Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Everyone Deserves to be in the Driver's Seat...


I feel that an individuals small business is more to them than just a machine to derive income. The roots of individuals and families who own small businesses around the world is a reflection of decades of history, culture, and craftsmanship that will go into his or hers future project. I support anyone who dreams about owning his or her own business, because everyone deserves to be in the drivers seat.

Visit Kiva.org to see how you can help alleviate world poverty

Daniel McLennan

Creative Director, Image Creative Organization
Imagecreativeorganization.com
dbm@imagecreativeorganization.com

Thursday, July 3, 2008

10 Digits Away!

Almost there



"I would have provided a video clip, but blogger.com has not found a way to integrate external flash elements)

On the right track

The other day I was getting my usual fix of 3-minute Adage and I came across something interesting that has been floating around the marketers for a while now. Due to the limited space and high cost of billboards in prime locations a new (even though people are already doing it) concept has risen, eye-level storefront billboards that allow the local foot traffic to interact with an advertisement at eye level, instead of 50 million stories above traffic. My favorite part is that all demographics and statistics can be quantified by the buildings landlord rent information as well as traffic information provided by the city.
But the question is how much of this new found noise and clutter is acceptable, so that you do not feel like your in the Minority Report.

Go to the following link to watch the video
Source: Inwindow Outdoor & Adage
http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1370868150/bctid1636629378


Daniel McLennan

Creative Director, Image Creative Organization
Imagecreativeorganization.com
dbm@imagecreativeorganization.com

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Friday, May 23, 2008

India's Vivid Color Palette




Something Visual:
The closest I’ve ever been to India was flying Air India on my way to Paris last fall. Lately I have been reading, watching, and virtually getting my hands on anything that has to do with India. I plan on flying there as soon as I can.

There are not many pieces, but the color's shown in broadcast and print is extraordinary. I love to see the vivid blues, reds, and yellows found in India's cars, side-street shops, food markets, bucket of spices, branding, bottles, sculptures, building paint, et cetera. I think its a great contrast to an "over developed" countries palette largely consisting of stainless steel, clean, smooth, and white.

Want an example of my current obsession? Go to blockbuster or netflicks and rent "The Darjeeling Limited". Besides the fact that Wes Anderson is one of my favorite film directors, the film has one of the most vivid color palettes I have ever seen on screen.

Just a few responsible for "The Darjeeling Limited" visual aspect:
Art Direction by
Aradhana Seth
Adam Stockhausen
 
Set Decoration by
Suzanne Caplan Merwanji
Aradhana Seth
 
Costume Design by
Milena Canonero

Daniel McLennan
Creative Director, Image Creative Organization
Imagecreativeorganization.com
dbm@imagecreativeorganization.com

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Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Billboards developing into clutter?

Casual Observation:

Recently I was on a trip to Toronto and one of the highways (one I since forgot the name of) did not have a single billboard on it. Every major metropolitan area in the United States is saturated with billboards high and low. Along side of this highway lays a grassy hill that stretches a couple of miles until it reaches downtown Toronto. On the grassy hill are clever colorful imprints of brand advertisements by its sponsors. Not only were you still attracted to each sponsors land plot, it looked aesthetically pleasing. Why do we have such clutter? Can’t we think of creative ways to display our ads?

P.S. I am still going through my camera to find the pictures, they should be up soon.

Daniel McLennan
Creative Director, Image Creative Organization
Imagecreativeorganization.com
dbm@imagecreativeorganization.com

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Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Filling up your empty canvas


Creative Thinking:

Pre-Production at Image Creative Organization is an experience! Usually when I need to create a new project I begin "Collecting". I start to collect as much information about the creative aspect of the project as possible. I start with inspiration. I begin to find different photographs, different television shows, different labels in my kitchen, everything that will spark creativity towards the project that will allow me to show my clients different stages of their product in relation to the creative process. I travel around my city and find different window displays, different billboards and signs and see how they all relate to each other. I look through my enormous collection of magazines and books to find the perfect font. I go to Home Depot and other hardware stores to compare paint samples to find certain colors that fuse perfectly together. Once I am finished my "Collecting" stage, I have a temporary canvas with all of the layouts, fonts, color wheels and bars, and everything that I will ever need to complete my project as fast as I can in the same High Quality our clients are accustomed to receiving. The more creative planning you do in pre-production, the production stage will be at least 80% creation that does not require any further research.

Daniel McLennan
Creative Director, Image Creative Organization
Imagecreativeorganization.com
dbm@imagecreativeorganization.com

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