours people just don’t buy. They go about their lives enjoying various activities that don’t involve destruction of my kind.

Now Buy Nothing Day is celebrated in more than 65 countries. It makes my heart sing. Additionally, every year Buy Nothing Day falls on the day after Thanksgiving in North America, which is the busiest shopping day of the year due to approaching Holidays. This year Buy Nothing Day will be observed on November 28th in North America, and on November 29th internationally.

Audience and Target Market
You might be asking who will be looking at the cross-track. In case you didn’t know, cross-track, as the name implies, is a large poster, positioned across the train tracks. Times have changed, and now railroads penetrate our land far and wide. They allow people to travel to their work and entertainment destinations at almost any time of the day. In the morning a cheerful pack of students is traveling to their schools, and at night the party owls crowd the platforms, awaiting the late train.

What a perfect opportunity to tell them about me! The pals from Tops Creative will put their cross-tracks throughout the CBD, where hundreds of youngsters ages 18 to 25 will notice me, and my message for Buy Nothing Day.

Kalle Lasn from Adbusters defined the target audience of Buy Nothing Day as “the 20 percent who consume 80 percent of the goodies in the global marketplace.” This is the young and working population with large disposable incomes. I would place them at 25 to 35 years old, but my question is, why wait so long? I want the younger people to realize that as a Product, I am more than just another “thing” they consume. I require a choice, when deciding whether to take me off the shelf. Am I really necessary? How long will I be used for?

To back up our approach, the designers from Tops Creative and myself went out and asked 18 to 25 year olds what they think about the Buy Nothing Day idea. Many of the people surveyed acknowledged that there is a problem of overconsumption in our society. Yet, they didn’t feel that one day can change anything. “I would just buy stuff the next day,” said Jason McFall. And we say that if enough people participate, it will reach a critical mass that will change people’s shopping habits, and consequently improve my life!

Survey Quotes (in their own words)
Jack Ukleja: I would probably do it, but it doesn’t matter. I buy nothing on many days. What I want is to “bring down the Man.” We need re-education. People who need this the most are the least aware of these issues.

Stuart Cam: I like the overall idea. Less consumerism means lower interest rates (smile).

Competitors and Their Ads
Adbusters is not alone in their aim to change people’s behavior through a one-day event. White Ribbon Day is a campaign against violence towards women. It’s been very successful at attracting attention of many people. In 2006 for instance, White Ribbon Activists distributed 300,000 white ribbons.

People participate in White Ribbon Day by purchasing and wearing white ribbons, and people like buying stuff. On the contrary, Buy Nothing Day asks individuals to not shop, which could be difficult to promote. Additionally, White Ribbon Day is only three days before Buy Nothing Day, and they may attract the same audience.

In their 2007 advertising campaign, White Ribbon Day organization captured people’s attention by using images of famous people. However, they did have noticeable problems with text hierarchy within the ads, and a large amount of copy to read. The headings didn’t explain the point of White Ribbon Day well enough after seeing a dominant picture. Understanding the ads required excessive effort from the viewer.

We will learn from the successes and pitfalls of White Ribbon Day campaign to produce an effective cross-track poster, and give me and my fellow Products a voice!

Existing Advertising and Our Proposition
Buy Nothing Day’s prior advertising has employed humor, as well as a more serious tone, to portray the current state of the world. It is difficult to gauge the effectiveness of Buy Nothing Day campaigns, since participation is on individual level, and no ribbons or tokens are sold to count the participants. It is also a global multi-national event, which makes reporting of data somewhat vague.

However, from our research young people do recognize the problems of consumerism in our Western society. They are ready to listen, and I am here to capture their minds with my charming character. Once my cute icon grabs youngster’s attention, the text of the ad will convey the importance of consuming less, and urge them to participate in Buy Nothing Day.

Conclusion
The approach of giving Products a voice is rather controversial, and it hasn’t been done before. The main idea behind the campaign is that Products are not just cold mindless things with barcodes on them. They cannot be used and thrown away without a thought, but need to be respected and valued.

The above proposal, as well as the proposed cross-track, is written from the perspective of a Product, which will help younger people associate with its character and realize the personality behind anything they buy.

Nokia Morph Concept

Today we learned how to do concept rendering using Copic markers, black pen and white gouache. We produced a rendering of a metal fork with small fish on it. It turns out that it's actually not that difficult to achieve a realistic look of an object, if you know where to apply shadows and highlights. The main points to remember are to work in layers, from light to dark.

One of the brilliant recent applications of concept rendering was used by Nokia to communicate the idea behind Nokia Morph, the future of mobile (at least according to Nokia, lol). Here is the video of the rendering:



One thing to notice is that the phone itself is drawn in great detail, while the surrounding environment is more rough. This brings attention and focus to the phone itself (note to self: you can use it in your work as well).

Australia Walkabout Campaign

Last Friday we discussed the recent "Australia Walkabout" campaign. Huddled around the teacher's desk in a darkened class room, we watched the moving images on the screen. The students in the class were mostly Australian-born, and it was interesting to hear their response to the advertisements.

American version

Shanghai version

At first everyone was taken away by the feelings and magic of the videos. Then, after closer examination, some interesting issues were brought up through discussions.

For example, did you notice that the boy is Aboriginal? Do Australians advertise Aboriginal culture when it is convenient? Do the students associate with the Dream culture, and do they feel like it's part of their history? The response from the class was a universal "no" ...

Another argument was that the ads portray Australia to the world as this beautiful land, where all that people do is swim in lakes and climb the trees. In reality, Sydney life is as urban as New York, and people deal with same issues of being overworked and stressed.

However, no one said that they dislike the ads, or feel offended by them. They are effective, captivating and magical. Maybe we are city dwellers in Sydney, but we are also fortunate. These beautiful places are within a close reach.

Sound of "Glow In the Dark" condoms

The Brief:
Create a script for a 30-second radio commercial for glow in the dark condoms. Target audience is 18-25 year olds. Then, use recording studio facilities to record your radio ad.

Creative Process:
Working in groups of 4, we brainstormed how we could come up with something humorous and catchy. We came up with some slogans, such as "light up your night" and "get the party started." In the end, we went with the play-on-words of "night" and "knight," and our main theme of the ad revolves around the Dark Knight.

Final Outcome:
Click on the "Play" button below to listen to the radio ad recording :)

Oliviero Toscani: provoking man

This is the face of Benetton's advertising campaign for 18 years. Oliviero Toscani may not be known as well the "United Colors Of Benetton" campaign, but he is the father and the creator of every pixel and square inch of it.

Toscani's goal was always to invoke feelings and emotions through his visual work. He wanted his images to start debates and make people shift their moral values.

Toscani started working in Italy in the 1970's as a photographer. Soon he was ready to take his photography and ideas to the next level, and he needed a friend with deep pockets to support his work. Luciano Benetton was exactly that. For 18 years Luciano and Oliviero were like brothers, even living under the same roof for some time (much to the displeasure of Toscani's wife). During this time, Oliviero Toscani produced a huge number of ads for Benetton campaign, each more controversial than the previous, and made Benetton the 5th most recognized brand in the world.









This happy "marriage" ended in 2000, when Toscani's ambitions took him to American prisons to photograph death row prisoners. He used images and film footage that he collected to produce brochures and poster advertisements, featuring inmates sentenced to death. His message was clear: "abandon capital punishment." Luciano Benetton did not share his views... After extensive financial pressure from the American markets, and Sears pulling out of a deal to open 800 outlet stores, Benetton made his choice.


Now, almost 10 years later, the brand "Benetton" lives on. Luciano Benetton hired a new set of graphic alchemists to look after his brand, while Oliviero Toscani lives and works peacefully at his house in Tuscany, Italy.