Pensacola Beach was swarming with news vans equipped with satellite hook-ups and parking passes this afternoon. I’d say it was a little sensational, as the crowds at the Dock ‘oohhhhed & aahhhhed’ at themselves on live TV being played back through the tv set up in the Dock bar. No oil to report, just watched everyone watch themselves. I decided to head west to Ft. Pikens to snoop around/soak up the beach. I went for 1/2 mile walk then turned back to find this:
If you can, head out there now. Enjoy it while you can, then concentrate on BP.
This is a bit of a design nerd post, but I just realized that the new movie Avatar that was just released uses the font Papyrus for the main title. Now I know that’s not exactly amazing news to the rest of the world, but to designers it is a major embarrassment. I remember seeing this font all over the place before I went to college. I wondered why everyone used it and used it poorly. Well, it is a font that comes standard on most computers purchased today. Anytime someone tries to save a penny designing something on their own they go to this font because it looks different and artsy. But to any trained designer it is a terrible crutch, not original in the least bit. I pride myself on font selec5tion and have over 40,000 of the suckers. They are expensive and similar to a carpenter’s tools. Would you expect a trained carpenter to build your deck with “My First Craftsmen” tool set from Tonka? NO… Guess they spent too much money on effects. Rant over….
As the creative director for BPM Multimedia I get to work with a diverse group of clients developing a variety of products. One of those clients is the National Flight Academy.
We are the agency of record for the NFA which is poised to be the world’s premier education experience where the wonder of flight launches young adults’ passion for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM). The 7th-12th grade students attending the NFA will spend 5 ½ days in an immersive, aviation-based learning environment reaching beyond the traditional academic experience. And it will be located right here in Pensacola Florida. Finally, we get one up on Mobile, Alabama. I designed and worked on the National Flight Academy website and I am proud to say that it won a Gold ADDY® Award and qualified for the national ADDY awards in Washington, D.C. Very exciting to say the least.
The NFA is the latest major endeavor of the Pensacola-based Naval Aviation Museum Foundation. To date, the funding for construction of the NFA has been secured through a successful capital campaign. The website is one component in securing the final funds necessary to outfit the facility and ensure it is a world-class experience for all who attend. Construction is expected to begin later this year with the facility scheduled to open in May of 2011.
Take a look and let me know what you think:
I also won a few other awards at the Addy’s this year. Here are the awards and the work:
My mother turned 52 years old on the 16th of April. My dad got pretty lucky marrying this one, as he’s well into his 80′s…Here’s the painting/gift. Let me know when it hits ebay.
I always wondered what the marketing firms behind these sorts of commercials were telling their clients (owners of the company advertising) to convince them of doing something like this. It has something to do with an over-saturated market. We’ve all seen the snickers bar flying into a whirlpool of molten chocolate, the perfect burger, or the sautéed shrimp flying around in a hot pan. That sort of thing works for a while until you’ve seen it thousands of times. Eventually you’re not really sure whose candy bar or shrimp that is. I can’t remember the last typical burger commercial I saw, but I remember that Paris Hilton burger commercial. That’s the point right? For me to remember… That’s the idea behind viral internet marketing. It normally engages the potential consumer for a much longer time that a typical commercial, the consumer can go back as many or as few times as they like, and it leaves the consumer with a good “not been sold” feeling, which people inevitably want to share with others. They may not go out and buy your brand new product, but it works wonders for companies that are having an identity disconnect. Instead of making someone think they have to have something, these ad campaigns make them like and laugh at something. I have yet to meet someone who doesn’t like to laugh.
Here are 2 great examples of commercials that really say nothing about the product they advertise other than it exists.
This commercial got 1,710,068 hits on youtube.
This commercial got 3,258,780 hits on youtube. I overheard someone say that they would never wear Rayban Sunglasses but thought so much more of the company after seeing this commercial, which does everything other than take itself seriously. Though it doesn’t equate to $120.00 sunglasses sale, it still has a major value.
I know I said 2 commercials, but after bringing up the Paris Hilton commercial, I must show it.
Let’s see how many hits this thing got on youtube. Well, not as impressive as the others, but collectively hitting around 1.5 million hits.
