Big Thinking – Design 6 Degrees | A Virtual Design Group

Highlights

German stationary maker Stabilo’s campaign “Highlight the Remarkable” by DDB Group Düsseldorf highlight remarkable women – NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson, U.S. First Lady Edith Wilson and Austrian-Swedish physicist Lise Meitner – and their contributions, which were overshadowed by their male counterparts.

The campaign won Gold in the Outdoor and Silver in the Print & Publishing category at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity last month, and has since gone viral.

Images via AdWeek

admin 2018-07-16T16:08:35+00:00 July 16th, 2018|Big Thinking, Inspiration|Comments Off

The Power of Marketing

We all know the phrase “don’t judge a book by its cover” – saying that the value of something can not be determined by its appearance alone, but NPR’s Planet Money featured an interesting piece about the power of marketing.

Image by John Cafazza via Unsplash

admin 2018-03-02T17:43:05+00:00 March 2nd, 2018|Big Thinking|Comments Off

Humor Does It – Cinematography Style

As mentioned before, a sense of humor can go a long way, sometimes taking you way beyond your wildest expectations.

That’s just what Carrie Hollenbeck learned, when her writer/director fiancé Max Lanman created a hilarious car commercial style video, to go along with their eBay listing, when she wanted to sell her ’96 Honda Accord with more than 140,000 miles on it.

“A few years ago, I was driving to Big Sur with my (then) girlfriend Carrie to go camping on Highway 1. While we were traversing gorgeous switchbacks, it felt like (we) were driving in a car commercial and that’s when it hit me that it would be really funny to make a high-end car commercial for a crappy car,” Lanman was quoted on Today.

The video spoof was so well done, that bidding went well beyond the starting price of $499 (so much so that eBay’s fraud department canceled the original bidding) and the video has been seen more than 4.2 million times to date.

admin 2017-11-09T17:00:03+00:00 November 8th, 2017|Big Thinking, Humor|Comments Off

A Quick (Rainy) Stop in Kassel

In June the documenta 14 opened in Kassel, Germany with 160+ international artists presenting their works at over thirty venues, public institutions, squares, cinemas, and university locations.

Passing through town one rainy night, I had a chance to see Marta Minujín’s “The Parthenon of Books” – modeled after the temple on the Acropolis of Athens. A work in progress, formerly or currently forbidden books from around the world give this Book Parthenon it’s shape.

Documenta 14

admin 2017-09-05T14:09:42+00:00 August 28th, 2017|Big Thinking, Design|Comments Off

Support

Until November 26 two large hands are emerging from the Grand Canal at the Ca’ Sagredo Hotel in Venice, as part of Italian artist Lorenzo Quinn’s monumental installation titled ‘Support’ which highlights the very real threat climate change causes to the city of Venice.

To quote an article from urmagazine: “Reflecting on the two sides of human nature, the creative and the destructive, as well as the capacity for humans to act and make an impact on history and the environment, Quinn addresses the ability for humans to make a change and re-balance the world around them – environmentally, economically, socially. Support sees Quinn reflect on and readdress these global issues by echoing the meticulous execution and technique of the Masters of the past to create a powerful and unique sculpture which will be displayed during the Venice Biennale 2017.”

The artist’s website currently features a video showcasing the installation process.

Support by Lorenzo Quinn – Venice Biennale 2017 from Lorenzo Quinn
Image via urdesign courtesy of Halcyon Gallery and Lorenzo Quinn

admin 2017-05-23T08:49:52+00:00 May 22nd, 2017|Big Thinking, Design, In The News|Comments Off

Sweet Dreams

After reading at The Verge about Ford Motor Company’s latest product invention, I have to admit, I checked the publishing date to make sure it was not an old April fools joke I was falling for.

The car company designed a smart crib – The Max Motor Dreams – that replicates the soothing vibration and hum of a car’s engine to put babies to sleep. The smart crib comes with an app that track your car’s route and movements, to replicated the driving sensation. Plus, the rim of the crib is lined with LED lights that simulate streetlights.

The Max Motor Dreams crib was not intended for sale, but rather as part of an ad campaign to promote its Max line of cars.

However, due to popular demand Ford says it is considering mass production, until then you will have to rock your kid to sleep the old fashioned way – or take them for a ride around the block.

Image via Ford Max Motor Dreams

admin 2017-05-22T13:16:57+00:00 April 13th, 2017|Big Thinking, Design|Comments Off

A Daily Dose of Tiny

We do love small things or everyday objects that get new meaning in context. So it should be no surprise that the discovery of Tatsuya Tanaka’s daily photographs depicting tiny diorama-style figures surrounded by every day objects have been a pleasant surprise.

These are just a few of our favorites, to see them all, visit Tatsuya Tanaka’s website or Instagram.

Images via Instagram

admin 2017-05-22T13:16:57+00:00 April 7th, 2017|Big Thinking, Design, Humor|Comments Off

Humor Does It – Arizona Department of Transportation Style

Drivers in Arizona have been greeted for the past few years with a running series of timely, humorous, holiday or pop-culture inspired roadway signs by the Arizona Department of Transportation. This January was no different with the suggestion of a new year’s resolution:

new-year

The tongue-in-cheek humor has attracted more than 156,000 followers on ADOT’s Twitter account. Below is a look back at some of the freeway signs posted in 2016:

Before we get too far into 2017, we thought we would take a look back at some of the freeway signs posted in 2016. #ADOT pic.twitter.com/JGABThlNRY

— Arizona DOT (@ArizonaDOT) January 1, 2017

In an interview with AZCentral, Tom Herrmann, one of the people who handles the @ArizonaDOT Twitter account said: “If we just talked about traffic and it was all dry, nobody would care. … We’re trying to get traffic information out there. If we do that and get a smile on people’s faces, that’s even better.”

Images via ADOT’s Twitter account

admin 2018-03-02T18:26:59+00:00 January 6th, 2017|Big Thinking, Humor, In The News|Comments Off

Humor Does It – Scandinavian Style

The days are short and the nights are long this time of year, especially in Scandinavian countries. Yet, the people of Helsinki seem to embrace the lack of daylight with a sense of humor…

Nobody in their right mind would come to Helsinki in November. Except you, you badass. Welcome.

Image via reddit / imgur

Lucky for us, there are only 15 days left until the days are getting longer again. Winter solstice is on December 21, the first day of winter and the shortest day of the year.

admin 2017-11-08T09:39:00+00:00 December 6th, 2016|Big Thinking, Humor|Comments Off

Holiday Interlude

If you need a break from Thanksgiving prep – take a look at Belgian artist Vincent Bal’s Instagram. This is just one example how he turns the shadows of every day objects into great illustrations…

Car charged Cuisine #usb #foodporn #chef #drivein #car #drawing #driving #draw #dry #illustration #doodle #shadow #kitchen #cooking #soup #asterix #art #photo #picame #thedesigntip #taxcollection #otje #steampunk #idea_in_picture #simplycooldesign #designarf #sketch_daily

A photo posted by Vincent Bal (@vincent_bal) on Aug 31, 2016 at 12:35am PDT

Happy Thanksgiving!

admin 2017-05-22T13:16:57+00:00 November 24th, 2016|Big Thinking, Design, Humor|Comments Off