These are the idle ramblings of Matthew Watts, Creative Director. I'll mostly be writing about digital advertising, however as this is my blog I'll be writing, pretty much, about anything that interests me...
INSIDE OUT is a large-scale participatory art project that transforms messages of personal identity into pieces of artistic work. Upload a portrait. Receive a poster. Paste it for the world to see.
http://www.insideoutproject.net/
The end of car crashes?
Thursday, March 03, 2011
Competition is really warming up in Master Chef
The action-packed trailer we produced to promote the Peugeot UK Envy Whodunnit? game has arrived! Check it out below and don't forget to play the game itself at http://on.fb.me/eNYRe2
Win a Peugeot 207 Envy | Play Whodunnit?
Four suspects. One car. Solve the mystery and you could win a Peugeot 207 Envy. Play Whodunnit? now on the Peugeot UK Facebook page. http://www.facebook.com/peugeotuk
Interesting that the article I learned about this ad from, says... When advertising is so ground-breaking that consumers can't spot the brand, something isn't working... but for me, Levi's have been clever enough to get someone to write an article about them...so it's still advertising, it's just not traditional advertising.
Even more projection mapping... this time from H&M to announce the opening of a new store
Google goggles
Friday, November 19, 2010
yep... you look like....
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
More projection mapping...
Looks like projection mapping is the latest thing...
Monday, November 15, 2010
Yes! to Skoda's new TV ad, a great counter to their first 'cake' ad
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Monday, September 27, 2010
Monday, September 13, 2010
A new way to read a book from digital maestro Stephen Fry...
Friday, September 03, 2010
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
We are all fans, a site for the Grammy's... takes all the social content generated around an artist and pops them into this visual interface... ttp://www.wereallfans.comh
Not massively into the Klaxons, however love their new album cover!
Worth the wait... and believe me there is along wait (html5 etc etc), but this beautiful, interactive film announces the launch of Arcade Fire's new track 'we used to wait'... http://www.thewildernessdowntown.com
I am always it cautious about celebrating the creativity in charity ads, just because in theory it should be easy to do great work as they have something genuine to talk about... anyhow, I just think that this one has been shot really beautifully an deserves recognition of that...
SO another big step forward in the real world / digital world mix.. this time from NIKE78.
NIKE 78 is a competition whereby NIKE have asked creative types to take a pair of their trainers and 'challenge the[ir] function'... this is interesting but not my point. The point is in this video submission...
I walked into my local Tesco garage last night... and was confronted by this sign.
I couldn't help ask myself - In what way are Tesco an official sponsor of the World Cup?? Are they going to send poor quality sandwiches to our boys in SA. Don't think so.
Or, as I looked closer, are they just saying that they are officially a supermarket?? Something we've know for some time. Either way, very, very flakey.
I tried my hardest not to like this but... damn it, I can't help myself!
it's YouTube's 5th birthday today... and here's the first posted video... not very profound, hardly a 'That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.' moment!
Always like a bit of digital taken into the real world... however I wonder, (a thought sparked off by the urban grime tune in the background), have they considered the gang land street divides? Wouldn't want to run through another gang's patch only to get shanked.
Someone asked me last night, whether or not I was going to get an iPad... and to be honest I hadn't given it much thought, sure they look great and there's a tonne of stuff you can do with them, they will be a paradigm shift for how we entertain ourselves, learn and communicate etc, but I got a fuck load of other things to spend my cash on at the moment... however after seeing this the answer is Yes, Yes, Yes!
Monday, April 12, 2010
Why is it that when you're waiting at a bus stop, nothing comes along for ages and along come 3... we've al heard/said this before. Well last night I saw no fewer that 17 buses... yes 17 buses, (albeit not all the same number)
Friday, April 09, 2010
He could be a self serving showman, but no one could doubt his creative flare and drive which had a massive impact on music, fashion and uk culture not to mention me as a small kid brought up in the tedium of the home counties.... Malcolm Maclaren.
It is good that Nike are staying with Tiger after all of his craziness, but I think that this ad will only be regarded a success if Tiger goes on to win the open or at least finish in a top spot...
This is bloody brilliant... attach an image, video, comment to any product that has a bar code on it for others to see and add to.
Now, the activist in me thinks that this would be a great way of bombing unethical products, alerting potential customers to the origins and production cycle of environmentally damaging items.
Or alternatively, the socialist in me would say that this would be a great way for the government to attach health ratings to food items for example.
Or even, the advertiser in me would attach freebies, branded content, details of provenance, etc to the product. Anything that would enhance a products appeal beyond what it's specific benefit/purpose is.
I know we've all seen this sort of thing before - Fischli and Weiss, Der Lauf Der Dinge (The Way Things Go) video 1987 and the Honda ad, in 2003 but this really has taken it up a level - the synchronisation of audio with the flow of events, not to mention the camera work and direction is brilliant...
Dubsteppers, dust + blackdown keeping me going today...
The Tate stays fresh... getting Tiny Tempah to talk about Chris Ofili's new work
Lovely little interactive piece from Julien Vallee and Nicolas Burrows... Dansedance.com
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Last night I was at the National Gallery Christmas party (and jolly nice it was too), I couldn't help notice that not all attendees were having such a great time...
I was at the National Gallery last night and saw this ice sculpture outside the main entrance on Trafalgar Square. The sculpture is in the shape of a polar bear and as it thaws it reveals the underlying skeleton of this endangered animal.
I think the sculpture, sponsored by the WWF and M&S, is a simple but very powerful way of getting the message across regarding climate change and global warming.
While at college, I spent an enormous amount of time in the canteen, drinking piss poor coffee from polystyrene cups, which is why I love this so much...
I've working on a brief for an energy company this week. As with most energy companies they are looking to improve their green credentials, so I've been doing the usual research and found this...
Stick words in the mouths of those sneaky politicians for once... simply brilliant. Done by Lean Mean Fighting Machine.
http://www.leanmeanfightingmachine.co.uk
Monday, September 28, 2009
More inspiration from Youtube auteurs... this time a magic sketch book
Friday, September 25, 2009
Youtube interactivity taken to the next level...
This is amazing...
What the....?
Thursday, August 20, 2009
oh man... i gotta get me one
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Been watching this on telly and thing that it is the best thing on at the moment...
Thursday, August 06, 2009
Really like the way this campaign, by AMV, cleverly uses Youtube to allow you to choose the direction of this story... obviously most people will choose the route that sees the bloke get shanked up, but I suppose that's the point...
Wednesday, August 05, 2009
Quote of the day... Paul McGann, (Withnail and I) was interviewed in the Guardian and was asked 'What's the best advice anyone ever gave you?' He replied, 'Bruce Robinson once said to me that the only publicity you'll need is good work'
A genuinely good use of AR...
Monday, July 27, 2009
Really like this Nike 'campaign' that allows you upload an inspirational message and then sprays the message on the roads of the Tour De France. For me the charm of this idea is in the fact that the digital world is used to affect the real world.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
A brilliant parody of the current craze for knife crime... humour can be a great way of highlighting the absurdity of something so serious.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
To celebrate the lunar landing (or conspiracy, depending on what you believe)... Here’s my top 10 space songs...
Space Oddity - David Bowie http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D67kmFzSh_o
Rocket Man - Elton John http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzrKlEtxTx4
Max Romeo - Chase the devil http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N505JczoEGI
Creedence - Bad Moon Rising http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYnySGM9dQA
Police - Walking on the Moon http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Jg0GUS_B-E
Photek - Rings Around Saturn http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tiYrYUc5zCk
Another Girl, Another Planet,” the Only Ones http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3vd6lL_uec
Fly Me to the Moon”—Frank Sinatra http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znjEVqSmUSE
Planet of Sound - The Pixies http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAAmYe6Qfd0
And if you don’t like those then...
Monday, July 20, 2009
In this instance, I would say that sticky tape matters...
(took this at the Lambeth County Fair on Saturday)
Friday, July 10, 2009
I recently came across this video from Sour, for their track 'Hibi no neiro' - they have used the same technique as Mike Figgis did in Time Code. However they have used their own fans as the 'cast' and the whole thing has been cut from web cam movies... there's no dialogue or story as such, it's just a well executed visual feast... (persevere with it, it's a bit boring until 1.30 mins)
Monday, July 06, 2009
Last Tuesday I had the pleasure of attending a Q&A session with British director MIke Figgis, courtesy of Creative Social London.
Hosted at the Dare offices, we were originally meant to be spending the evening with Art Malik, who unfortunately couldn't make it along. In his place, thanks to some swift string pulling by , Mike Figgis agreed to come instead - and what a treat it was.
Mike talked of the highs and lows of trying to get ideas through, especially in the money oriented world of Hollywood. He talked of how he battled his ideas through in the face of mediocrity, the enemies he made in being so adamant about his vision, but ultimately the quality of the final product when he did stick to his guns.
He also talked in detail of his film Time Code. Originally conceived as a personal creative project, the film took on bigger proportions when a chance meeting with a major studio gave access to a large budget. Time Code was simultaneously shot on four cameras. Four actors were given their scripts on a musical score and then had to, in isolation of each other, act out their respective pieces. The film was shot in real time so that once the cameras started to role the they didn't tope until the end of the movie.
It really is a masterpiece... here's the trailer
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
Charming, honest and humble, there’s nothing like a bit of hand drawn typography … I saw this sign in a local dry cleaners… be sure to look closely at the spelling of some items…
Walking through the office I came across this radical and subversive piece of installation art… or was it just something the cleaners left behind?
