Love is in the air

It seems that no stone has been left unturned in the pursuit to make a penny or two out of the imminent Royal Wedding.
Today I've seen Kate and Wills themed fridges and these delightfully thoughtful pocket sized gifts... royal wedding condoms.
To quote the manufacturers who have got a wonderful way with words:
"Like a Royal Wedding, intercourse with a loved one is an unforgettable occasion".
So stock up and think of England as they say.
Grim.

Inventors of the world unite

Now THIS is a good idea.
I'll bet all those busy busy business guys frantically trying to cram all their work into the few hours that there are in a day whilst ALSO trying to squeeze in time to scoff a delicious sandwich have been crying out for this very object.
It beats the banana holder and the battery operated scissors hands down.
If I can locate a very important business type wearing the sandwich holder amid a manic day of deal clinching, I'll be very pleased indeed.

There's nothing quite like the sound of a typewriter

I love this piece of work and I'm so glad that I discovered such a subtle guerrilla gem because it's reminded me that for all the fancy pants 3-D, secret mobile phone codes, tagging and whatnot sometimes the best stuff is really the lovely simple stuff centred around a sincere message.
Of course I accept that we have to move with the times and therefore technology is a very important factor in the world of media and especially brand experiences but I always have that slight niggle in the back of my mind when I see those posters that you have to wave your phone in front of in order to see 'exclusive stuff' that's asking me "do people really buy into this stuff"?
I guess they must do, otherwise why would brands continue to do it?
Anyway I'm probably just being a luddite who will start all my sentences with "when i was young we didn't have... blah blah blah" so I should shut up now.

So yes, back to the subject at hand and I just wanted to post this because for me it's a highly effective, personal and inspiring piece of guerrilla marketing for a brand that we know don't exactly have buckets of cash to spend.
In fact I know that the beautiful shutter artwork pieces that Mother did for Penguin Books not so long ago. was paid for in books instead of cash. Who says advertisers are only in it for the money?
Regarding the typewriter campaign I'm not sure of the coverage they got in terms of hitting physical stores but it's obviously caught the imagination of the online community so either way it's done the job perfectly.
So all together now: long live the book worms!

If my bank were a living breathing bank...

... I'd like it to look like this one. (I'm with First Direct so thankfully I don't have to deal with the grey 80s-ness of British banks)

Pretty incredible isn't it?
This is first-ever, bank concept store for BNP Paribas in Paris, created by Paris-based architect Fabrice Ausset of Zoevox.
It has everything you may have ever dreamed and I suspect quite a lot more given than all most people want from their bank is less queues, more smiles and perhaps a slightly bigger overdraft.

High hopes

Sometimes it takes a small sticker to make a big wish.

The simple fill-in-the-blank stickers are created by artist/designer Candy Chang to help citizens in New Orleans express and share their thoughts on their community.

Stickers are free and can be found in corner stores, cafes, bookstores, bars, hair salons, and other places around New Orleans.

Another merry Christmas message...

If it's true and the guy responsible for this had really downed a couple of bottles of whiskey then I am very impressed indeed that he managed to figure out how the heck to do this.
This unemployed Santa is a Christmas comedy movie waiting to happen.

Best quote from the festive onlookers:
“Honestly, I am disgusted, I was with my grandchildren. We had just gotten off the bus. I said ‘look everybody’ and pointed up to the lights – but you know what the lights said? They said f**k off. And that is not an appropriate message for a child. At least not at Christmas time.”

This is why I don't like the fashion industry

What a load of morons fashion people can be.
I assume this was all about irony and having a sense of humour but I think this is just grim and tasteless.
On the other hand I'm very surprised that a massive company like Selfridges who I would imagine have stupidly boring rules and regulations about everything even had the guts to show something like this.
In case you can't see from the image above they decided to HANG a piece from their currently Mcqueen collection as some form of eye-catching window display.

Shoe thing

OK so I thought I had a good eye for fashion and at times managed to carve out my own 'look'. After seeing these shoes and a bunch of other very special designs my own personal style is about as exciting as that of David Cameron.
Pah.
For inspiration, laughs, confusion or to merely fill five minutes of your life I suggest you check out this
list of the top twenty weirdest shoes

And on that note

I realised how much I like animated gifs - especially ones that look really nice.
That's all I have to say.

Just mucking about

I seem to be very busy at the moment but nothing is quite finished yet so I have nothing to share here that would be of much interest. Just lots of nearly finished projects.
The Becks Music inspires art short films will be done next week so that will throw up some good things for me to share and the next issue of the newspaper i am editor for will be done in the next two or three weeks as well as lots of other fairly exciting things.
Oh and I joined the Labour party today. Cost me a fiver. Bargain!

Please, somebody stop them

I'm no Jeremy Paxman when it comes to politics but one thing I do know is I don't want this nutjob running the country I live in.
Just look at his stupid massive moonface and his skinny dribbly lips - you know what they say about people with thing lips too... mean types never to be trusted. Pah.
I can so imagine him staring into the bathroom mirror every morning punching the air shouting "YES DAVID. YOU ARE THE BEST. YOU ARE A WINNER. WIN. WIN. WIN"
At the end of the day all political parties are a lot of lying, scheming, money hungry hounds but for me Labour are the least evil of three predominant evils. Depressing but true. Those good old Liberals have shown that they're not quite so hip and down with the real people of Britain haven't they?
And in actual fact, for right or for wrong I really quite like Gordon. When he's left to his own verbal devices he actual seems to be the most genuine and sincere, by far the most intelligent and the one that seems to be in it for others rather than for his own ego.
Oh and all this Gordon bashing from The Sun, Sky News, Simon Cowell, The Times etc ... does Rupert Murdoch really not realise it's ridiculously obvious he's behind it all?

Anyway, rant over.
On that note I just bought one of his books on Amazon.

Oh and these brilliant images are the handiwork of the lovely Verity Keefe. She shares many of my views but articulates them far better than I would through the use of pretty pictures.

Cutting some rug

When I grow up and have my own house my living room shall look something like this...

A message from above?

On my travels to Edinburgh this weekend I spotted this seductive invitation. No, not the lady in the knee high socks but the opportunity to have my personality tested. Oooh.
This is so so so beyond not tempting.
I am already well aware of my flaws when it comes to being me, social interaction and personality traits in general.
Is it fun or rather is it healthy to pay money to a stranger (at 11.30pm on a Friday night) in exchange for them tell you you're a miserable old cow? Hmmmmmmmm...
Why this isn't on those 'things to do in Edinburgh for under a tenner' lists I'll never know.

Woofy Woofy WowWow

A dog with a sense of style is worth more than joyous tears can say. Or something.

Smashie and Nicey

Me and my pal (or is that my pal and i? not quite sure) Jack (pictured above) are hosting a rather amazing, wonderful, brilliant, awesome radio show! Erm ok... that may be a slight exaggeration but basically the lovely people at INQ Mobile are hosting a series of branded shows on Spotify and it's up to us to make sure it's not snooze-enducing.
Starting in a couple of weeks it will essentially be us rambling on about random stuff, trying to be funny, trying to act natural, trying to play music people might like. Basically doing a whole lot of trying.
Oh and also we'll be interviewing a veritable cheese platter of popstars at a new show being recorded at Koko (sponsored by INQ) next weekend so we will hopefully have some hilarious faux pax-esque quotes from the middle aged one in Westlife (yep they are on the lineup) to share on our show. But wait - which one's the middle aged one in Westlife?
Answers on a postcard.
Oh and for more info on INQ go to inqmobile.com

Help! My lolly!

I think this photo deserves some kind of award on so many levels. Too many for my popcorn sized brain to fathom.
Nice yellow coat there too.

Dance of the doggy

I know I work in advertising but I really wish I worked on this bit of advertising.
I'm moving to Japan and this mandog will be my pet.

Goodnight sweetheart

INQ Night by OhJuliette

And finally, some evening music to make you bop your head and help you get into the mood for parties, party ring biscuits, fizzy pop and other fun things that you get when night falls...

Hope you like them.

All these mixes were produced by Matt Waites who can you find out more about here.

Morning: The Musical

INQ Morning by OhJuliette

During the megafun parade that is the Mobile World Conference in Barcelona amongst other things (I shall post some pics very soon) we created some mood music to play in the bar and stand areas for INQ Mobile.
Here for your listening pleasure-orama is Part 1: morning music.
Part 2 and 3 will be up imminently.

Lovely quality ear time.

Graffiti Grandmas

Knitting Grandmas are taking over London. Like the Triffids but more dangerous.
Beware!
No stone will be left unknitted. Scary.