I’m a big fan of process and how jobs get from initial sketch to final presentation, so, with that in mind, I’d like to share something really cool from ourcampaign for The MetroHealth System. What follows are the original color photographs of our nine featured comebacks as shot on location by TRG Reality’s amazing Thomas Cook. Though shot in color (and used in color on a limited basis on the Comeback microsite), we always knew that we wanted the final product to be in gritty black-and-white. This was done for two reasons. First, we knew that monochromatic images would further reinforce the nobility of our subjects and the nature of the campaign itself. And second, uniting each of the images in black-and-white would lend uniformity to a campaign relying on portraits shot under all sorts of conditions and at all sorts of locations. That said, the originals remain striking, and I think you’ll agree. Here they are:
For further reading, check out our previous blogs on the Comeback campaign:
What started off as a simple exercise in minimalist illustration turned into a collection of Melamed Riley portraits. Inspired by Bloop’s Superhero series, I decided to keep the creative wheels greased by illustrating the “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” including Bebop. Liking how they turned out, I wanted to explore more. Next up, Geordi La Forge from “Star Trek—The Next Generation.” It seemed timely to do Will Smith with “Men in Black III” coming out in May. Then things got personal with the family dog. This exercise turned out to be so much fun that once I got started, it was hard to stop. Darin requested his portrait, which naturally led into the following MR collection:
Unless you have been living under a rock, you’ve been seeing a lot of small squares, often black and white, 2D barcodes that advertisers seem to be placing on anything and everything. And by everything, I mean everything — from traditional media like print ads to guerilla marketing and even condoms. Quick Response codes, more commonly known as QR codes, a useful tool for marketers to pass on tons more information than is typically digestible in a simple direct mailer or one page ad. They are a marketer’s dream come true. Alas, the days of hoping the target audience remembers a URL are over. All they need to do is whip out their smartphone, which seems to be affixed to their hand anyway, point and scan!
While everything you need to know about a given product or service is only a scan away, the first key to successfully using QR codes starts with giving the viewer something worth scanning. The second is to give them the ability to actually scan the code. Recently I’ve come across some crazy places that marketers have been placing QR codes and I have to wonder, are they just using them because it’s the cool thing to do? Based on these examples, I’d have to say yes.
Unless Spiderman is in town, I’m guessing this QR code will get zero scans.
Please tell me their target audience is seagulls.
Scan at your own risk.
And while there are some pretty awful places to put QR codes, when they are placed appropriately, there are surprisingly a lot of creative ways to utilize them. Take a look at these few examples that really caught my eye.
Mickey, Donald and my personal favorite, Stitch!
Note to self for next can castle food drive contest.
Must confess, I almost ate my computer when I saw this gem.
Of course, I had to include an example from the Melamed Riley archives. The creative team came up with this QR code for a print ad when teasing one of our client’s newest products, the Verifi bed bug detector. This code is made up of hundreds of tiny hotel rooms, hospital rooms, bedrooms and a few teeny-tiny bed bugs. Can you find them all? There are three.
It’s time to get up and rolling with us this year in a couple of challenging charity events and a super sweet non-fundraising ride! For 2012, we’ll be participating in the United Way of Greater Cleveland RideUNITED event Sunday, June 24th, The American Diabetes Tour de Cure event the following week, Saturday, June 30th and the Sweet Corn Challenge July 29th.
You bike a little? You bike a lot? It doesn’t matter, all of the events have water/food stops and offer lower-mileage family rides if you’re not up to the taking on the “sorta hilly” 62- or 100-mile routes.
If you need more info, want to join or just talk bikes with me, here’s my e-mail: Darin Hintz
Last Thursday, Darin and I took a trip to Lake Erie Graphics to get a firsthand look at the latest project for our client, California Paints, which involved two brand-new Ford F-150 SVT Raptors. Now these aren’t just pickup trucks – they’re monsters. Sporting 6.2 Liter V8 engines that produce 411 horsepower and 434 pound-feet of torque each, these suckers feature enough towing capacity to rip the skin off an elephant’s ass.
Check out the video for a closer look at these behemoths in action.
But the real jaw-dropper was Darin’s treatment of the artwork. The boys at Lake Erie Graphics did a top-notch job with the vehicle wrap and decal application. Darin used a vivid combination of colors for the façade of the California Paints truck and trailer – cool cyan, sultry orange, robust red and vivacious green paints dance across its surface. It’s truly a sight to be seen.
The alternate design was that of The Storm truck. It has a bold presence, with dark boiling storm clouds swirling on the surface and gradually dissipating across the backside of the truck’s cab. The Storm Logo commands attention on the front of the hood, and I can only imagine just how great both of these vehicles will look at the tradeshow.
We managed to procure a few snapshots for your viewing pleasure:
I am proud to say that I have been a contributor to the iPhone’s app-tastic success. So I feel obligated to share at least a few of my favorite iPhone apps that I find both handy and fun.
Road Ninja: Road Ninja is the ultimate survival guide for a road trip. Craving a Sheetz MTO while driving through the back roads of West Virginia? No fear, the Ninja is here (well, as long as you have access to 3G)! Not only is this app truly helpful, but its design makes it a pleasure to use. I want to go on a road trip just so I can get my Ninja on!
Zombies, Run! Zombies, Run! is a unique way to spice up a normal run. It turns working out into a game, showing the new trend of gamification at its best. So instead of setting workout goals like 4 miles or 45 minutes, you set a new goal to stay alive and avoid being turned into a meal for a pack of hungry zombies! The app creators sum up this unique download quite well: “There’s only one thing you can do: Run!”
Stachetastic: Ever wonder what you would look like with a rad lumberjack stache? Well, your wait is over. With the Stachetastic app you can try on many a stache to find the perfect one. But wait, the fun does not stop there, why not see what little Jimmy would look like with a stache:
German baby stache.
Hulk Hogan baby stache. I wonder if Hulk Hogan ever wore space themed onesies.
Word Lens: From my own experience when traveling to a foreign country, public transportation can be quite daunting when you cannot read any signs. With the Word Lens app you have a handy translator right in your pocket that quickly feeds you the answers you need without having to page through a book or do a lengthy web search. It is as easy as taking a picture and voila, you are fluent in whatever language you need. This app is a must for anyone planning some international travel.
HeyTell: HeyTell is the best thing since sliced bread if you ask me. With the advent of email and text messaging people believe verbal communication has started to suffer. I think HeyTell is the answer to their fears. Why send a text message when you can send your BFF your rendition of Jack’s Mannequinns latest single, or even send your friend who is sick and lives out of town a get well message with a friendly tone! HeyTell is the modern walkie-talkie that lets us get back to that verbal communication thing many people have started to neglect.
Pintley: Who doesn’t love a good cold one? Better yet who doesn’t love a beer that is recommended just for you from your personal bartender Pintley? The Pintley app works to give you a personalized craft beer selection based on your past drink selections and ratings. Pintley even integrates what your friends are drinking and saying about certain beers to help you find the perfect cold one to pop open. Next time you head out to enjoy a great beer be sure to see what Pintley recommends. Cheers!
WorkSnug: There is a whole fleet of people who work remotely and even some office-bound people who like to break free time-to-time to find a fresh environment to generate ideas in. WorkSnug uses the power of augmented reality to help city dwellers find the perfect spot to get their creative juices and wifi flowing. WorkSnug gives you the complete lowdown on all the local hotspots, from things such as the average noise level, the amount of power outlets, if it has good refreshments and even more! Before you walk into that little coffee shop around the corner I would check WorkSnug to see if they have more than one outlet in the back corner, behind a pole.
Draw Something: This app is my latest addiction. It is a mixture of a few of my favorite games: Boggle, Scrabble, Hangman and Pictionary! This game truly tests your ability to draw a good stick figure. Sorry guys, ladies have a slight advantage with our dainty fingers. To see some of the awesome creations people have drawn in the game check out the #DrawSomething hashtag. If you feel the need to get your draw on, send me an invite, my username is: RayVan05!
Robin Williams in “Jack,” the story of a boy in the body of a man – and jorts.
As legal adults, we get to enjoy a plethora of fun activities: Paying taxes, racking up credit card debt, scratching off losing lottery tickets, falling asleep during the ten o’clock news, watching our hair fall out and turn gray at the same time – you know, big people stuff. So it’s no wonder grownups have a tendency to look back on our childhood years and long for much of what we hated as kids. Now, at an age when reading glasses are needed to find Waldo and growth spurts are measured in pounds rather than inches, many of us wish we had a genie to re-grant us all of the things we once took for granted. I know if I ever found that magic bottle, I’d rub it in hopes of seeing a giant blue creature voiced by Robin Williams (Christina Aguilera works, too). Then, I’d beg like a kid in a candy store for the return of the following:
Nap time
Unlike preschool, I promise not to interrupt the serenity with a single fart noise if this daydream were to recur.
The stroller
As soon as we learned to walk, many of us saw free rides from mom as a sign of weakness. A few years later, we asked her to chauffeur us to our first middle school dance.
Training wheels
Not that any of us are looking to put them back on our Huffy, but as adults, it’d be nice to have a safety net every time we tried something new. I should know – my face is covered in scars from all the times I’ve fallen on it.
Birthday clowns
Kids are about as nice to clowns as they are to piñatas. It’s time to apologize to these professional entertainers by inviting one out for your next birthday celebration, just so you can pick up the tab.
Mom’s tuna casserole
As a kid, home cooked meals could never compete with a Happy Meal. Now, I’m just happy to have a home cooked meal.
The school bus
The school bus was a great time we never realized we were having – you, your pals and 12 rows between you and the nearest authority figure.
The human alarm clock
No, dad didn’t feature a snooze button, but unlike my Sony Dream Machine Interrupter, he worked in the event of a power outage and didn’t sound like the horn on a Japanese economy car.
