Synple: A History of the Title Sequence

A History of the Title Sequence, 2011 graduation project by Synple (a.k.a Jurjen Versteeg). More on the concept & process at Watch the Titles

The Power of Time Off

With only a few days left in 2009, it seems a fitting time to take a moment and reflect on this past year – but more importantly think ahead to the coming years and what we want out of them.

In a TED talk given earlier this year, Stefan Sagmeister (renowned graphic designer for his album covers, posters, and recent books on life lessons) shares his unique view about the power of time off.

One of those most intriguing parts of his talk is the idea that we spend around the first 25 years of our life focused on learning, the next 40 years are dedicated to work (and lots of it in our industry) and around 15 years towards the end of our lives are reserved for retirement.

Sagmeister not only suggests, but has put into practice the idea to cut off 5 of those retirement years and intersperse them between the working years with creative sabbaticals. Even if you don’t agree with this exact structure of taking time off (instead of a full year like Sagmeister, it could be a couple weeks, or a month or a few months), it can’t be denied that in our demanding lines of work, planning for and making the most of time off has alot of power that comes back to reward us in often unexpected ways.

We are interested to hear from those (in this post’s comments) that have taken sabbaticals and what they learned, gained, and would do differently on their next one.

Nike Running: Men vs. Women

In a spot that appeals to our competitive natures, agency 72andSunny launches an integrated campaign for Nike Running in Europe aptly titled “Men vs. Women.”

With Gnarls Barkley crooning through their earbuds, some well-known sports celebrities turn on the juice and go shoe to shoe in this sixty second rivalry. The women get some help from world marathon record holder Paula Radcliffe and dancer Sofia Boutella. The men are supported by Roger Federer, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Tony Parker, among others.

The 72andSunny/Nike team are no strangers to recruiting superstar athletes for their campaigns – my favorite being the “Take It to the Next Level” soccer spot directed by Guy Ritchie posted on Motionographer back in April of 08.

It’s refreshing to see an agency sell a concept that doesn’t rest on explaining the technology behind the product, but rather finds a way to appeal to what really gets our blood flowing – an old fashioned rivalry.

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Digital Domain Campaigns for Lexus

Hot off the heels of Benjamin Button’s Oscar success, Digital Domain’s commercial division shows us what they’ve been up to with a three-spot campaign for the 2010 Lexus RX. They’ve been getting plenty of airtime on TV, but in case you’ve missed them, take a look:

• Assembled
• City
• Intersection

The spots were directed by Carl Erik Rinsch and had some top notch talent on board with DP Claudio Miranda (nominated for an Oscar for cinematography) and production designer Donald Graham Burt (won the Oscar for set design).

The first two spots are filled with a beautiful blend of visual effects and live action, while the third spot is mostly live action with a sparse graphic touch. Some of my favorite moments from “Assembled” are the conveyor belt moving almost snake-like over the black leather couch and the pull-out shot of the car being assembled by robotic arms on the street.

“City” has its own share of visually rich shots and easily convinces you that a whole city of cars and buildings were literally hoisted up for your traffic-free pleasure.

If you haven’t already had your fill of car commercials, take some time to browse Digital Domain’s ever-growing library of 45+ automotive spots in the Advertising / Automotive section of their website.

If you’re a fan of Digital Domain’s work, remember that Ed Ulbrich, Executive Vice President and President of Commercials Division, will be speaking at F5.

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