Virtual Augmented Reality

Video Mapping Entertainment on a Plate

By Delphine Hirasuna |

No longer just a mind-boggling novelty trick shown large-scale on building facades, 3-D projection mapping technology is being integrated into everything from live concerts, advertising, gaming, theater performances, product launches, and fashion shows. Now it has gone mini and personal, performing to an audience of one.

In Belgium, animation artists, Filip Sterckx and Antoon Verbeeck, from Skullmapping, have given new meaning to the term “dinner theatre” by putting the entertainment on the plate itself. Like a scene right out of the Disney film, “Ratatoille,” the well-known Le Petit Chef in Belgium amused diners by having a little chef personally prepare their meal right before their eyes. This example of spectacular precision videomapping isn’t just dazzling audiences with its new “gee whiz” technology, but has taken projection mapping to a new level by treating it as a tool to tell a story.
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Viral Marketing

An Eye-Rolling Presidential Election

By Delphine Hirasuna |

It’s not just Americans who are aghast at this year’s bizarre Presidential election. In Copenhagen, this bus broadside, paid for by Socialistisk Folkeparti (SF), urged the roughly 8,700 American citizens living in Denmark to make sure they vote. Created by Uncle Grey agency in Copenhagen, the bus ad took a neutral public service stance with its “Americans Abroad Vote” message, but slyly slipped in its partisan preference by turning the back wheels into crazy Trump eyes.
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Advertising

Philips Everyday Super Hero

By Delphine Hirasuna |

Royal Philips, an advanced technology healthcare company, displayed its softer side in this 30-second spot just released in Australia. Created by Ogilvy & Mather London, the commercial was inspired by a real-life window cleaner who dressed up in a super hero costume and rappelled down a hospital facade to surprise and delight young patients in the children’s ward. In a twist on that story, the Philips video humanizes Spiderman by catching him when he is not fighting grime and showing that his life has the same hassles as the rest of us. The underlying message for Philips is that its focus isn’t simply on providing cutting-edge medical devices; they look at healthcare more holistically, recognizing the healing power of joy and laughter. The tagline for the ad says: “At Philips we see life differently. There’s always a way to make life better.”

Logo

Subway Refreshes Its Brand Identity

By Delphine Hirasuna |
OLD SUBWAY LOGO

subway-logo-old

NEW SUBWAY LOGO

subway_logo_new

Subway, the world’s largest submarine sandwich chain with more than 44,000 locations around the world, has refreshed its identity with a new logo and symbol. A brighter, cleaner, bolder version of the chubby outlined wordmark that Subway has been using for the past 15 years, the new logo maintains the equity of its two color wordmark, but this time the “Sub” is a richer yellow-orange and the “way” a bright green. The signature arrows remain, but look more whimsical and less like a freeway turnoff. What’s really special about Subway’s rebranding is its new symbol – two opposing arrows shaping an “S” inside. Subway plans to install its new graphic identity in all of its restaurants in 2017. According to a Subway spokesperson, the design work was a cross-functional project led by an inhouse creative team, working with a variety of design partners.
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Environmental Graphics

Turning Names into Visual Art

By Delphine Hirasuna |

curtain_of_names_chair
Donor recognition walls are a common feature of museums, schools, public parks, and other places that are made possible by generous benefactors. Unfortunately, most donor displays look like boring lobby directories that list columns of names with no thought to aesthetics. So, it is always refreshing to see a donor wall that can be appreciated as a unique piece of decorative art.

C&G Partners created this stunning installation for Advisory Board Company, a Washington D.C.- based research, technology, and consulting firm focused on health care and educational institutions. Asked by the Advisory Board to come up with a way to showcase the names of its member clients, C&G created an installation out of thousands of slender, translucent rods, each engraved with a single member name filled in silver. A single silver set screw affixed each rod to one of hundreds of numbered wire strands, which were strung together to form a luminous curved, floor-to-ceiling curtain. The installation in the Advisory Board’s member collaboration space in Washington D.C. creates an aura that is elegant, ethereal, and dynamic. The design offers the flexibility of adding more member names in the future while maintaining the sculptural quality of the display. C&G also assisted those who want to find their names by incorporating a touchscreen directory that accesses a database of member names, quickly matching them to the numbered wires.
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