Simple

Simple candy, simple ad. (not to mention good type) FHV BBDO, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Utah Zoo

Great art + great copy = Great ad. Richter7, USA

Disney and Dali

The might of Disney and the mind of Dali, not much to say here, but beautiful. (other than crappy video)

"Destino is a short animated cartoon released in 2003 by The Walt Disney Company. Destino is unique in that its production originally began in 1945, 58 years before its original release. The project was a collaboration between American animator Walt Disney and Spanish painter Salvador Dalí, and features music written by Mexican songwriter Armando Dominguez.

Destino premiered on June 2, 2003 at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival in Annecy, France. The six-minute short follows the love story of Chronos and the ill-fated love he has for a mortal female. The story continues as the female dances through surreal scenery inspired by Dalí's paintings. There is little dialogue, but the sound track features a song by the Mexican composer, Armando Dominguez."

The film was shown as part of the exhibition Dali & Film at Tate Modern from June to September, 2007, as part of the Dali exhibit at the LA County Museum of Art from October, 2007 to January 2008, and at an exhibition at New York's Museum of Modern Art called Dalí: Painting and Film from June to September 2008."

-Wikipedia

This is worth Watching

Green grass in Denver should be an oxymoron. Seeing how most of us have bought into the idea, i don't see a quick way to get away from your front lawn. And yes, I am guilty too. Still, this might make you think twice about how you grow your lawn. Get the DVD from this overly award-logo-ed home page.

Milky Way

We have seen a lot of these lately, but this is my favorite, by far. Partly due to the simplicity, partly for the benefit based execution. Either way, it isn't trying to hard. It isn't doing something abstract. It is just works. BBDO, New York, USA

Daily Photos

Before there was a daily photo site for nearly every major city in the world —see the Paris Daily Photo site for a link list including Bern, Boston, L.A., Lisbon, Tenerife, etc —there was Joe's NYC.

You can look in his archive back to February 2004. I don't check it daily, but it's great when I'm in that "New York state of mind."

The photos above are fully copyrighted by Joseph O. Holmes.

Mythbuster Mona Lisa

The one thing we do try to do at ADCD is bring a bit of inspiration to the masses. No matter what form we find it, inspiration you want, inspiration we have.

Inspired, no?

Flatstock 18: The Poster Alive and Well at Bumbershoot

Bumbershoot? Okay, it's an annual arts festival in Seattle that started out as a music fest, but now includes a gallery (and sale) of posters from around the country. Check out Flatstock. The images above are all from Seattle shops (and not the ubiquitous Modern Dog, Jeff Kleinsmith, or the young hipsters from Asterik Studio), but the show includes designers from around the continent (sadly, Denver is not on the list). 

Links for the designers represented above:

Design Medicine

Seattle Show Posters

Powerslide Design Co

This Is The New Year

We Can Solve It

Nicely said. Nicely put. We Can Solve It.

E-Boy Alert

I (heart) Eboy. I mean look at the work, beautiful, fun, chock full-of-love. And he has been doing this for years without it getting old. Every piece he does is just a joy to dig through. The concept isn't bad, but you look for one reason, and one reason alone, this art is arresting. Go ahead, soak it all in.

A in NBA is for Animation

Cam across this fantastic, stylized animation and realized that there is too much over maculinization and beauty shots within the world of sport and would love to see more of this. Conceptual, thought provoking. Even if it is just fun to watch. really, what is there more to do than to tell a story.

Icons of Advertising

I remember as a kid traveling through Minnesota (perhaps on Interstate 90 past a town called Blue Earth, I don't recall exactly) by car and anticipating seeing a giant statue of the Jolly Green Giant. It's been a long while since I've seen him on TV; I'm probably not tuned in to the right programming. Anyway, he's definitely an advertising icon I remember from my youth, along with Tony the Tiger (the object of a crush my sister had!), Cap'n Crunch, Toucan Sam, and Smokey the Bear. As I got older, Aunt Jemima's matronly bottle was good company at the breakfast table and she even talked, at least in my imagination. I don't know the Morton Salt Girl's name, but she was my crush in the fictitious world of ad icons (I think it had something to do with the umbrella and the cute baby-doll dress; who walks around in the rain like that, except an adventurous little cutie?).

What's my point here? Well, we know that good storytelling is the key to good brand work and that a great advertisement will linger in your head like a good movie long after it's viewed. It's just that the telling of stories or the audiences who will hear them is more complicated or subtle than it use to be, seemingly. We don't see near as many character icons as we used to in advertising, and maybe that's a good thing. But there is a museum in Kansas City scheduled to open in 2009 that will carry the memories, at least. Long live The Doughboy!

dwell talks to Walker Art Museum About Redesign

I've never met a designer who didn't like dwell magazine's aesthetic. It's truly one of the prettiest publications out there. This interview will give you some insight as to how they accomplished their now 5-issue-old redesign. Interesting stuff.

Manifest Hope Gallery Winners

Check out the winners over at the Manifest Hope Gallery. Head over here in cyberspace to see more, or just go to the event if you can.

We didn't visit a fortune teller. We swear.

When we selected the judges last spring, we went after what we thought was the hottest up-and-coming talent. Apparently our thinking is line with Communication Arts. The soon-to-be-released September issue features not one, but two key articles on a pair of our rockstar judges. Howard Schatz and mono (starring Creative Director, Jim Larson) will be in the spotlight. Grab a copy, and then grab a seat at the show you don't want to miss, the 2008 ADCD Award Show.

Photographer Rankin featured in Special Coke Bottles

UK Coke released these bottles as a celebration of Beijing handing off the summer Olympics to London. Kind of cool, but who's going to frame a Coke bottle?

Russian Clothing

Fun ad for Russian Clothing Company Sela. Good mix of music, athletics and loose animation. If nothing else, start the recovery from the olympics.

Downtown gets Tech Upgrade

It's here, the DNC. As part of the hoopla, chack out the upgrade Invesco and Pepsi Center got: (VIA Gizmodo)

Qwest, Microsoft, Cisco, Google, AT&T, Level3, Comcast, EchoStar, Hewlett-Packard, and Symantec all teamed up to give the old venues a new digital backbone. Here's the snazzy list of upgrades:

Improvements include:

• 3,344 miles of fiber optic
• 140 miles of copper and coaxial cable
• 2,600 additional data lines
• 3,400 voice grade circuits
• New "video equipment" in both venues capable of handling 130 simultaneous feeds
• AT&T and Verizon both "upgrading coverage" in area
• And network security from Qwest, Microsoft, Cisco and Symantec

Niel Patrick Harris Follow Up

Still a big fan. Brand and person. You can see the first here.

History of Communication

Nice animation on a dry erase board (becoming more and more popular, isn't it). Beyond that, tells a fun story in an engaging way and then, pulls off the trifecta: Making something meaningful. Nice Job. Besides, who wouldn't like to be clued up. CHI & Partners, London

Choose your path - The game where YOU control my fate!

This comes from SMP Films. As far as we can tell, they did it on their own. This is what brands should be doing, telling stories in meaningful ways. Brilliant.

Watch the video, follow the choices.
(note, hit the link to actually play, it's YouTube, you have to go there.)

Bruce Mau Design at the Democratic National Convention

If you've never experienced Bruce Mau Design in some way, shape or form, I'd highly recommend checking this out. I'd also recommend the book he and the Institute Without Boundaries put together: Massive Change: A Manifesto for the Future Global Design Culture. I found the book incredibly inspiring for creative thinking in all aspects and directions.

Axe goes Girl-less

Well, more or less. Axe has always had a nice inside look on the consumer, their latest work...still so. Nice clean photography, simple message, oh and sex. I hear that sells.

Blogbot Graphic Novel Generator

Alex Dragulescu has created software to generate graphic novels by trolling the web for content. It sounds like it would be too random to relate to the design industry, but the first completed project, What I did Last Summer, is more mesmerizing than I expected. You'll have to watch at least a minute or two to really get the feel, I think.

New Mac ads. I have always believed that a proof of a good idea is how far you can take it. Maybe it's just the comic genius of John Hodgman.

New Orleans Hornets

When a professional team goes through a rrebrand, it usually doesn't hit well in the design world, with very few exceptions. I happen to take a different view. What I find interesting is how many logos within a league seem to, at some level, relate and match to eachother. Either way, any time you can bring in any bit of a concept, super. With that said, the fleur-de-lise is nice, but I am confused about the NOLA?, no idea what that is. And as the source put it, it could be worse. Their joke, not mine.

Ice Cube ABC's

Laos born Canadian photographer Kotama Bouabane does some pretty cool work. His melting word series shots suggest great stories and are just waiting for the right client/art director.

Olympics in Lego

I don't think there is much doubt about the architecture in Beijing, but now, in Lego. Freakin' Lego!

This is Animated

This is completely animated. Through a complex system where an actor comes in, essentially, get scanned, then animated. It's pretty realistic (apparently the eyes are difficult), only odd in a few places. The only question I have is why? Why spend more to animate than to shoot an actress. In the view of animation director Hayao Miyazaki, the only reason to animate is to bring something to life that is not possible through film.

Still, pretty amazing.

Tori Amos Has A Comic Book?

Pretty pictures. Check the link here.

Water Drop Sculpture

Check out the work of sculpter Héctor Serrano, and his dynamic work for Roca. while it is truly pretty, the motion of the ocean is really captivating, but, don't trust me, see it for yourself.

Reality

When beauty and horror are brought together in one image the result is often moving. What is really amazing is how he is in the middle of the action. Check out James Nachtwey photography, and come away moved.

In his own words "I have been a witness, and these pictures are my testimony. The events I have recorded should not be forgotten and must not be repeated."

Animate!

Not sure what the walk away is, other than this is Russian, drink it, berries. Oh nad it sure it pretty. AToday, that'll be enough.

Steamroller Printing at Beautiful Angle

Lance Kagey and Tom Llewellyn of Beautiful Angle in Tacoma Washington, used a steamroller to create this 3 x 4 feet broadside for a bookstore event. The result may not have been the best print, but you know the process would be fun! Check out BeautifulAngle.com to see other work and read the history of their guerilla postering project.

Anime

The idea is fun but the art direction is phenomenal. Just beautiful.

This Could Change Everything

Using Photographs to Enhance Videos of a Static Scene from pro on Vimeo.
Ignore the dry technical, non-exciting presentation and be amazed and encouraged by the software!

The Future of Interfaces

Smashing Magazine has posted 10 future user interfaces

that are pretty mind-blowing to those of us whose work is produced mainly on paper. And speaking of paper, the holographic technology used in Musion's Eyeliner 3D (in video above) would certainly take the paper fashion show to new levels; of course, it wouldn't be paper then, would it? 

New great technology is great, but I offer Khoi Vinh's perspective on the need for simplicity 

to put the new stuff to good use. Enjoy.

ESPN MNF Commercial

MNF Commercial Final
Uploaded by bsap11

It might be just because I like this commercial, and I am OK if you don't. -OR- it could purely be because of the strong keytar use and the phrase "Hammer don't hurt him."

BC Lions

Some more work for the BC Lions, from our friends up in Canada, Rethink. You may remember them, Rob Sweetman was one of those guys that helped pick the best work in Colorado. Speaking of, we have the awards to hand out in September. go to adcd.com to RSVP. What are you waiting for, go now.