“Hands” tries to give Honda a hand

Hondas sales figures have’t been so good lately, and coincidentally, the Honda I was driving finally had enough and gave up. But this impressive showing from Weiden + Kennedy London proves that unlike my car, Honda still has some breath. Beautifully creative with strong reference stylistically to the classic honda spots like Cog.

Nice to see Honda still fighting.

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The naming of products is a difficult matter. Or is it? Just look at the typefaces!

 

There is a time and a place for every typeface. Yes, even Comic Sans. But that doesn’t mean that there aren’t typefaces that I despise with a passion. For many, it’s Comic Sans.  So much so, that there are entire websites like Ban Comic Sans dedicated to it’s atrocities. I don’t personally mind Comic Sans that much. My ‘Comic Sans’, if you will, is the typeface Giddy Up. Something about the fake cowboy motif and the stars just kind of irks me. I realize there’s a time and a place where it works as display type, but I hope I’m never around for that time or that place. Which led me to be completely floored when I came across this:

The Giddy Up & Go granola from Thoughtful Foods was pretty good. But I can’t figure out what happened with the name! How does a product end up with the same name as the prominent typeface that’s used on it’s packaging?!? There are two possible scenarios that I was able to come up with:

Scenario #1:

“Our product is called Giddy Up & Go granola. What typeface should we use for our packaging?”

“Oh hey! Look! There’s an awesome typeface that has the same name as our Granola!”

“We should use that! And be sure to put a drop shadow on it too!”

or

Scenario #2: We have this product, but we can’t figure out what to call it. We have these typefaces that we like for the packaging.

“Ooh! I like that swirly typeface… what’s it called?”

“It’s called Giddy Up.”

“That’s a great name! Lets call it “Giddy Up Granola!” and give it a drop shadow!”

I’m flabbergasted and dumbfounded. How does this happen? And why did it need that drop shadow on top of it all? The food might be ‘Thoughtful” but I’m not convinced the design is.

Why does Australia have the craziest beer commercials?

So as some of you know, I had a short internship doing work for AB, i.e. Anheuser Busch… aka, Bud. I worked on some pretty extreme, pretty intense beer commercials. but I’m not sure that any really came close to this gem:

wow. The Aussies always have some good beer spots. but this spot for Hahn SuperDry might take the cake.

And an insider (and beer geek’s) tip: when a brewing company spends more on advertising than making the beer, I usually pass.

That being said, I’d love a ferret that could hand-cap my brews.

The Beastie Boys have produced an Epic

An epic in the most traditional sense.

Revisiting the classic “Fight for Your Right” music video and picking up where it left off, the Beasties have produced a 20+ minute long star-studded epic. Danny McBride as MCA, Elijah Wood as Ad Rock and Seth Rogan as Mike D, it’s hard to imagine it gets better. But it does. They battle their future selves, played by John C Riley, Will Ferrel and Jack Black…

and the list of cameos is shocking: Rainn Wilson, Rashida Jones, Jason Schwartzman, Ted Danson, Steve Buscemi, Stanley Tucci, Susan Sarandon, Chloë Sevigny, Will Arnett,  Zach Galifianakis, Orlando Bloom, Amy Poehler, Alicia Silverstone, Maya Rudolph, David Cross, Kirsten Dunst and Laura Dern. Wow.

The short film is full of reverences to previous videos, song lyrics, and random tidbits of the Beastie Boys long and colorful history. Pretty awesome.

In an official statement, the video is hailed for “finally [revealing] the epic tale featuring Beastie Boys of the past, present and future for the world to see. The tale, of course, is the 1987 saga involving the fighting of one’s God-given right to party.”

Sheer brilliance while self-analyzing themselves. About what I’d expect. As soon as I find a full-length stable video, I’ll throw it up here. It’s played a few places/times, but the official release is tomorrow, Saturday 4/23 at 10:30 Eastern at the Beastie Boys website.

The Details can make the difference: Widmer Bros.

The focus of everything (relatively, of course) is become increasingly content and production-centric. Blog posts, facebook wall updates, new product launches, new campaigns, etc. etc. Content production is great and all, but when the content itself starts to lack, then what good is it?

I’m constantly surprised and disappointed by the lack of quality, finesse, and attention to detail that some cool ideas/products/people are receiving. Content just for the sake of content, regardless of polish, isn’t always a good thing. Sometimes paying close attention to minute details can make a world of difference. Take this example from Widmer Bros. Brewing Co. in Portland. The product itself is the beer, and sure, they made some decent labels to package it. But the real attention to detail is the unique and rotating “prost” printed under each and every cap.

(click the image for hi-res, CC licensed)

That kind of detail is what works toward better product recognition, better name recognition, and just an all-around better product. In a time when everyone is spewing anything and everything across the world via twitter, facebook, YouTube, and even eBay, Etsy, and other retail outlets – even extending to the local grocery store, it’s nice to see some people still taking the time to look at each and every detail. Although Widmer was paying attention to the details several years ago when they re-designed their UPC Codes. Its good to see they still pay attention.

“Lapin”: proof that simplicity can still kick ass

Whoah. Action on Questioning Reality. I feel like I’ve entered another dimension. Or maybe a past one…

Either way, eight months is entirely too long for this blog to go un-tended. And while I can’t guarantee anything new will come of this revisitation, a career change, a location change, and a mentality change may be just what this blog needs to get back into the swing of things. And on that note, I present you with “Lapin” (which is french for “rabbit,” in case you were wondering):

I’ve been a longtime fan of Kuntzel+Deygas… and their footwear collaboration with Lacoste I wrote about eons ago blew me a way. They did the title sequence to Catch Me If You Can (yeah, the one with Leo), and there’s something about their visual dynamic, style, and simplicity that I’ve always been drawn to, hence my undying love for Caperino and Peperone.

There’s just something so simplistically enjoyable about this rabbit clip that I can’t quite put my finger on, but that’s okay, because I love it. And it’s proof that things don’t always have to be crazy. Yeah, a million bouncing balls or a giant King mask are cool, but a simple pencil and paper drawing can be even better.

 

Now I want a new pair of Nike Frees

Sometimes, I see stuff that just blows my mind. This is one of those things:

W+K Tokyo gathered up Japanese DJ duo Hifana and got Tomoaki Yanagisawa from 4nchor5 la6 to rig up the shoes, which have flexible accelerometers wired through ’em, and Daito Manabe did the sound programming. The result? Awesomeness.

Some more crazy behind-the-scenes photos are over at Daito’s site here.  Now I want to go get a new pair of Nike Frees. That, and some of those orange-box speakers!

[via hypebeast]