Author: Delphine Hirasuna

Humor

Flemish Travel Advice

By Delphine Hirasuna |

De Lijn, the public bus company run by the Flemish government in Belgium, has launched a new ad campaign showing that it is smarter to take the bus or tram than travel alone. The concept for these commercials came from Duval Guillaume Modem in Antwerp, and the 3-D production was done by CC (Creative Conspiracy). Don’t know if there is safety in numbers by taking a bus in Belgium, but in the U.S., it’s crowded and a good way to get elbowed by strangers and attacked by psychopaths. Still, the ad is memorable and cute.

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Packaging

El Paso Chile’s Border Town Packaging

By Delphine Hirasuna |

When El Paso Chile Co. commissioned Charles S. Anderson Design in Minneapolis to create a new packaging system for its retail salsa and marinade lines, it wanted to make sure that consumers grasped the fact that its products were authentic Tex-Mex, not wannabe imitations made in places like Cincinnati or Brooklyn. A border town in far west Texas, El Paso is so close to Juarez in Mexico that the two cities are sometimes considered one metro area. El Paso Chile Co. knows its salsas and wanted the packaging to capture that in look and feel.

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Industrial Design

VW’s Transparent Factory

By Delphine Hirasuna |

VW’s Phaeton transparent factory in the heart of downtown Dresden runs counter to the traditional impressions of a car assembly plant. Instead of blue-collar workers, there are white-gloved technicians. Instead of deafening noises, there is the hushed atmosphere of a research lab. The floors are lovely Canadian maple, and the walls are clear glass, which is why a loudspeaker outside imitates territorial bird sounds to keep birds from flying into the glass. There are no smokestacks, shrill sounds or noxious fumes. The grungier stamping, welding and painting of steel bodies take place elsewhere. VW’s transparent factory, designed by architect Gunter Henn and opened in 2002, showcases the final assembly of the luxury Phaeton sedan. Futuristic, exacting, open, and pristine, the Dresden facility is as much a marketing device as a working production plant, drawing thousands of visitors for tours each year. This video is from Megaworld Germany.

Advertising

Berliner Philharmoniker’s Intimate “Surround Sound”

By Delphine Hirasuna |

Speaking of up-close-and-personal and really getting into the music, here’s a print ad campaign for the Berliner Philharmoniker. Designed by Scholz & Friends Berlin, with photography by Mierswa Kluska and art direction by Bjorn Ewers, these images were shot from inside the musical instrument using a macro lens. The wind pipes of the pipe organ gleam with wondrous complexity. The violin’s sound holes filtering in exterior light make the space look vast and architectural, like a medieval theater. The flute is beautiful in its simplicity. It’s a whole new way of appreciating music.

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Brand Logos

Sports Celebrity or Global Brand?

By Delphine Hirasuna |

Corporate mar-com managers, ad agencies and designers talk endlessly about “their brand” — building a brand, protecting a brand, creating brand distinctions, proving brand integrity, winning brand loyalty, etc.
The world’s top brands will attract consumers who trust that any products that bear their name and logo is reputable, and they will aggressively pursue any entity that tries to knock-off or pirate their brand or in anyway damage their brand’s reputation or steal their market through misleading lookalikes. That is why NBA superstar Michael Jordan recently sued Chinese sportswear and shoe manufacturer Quiodan (the way Jordan is pronounced in Chinese) for using his name and playing number without authorization. Jordan makes a compelling case for why this isn’t simply about the misuse of his name but about infringing on the proprietary rights of a respected global brand.