The Colorful World of the Olympics 

Here are some creative commercial videos related to the Olympics from around the world. 

Get into the spirit:

Play with Beckham:

 

Celebrate and dance:

Coke's beat of China:

Stay awake:  

Cheer the world on! 

A colorful animation:

Starfish / rip curl

Sweat it out!
5 interesting perspectives on how to boost your creativity. Growing up in a maritime environment gave early lessons to the importance of anchors. But even more interesting; the article supports the idea for making your way to the gym to "disconnect" the brain, leaving everything to a cardiovascular heartbeat and rhythm.

To read article: Uncertainty, Innovation, and the Alchemy of Fear

Innovation in practice

Kilo fashion - Pop up store in Milan, Italy

Here is a link to a summary of all kinds of real world innovations, big and small. Don't be surprised if you find it inspiring and maybe even give you new ideas?

Read: "Innovation Extravaganza - Explore dozens of innovations and the consumer trends that spawned them"

Be Yourself

Here's a link to an article with focus on the importance of staying true to your values in a branding perspective. If you are in the position of re-building / creating brands for others make sure to listen, grasp and understand the core idea so the branding becomes a reflection of your clients values.

Read:  Hardee’s Great Rebirth: Why Being Yourself is the Greatest Ad Ever

From a beige perspective....

Blonde is the new Black

According to Carlsberg it is. A new beer with a modern and Scandinavian minimalistic design profile. This time dressed up to meet the visual demands of the female beer buyers. This reminds me of  a comment  I made in a blog post in February related to changing consumer habits and shopping patterns:

"It's going to be interesting to see the changes towards more masculine household product commercials versus more feminine high tech commercials for products like for example 3D TV and cable ads and what about more feminine beer commercials ? (I love a good beer but I never drink "Dos Equis")"  Ref: "My cart belongs to daddy?"

Carlsberg has focused on a design style similar to wine bottles to attract a design conscious audience. The design gives me additional associations to some high end water bottle brands, Bauhaus style and  1960's pharmacy labels and early days newspaper ads.

But where is the femininity ? Why have they chosen a male voice-over on the TV commercial ? - which insist natural beauty needs no makeup (absolutely fantastic! - but the well known fact is men saying this more often than women). What came first, the beer or the bottle ? (is it only skin deep) The design may be to attract women, if so with a distinct masculine embrace. 

Isolated I like the simplistic beauty of the design and another important aspect is if course to evaluate the different geographical world markets it will be introduced to. Consumer preferences in regards to design varies around the globe even under the same influence of main global fashion trends. It's going to be interesting to see if this beer brand will take a bigger sip out of the female beer market and who knows maybe the design will just as well be a hit amongst men ?  I hope Carlsberg will have success with its newcomer;a manufacturer famous for its tradition and taste in beer making. The beer will be introduced in it's homeland Denmark, then launched in northern & western Europe, following Eastern Europe and Asia during 2011 and 2012. 

Whether you're a beer drinker or not, male or female what do you think about the design ? Leave a comment!

To read more: Carlsberg crafts beer with ladies on their mind

Ratatat

I'm not the only one fascinated by patterns! The combination, or should we say utterly contrast of background and performer makes it a worthwhile treat & tweet!

Can you feel the lights ?

I can literally feel the steps in the snow and dark as this independent little girl has in the beginning of the video... without any other further interpretations.

Kanye West... so many things has been said about him and I'm not going to raise my voice in either direction. The only thing I know is that he is an innovative and creative source that has a lot to offer, first and foremost to music but also with influence on other areas.

Innovative roots

I grew up in much smaller town than Miami - but it is a city that has put innovation on it's agenda and achieved international  recognition for it's yearly conferences. If you watch and listen to the video you will learn mind-boggling  facts about the Beatles (or a music teacher, depending on your perspective).

To learn more about Innotown and the city: Innotown - Business NOT as usual

26" of persistence

 Here's a link to a story that will encourage you. 

Read: A story of Persistence

The poster below is a several layer visual, literal & symbolic definition of the theme. The main symbol origins from ancient west African Akan culture. "Wawa aba" (seed of the wawa tree) , a  seed that is extremely resistant and difficult to crack. 

The seed symbolizes strength and is meant to inspire the individual to persevere through hardship.

Maybe

Feelgood music! 

I'm Outta Time

OASIS | Myspace Music Videos

A sober and melancholy song, but the video is a beautiful black & white piece of work

Form & Functionality

Dieter Rams Sketch - 1960

This is a link to a recent interview with Dieter Rams; a pioneer designer of the 20th century. He spent 40 years with Braun developing consumer electronics. Design work that has contributed to progress and functionality with ripple effects into the computer era. He has strong opinions about the importance and role of design in regards to innovation.

Famous for his 606 shelving system created for Vitsoe in 1960 which 50 years later is still a high selling furniture system; the designer looks back and admit that he first and foremost is an architect, but not for the reasons you might think of:

Find the answer:

Our Interview With Dieter Rams, The Greatest Designer Alive

Brand building

 An interesting article about why focus and persistence are important while creating a brand and how an elevator ride may help you to get there: 

To read article: "Singularity and Consistency"

Captivating cave art

"Panel of Horses" - Chauvet Cave, France

Just the other day I received a link to a blog / website which gives insight to  archeological treasures in Europe, Russia and Australia.

It has lots of great photos and info about the findings.  You can enjoy the art and learn new and surprising facts about pre-historic times.

My link send you straight to the Chauvet cave in France where you can take a look at  incredible wallpaintings created more than 30 000 years ago. The fascinating element with these paintings is that you can feel the artists effort in trying to understand the animals physics. It is truly a study in ani-motions! From my little journey I found these other amazing photos: 

Disc of Nebra - Bronze age

To the right you see a 3 600 year old sky disc from the Bronze age; believed to have been used as an advanced astronomical clock. The design could just as well been from a present fancy product design.

Lapti - Russian bast sandals

And what about some Stone age shoe trends? These bast sandals belongs to findings in Russia and are believed to have been available
5 500 years ago.

To take the journey and be an explorer yourself, visit:

Chauvet cave w/navigation to other archeological sites

Divine disconnection

In this post you will find a link to an article about management of quality time versus staying connected.

Let's face it: Computers, cellulars and all kinds of digital gadgets are not disappearing anywhere and will keep keeping us connected until the end of time. The questions is how each one of us deals with it. Just as it is an endless resource for creativity, work and intelligence I am convinced it also leads to poor quality and execution regardless of what type of work you are doing, but some might be more vulnerable than others.

This article reminded me about something I read/heard several years ago in regards to creative work. What I read was a reference to "the flow"; a state of mind that usually kicks in let's say 10-20 minutes after you start working creatively using the left side of your brain. It is a state of mind that actually can be compared to floating. Ever been on a mattress on the ocean feeling the tranquility of the wave movements, staring into an endless sky and it's almost like time stops?  Compare it to surfing or downhill skiing, or any other activity that seem to break up your perception of time versus activity.

When you enter this floating phase it is like other elements around you disappear. You are so deep into and concentrated about what you are doing that you actually loose track of time and you do not notice well, for example if somebody is addressing you with a question. I consider myself as a pretty organized person and if I can I prefer a systematic approach to a work task rather than improvising. The kind of person that likes to systematize things, arrange a spice rack alphabetically and take a look at my watch to know how much time is left of my favorite show. But so clearly I can experience loosing track of time when hitting "the flow" and me that normally can predict well both the hour and how much time has gone by is obviously somehow a little "spaced out". In regards to the time element it was a very simple scientific explanation: Your left side brain is so involved with creative work that other parts of the brain dealing with time perception, language center etc is sort of disengaged. But why do I mention this in regards to time management ? Because "the flow" was pointed out by experts within creative industries to be an extremely important phase of any creative work. And if this is true it is a state of mind that clearly do not mingle well with staying connected.

3D Brands

El momento del café

A link to an article that tells you how and why Starbuck's branding program has been so successful. Reading the article it made me think about how modern marketing actually could pick up a thing or two from design principles.

When working with visual elements, 3D included, changing one composite have  consequences for other objects and perspectives. In the same way you have to adjust or add elements in a branding program to obtain the big picture you want others to see.

To read the article: The Brand Experience

Spellbinding facts about Trolls (Internet & Real world)

The homeland of Trolls

Lately I've stumbled across several articles addressing internet trolls and how they can make life miserable for anyone having internet sites depending on interactions with readers and customers. For many, success lies in the numbers and responses you accumulate on your site, but in the long run bulk responses and internet trolls can have a strong negative impact and hurt your credibility as a dependable source of information.

NPR (Public Radio) is one site that has initiated a troll hunt. To read more check this article: Public radio decides it's time to chase trolls away.

TechCrunch a popular blog about all things tech related has minimized the problem by using a Facebook commenting plug-in:  Facebook comments have silenced the trolls - but is it too quiet?

But here's the creative twist of today: I am introducing you to the old world of trolls. To get you in the right ambiance we need some music! You've probably heard this piece numerous times from commercials and  movie or perhaps you've hear it from recordings made by "The Who", "Electric Light Orchestra", "Erasure" or "Metallica". Originally composed by Edvard Grieg and premiered back in 1876. "In the hall of the mountain king":

What you might not know is that this piece is a description of a human being facing the horror of the Trolls in a mountain. And you are hereby warned about explicit lyrics:

Slay him! The Christian's son has bewitched
The Mountain King's fairest daughter!
Slay him!
Slay him!

May I hack him on the fingers?
May I tug him by the hair?
Hu, hey, let me bite him in the haunches!
Shall he be boiled into broth and bree to me

Shall he roast on a spit or be browned in a stewpan?

Ice to your blood, friends!

Mårten Eskil Winge 1872
"Thor's battle with the Ettins"

Trolls first appear in Norse Mythology about 1000 years ago. They have numerous forms and shapes and are grouped into categories. Without explaining every category they can in general be categorized as fierce (but not very smart), ugly beings usually with a bad agenda.

Found in isolated areas and rough nature like mountains, caves and thick woodlands and some lives in waters and in the ocean too. They can be big or small. Some are human looking and some are true monster-like with several heads. Enemies of  Gods, all things good and humans in particular. They operate between sundown and sunset because exposed to sunlight they turn to stone.

The popularity of the new movie "Thor" is another entry into the subject since he is known for having fierce battles with giant trolls ("Jotuns") It's really exiting to see Norse mythology being used as creative inspiration for new movies in 2011. The Norse mythology is a kaleidoscope of Gods, colorful figures, trolls, drama and myths. If you are into Greek mythology I highly recommend you  to explore the world of Asgard! : "The Norse Gods"

After the Viking era and the Christianity of Scandinavia the myths and legends from Norse mythology continued to live on in Scandinavian folklore evolving into a rich fairytale tradition and as an inspiration source for traditional art forms like poems, paintings and music. Even in modern times it is a cultural phenomena still having influence on it's surroundings. Do you know there are mountains  and roads named after Trolls, like "Trollstigen" ? (The Troll ladder).You  have oil fields in the Northern Atlantic discovered in 1979 named "Troll". So is a science station and a landing base in Antarctica and even a record label too. Trolls has become modern time tourist attractions and popular souvenirs.

Teodor Kittelsen 1906

As a child I grew up with the colorful world of fairy-tales, myths and trolls making each walk in the woods an exiting and imaginary place and they certainly has contributed to creativity. But there is another side to fairy tales that might not be so well known. From old times they have played a significant role as advisories and even as "parental guides". Through story telling back to times when people could not read and write they functioned as entertaining guides to what was wrong and right, good and bad and how to be smart and overcome the "trolls" in life and sometimes just being a simple guide to common sense. To give you an example, here's a short story translated to English:

"Boots Who Ate a Match With the Troll" 

Today the myths about Trolls continue to inspire modern creators and here's a trailer to a dark comedy movie "The Troll Hunter" first released in 2010 with recent viewings in 2011 at the Sundance FilmFestival, San Fransisco International Film Festival and Boston Independent Film Festival:

I might be far away from the origin of Trolls and sometimes I think I know how Thor must have felt falling down in the Nevada desert. The tropical landscape of Florida is far from rugged mountains, but still there are reminders. I've heard stories about the "Chupacabra" and the "Pechuen" from South American Mepuche mythology so in some sense I know there are other similar myths. Nevertheless we are just entering into a summer season when Thor makes his sound remarkable vivid around areas like Miami (he must have a hang for the tropics like I do :-) Reminding me of old landscapes, heritage and most importantly about being strong and fight the wicked ways of trolls. You don't believe me ? Trolls love to intervene and poke with humans. Beware! 

A passionate plea

Ardor II 

I’ve always liked words and some things haven’t changed. Just as I did when I was a child I still get fascinated by words, by the layers of direct and indirect content and just purely the sound of them. Some are exotic and complex, others have colors and taste while some are simple and basic. And every language has its own aura of words. English is my second language but the awareness and fascination is by the contrary even stronger.

Words are in many ways like spices and similar to cooking you know that too much of a spice can certainly kill a good meal just like too little makes the food bland and uninteresting. I got inspired to write about words today after reading the blog article from Jonathan Fields, and I sadly have to agree. In our modern times inflation hits hard some of our dearest words. And they are out there suffering the abuse and sometimes misunderstood use.

The word “Passion” has always had a secret place in my heart, not always sure where it has been hiding in-between the heart chambers but it’s always been there among other indescribable sacred words. And there I said it; indescribable which “Passion” should be. “Passion” is a feeling and a state of mind worthy of being the bridge in a passage of an Isabel Allende novel. “Passion” is like an indescribable sugar rush burning down your veins and it certainly doesn’t happen to you every day.  Actually the word origins from an ancient greek verb meaning "to suffer" and in medieval times the word was used as a reference to Christ’s suffering on the cross! This might explain why the word “Passion” has synonyms in several languages related to fever, heat and pain. So now you know a little bit more about why we have modern expressions like “Burning love” and “Sick of jealousy" as expressions for passionate love.

Nowadays “Passion” is everywhere after being hijacked and used in every culture and subculture you can think of related to written media and especially in advertising and marketing. It is certainly not the first time it has happened. There are many other words tired of the limelight. As an individual contributing to traditional arts and visual expressions another word that comes to mind is “creative” which is also sulking under too much exposure. I have found myself in situations where I have been asked to describe what I  do and my work and “creative” is ironically a word I try to avoid; simply because it does not measure up to its original intentions: creativity. I guess both “Passion” and “Creative” are running on empty.