Amsterdam Inspirations feed Tampa Bay

I LOVE to travel. Seeing new places, experiencing new cultures, eating all the food… every part of traveling is good for the soul—especially a creative one.

On a recent trip to Amsterdam, Tyler and I visited the Rijks Museum, where I picked up this super cool map. Individual stair step tabs revealed an illustration of each floor of the museum and displayed the historical artifacts or specific artists that were housed there. To be honest, it was a lot to take in in the moment. But I thought it was worth bringing back to the agency as an example of an inspiring layout.

A few weeks later, our client, Feeding Tampa Bay, needed a physical representation of their strategic 5-year plan to hand out to Tampa Bay leaders at an upcoming media event. Suddenly, I had an idea of how to tell their story. With the help of a ruler, some tape, and many sheets of paper, I built a similar booklet to illustrate how this layout would be perfect to share Feeding Tampa Bay’s goal. Each strategic pillar would have its own space to shine, but when the booklet was fully opened, you could see how each piece of the plan worked together to create a hunger-free Tampa Bay.

Check out the making-of photos below, and see the finished project here.

A Mouth-Watering Word Mark

Word marks are a special kind of challenge for creative teams. Using only letters, create a distinct typographic treatment for an event, product, or brand that can stand out and be memorable. From raw ideas to marks that are really well done, you have to grill down to the essence of what this icon will represent. (Are you picking up on a theme here?)

So, when the Zoo asked us to help them advertise some spring samplin’s that were in the works to heighten their Zoo experience before peak attendance during spring break, we were fired up.

What if the word mark looked like it was written in barbecue sauce, I wondered. My sr. art director tried some things out in Photoshop, but we weren’t getting the look we wanted. So I figured, don’t fight the fonts, cook up your own. I headed into the kitchen, found some extra Chick-fil-A BBQ packets—only the best for this craft project—and grabbed some makeshift paint brushes (a stirrer straw and a plastic knife.)

What resulted was a delectable, smokey mark that you can practically smell! Now that’ll make your mouth water. You can see the process, from sketch to market, below!

Ad of the Day: Lion of the Amazon

If any of you know me, you know that I'm obsessed with dogs. Especially golden retrievers. 

I saw this ad about a month or so ago, when it was airing in Japan, and instantly fell in love with it. Amazon has created nice pieces to fit into this Prime shipping campaign, but this by far is my favorite. 

My favorite part about this series is how creative the solutions get (a doggie door for a mini horse?!) when faced with everyday problems. Each ad has it's own little twist that just brings a smile to your face. It just goes to show you they really do have anything you need on Amazon. 

I'm Dating the Dungeon Master

Fade in: 

A band of misfits find themselves in a small village plagued by misfortune and fear. A caravan of dwarves has been ambushed in the forest that stands between the village and the town to the west. To the east, mountains cast a dark shadow across the valley. While they all have different motives -- treasure, exile, a quest -- these five strangers will band together to discover who is terrorizing the country.

**Spoiler alert: it's an underground organization of ancient dragons who have been experimenting to create a perfect being by splicing dragon DNA with various species.**

This semester, I wanted to expose myself to more new things. Advertising professionals and well-rounded human beings in general are open to the world around them and I want to be both of those kinds of people. 

Tonight, in honor of this commitment to me, I ventured out of my apartment and surrounded myself with elves, mages and direwolves. Yes, I stepped into the fantasy world of Dungeons and Dragons.

Nerdy? Yes. I am not even going to attempt to count the number of different colored dice splattered across the small round table these six boys encircle. But underneath all of the mythical accents and crazy creature names, this game is about a story. And not just any pre-written adventure purchased from your local comic shop. In fact, this adventure was written by the person who introduced me to this group: the Dungeon Master.

And I helped.

As cool as this all sounds on paper, as soon as you introduce five other, independent thinking tabletop players, the whole game changes, and with it, the story evolves, too. In this way, the story is a living creature, with pieces of each player in it. 

Whether I'll join in on the game is yet to be determined. Maybe I'll aid the party as an elven archer, or ambush them as the leader of a group of sexy sirens. But, for now, I'm content watching the magic unravel from afar. 

 

xoxo, 

Kelsie

 

An Experience in Virtual Reality

Holy cow.

Seriously, that was the coolest thing ever.

Have you guys tried the Oculus Rift yet? Cause you should. Immediately.

Don't have hundreds of dollars? Go to the Salvador Dali Museum like I did!

Included in your admission, you can use the Oculus to explore Archeological Reminiscence of Millet's Angelus from every angle. 

I was skeptical. We've all dealt with bad visual experiences. Old VR tech, outdated 3D effects and most other forms of visual manipulation just left me dizzy and sick. Could this really be any different? I figured I'd have to try it to find out.

The exhibit assistant placed the Oculus over my eyes. Then I adjusted it on my head to make sure everything was in focus. And then I was alone in the museum.

On the wall in front of me was the painting I was poised to explore. This by itself was pretty impressive. There wasn't an obnoxiously sized crowd of tourists corralled around the painting; I could actually stand an appropriate distance away and look at it.

But then, whoosh, I was inside the frame.

I looked at the two towers in the distance. I looked up at the sky filled with stars. I looked at the odd couple, a man and young boy, to my left. I turned around and looked at the desert behind me. My mouth was involuntarily open in awe the whole time.

Imagine what I must have looked like to the people in line behind me. Twirling around in my chair looking up, down, all around, with the word "wow" permanently on my lips. The image flashed in my mind for a second, but I soon forgot about the people behind me. They couldn't see what I could. They'd understand soon enough.

A sphere at the base of the right tower was my navigation. I focused on it for two seconds and then whoosh I was standing by the towers.  (A lot of whoosh-ing took place in the next five minutes.) From here, I ventured into the right tower. Dali's Aphrodisiac Telephone was ringing. I wanted to answer it. 

I climbed the tower stairs and found myself on a ledge at the very top. The wind howled as I looked down. I noticed a navigation ball in the distance. Whoosh. Dali's Elephants were shakily inching toward me. This was probably my favorite sight.

My session timed out soon after that. 

Looking back, I'm amazed. I virtually explored a two dimensional painting by a man who's long dead. Yet, it felt so real. Well, as real as you could expect a surrealist painting to feel. It's truly an immersive experience unlike anything I've ever done. I'm excited to see where this technology takes gaming, movies and even live entertainment. 

The Dare to Dream exhibit is open from now until June 12th at the Dali Museum in downtown St. Pete.

xoxo,

Kelsie

Ad of the Day: Delta's "Meme-sterpiece" Makes Flying Fun

Flash back to my trip to France this past summer! Enjoy...

Bonsoir Soleils!

As I boarded my flight from Orlando to Atlanta on my way to Paris, France three days ago, I was expecting a monotone, lackluster safety lecture, barely audible through a garbled intercom, from a flight attendant who had demonstrated how to put on a seat belt too many times. What I witnessed was, in fact, the most entertaining safety demonstration in my (albeit, limited) history of flying.

I’m not sure when the trend of making safety videos trendy started, but Wieden + Kennedy, New York, did a meme-tastic job with their  “Internetest safety video on the Internet” for Delta Airlines. It was definitely an interesting choice, creatively, because a lot of the references were lost on their older demographic. It was obvious as passengers such as myself and the woman next to me chuckled at each random guest star, while the older gentleman to my left looked at me questioningly, missing the joke. However, for those of us who understood, I think it made a normally mundane formality, surprisingly enjoyable. Check it out:

Did you catch all the references? From Keyboard Cat, to double rainbows, to the ice bucket challenge, this video is a gem of internet pop culture. Although the humor does take away some of the seriousness of a safety announcement, I think it is more engaging than a traditional demonstration. By drawing more attention to the video, the essential message of safety can be delivered more efficiently.

Lastly, Wieden + Kennedy was smart with the final edit of the video. The essential safety information is consistently shot and broken up with pop culture references and cameos pasted before or after. With this format, new trends can be added as they occur so the video can maintain its relevance.

Personally, Doge’s cameo was my favorite.

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You can head over to Adweek to read more about it in their Ad of the Day spot.

Stay tuned to my blog over the next month to follow me on my adventure in France!

For now, bonne nuit!

Stay shiny my friends.

xoxo, Kelsie

Words Words Words

Words are, in my not-so-humble opinion, our most inexhaustible form of magic. -- Dumbledore/JK Rowling 

There is magic in words!

I’ve always believed that. So, I find it very ironic that I constantly tell myself and any one who takes the time to ask, that I want to be a copywriter when I “grow up”. And yet I am constantly drawn back to design.

Well, today I got to attend a copy writing seminar! Hallelujah! 

And what a workshop! If there was an ideal copy writing mentor in Cannes, this guy is it. Sam Saunders, CCO and writer at Oceanyc, is this huge, obnoxious personality that has an entertaining dirty mind along with an incredible understanding of how to wield the English language.

“Advertising is 100% an act of seduction,” says Saunders. The tagline is your pick-up line and each line of copy is bait to the next. “Your copy is only as strong as your worst line.”

In many professions you have to choose your words carefully. And in no job is this more true than in copywriting. In most cases, the space for copy in an ad is small, if anything. And with the rapid speed at which people consume information it essential that copy catches and holds their attention. Easier said than done, for sure. Here are a few of Saunders’ rules:

1. No puns or silly words — That’s too easy. Be better than that.

2. Balance — If you’re leading with a crazy visual, go for straightforward copy. And vice-versa.

3. Lead with emotion — People operate on an emotional level, use their emotions to your advantage.

4. The Manifesto — It’s the holy grail of copy. Start out with a line showing the future of the brand, its North Star. Next, hit em with the raw, emotional truth followed by what the brand brings to the table. End it strong with the brand name. And if you’re the cherry-on-top kind of creative, throw the logo up in the corner. BOOM.

Keep practicing those writing skills and stay shiny my friends!

xoxo,

Kelsie

Turner Duckworth Unmistakably Inspiring in Cannes

Design is the Future: How Unmistakable Branding Can Unleash Creativity, presented by Leo Burnett and Turner Duckworth was, by far, my favorite seminar.

They discussed how every aspect of a brand has to be seen as a creative opportunity.

Take Amazon, for example. They ship things that consumers buy from their online database. Now, it would have been super easy to put stuff in a brown box and call it done, but no! Duckworth saw that brown box as a canvas for Amazon to paint on. Originally it was just marked with the familiar smile from the logo. But if you’ve seen an Amazon box lately, you might recognize some cute little yellow friends causing mischief on the boxes. That’s right, the Minions have taken over Amazon’s canvas. So now, a regular brown box has become a visual asset that Amazon can rent out to brands.

Branding is about so much more than just a logo these days. The logo is simply a “visual receipt” for the client. As Duckworth put it, it’s about taking those visual assets and making them tangible, social objects. If a brand can pull that off, they can create their own material culture centered on their brand. If that happens, what they’ve done goes far beyond what any agency can do.

A brand culture extends to the consumer and invites them to contribute their own personal creativity to the culture. One of the speakers was flying into an airport for a conference when he noticed a billboard covered in Coke bottles. What was special about this particular billboard was that the negative space between the bottles spelled out the name of the city he was arriving in. He sent a picture to his college asking, “Is this ours?” It wasn’t. That billboard is an amazing example of what consumers can contribute when they are passionate about a material culture.

Turner and Duckworth also showcased a case study of my personal favorite brand, Coca-Cola.

They highlighted how they refocused the brand to maintain one solid, cohesive image and how that contributed to the brand’s unmistakable culture. (This was a familiar theme in multiple presentations from creative agencies.) Coke has proven itself as a creative and innovative brand that is dedicated to one simple theme of bringing people together. My favorite ad they entered at Cannes this year was of two hands reaching out as if to touch each other palm to palm. The outline of the bottle was visible in the negative space between their hands. How incredible is it that you can have such a powerful ad, that stays true to their values of connecting people, without even featuring the physical product! Unmistakably creative.

Stay shiny my friends!

xoxo,

Kelsie