New York City life, pop culture and advertising with a splash of shedwa.
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Latest Posts
Website Re-Design Launched
Just a quick note that I have recently re-designed and launched my personal site. Accompanying the blog, www.swaite.com features my own work. Included on the site is my work in advertising, print outlets, branding and photography. I hope everyone checks it out.
Get Your TV Options
If you're like me and love TV, you'll be interested in this DirectTV resource. There can be many options for TV providers, and it's often hard to know which is right for you. There's cable, satellite, DirectTV, and many more. To help you, this DirectTV website asks you to rate what you are looking for in your TV features and then provides you with which option best fits your needs.
Along with the helpful shopping information, you can also browse what DirecTV offers your specific location. Channel listings, events, weather and more is all available.
So, if you love TV, check out the website and see if there's anything you're missing.
This is a sponsored post.
Saskatoon Serves All of God's Creatures
This is just one of those ads where you look at it and have to laugh. As funny as the headline is, I'm going to assume that it's not meant to be that hilarious. I'm sure there are plenty of people out there that can relate to this ad, and for the rest fo us it's just great entertainment. I also love the cuisine listing in the logo of "Wild Game". Anyone want to speculate where this ad appears?
Sugar Fills the Fat Time of Day
I love vintage ads, and here's a great one from a 1969 issue of Time Magazine. Who knew two scoops of pure sugar was so great for you? Eat up!
In a step towards living in a city where every inch of your surroundings are covered in advertising, the New York City MTA has unveiled its first complete subway wrap ad. The History Channel's Cities of the Underworld (not a bad show, I've seen it a few times and learned much about dirty places) is the client for the ad. Both the exterior and the interior of the subway cars are completely covered in the ad. The MTA is reportedly trying out a few new approaches to their advertising revenues. Read more over at Gothamist.
This ad is so awesome, it almost makes me like advertising again. On second thought, it's only the illustration I'm in love with. It works for the brand, Career Junction, but could have worked for many things I think. Great work. Anyone know where this came from?
I've always kinda liked student advertising better than actual advertising, especially the new media approaches. Maybe it's because with student advertising you don't have the client pulling you back in and making your work more realistic. As a student, you're free to go wherever your creative little mind takes you, or at least for the most part. To prove my point, here's some great advertising work, all done by students. A few of my favorites from the collection are below.
Here's some interesting Monday morning reading with your non-fat, no water, Tazo Chai Tea Latte. Starbucks' ad agency, Wieden & Kennedy, has quit the account. The story on Gawker is pretty detailed, and it sounds like W & K was just fed up and Starbucks sucks as a client. I just hope their next agency doesn't recommend to lose the public restrooms.
I am a huge Seinfeld fan. I still watch the show just about every day (ah, the joy of syndication) and have all the DVDs. But, when I saw Jerry Seinfeld walking through a parking lot with Bill Gates, I cringed. Aside from my passion for all things Mac, the recent Windows Vista ads featuring Seinfeld and Gates did little for me.
I'm not sure what it was about the ads. Maybe they seemed to be trying too hard to be different. Maybe I just didn't get why two billionaires would run into each other at a mall shoe store. Maybe I hated Bill Gates' odd dancing. Whatever it was, I wasn't alone. Many people disliked the spots, and voiced their opinions.
Today the ads have finished their run. Microsoft insists it was the plan all along to only show them for a short time and then cut 'em, but I'm not so sure. I mean, maybe Microsoft really did intend to pay Jerry $10 million for just two commercials... who am I to judge?
In any case, I'm sure Jerry isn't too torn up. He never really did like the computer anyways. It always just sat in the corner of his apartment, a clue that he was in fact living in the 90s, but didn't really know how to use it. In one episode he even says, "I've gotta get on that internet. I'm late on everything!" Indeed. Now go take your $10 million and buy a Mac.
Passed Kathryn Erbe, also known as Detective Eames on Law & Order: Criminal Intent, tonight on my Upper West Side street. She was walking her dog with another woman and blended right into the street scene.
Here's a great article from The New York Times I came across recently that does a pretty good job of describing what your first year in New York City may feel like. All transplanted New Yorkers have experienced the trials and tribulations of their first year in the city. The loneliness; the crazy subway system; the lack of emotion on strangers faces; it's all part of adjusting to living in a new place with 8 million strangers.
I know in my first year I adjusted to life with roommates I barely knew, prices I could barely afford and trying to establish a stabilized life in a city that never sleeps.
So, whether you're new in town and curious to what you got yourself into, or your first year is a lifetime behind you and you want to be reminded of it, check out the article.
So, I've recently been seeing ads around New York City for True Blood. The ads have mostly seemed to be advertising a beverage called Tru Blood, a new synthetic blood drink, which I was a little horrified by. But, soon I realized they were actually for a new HBO series of the same name.
In any case, the ad campaign for the series includes a comic book that will be given away at Comic-Con in San Diego this week. Until then, you can check out a preview of the comic. There's also a blog that is being written from the point of view of Vampires.
HBO usually does some pretty nice campaigns, and this one is shaping up to be just the same.
Here's a couple anti-smoking ads that use visuals pretty well. I'm not sure if the visuals are powerful enough to stand alone, but with the body copy they work pretty well.
Advertising is such a product of the times. I find it so fascinating how pop culture, celebrity and society all get wrapped up into one simple little package called an ad. The fact that times change makes for some interesting things when you come across old ads. A lot of times they seem so out of place and inappropriate, but pretty amusing. I've included a few examples above, but check out some more over at Funny or Die.
So, most of my celebrity sightings in NYC have come when I am least expecting it, and today's was no different. I left work and was on 19th Street making my way to the subway as usual, when I passed a girl I instantly recognized. It was Heather Graham of Austin Powers shagging fame. She looked pretty much the same as in her movies. Very thin, very 70s.
Here's something for all you volleyball playing carnies. The NYC Parks Department is holding a free amateur volleyball tournament this Saturday, July 12th. Where do you find a beach in New York City you ask? Coney Island of course! The majority of the tournament takes place Saturday, with the finals being held Sunday. So serve a few aces then give the Cyclone a celebratory ride. Oh yea, don't forget to shoot the freak.
This is a nice idea that gets the point across. Not sure how appealing shriveled grapes are, but good idea and I can see this being a series. Copy translates, "Maximum Absorption."
Agency: Gitam BBDO, Tel Aviv, Israel Creative Director: Guy Bar Creative Supervisor: Danny Yaakobovic Art Director: Igal Ezra Copywriter: Matan Orian Photographer: Yoram Ashaim
This is a pretty amazing video, and is quickly becoming a viral smash. I have to admit, I was taken by it the first time I watched. Like many of you, I thought this ball girl was well on her way to becoming the next Ken Griffey Jr. However, I was mistaken. Take a closer look at the video, and you might just spot a familiar thirst-quencher bottle next to the girl at the end. That's right, this is actually a viral video for Gatorade, and a great one at that. Read more about the viral aspect here.
Here's an interesting opportunity for all you crazy designers and digital artists out there. MTV Networks is recruiting for an upcoming reality show called Engine Room. It's not clear exactly what the show is about, but it has something to do with designers, a competition and a grand prize. And it's sponsored by HP. Sounds good to me. If you can take off the 4 weeks in July and August this Summer and come to New York City, then apply for your chance at $400,000.00 (yes, all of those zeros are supposed to be there).
These are nice. Very visually appealing. They're maybe a little too well-done though. The images being so clear makes the way they were created feel a little too Photoshoped. I might have liked them better if they had been a little more unfinished.
This is a very cool ad. I love the graphic. Copy reads, "Everybody is against everybody. Somebody has to be for them." Very nice message. This is the kind of visual I find myself looking at for hours...alright, maybe minutes. Click on the image to enjoy it at a larger size.
Agency: Leo Burnett, Lisbon, Portugal Creative Directors: Horacio Puebla, Joao Roque Art Director: Ricardo Toledo Copywriter: Horacio Puebla, Tomaz Correa Illustrator: Mico
Man, this is one of the most worthless products I've ever seen, along with one of the worst ads. Seriously, how many cuts do you think it would take to completely shred a sheet of paper? I wouldn't be surprised to see the same product marketed as a crafting tool also. Then you could make a lovely bouquet of paper flowers out of your bank statements.
Hello faithful readers, casual gawkers and anyone else who may stumble upon my periodic ramblings. Well, I'll just lay it out there for all of you to read. As some of you may know, I'm a full-time Art Director and part-time blogger. This blog has been a hobby and passion of mine for almost two years straight now, fueled only by my love for all things design, advertising and New York City. I've gone through times of posting like crazy, and I've gone through times of finding myself not wanting to even think about posting things. Over the last few months, however, my time spent with this blog has been decreasing rapidly. I have less and less time to devote to the blog, and what little time I do have has been filled with my renewed interest in photography and personal design projects. At the same time, I feel a responsibility to those who still visit this blog and look for new posts and information from it.
I'm not going to make a decision quite yet, but retiring the Shedwa blog has crossed my mind more than a few times in the past weeks. I don't like the idea of no longer having a steady blog, but the amount of time and effort it takes to keep up with such a website is sometimes more than I can offer, and even comes at the expense of time spent with friends and loved ones.
Any support, criticism, advice or comments you may have as readers of the Shedwa blog would be greatly appreciated and very welcome. Hope to talk again soon.
Olympus Binoculars Get You Closer
Haha...these are funny. I love the art direction and the product benefit is literally right in your face. Great work.
Agency: JWT Sydney, Australia Executive Creative Directors: Andy DiLallo, Jay Benjamin Creative Group Head / Art Director: John Lam Creative Group Head / Copywriter: Jason Ross Typographer: Jeffrey Oley Photographer: Adam Taylor Retoucher: Electric Art Account Service: Peter Bosilkovski
Last night, I checked out Body Shop, a new gallery opening from Mezze. Mezze is a gallery that features contemporary works from Middle Eastern and Asian artists. The gallery was in a small but inviting Manhattan space and had a good turn-out. Whether you are an interested buyer or just an art lover looking to hang out with a cultural crowd, I definitely recommend checking out a Mezze show for yourself. Body Shop is open today, Sunday March 30 until 6PM. And be sure to check Mezze for future shows.
