I was recently purusing an awesome blog called Steal Our Ideas (it's really amazing, I suggest checking it out), when I came across this idea for an ad that I absolutely loved:¹

I think the reason I loved this piece is that it really spoke to me as a social commentary about fashion advertising. While Diesel's advertising² does not "take itself too seriously"³ so much of fashion advertising is about selling an idea or a persona. While this sometimes is effective, as I ride the subway and walk down the streets of NYC I find myself turned off by most of the fashion advertising I see. I will never be the person in that ad, and I don't aspire to be. The models in these ads are so beautiful that they're ugly, but even beyond that I would argue that the attitude and lifestyle they portray is one I don't wish to call my own.

Here are a few examples:

American Apparel Ad

Let me put it this way, the summer I interned in NYC between junior and senior year of college, I lived with a Ukranian stripper (it was accidental...she said she was a bartender on Craigslist)-- anyways she owned one of these mesh dresses, and I hope I never need to.

Dolce & Gabbana

Can anyone say gang bang? I mean really, this add is about power and possession, 5 men surrounding one woman -- who just happens to be forcefully pinned down. As a man I wouldn't want to be the men, because really who wants to share something (that's right, the woman has been completely objectified by this ad) that's been around the block 5 times in such a short period -- as a woman I don't want to be there because...well...I don't really have the desire to be gang banged. Common D&G sexy does not equal gang bang, no matter how well lit and composed a photo is.

Tom Ford

Dear Tom Ford, No I will not iron your pants, especially if you're reading the paper -- if you have time to read the paper, you have time to iron your own pants. No Tom, I most certainly will not iron your pants naked, its dangerous, especially if your legs are so long that the elevation of your lady parts falls at the same elevation as the iron. I like men in nice suits just as much as the next girl, but I like those men even more when pretentious advertising that objectifies and demeans women⁴ doesn't appeal to them. Oh yeah...and if they can iron their own pants it's a big plus in my book.

Summary

I get that sex sells, and I get that people want to feel sexy...these are things we all know. At the same time as a young woman who occupies a job that a woman would have rarely occupied 50 years ago, it would be nice to look at the ads produced by the fashion industry and not feel like I have to take a step down and back in time when pursuing fashion. American Apparel⁵ makes great basic clothing items, D&G is one of the biggest bad ass fashion brands out there and Tom Ford designs great modern suits for men. If being awesome means partaking in what is portrayed by these ads, sorry fashion brands....you're right...I'll never be that awesome.

I recently watched the movie trailer for a film called Precious using Front Row on my mac. I was intrigued by the poster design for Precious...it's evocative of Saul Bass. In fact the only reason I watched the trailer was because of the poster, surely with a poster this sophisticated the movie must have some meat to it...and I believe it does. See the trailer below.

References to Bass

For fun after watching the trailer I looked up some of Saul Bass' work¹ on the Internet to refresh my memory. The poster seems to be the result of some clever graphic addition: Anatomy of a Murder Poster + Saint Joan Poster + The Man With The Golden Arm Poster = Precious Movie Poster. By alluding to this simple formula I might lead one to believe that much like the film posters it references this poster would appear dated and reminiscent of the 1950's and 1960's.  This is simply not the case.

Typography

While the poster tips it's proverbial hat to what some might call the era of Saul Bass, its re-appropriation of Bass' iconic style is meaningful and contemporary...something any design fanatic should be proud to hang in their home. Unlike Bass' whimsical type treatments the poster employs a lighter version of Helvetica/Helvetica Neue stripping the poster of whimsy and imbuing it with purpose and directness. The title of the film is rendered in an eroded sans serif typeface, which at first glance seems slightly off kilter, again an approprite nod to Bass' playful style in a very serious and contemporary way.

Iconography

The poster is striking and eye catching; I believe because of the Bass influenced iconography at the center of the traditionally laid-out piece. The mass of the female figure reminds me of the Venus of Willedorf, rotund and bold - certainly an immense presence with strength and potential (fertile or otherwise). The mass of the figure is broken however, much like a plate or pane of glass would break (fractures from the inside/center out). In this case the origin of the fracture is between the figures legs, appearing as a hand reaching up from the ground in negative space radiating rays of light that break this Venus into pieces. It is a powerful piece of imagery that I theorize would move any spectator to at least think, if not relate to this precious female figurine.

Conclusion

While I am not sure who designed this,² the poster is truly captivating and emotive with seemingly little effort. For me this is a design that will be considered "well done" 50 years from now, much like the work of Saul Bass. And while I don't think this posters style will prompt derivations in the way that Bass' style has and continues to, I do believe that the beautiful execution of the iconography will stand as an example of what a well though out graphic can do. It is a simply executed, unmuddled poster; which unlike so many other movie posters today, does its' job without compromising its' integrity.

While my days of pulling all-nighters are over, during my college years at RIT I pulled about 1-3 all-nighters per week by the end of each quarter (my record is 4 all-nighters in a row). By senior year I had completely changed my sleeping schedule so that I would wake up at noon and work til 4am-6am...crazy I know. Oddly enough there are times when I really miss it, something about pulling all-nighters brings out the commradery in the people who are doing so. Anyways, I recently came across an article on WikiHow about how to pull an all-nighter. I have to say, the article is really great. Speaking from experience, if you follow even half of the suggestions in the article you will be able to pull a successful all-nighter with little or no problems at all. My secret was to drink lots of water and take a break around 3am-4am and eat something, also it's best not to pull all-nighters alone (in my opinion).

Check out the article here: How to Pull an All Nighter.

I recently came across a new iPhone game called Parra Plays. The design of the application was really intriguing because of its simple design and flat shapes. It seems that most iPhone application designers prefer to add more dimension to their designs. Naturally I had to download this application to see what the rest of it looked like. I was surprised to find that the application was released by Incase, a company that makes cases for Apple products.

What the application does

The application contains three mini games inside:

Poppers It’s like a touch screen version of “Whac-A-Mole.” Touch the clouds before they pop! Sounds easy enough, right? Keep playing…

Parrot Loosely based on “Simon Says,” but with a twist. You think you can break 100? Yeah right!

Pairs Very similar to the classic “Memory” card game. Uncover the matching cards. The faster you do it, the better your score!

What's great about this application

I should preface this by saying I'm not a gamer, but for me these mini-games were casual, engaging and charming. The design was simple and well executed. It's clear some thought went into the sound design (and the sound adds a lot of value to the game). What was most impressive to me was that without any direction or indication of what to do I was able to pick up the game and immediately figure out how to play.¹ I love the simplicity of this application.

Great example of a branded application

This application is part of a larger project called Curated by Arkitip that collaborates with artists/designers to create embellished cases for Incase.²  In addition to being able to purchase some awesome cases, the website allows its visitors to download wallpapers, videos, icons and other content. The Parra Plays application is a great example of how downloadable content from a brand can be extended to the iPhone.

By placing Parra's design on the iPhone in game form, Incase breathes life into graphics which are still and inactive. It is also able to extend its reach to users who didn't know Incase's curated by Arkitip project existed (like myself). Unlike a lot of other branded applications, this applications primary objective appears to be fun. It's a refreshing example of how branded iPhone applications can be fun, engaging, and a great ambassator for it's brand.