This House is on Fire.

Two weeks....

2010-04-15T04:13:00.003+01:00

Two weeks left until my life as a ski-bum comes to a tragic end. While it is true that there are probably ski patrol positions and mountain host spots available for the future, I think we all know that my potential rests elsewhere. That's probably why I love skiing so much, it's purely recreation - and not a lifestyle. Good news is that I have had the foresight to start tying up some glo-bugs and other aquatics to play with in the upcoming months. Whether or not I use them probably will depend on how the job market pans out for me up here, and when I say "pans out", I am speaking purely from a financial standpoint. Those student loans don't pay themselves off, though a healthy stock portfolio does help.

Carn Brae Sketch

2010-03-16T20:20:00.001Z

Carn Brae Sketch
Originally uploaded by Mark Yezbick

A Day in the Life of a Bombjacker

2010-03-16T18:53:00.003Z

"Thirty seconds!"

The shout came from three hundred feet above me as three Alyeska ski patrollers observed their detonation man hastily moving away from the charge placed above a known avalanche slide path. At fifteen seconds, a patroller leans over to me and informs me to make sure I am breathing out before the blast wave strikes.

Wait a second...blast wave?

The top of the bamboo rod lights up in with a pop as the four pound charge ignites, and then the wave hits. A little invisible push generated from the mountainside, followed by a deafening boom. Luckily, I was informed to cover my ears as well. The snow from the night before propagated out as planned, and a generous slide made its way down to cover the groomed track of the Silvertip run, considered to be intermediate terrain.

The morning started at a respectable 9 AM for me, one of the lucky winners of the Alyeska Ski Patroller Auction, a charitable event to raise money for the Avalanche Dog program at Alyeska Resort in Girdwood, Alaska. The prize was an hour and a half of skiing before the mountain was opened to the general public with ski patroller Shane Patrick, whom I had successfully bid on a few weeks prior. Included in the prize is lunch for two at the 4 star Seven Glaciers Restaurant, which we have put off until a later date. A wise decision since there was around 18 inches of fresh powder snow that had fallen in the previous 24 hour period. Lunch must wait on a powder day.

This blog has moved

2010-03-16T18:48:00.001Z

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good to know

2010-03-12T19:19:00.000Z

YouTube - プロの職人によるアイロンがけテクニック(ワイシャツ)

Alaska Portfolio

2010-02-16T22:59:00.002Z

Finally put my pen to paper and started up the Alaska advertising portfolio. Looking at including work for Alaska State Marine Highway, Alaska Zoo, Fantasies on Fifth, ACS Yellow pages, BP, and a Accent Alaska campaign. It feels pretty good to get the juices flowing again, though different without Dan's guiding hand. Hopefully, I can juggle the Art Director and Copywriter aspects and still come up with distinctive strategies.

Crispin Porter + Bogusky employee handbook

2010-01-09T19:31:00.001Z

Wouldn't mind having one of these handed to me by my sensei, version 2010.

Crispin Porter + Bogusky employee handbook

View more documents from whatidiscover.

mannequin

2010-01-07T14:12:00.001Z

facial tracking to put viewer into other roles. envision your future as a fireman / policeofficer / banker / job searches

Idea 01.01.10

2010-01-02T03:13:00.004Z

Laptop drink holder.
In store Product GPS on Cart (see Potential).
AR Eyeglasses for gaming / shopping / tourist.
Outdoor posters that follow you (turn) as you pass.
Charades as a medium. (Research Mimes)

photo from :http://www.marchandmeffre.com/index.html

We have made it to Detroit, and have toured the inner city whilst en route to the DIA. Just devastating to see how many boarded up, burned out, dilapidated buildings there are in the community. We drove past the Railway Depot , the Russell Industrial Center, and then onto Belle Isle. I think Detroit should converse with Berlin and figure out how to rebuild itself. The city has a lot of opportunity , and seems like it could be an excellent source for a cultural revolution in the coming years.

Potential

2009-12-08T19:37:00.002Z

Imagine a market in which you can find every single item you are looking for, through the touch / interactivity of your shopping cart.
Imagine a cart with a tom-tom GPS unit, a horn, autodrive and price checker all built-in.

Why can't a shopping cart be wirelessly connected to an instore-system ? Why can't they be fit with an LCD, or bluetoothed to your blackberry / iPhone / Android ? Imagine the data that could be collected from people's shopping experiences, helping shop owners to pinpoint the most sought after items, and keep them regularly stocked.

I think that the Brown Jug has some upgrading to do.

18 - 80

2009-11-20T21:05:00.002Z

Watching cricket, contemplating christmas, drinking 1880. I have started work on a whole new portfolio dedicated to Alaskan consumers / business in hopes of having something to show when I arrive back in Anchorage in January.

I have also been more seriously considering opening a brauhaus, and trickling more German language into my noggin'.

Tomorrow is the Multinational Christmas Bazaar, in which I am taking up the role of Santa's photographer for charity.

All these hats, I hope one fits my head.

Tipi living during an Indian Summer

2009-09-17T17:47:00.003+01:00

Transitions from the academic realm into the "real" are often intimidating. Recently, we had the option of living in a Convent for a security service, a short-let in Edinburgh, or a tipi on a small holding. We thought about the various locations, considered the pros and cons of each, and decided on the tipi lifestyle. It made sense, after living a year in the farmhouse and never tending to livestock, to come help out on the friend's farm while living on their land. This way we get the experience of farm community living, the enjoyment of the late summer weather, and the company of friends before leaving for the States. Have a look on the flickr page, as I will have posted some photos of our new surroundings.

Although life in the pastoral setting is enjoyable, I have still been diligently seeking out future opportunities in hopes to find the next big thing.

perplexing popcorn

2009-08-27T13:18:00.004+01:00

Today, I ponder the life expectations of a popcorn kernel. You see, a kernel wishes only one thing, to make it big in life. Whether "Big" is to firmly plant itself in nutrient rich soil sprouting to new beginnings or to explode with the fragrant force of molecular pressure in the kitchens of expectant movie viewers everywhere, "Big" is the living dream of a tiny corn seed. Blossomed kernels wish to be covered in butter and consumed by a public that desires their delicious goodness. However, I have discovered a great wrong being committed to the public, that many of the grocery stores in the United Kingdom don't carry popcorn kernels in their aisles. They do have a collection of pre-popped popcorn, but I recoil to think of a rainy future in front of a standard HDTV widescreen, settling down to watch the opening episodes of the third season of Mad Men or perhaps a BluRay of District 9 without the fragrant odor of freshly popped corn wafting through the air. It is for this reason alone that I consider the popcorn culture of this kingdom to be endangered. Join me in ending this affront to nature, contact your local grocer and implore him to enlist the mighty kernel upon his shelves. Preserve the time honored art of popcorn popping.

Confessions from the Cornish Countryside

2009-08-18T10:32:00.012+01:00

"You're gonna have to pay for that envelope."

I am in the local Spar, surrounded by the white-haired masses that congregate in the village of Mawnan Smith. Each member stands dutifully in queue for their copy of the treasured Guardian, of which there are always too few on a Saturday morning. Some look a bit perturbed, probably due to the late opening of the shop, which has prolonged their precisely planned out day by exactly seventeen minutes.

"You need to pay for that envelope before you write an address on it."

The voice, a bit peculiar like it had given up halfway through puberty and remained in limbo awaiting its next testosterone kick to guide it home, belonged to the postal employee / shopkeeper that continued to insist. Now I am lengthening the stay of the growing masses behind me, and I can feel their eyes examining my undertakings and making mental notes of the foreign way I go about my business.

"People take the envelopes and then mail them without paying for them. So you have to pay for the envelope beforehand."

Thankfully, the shopkeeper has instructed me on the basics of commerce, perhaps to calm the uncomfortable agitation behind me. The small talk has subsided and the shifting weights indicate that the extending queue has become restless, tired of the fluorescence emanating from the overheads, the faint buzz resonating within their hearing aids, the greenish glow playing tricks on their cloudy, cataract-ridden gaze.

His Cornish twinge constructs a conspiring thought that the policy must have been handed down over centuries. A policy that has no clear bearing of rationality other than the systematic approach to 'how things are done around here.' No doubt this policy has kept this store in the shopkeeper's family for generations.

It seems odd that I am standing directly in front of the shopkeeper's till, addressing the letter that will be in his hands in less than ten seconds, not hiding anything from his overly watchful eye and yet he insists on policy over common courtesy and mutual respect.

I wonder if he is brooding over the interaction as I am now, if he is wondering if the transaction could have been handled in a better manner. I wonder if he is questioning his policy as less customers come into his shop to mail a letter, instead choosing to wait and mail it from the city center where they can avoid the annoyance of the inbred policy of suspicion. Probably not.

Maybe he just needs his morning cuppa to get him on the path of courteousness.

Lets take a Poll !

2009-07-24T14:27:00.004+01:00

Feel free to leave any comments in the comment section. Tear it apart, build it up, go crazy theoretical if you want. My skin is so thick I can barely move my arms. Let it all out. Use me to vent all your frustrations at advertising, student work and the industry in general. Make me weep, make me smile, make it all worth my while.

dead weather

2009-07-24T12:58:00.001+01:00

Sometimes you find some good things on the internets.

Words and Expressions

2009-07-21T14:17:00.003+01:00

The morning rain has allowed me to spend some quality time doing inter-searching, and I have come across a real gem on the ihaveanidea.org site. Probably should be required reading for any junior / student / graduate creative. Definitely required reading for any and all Art Directors, who are strong-arming the way the ideas come out of an agency/portfolio. It's all about the beauty of language, language that is a testament to the intellect of the consumer. They are not idiots, and most of them know and appreciate a good read.

Further inter-stumbling brought me to a good podcast as well, with a wide range of diverse topics under the subject of advertising.

London's Delights

2009-07-17T12:29:00.005+01:00

A short flight from Newquay Airport aboard the good ship RyanAir, and I find myself in London for a mere £15. When I say find myself, I really mean it. The week previous, I have been preoccupying my time with anything that is the furthest from writing a contextual essay as possible. However, upon my arrival to London, I am doing mental deconstructional analyses of various signage, adverts and design. For instance, the new Sure deodorant print adverts outside my bus stop in Camberwell, designed to target women. Okay, I understand that the image is representative of the product, but I am also taking apart the Freudian, combining with the intertextual, and coming up with something altogether different. When I point this out to my girlfriend, she simply states, "Why would any woman buy a deodorant that consists of metals," citing the health issues that go alongside our social construction of smelling "good."

As the bus drops us off in Covent Garden, we undertake the social responsibility to keep the economy moving, both purchasing new shoes from the Natural Shoe Store. Mine, a pair of Simple Eco Shoes made from old tire rubber and hemp. A good choice, I think as I wear them proudly out of the store and down to the Leicester Square to have my first London Musical experience at the Queen's Theatre to see "Les Miserables." I give it a thumbs up.

Previous to the shopping, dining and musical performance, we had enjoyed the Camberwell College of Arts Exhibition Show in Camberwell. The show was well attended and the illustration, though quite conservative, was well executed. The basis of our interest was to witness the final work by one Sarah M. Clark, a Master of Book Arts at Camberwell, and also twin to my beloved.

Now, I find myself back at my desk contemplating the journey, the stock market, and the contextual review ahead of me. I was recently instructed by a recruitment agent to take in life so that I might exude its glory. Hopefully, some of that glory will work its magic from my memory banks, and into the lines of my impending paper.

Avoidance

2009-07-10T21:38:00.003+01:00

In my great avoidance to commence writing my paper on the globalisation of Heinz and its relation to the consumer market, I recorded three soup ads. They are available for your enjoyment in the Radio section of the site. A better way to spend a Friday, I think.

The Tastebuddy

2009-07-08T11:25:00.003+01:00

Heinz Soups of the World

What is the product range - world foods. Other ads that we looked at with similarities or comparative differences.
What is the Brand Identity - Heinz , safe and trusted.
The globalisation of the brand - Heinz means beans vs. Soups of the World.
The serialisation of the executions in comparative to the serialisation of the soups - try each soup, not just one.
The Hienz color of Tastebuddy , and emotive of red.
Proximity as a factor in globalisation, the world is smaller now, and trying new things from a brand you trust is safer.
The target audience , how do the ads work towards the audience.
Serialisation of campaign in terms of TV / Comic
Old world soups and Heinz products vs. new world.
The Tastebuddy - Character Identification in terms of target market (children via parent)

Off to the Big Smoke

2009-06-28T23:37:00.002+01:00

Heading into London tomorrow morning for D&AD New Blood for the next three days, to meet interesting new people who want to change the way the world thinks. Hopefully, there will be some idea people there with something new to share. Who are willing to share. Please. Because standing around for 12 hours does not seem like a good time to me.

The Wedding Chest

2009-03-12T18:18:00.001Z

Vicky's animation.
I helped.

Consideration 1.0

2009-03-05T09:38:00.000Z

Kitcatt Nohr Alexander Shaw

Hybridity

2009-02-25T20:17:00.001Z

The Other wants to be Human Again

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Motion Flow

2009-02-25T19:43:00.001Z

SonyBravia Ad

ASDA's Undoing

2009-02-25T15:59:00.001Z

I had a lovely dream last night wherein I witnessed a funeral to a fish at the local ASDA (which is British for Wal-Mart). There was lots of tears and kneeling. Strangely enough, there isn't a pet section at ASDA that deals with live fish.

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The Moses

2009-02-08T18:49:00.002Z

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Good One

2009-02-03T22:12:00.002Z

Better than Cadbury's

2009-01-31T21:10:00.001Z

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paper stuff

2008-11-16T20:43:00.001Z

paper things

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Songza

2008-10-24T12:49:00.001+01:00

Songza

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blogs

2008-10-23T12:15:00.001+01:00

Scamp

CST Blog

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You Wouldn't Dare !

2008-10-21T12:42:00.001+01:00

You wouldn't give Carte Blanche to your shop-a-holic wife.
So why let her drive with a chipped windscreen?

You wouldn't walk onto the green without your putter.
So why drive with a chipped windscreen?

You wouldn't give your son a bottle of Scotch and the keys for his prom night.
So why let him drive with a chipped windscreen ?

You wouldn't book a cruise holiday on a boat with a hole in the hull.
So why drive with a chipped windscreen?

You wouldn't wear earplugs to the opera.
So why drive with a chipped windscreen?

Ignorance is not bliss.

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Car Condom?

2008-10-20T09:31:00.001+01:00

An external car airbag - a car condom.

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All Bar Luke

2008-10-17T13:10:00.001+01:00

All Bar Luke on BBC 4

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Ad site

2008-10-17T08:45:00.001+01:00

CanvasMedia

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Wrigley's Ad

2008-10-14T19:44:00.001+01:00

Here is link dedicated to the Fidji Ad.

Yuri Lotman

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The Design Museum

2008-10-12T18:41:00.001+01:00

The Man with Kaliedascope Eyes

The Creativity Machine

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The Hucksters

2008-10-12T18:16:00.001+01:00

The Hucksters.

Robert Brownjohn

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Leo the Lion

2008-10-10T13:10:00.001+01:00

Sarah Clark and the London Creatives

2008-10-09T18:43:00.001+01:00

Sarah Clark is studying book arts at Camberwell, here is her blog and unique view of how traditionally printed media can be represented.

I threw some more links on the Link Madness page, adland's print media and Creative in London. Trupesh hooked me onto the second, and both are good.

Good idea tossing with the Milkman today. Jason's book, Advertising Concept Book, is a good addition to the arsenal. It will help to think around ideas.

Wednesday VCC Class

2008-10-06T16:56:00.001+01:00

Reading - 10 AM

Discourse of Advertising, Guy Cook
Words in Ads, Greg Myers
The Language of Advertising, Angela Goddard

Thursday - 1150 am - Applied Tech in the Lab

Campaign Lines

2008-10-02T14:31:00.000+01:00

B.T. IT’S YOU WE ANSWER TO.
READY BREK. CENTRAL HEATING FOR KIDS.
GOOD FOOD COSTS LESS AT SAINSBURYS.
LEGO. IT’S A NEW TOY EVERY DAY.
A.A. TO OUR MEMBERS WE’RE THE FOURTH EMERGENCY SERVICE.
YOU GET A SMARTER INVESTER AT THE ALLIANCE AND LEICESTER.
ARISTON AND ON AND ON AND ON.
CREAM EGGS. HOW DO YOU EAT YOURS?
RED ROCK CIDER. IT’S NOT RED AND THERE’S NO ROCKS IN IT.
CASTLEMAIN. AUSTRALIANS WOULDN’T GIVE A XXXX FOR ANY OTHER LAGER.
IF ONLY EVERYTHING IN LIFE WAS AS RELIABLE AS A VOLKSWAGEN.
YOU CAN BREAK A BROLLY BUT YOU CAN’T KNACKER A KNIRPS.
HEINEKEN REFRESHES THE PARTS OTHER BEERS CAN’T REACH.
CLUNCK CLICK EVERY TRIP.
BEANZ MEANZ HEINZ.
YELLOW PAGES. LET YOUR FINGERS DO THE WALKING.
LIPSMAKIN’ THIRST QUENCHIN’ ACE TASTIN’ COOL BUZZIN’…PEPSI
FRIENDS DON’T LET FRIENDS DRIVE DRUNK.
COMMERCIAL UNION. WE WON’T MAKE A DRAMA OUT OF A CRISIS.
FIAT. HANDBUILT BY ROBOTS.
INDEPENDENT. IT IS. ARE YOU?
FOSTERS. THE AUSTRALIAN FOR LAGER.
HAPPINESS IS A CIGAR CALLED HAMLET.
JOHN SMITHS. GET YOURSELF A MATE CALLED SMITH.
STELLA. REASSURINGLY EXPENSIVE

Memory

2008-10-02T14:25:00.000+01:00

Memory is ‘tenacious and systematising’.
(Coleridge)

Memory constellates images, fuses them, works sea-changes upon them to form novel and even unique patterns.