Joe Mills

Business Cards

I’m not sure how much people use business cards, but I thought I should get some professionally printed. I even read an article recently saying that the business card is dead. Regardless, it gave me a chance to check out a local printer called M13 Graphics. They are pretty much what I expected. I just wanted a pretty simple design that reflected my web site and promotional sticker. And, the price was right…

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The Consume and Create Sticker

The Consume and Create sticker is complete. It certainly has the vector look but it is a slight departure from my previous illustrations. I am in the process of getting a quote from Sticker Giant, so the production will happen. Stickers with 4 colors are an investment, but I want more than just my promotional sticker. These are only going to be 2 inches by 3 inches which seems to be just the right size. Although, when I made a print out, I was afraid it was too small. Yet, it seems to be an appropriate size. Stickers don’t have to be the size of a piece of paper. I will give an update when I get the stickers.

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Johnson & Johnson Advertisement

This is a Johnson & Johnson advertisement I had seen a few years ago that popped in my head recently. It is amazing how the brain works. Anyway, it has always been one of my favorites since the image of a toothbrush and dinosaur together is so counter-intuitive it makes me look and look. It is extremely well done. I like how they did not just stick the dinosaur in the middle of the toothbrush. The bristles act as limbs of a tree almost as the dinosaur peers through them. I wish I had more information about it, but as I mentioned, it recently came back into the forefront of my brain…for some reason…

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KFC Potholes

Courtesy of Chicago Sun-Times

I do not normally think that advertising stunts are particularly interesting or creative, but I thought this one by KFC was…well…inspired. Here is what the Chicago Sun-Times reported:

KFC, the fried chicken franchise, is offering itself as a corporate sponsor for pothole repair. An actor dressed as KFC founder Colonel Sanders and a road repair group got started this week in the franchise’s hometown of Louisville, Ky., filling up hundreds of holes.

Many of the repairs are decorated with a white stencil saying the spot was “Re-freshed by KFC” — a play on KFC’s ad campaign stressing the freshness of their chickens. KFC spokesman Russell Dyer said the crew is using “regular asphalt,” not day-old biscuits.

It is sort of a sad commentary that our cities are not taking care of it, but at least our fast food restaurants…know better?

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Wii

Yes, I realize that the Wii has been talked about ad-nauseum, but hey, I just got one a couple months ago. I was even lucky enough to happen across a Wii Fit recently as well. I was interested in getting a Wii because it reminded me of playing video games with my brother when I was younger. And at the same time, make it new by amping up the game play. What I liked about playing video games when I was younger was the social apsect and the simplicity. A lot of hardcore gamers have given it disparaging reviews because of the lack of great graphics, simple game play, and not-so-great titles. For us casual gamers, though, it is perfect. If I want to just play a game for an hour or so and not just push buttons, I can throw a game in the Wii. I have used it as a way to entertain family. And, my wife and I have enjoyed the expanded game play courtesy of the Wii Fit. I don’t feel like I HAVE to play it every day to “beat a game”.

I guess my only concern is that something “else” will make its way into the marketplace in the next two years or so and make this oboslete….which should not be surprise. I guess the reason I think that won’t happen is that I think the best is yet to come with the Wii. I don’t think game developers have fully captured all that can be done with the game controller. Nintendo envisioned a whole new way to play video games, so I think people are still figuring it out…at least that is what I hope. Hey…if it can be as cool as this ad for Wario Land, I think there is still room for more.

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Manny Ramirez SportsCenter Commercial

Now that Manny is on the Dodgers, I doubt you will see this commercial…too bad, it is awesome.

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Cadbury Gorilla

If you have never seen the Cadbury Gorilla commerical, you need to now…

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Remix Studio Bangkok

Image courtesy of Remix Studio Bangkok

The web site for Remix Studio Bangkok is a little odd for a design studio (I had to scan the above picture froma  magazine), but you can’t dispute the photography and design work they do. If you can’t tell what is happening here, it is an Alka-Seltzer tab blasting through a fatty piece of steak. I think the message, by itself, certainly works, but the execution puts it over the top. It reminds me of those stop motion pictures of bullets ripping through watermelons and playing cards which I’m sure was the intent. I’ll leave it at that…

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Paddy Power Advertisement

I’ll let this advertisement speak for itself. Although, I was reading that people were offended that they thought it was talkng about the truck hitting the old women crossing the street rather than them racing across the street. I think the unintentional message it was sending is funnier than the actual…I’m not offended…

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It’s a Game You Control with Your Cell Phone

Wired recently had a short article on a company called MegaPhone that…well…read this:

(They are) multiplayer cell phone games where people can interact with rivals they’re battling onscreen. Here’s how it works: When players dial a special phone number shown on a public screen like MTV’s jumbotron, avatars representing the callers pop up on the display, identified by the last four digits of the participant’s cell number. They’re controlled using the phone’s keypad or, more often, by speaking (or shouting) into the handset. Scream “shoot” in one game, for example, and your basketball player shoots. Who are you schooling? Look for the other goofballs yelling at their phones.

I think this is a fantastic idea. It really brings that idea of connection and technology and fun and…all the good things that people clamor for in this (forgive the over used terminology) Web 2.0 world. I guess it works for me because I see it in my head…I’m standing in line at the grocery store or some other store, and I can play this game with other people standing with me. It reminds me of the trivia games I used to play at bars when I was in college with strangers at the bar. I can see the technology end of it being very difficult to work out, but this seems like an idea that could work.

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