Walkers Crisps

Has anyone else noticed the recent re-design of the Walkers crisps packet. I know it's a boring subject but it really got me thinking about how a simple change to a design can change consumer behaviour. Working in a bar this summer there hasn't been anything for me to eat during me shift except Walkers crisps. Until recently i never ate them thinking they were too unhealthy to stuff my face with, but being such a porn to things such as advertising and aesthetics i've starting eating the odd bag (or two), and it's all down to the typography used on the packet cover. The old font used to tell us the flavour was bold and quite a heavy font. However they've now changed it to a much lighter font not too dissimilar to the font used on 'light' versions of the snack. I wonder if Walkers knew what they were doing, a clever piece of re-design making people think they are eating a lighter snack. Are they trying to save themselves in a market where health food reigns supreme?

'Tryvertising'

Leading on from my post about the Pay per Blog scheme and it got me thinking about the lengths advertisers are going to because of the state of the consumer market. Advertising has been sneaky in order to infiltrate the market. Agencies such as Taxi Promotion UK use civilian's to spread their word, giving them the chance to try something out first then promote it to others. They take cabbies on free holidays to Las Vegas and Thailand in the hope they will talk to their passengers about it.
Scottish and Newcastle the brewer that brews Kronenbourg and Fosters, are currently going into 6,000 pubs across England to buy customers free drinks whilst asking about their drinking habits.
Another amusing bit of advertising took place a couple of months ago in Covent Garden, London. The company Carbon Marketing deliberately jackknifed a lorry spilling thousands of boxes of Nestle(their clients)chocolate bars onto the street. Up to 70,000 passers by picked up a chocolate bar to sample not even knowing that they were taking part in a 'free trial'. This so called 'Tryvertising' works particularly well with children willing to put up with adverts bombarding them in return for free stuff. It certainly works for the company Blyk a new mobile phone company who offers teenagers free text messages in return for being regularly interrupted by adverts. Teenagers are only too happy to accept this.
The fact that it shows consumers are willing to put up with being advertised to, and also promoting to others, in return for freebies shows that 'Tryvertising' may be the new thing in a world where we really don't want to be told what to do and buy. Conventional advertising isn't enough nowadays.

Pay per Post

www.payperpost.com is a website where you can sign up to get paid for plugging certain brands and services on your own blog. Advertisers are also invited to join the scheme on the sites homepage in the hope that their product/service will reach a broader consumer market through blogging. The average pay out per mention of a brand is about £6 and some blogers are earning up to £300 a month doing this. Personally i think it shows how desperate advertisers are becoming for their brand to be picked up by consumers. People don't like being told what to buy nowadays and this is a sneaky way of advertising to people in a way that means they don't even know they are being targeted by advertisers. Is this ethical or just the next step for advertising to take, necessary in an age where consumers are clued up, more cynical and are exposed so often to the internet?
Maybe we should all sign up? It'd be funny to see how each of us would try and sell the services of 'OpticsPlanet.com' Online binoculars shop where you can get free shipping on all items! (I'd get paid £5.15 for that!)

Women in Revolt, Andy Warhol and Paul Morrissey

Women in Revolt, by Andy Warhol and Paul Morrissey is a satirical look at feminist revolutionary groups. A twist to the film is that all lead 'women' in the film are actually played by transvestites (some more convincing as women than others!) It's filmed in a very haphazard way, the sound quality is awful, acting is dire and camera footage is jerky. This was intentional however and and is characteristic of all Warhol's films. The concept and hidden meanings behind the storylines are what Warhol wants viewers to focus on. Slightly pretentious but a welcome change from the polished look of Hollywood cinema.

Drury Lane architecture

Being stuck back home in Lincoln all summer working has meant i have, at times, found it hard to find inspiration. All i had to do though was to look right on my doorstep. My parents house is in the center of Lincoln, an historic city built on Roman foundations. My street is a mixture of old and new houses and it certainly doesn't have any rhythm in terms of architecture. It's a jumble of grand manor style houses, quaint cottages and ultra modern town houses. Here are two houses that for me really stick out as being unique. Although not the most attractive designs they are doing something different and create an interesting contrast with the 1000 year old castle they are built right next to.

Magnetic Calender

I came across this calender in Bruge, Belgium. It was being sold in an interior design shop. It's very clever how it can be used for every month. Obviously you can't write things down on it like you would a paper calender with separate months, but it's meant to be more of a decorative wall hanging. The calender uses a black magnetic shape that can be moved over the red design to create numbers up to 31. This is not the most practical and functional of calenders but it is simplistic and combines knowing the date with having a piece of art on your wall.

Wild Beasts Video - By Nick Scott

I first came across this video when completing the Digital Motion brief last year. I love how it uses stop motion combined with an innovative use of photography. The jerky movements and bold primary colours reflect the rawness of the track.
It was created by local Leeds graphic deigner Nick Scott (he also designed all the artwork for the band The Cribs). Simple stop motion is used in parts, however Scott also took multiple shots of the band playing then used the actual photos to create a sequence giving the effect of moving film. It's not a complex, amazing feat design but it suits the track perfectly and grabs the viewers attention throughout. The music is based on rough basic elements, so too is the video.