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Archive for the ‘Inspiration’ Category

stop thinking. start rapping.

11/30/12 by lauriehills

the inimitable lupe fiasco

I recently came across a study on what brain scans reveal about Freestyle Rappers via my lovely nerdy friend Dr Jess.

Now I’m not about to pretend that I know anything about the world of functional MRIs, but what did get me interested was how this is essentially a mapping on creativity and the fluidity of language.

Yes it is a small and subjective study in a very niche area of medicine but it does have fascinating implications for understanding such incredible processes of creativity. Although it is somewhat ironic that in order to study “creativity” we have to structure such uncreative study designs…

In a nutshell the study compares the functional MRI results with those of freestyle rapping (improvisation) and a set of learned rap lyrics.

Using freestyle rap as a means of image mapping the areas of the brain, and connectivity mapping to analyse the complex interplay between the areas of the brain that control coordination, fluency, information processing, intention, multimodal sensory processing, language, rhythm … (the list is as long as it is complex!) what it suggests is

“… the conscious, deliberate, top-down attentional processes mediated by this network may be attenuated during improvisation, consistent with the notion that a state of defocused attention enables the generation of novel, unexpected associations that underlie spontaneous creative activity.”

Whilst sadly proof that not all of us have the gift of the gab on hip-hop karaoke night, let alone freestyle hip hop karaoke night, what’s interesting about the results is the sense that the inherent creative result comes from a non-conscious process of decision making and adjustments.

Perhaps this has implications for our individual creativity and we should just… not think too hard.

As they put it; “…ongoing actions, moment to moment decisions and adjustments in performance may be experienced as having occurred outside of conscious awareness. This is not inconsistent with the experience of many artists who describe the creative process as seemingly guided by an outside agency.”

So next time you’re in a creative pickle – whether it’s writer’s block as a strategist or an ideas rut as a designer – maybe you shouldn’t jump straight to the interwebs for inspiration/the answer and instead embrace your inner Lupe or Dr Dre.

Failing that, the festive season is upon us, so for the on-stage divas amongst us maybe it’s time to make a name for yourself at the Christmas Party?

If you’ve had enough of pre-frontal gyrus’- and made it this far into the post- you deserve to be rewarded and may now gyrus to Will Smith’s (of Fresh Prince Of Bel Air brilliance) casual free-styling… hold out for the FPOBA drop at the end. Probably NSFW but well worth it. Happy Friday Everyone!

Five Beautiful Things – Autumn edition

10/24/12 by Sarah Cameron

The leaves are orange, the fog has come down and we’ve finally had to accept that an Indian Summer is not just around the corner… Don’t worry though; wrap your hands round a steaming cup of tea and check out our latest (and particularly bright!) Five Beautiful Things for inspiration despite the drizzle.

60 Shades of Royalty

Throughout the madness of her Diamond Jubilee, it seemed impossible to escape the Queen’s face, but a piece of colourful genius stood out amongst the generic QEII masks and biscuit tins. Leo Burnett has created a masterpiece ‘Pantone Queen: 60 Years of Matching Colours’. Each colour of outfit is accompanied by the date it was worn, and the Pantone colour reference. And after all the press the younger royals are getting these days, we suspect Her Majesty will be blushing a rosy Pantone 231.

Jolly Brollies

This playful exhibition of colour and abstract beauty was featured in Agueda Portugal, as part of the Agitagueda Art Festival. The Wonderland-esque display carried a soothing elegance while maintaining a stunning array of colour across the sky. The umbrellas also proved to be somewhat practical by providing a shaded stroll for all those admiring the aerial spectacle; an umbrella function us Brits can only envy.

Inside London

OK, so it’s one of ours, but our drinks team at Coley Porter Bell are rather pleased with their new identity for Beefeater’s limited edition ‘Inside London’ bottle, planned as celebration of 2012 – a truly momentous year for London.
Our idea for the bottle stems from the British outwardly conservative appearance and ‘stiff upper lip’ attitude, contrasting with our ‘inner eccentricity’ seen in London’s diverse range of people, culture and activities.

Nice And Toastie

If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the… bus stop? Caribou Coffee, along with the trusty sous chefs at Colle + McVoy, launch their ‘Hot ‘n Wholesome’ breakfast sandwiches by converting bus shelters in Minneapolis into oversized ovens. Not to miss a trick, these public appliances have been fitted with digital clocks and fully functional heaters.

Living With Patterns

Eley Kishimoto, a husband and wife duo, opened their ‘Living With Patterns’ exhibition at The Aram Gallery, London in September, coinciding with both London Fashion Week and The London Design Festival. The exhibition showcases their collection of women’s wear, named ‘In Shape’, and is on show until 27th October. If you like these retro inspired prints, Clarks will be launching a range of shoes inspired by this work in March next year in the UK.

http://www.thearamgallery.org/

Coley Porter Bell Creates New Member of Chivas Regal Family

10/15/12 by Alex Benady

Coley Porter Bell has designed the packaging for the newest permanent member of the Chivas Regal range, The Chivas Brothers’ Blend.

Launched this month, it is Chivas’ first new launch for five years and will be available as an exclusive in Global Travel Retail outlets. It is intended to strengthen the brand’s relationship with this all-important channel and to help position Chivas at the forefront among international travelers.

The new ‘The Chivas Brothers’ Blend’ has been created as a tribute to the founding brothers, James and John whose story began in the mid-1800’s when they first worked together at the Chivas Brothers’ Emporium in King Street, Aberdeen. Paying homage to this rich history, it is a thoroughly modern interpretation of the famously smooth Chivas style.

This unique 12 year old blend uses a carefully selected range of malt whiskies including Strathisla and Longmorn to recreate the extra smooth taste that is perfect for sharing with friends.

The main design challenge was to differentiate ‘The Chivas Brothers’ Blend’ from other Chivas variants and the existing 12 year old in particular. It was also important to convey the brand’s heritage and the story of James and John without feeling too traditional or old-fashioned.

One of the solutions to this was the selection of the colour purple – not only does it bridge the gap visually between 12 and 18 year olds, but it balances tradition and modernity whilst creating stand-out at fixture and providing a sense of authority.

Extending the brand’s visual equities beyond colour, extracts from the Chivas brother’s original royal warrant have been used to add authenticity and relate the story back to the brand’s beginnings. The brand’s iconic crest is silk screened directly on to the bottle providing a more contemporary reference back to the Chivas family.

Coley Porter Bell design director Richard Clayton said. “The Chivas Brothers’ Blend is a unique product so we wanted to give it its own distinctive identity while being sympathetic to the broader family of Chivas Regal. We’ve created a design that is vibrant and sophisticated with a strong on-shelf presence. The packaging celebrates Chivas Regal’s history but is completely relevant today and in the future.” ENDS

Look for Longer

10/3/12 by Craig Barnes

As I was standing waiting for my train this morning I noticed this beautiful poster on the platform, which engrossed me and confused me in equal measure. A quick bit of research on twitter upon arriving into the office (on twitter somebody, somewhere has the answer to everything) and I have discovered it is a cryptic piece of art depicting 75 London Underground station names. I am going to have to struggle not to spend my whole working day tying to crack them all! I’ve got Barbican (Barbie and Ken, get it?), Angel (easy) and Green Park already. This could take some time…

I’m still not sure why these posters have come about, but as a bit of a London Underground nerd, I do know that next year is the 150th anniversary of the world’s first underground train network. Perhaps this is all part of a bigger countdown campaign? I hope so; with all the Brititshness of the Olympics and Diamond Jubilee this year now over, leaving a lot of us on a post-patriotic comedown, a Tube Birthday Party in 2013 could be just the ticket…

Take a look at the website for a full resolution version and say goodbye to your lunch hour!

http://www.lookforlonger.com/

Wine wraps cast new light on labelling conventions

09/25/12 by Alex Benady

Beautiful game changer?

At the risk of sounding like straight talking former US defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld, it’s very hard to know what you don’t know, especially if that’s all you’ve ever known. By which I mean that often we are not aware of the limitations of things because they are so ubiquitous and so pervasive that it doesn’t even occur to us to question them.

Sometimes it takes a new way of doing or looking at things to expose the short comings of convention.

A new series of utterly beautiful wine bottle wraps for California wine maker Truett Hurst does just that for the design of wine labels. They seem to have been running on the same tram lines for at least the last two hundred years.

It’s not until you see the Truett Hurst designs that you realize quite how lazy and self-centered wine labelling has been. Conventional wine labelling is all about provenance, (Grape, country, year,) (aka me, me me) the producer. Imagine a chocolate bar wrapper that just listed the ingredients and when and where it was made. Want a bar of, glucose, caramel and chocolate, Slough 2012 anyone?

In contrast, the Evocative Wrapped Bottles line designed by Stranger and Stranger is defined by the way the wines are to be consumed.

Consumer research helped the company to identify 22 events that trigger wine purchase. Each wrap design is covered in recipes, pictures and words that relate to that particular occasion. There’s ‘Curious Beasts’, a red blend made for Halloween which has a dark foil wrapper decorated with skeletons and skulls; Schuck’s pinot noir, has fish illustrations and recipes on its foil wrapper. A brut rose from the Russian River Valley is designed for occasions like an anniversary or the birth of a child.

It’s easy to see how and why the restrictive conventions in wine labelling came about. In a highly competitive and fragmented industry with world-wide markets, it has been hard to establish brands. Country of origin was the main discriminator so labels have tended to be little more than stamps showing ingredients and where the product was made. Slap on a crest of some kind to show that the estate has been around for a while and there you have it.

The surprise is that those conventions have been so rarely challenged. OK Truett Hurst’s lovely designs are not the first or only wine packaging to take a different approach. For decades wines have gone the branded route. Think Blue Nun and Black Tower in the eighties. But these were designed to be nonthreatening entry level wines for plebs who found themselves intimidated by conventional wine livery.

But consumers are changing. No longer are they prepared to be cowed into deferential subservience by category conventions. Supermarketnews.com reports that Research by the US Wine Market Council says that 60% of those aged 26 to 34 find “fun and contemporary looking” wine labels of great importance when purchasing wine.

And the fact that these designs are strikingly handsome is not just bunce. It is a fundamental part of changing the game. Blind and branded taste tests reveal a totally different perception of the wine, claims Stranger and Stranger.

There is the possibility that the 22 usage occasions may prove to be too restrictive. Will I drink Curious Beasts at a time other than Halloween. Can I drink Schuck’s with poultry?

But at the very least these designs have cast light on the walls of the prison that confines wine label design. It is up to each brand to make its escape as best it can.

Dreams for sale because ‘Reality Sucks’

09/18/12 by Alex Benady

Even before the media started to talk about the post Olympic blues that the UK is experiencing, and how people will pick themselves up from this, the British people and indeed people across the world have been feeling an increasing desire to escape.

Research we conducted back in April found that 54% of Britons agree that the need to escape has become more important to them over the past few years and 69% agree that ‘it’s good to be random or do random things occasionally’.

This is no surprise really given the grim economic situation many in the West have been experiencing, and the over regulated world we live in today where we consume too much, often on autopilot and follow very rational ways of thinking, that leads to dull monotonous design.

In this rather grey world where ‘reality sucks’, we have seen a new trend emerging which we have explored in our latest Visual Futures presentation, ‘Reality Sucks’. Click here for quick snapshot of the presentation https://vimeo.com/49679657

The full report covers how design, products and brands are drawing on the principles of Surrealism to offer consumers alternative realities, such as Cadbury’s Joyville and an Alice Wonderland inspired gym in Japan to escape to. We have also seen absurd design from the likes of Lady Gaga, a rabbit shaped exhibition centre at the Shanghai World Expo and a boat on top of the Royal Festival Hall, just for the hell of it.

The use of Surrealism has not gone unnoticed by the public. Indeed, it has even been attributed to feeding collectors desire for Surrealist Art. In the past 18 months, Surrealist records have fallen like dominoes with Miró’s “Peinture (Etoile bleue),” 1927, fetching £23.5 million at Sotheby’s London in June. It is Oliver Camu’s belief (deputy Chairman of Christie’s Impressionist and modern art) that the growing interest in Surrealism can be attributed to its “presence in everyday media, marketing and advertising”.

NEW REALITIES FOR PARALYMPIANS

Jonnie Peacock crosses the line

However, for me personally the greatest example of how juxtapositions have becoming more accepted and can be used to open our eyes, is the rebranding of people who were once ‘people with disabilities’ as ‘superheros’. There can be nothing more amazing than the sight of Jonnie Peacock on his blade completing the 100m in 10.9 seconds! They have escaped the grim confines of their everyday reality, by sheer determination, dreams and getting people to see them in a new light.

Beauty Spot: New logo from OCC

10/11/11 by Craig Barnes

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Can Coca-Cola Really Make You Happy?

09/20/11 by Chris Button

While it might not be a recognised cure for depression, a couple of studies by The Economist suggest that there may at least be a correlation between Coca-Cola and happiness.

In 1997, The Economist took a look at the world through a Coca-Cola bottle. The following two charts were a result of this study:

The fact that there was a loose correlation between increased wealth and increased Coca-Cola consumption is not surprising. More interesting is that there was a much tighter correlation between increased HDI (Human Development Index – a measure of life expectancy, access to knowledge and standard of living) levels and increased Coca-Cola consumption. The Economist did not speculate on any possible causes for the correlation.

In 2008, The Economist took another look through the bottom of a Coca-Cola bottle. This time they specifically focused on Africa:

The observation that problems within Coca-Cola’s pervasive distribution network could be used as an indicator of social upheaval well in advance of other measures led to the suggestion that Coca-Cola could be an ‘Index of Happiness’ in Africa. In cruder terms, when Africa is ‘unhappy’, Coca-Cola’s presence declines regardless of consumer purchasing power.

If any unifying conclusion can be drawn from the two Economist studies, it is that Coca-Cola consumption is broadly reflective of social harmony and equality. As Andy Warhol once put it, “A Coke is a Coke and no amount of money can get you a better Coke than the one the bum on the corner is drinking”.

There are many ‘happy’ brands at the moment; Coca-Cola is one of them. What can make Coca-Cola distinct is recognition of its role as the world’s greatest brand. Melinda Gates and the ColaLife movement have independently highlighted Coca-Cola’s pervasive distribution network as an example of how to bring aid to those in need. In English, there are two possible interpretations of the ‘Open Happiness’ name given to Coca-Cola’s recent campaign: open as a verb encouraging the consumer to release happiness; open as an adjective describing a kind of free-spirited happiness. The actual campaign is rooted in the former verbal interpretation. By focusing on the latter adjectival interpretation, Coca-Cola can develop from a product that influences to a brand that inspires.

Creative Britain is not in Reverse. Yet.

07/12/11 by Alex Benady

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The future of British Art schools?

Tonight at The Institution of Mechanical Engineers luminaries of the UK creative world will debate the proposition: Is Creative Britain in Reverse?

At first glance there is little evidence to support such an idea. Ok the UK did put in its worst showing for decades at Cannes this year. But as we all know awards prove little or nothing.

In contrast Government figures suggest that creative Britain is doing rather well. They confirm that the creative industries are one of the jewels in the crown of UK Plc. At the last count the creative economy employed just over 2.25 million people -over 7 per cent of the work force. It comprised nearly 158,000 businesses and accounted for 6.4 per cent of UK Gross Value Added, producing exports of £16bn. (more…)

Beautiful Biscuits from Mrs. Fell

06/20/11 by Leia Baker

Congratulations to our lovely Heta, who got married on Saturday to Nick. We hope you both had a beautiful day and thanks for the yummy biscuiteer biscuits!

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