Typography

2014 “365” Typography Calendar Now Available

When you think of it, words get in the way of appreciating typography. You find yourself reading what’s said and paying scant attention to the characters from which the words are composed. In fact, idiosyncratic typefaces can be distracting and irritating if you are trying to read long passages. Type should affect the reader on a subliminal level, adding to the reader’s enjoyment, not stressing the eyes or competing for the reader’s attention. But as graphic forms, typefaces can be beautiful, elegant, whimsical, futuristic, historic, geometric, sculptural, and even funny, if you count Comic Sans. Used as a design element, quirky fonts can add a lot of spice to a page.

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Humor

Obsessively Funny Addy Promo

Convinced that advertising creatives see everything myopically through the lens of their craft, the Dallas Advertising League chose the theme “Obsession Has Its Place” to promote its Addy Awards in 2012. TM Advertising developed nine hilarious scenarios of singularly focused ad men and women dealing with everyday life situations. Jeremy Bartel of Liberal Media Films directed the videos, Jason Burks directed photography, and Charlie Uniform Tango did the post-production. Here are just two of the videos. To see the rest, go here.

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Humor

Real-Life Digital Stories from Google Analytics

If real store personnel treated customers the way some online marketers do, this is what the experience may feel like to shoppers. Google Analytics produced this series of videos to demonstrate how online retailers are losing customers by bombarding them with too many annoying questions, offers and distractions. The videos simulate interactions with the landing page, site search and checkout. The skits are funny but too painfully true. Google Analytics implies there is hope; it directs online retailers to its blog site for improvement tips.

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Viral Marketing

Experiential Marketing Unlocks 007 in Commuters

For Coke Zero’s joint promotion of the new James Bond film “Skyfall,” Belgian ad agency Duval Guillaume Modern set up an elaborate stunt in the Antwerp central train station. It began when unsuspecting commuters walked up to a Coke vending machine, which displayed a promotional offer that came with a hitch. They could win two free tickets to a special screening of “Skyfall,” if they could get to the vending machine on Platform Six within 70 seconds.

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