Animated Auras Collide

new york ny

This spec spot by nailgun for Converse opens on a young, hip downtown New Yorker getting ready to venture out for the day, with her Converse unlocking an enchanting world of color and whimsy. It follows her throughout her playful day, and ends on the waterfront where sheet meets her Converse-wearing boyfriend in a collision of animated auras. Michael Waldron, nailgun Co- Founder and Creative Director, says the characters "are inspired by Japanese animation styles and each have their own subtle personality." Erik van der Wilden served as Director of Production and Doe Hyuk Park was Senior Designer/Animator.
Contact: www.nailgun.tv

Yo! It's A Cube

philadelphia pa

Red Tettemer + Partners, a Philadelphia-based creative indie agency, has developed an interactive campaign for the Philadelphia Festival of the Arts (PIFA) that began in early April and runs through May 1. PIFA seeks to propel the city's arts and cultural scene onto the world stage by featuring Philadelphia-related performances and activities around a Paris 1910-1920 theme. The advertising campaign elements include wallscapes, bus wraps, pole banners, digital billboards and, central to it all, an enormous digital Cube art installation. Lighting up the Avenue of the Arts on the corner of Broad and Spruce, the Cube showcases videos from all of the festival's partners, PIFA's documentary series The Journey, and streams live performances from the home of the event, the Kimmel Center's Verizon Hall music venue. Creative credits for the campaign include Chief Creative Officer Steve Red, Executive CD Steve O'Connell, CDs Bryon Lomas and Todd Taylor, ACD Steve Thompson, Art Director Jon Elison, and Junior Designer Rob Marshbank.
Contact: www.redtettemer.com

TCG Hatches New Brand Identity

San Francisco CA

The Creative Group, the popular specialized staffing firm for creatives, has a new brand identity. Included are an updated logo and tagline, revamped website, and extensive marketing materials. The firm looked to Hatch, a San Francisco-based branding and graphic design firm, and also one of its clients, to develop the new branding. While the look emphasizes the firm's ability to provide professionals with extensive digital skills, it is also designed to resonate with the traditional design and marketing community that the firm serves. Given its role in placing interactive, design, marketing, advertising and public relations professionals, the company chose creativity as a motif for its new brand identity. “The new logo and website are friendly and approachable, yet also suggest efficiency, experience and innovation – qualities that have always been the foundation of The Creative Group,” said Katie Jain, a co-founder of Hatch along with Joel Templin. Adds Donna Farrugia, executive director of The Creative Group: “All the professionals we serve make their living by generating ideas and solving design problems, so creativity is a binding theme.” Examples of the new look can be seen on TCG's Facebook page.
Contact: www.hatchsf.com

Sagmeister Drives BMW Book Design

new York NY

Graphic designer Stefan Sagmeister has created a unique, unconventional and driveable book entitled CULTURE for the car-maker BMW Group to commemorate its history of international cultural partnerships. BMW is marking 40 years of its cultural commitment and support for artistic endeavors such as jazz, contemporary art, and design. The car maker currently supports about 100 projects throughout the world. Sagmeister’s project is not just any book though; it’s a readable remote-control car. The back cover contains four wheels connected to a motor that propels the hardcover about at the whim of a remote control. Adding to the surprising nature of the approach, each book cover is unique – and when all the 1,488 copies are aligned by printing number in a 23.1 x 23.1 foot square, their covers create a composite image of BMW’s Munich headquarters. Want a copy? Not so fast - the Sagmeister-signed CULTURE is for promotion and not for sale.
Contact: www.sagmeister.com/news

Extra X Marks The Spot

new york ny

Armani Exchange looked to Chermayeff & Geismar, the legendary firm which had redesigned the fashion label’s original mark back in 2008, to create an icon commemorating its 20th anniversary. Using the original letterforms designed by the firm, principal partner Sagi Haviv solved the design challenge with the simple addition of a second X to the famous mark. “Creating an anniversary mark that grows naturally from the existing logo allows the new identity to be instantly recognizable,” said Haviv. “Along with the tagline underneath, the new identity offers a playful take on the original elements,” he added. Armani Exchange’s 20th anniversary icon is being used widely from bags to store fronts, online media to advertising, and on t-shirts and clothing labels.
Contact: www.cgstudionyc.com/newwork

Viva La Difference

An international roster of speakers including Andreas Uebele, Ruedi Baur, David Gibson and Sylvia Harris will keynote the 2011 SEGD Conference+ Expo+Awards in Montreal, Quebec, June 1-4. SEGD - the Society for Environmental Graphic Design - is hosting its 30th annual conference with the theme "Vive la Diversité: Designing the Difference." The conference will explore the nuances of designing in an increasingly diverse world, marked by advancing technology, multicultural and multidisciplinary influences and vast complexity in projects. The agenda calls for a combination of presentations from design leaders and clients with panel discussions, technical sessions, networking and social events, and SEGD's signature Workshops on Wheels, which invite attendees to experience project sites firsthand. An awards celebration June 2 will honor winners of SEGD's 2011 Design Awards Program.
Contact: www.segd.org