Design: Robyn Love
Creative Direction: Dave Watson, Taxi Canada
Client: The D&AD Awards
Date: 2008
Since 1962, The D&AD organization has been a global leader in awards for design in advertising, and gives out awards that are symbols of creative achievement. The pencil-shaped awards are the Oscars of the advertising community.
Taxi Canada was brought in to help promote the event and created a number of outputs to do just that. Part of a campaign was this 300-pound crocheted pencil shaped installation that was draped over a water tower at 395 Broadway in New York City. Drawing attention for the three days that it stood, the work reminds us that great messaging rarely occurs on a billboard.
Created by WWF Canada, this incredible piece using an awning to cast a shadow, representing rising ocean levels, that visual and dramatically addresses the current issue of climate change.
The Blackbird - http://www.flickr.com/photos/blackbird_hollow
This banner was used in the opening ceremonies of the 2008 Poverty Olympics. Following the event it was added to this Olympic billboard outside of Canada Place.
Design:
Client: Steve Drane Harley-Davidson Ltd., Victoria, BC
Date: 2008
Here’s a nice design improvisation: Bylaws in this district, strictly prohibit inflatable, wind-activated and other attention grabbing signs, so this truck mounted sign is an eye-catching compromise. More importantly, the sign’s portability means it can be placed where permanent billboards are not allowed (and easily repositioned if necessary).
The fact that it was produced in Toronto did not stop the controversy around this ad, which of course, was the point. Before being pulled earlier this week, this billboard received attention from almost every major news outlet (print and tv) in the country (and Baltimore too). Not bad for only 30 billboards in just one market (Vancouver).
As controversial ad campaigns go, this seem pretty tame… predictable and generally uninspired. Maybe we should take offense to that!
Design: Todd Falkowsky
Client: Created for Felissimo, New York
Date: 2003
The simple T-shirt is such an important communication tool. Part fashion statement, part billboard, and part warning label, these are designed as a gentle reminder to take care of our kids and to keep them out of harms way.
This has to be one of the great exhibit spaces in Toronto, ON. Located beside the busy waterfront, this billboard sized spot benefits from a steady flow and mix of locals and tourists, accessible 24 hours a day.
The Ethnocultural Portrait of Canada is a survey and representation of the Canadian population, built using consensus data to create a beautiful colour coded chart that expresses the ninety three main origins of our society. Normally this type of information remains buried in census data columns, but this work brings it to life, in a fashion that we all can decode, relate to, and celebrate. We are reminded, in a positive way, that Canada is a powerful mosaic, and that immigration is a positive social force for us to be proud of.
-Todd Falkowsky
As a note, this piece was one of the main inspirations for my own colour project last year.
Virgin Mobile copywriting wunderkind, Jeremy Elder is back at it again, along with his self-described shopping addict colleague, Mandi Ashford and they want you to help them tell the recession to screw off. www.screwyourecession.com is the latest in Virgin Mobile’s marketing campaign that first appeared in billboard form at the intersection of Yonge & Dundas in Toronto. The pair is coming up with creative ways to live, budget, eat, shop, be “green”, and more on the cheap during these “tough economic times” by coming up with their own ingenious suggestions or by trolling the web and sharing their finds. It’s a simple and user-friendly blog and they encourage participation via RSS feeds and an active Twitter account.
Yeah, Virgin is taking advantage of a pretty dire situation to try to sell their products, and the pitch may be couched in suggestions of how to save, but hey, why not? We can all use fresh ideas on how to be money smart while still feeding the economy. It is interesting to see how companies are increasingly hopping onto this bandwagon. Lots to be said about this trend for sure, but I for one am happy to see companies using the creatives on their staff to help with the spin and position them to come out on top when all of this blows over.
This textile(ish) work uses squares, hand drawn with ink on silky paper, and sewn together to form a massive, billboard sized installation. I am unclear on the message, or narrative but the visual statement is amazing.
“On February 25, 1945, a new international broadcast service made its debut on the world scene. It was a time of war between nations but with the promise of peace in sight. In those dark but hopeful times the voice of Prime Minister W. L. Mackenzie King welcomed the world to a new shortwave service dedicated to projecting a Canadian view of life and events. Thus was born the CBC International Service, now known as Radio Canada International.” (RCI Website)
For most of the late 60s and early 70s this billboard sat by the side of the Trans-Canada Highway just east of Sackville, NB. Just beyond this billboard a massive maze of antennas, aerials, and towers (the tallest higher than a 30-storey building) make up the Sackville Relay Station. Built by Radio Canada International (the international broadcasting service of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) between 1943 and 1945, and broadcasting a Canadian view of life and events to the world ever since, the Sackville Relay Station remains the only high power shortwave relay station in Canada.
People in key Canadian markets have probably noticed a teaser campaign consisting of random cropped letterforms and the letters “er” popping up in subways and on billboards throughout their cities. After much speculation, we now know who is behind the campaign. Bell Canada has unveiled a new brand identity just in time for the launch of the (highly Bell-sponsored) Summer Olympics. Designed by Zulu Alpha Kilo, the new identity features a simplified logo (which I like) and an english-market campaign that uses abstracted “bell-ements” and a highlighted “er” as key identity traits (which I don’t like).
The “er” highlighting seems completely arbitrary, and while “-er” as a suffix is generally applied to nouns to denote a person or thing connected or involved with, belonging to, or having (‘teacher’, ‘runner’, etc) or used in comparative adjectives (‘faster’, ‘longer’, ‘bigger’), the application in this campaign is highly inconsistent – leading one to wonder how the concept came about. A read through the brand launch press release does little to justify ZAK’s angle.
On the positive, the french-market-specific campaign features the tag-line “La vie est Bell” (with the re-worked logo taking the place of ‘belle’) in lieu of the english-market’s nonsensical “er”-ing. I guess a french “er” campaign wouldn’t make any kind of sense – not that the english-market campaign is a paragon of logic and clear conjugation.
Design: Cossette Communication-Marketing
Client: Bank of Montreal
Date: 2008
Here in Toronto, the season has ended for a few of our major league sports teams, but with the end of some comes the beginning of others. The Toronto FC, our new Major League Soccer team, has just begun its second season following a blockbuster debut in 2007. Last summer was filled with sold out games, fanatic fans who occupied full sections of the stadium, and copious amounts of beer consumed. The team was launched very successfully and the market was obviously ready and willing to embrace a football club of their own (historically, the city goes nuts for World Cup soccer, as practically every country represented has a healthy community here).This year, BMO is sponsoring the team again (they play at BMO field, a state of the art soccer stadium newly built on the Canadian National Exhibition grounds) and has just launched a GTA-focused marketing campaign created by Cossette Communication-Marketing. The campaign consists of television, billboards, transit ads and posters. The ads are packed with strong images of warrior-like fans and exude the pride and enthusiasm with which the city has embraced the team. The television ad being aired on CBC, is very strong and emotional as well. I may be a sucker for these types of things, but it kinda gives me the shivers.
In a city that is known for subdued crowds for concerts and sporting events, it’s refreshing to see some fanaticism in the stands and also reflected in the branding. Go FC Go! (And way to go, BMO and Cossette!)
Design: MDA (formerly Spar Aerospace – under contract to the CSA)
Manufacturer: MDA, Brampton, ON.
Date: launched 1981
Hard to believe that this wasn’t posted here a long time ago, but I guess it seemed too obvious (we did post one of MDA’s other space robots). Ever since its maiden voyage in 1981, the Shuttle Remote Manipulator System (SRMS), aka Canadarm, has been a source of national pride – Canada’s most notable and visible contribution to space exploration.
The design successfully borrows from nature, mimicking the human arm (shoulder, upper arm, elbow, lower arm, and wrist) and replacing flesh and bone with titanium, stainless steel, graphite epoxy (bones), copper wires (nerves), Kevlar bumpers (fat?), and an insulated skin with thermostatically controlled heaters. The resulting robot is actually more articulate than the human arm and capable of deftly maneuvering loads up to 266,000kgs. Canadarm and the even more ‘flexible’ Canadarm 2 have proven invaluable in launching and repairing satellites, constructing the International Space Station, as well as numerous space walks and improvised repairs.
Yesterday, MDA announced the sale of their Information Systems and Geospatial Services operations (which includes MDA Space Missions) to Alliant Techsystems of Edina, Minnesota for $1.325 billion in cash. Presumably, most of the bright minds formerly at MDA will continue their great work under the new ownership. But, I guess we won’t see the Canada wordmark decorating any more of the robots they create. Too bad, this made for some pretty great ‘placement’ in the past. I remember hearing an anecdote about NASA trying to make the US flag and wordmark on the space shuttle more prominent, in response to the giant Canadian billboard on the Canadarm.
Design: RETHINK, Vancouver BC (Executive Creative Director: Ian Grais/Chris Staples, Art Director: Ian Grais)
Client: Playland Amusement Park
Date: 2007
Design: Tobias Wong
Client: Self Manufacture
Date: 1999
Tobias handed out hundreds of these pirate Burberry plaid pins at events around NYC. “A year later, in spring 2000, Burberry themselves caught sight of this ‘street trend’ and adapted them into their advertising campaign. The buttons were visible in fashion magazines, billboards, and catalogs – a knock-off of a knock-off”.
