Honda live ad.. part 2

Yay, the ad was a success! Watch the brilliant video at honda.co.uk/accord.

Honda's live TV spot - Difficult is worth doing

Tonight on Channel 4, Honda are taking part in a world first - a 100% live TV ad, to promote the 'Difficult is worth doing' campaign for the new Honda Accord. Skydivers will be attempting to spell the word 'HONDA' in the sky in a 3-minute ad break broadcast live from Madrid. Wonderful concept from W+K (and my company Collective built the gorgeous accompanying Accord site).

Read more here.

Brighton degree show

Too much good stuff to direct link to everyone - go check out the work at Brighton University's Graphics/Illustration degree show. I nearly went to Brighton myself and now I wish I had!

Bank holiday viewing

Just had a nice extended Bank Holiday (despite the rain); the first weekend I've spent at home in London for about a month. On Saturday we went to Selfridges to see the 'Urban art' show that's currently on - they're exhibiting works by Banksy, D*Face, Pinky and many others before they're auctioned in October. There was some cool stuff, and some quite affordable - might see how my finances are come October and do some investing.



On Sunday we went to Spitalfields market, where I snapped the photo above, and bought a darling Kate Sheridan bag. We also went to check out the Word to Mother show at Stolen Space. Nice paintings, but I particularly liked the wall of 'behind the scenes' stuff like sketchbook pages, doodles and stencils used in the works.

ATP Explosions

ATP is such a grand festival. Who couldn't love watching obscure bands in Butlins, surrounded by fast food outlets, amusement arcades and kids' playgrounds, all next to the seaside...

Noteworthy acts from this year's Explosions in the Sky-curated festival:

1. Animal Collective


(my photos are quite awful I'm afraid; I need a new camera - got my eye on a Canon G9...)

These guys are amazing because they just sound like no one else. I don't know much about the band itself, but the 3 of them look like they have a combined age of 45 yet have been producing crazy, wonderful music for over 7 years. It was a treat to finally see them live and I was happy to discover they really make the records come alive by mixing up the songs, splicing them together in different ways with the help of a lot of electronic gadgetry.

2. Saul Williams



This guy gets on the list for sheer impact and showmanship - he and his band rocked out dressed like a cross between a Transformer, Ming the Merciless and a banshee, and delivered a powerful show. It seems he's being bashed at the moment for allowing his music to be in a Nike ad but his sound is refreshingly different.

3. Broken Social Scene



These guys closed the main stage on Sunday night. I've been a fan for a long time but the set rather disappointed me - it was a bit of a cheesy everybody-scream, hands-in-the-air kind of dealy. But they did do a lovely version of 'Anthem for a Seventeen Year Old Girl' featuring Emily Haines from Stars, and a singalong of 'Backed out on the Cocks' featuring Explosions, The Constantines and J Mascis of Dinosaur Jr.

4. Silver Jews



Again, I was disappointed by Silver Jews. I'm a big fan of their last record 'Tanglewood Numbers' and I love David Berman's poetry book, but the new material sounds a bit country and it felt more like David and some session musicians than a true band.

5. The National



I got into The National after buying tickets to a London gig a while ago, because they were cheaper than face value on eBay! They're a good solid classic-songwriting skilled-musicmanship kind of band and put on a good show.

Lots more photos on Flickr!

Dancing Brains

Much has been blogged about the new ad for Drench water featuring Brains from Thunderbirds. Disturbing crotch-grabbing moves aside, it's fantastic, and I particularly love the website, where you can control Brains' dance moves with your webcam. Awesome!

Koralie illustration

Wow.. Koralie's work just blows me away.. very inspiring stuff. Her portfolio site is here (though it's icky Flash).

Tuneage

I'm off to ATP next weekend, which always inspires me to check out some new music. Out of all the stuff I've acquired, I really love the Santogold album. She draws many comparisons with M.I.A (from lazy journalists who assume that because she's friends with MIA and also ethnic, she'll sound the same), but her style is totally different - Santi is more 80s and soulful; I can pick up influences from everyone from the Pixies to the Police, via Gwen Stefani and Kate Bush. I also wholeheartedly endorse the use of gold glitter on the album cover artwork.

By the way, I recently updated my company's blog design and I'm now contributing to it too - check it out.

Ceiling cat is watching you...

I love lolcats - my life has been made infinitely better since adding the feed to my blog reader. Now you can download and fold your very own Ceiling Cat from right here. Super cute!

Polar Opposites

This is a little piece I've been having fun working on in the evenings lately. I've never really been into using Photoshop as a tool for making graphics (definitely a vector girl at heart) but I did some experimenting here with blend modes, layering, patterns, and many source images from the wonderful BibliObyssey. I'm quite happy with it! (Bonus points if you guessed the inspiration - 'Polar Opposites' by Modest Mouse).

Beholder art

I've just discovered Beholder, a site where you can buy affordable original art from up-and-coming artists. I particularly like this piece by Ian Dingman, not least because I'm working on some camera drawings of my own at the moment.



Post-script to my last post: I received an email from KJ at Not Bad For A Girl, explaining her rationale behind the logo's design. I now understand it's a homage to Lubalin, but still feel that a company dedicated to encouraging and inspiring young female designers should be a little more original (or at least pastiche a fantastic female typographist, like my hero Marian Bantjes!).