Alka Seltzer Bringing It Back

While watching the tele today I noticed an Alka Selzter commercial that seemed ordinary enough, but at the very end of spot the original mascot for the timeless product, Speedy, made a CGI cameo beside the packaging. I was kinda set aback, but I'm excited that they are breathing new life into an ancient mascot. I'm interested to see what more they do with the character. After doing a little research I found that they have had the CGI Speedy since Dec 2010 but to the best of my knowledge he hasn't shown up on screen until this recent spot, I may be wrong, but either way, I noticed.

Here is the link to the AS website. http://www.alka-seltzer.com/home/index.html

Old Navy New Look

Well Old Navy has apparently been spending a lot of time at the drawing board recently, they have started their advertising for the Holiday season and let me just say, I think they all watched ample amounts of Tim Burton's Willy Wonka before drafting this campaign. Their new tv-spots revolve around a factory setting called Funnovations Inc. where many strange and colorful creations for the Old Navy customer. Using unorthodox and at times eerie imagery to get their point across, it really seems almost a bit too much for the eyes. Although, up until now they were using the talking mannequin ads that Crispin Porter and Bogusky came up with, so they are no strangers to the strange. Lord only knows what kind of crazy stuff this campaign will come up with next, or if it will make the long hall, but so far here are the first TV ads from the new Old Navy 2012.

Funnovation Inc. Tour

De-Pufferizer Room

Bootsy the Bootologist

Bootsy still weirds me out...

Focal Bird 2.1 Sound System

Focal Audio just released a new sound design system, dealing in wireless, hi-def sound for the home. The possibilities for the "Bird" system are virtually limitless from easy listening to home entertainment to parties and dances. Using a wireless interface so you don't have to run lines across the room, the area is as free as the people in it and with crisp sound throughout. I want to know exactly how nice it sounds, there is a compact sub woofer built into one of the devices and I'm also curious how much this whole thing costs, probably a lot, maybe not that much.

For the full story go to the English side of the website here, or check out the video below.

Good Article In Smashing Magazine

Smashing Magazine recently published an article about good typography particularly in web design, I found the article to be very intelligent and helpful a good read for anybody who takes design seriously.

Here's a snippet:

An understanding of typographic etiquette separates the master designers from the novices. A well-trained designer can tell within moments of viewing a design whether its creator knows how to work with typography. Typographic details aren’t just inside jokes among designers. They have been built up from thousands of years of written language, and applying them holds in place long-established principles that enable typography to communicate with efficiency and beauty.

Handling these typographic details on the Web brings new challenges and restrictions that need to be considered. Below are a few rules of thumb that will have you using typography more lucidly than ever before.

>A portion of the article: Mind Your En And Em Dashes: Typographic Etiquette From SmashingMagazine.com

Read the full article here: http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2011/08/15/mind-your-en-and-em-dashes-typographic-etiquette/

Diet-Coke Gets A Makeover For Fall 2011

The design was created by Turner Duckworth in honor of Coca-Cola's 125th anniversary, the design will last a limited time, as it is a "Fall 2011 Style". I'm hoping this is the first of many such changes Coke Inc undergoes, with a well established brand like Coca-Cola and Diet-Coke you can't really go wrong by playing around with design, everybody recognizes it instantly from seeing red and white, so maybe they will continue to keep their design as fresh as their beverages.