Flashy Illustration

I like the tree. I like the lines that wander--a little bit unexpectedly--up and down the trunk and the branches. I like the illustration's feeling of design agency, Motto's web site.

That said, this web site is not the easiest to navigate... but I still love the feeling of simplicity. I like the bird that hops about on the branch. I am not sure about those Union Jacks that sit on the tips of each branch... what do they mean? Sometimes they hide the text that appears next to it. They are part of the nav, of course. Maybe not the most user-friendly, but certainly nice to look at. It reminds me of a book I read, when I was a kid in French school: Le Petit Prince.

Tequila!

Who would create a big hoax and then flaunt it, in the face of adversity? Well, this Madison Avenue design shop, for one. Tequila, also located in 35 countries, boasts a glossy, A-list client roster with such big names as Adidas, Canon, Nissan, and Visa, among others.

Their latest campaign for Sony PlayStation, draws users into their interactive advertising "game" by making reference to the devastating 2004 tsunami that took place in SouthEast Asia, killing more than 225,000 people and destroying the lives of many of those left behind. My initial reaction was to balk at such a tactic. Is this the only way in which to grab peoples' attention, in a world that seeks to trump each adrenaline rush with the next, in order to grab the market's attention, if only for a fleeting moment? Perhaps it is. Or perhaps they've gone over the acceptable edge of shock value? You be the judge.

I have to compliment them on their web site's great interface design... I love the way they've made it so you zoom in and out of outter space/their offices. That is very fun.

Free Range... Humans?

While we're on a national health awareness kick, why not make a pit-stop at this award-winning UK design shop called "us", for some free range human? Too much skin, you say? well how about other ideas that push the envelope just a wee bit further over the edge of societal conformity, such as tee-shirts that don't require laundry detergent to wash, or portraits that toggle between hairless, naked people and their hairy, clothed alter egos?

Designers at Work

I was so impressed by the trendy Belgian ad agency, LG&F, that want to write about them a little more. Their site, while entirely professional (okay, there are perhaps too many pop-up windows), is a delight to visit, and made me laugh. In particular, I enjoyed the various versions of their "About" page (reading of text is required, here).

Being a Flash site, I'm unable to link to the actual page in question, only their main section. This humble group has a strong portfolio, and an even stronger sense of play.

Perception is Everything

Have you been feeling "blah", lately? Winter got you down? Do you need an image boost? Well, no fear: A series of entertaining cartoon graphics have been circulating around the internet, lately, and are credited to trendy Euro ad agency, LG&F in Brussels, for their client, Oogmerk, an optician in the Netherlands.

These illustrations demonstrate with clever cartoons, what glasses can do for one's image. Some artist has prepared a "before" and "after" -styled series of caricatures, that depict what some might label unsavoury characters... the only difference is that in the "after" photo, the character wears glasses. And voila... style and sophistication abound!

So, Four-Eyes it is, for the fashionably astute. It's nice to know that there is room at the top (of fashion), for when our precious eye sight fails us... let's hope the trend lasts!