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Top 10 Nudes

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A Lifetime's Synthesis of Content & Form

The One Show pays tribute to the legendary graphic designer Paul Rand.

"Without content there is no form; without form there is no content."

Final word of advice from Paul:

"Don't try to be original, try to be good."

Are You Dirty or Are You Clean?

You can click above and find out.

Indra Sinha - Rediscovered

I remember a few years back when I had just started grad school at the VCU Adcenter I stumbled on the bible of copywriters (at least the ones who were in the copywriting program) called 'The Copy Book'. It was there that I discovered some interesting advertising characters like Neil French, Bill Bernbach etc. But there was one name in there that quite captured my interest, and that was an Indian bloke called Indra Sinha. And my initial thoughts were like how the hell did this Indian dude get on to this list of caucasian writers. He seemed like the perfect misfit. And that's exactly what I liked about him the further I started reading about him. And with an iconoclastic ad like the one below for which he won some D&AD pencils, it was no surprise that he was on that coveted list.

It's been a while since I last heard anything about Indra and today came to know from the Booker Prize announcements that Indra's new book 'Animal's People' was on the final shortlist. His fantastic interview about the book and it's purpose is here.
As I move on figuring out my place in the ad world, I rediscover Indra again. Only this time he has left the ad world and moved on to other more meaningful and interesting things. And it is fantastic that he is alive and kickin on the web. All sorts of interesting viewpoints and stuff to read on his site.
Like I was reading about the topic of the reuse of old ideas here (like how the Honda Cog ad was actually inspired by the Fischli and Weiss short film 'The Way Things Go'). The latest Sony Bravia 'Play-Doh' denials is covered here. Indra has this interesting piece on the same topic - in this case the famous 1980's Levi's Laundrette ad which had a predecessor in a Hamlet Cigars ad (the laundrette one from this collection from the 1960s). Especially in a digital age where everything is becoming more open and shared and new ideas emerge from mutations of old ones, Indra's explanation is quite apt that an old and used idea should not be wasted if it's a natural fit for the brand:

"I don’t for a moment think that John Hegarty or Tony Scott would stoop to purloining someone else’s work. I prefer to think of the Levi’s ad as a tribute to its predecessor which, although not one of the best Hamlet ads, was an idea so natural for Levi’s that it proved simply too good to waste."

A whole bunch of stuff to read on his site. It's a delight to see him active and inspire us online. Keep it rockin' Indra!!

Lost in Ambiance

When the work takes it toll on us and we need that transcendental refocus for our mind, most of us tend to think of deep blue sea and breezy beaches with the tranquil sound of the waves (at least I do given probably my upbringing in a laidback beach town). We long to be there.

Chris Riley's little musical experimentation piece here just does that. It allows you to just put on the ear phones and stare at the deep blue sea while the ambient music kicks in to soothe the mind. And you can do all that just sitting at your desk. It's like feeling the beach from the confines of the urban concrete towers we spent working in. Talk about slow recharge and this is as good as it got for me yesterday.

A Bookshelf for Reading

When space shrinks in the urban jungles we live in, design triumphs to solve our dilemmas of the aesthetics of optimum utility of space. Japanese designer Sakura Adachi is the genius behind this reading cave. According to this New York Times article, the price is about $7045, beyond the reach of the average urban dweller who would find this shelf the most useful. But we can always hope for the IKEA folks to emulate on this innovative smart design.
Here is Sakura Adachi's inspiration to create it:

"I wanted to create a situation like from your childhood. Like when you’re at home, hiding under the table, listening to your parents’ conversation. That is a memorable experience that many people have."

Year of Helvetica

It seems like it's the year of the Swiss typeface Helvetica. The documentary film on the famous font appeared a few months back. Now Blanka has this spectacular poster collection celebrating 50 years of Helvetica. And these are my favorites:

 

50/50

“Creative people are 50% ego and 50% insecurity.” 

- Lee Clow (Chief Creative Officer - TBWA Worldwide)

While the rest of the ad world was in Cannes showing off their creative egos, Lee was in LA giving this brilliant interview to Ad Age's Bob Garfield.

Read / Heard

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Crow Hallucination

From the folks at Psyop.