Bravo Bravia!

The Sony Bravia released an amazing advertising campaign about 3 years ago. The campaign consists of two ads that illustrate extremely well how great the color on the Sony Bravia is. These ads look as though they were created using special effects and computer animation. However, the ads were created with no computer effects whatsoever. This is part of the reason they are so amazing.

Another part of why they are so amazing is the concept in general. When something really great is created, you can just tell if it came from a place of passion and obviously this one did. The creatives were passionate about the concept and executed it in a creative and fresh way. I define these ads as great and amazing because I just want to watch them over and over again. Every part of them is interesting and entertaining while also illustrating how great the Sony Bravia can be. The ads make you wish that you were watching them with the Sony Bravia because the color quality would be so much better with the Bravia than a regular television. This is a great thing to have the consumer desire when watching the ads. They desire the product while watching the ads.

Without further ado, here is my favorite ad of the campaign. It also helps that it is paired with one of my favorite songs. I originally heard this song in a different version, but I love it both ways. The original song that I knew is called “Heartbeats” by the Knife. This version is by Jose Gonzalas, also called “Heartbeats,” and is equally as catchy.

The second installment in the ads is also very amazing because they actually blew up paint out of some abandoned buildings in Europe. It looks as though they must have used computer animation to create these effects but they did not. You just have to see it for yourself. It is really, truly amazing and makes you wish that !

These advertisements created so much buzz that the company released “the making of videos.” These videos are very interesting and only make me love the campaign even more! Enjoy!

Bouncy balls making of:

Paint ad making of:

I hope you enjoyed these ads and I hope you make sure to look for the hidden amazing effects in things before judging too quickly.

The Touch, the Feel of Cotton

Obviously cotton is a staple in the majority of our lives. It makes beautiful clothes, practical clothes and anything in between. I never really thought about it until one of my favorite actresses/musicians, Zooey Deschanel started doing the cotton commercials with the oh-so-catchy tunes. You could say that it sparked my interest. I then started thinking about the fact that cotton comes from a plant. It is insane. What a tedious and hot job it would be to pick cotton all day. Luckily we have a bit more technology today so nobody has to do it by hand anymore. However, the cotton commercials and plant itself are both sources of inspiration to me. It seems as if there is nothing like cotton. What would we do without it?

I basically just want to share some cotton images with you and see if you feel inspired by them too. As I have mentioned in previous blog postings, I love things/materials that have endless possibilities. My last post, about Legos, had to do with the endless possibilities of creations that can come from Legos. This post, about cotton, is similar in the sense that it inspires me by being so limitless. Here are some pictures of the plant itself. I like it because it has such a unique beauty to it. It is almost ugly but really pretty at the same time. There is beauty in its difference from other plants.

As I mentioned, what brought this cotton inspiration on was the cotton commercials. It is a campaign of three commercials, each starring an up and coming musical star with her own style. The campaign is called “Fabric of our lives.” Each song that is sung in the different commercials is slightly different to represent how cotton is the fabric of that specific individual’s life. I love all three of them. I actually go on Youtube and watch them because I love them so much. Yes, I go out of my way to watch commercials. I guess it’s a good thing that I am an advertising major! At the “fabric of our lives” website, you can tour the closet and styles of the stars of the commercials. This is good for me because I genuinely want everything that is worn in every commercial in the campaign. This says a lot because each of the girls has a very different style. The different styles do nothing but help to illustrate the purpose of the campaign, which is that cotton is the fabric of everyone’s life, no matter who you are and no matter what style you have, cotton works. The three up and coming musicians that star in the campaign each have a different style of music, which is represented with style and cotton, the fabric of their lives. There is Zooey Deschanel who is a folk singer and part of the group “She &Him.” There is also Miranda Lambert who is an up and coming country singer and last but not least there is Jazmine Sullivan who is an up and coming R&B singer. So, without further ado, here are the three cotton commercials.

The first is the one starring Zooey Deschanel… it just makes me want to be her. That is how much I love it!

The second is Jazmine Sullivan, I would like her entire wardrobe! Yes please, thanks!

The third and last is Miranda Lambert, love her!

There you have it! Cotton is another inspiration. I guess it really is the “fabric of our lives.” What a wonderful campaign. I think it stands for all the right things and does so in an interesting and entertaining way. Tots cute!

Legos are for loving

I love Legos. I think if you don’t love Legos there may be something wrong with you. It could be that you’re just too stuck in grown-up mode. Legos allow kids to create the absolutely endless possibilities that lie within their imaginations into something real and tangible. Kids can play games with Legos, just plain build stuff or even try and use Legos in a less ordinary way by thinking more outside of the box. There is no written Lego formula, no right or wrong way to play with them. They help kids learn about space and building while having fun. You can buy a Lego kit that gives instructions about how to build a particular spaceship or whatnot or you can just buy some Legos and start building.

Materials that you can do absolutely anything with really inspire me. I think that this is why I am such a fan of Legos. However, when I was a kid I didn’t realize how cool they were even though I did play with them with my brother when we were young. Anyway, as I have said before, it is important for me to post things that inspire me in my idea book. That way when I am stumped and trying to brainstorm something creative I can always refer to my idea book for some sort of inspiration. My idea book (or blog) is my inspiration!

As I mentioned, when I was little I used to play Legos with my older brother and in exchange I would make him play Barbies with me. When you think about it there are plenty of similarities between the two activities. He definitely played Barbies like a boy by climbing a tree and hanging Ken from the highest branch in order to make me furious. I played Barbies like a girl by changing their outfits a million times and creating relationships between the characters in my conjured-up Barbie stories. However, when we played Legos I would play “like a girl” by making a little house with a picket fence and a garage and making all of the Lego people friends, which would drive my brother crazy. He played Legos like a boy by building spaceships and making all the little Lego people into enemies etc. My point is that Legos can be fun no matter how you are playing with them. For example, I love Lego people!

I looked around the web for fun and creative ways to use Legos and here is what I found. Today, it is popular to make art with Legos, which I think is a very cool way to think outside of the box! People can make anything they desire, from an art exhibit to a standing lamp, the possibilities with Legos are endless!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is also fun for people to recreate famous pieces of art and/or famous photographs with Legos. Take a look at these photos. I just love them!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As I mentioned previously, one of the many reasons that I love Legos is that you can create anything with them. People enjoy making replicas of real-life things with Legos. I think this is so fun because from far away you cannot even tell that which is the Lego and which is the item. It is creative and simple all at the same time. I think creative simplicity is the best form of creativity. It’s the “oh, duh! Why didn’t I think of that?” moment. That’s how you know something is really good. It is so simple that it is simply genius. Anyway here are a few of my favorite replicas. They are also things that I really enjoy in “real life.”

Here are some more Lego creations that I found that are more typical uses for the Lego. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do. I only wish that I had some Legos of my own to make an original creation to post up here. When I go home for Thanksgiving I will make sure to play Legos with my nephew (who inherited the 3 huge buckets of my brothers childhood Lego collection) and I will post my creation along with his! Until then, here are some Lego images for your viewing pleasure!

Bottom line: thank you Mr. Ole Kirk Christiansen for inventing Legos during the great depression, they are a beloved classic that will never go out of style!

Feathertastic!

I have a friend who you could say is completely obsessed with feathers. It doesn’t help that her name is Heather and she really loves that they rhyme. It’s like it’s meant to be. She is a Heather feather. Anyway, her obsession with feathers has really opened my eyes to how neat-o they are. I had actually ever thought about how cool they are. Feathers have become a huge inspiration for me as art material, jewelry, accessories and anything in between. It also helps that feathers happen to have quite a few cool facts that I had never realized before researching a bit about them. It all makes so much sense now.

Generally when someone becomes interested in something there is a defining moment with a specific thing in the category of interest. There is a gateway to full-blown interest or obsession. This is why marijuana is a gateway drug. This is also true with feathers and me. My gateway feather was the peacock feather. It is just so beautiful. I would imagine many people’s gateway feather is the peacock. My first pair of feather earings were peacock feathers. You could say they hooked me.

Another thing that I love about feathers is they are unique and interesting in addition to their beauty. To use the peacock feather for an example again,  peacock feathers are used as a means of attraction between male and female birds. They are also used to scare off predators, hence it looks like an eye. Many feathers are used as a means of attraction between male and female birds. They are pertinent to their survival. There are many different categories of feathers and no two feathers are exactly the same. They are like a fingerprint or someone’s hair. Birds are also the only animal that has feathers. As I was researching I came across a quote that I love. “Every bird has feathers and everything that has feathers is a bird.” That quote came from a site with a lot of good feather info: http://www.earthlife.net/birds/feathers.html

People have always worn feathers as accessories because of their unique and natural beauty. They can be found in anything from earings to headbands to bracelets to actual art. I love to make collages with feathers and fabric etc. to create a rich and luxurious feel. Feathers have such a rich authenticity to them. It is a refreshing breath to see such natural beauty. Here is how I used a peacock feather in a collage. It is simple but elegant.There are also ways to use feathers in art without actually using the feathers. I saw these pencil drawings of real feathers in coffee shop the other day and felt compelled to take their pictures for my blog. Here they are. I love this technique because it exemplifies the uniqueness and imperfections that make feathers so beautiful to me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Although I like feathers in almost every form I have to say that my favorite is when they are used in jewelry and other things that you can decorate yourself with. I took a picture of my friend Heather’s jewelry rack that is mostly filled with feather earings and hair accessories. It is pretty impressive and every piece is absolutely beautiful!

And there you have it! A feathertastic world. I hope you find your gateway feather and join the featherverse. It is beautiful here!

Oh YouTube…

I will be the first to admit that I am an average youtube viewer. I love videos of just about anything that is funny. Since my idea book is meant to be a source of inspiration for me, sometimes I just have to put things on there that I just plain like. Even if they have nothing to do with anything. I feel the need to do this because I draw inspiration from stuff that I just plain ‘ol like. Therefore, I am going to put three of my favorite videos on here for no other reason other than that I just plain like them and they inspire me.

They inspire me to take joy in the little oddities and to be creative, fun and kooky no matter what!!!I am sure that you have seen at least one of them. However, if you’re like me you enjoy watching them over and over again because it is timeless hilarity.

The first is one that became a classic youtube video almost instantly. I am sure you’ve seen it and loved it. So, I am giving you an excuse to watch it again! “Ouch Charlie! That really hurt and it is still hurting.” Here is “Charlie bit my finger” I also recommend watching some of the spin offs to the video. They are pretty amusing.

The second is also a child video. Kids are just too funny. Especially when they are drugged up from the dentist. You know what this video is! “David After the Dentist” was talked about all over the media when it first came out. My mom was appalled but I thought it was hilarious. I still can’t decide whether I like David or Charlie more. Enjoy!

The third and final video is unlike either of the previous two. It has absolutely nothing to do with kids. My friend showed me this video and I laughed so hard that I cried and thought I might pee my pants. It definitely has a cult following. Then again, a lot of youtube videos do. You have to have a somewhat odd sense of humor for this one. I heard (so don’t take it as fact, although it makes sense) that the voice on this video is the recording of a man who was sitting in a dark closet tripping on acid. If you can just picture that it makes the video all the more funny. The people then put the voice to a talking lizard and what you have is one amazing youtube video!

I hope you enjoyed this post. I’m sure I won’t be able to resist posting more amazing youtube videos on here soon. Until then!

What is that smell?

I recently moved to Portland and started to experience something that I think may be one of the most disgusting things I have ever smelled. That thing is the ginkgo berry. I don’t know if you have ever smelled it but it smells like rotten dairy vomit or perhaps decomposing ass.

My first experience with the ginkgo berry was rather hilarious. My friend, who is very easily grossed out, was walking along the sidewalk with me while wearing flip-flops. There was some miraculous timing involved for the next part of the story. As she lifted her foot to take a step, her heel lifted from the flip-flop and at that very moment a ginkgo berry fell on her shoe right under the heel of her foot. Since this all happened within a split second she didn’t realize what had happened as her heel stepped back down onto the flip-flop there was a squish and a rancid smell slowly emitted from the dreaded ginkgo berry. Through our convulsions of laughter she explained to me what the ginkgo berry was and why it smells so incredibly awful. As we got into the car she took her flip-flop off and left it on the sidewalk. It was absolutley hilerious.

However, this experience got me thinking. I know that the ginkgo berry has a lot of health benefits for blood flow and metabolism (to read about them please visit: http://www.bodybuildingforyou.com/health-supplements/ginko-biloba-information.htm). So, I thought how can something so very rancid be so very good for you?

As I thought about it more I realized that a lot of things that are good for you have pretty rancid smells. For example, cabbage and broccli both smell like feet/farts when you cook them. Also, there are so many herbs that smell and taste horrible but they have wonderful effects on the body. My mom is married to an herbologist who is always concocting odd herb mixes (that are of course very good for my mom) but they smell and taste absolutley awful.

I have come to one conclusion about these things that seem nasty on the outside but are good for you on the inside. It is that this world is a very funny place and what may seem to be is not what may be.

Here is a poem that I think rings true to these good things that seem bad:

 

This world that we’re a living in is mighty hard to beat

You get a thorn with every rose

But ain’t the roses sweet

Google Doodle

Throughout my entire education, I cannot remember a time when I didn’t doodle during class. I love to draw silly things on my notebook like hearts and palm trees. My notebooks are covered in swirly lines and silly designs. I don’t know if I would have made it through my education without the support of doodling.

Google has taken the doodle to entirely another level. Many of you have probably seen the google logo be different for a certain theme or holiday. However, there is so much more to the “google doodle.” Google doodle started with an intern when google was first starting out. The execs had talked about making themed logos for holidays. They then asked an intern (who they knew was interested in design) to play around with themed logos for google. It blew up from there. There is now a google doodle team at google and the doodles have reached cult status. For more information on the google doodle please visit http://www.google.com/doodle4google/doodler.html

Google also has a contest for kids grades K-12 to create the next great google doodle. Some of these kids have absolutely amazing artistic abilities and have truly brought the google doodle to life. There are state finalists and regional finalists. To check out some of their work go here: http://www.google.com/doodle4google/winners_state.html

Anyway, it has inspired me to make my own google doodle. But, until I do here are some of my favorites! You will see my google doodle on a later post!

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

This old saying “a picture is worth a thousand words” is so cheesy but so true. It really can take a thousand words (or more) to accurately describe a place, time, event, person or feeling. I believe this is because images evoke a certain emotion that cannot be captured with words.

Recently, I took a photojournalism class. Throughout that class we kept coming back to one main point for each assignment and that was that you need to capture a story with your picture. In other words, it needs to say something about that place. This is what journalism is all about: telling a story. For example, a portrait must tell a story about a person. Annie Leibovitz is the best portrait photographer possibly of all time because she has an ability to capture the essence of a person in her photographs. She tells that person’s story with their portrait.

Since my photojournalism class was a summer class, one of our assignments was to capture the fourth of July and tell its story. I went to Ashland for the Fourth of July where it is a pretty big deal. Every year there is a huge parade and the population of tiny Ashland, OR, which is usually at about 26,000, doubles or even triples. I believe that I really captures the spirit of the Fourth of July in Ashland with these four photographs. So, enough explaining. Let’s let the pictures do the talking!

Royalty

I am loving royal colors right now! However, so is the rest of the world. They are very “in.”  I just think they are so elegant, rich and interesting. If I never see the color periwinkle again I will be happy.

What really sparked my royal color obsession was when I moved into my new apartment. The kitchen is painted a royal purple and gold. There is also a royal purple trim in the bathroom. It really made me fall in love with not only the apartment, but also the color palate. After I knew that the apartment was mine, I went home and painted all my shelves in a royal purple to match. Point being, I am very inspired by royal colors.

Here is my current color palate that I am basing things off of. I’ll even throw in a picture of my kitchen, royal colors and all! Where are you seeing royal colors in your lives?!

Inspiration in the Form of Juicy Couture

In my idea book it is important to me to not only create my own stuff but also to reference other things (usually advertising campaigns) that I love and that inspire me.

I have always loved advertising. I remember my mom thinking that I must be crazy for actually liking the commercials. Mom would yell at me when I was young to mute the commercials because she could not stand the sound. However, I found them interesting and I would refuse to mute the commercials. I was an advertisers dream from an early age. I made it a special point to pay extra attention to ads in magazines or on television. It wasn’t until I saw “What Women Want” that I realized somebody had to actually make those advertisements. I knew then, at the ripe old age of 12, that I wanted to create advertising.

Long story short, here is a pretty current advertising campaign that inspires me a lot. I think it is so fun and creative. They have found a way to make their advertisements interesting, unique, relatable and outrageous. I absolutely love it. It makes me want to buy juicy couture. I have and love the perfume. However, thanks to the ads I just want more, more, more!

Juicy also has a lot of what I like to call “juicyisms.” They are just a bunch of fun and creative sayings that are written on their clothes, tags, advertisements and displays. They use these as slogans for their brand and specific products in their brand. While most companies only have one slogan to make it more recognizable, juicy has many but they are still extremely recognizable and cohesive as being part of juicy couture. The company has never used only one slogan at a time. It makes things much more entertaining! Some of my favorite “juicyisms” include but are not limited to:

“viva la Juicy”

“Smells Like Couture”

“Her Royal Juicyness”

“Wake Up And Smell the Couture”

“Go Couture Yourself”

“The Joy Only Bling Can Bring”

“Let Them Eat Couture”

“Some Girls Have All the Juicy”

“Dude, Where’s My Couture?”

“Kiss My Couture”

“Tastes Like Couture”

“It’s Exhausting Being This Juicy”

They are all fun, different and relatable. They play off of saying that we already have. “Dude, where’s my car?” “Tastes like chicken.” You get the picture!

Part of the reason why I love them is because they keep me entertained. I live for ads that entertain!

These are a few examples of ads from the campaign. I just love, love, love it!