Pantone’s color of 2014 – Radiant Orchid (PANTONE 18-3224) blends both cool and warm tones and makes for distinctive combinations.
“An enchanting harmony of fuchsia, purple and pink undertones, Radiant Orchid inspires confidence and emanates great joy, love and health. It is a captivating purple, one that draws you in with its beguiling charm.”
– Leatrice Eiseman, Executive Director, Pantone Color Institute®
Halloween is a frighteningly successful holiday – second only to Christmas in consumer spending. Americans spend in excess of $7 billion each year to celebrate this spirited day.
Halloween has undergone a social change from traditional family trick-or-treating to a full blown event for adults, nearly 70 percent of adults plan to celebrate Halloween. It’s a time where marketers are truly expected to go outside the box with something surprising and different. When a brand introduces a playful spooky marketing campaign of their product or service, it can be a real treat for retailers.
In the spirit of things, we thought it would be nice to resurrect this Dirt Devil commercial from 2011 with over 3.3 million views – one of our all-time favorites:
And check out the ads below from across the interweb for some eye candy (pun intended):
Any other cool Halloween themed ads or commercials we should know about? Let us know in the comments.
The movie “Jobs” will be in theaters Friday, August 16th, paying tribute to the man behind Apple computers.
For years Apple managed to capture the market share of artistic and creative users with their motto “Think Different.” Their reputation as a cool and creative company goes back to very early days of their brilliant brand marketing campaigns. Remember the 1984 commercial? Back then the computers engineered by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak were almost exclusively used by creatives.
As designers we can all pretty much say “iHad” one, or four, or a bushel of them. Way before Apple computers were all the rage across the globe, I bought my first computer – the MacIntosh Classic – at CompUSA in Delaware. It was a huge purchase for me at the time and to this day I still feel the same excitement every time I drive away with a brand new computer.
Since then I’ve owned generations of Apple computers. First the revolutionary iMac G3 – mine was the teal with a color coordinated round teal mouse – how stylish was that! – then, always upgrading, I owned the iMac G4, G5 towers and the Mac mini. The latest computer always being my new favorite, I now have a 27-Inch iMac Desktop and tote my MacBook Pro.
While Apple has expanded their marketing to the masses with products like the iPod and iPhone, their design aesthetics and easy operation remain the go-to choice for designers, photographers and film editors.
As long time fan, I will be in the theatre opening night, as we all silence our iPhones, to celebrate the man who changed the way we think, work and enjoy our lives.
…if you are a member of the Greater West Chester Chamber of Commerce that is.
We had the great fortune to be working with the Chamber on their Member Newsletter redesign. The new design of the “Chamber Chatter” features a completely revamped look, as well as a new monthly Membership Spotlight section. Members are encouraged to submit articles that might be of interest to the greater chamber community.
The redesign is the next step in an effort for the Greater West Chester Chamber of Commerce to rebrand themselves into THE resource for the community, after the launch of their redesigned website and the start of their “Think…Shop…Buy Local” effort, which encourages members of the community to purchase goods and services from business members of the Greater West Chester Chamber of Commerce.
Christoph Niemann, one of our favorite illustrators and the creator behind The New York Time’s “Abstract Sunday” animated a Double Doodle for Google, celebrating the arrival of Summer, or if you are in the Southern Hemisphere – Winter.
Happy Summer Everybody!
The recent nice weather prompted a trip to the Philadelphia Zoo, and a visit to the newest attraction – KidZooU.
The exhibit is located in the former Elephant space and features hands on activities, teaching youngsters about conservation of resources and animal diversity through exhibits both inside and out… and of course there is the beloved petting zoo.
The KidZooU new signage feature large colored animals – great for those younger kids for which a trip to the Zoo is full of excitement and learning. The signs visually depict each colorful animal in different forms – picture, brail, sign language and even a QR Code for other languages (German, French, Hindi, Chinese and many more).
The Philadelphia Zoo successfully combines fun and functionality into it’s new wayfinding signage.
SPARC is a nonprofit clinic that serves individuals with autism as well as children with a variety of behavioral concerns. Back in January we received a letter from Dena, their Marketing Director asking for donations to support “Strides for SPARC” 4th Annual 5K Run/Walk here in West Chester.
We were happy to give our support by donating our services to create promotional materials, such as posters, flyers and t-shirt designs for upcoming event. In addition we recreated the SPARC logo, since their only copy was a low resolution jpg version, providing them a full set of clean logos for printing and the web.
Look for the posters around town and hopefully we’ll see you at the event, which is scheduled for 9:00 am next Saturday, April 27th at West Chester University.
We all get annoyed with mundane things on a daily basis, forgetting that there are people dealing with real problems. Take Byron Galán’s mom, who was diagnosed with Stage 3 Uterine Cancer.
Her son created a simple yet compelling visual campaign, trying to bring awareness to younger audiences. He then took to the web, Indigogo specifically, asking for donations to help pay for medical expenses.
Check out the whole set at behance.net
What do you think? We believe he nailed it. Nice visuals. Great message. Excellent execution. Good luck to Mrs. G!
Bond’s infamous catchphrase played perfectly into a recent web design we did for the RAZRBAR in Collegeville – a salon where men can feel like real men again.
James Bond’s character reflects many of the same philosophies as RAZRBAR’s. A man wants to look his best, feel confident, sophisticated, with a sense of refinement, and most of all be cool!
RAZRBAR’s clean cut web design is characterized by being aesthetically simple yet dramatic. The homepage, cycling through 5 large images, highlights the RAZRBAR’s main services – Master Barber, Promotions, Grooming Tips and so on.
We applied a photoshop technique to each of the images, dialing back full color, making them richer and more dramatic. We continued with bartender’s terminology as a play on words throughout the site with our copy, to be lighthearted, but engaging at the same time.
See for yourself. Visit RAZRBAR | Fine Grooming for Men. Let us know what you think. And if you decide to go for a trim, tell them we sent you!
Pantone selected Emerald (PANTONE 17-5641) as the color of the year. The rich green color stands as a symbol of growth, renewal and prosperity.