Google Zeitgeist

A review of what we searched for on Google in the year 2012. A little emotional, a little humorous and a little serious all rolled into 2 minutes and 46 seconds. They've also got a landing page experience to compliment a deeper dive for those interested.

Zeitgeist 2012

Flash Of Clarity

True to life drawing. Part collaboration, part unknown therapy exercise.

Just Zoom In

I appreciate you Sarah Sliverman. Mostly because of your crude humor, but more so now for the creative way to gross my friends out. Thanks to my coworker Corbett for sharing this gem with me today. Enjoy!

And I Died...

Guerilla marketing from LG and their new IPS monitors. Replacing the elevator floor with them, wiring to have the buttons activate simulated floor dropping.. um, brilliant? scary? I think it's a combination of the two. I would probably die a little inside.



credit: Creative Guerilla Marketing (original article)

High Class Playing Cards

Pretty slick cards here. Gold foil, laser etched wood case. This is some high class dealing going on. Produced from Theory11.

Decembeaver?!

From the SF Egotist, I had to document here. I mean if we can do it to our face for a month as men, why can't women do it... well, ok, see for yourself.

Solomon's Knot

Love the colors, fluidity and overall composition. Posted on Society6 by Gary Andrew Clarke, who if you haven't seen the work he has up, check it out. Great style, simple yet complex patterns and prints.

Mini Pad

Print execution in TIME Magazine for the iPad mini. Shared by a friend (Thanks D. Black), wanted to share and see the reaction. Personally, I like the simplicity and play against digital reading versus print. Of course using the actual size helps reinforce the product and protability. Overall, I like. Nice use of the actual cover too, keeping it timely.

SOURCE: TUAW

The Man Of Men

Prostate cancer is no joke amongst men... not what you thought this post was going to be about did you? Well, it is. More so, the new identity I came across (thanks to LogoDesignLove), including a video composition that showcases Prostate Cancer UK's new branding. I think it's an important topic rarely discussed, at least in the young culture that I'm a part of. Below is the new identity and the video. Take a look at their new webpage here.

“We have chosen our new identity to help us raise our voice, raise our game and reach more men. Urgently. Prostate cancer is predicted to become the most common cancer by 2030. Yet many men are unaware of the disease and research is still badly underfunded. We believe men deserve better. With our bold new identity and approach we will fight for this.” - Prostate Cancer UK

Bag It Up!

Designed by Stephen Pannone these redesigns help bring more personality to those delicious loaves   of freshly baked bread served out of those little shops off the streets of NYC. Just a couple shown below, but take a look at the link for all 8 displayed on The Dieline. 

Who Doesn't Love A Good Sand Castle?

Stumbled upon these beauties and had to share. As a kid, you try and make your own castles and the pure devastation that comes over you when a wave washes away your masterpiece is the end of the world. Crushed!

These are impressive, especially that these are made out of sand, yeah, sand. Full link to more photos below.

GEOMETRIC SAND CASTLES

Absolut Unique

Forgot to share this a while back so here we are...

Creating nearly 4 million unique bottles. Check out the video it's pretty rad, a huge undertaking as far as production and a cool art project if nothing else than unique packaging for a favorite spirit of many.

"The bottles will be individually numbered and distributed in 80 markets including the U.S., U.K., China, France and Germany. The unique designs incorporate 38 different colors and 51 pattern types."

Source: Creativity Online

Let's Get Ready To Rumble.

And let's do it at the Boxing Room.

Opened just over a year ago in 2011 – so it's been around for a bit – but I hadn't heard about it. Louisiana-influenced cuisine and housed in an old Standard Shirts Factory building in Hayes Valley it's a definite spot to check out. I can't tell you how much I loved this place. Killer food, great atmosphere and to top it off our server, Ross, was outstanding. I can't say enough about him. Especially coming from working in Hospitality for almost 10 years, I would hope that I know stellar service when I get it.

Some recos - Try the Boudin Balls, the Gumbo is fantastic, Brussel Sprouts Salad was flavorful and the Beignets for dessert are wicked. Oh, and my new favorite beer (because that's important too) is Snarling Badger from the Grand Teton Brewing Co.

Asian Art Museum

After years of always telling myself I would go and never doing it, I did it. An overcast Sunday morning, we pulled it together and headed downtown to explore the Asian Art Museum. It's fantastic! We spent hours exploring the pieces, reading up on history and learning things we never knew.

I wanted to share some of the pieces that I found particularly interesting and encourage everyone in San Francisco, or visiting, to go! If you have any interest, especially in the Asian cultures and heritage, history and well, art as a whole, you must. Also, to find out that the pieces on display are only one fifth of the museum's entire collection was astounding.

http://www.asianart.org/

It's Been A Minute...

But damnit, I will get back into posting here. With life picking up both professionally and personally it's not been the priority to post here but I miss it. So it's time to get back into the groove. First order of business is a new move to a new place in the beautiful city of San Francisco. Ok, well it's only 6 blocks from where I resided, but to have the space to finally do what I want with the interior is an artist's wet dream. It's happening, starting this weekend and then comes paint decisions, art projects and the inevitable "constructive conversations", that I will win with the bf. Just saying. Once some things come along in the new place I will post some pictures of the process and influence.

Until then, here's a piece I found by an artist named Eric Lopez (http://ericnine.com/). Based out of Atlanta. Love the yellow and black, and of course the elephant. Would ideally love to get this printed and framed for somewhere in the house.

Packaging That Is Helping The Environment

I love package design and appreciate even more when it is helping the environment. This new design from Method recycles plastic collected from the ocean to create their bottle. Now I thought about this and they speak to it in the article but, wouldn't using plastic to make plastic be continuing the cycle in some ways? Appreciate their response and efforts. 

Straight from the article, here's what they said, "Through this new + innovative use of recovered ocean plastic, we hope to show how design can be used to tackle environmental problems. We're not saying that the solution to the ocean plastic problem is making bottles out of trash, but by doing so we can prove that there are alternatives to using virgin materiels - like PCR plastic, which we use in all of our bottles. By recycling + reusing existing plastic bottles, we can turn off the tap. An that is the first, most important step toward improving the state of our oceans."

ARTICLE
http://www.thedieline.com/blog/2012/10/9/method-ocean-plastic-bottle.html

Goodbye Hot Sheets!

..and hello to late-night-deck-building!

So it's become official as of today, that on October 1st, I'll start with MRM Worldwide here in San Francisco as an Art Director. Something I've been striving for since graduating from Ai back at the end of 2009. While I've gotten my feet wet and worked on the creative side for a portion of time while at twofifteenmccann (and thank you to them for the opportunity), this marks my official departure from the Senior Account Executive role! Time to celebrate and then start taking over the world.. one ad at a time.


http://www.mrmworldwide.com/

As Dynamic As The News Itself!

Thanks to a friend and old coworker for sending this my way this morning. Colbert's rant on the new redesign of the USA Today logo. Mmmm... pizza bagels...

Back To The 60's

Taking back old school, and yes, I'm just now catching up on this, from the Spring. tisk, tisk. Well, none the less, it's great to see throw backs to old style advertising and make this issue feel more authentic to the time period for which the show takes place. Well done.

See all the retro ads here:

http://adage.com/article/media/retro-ads-newsweek-s-mad-men-issue/233377/

Rip it. Come On Sissy!

Politely scanning through my latest copy of Communication Arts, Design Annual, I came across this little challenge. Well, i tried, and no, it wasn't possible. Advertising synthetic paper for a vast array of materials, it boasts the ability to not be able to be torn. Hey, at least I tried. And I thought it was clever. Getting me to interact with you print ad. Pretty rare these days. Also, taking a shot at my masculinity was a good way for me to give it a go.

I Love Whiskey

...and I love these tumblers. Constructed to look as distorted as the world around you when consuming adult beverages. I must have them. End of story.

LORIS & LIVIA

A Teabag Trip

Had to share the following packaging and concept. Not just because the elephants caught my eye (if you know anything about me and my love for those creatures), but the intricacy of the imagery created with the tea leaves. Pretty awesome stuff.

The Dieline Article TripTea

It's Happening Again And You've Been Warned

The time is fast approaching for yet another Spikes Soccer Club fundraiser. Now I started this event with the backing of the Spikes club and crew at SoMa bar Powerhouse, almost a year to the date that this next one will occur. It's been a huge success and I want to give a sincere thanks to those who have helped out with all 3 thus far in any capacity. We couldn't have done these so successfully without everyones help. Plus it provides great 'team bonding' and gets us out of the normal Castro crowd to change things up. And yes, 'team bonding' can be taken in many ways, but no, pervert, I was talking about camaraderie and socializing over adult beverages. I don't know what you were thinking... Oh hell, who am I kidding. Everyone lets their hair down and has a blast w/ a lot of team gossip post-event. Surprised? Yeah, don't be. Man I love this club.

Now let's get down and dirty and raise some funds!
Facebook Invite

Flyer and photo by yours truly.

Life Changing Moments

Brought to you by Ragu, pasta sauce. Yeah, I said it. This isn't a post about something dramatic happening in my life, or a new direction, it's a TV commercial that well, I'm sure most of the population can relate to on some level. Oh, and exactly why your parents told you to always knock before entering a room (or their room). This is the stand out spot from a series created for the brand recently.

ADAGE ARTICLE

All With A Ball Point Pen

Amazing work from someone who says it's just a hobby of theirs. Consider all you can do digitally and then realize this isn't done with a computer, nor is it an actual photograph of a fiery redhead... it's created with ball point pens, Bic brand I believe and just 8 colors.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Sasquatch Cares

He doesn't want you to burn your tongue! Just because he couldn't grasp the concept of hot coffee... at least he's looking out for others.

They Were There.

New spot from Gatorade. How do you feel about it?

No mention of the Olympics (I believe official sports drink sponsor was Powerade), but the spot pushes the fact that they while they weren't on billboards or commemorative snow globes, they were there, inside the athletes. I like it. I do. A little ominous in tone though. Maybe a bit more than it needed to be.

Music On Paper

You know when you hear or read about an idea, concept or innovation and it strikes you.. like it was something you've heard before, or it just feels like it must have been done before? Well, here's one of those...

Instantly drawn to the magnitude of this idea. The sentiments shared by the author (Will Burns) of the following article on Frobes resonate with me. It's smart, well thought out and frankly, a nice strategic concept. This extends beyond our digital boundaries and garners a lot of respect for Beck and his camp (yes, the singer, Beck). Also makes me proud to be in the marketing industry.

Definitely worth the quick read, I promise.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/willburns/2012/08/09/beck-produces-a-genius-innovation-that-appeals-to-the-user-generated-generation/

LUFFA, LUFFA, LUFFA!!

From Droga5 in NY, for Method products. I'll let the creepy chemical residue speak for itself... pervs.

There Are Better Ways...

... to make a career.
Had to post from a host of images found here.
http://www.creativeguerrillamarketing.com/guerrilla-marketing/lifes-short-wrong-job-marketing-campaign/

Using A Typewriter To Paint... Totally Normal.. Right?!

Found this in my GoogleReader and I agree with the short statement at the end of the write up, "I don’t know how practical painting an image with a color typewriter is..." but I would sure as hell give it a try. Although, I must admit, the patience to transform this is probably something beyond me at most times, I love the idea though.


CREDIT: This is Colossal 

They Walk Among Us.. At Least For PR

In their efforts to protest the pulling of AMC and The Walking Dead from the DISH Network, an organized infestation in NYC took zombies off the television and put them into the mainstream daily lives of us, the living. It was a clever way to say, "Put Zombies Back on TV'. I commend the commitment and execution. Definitely higher up on the production scale (for obvious reasons) than previous zombie outings I've seen. Either way, I'm a fan.

http://www.keepamcnetworks.com/putzombiesback/

Another Day, A Different Person

Toshiba and Intel have joined to make another social film with a premiss I find to be pretty interesting. Aside from having a couple stars in it, the main character changes everyday... what? Well, pulled from the SF Egotist (and i agree), "It's a great twist: everyone has the chance to audition to play the role of the main character Alex, whose appearance changes on a daily basis. The trailer is below and you can audition for the lead on Facebook." Check out the trailer below.

ARTICLE FROM THE EGOTIST

What's In Your Peephole?

Sounds gross, I know. But it got your attention eh? Well, I was surfing through the never ending succubus that is the Newsfeed of Facebook when I stumbled upon this little image for Papa Johns Pizza posted by Art & Design. Definitely a clever way to advertise and be creepy, both of which I'm a fan of.

Moms Have The Hardest Job, But The Best Job

Ok, so admittedly I wrote this a while back, well around Mother's Day as I saw this spot. I forgot to post it, but having just posted something on the BBC promotion of the Olympics, I think it's appropriate to post now. The music, composition of stories and global feel that is the essence of the message all combine to move you... and well, frankly makes me want to hug my mom, like right now. Man, how many soccer games all over did she drive my brother and I too? How many orange slices were cut and juice boxes loaded into the cooler? Either way, Thank you Mom. There aren't words to say how much it means.

-------------------
Being a Mom is the hardest job anyone can do... and straight from AgencySpy is the spot that I want to share,

"Kicking off what’s being declared P&G’s biggest campaign in the company’s 174-year history is the above two-minute spot, “Best Job.” Shot in London, Rio de Janeiro, Los Angeles and Beijing by award-winning director Alejandro González Iñárritu (21 Grams, Babel, Amores Perros, Nike “Write the Future”),“Best Job” launched today on TV and social media, coinciding with April 17 marking 100 days until the upcoming Olympic Summer Games in London. The “Thank You, Mom” campaign by W+K also features a custom tab on P&G’s Facebook page, which allows visitors to send personal notes of gratitude to their mothers which are posted to a stream on the app and to users’ Walls."

Animating The Olympics

The Olympics are coming. They are coming very soon. July 27th to be exact. I couldn't be more excited and this animated (yes, I said animated) teaser for the games is fantastic. It's short, it's sweet, but it's also is outside the realm of the norm for what one might expect the Olympic Games to be promoted with. Not historical footage? Or even real life footage? Wait, using animation? Yes. And I think it works. It works well, integrating the sports into the city and it's environment. Something more human as the shops open for the day with the racetrack right outside their windows. You can disagree, but I think I like it.

Cookies Are Gay

Well, at least in this case they might be. Looks like Oreo has stirred up some serious controversy with their support of the LGBT community and this little ad. I say way to go. Supporting what you believe in as a company. Despite the backlash, you have gained far more support from the likes of us, not only in the community, but those who will continue to push the communication boundaries. Those who dare to put themselves out there. I commend the Kraft food company for sticking to their guns and running with it. Hell, they've sure gotten some press around it (and working towards almost a quarter of a million likes in 48 hours).

Below is the simple and well done execution, straight from their Facebook page. Also included the article from the Huffington Post on the swirl of upset cookie eaters who seem to have a problem with colored frosting. Too bad, just means more for us!

HUFFINGTON POST - Article

Going Beyond The Team

This is one of those posts where I talk more about my own life than what I'm observing. I previously posted the 'It Gets Better' video that I was fortunate to be a part of in association with my soccer club, the SF Spikes. After that was produced, Tim Kulikowski, the director (and a fellow Spike) wanted to go further. He set out to make a short film of how being a part of the SF Spikes has influenced us off the pitch. 5 of us were chosen from the previous to tell a bit of our story and let the cameras into our personal lives. For me this included my boyfriend, the parental units, my brother and even a very close family friend, who we'll call "Little J". Both of our families have grown up together and he has more recently come out of the closet. This allows me to offer support and guidance to him in his youthful age, Something at 18 and 19 I didn't have. That said, the film was submitted and accepted to the LGBT Film Festival, Frameline36. It will be shown with a couple other sports related films and I encourage anyone who can make the screening to come out. The link to buy tickets is below, as well as the movie poster/postcard that I designed with the director for promotional use.

It's a bit weird seeing myself on film in a room with 4 people, but now this is going to be in a 450-seat theatre, shown over Pride weekend, this coming Saturday, 6/23. Going to be interesting as I'm sure my father might get embarrassed. My mother was a natural and having my little brother be a part of it is huge. I'm very honored to have been a part of this. For the rest on the film, well, you'll just have to come see it on the silver screen!

TICKETS AND SHOWING INFORMATION:
http://ticketing.frameline.org/festival/film/detail.aspx?id=2492&FID=49

'BEYOND THE TEAM' ON FACEBOOK
http://www.facebook.com/BeyondTheTeam

What They Really Think About Advertising

At a forum in Cannes next week, Deutsch LA will be presenting research findings about agency turnover. Here are 3 shorts created to demonstrate the frustrations of the industry shared across Account, Creative and Production. I can't say that I don't sympathize at times with some of the sentiments, but I will say that I still stand behind my choice to be in this industry and have a belief in it.


From the Account POV



From the Creative POV



From the Producer PV

Latest From Twofifteen

Taking pride in the agency I work for, I'm posting the agencies latest efforts for Halo 4 and Fuze Tea. Posted on multiple advertising resources this week, we've got the Halo 4 E3 trailer and the Fuze Tea zoetrope for CocaCola's tea line.

FUZE Zoetrope


HALO 4 E3 Trailer

JCPenny Goes Gay

As time goes on and the war on same sex marriage ventures forward, it is nice to see larger companies embracing the LGBT community and incorporating into their advertisements. Not always winners, but I think this one is pretty nice. Much more a reality. Recently JCPenny has done so with their latest ad that my roommate brought to my attention. Wanted to share this and see what people thought.

Here is the ORIGINAL ARTICLE that was passed on to me. I think the copy in the ad is sincere, honest and most importantly, it's simple.

"He's the swim coach, tent maker, best friend, bike fixer and hug giver - all rolled into one. Or two."

What do you think?

   

Beckham Does Beethoven

As a soccer fan, recreational player and well, advertising junkie, I stumbled across this little clip today on AdverBlog. Now if only I could get that footwork...

The Sweet Sounds of a Drunken Songbird

I can only imagine what it would be like if a group of my friends and I were to participate in this. I won't karaoke outside of a group setting, mostly because I need to fall under the mass of voices to not have anyone's ears bleed. I thought this was a clever idea and definitely makes for some fun times, especially with those insisting they aren't trashed. It's blasted on screen just how much they've had to drink and comparing that to their sweet, sultry vocals.

All In The Circle

This is one of those performances that get's you to stop and watch. As I should be working on some pending projects, I find myself staring in awe of the sheer self control, manipulation and talent it takes this guy to perform with in the beautiful way that he does. Truly impressed. So fluid, so gorgeous. It's one of those things you just have to watch and appreciate.

Stains Are Annoying.

Saw this spot today while watching something on the TV (it's not important). I had to rewind and watch it over again. More so because I appreciated what reminded me of the Sour Patch kids commercials (First 'sour', then 'sweet'). Although I will say I would chase down this little bushel of grapes and stomp it into a nice bottle of vino if it tried this with me.

The Reality, In Venn Diagram Form

There is a reality in the world of commercial art and design.. a friend passed on this venn diagram to me today. I felt the need to post. You get 2 of the outer circles, but you can't have all 3. 'enough said. The graphic speaks for itself.

Moms Have The Hardest Job

Being a Mom is the hardest job anyone can do... and straight from AgencySpy today, "Kicking off what’s being declared P&G’s biggest campaign in the company’s 174-year history is the above two-minute spot, “Best Job.” Shot in London, Rio de Janeiro, Los Angeles and Beijing by award-winning director Alejandro González Iñárritu (21 Grams, Babel, Amores Perros, Nike “Write the Future”),“Best Job” launched today on TV and social media, coinciding with April 17 marking 100 days until the upcoming Olympic Summer Games in London. The “Thank You, Mom” campaign by W+K also features a custom tab on P&G’s Facebook page, which allows visitors to send personal notes of gratitude to their mothers which are posted to a stream on the app and to users’ Walls."

Makes you think, might even start tears welling up in the corners of your eyeballs. Either way, it's nicely done. Very emotional and makes me want to hug my own mother, like, right now.

The Life Of A Plant

It's a lot harder than you think, according to this spot. Now I'm not so sure if that was my shrub-like destiny that I would want to be a plant... or any kind of foliage for that matter.

Smell That... It Smells Like Change

Things happen in life, that shake things up, make you gain perspective. Think about what's next, and saying good bye to a previous chapter of your life. Now is that time, time to make a checklist, get things in order, and take steps in a new direction. Here goes nothing, but in all honesty, I can't wait. It's time. And the recent things surrounding work and life have put things into a new light. A wake up call, if you will. Stay tuned for some awesomeness, cause it's coming.

JUICY

Like everything about this. Simple, clean, and well thought as the wedges, containing the juice, are just as they would be naturally. All with the bag, tied and branded. Short and sweet.




Spotlight of JUICY JUICE on thedieline.com

Sold... By Peter

You may have sold me with this spot Samsung.. and more so with 'Peter', but I'm not sure I'll buy the product. Or even look into it further. Not because I don't want a tablet/phone/paperweight/handheld computer device. But because an elephant using it doesn't say much about me using it. You make me like your brand a little bit more because I am obsessed with elephants. You win points there. It's fun, whimsical and shows the ease of product features. Check. But I have a Samsung phone at the moment that I want to through into traffic more often than not, so it's hard for me to be convinced on another, larger phone-like device. This commercial won't be changing my overall opinion (which is generally pretty in favor of you), I just wanted to say thanks for this ad.

9 Eyes

Forwarded on from a coworker of mine. Some awesome shots, some startling shots and some shots that just make you stop.. and think. Check it out, let me know what you think, what you like and what you don't... and the crazy thing is, they're all found through Google's street view within their maps... wicked. 9 Eyes

Pin What? Pin It Where? Ok, I'm Addicted.

This new phenomenon that has taken the interwebs by storm... Pintrest. At first, I was like a child figuring out how the things in the world work. New sights, sounds, interaction and relation... and my first thought when coming across this new social outlet was, "pin what? pin it where? what's the point? I'm confused.." which then quickly and probably only for a limited amount of time has become, "pin it. I need to pin that... how do I get the Pin button on my taskbar? Ok, I'm addicted..".

At first glance I'm not sure where this new network will net out in the long run, but at least for now it's going to be interested to see where it goes.

And you can follow my useless pins by searching for "Christopher Swanson" on Pintrest.

Skittles Makes Me Smile... And Feel Awkward.

I love the Skittles commercials (created by DDB Chicago) and the newer spots makes me smile... and feel slightly dirty.. and well frankly like I've been visually accosted or confused.. giving me an uneasy feeling at times (and i love that). Check out the spots below... and take note on "Mentor".. it's the creepiest... reminds me of the older spot, man with a long beard, picking the skittles up with his beard then ever so delicately leading them up and into his mouth. Awkward and amazing all at the same time.

"MENTOR"


"CRANKY"


"BLEACHERS"


COMMERCIAL FLASHBACK... The Beard...

Creativity Actualized

It's been a process to get this completed... But i did it. Starting as a sentimental anniversary gift it manifested into much much more... almost a self accomplishment piece. For quite some time, outside of school, freelance or the things i create for work I've been wanting to complete a personal project. Who has time for that?! You have to make time... Abstract in nature with personal elements tied into the composition, its something I'm very proud of. Now I'm on to the next one. No rest... And since I've been blessed that others have contacted me to do some pieces for them it is only the beginning.

Oh, and before i forget. A huge thanks to the team at Canvaspop. It was my first design-to-canvas print and they worked with me to make sure it was what I envisioned. And as an artist that goes a long way.

The Ideal Heart Rate?!

Cruising the web and checking things out beyond the newsfeed on the Facebook always refreshes my perspective on design. I found this Student Spotlight on TheDieline and I am ssomewhat in love with the all around concept and execution especially.

"The name Oneighty, the ideal heart rate, gives hint to the complete turn around you can find in this nutrient-dense snack. Break the seal. Crack it open. Pour the nuts, and make a friend as you use the shell itself as a serving bowl. "

Who doesn't appreciate packaging that doubles as a methods to contain, serve and dispose of the product contained within? Well, if you don't then don't talk to me.

Oneighty Pistachios