The Allianz Drunk Mirror

Insurer's Allianz has come up with an interesting way to demonstrate to party goers the effect of a few drinks can have on their reflexes in an anti-drink driving campaign.

They have installed a time-delay mirror which demonstrates how slow your reflexes are after a couple of drinks.

Have a look at the video below to find out more:


Concept created by OgilvyOne

What happens when Dad's left in charge!

This great little animated short is very funny. It considers what happens when Mum pops off for the ice creams leaving Dad in charge.

All we can say is 'Ouch'. Enjoy!


Film by Bird Box Studios

Microsoft updates logo

For the first time in 25 years Microsoft has updated its logo, and obviously simple is best.

It has the launched the new brand identity to be ready for the launch of Windows 8 and to bring it into line with the typeface being used on all its products.

See more in the video below and let us know what you think?

New ways of reaching out to customers

According to the latest issue of Catalogue newsletter, Marks & Spencer is set to install free Wi-Fi into all of its UK stores and arm customer assistants with iPads as part of plans to push its ecommerce offering.

It is reported the retailer is investing £100 million on new technology and £150 million on a new model, or platform, for its website that will be ready by 2014.  

Meanwhile our multi-channel retail client, IronmongeryDirect, has run another Direct Response TV campaign. After the success of the first ever national TV campaign, which saw an increase in attributed leads by 63% within 30 minutes of spot transmission, IronmongeryDirect, the UK’s largest online and mail order supplier of ironmongery products to the trade, decided to move ahead with a second campaign in June.  

Most recently IronmongeryDirect has launched its mobile website, in keeping with the latest technology moves, making it easy for tradesmen on-the-go to search for products and place their orders.   

We got this story covered and a by-lined feature by IronmongeryDirect’s Head of Marketing, Stuart Wilson, in the recent issue Direct Commerce magazine, and the story was picked up by a number of other trade titles.

Celebrating design 'Before 1980'

Here's a new fair to add to you calendar for the London Design Festival, but this one is not for those seeking out cutting edge design; this is one for those looking for retro.

The organisors say 'Before 1980 is a fair that favours style over age and has invited like-minded traders to exhibit – whose stock style is distinctive and special, and whose displays are always creative and inspirational.' 

Amelia Forster, organiser, says “Interior style magazines continue to reference and feature past design periods – this only helps to reinforce the idea that vintage offers a great level of quality and style without a large investment.  We have recognised the growing interest in vintage design and décor and its place in contemporary homes.”

“Before1980 will be a fair with an eclectic mix of antiques, mid-century and vintage – we hope people will be inspired by the looks on offer but feel they can really go home with something.”

The first fair features handpicked traders selling stylish pieces for the home and garden; it will be part of a series of seasonal events celebrating home style from Before1980. The fair is on Saturday 22nd September in the Central Library, Islington, London.

For more information click here.

Design comes to London

With the London Design Festival fast approaching we thought that it would be useful to highlight some of the key destinations for interiors, furniture and product design.  

The Festival runs from 14th until 23rd September and encompasses all forms of design from Graphic Design to Fashion. The key destinations below mostly cover interiors and furniture however for details of other design events you can view a calendar on the London Design Festival website.  

100% Design – 19th-22nd September, Earls Court  

Decorex – 23-16th September, The Royal Hospital, Chelsea  

Tent London – 20th-23rd September, Old Truman Brewery  

Design Junction – 19th-23rd September, The Sorting Office, W1  

Clerkenwell Design Week – 21st-23rd September, Various Venues, Clerkenwell  

ICON Design Trail, September, Various Venues  

Super Brands, 20th-23rd September, Old Truman Brewery  

Before 1980, 22nd September, Central Islington Library  

For full details of all these events please click on the event title to go to their websites.

Here’s to a great festival of design!

Stunning design for Denmark's Natural History Museum

BIG architects' has presented their proposal for the new Natural History Museum in Denmark.

The design includes a man-made mineral landscape that adapts to the organic forms of a botanical garden situated in the centre of Copenhagen.

The design is quite stunning and you can find out a lot more on Design Boom here as well as full project details.

3D interactive art in Chinese exhibition

We don't now a great deal about this exhibition in China however these great interactive 3D art by South Korean artists caught our eye on Toxel.com.

Looks great fun.

See many more here.

A novel recruitment approach

Gaming company Kixeye has taken an interesting approach to staff recruitment in this advert.

Taking a sideways swipe at the competition in this humorous, if quite long, film that tells you why you should work for them and not others.

Please be aware that there is strong language in the film.

View if below and tell us what you think of this novel recruitment approach and take a look at their website which is great.

The 21 Best Doppelgangers Of The 2012 London Olympics

Take a look at 'The 21 Best Doppelgangers Of The 2012 London Olympics' on Buzzfeed.

Some great images found and suggestions made - some a bit odd. But quite funny.

They say 'you will never be able to watch the Olympics in the same way again.

See them all here.

A new sport for the Olympics

This film clip has had us in hysterics in the office.

How to play football whilst wearing binoculars.

Hilarious. Definitely a sport to liven up the Olympics.

.

A vision of our augmented reality future

This short film from two students suggests an almost-plausible forecast of the evolution of augmented reality, everything from cooking to dating.

Sight was created by students Daniel Lazo and Eran May-raz from the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design and is an eight-minute short that takes augmented reality to the next level with iridescent contact lenses that enhance the wearer’s world.

The result is interactive overlays of video games, cooking lessons, TV shows, and anything else that’s accessible on smartphones and computers

"We were inspired by many present-day apps and several sci-fi movies," says Lazo. "But most of the ideas came from us trying to visualize a world where this tech is standard, and what kind of interactions can happen in it."

See their vision of he future below or find out more on co.create:

Muhammad Ali tribute by Louis Vuitton

Louis Vuitton has been running a campaign called Journeys and in its latest release they have created a tribute to Muhammad Ali which sees hip-hop artist Yasiin Bey and calligraphist Niels Shoe Meulman get in the ring.

This is the first time they have released a short film as a part of the Journeys campaign and it focuses upon the enduring appeal of boxer Muhammad Ali with Yasiin Bey (formerly known as Mos Def) reciting some of Muhammad Ali's immortal words combined with the brushstrokes of Niels Shoe Meulman.

Atmospheric, engaging and emotional.

Enjoy.

Louis Vuitton - Dream from Stuart A. McIntyre on Vimeo.

Gravity, air and ping pong balls

This interesting ad for ASICS styles was inspired by the fact that 33 joints in the foot allow it to move efficiently.

33 by ASICS™ styles apparently encourages natural foot movement during workouts and every day use while remaining lightweight and thus they combined ping pong balls, air and gravity to create this ad.

Find out more by ASICS here

 

Floating cinema at Venice Biennale

This year's Venice Biennale will feature the 'Achipelago Cinema', a floating, outdoor auditorium.

This interesting cinema installation has been designed by Beijing-based architect Ole Scheeren an is constructed from a modular raft. It will be fixed in the Darsena Grande of the Arsenal, which is an historic shipyard in the heart of Venice, during the 13th Architectural Biennale.

There will be various public events held on the platform during the festival as well as the premier of 'Against all Rules', which is a documentary by Horst Brandenburg.

After the festival the structure will travel the globe to film festivals worldwide.

Find out more here.

Jubilympics musings

So has the Olympics whetted your appetite for how TV and internet can work together?   

Well that’s not just an excuse to mention London 2012 but we were thinking about what would be possible in the future with the new wave of internet TV services being announced.  Lots more content to come its seems.  

We’ve been told for quite some time it’s an era in which television and internet are converging; Google has launched Google TV and Apple TV is being relaunched apparently. BSkyB launched its NowTV service last month offering films and soon sport and entertainment, described as a brand new internet TV service from Sky.  

Are we going to want to actually watch all of this content sitting together on the living room sofa though?  Or does this new world of time-shifting, TV-on-demand and High Definition herald either an age of more arguments over the remote control. Or is this the end of watching TV together with family and friends, altogether perhaps as we chose to interact with these new services separately?

Live pictorial time-line of world cities

This is a very interesting online project that combines time-lines with geo-tagged images to create a live portrait of cities around the world.

'This is Now' project uses real-time updates from Instagram to show a live time-line of images based based on users geo-tag locations.

Photos are streamed instantly, as soon as they are uploaded on Instagram, and capture a cities unique story in a fluid movement.

Take a look at various cities here, including London, New York, Tokyo and Paris, and see what people are posting and how their lives differ.

Click on the times to see the time-lines.

Stunning photography exhibition at T5 London in laminate

If when someone mentions Formica you think about the kitchen then think again. Formica® laminate is an amazingly versatile material and the Formica Bespoke service allows you to capture any image in laminate.

In a celebration of the city of London and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Formica Group has partnered with photographer Henry Reichhold in a T5 Expo exhibition at the check-in area of Heathrow Airport, London. The original creator of High Pressure Laminate (HPL), Formica Group is delighted to be part of this exciting event supporting artists of today and tomorrow.

The exhibition opened on 30th July 2012 and will be running for three months until October 2012. The exhibition features two large images (3 x 12.5 meters) scaled to match the extraordinary Royal events of the Jubilee weekend 2012: the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant and the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Carriage Procession. The images are captured in Formica® laminate using the Formica® Bespoke artwork service structured to facilitate virtually limitless, unique design.

Taken from the 54th floor of Europe’s tallest building, the newly built Shard that towers over London Bridge, the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant panorama was shot through glass on a rainy day. The skyscraper was shrouded in mist and clouds, resulting in a unique and dramatic backdrop of this historic event. The final image was created by combining over 200 pictures together in a giant jigsaw puzzle and then subjecting them to intense image manipulation to cut through the veil of weather.

The Queen's Diamond Jubilee Carriage Procession photo captures the incredible excitement and vibrant energy on the day. As the Royal coaches drive past the cheering crowd, the image of thousands of waving arms and flags creates a spectacular visual display.

Henry Reichhold specializes in digital imaging and works with a large variety of technology, ranging from mobile phones to high resolution cameras.

The results are stunning images capturing the spirit and atmosphere of each subject, be it cityscapes or enormous panoramic images such as the ones being exhibited at the T5 Expo. Continuously exploring new ways of showing his work, Reichhold chose Formica laminate to create this unique display.

RIBA Stirling Prize shortlist announced

This year's RIBA Stirling Prize shortlist has been announced with six buildings, including the London Olympic Stadium by Populous and two projects by OMA.

The six that will compete for the £20,000 prize for the Best Building by a British-registered architect are:

The Hepworth Wakefield, Yorkshire by David Chipperfield Architects (pic 1)
London Olympic Stadium by Populous (pic 2)
The Lyric Theatre, Belfast by O’Donnell + Tuomey
Maggie’s Centre, Gartnavel, Glasgow by OMA
New Court, London by OMA with Allies and Morrison
Sainsbury Laboratory, Cambridge by Stanton Williams (pic 3)

See more about the shortlist here.