I felt sure if we waited long enough, someone would grasp the nettle and prove that the art of copywriting isn’t dead, just having a lie down. The fact that this little miracle has been achieved by one of the nation’s best known (and best loved) brands, is just the icing on the cake. Or at least the sauce on the beans.
Archive for the ‘art’ Category
Where have you bean? Heinz roll out new TV spot, copywriting saved.
Tuesday, February 7th, 2012Cash From Chaos – how a fashion label stole a logo
Thursday, February 2nd, 2012
The connection between punk’s pop cultural movement and the political ideology of ‘anarchy’ stems from the 1976 debut single from Sex Pistols: ‘Anarchy In The UK’. The Pistols weren’t actually a political or anarchist band, more of an art statement, and their reference to ‘anarchy’ was a statement of provocation and disgust rather than a manifesto. They did, after all, sign to three major record labels and fought tooth and nail for the money they earned.
What 5000 video diaries sound like.
Wednesday, January 11th, 2012
The Saatchi Gallery has just opened a new film and screening room, just around the corner from the Saatchi Gallery on the King’s Road. The first artist to take up residence in this room is Christopher Baker, a scientist-turned-multimedia artist who has installed his 2008 film ‘Hello World!’ in the space.
Twenty & twelve predictions for 2012
Thursday, December 29th, 2011
As a new year beckons, I am very happy to take on the burden of predicting exactly what will be happening in the twelve months to come. Should none of these occur, please speak to my lawyer.
Ronnie Wood – I Can Get Art Satisfaction
Monday, December 5th, 2011
You can’t get much more rock ‘n’ roll than the Rolling Stones…and you can’t be more rock ‘n’ roll than Ronnie Wood, with his former lifestyle of drink, drugs, sex and out-and-out hedonism. But I recently stumbled across a gallery just off London’s Oxford Street, exhibiting some of Ronnie’s art – a serious hobby which he’s had for the past 35 years. We’re not just talking about a hobbyist, though; Ronnie Wood can really, really draw. When I stepped through the door and saw his work for the first time, I was amazed.
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Leonardo: The hottest ticket in town.
Wednesday, November 30th, 2011
This winter, the National Gallery opened its doors to one of it’s most ambitious and important exhibitions to date, Leonardo: Painter At The Court Of Milan which is offering the one-off chance to see just over half of Leonardo’s 15 surviving works of art, all in one room. The public have gone berserk over tickets, all the advance tickets have sold out, even though the exhibition is going on until the 5th February and the queues into the gallery are three hours long each and every day. But what is it about Leonardo that excites everybody so? Is it just because of the Mona Lisa, or has The Da Vinci Code mustered a common public interest?
Tatlin’s Tower
Monday, November 28th, 2011
In the heart of the Royal Academy’s Annenberg Courtyard stands Tatlin’s Tower. Not the original, of course; in fact, it was never built as the structure he intended and has only ever existed in scaled-down model form. Originally designed to house the “Comintern” – a hub for the propagation of revolutionary ideals, containing a broadcast centre, conference facilities and administrative offices in St Petersburg – the tower was intended to reach some 400 metres into the sky and to span the River Neva. When one considers that the Eiffel Tower is a ‘mere’ 300 metres tall, and considerably narrower, one can appreciate the vastness of Tatlin’s vision. But even in model form, Tatlin’s Tower is an intriguing, unusual and awesome structure of complex engineering.
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One of the good guyz
Thursday, November 17th, 2011
Being born Colin Fulcher in Middlesex, halfway through the Second World War, was a rather inauspicious start for one of the most progressive and impressive graphic designers of the 20th century. Perhaps that’s why he changed his name to Barney Bubbles.
Trained as a retail display designer in the art school of Twickenham College of Technology, Colin began his professional career at Michael Tucker Associates, which he described as ‘very Swiss; very hard; unjustified; very grey’. It wasn’t an insult because he also asserted that it was here he learned ‘everything about typography’. But he had to wait until 1965 for his big leap forward – a position as senior graphic designer at The Conran Group. It’s amusing to note that Colin – who became so associated with the counter culture and new wave – actually created items for the utterly middle class Habitat store and a logo for Strongbow cider, while in this role.
The Turbine Hall
Wednesday, November 16th, 2011
Today’s blog is dedicated to the Turbine Hall at Tate Modern which has to be one of my favourite art spaces on the planet. The feeling of light and space is hard to come by in London but the Turbine Hall has bucketfuls of it. Instead of being transformed into seven floors of gallery space like the rest of the building, the hall has been left as a brick and steel shell in which, as has now been proved, the possibilities are endless. Read on to find out more about the history of it’s blossoming from rusty power station to world-renowned gallery.
Where’s the love? Have we had enough of sex in advertising?
Tuesday, February 14th, 2012For decades brand marketeers have worked hard to draw a direct link between a product and the possibility of success with the opposite sex (they’ve rarely been brave enough to suggest a connection with same sex relationships outside specialist publications, despite the acknowledged value of the ‘pink’ pound). It’s a proven strategy and certain goods have decided they must be inextricably linked with romantic relationships and are constantly searching for new ways to push that message.
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Tags: Advertising, blog, branding, coffee, Gold Blend, Hello Boys, Kylie, love, Magnus Shaw, relationships, romance, sex, TV, Valentines day
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