Art Around the World with Skype Outside and The Viral Factory

To promote Skype Outside with the help of The Viral Factory, the call has gone out to Skpe your messages to a variety of artists, from street performers and shadow artists to sculptors to recreate you messages in art. Personally, I'm waiting for the marraige proposal - c'mon! someone's gotta do it!

Check out the call for messages here:

and the first round of messages have come in, see the results here:

get in on the action at Skype Outside.

Experimental Films for MAC Cosmetics from We Are Plus

MAC cosmetics, a brand not particularly associated with broad advertising campaigns, has been utilizing these complex, colorful and sexy brand films to help support the company culture and style for a number of years. The films are used in a range of ways from website and in store visual material to corporate messaging, supporting the brand in a visceral visual sense that has helped to define the voice of the company.

The newest brand film, "Spring Color Forecast" is true to it's title in that it is a visual montage color study incorporating and playing with the key colors of the new spring line. Much more of an experiment in sound, color and filmmaking than an advertisement, you can see how the typical responders and target audience may not be the Cover Girl wearers of the world.

MAC Cosmetics "Spring Colour Forecast" from We Are Plus on Vimeo.

We Are Plus has been the production company of note for MAC Cosmetic's branding video for the last seven years and have amassed quiet the portfolio of work for the brand. This piece, "d'Bohemia" speaks to me with it's vintage sea side holiday aesthetic, i love the postcard writing that leads you through the story, and the subtle animation used to bring the vignettes to life.

MAC Cosmetics "d'Bohemia" from We Are Plus on Vimeo.

Design Barcode

I'm sure many of you have noticed the barcode that has graced the Google homepage today in honor of the 57th anniversary of it's first patent.

The image instantly reminded me on one of my favorite Cannes Titanium Lion winners from years past, Design Barcode Inc.. The Japanese company revolutionized the way the packaging and marketing industries viewed something we always accepted as a given, a packaging blemish that we just had to live with and never questioned. Their simple solutions to "design" barcodes represented a change in thinking and their playful designs supported the idea of fun and aesthetic control combined with necessity.

Where the Wild Things Are Pops Up in Los Angeles

That's right, pop up store front 15 Twenty has been taken over to celebrate the impending release of Spike Jonze helmed film version of the classic children's book Where the Wild Things Are.

Can you make one in Boston please?

Montreal's Departement Does It All

Boutique Creative Studio Departement, based in Montreal, has just finished their latest project, a music video for The Cliks. The artfully crafted film showcases beautifully realized high speed footage, an eerie looming cloaked character, and lots and lots of film magic.

Departement has their hands in interactive design, branding, immersive design and direction and clearly is skilled in all aspects. Check out their latest demo reel for the full spectrum of their capabilities. I'm impressed by their diversity, a testament to their range in skills.

"We want to push things further into immersive design, music video,sound design and commercial campaigns (TV and Interactive)." said Thibaut Duverneix a Director/Creative at Departement "We love the creative process and experimentation, we also develop our own tools to create exciting design, imagery, sound and experience."

I can't wait to see what lies in their creative future.

The Haunting in Connecticut -Motion Poster

The coolest piece of movie marketing I've seen in while has to be this motion poster for The Haunting in Connecticut. It's affective, very very creepy, and accessible, as it lives its life embedded in web pages. Horror films always do the coolest marketing stunts don't they? Remember before The Ring came out and hundreds of unsuspecting concert goers in LA found vhs tapes on their windshields that they later discovered were the same unwatchable tape from the film? So good.check out the motion poster here.