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Publishers Note
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"Behavioral placement" is all the rage on television and it is being put to good use promoting the greening of America. On all networks, but especially NBC, there are green-themed weeks, characters recycling, reducing their carbon footprints, and eating organic food. Media experts say that "behavioral placements" drive ad sales by inserting feel-good themes into scripts with which advertisers and brands wish to be associated. More subtle than product placements, the tactic is also intended to be socially positive, swaying viewers to adopt actions they see modeled in their favorite shows and to mimic a beloved character. (Remember how salons overflowed when Jennifer Aniston’s character on Friends got a haircut?) If mimicry helps lead to a cleaner, greener world (Tina Fey recycles on 30 Rock and the Glee kids are anti-litter!) that’s all well and good. Better than good. In this case. But here is a question that gives pause: Should any powerful person or group be deciding what constitutes the next socially desirable behavior and how the rest of us should be modelled? I worked for NBC and they are as accountable to the public as Goldman Sachs.
— Gordon Kaye
Golden Egg
Designed by Odgis + Company, this WP Carey annual report
celebrates a smart and resourceful investment company that
has succeeded in this difficult business environment. The
golden egg is said to "provide income generation for
generations of investors." Janet Odgis notes that the
image must be seen in print to fully understand the
multifaceted effect resulting from 3 diffrerent UV coatings
— a soft touch coating ot the background, a gloss UV
offline, and an eggshell textured UV to the egg itself.
Bohemian Comeback
The Pernod Ricard Absinthe brand, once a symbol of European
bohemian culture, has been relaunched on a website designed
by Hanson Design. The site showcases the history, artwork,
rituals and recipes surrounding the liquor, once banned as
dangerously addictive. Hanson tapped the vast company archives
of art, advertising and literature. Gil Hanson headed the
creative effort; Brian Eckerd is brand manager. Among devotees
of the drink were writers (Oscar Wilde, Ernest Hemingway),
poets (Arthur Rimbaud, Baudelaire) and artists including
Toulouse-Lautrec (he carried a custom-made cane that hid a
glass and vial), Manet, Picasso and Van Gogh.
http://www. pernodabsinthe.com
Preak Out
The Maryland Jockey Club livens up the Preakness Stakes with a
suggestive "Get your Preak On" advertising campaign. A
sorority is one locale, a gym another, and a nursing home a
third. The suggestive slogan appeared on billboards and bus
stops across the city, and was featured on tv, radio stations and
online. Washington DC-based ad agency Elevation says ticket sales
rose and hits on the website, which allowed visitors to make
their own Preak-y poster, increased. Mike Marting is
Elevation's creative director.
For the In-HOWse Designer Conference
June 6-8 at the Hyatt Regency Denver! It’s a unique chance
to connect with your peers at inhouse design departments. At the
In-HOWse Designer Conference you'll meet hundreds of other managers
who completely understand your day-to-day challenges and
frustrations. As a bonus, this year you'll also get to meet and
network with thousands of other designers at the HOW Design
Conference and Creative Freelancer Conference. It’s an
exceptional week of design and creative community building!
In-HOWse Designer Conference
Aligning The Pyramids
The popularity of specialty tea is on the rise, expected to reach
$15 billion in sales by 2012, due to its purported health benefits
of tea drinking. To align Lipton with upscale, gourmet tea products,
Moxie™, re-energized the packaging for the line of premium
pyramid tea bags. Vibrant colors, photography rather than
illustrations, and flavor imagery help fulfill the tea’s
promise, says Moxie™ head Tammy Vaserstein. The design
team retained Lipton’s familiar red brandmark and signature
color of premium yellow, which was lightened to a champagne-like
hue, alluding to a heightened sense of elegance and
quality. Lucia Varela is brand manager at Lipton.
Pilloton, Sagmeister Headline
Stefan Sagmeister and Project H founder Emily Pilloton, are among
the headline speakers for SEGD’s Annual Conference + Expo,
June 2-5 in Washington D.C. "Designing for Change/Changing
Design" is the theme of the 2010 conference, headquartered
at the Gaylord National Hotel & Resort near D.C. The conference
will explore how design can be used as an agent for positive
change. Cybelle Jones, creative director/senior associate with
Gallagher & Associates and 2010 conference chair.
NY State Of Mind
The New York marketplace breeds it own type of shoppers and retailer
Duane Reade, with more than 250 locations in the city, turned to
CBX to help further develop its position and product offering for
New Yorkers. According to Todd Maute, Managing Partner at the
branding company, the goal was to bring to life the brand’s new
"New York Living Made Easy" positioning. First CBX provided
input into the private brand architecture, and designed its private
label brand imagery and packaging systems. Then they revamped the
loyalty card brand image and collateral material, and added an edgy
publication, the Duane Reader. Among the new products: DR Delish
premium foods, Apt. 5 cleaning products, and a value line with
iconic, UPC-style illustrations of local landmarks.
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Bike Sharing Rolls Out
Crispin Porter + Bogusky is the creative thrust behind
Denver’s new bike sharing initiative, B-Cycle, was rolled
out on Earth Day. The bike-sharing program, developed by the
legendary ad agency in collaboration with Trek Bicycles and
Humana, includes 500 B-Cycles at 50 B-stations available throughout
the city as an alternative to cars for short trips. Each bike
is outfitted with computers that track mileage, calories burned
and amount of carbon offset. Users register at the B-Cycle
website to check out bikes. There, they can montior their own
fitness and see their contributions to the city's greening
efforts. The newly formed nonprofit Denver Bike Sharing will
manage the program.
http://www.bcycle.com/
Signage Sourcebook
Signage Systems & Graphic Information Graphics is subtitled
"A Professional Sourcebook" and it is a robust one. The
resource showcasees myriad successful examples of sign design
worldwide, from museums and schools to transportation systems,
and author Andreas Uebele explores signage as a point where
graphic design and architecture come together. Uebele is a
designer and teaches at Dusseldorf University. Thames &
Hudson is the publisher, and W.W. Norton the U.S. distributor.
No Demons
The FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection has created a website
called Admongo that aims to teach kids how to read advertisements
with a more critical eye. The site was created by marketing agency
Fleishman-Hillard. The way it works: you select a character and
play some games that edu-tain you about advertising by using fake
brands like Choco Crunch'n Good cereal and Cleanology acne
medication. Industry groups have no complaints, apparently,
because the site is deemed not to "demonize advertising."
From 48 Hour Print. To get this automatic
20% discount special offer for GDUSA subscribers on your next
business card, letterhead, brochure, flyer, newsletter, postcard,
poster, sell sheet, vinyl banner project and more, just visit...
Click Here For More Information
Collage Celebrates Anniversary
British Columbia’s most widely-distributed craft beer
brand, Okanagan Spring Brewery, celebrates 25 years with the
release of its latest creation, "25th Anniversary Hopped
Lager." Partnering again with Vancouver’s Subplot
Design, the packaging features a collage of over 70 different
photos from Okanagan Spring’s history, including employees,
original packaging and trademarks, events and moments which
formed who they are today. Subplot had completed a complete
brand overhaul two years ago.
Mobile Electorate
Pratt Manhattan Gallery is encouraging participation in the 2010
election process by presenting a public art competition to design
mobile voter registration centers that will tour NYC in the fall.
The competition is the first of its kind; it has a deadline of
June 15 with winning entries selected July 5. All submissions will
be displayed in a gallery exhibition from August 31 through
September 7. Winners will be selected by Nick Battis, Pratt
director of exhibitions; Eleanor Heartney, arts writer, curator,
and cultural critic; Larry Litt, writer, performer, and
producer; and Robert Storr, dean of the Yale School of Art.
http://www.pratt.edu/exhibitions
Skies Not Friendly To Saul Bass
The merger of United Airlines with Continental has many
ramifications. One of them is that the company will kill the
"U’ logo designed by the legendary Saul Bass. It is
expected that, though the name will be United, the graphics will
be based on Continental’s typography and symbol. (Thanks
to Frank C. Briggs for the heads up.)
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