Jim Mahfood! Who is Jim Mahfood? Jim Mahfood is an American comic book creator. He has been making a living off his drawings and scribblings since 1997. He worked for Marvel Comics for a while. He got many clients more than i expected such as Playboy, Armani, Disney, DC Comics, and much more.
The reason i mentioned him because i really like his works see the samples below...Check out his website for a full detail and content. Recently, He is the person who did all arts in Colt45 campaign which is really edgy and catchy.
I am totally looking forward to this - The Great Outdoors Photo Contest. I always enjoy the photos in National Geographic magazine and think there will be many awesome photos in this contest. And the fact that i love taking photos and traveling makes me excited about this contest. Can't wait.
Tomorrow I will go back to the school with something new. We changed the school's name from VCU Adcenter to VCU Brandcenter coz we are not just an advertising student. We learn about art, culture, consumer, and commerce that lead to the better branding. We also have new website (www.brandcenter.vcu.edu) which is better than the old one. The new website is quite simple and i love the transition of the webpage.My school also have video series from the leading advertising folks in our industry talking about "CHANGE." There are... Paul Lavoie, Taxi Nancy Vonk and Janet Kestin, Ogilvy Toronto Jeff Steinhour, CP+B Joe McCarthy, J&J Bob Scarpelli, DDB Mike Hughes, The Martin Agency and 4 more. See the videos here
Lastly, we moved to the new building (which is a couple blocks away from my place..yay!) I am quite excited about the new building because Clive Wilkinson is in charge of this project. I can't wait to see my new lime-green floor. And my second semester is about to begin tomorrow. I am ready for this.
I was wondering when the term "Hi-Definition" or "HD" is applied to the cable TV business. It seems like people are more easily to pay more and adapt to this new technology with better picture quality. Even I saw a movie commercial trying to sell both DVD and HD-DVD format. This reminds me about Sony's Blu-ray too and makes me think of the battle between Blu-ray and HD-DVD.
I expect Blu-ray's gonna be the next generation after DVD format. When the time pass people will start to adopt the new technology as we did from cassette tape to CD. But it's not easy for Blu-ray since the HD-DVD was introduced. It becomes the battle of format.
For me, I really give my heart to the Blu-ray format because of its better performance. Unfortunately, HD-DVD was launched with cheaper price so some consumers are distracted to try the HD-DVD format. Until i read this article and it gives hope to Blu-ray's winning. We will see how this is gonna be between HD-DVD and Blu-ray. I am waiting to burn a Blu-ray disc in the near future and eager to know how Blu-ray will be used as a medium in consumer's world.
Will we see the Youtube video greatest hits in the Blu-ray format? Can we keep all song from 1980s in a Blu-ray disc?
Just about a week, we will be going into year 2k8. For me, this year is really amazing. why?
1. I got accepted into the VCU Adcenter, the best advertising school in the US. and the school doesn't let me down at all. It's not about the reputation, new location, pride but it's about meeting new people. And they are friend. Friends who make me better and give me some life's lessons.
2. I miss my hometown so much. At this time last year, I was spending a quality time with my Thai friends at the resort and we were so happy. But living my life here in Richmond is not bad and makes me smile every day.
3. The Adcenter is a place i can think freely and not afraid to express crazy thoughts. I know this school is shaping my mind and thought.
Thanks for stopping by this blog and giving a comment. I hope all my blog reader will have a good time and great holidays for 2007. Merry Christmas :)
Last two weeks I had a chance to do an extra assignment about "slaves to marketing." It reminded me of one image that i have in my laptop for a while. The guy in this image is Ryan Sheckler, an American professional skateboarder, with his last name tattoo on his back. Many people may know him from MTV's The Life of Ryan show. When I re-looked at this image again, some thoughts came across in my mind. 1. This kid is very talented and skillful. He has got a sponsor from skateboarding since he was 10 or 11 and presently (now he is 17) many big companies are supporting him like Red Bull and Volcom. So this image for me is kind of juxtaposition between expressing himself through his tattoo on his back and corporate logos that have been attached to him for 7 years. I feel that his tattoo is meaningless for me because he has been labeled and monetized so something that he tried to identify himself is diluted.
2. Teenage girls love and adore him. Of course, they are the slave to marketing. They think he is cool even he wears a Volcom t-shirt and Red Bull cap all the time. On the other hand he sells his own t-shirt on his official website with his tattoo screened on it like this. I can't deny that we are in capitalism and it works.
Stopped by Flavorpill website to find arts events in NYC, I found many pieces of art on the cover of the webpage. They are created by Chad Kouri.
All I know about him from his website is "Chad Kouri spends most of his time in alleys looking for wood, books, and other treasures to build out some elaborate found-art collage. The rest of his time is spent eating humus, playing guitar, and other things to pass the day. He has most recently taken up bench resting... a workout ritual much like bench pressing, but without all the lifting."
Personally, I really like his works. I like the way he put things together in one piece of art. Here are some samples of his arts I took from his website. I will try to catch up flavorpill website for their new cover artists. I think they are really cool.
Though I hesitate to criticize, there are some things I just don't like about the new Vaseline campaign.As a former media planner for Vaseline in Thailand, I would say Vaseline once focused on the skin health benefits and did a good job in discriminating itself among the competitors as healthy body care product. So the tonality of communication was straight-to-the-point and very functional but still kept a feminine element. In the recent campaign titled “Your skin is amazing,” speaks about healthy skin in a different way. The creative work is brilliant and enhances the strategy with great execution. But I feel that Vaseline campaign is too similar to Dove campaign in a few ways.
As a consumer, I think Vaseline is a simple, affordable product. I feel that Vaseline is trying to educate and convince me about their skin mission statement by telling me that moisturizing my skin when dry is not enough. Taking care of skin is a long-term regime and a thousand ways can disrupt your soft skin. But my Mom won’t understand what they are talking about. The majority of consumers still focus on problem solving and that’s Vaseline job to convert consumers to be more proactive to their skin.As an advertising student who loves to explore new things, I browsed the website and found out that Vaseline paid 5 celebrities to endorse the brand and be a part of skin visions activity. The only one I like belongs to Dave Navarro, a guitarist of Red Hot Chili Peppers and Jane’s addiction. I love the insight saying “My skin is my canvas…my tattoos represent a time in my life….” I hope this quote is real.
Every morning (well, not really) i saw people drinking Red Bull to refresh themselves from drowsiness and fatigue. It is obvious that when you got many tasks to finish in one night or one day to survive the Adcenter, Red Bull is on the top list. For me I rarely drink it because I am distracted by Skittles. Skittles give me glucose to stay awake at night. I have been addicted to Skittles for 2 months. I bought a lot of Skittles presently. Now I realize that i need to stay away from that small round fruit chews. I don't want to feel the rainbow anymore. My addiction was getting worse last week because one night i woke up at 4am. and i grabbed my rainbow candy and put them in my mouth. That's was too much. I want to quit Skittling.
We are officially done for the first semester at the Adcenter. It's a moment that i had craved for since November. I did some good jobs and fair jobs or bad works but i know i am improving myself. The first 15 weeks taught me a lot not only advertising business and planning but also social interaction and team working.
I learned many things here from the scratch. I learned more about American's brands. I learned how to put myself toward and pull myself out of trouble. I learned to work with people and their personalities. I learn to embrace failure and imperfection and learn to cherish myself with victory and pride. I maximize and utilize my positivity for this school.
Next, It's time for myself. I want to do many things i could not do it during the school. I bought some books and magazines. I am planning my trip to New York and DC. I am thinking about building my portfolio and blogging more.
The next semester at the Adcenter will be fun and exciting. We will move to the new building, located a couple blocks away from my place. and Bye bye 1313 Main Street.
Something I wanna do in the US before I leave (to answer Jordan's question)
- Going to NYC - Going to the MoMA - Visiting friends in California - Sipping Malibu cocktail on the beach - Meeting with my blog friends - Stepping into the US advertising business - Being an ordinary and silly tourist and having fun with sightseeing around this country - Making Adcenter's friends happier and better - Walking with Jordan Childs in the park at night + Christmas decorations (We actually did this and had a good time together, haha)
My first semester at the Adcenter is going to end soon. It doesn't mean that i am not busy now - we still have big presentations awaiting. Yesterday, I realized that studying at the Adcenter. I need to find a balance between "quality" and "quantity."
Quantity without quality is bad. Quality without quantity is bad too. No one can tell you how much quality you should have or how many quantity you should acquire even Rick Boyko or David Ogilvy. To find it, you need to spend your life through it. You will find out many ideas that you crunch are not good and at the same time, you want to do the best in everything but you don't have time.
We have been taught that "Good enough is not enough." It's a juxtaposition between "quality" and "quantity." When we are knackered and tired, we want to say "enough," one of my classmates told us that "Good enough is plenty." It's very hilarious. The photo is from Johnny Blood via Flickr
Two or three weeks ago, i was invited to Pre-Potluck Thanksgiving party at my Adcenter friend's place. I was thinking about what to bring and it was hard for me because I am not good at cooking at all. Then i decided to do Jello Shots. I had 2 recipes - one is strawberry jello with Vodka and lime jello with Malibu. It turned out great and i really love them and ended up eating them too much and dealing with intoxication. On that night I put myself joining my first scavenger hunt game with some Adcenter friends. I ate raw egg, stole 5 pumpkins, and bought Vagisil. It was such a fun experience. Thanks to my friends for spicing up my life.
I am an ordinary person who really enjoy signing in and signing out "Facebook" website. I love it because it keeps me getting in touch with my friends at VCU Adcenter, Thailand, New York, UK, and etc. Facebook is clean and delicate for me.
Recently, Leah Pearlman - the product manager of Facebook ads posted an information about Facebook new advertising solution. I love what's not changing but what is changing....
You now have a way to connect with products, businesses, bands, celebrities and more on Facebook.
Ads should be getting more relevant and more meaningful to you.
You now have the option to share actions you take on other sites with your friends on Facebook.
I don't like them but it sounds better than "Myspace-Era." I feel good that i won't associate with irrelevant ads. Here is an example of Facebook Axe ad. Some posted something good about Axe while some posted something bad. It's reality. I hope Axe's brand manager keeps reading his/her facebook ad.
At VCU Adcenter, we have the Adcenter Quote Wall near the computer lab. Here are some nice quotes...
"Oh my God, I got rejected by match.com" Holly H. "I would taste test my product but it's the boy scouts" Leslie B. "It's sad when one person goes to Costco to get a ream of bananas." Charlie H. "Someone art directed that cupcake!" Slate D. "He hates us...Do you think we could get a group discount on assisted suicide." anonymous "The average stomach of a cocker spaniel can hold up to 12 balloons of heroin." Erica P.
And this is my quote "I don't use Tupperware, I use bamboo box."
Last Saturday, I went to the party and drew something nice on Joey's wall.
Do I love Italian food? Yes! Do I love ice cream? Yes!
Since I have been in Richmond, VA for a couple of months, I know where my favorite ice cream is. But i am still looking for a nice Italian restaurant. How about the fusion of ice cream and Italian food? Maybe?? Let me introduce Spaghetti Ice Cream maker. Spaghetti ice cream is a fun look-a-like that you will love to make and eat. This post is not paid by advertiser. I just feel it's really fun.
I knew I had not blogged for a long time. The best excuse is "I had to practice singing for American Idol." Anyway, while some people here at VCU Adcenter were busy with liquid protein, Burt's Bees, Dyson, etc., my heart was in Dubai. I was wondering how the advertising industry in Middle East will be like until I did some research on it. No surprise that people in Middle East are like the rest of the world.
They don't trust advertisements. They expose to online media and email. They need to control the media. Viral marketing is more popular than other form of advertising.
So far, the Middle East market is growing and more interesting. There were two creatives from Arabian Gulf Advertising that won the Cannes Lion Young Creatives 2007. One of them was interviewed by local press and said "The world is just beginning to identify the UAE as a melting pot of global ideas and creativity."
How about Bangkok? We did a good job last two years but nothing solid happened locally. I guess we overlook the young generations and have no basic foundation. We are so busy with global glory but do nothing with our industry in Thailand. It's lame. For example, Dubai Media City - a media hub in the region where all media-related businesses thrive together. DMC creates a world-class environment for every kind of media business, which broadly includes media and marketing services, printing and publishing, music, film, new media, leisure and entertainment, broadcasting and information agencies.
And Dubai Studio City - they facilitate the creation and development of an environment and world-class infrastructure to foster the growth of television, film, and music industries in the region.
Dubai Lynx Advertising Awards - This is an ad that won the award. (Karate class for kids by Grey Worldwide) Peace in the middle east.
It is a great honor for me having my blog, A Closet on this niche rank called "Advertising Young Minds - The top27 blogs of people under 27" I was so surprised and stunned by the fact. Thanks Daniel M. at AdStructure blog for his creation. The ranking is witty and awesome. See the full details here.
Check out his website for a full detail and content. Recently, He is the person who did all arts in Colt45 campaign which is really edgy and catchy.
