What better way to celebrate the month of November, than by growing out your mustache to raise awareness for Prostate Cancer.
To give you some motivation and inspiration, here are some of our favourite Mo Bro’s…
Please click the link to view mo-bros.pdf
Sports Illustrated is running this photo of the amazingly talented gymnast Shawn Johnson. She’s standing on a balance beam in a corn field. The creepy fingers coming out of the corn in the lower left make the photo seem like an ad for a scary movie.
Stay tuned for more “quality” Photoshop work to come…
Word is the economy is not doing so hot. That can mean that even if you’ve been with the company for a while, you’re not necessarily going to be there tomorrow. Of course, your company doesn’t have to be on the brink of implosion for you to start taking steps to make yourself essential.
“Bulletproof Your Job,” a new book by workplace guru Stephen Viscusi provides some strategies that might help you stay on the corporate ladder while everyone else is falling off.
Be Visible: Make sure your superiors see you and notice the work that you’re doing — even if it’s all conveying the “perception” that you’re extremely committed, energized and productive. This includes the old truism of arriving at work early and staying late; dressing up and looking professional (though not gaudy) at the office; paying attention to details; and volunteering to lead projects. Viscusi says to make sure you publicize your accomplishments and to be as rah-rah as you can muster when representing the company or talking to others.
Be Easy: Viscusi points out, rightly, that bosses will keep in mind who the whiners and complainers on staff are when they do the firing. If there’s an opportunity to rid the office of some negative energy, many bosses will take it. So leave your problems at home, don’t mouth off, don’t behave like an ass and don’t talk smack about your co-workers. Everything you do in the office is helping to create a perception of you, so you want to make sure that you are perceived as someone who is positive, upbeat and dependable; not the person who is always making things unpleasant.
Be Useful: Part of being a model employee is being helpful to others. You want to show that you’re not only essential in the work you do yourself, but that you’re also helping to promote the work of others. Viscusi says that this includes being a mentor and helping to train others; being specialized enough that you’re needed for specific tasks, but also having the flexibility to do other stuff when you’re asked to; taking responsibilities on and coming up with new initiatives; and working hard to do whatever you can to add value to the company.
Be Ready: Stuff happens, and you need to be able to adapt to changing circumstances, so don’t stop thinking about the long-term viability of your career, even when your job seems to be secure. Viscusi says it’s important to make sure you’ve got some money in the bank to hedge against an unexpected job loss; keep your resume up-to-date; get to know a good recruiter and keep yourself on the back burner of their mind; know what’s going on in your industry and be aware of when there may be an opportunity elsewhere; and keep trying to learn new skills.
We might not be seeing Season 3 of Mad Men any time soon 
In the meantime, let’s look back to the nostalgic Golden Advertising era for some real insight towards, who we should really be marketing cigarettes for.
I had no idea that Marlboros were originally marketed to women, but it appears so. From the Sociological Images blog: “Notice how in one picture the baby actually asks mom to have a cigarette instead of scolding him. It plays up the women-as-hysterical stereotype and also shows changing expectations about good motherhood..” Who knew that the Marlboro Man had a thing for MILKCs (Mothers I’d Like to Kill with Cancer)?
A lemonade stand run by twins in North Carolina has been dubbed the best in the country by Inc. magazine. The “Lemon Sharks Lemonade” stand is inspired by Jimmy Buffet, and the boys have donated $200 of their earnings to a local museum’s shark program.
A recent episode of Mad Men showed a bit of an old television sign-off, called “High Flight.” As it turns out there are a bunch of versions using different aircraft and different narrators reciting John Gillespie Magee, Jr.’s poem “High Flight.” The one above is in color. I’m not sure if it’s the original, which appeared in black and white. Maybe it was in color — our family had a black and white set.High FlightUploaded by DhtFrye
Here’s a fun little site.
It’s very simple. You’ll see one word at the top of the following page. You have sixty seconds to write about it.
A memorable scene from the movie ‘V for Vendetta’ in typography form.
Aircraft manufacturer Boeing has announced plans to partner with Calgary’s SkyHook International to develop a helicopter that can carry twice the maximum load of the Mil Mi-26, currently the world’s largest helicopter.
Technically referred to as a vertical-takeoff-and-landing rotorcraft, the Jess Heavy Lifter (aka JHL-40) will be a helicopter-airship hybrid featuring a helium-filled balloon and four helicopter-style rotors.The aircraft has been designed to overcome the limitations and expense of transporting equipment and materials in remote locations like the Arctic and Alaska.Although the JHL-40 is 302 feet long, 217 feet wide and 118 feet high, Boeing representatives were unable to say whether it would be able to lift the Ci office to 323-10th Avenue SW.
In 1968 women wore “futuristic” helmets during house cleaning. After cleaning, wearing the fashionable helmets to shopping and lunches was considered a must. My own mother couldn’t afford a helmet, so my dad constructed one out of cardboard and duct-tape. He painted it gloss white. I thought it looked authentic, but she finally stopped wearing it when she noticed some of the neighbor ladies laughing behind her back.
Thankfully, such strict standards are no longer required.
When you work in advertising you sit at a lot of conference room tables. But what do these tables say about the organization in question? According to Ruth Haag, president and CEO of a hazardous-waste consulting firm, the tables say a great deal.
• A round table hampers decisions.
• A long, thin table encourages cliques.
• Face-to-face at a distance encourages rudeness.
• The basic solution: A rectangular table about five-feet wide.
• The perfect solution: A one-ended rectangular table.
Over the past several years it seems likes print making has had a real surge in popularity, at least if the number of art and design students dipping their toes in the water seems to be any indication. You may be familiar with most of the common methods (screenprinting, woodblock, etching, intaglio, etc.) until just now, who would have thought of steamroll printing.
All the basics pretty much remain the same: get some wood, linoleum or other material, make an impression on the plate, grab some ink and paper and apply pressure. One would think the plates would break but it looks like blankets seem to prevent this from happening.
Couldn’t resist posting the sequel! 10 Biggest cocks and SHE-cocks in advertising!
If you are in the advertising industry, are you often questioned what you do day-to-day? Here is a great clip that will provide those people the insight they need;
Host John Woods takes a look at the crossroads of commerce, and even talks to the owner of Landmark Signs, Tony Calvano, whose company has been maintaining and installing most ads in Times Square since when they were just painted on. How primitive!”The One Times Square building is empty. Why? Because the owner can afford it by selling ad space alone. It costs $300,000/month to advertise on that structure — one of things you’ll learn in this behind-the-LED-screens look at Times Square.”
Another fun fact not in the video: The famous news ticker display on One Times Square was first used to announce the results of the U.S. presidential election in 1928.
Our friend Brian Allen posted a ‘expression of views’ article on ihaveanidea.org
The article discusses Brians’ experience with Creative Directors and their opinions towards a young art directors portfolio and how one should garner their experiences.
Have a read;
Here in Canada we have a nice pleasant show that celebrates great advertising called ‘Ad Persuasion’. In England those pissy, limies have a show called ‘10 Biggest cocks in advertising’ where they jab at characters in ads. Surprise, surprise!? Pretty bleedin’ funny regardless.
