Robert Altman 1925 - 2006

A absolute legend in cinema, and particularly a more fluid and improvised approach to film making.

He directed films like The Player, Short Cuts, Mash, Pret a Porter and McCabe and Mrs Miller taht are incredibly inventive in both style and technique - I remember being dazzled by the opening scene in The Player, one long shot that weaves itself through the forecourt of a film studio to enter the producer's office through a window. And ironic to boot. A great film.

I read a quote many years ago which I try to uphold every day in my work, something like; 'How can I create something new if I can imagine it before I shoot?' He then gives the actors space to improvise around a loose script, similar in style to Mike Leigh.

A sad day.

Robert Altman 20.2.1925 - 20.11.06

Follow the Red Brick Road

The D&AD Branding Forum took place on 09 November 2006. The speakers were Jon Edge, Director, Edgey - Dana Robertson, Creative Director, Identica - Paul Hammersley, Partner, The Red Brick Road - Glenn Tutssel, Executive Creative Director, Enterprise IG.

Each speaker was given 10 mins to discuss Branding over the past 25 years and they all chose to highlight their Hero brands (Apple featured on more than one list). Jon Edge rattled through 200 slides, Glenn Tutssel concentrated on the tv advertising by the big brands like Guinness, and Dana Robertson touched upon the rise of the 'lunchtime brands' like Google and MySpace. But I was particularly impressed by Paul Hammersley. Whilst the younger speakers tried too hard to make a splash, his more stratgic view, delivered by 'the accounts guy', was measured and knowledgeable. He simply knew the subject, and I was hooked.

Paul's principle point was in making a distinction between a Brand Positioning, and a Brand taking a Position. A Positioning is relative i.e. 'we are going to make this product the cheapest on the market'. However the more successful brands take a Position, one that ignores the trends and the competition to create an emotional resonance with the customer. Innocent drinks is an example of a brand that has very clearly taken a Position and which it communicates through all the different touchpoints, from packaging and advertising to cultural behaviours.

A lesson that you don't need to shout, it's just what you say.

PS In the Q&As, someone made an interesting point about the absence of any of the tobacco brands in any of the presentations - Silk Cut, or Benson and Hedges would have made most top Brand lists 20 years ago. A Brand is of course owned by the customer, not the company, and social or political events will have the ultimate say on a Brand's longevity. I quietly applauded myself.

Shelves of food

A recent D&AD Branding discussion was held at the Museum of Brands, Packaging and Advertising in Notting Hill, a building I admit I had heard of without really registering what it was. I scooted around before the event began (the free bar would greet us at the end of the exhibits) and immediately regreted it. There are shelves upon shelves, from ceiling to floor, of packaged goods, all arranged chronologically into decades, as well as posters, toys and other merchandise. The exhibits are crammed into each glass display but not to the detriment of being able to appreciate each item - it's fascinating being able to compare so many products at a glance, and being able to understand their historical context. After all, that is how they were intended to be displayed in the shops. Well worthy of another, more considered visit.

It's been repeated many times, but I still find it interesting how the concept of a 'Brand' has evolved over the past 20 years or so. When I was scampering around at the feet of my mother, a Brand was the name of a product, generally bought from a grocery store. I always found it difficult to understand the difference between, say, Unilever the company and the products they sold such as Surf or Comfort. Surely I was buying a product from a company? So why is their logo not on the front of the box (Or why is it so small?) Don't even start when I found out the same company owned two different Brands that were competing with each other. I can now differentiate between the Business and the Brand, but the term has come to mean so much more. Services are Brands. People are Brands. Invisible or virtual products are Brands. It is a phenomenon that will continue to develop exponentially in this century as brand value and emotional kinship becomes more important to a consumer than the mere product itself. Businesses are having to find new ways of influencing consumer behaviour as the traditional one-to-many marketing channels (such as atl advertising) are losing some of their resonance - consumers are making buying decisions via 3rd party sources.

Gone are the days when a brand was a soap powder, and my brand allegiance was formed in the middle of Coronation Street.

Splash of paint

Without wishing to add to the hype surrounding Sony Bravia advertising, the sequel to the bouncing balls is now at a tv near you - and spectacular it is too.

'Paint' features a tower block in Glasgow exploding in a rainbow of colour, fired up into the sky like a firework show in daylight. A clown is seen sprinting away, the apparent culprit for the mess.

The hero is the rich colour tapestry that you would no doubt see through one of the Sony tvs. It's impressive but not to the extent I was hoping - the first explosions are a bit wimpy, and though I apppreciate the concept and the technical challenges, the end result doesn't quite live up to it. The final shot of the paint gently falling on the playground just looks too 'post production'.

The agency responsible Fallon has made great pains to communicate that the shoot was ecologically sound - the 70,000 litres of paint were environmentally friendly and non-toxic, the building was to be demolished anyway, and a team of 60 cleaners were used over 5 days to scrape the water based paint off the the swings, slides and concrete below.

'Paint's predecessor won tons of creative awards, and this one looks like its geared up to repeat the feat. It is directed by film director Jonathan Glazer, who has directed Sexy Beast with Ben Kingsley and Ray Winstone, and Birth with Nicole Kidman. He has also directed some truly inspirational music videos for Massive Attack, Jamiroquai and Unkle, and the 'Greatest British Advert of all time', the Guiness surfers.

It is also the first British ad to be broadcast in High Definition (as it should considering it is advertising HD televisions). But what is particularly interesting is that there is a microsite on the ad itself, its making, an image gallery and an area to post your comments. There are over 370 versions on YouTube alone. A Marketing Director's dream...

The shape of the BBC

At last! The new BBC one indents have begun to be broadcast from last weekend - at a reported cost of £1.2 million. The old ONE has also been replaced with more friendly, all lowercase, one that sits slightly uncomfortably next to the same BBC logo. The indents feature a variety of subjects, from swimming hippos, surfers to children playing in a meadow. They subtly echo both the 'O' of one and the old globe motif through a symbolic circle that concludes each one. They have been created by Red Bee Media.

I have to say that the tango dancers and wheelchair basketball had been irritating me for some months so this comes not a moment too soon. Unfortunately there are only eight in the new series - so I am sure it will be only a matter of weeks before I will be as bored with these as I was with the previous collection.

PS Apologies for the long wait between posts, ridiculously busy at work but that is really no excuse in the blogsphere.

The last World Cup posting - until 2010

Following on from my earlier post on the emblem for the World Cup in Germany, the logotype for the South African World Cup in 2010 has just been released. Early feedback is not fantastic - the football seems to be taken out of a different project entirely. But to me, it does seem to reflect the culture of home nation through the colours and type, even if parts of it seem a little crude. It was created by a local agency called Switch Design.

The other World Cup in Germany

Whilst the same old giants of football fight it out again, there is also a mighty battle between the sports manufacturers on the pitch, each trying to gain valuable equity with the (average) 60 million viewers per match across the world. The brand warhorses Adidas, Nike, Puma and Umbro all have a strong presence an the kits - the Puma emblem is almost as large as the Italian badge, and also appears on each shoulder. The kit design has been relatively subdued compared to recent competitions, the only real exceptions being the French away kit, and the Ukraine kit with the claw marks rising up from the shorts onto the shirts. This sense of discretion may be reflective of our fashion desires, but I suspect that it is so that there are no ugly graphics to distract us from the logotype. If it also helps us to see who is is playing, all the better.

Well, who won? Brazil (Nike) are the top box office draw, and they appeared in three of the top four viewed matches of the early rounds. The home team Germany (Adidas), against history and form, became a popular 'second' choice team with their surprisingly positive football, only to be defeated in the semi-finals. England (Umbro) underachieved again. Italy (Puma) have probably the most beautiful kit, mainly because it's worn by the uber-cool Italians. And they actually won the competition, which Puma must hope stands for something, as that oversized cat will be seen on news front pages from Equador to Australia. The battle will now just be transferred back to our high street until the next sports competition…

Celebrating Faces Of Football

Ever since I saw it for the first time in 1982 , the World Cup emblem has been an important part of the build up to the greatest sporting event in the world. It makes the event seem more tangible as it has been (literally) years since the host country was first announced - but is the cause of my butterflies in the stomach, my sweaty palms at the thought of missed penalities and opportunities. More importantly,the emblem should also be instantly recognisable worldwide whilst being a reflection of the host nation, the spirit of the only truly global sporting competition that also the brand image of FIFA, the world governing body of football.

For the 2006 World Cup, the emblem was designed by London agency Whitestone and incorporates the german flag, the date, a vision of fun and inclusivity, and the emblem of the last World Cup in Korea through the Cup itself.

The events organiser says "We wanted to whet the appetite for what will hopefully be an upbeat FIFA World Cup. Our goal was to convey, via a symbol, the incomparable emotions that can only be evoked by football."

Unfortunately, one of the worlds greatest designers, who also happens to be German, isn't impressed. "First, there are too many messages. The original brief was: we've got to fit Germany in there, then 2006, then FIFA, plus we've got to have some happy people in there, we need green for the lawn, we've got the German national colors. So there's green and black and red and yellow and happy faces and FIFA, just way too many messages. You can look at this and count the elements and it just flies in the face of effective communication." says Erik Spiekermann, founder of MetaDesign. "Don't give up your day job" is his message to the designers. Harsh words indeed.

For me, I am little disappointed and agree that there are too many elements, and the cartoon faces are a little superficial and trite. The german colours seem to be just bolted on as an after thought. Germany has a fantastic tradition in graphic design and the arts, and I guess that Spiekermann is frustrated that it doesn't follow in those fantastic footsteps. But maybe that's because it wasn't done by a German agency...

A brand to believe in

As I wandered around the Grand Design's show at ExCel last week, I realised that this TV programme on modern home follies had evolved into a fantastic brand, and that it had me hook, line and sinker.

Like Apple, it's a brand that can do little wrong in my mind, and I want a little piece of the dream it dangles in front of my 30-something nose. Hundreds of exhibitors, such as Huf House were all there to grab some of it's brand equity for their their own products and its a relationship thatseems to be beneficial to both parties.

The image of presenter Kevin McCloud hangs heavy over the event - it appears twice on the massive entrance banner alone, and on the day I attended, he was also chairing two open seminars. Grand Designs know he is critical to the brand's success, just as Chris Tarrent is to 'Who Want To Be A Millionaire', and Alan Sugar is to 'The Apprentice'. But while WWTBAM offers the ultimate dream, once you take it out of its original context of TV and it loses most of its resonance - the board game is nothing more than that. By being (a little) more obtainable and investing heavily in McCloud's charisma, the Grand Designs brand has been extended to different media, like the show and the magazine, and be made stronger and stronger.

I know little about the success of Martha Stewart's broad range of products in the US, but it's a model that is being increasingly used in the UK - the power of the celebrity. Grand Designs is not named after its charismatic presenter, but it might well as be as I am hooked.

Love at first sight

I have read a couple of Julian Barnes books, but the cover of his recent novel 'Arthur and George' was enough for me to buy it - a lovely sense of English nostalgia through the illustrations by Bill Sanderson and Richard Allen, the colour and fabric of the cover, and the type (though a design friend thought the typesetting inside was nothing special - jon, you're a philistine).

Bouncing fruit

I have just seen this viral by Tango - the ad is impressive in itself, but the website is so close to the line, you're not sure what you are reading. Its just the occasional slice of copy (the Swansea North Yodelling Club, the 14 children of the Vice President) that eventually persuade you it's a fake.

There is a short feature in June 2006's Creative Review describing the shoot - they obtained the blessing of the creative team at Fallon who did the original Sony Bravia spot, and Jose González who supplied the music.

Though the Sony Bravia ad has just won two Silver D&AD awards, an ad is not really deemed a success unless its been spoofed. This is a good un.

Hitting the right note

Whilst reading my regular copy of Time Out, the city listings guide, my eyes were drawn to a full page advert for Ronnie Scotts Jazz Club and their listings of bookings for the next month or so. The irregular boxes of different but similar colours reminded me of the great Blue Note album covers - it transpires that Ronnie Scotts has a new brand identity, designed by Bloom Design.

The logo contains a drawing of Ronnie Scott himself playing the saxaphone, in deference to the world renowned figurehead who ran the club until he died in 1996. It successfully brings together the iconic cool of those striking covers by Reid Miles with a more contemporary visual interpretation of jazz (though I am not completely in love with the illustration - it has a tentative foot in both figurative or graphic camps without being committed either way).

I have often meant to go, but never have - I was repeatedly told that the food didn't live up to the quality of the music. I hope that this new Brand Identity does.

SOCA visual identity

I am a bit late to this (as usual), but the British goverment has created a new department called SOCA - Serious Organised Crime Agency. There is more than a little of our American friends in this - not just in name and purpose, but in visual style as well. The identity and website has come straight out of Mission Impossible, and I mean the first film - all quasi-futuristic fonts, drop shadows, gloobe iconography and metal skins. I can see Tom Cruise franticly trying to crack the password to access SOCA's high security data. To show it means business and is truly 'serious', the brand guys felt the need to quite literally show their teeth, but instead it looks like it's come out of hollywood. It has become a pastiche of a covert goverment agency, straight from a videogame.

I believe that any criticsm of other creative work on this Blog should aim to be as objective as possible. This will no doubt prove difficult when I will probably have no information on the brief, and therefore little sense of context. Equally, I do not want to use this as an excuse for not offering an opinion. Sometimes this may also prove to be a hard position to adopt.

Vodafone in 3d

Vodafone have amended their Brandmark - its more of a tweak than a wholesale change, but as seems to be the trend increasingly nowadays, Vodafone have gone 3d. Look at UPS. A simple graphic logo has been re-designed with high and lowlights. Is it that flat is boring, and having a suggestion of depth is modern?

Some of the feedback I have read has been quite dismissive of the trend. 'There has been little consideration for all the forms of reproduction' is a common criticsm. See SonyEricsson. Or 3. I don't completely share this view - new communication  channels have created new opportunities for brand expression whilst some older forms will eventually become extinct. For example, the quality of print reproduction has improved considerably over the past 40 years, as has the means of realising identity programmes. As society's visual terms of reference change, brand identities will change in tandem, maximising the potential of these new developments.

This place stinks

My great mate Jo at BBDO has produced an ad spot for Airwaves - fantastic as always. It uses the existing strapline 'Come to your senses', and features a little martian fella who imagines what life will really be like on planet earth. How true...

It made me laugh - on your tv screens today.

iLess is iMore

I might be a bit late on this one, but here is a great parody illustrating the fundamental differences between the Apple and Microsoft brands.

It shows how Microsoft would design and package an iPod box. So true.

Beastie film

In a great from of consumer empowerment, the Beastie Boys gave a load of camera to fans at their concert, Madison Gardens I think, with the brief to capture the concert as it meant to them, and to record what they saw. The resulting footage was edited into a film "Awesome, I Fucking Shot That!"

Great idea - look forward to seeing the result.

The other Cezanne in my life

The family have just got back from a long weekend in Paris - all three of us - and an amazing time was had by all. Particularly Agnes, as she was up each night till gone eleven. Suzanne and I were shattered.

Paris is an amazing city, around every corner there is something beautiful and exciting to discover (a cliche is a cliche cos it's true). It's also so compact we walked everywhere from our base in the Marais district and didn't need to take the metro once (just as well, cos the bugaboo wouldn't have got down there).

The highlight had to be the Musee D'Orsay which, to my shame, I had never been to before. The giant space in the centre draws comparisons to the the Tate Modern, but the integration of all the other work is so much more successful. Of course, it helps that there is an Ingres scattered here and a Monet dotted there, but the juxtoposition of the contemporary and history of the architecture is breathtaking.

There is a temporary exhibition of Cezanne and Pisarro which is just drawing to a close. My A-Level Art teacher worshipped Cezanne and he often brought out a well thumbed monogram, describing the application of the paint to fruit within his still-lifes. This exhibition brought the memories back, and I realised with a jolt the inspiration he has provided, particularly through his approach to painting - to me he sacrifices figurative detail for a broad, holistic vision. And there is so much energy in his work, and possibly frustration in the application of the paint that i recognise.

Probably my first creative hero, and though I don't think of his work very often, his shadow looms large over me still.

You copycat

According to Brand Republic, the band Groovecutters is claiming the latest ad for French Connection is a rip-off the video for their top 40 hit 'We Close Our Eyes'.

Appropriation vs Inspiration vs Skulduggery tends to be rather a subjective topic in design and advertising circles, but it seems there can be no claims of innocence here as they used the same models. And choreography. And editing. AND DIRECTOR!

This is different to the dispute about the dancing man in the Guiness ad. Relatively unknown Norwegian film director Mehdi Norowzian claimed he approached Guinness or the Agency with an idea for a spot, which was rejected but then produced. He went to court, and lost, having to pay costs of £200,000. Or the Swiss artists who claim the genius Honda ad by Wieden & Kennedy was a rip off of their short film 'Der Lauf Der Dinge'.

This video however, would have been shown on MTV, terrestrial tv and all across Europe - surely it was inevitable that someone would have seen the two and made a link. If you are going to be 'inspired' by some other cultural icon at least let a comfortable period elapse, so it will seen with something approaching fresh eyes. But the same director? PURlease...

PS We Close our Eyes was originally a hit for Go West - the first band I saw in concert, at the Hammersmith Apollo as it is now known, in about 1987. When synths in the shape of guitars ruled the world.

A real life Homer

The Simpsons opening credits have been painstakingly reinacted by actors in an exact frame-by-frame real life version - go here.

I think its a viral promo by Sky who hold most of the broadcasting rights in the UK.

Great fun.

Brand extensions

In December last year, TippingSprung produced their Second Annual Brand-Extension Survey. From a survey of 27,000 marketing professionals, Iams Pet Insurance was voted overall winner. Harley-Davidson cake decoration kits (!) was voted worst. The brand from which most respondents would like to see extensions was Apple.

Here in the UK, Heinz has moved into other tomato based products - from beans, soups and condiments they now produce canned tomatoes. To me, that seems a logical extension as they completely own the red 'fruit' in a can. And am I right in saying that I have seen Heinz pizzas? Again, a good extension though they make difficulty dislodging anything Italian.

But I have always had a difficulty with Porsche and their Cayenne model and BMW, to a lesser extent, with their X3 model. You just can't have sporty and 4x4 in one brand and be believable.

Apple is a great brand, with such a loyal customer base they could enter into many things and be successful. I for one would buy their garden hose. Or eggcup.

DBA Design Effectiveness Winner

I have just seen the overall winner for the DBA Design Effectiveness Awards - a series of posters by Lucid for the National Patient Safety Agency. These awards are based on success by delivering to the clients bottom line - this campaign delivered a 241% increase in hand hygiene. Whatever the statistics, it neatly represents two of the principle things that I really value in a design solution; a great idea, implemented well.

Selling illustration to clients

I had someone from NB Illustration come into the agency this afternoon to show the studio their book. Everytime we have an illustrator or agent come and visit, we all come away feeling inspired and reinvigorated.

I always talk about the challenge of selling illustration into clients, and that I feel they often really need to see what they are going to get from the off. It's the banana story - you can have a portfolio full of drawings of different fruit, but if the client wants a banana, and there isn't a banana, well, we just can't take it any further. This takes away the magic that illustration brings to the project, the fresh interpretation of the brief. However I still feel that its up to me, as a Creative Director, to do a better job if I am to do more work with the many excellent illustrators out there.

There were so much great stuff in there, but I was drawn back to the Linocuts by Ian Phillips. Generally, I seem to be drawn to the graphic and digital work, so maybe this was a reaction against this, to the more tactile and nostalgic. It reminded me of an Adnams beer campaign. The subject matter really suits that style, lazy walks on a British beach. In the rain.

My blogging inspiration

I would like to give a quick shout to American Copywriter.

I don't know if those of us on this side of the Atlantic have been slow to pick up on the podcast and blogging thing (but when we do, we go for it, see; Ricky Gervais), but I cam across their podcast last year and these two ad men have entertained and informed me ever since.

I guess I am going to follow their lead and probably pass on some of their mutterings, whilst adding a few incoherent of my own. I am only clinging onto their Superbowl references...

But check out their blog and podcast (itunes etc) - always got something to say worth listening to.

Bloggin hell...

Ok, after quite a few days of hell in trying to set this thing up, I can at last post my first blog. I tried to point it at some free web space I have, but it kept giving me error messages and not letting me ftp changes, so I have given up and am using Blogger's free space.

I (eventually) intend to put it all on a new domain name, hosted elsewhere, but one baby step at a time. After all, this is all new to me.

My name is Ryan Sales. I am a Creative Director of a graphic design agency in London, and hope to use this Blog as a vehicle to talk about various design, advertising, branding, but at the very least cultural topics that catch my eye. And from this I hope to get comments and reactions to what I say, and equally hope to improve my own understanding of the visual environment I live within.

I must admit, its going to be strange, as I am not used to writing about myself, in this form - the most I ever write nowadays is when writing a rationale on my work, or trying to defend, in an email, why I have changed the colour of their logo. Just joshing.

It's now late on Tuesday night after watching Chelsea wimper out of the Champions League, and so I am going to cut this, my first post, a bit short. I intend to post at least once a week, but I will see how it goes.

Hope to read some interesting posts from the rest of the world, and relay anything relevant to me to a load of different people. Should be fun.