Sam Watson September 1st 2010 1 comment
“Imma” let you finish Kanye, but Arcade Fire have the best video of ALL TIME!
If Kanye West wants to interrupt anyone for any reason at this year’s MTV awards then it should be over Arcade Fire’s latest video for “The Wilderness Downtown”.
It’s a refreshingly different way of creating a music video, utilising some pretty slick web technology such as HTML 5, Google maps API, and a mash up between the two, including 3D tree rendering on the maps, and a flock of birds flying from window to window.

I like it because it’s not a traditional video in any sense and, more importantly, it’s not a traditional website. It doesn’t follow any of the web standards that we are so used to seeing.
Yes, it’s not the nicest design in terms of the window pop ups, but I like it for that; it’s honest and it’s really more about how the site interacts with the user. The relevancy of the technology to the song makes the video a complete experience; the song is about childhood so you are asked to enter the town in which you grew up in, which then becomes part of the video.
I’d really like to see more like this on the web and hope that this inspires designers and developers (and even marketers willing to take the risk!) to break free of the current website formulas and really utilise the web to its full potential; creating truly dynamic pieces of work.
There are many HTML5 examples out there but this is bringing the technology to a different audience. If you know of any other sites that really break the mould then let us know in the comments section!
(Oh, and if the Kanye reference is lost on you, take a look at this YouTube video.)
Leah Kayles August 27th 2010 1 comment
There’s a new face in the Brass office this week. Our 2010 Sh! Awards winner, Matt Young, started with us on Monday after grabbing the top prize for his ace animation and design work.
Matt features in a two page spread in this month’s Graduates issue of Creative Review, which features his smiling face on the front cover.
Fresh from Leeds Uni, where he graduated with a 1st no less, Matt’s already nabbed a prestigious D & AD pencil for his work, which includes animated films with a simplistic, ‘lo-fi’ style, using paper and stop motion techniques, and bespoke book designs.
Excitingly for us, Matt’s work will be displayed alongside his fellow Sh! finalists’ in the Brass Gallery from the 7th September.
Pop in and have a browse round – we’d love to see you!
Lisa Wisniowski August 24th 2010 no comments
The highly acclaimed publisher, Lürzer’s Archive has just launched the latest in their ‘200 Best’ series – 200 Best: Packaging Design worldwide – and we’re chuffed to bits to find out our work for specialist tea company Mallard has been featured.
Lürzer’s received over 4,732 submissions from 55 countries, so it’s a fantastic achievement to be featured alongside the likes of designs for Coca Cola, Levi’s and Panasonic.
As Lürzer’s themselves say, the book is “not only an extensive source of ideas for all those involved in packaging design but also a veritable treasure trove for marketers seeking designers able to extract that added value from a product”.
You can see all the details on our work for Mallard the full case study at – http://www.brassagency.com/our-work/mallard-tea.aspx
Ching-Yun Huang August 19th 2010 2 comments
Pretenders to the Google throne
Since 2008, a few search engine start-ups have joined the search war to compete with the world’s most powerful search engine, Google. Many claimed to be Google killers: like Cuil, the search engine that defines itself as the ‘coolest’, or Wolfram Alpha, the search engine that claims to be the only one to provide all the answers you need. But how many of these new search engines ever got popular? The answer is none.
Cuil is basically dead while Wolfram Alpha is struggling to be recognised by users as a search engine such as Google, Yahoo or Bing. You may be wondering, if new search engines may never be able to compete with those search giants, why would I want to talk about Blekko, a search engine that most of you have never heard of?
The answer is simple, because it is different.
Lisa Wisniowski August 17th 2010 2 comments
I’m guessing you’ll all have seen or heard about Reebok’s latest outdoor campaign promoting their Easytone trainers by now.
A new product launch in itself doesn’t usually garner such extensive press coverage or buzz online, but the fact that brand ambassador Kelly Brook was naked (but for said pair of trainers) may have had an impact…
It seems that yet again, the ad world has returned to the assumption that ‘sex sells’.
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Paul Mallett August 16th 2010 no comments
We took a trip to one of Ribena’s blackcurrant farms on a sunny summer’s day not so long ago, and got snap happy with some shots of the wildlife and the juicy blackcurrants. Check out some of our pictures below.

It’s enough to make you don your apron and get making some blackcurrant jam, isn’t it?
You can see the rest of the photos from our day out at the farm on the Ribena Flickr page, as well as the Ribena Facebook group.
Enjoy!
Simon Shaw August 9th 2010 1 comment
In the months leading up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq hundreds of thousands took to the streets to protest at the prospect of military intervention in the UK’s largest ever street demonstrations. Those opposed to the invasion could not see the logic of war; others, including many members of parliament, were firmly in favour, seeing continued inspection and multilateral action through the UN as appeasement.
The tendency to seek out and spend time with those most similar to us goes some way to explaining this. This phenomenon is called homophily – literally meaning ‘a love of the same’.
Like it or not we are likely to befriend, work with and share our world with people who have common backgrounds. Without us realising it our opinions are often confirmed, reflected and reinforced – not challenged. This is important as we understand much of the world we live in indirectly, through what we hear about it, not what we encounter ourselves: it’s possible to miss all kinds of changes, trends and opportunities by talking only to those who agree with you. Had East Coast liberals widened their dinner party invite lists in the run up to the 2008 presidential election they might have understood what they found irritating about Sarah Palin – her being short on specifics and long on folksiness – was precisely what appealed to much of small town America.
So, what does the phenomenon mean for marketers?
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