ART & COPY is a new film about advertising and inspiration. Directed by Doug Pray (SURFWISE, SCRATCH, HYPE!), it reveals the work and wisdom of some of the most influential advertising creatives of our time — people who’ve profoundly impacted our culture, yet are virtually unknown outside their industry. Exploding forth from advertising’s “creative revolution” of the 1960s, these artists and writers all brought a surprisingly rebellious spirit to their work in a business more often associated with mediocrity or manipulation: George Lois, Mary Wells, Dan Wieden, Lee Clow, Hal Riney and others featured in ART & COPY were responsible for “Just Do It,” “I Love NY,” “Where’s the Beef?,” “Got Milk,” “Think Different,” and brilliant campaigns for everything from cars to presidents. They managed to grab the attention of millions and truly move them. Visually interwoven with their stories, TV satellites are launched, billboards are erected, and the social and cultural impact of their ads are brought to light in this dynamic exploration of art, commerce, and human emotion.
Inside the shop and mind of Portland, Oregon’s Custom Bike builder Jordan Hufnagel of Hufnagel Cycles. Link
When it comes to driving I believe there are those who drive fast and then there are those who have been in accidents. Elm Grove Police took a different approach to their anti-speeding campaign. See others.
Great little write up in Oregon Business magazine on Raven Zachary and the development of the iphone app industry in Portland. I can’t wait to see what he does next.
More than 70,000 advertising professionals have lost their jobs in this “Great Recession.” Lemonade is about what happens when people who were once paid to be creative in advertising are forced to be creative with their own lives.
Ford trucks with Dewalt - now keeping a running tally of what construction tools are back on board and which may have been left on the job site. It’s part of Tool Link, a $1,500 RFID tag option for Ford trucks. Link
I posted this NOT because I care where my tools are (they are in my garage) but because I believe this is the future. I believe that in the very near future RFID tags (the technology that makes this possible) will make our lives much much easier. This technology will make it so you don’t have to EVER stand in a line again or wait for a check at a restaurant. RFID tags will make it so you never lose anything (from your house keys to your kid) EVER again. Sure it’s a little Orwellian and definitely a big step toward big brother but I think a little sacrifice is worth the benefit. Now where did I put my cell phone…
OK- I have a thing for chairs. And now there is a blog entirely dedicated to the beauty of chairs: Chair Whore. What took you so long!
One of Portland’s signature advertising firms has closed its doors, laid off most workers and sold its remaining assets to a longtime competitor.
Four employees and seven clients of YRG Communications, formerly Young & Roehr Group, will go to Grady Britton under an agreement that came together over just five weeks.
The news stunned many in Portland’s marketing world, where 41-year-old YRG was generally perceived as well-positioned to ride out a recession that has hit the industry hard.
Frank Grady, president of 35-year-old Grady Britton, said he was also surprised when contacted about a possible acquisition.
Having your portrait painted was once a mark of the upper crust, an ostentatious exercise in self-aggrandizement. Now it has trickled down to the Facebook masses. In 2008, when artist Matt Held wanted to hone his skills painting human subjects, he started reworking the Facebook photos of friends and family. It was supposed to be mere practice, but when the social-networking crowd got wind of it, nearly 4,000 users bombarded him with requests to be his next muse. Held churns out each image in oil paint on a 24- by 30-inch canvas, then photographs the portrait for his Facebook gallery. He now boasts a portfolio of 50 paintings, some 30 of which will show at Platform Project Space in New York in September. His may be the only art you can post to your profile and hang over your fireplace.
OK- I want my own robot as much as the next lazy guy and I hope to live long enough to have one walk out to my pool and hand me a drink but MAN- It’s hard to watch this and not be a little intimidated. Toyota has souped up its lamely-named Partner Robot to run at 7kmh. Not a spectacular speed, but enough to mean it has both feet off the ground at the same time. Link
