The Tipp-Ex Hunter and the Bear are back

For the best Friday fun you have to watch this great interactive Tipp-Ex viral.

The Hunter and the Bear are back for Bear's 2012 Birthday Party which is interrupted by a meteor.

This is a superb example of online interaction and they must have had great fun making it.

It's a 'don't miss' clip.

Enjoy.

'From Scandinavia with Love'

We recently came across this blog by Tiger who apparently also blogs for Swedish Elle Decor.  

'From Scandinavia with Love' features a wide range of great designs from Northern Europe including furniture, lighting, textiles, tableware and accessories from designers large and small.  

This is well worth a visit for some great design - click here

Sustainability Communication for Formica Group

If you popped along to Ecobuild a few weeks ago you may have come across the Formica Group stand. During the show they announced that they had completed the measurement of the carbon footprint of their entire range of High Pressure Laminate (HPL), Continuous Pressure Laminates (CPL), Compact Laminates and Bonded Worktops products, and in doing so their products now qualify to carry the Carbon Trust’s
Carbon Reduction Label.   
To recognise being the first laminate manufacturer to achieve this The Think Tank developed a brochure which communicates the Formica Group environmental policy and their commitment to reducing carbon emissions across all its operations.  
The brochure in full can be viewed here.

Account Executive Position Available

We are are always looking for talented individuals to join our team. We currently have one permanent Account Executive position working on a multinational client.You will need to be:

Results oriented

Have an interest in integrated marketing and social media

Be a self starter

Demonstrate excellent organisational skills

Have the ability to multi-task and show an attention to detail

Display a confident manner

European or other foreign language useful.

Interested applicants should apply first by email to liamb@thinktank.org.uk with a CV and brief covering letter.

Smarter Buildings: Interacting with the environment

Experimenting with materials in architecture to achieve environmental benefits has led to the development of many outstanding innovations that have changed the way we interact with buildings.

Now architect Doris Kim Sung, assistant professor of architecture at the USC School of Architecture, is experimenting with how a building can interact with its environment through the materials used in its construction.

Her latest installation, “Bloom”, is 20-foot tall and made from 14,000 tiny sheets of metal that open and close with the sun manipulating the light within the structure.

Sung discovered a new use for a material usually used in thermostat coils that responds to temperature changes. The metal alloy, called “thermobimetal”, is made of two sheets of metal laminated together. Each metal expands at a different rate when heated, curling as the temperature rises and flattening when cooled.

The metal sheets curl upwards with the sun creating moving shaded areas within the installation when needed. Sung believes that it could be used to create canopies that close when the sun is above or vents that open when the air becomes too stuffy and is now working on ways to integrate thermobimetal with standard building components.

It looks fantastic and is a mixture of art and architecture that addresses an environmental need. See a video of the installation below and more can be found on their blog.

A wet Scotland and 'manky wool'

This amusing short animated film about life at Pringle of Scotland was created by artist David Shrigley to celebrate the return of the brand  to Milan Fashion Week in 2010. 

From a wet Scotalnd to 'manky wool', it will certainly make you smile.

Jersey, gorillas and cupcakes

This fun ad for Jersey Tourism France  combines video with animation in a real feel good format. A bit surreal at times but that adds to the charm.

It starts with a bored businessman being pulled into a colourful poster at a bus stop and then takes you on a tour around Jersey.

From gorillas to the white rabbit from Alice in Wonderland this certainly challenges the standard holiday ad treatment of beaches and sunshine - although the gorilla is seen heading off into the sunset on a golden beach with a surfer girl.

Definitely adds colour to your day - great work. See below or click this link.

Ready to make a monster?

If you're looking for something to keep yourself (or the children) occupied this Easter then download these great model monsters.

They are a promotional tool for a new film called Waste, that I am afraid we know nothing about. But on their website you can download a monster kit and see a demonstration video of how to make it.

There are three to make and we have added the video for one of them below.

Download them all from the Waste website here.

Hole to another universe

These wall stickers are great fun for any home - you could even buy them for the kids!

They are designed by Dan Golden Studio and available from Blik.

Mini Lego posters pop up around London

Keeping the lego theme going their new UK advertising for Legoland Windsor has featured mini Lego poster sites across London. The signs are 12-inches high and were placed around London and highlighted by Google Maps with those that found them being encouraged to share their photos on Twitter using a special hashtag.

The ads were created by DLKW Lowe - nice work but we did feature something similar for Channel 4's Seven Dwarves last year.

Google's right in front of your eyes

Take a look at the future with Google - a vision of your life in augmented reality with AR glasses that will allow you to interact with your world just like a phone; but these sit on your nose.

You certainly won't be able to ignore the small icons popping up in front of your eyes as you look at the sky, the tube or at your breakfast.

Google has already started testing the glasses and has created the video below to start a conversation around their potential uses and improvements.

They want your feedback so watch the video and then click here to make your suggestions.

Nike ad is a running romantic comedy

Fancy a bit of running romantic comedy - well this Nike ad will be a treat.

Featuring a couple living on opposite coasts in the US, it starts off quite cheesy but soon brings on the humour.

It is quite similar in style though to the Match.com ads running in the UK.

Directed by Rattling Stick's Ringan Ledwidge, the film promotes the Nike Free Run+ 3.

Skype challenges impersonal social media in new ad campaign

Skype has launched a new ad campaign challenging the lack of humanity in social media and focussing on the theory that technology makes communication more efficient, but less personal.  

In a $12 million campaign Skype looks to leverage consumer anxiety about alienation promoting that it is better to talk face to face than via text or Twitter. The campaign launched last week in transport hubs, like Heathrow Airport, with a series of ads by Pereira & O'Dell which challenge the superficiality of text-based technology like Facebook, Twitter and SMS.  

These are quite challenging and make you think about how social channels are changing our lives, similar to the impact that email had a few years back. We often talk in the office about how email has killed the art of conversation. How will social channles eventually change the way we communicate?

What do you think?

Scottish Minister for Energy opens FoundOcean’s Livingston facility

The Think Tank headed to Livingston, Scotland last week to help with the official opening ceremony of FoundOcean’s newly expanded Offshore Service Base. The event was held to celebrate FoundOcean’s achievements and the Scottish Minister for Energy, Enterprise and Tourism, Fergus Ewing, was guest of honour. He gave a passionate and humorous speech to the delight of the guests – in spite of an influx of overhead aircraft seemingly trying to drown out his voice! 



While stressing the need for businesses like FoundOcean to be able to transfer their technologies, services and products between industry sectors, Fergus also remarked that he had come a long way since the first opening ceremony where he was guest of honour, at a sewage works 12 years ago!  



The event also included guided tours around the facilities with FoundOcean’s offshore personnel explaining the function of equipment to the guests – representatives of offshore oil and gas, and renewables companies, industry bodies, media and even the RNLI. 



FoundOcean is the global leader in subsea and offshore grouting, which to translate into layman’s terms means fixing offshore structures like oil and gas platforms and wind farms to the sea bed. 



The opening ceremony was a huge success and with more offshore projects in the pipeline than ever before the future looks bright for FoundOcean. The company is celebrating doubling its revenue and personnel since 2009.



Find out more about Found Ocean here.

An ABC of monsters takes you back in time

Taking you back to those sleepless nights when monsters entered your dreams, 'ABC Monsters' by La Pompodour is a great short film that combines animation with sound effects to spine chilling effect.

A great compilation (and not really that frightening). Enjoy a bit of nostalgia.

Fancy dress rugby played on Hong Kong's streets

For all you rugby fans out there - or anyone who fancies a bit of a laugh - take a look at this ad for HSBC created by JWT London.

It promotes HSBC's sponsorship of the 2012 Hong Kong Sevens and sees teams dressed in fancy dress playing rugby through Hong Kong's streets.

Legionaires take on elves and cowboys take on samarai.

High powerd and very exciting. Enjoy.

The amazing musical jelly game

Be prepared to be amazed by musical jelly - if science kits did this when I was a kid I may have taken more notice in chemistry lessons.

Raphaël Pluvinage and Marianne Cauvard have developed Noisy Jelly, a game that allows players to create their own musical instrument out of jelly.

Using a mini chemistry lab, players make their own set of jellies using water, agar agar powder and a series of molds. The jelly shapes are then placed on the game board, and can be manipulated to create sound.

The video for the project has not been edited for sound and needs to be seen and heard to be believed...

Selling cars Bollywood style

We found this great ad for Nissan India, called New Star of India, which takes car marketing to a new level with a four and a half minute Bollywood extravaganza.

The ad features Bollywood star Ranbir Kapoor and includes a cast of thousands, 100 Nissan Micra's and an elephant. It tells the story of two star-crossed lovers in true Bollywood style.

Its a bit long but well worth the watch. Enjoy, you can't help tapping your feet.

 

Ad by AKQA, San Francisco