Oh My! There's So Much Junk! - Inspiration 6

I found this in the June 2007 issue of HOW magazine and the first thing I thought it was was a bunch of catalogs that were put together.  But as I got closer into the message, they took junk (or direct) mail that you would normally get and put them around the letters to emphasize the point of recycling.  I like when people actually use the products in a campaign because it makes people remember much easier what the message is, which is to stop direct mail (like the junk mail shown and catalogs).  According to some of the comments about the piece, it is said the majority of mail that we get anymore is direct mail instead of letters or important packages.  Taking drastic actions (starting with this) will be the way for people to listen and I hope we do.

Pop Art Comes To Life - Inspiration 5

I found this in Communication Arts December 2004 45th Annual Advertisement Annual on pg. 69.  Now we've seen these commercials everywhere and I just absolutely fell in love with it the first time I saw it not only because it was different, but used colors very creatively to make the people and their product pop out much better (like in pop art).  Not to mention it's not just the commercials that make us want to dance, looking at these makes me want to get up and groove to get myself an iPod.  I especially like the one where they have the pink and black because it's my favorite color combination, but it makes the bracelets and the headband very interesting.  Too bad life can't all be in technicolor.

Optical Illusion - Inspiration 4

This advertisement/postcard came from Communication Arts July/August 2009, Illustration Annual for design firm, Somewhat Awesome Design.  I love optical illusions, especially the ones that trick your eye.  At first, when you look at it, you see the people in the red with the handwriting in it.  But when you look closer, you see that there are other bodies there (profiles shots of two guys -- one on each side and two girls and a guy in the middle).  It reminded me of the old lady or vase optical illusion.  Plus, everyone remembers and likes optical illusions because it makes you think, and when you think, it makes you remember them better.

Also, sorry about the small picture but somehow the file got messed up when I brought it back on the PC and it could only be read in Adobe Bridge.

Large Paper Clips and Mannequin Legs - Inspiration 3

 

This is a billboard advertisement that I found in CMYK's Fall 2007 magazine for GMail which is absolutely fantastic!  Why it's fantastic is because it take the phrase "Larger attachments." and brings the idea to life, using a huge black paper clip to emphasize the point that GMail can hold larger attachments than any other competition (probably including the billboard).  Also, the fact that it hardly uses just words is clever -- I wonder if this ad campaign had just a blank black paper clip with a blank white billboard then later revealed what the ad was for?

This is another item from the same CMYK magazine, but it's a font poster created for the font Helvetica.  What was so cool is not only how creative they were using the mannequin legs for their idea, calling the font pretty much the "slut of typeface" (where the mannequin legs come in) since, after all, the way the legs are posed could be slutty.  Plus, the message is that Helvetica is just the right font because it can be used for anything, and it's always the right size.  If you look to the side of the poster, they also show the font styles (from regular to bold) and integrating the mannequin legs heavier and heavier on the waist and thighs.