Hasta La Creative!

Déjà en couverture du numéro de Fricote Magazine, le duo de designers français Thomas et Quentin a fondé le collectif Fat & Furious Burger, mettant ainsi en scène avec talent leur mets préféré dans diverses situations. A découvrir dans une sélection d’images dans la suite de l’article.

For anyone who avoided picking up this year's September issue of Vogue because it would cause back trouble to carry around, here's another option—an ad-free version is for sale on Craigslist, with all the advertisements either cut out or blacked out. This allows you to enjoy an "uninterrupted read" without all that pesky filler.

The only problem? The price. "I calculating the ad expenditure of this issue for 280 Full Page Ads and 45 Double Page Spreads," says the seller. "This was the amount advertisers spent so you could buy your copy of VOGUE at just $12 at your local bookstore. So obviously, without the ads, I will have to pass on the cost to you." That explains the asking price of more than $4 million. Seems maybe they forgot to divide that by the number of issues printed?

Full text of the Craigslist ad below. Via PSFK.

I am selling an "Ad-Blocked" issue of Vogue US, September Issue 2013. What I did was to cut out all the pages with advertisements, and left only the articles. For the pages I couldn't remove, I went over them with a big fat permanent marker. Now you can enjoy an uninterrupted read of the most anticipated issue of this fashion bible.

If this price is a little higher than you anticipated, let me explain. By referencing VOGUE's media rate cards, I calculating the ad expenditure of this issue for 280 Full Page Ads and 45 Double Page Spreads. This was the amount advertisers spent so you could buy your copy of VOGUE at just $12 at your local bookstore. So obviously, without the ads, I will have to pass on the cost to you.

There is good news though: the rate card did not include premiums for this being a "September Issue", which I am sure will bump the price up even more.

So what are you waiting for? This is a steal!

A new print campaign for New York’s The Standard Hotel has been accused of advocating or trivializing violence against women. The ad, which appeared in DuJour shows a woman lying face down on the pavement with a suitcase atop her back.

The publisher of Make Me A Sammich was none too pleased with the campaign and wrote, “I need to point out for anyone not clear on the concept that by using violence against women for something as crass as attempting to lure people to your “boutique” hotel chain these companies are helping to perpetuate the cycle of violence. They are normalizing it–treating it as something trivial, not worth taking seriously. Treating it as a joke. That teaches everyone regardless of gender that violence against women is No Big Deal. These messages in our media teach women to expect violence and teach men prone to violence against women that what they do is socially acceptable.”

To which The Standard responded, “The Standard advertisement utilized an image series created by the contemporary artist, Erwin Wurm. We apologize to anyone who views this image as insensitive or promoting violence. No offense or harm was intended. The Standard has discontinued usage of this image.”

In other words, the hotel said nothing.

Draftfcb Brazil developed a magazine insert with solar panels and a USB port affixed to it that could be used by beach goers in Brazil to charge their phones so they never have to leave the beach.

It’s an interesting dovetail between advertising and product development that many agencies are now exploring. Granted, this was done for a brand and not standalone by an agency but it’s unique in that it’s more than just an ad. It’s an actual product that is useful to the consumer in a way that perfectly relates to the product’s sponsor.

Sun. Beach. Sunscreen. Mobile Phone. Solar charger. It all ties together quite nicely.

While many agencies do not have resident skillsets such as product designers and software architects it’s a foregone conclusion agencies must make major adjustments to survive within an industry where old models centered on commission-based outbound marketing have given way to more content-focused inbound marketing approaches that are more focused on sales.

This is not to say agencies can’t make the necessary adjustments to their business models to mirror the changes in the way people now consume content (pull versus push). But, in addition, it would be wise for agencies to continue to explore new methods of generating revenue (by developing products that can be sold) using the skill sets they have at hand and the skill sets they should consider bringing in house.

« One Second out of an Hour » est le nom de cette vidéo réalisée lors d’un shooting pour un magazine appelé Humbug par Sebastien Linda. La vidéo nous rappelle que pour un cliché d’Erik Gross effectuant un trick réussi, il faut bien une heure de préparation, de moments d’échanges ou d’échecs. A découvrir dans la suite.

The stunning May cover of Boston magazine features a photo of shoes worn in this year's Boston Marathon, arranged in a heart shape. "We will finish the race," says the cover headline. Tragedies often bring out the best in magazine designers. Other notable Boston Marathon covers include those from The New Yorker and Sports Illustrated. And then, of course, there was the incredible Hurricane Sandy cover of New York magazine.

UPDATE: The back cover of the magazine is pretty great, too. (See below.) The magazine has also posted a blog item about the cover. An excerpt:

Our design director, Brian Struble, and deputy design director, Liz Noftle, came up with the concept of taking shoes worn during the marathon and arranging them so that the negative space is in the shape of a heart. … I knew as soon as I heard the idea that we had our concept—not just for the collection of essays, but also for the cover. In fact, I quickly realized that the stories of the runners who wore those shoes would be even more powerful than the essays we'd commissioned. We quickly changed course and settled on the cover concept and the outlines of a feature package: We'd shoot the shoes collectively to form the heart, but we'd also photograph them as individual pairs to illustrate the stories told by the runners in the package (which we called "The Shoes We Wore," and which you'll find in the May issue).

Yes. An ad you can eat. Seriously. Hey, magazine inserts have carried the stench of perfume for years. Why not an ad you can actually taste? OgilvyOne Dubai created a magazine ad for Fanta that allows you to rip a piece off the ad, place it in your mouth and taste the soda.

We’re not exactly how hygienic an act like this given how many people may have touched the magazine before you get your hands on it but we will give them points for doing something, anything, to make print advertising remain interesting.