Swimming in a Condom!

Very witty ads from Chinese condom brand Elasun that use condoms as sports apparatus to capitalize on the Beijing Olympics buzz.

I think the cycling and basketball ads above are the most effective. However, the swimming one below is just damn funny. Swimming in a condom!

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Political Fashion

The first lady of France, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, is on the cover and inside the upcoming September 2008 issue of Vanity Fair. Oh, how times have changed... See the cover and photos here.

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How Ironic...

I took this picture on July 17, 2008 in Shah Alam, Malaysia. A pretty conservative city right next to the capital, Kuala Lumpur. It's at the swimming pool of the condominium where my brother stays. I find it completely ironic that pools in a somewhat-conservative Islamic country forbid swimming in shorts and demand speedos. Go figure!

Needless to say, I swam in my shorts. Not out of shyness, but I need to loose a few (ermmm, more than a few) before I don a skimpy swimming suit.

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Kiss The Sky

'Kiss The Sky' is an amazing photospread in the August 2008 issue of W Magazine. It is photographed by Mert Alas & Marcus Piggott and styled by Alex White. The model is ofcourse, the beautiful Gisele Bundchen.

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Geeky Coffins >> iPhone, Vista Caskets

If you love your gadget, game, or OS so much that you would want to be buried in a coffin inspired by them, then check out 10 of these Creative Coffins here.

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Up by Pixar, Teaser Trailer

Pixar / Disney animation, UP, coming out May 2009

Pixar unveiled the teaser trailer for Up and its unusual 78 year-old hero at Comi-Con 2008. The plot of the movie goes like this, “The hero of the film is a 78-year-old man named Carl Fredricksen, who walks around hunched over with a tripod cane. When he was a kid he met a girl named Ellie, who grew up in small midwestern town. The two fell in love and eventually got married. Her dream was always to explore the world and visit paradise falls, but as usually happens, life got in the way. They were never able to make good on their promise, and Ellie eventually passed away. Now Carl is a widower living alone in his small home. Developers are threatening to move him into an old folks home.”

Pixar 'Up' Teaser Trailer

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Free Music by Converse

New free song by N.E.R.D, Santogold & Julian Casablancas as part of the Converse Connectivity campaign that celebrates the 100 years anniversary of Converse. Watch the cool music video below.

Get 'My Drive Thru' for free on the Converse website

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Cool Olympics Monkey Movie

This very cool Olympics 2008 Monkey Movie by BBC Sport celebrates the 2008 Beijing Olympics coverage with animation and music by Jamie Hewlett and Damon Albarn (Gorillaz).

The spot is based on the traditional Chinese folklore 'Journey to the West'.

Check out the cool video below.

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Signs of Spring

'Signs of Spring' is a very cool street art project by famous artist Mark Jenkins. He creativeky transforms road signs into cute blooming flowers. Check out 10 of his artworks in this series here.

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Paint or Die, But Love Me

Another exquisite creation by French designer John Nouanesing. I am in love with his new table concept, "Paint or Die But Love Me".

See Nouanesing's Geeky Bikini design, the Geekini.

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Two Excellent Songs

I honestly could listen to these two songs (especially the first one) for ages. This is what music is all about, speaking to your soul. It's no wonder that the genius of Daft Punk is behind Stardust.

SONG # 1

Download >> Stardust - Music Sounds Better With You

SONG #2

Download >> Modjo - Lady (Hear Me Tonight)

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Devendra Banhart ft. Natalie Portman: Carmensita

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What happens between the butcher & his meat...

Are you kidding me? How would any agency or brand endorse such foolish, offensive and down right wrong ads? I guess Barbeques Galore does...

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Gypsies As Models

Wow. What a bold runway show. See more images and read about this controversial Vivienne Westwood Menswear Spring / Summer 2009 Milan show here.

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Pinocchio Gets Manhandled!

Very cool art direction by 1861United, Milano for SKY Satellite TV ad campaign. The ads communicate that SKY ensures only 'kid-friendly' programs. See that look on Pinocchio's face!

However, I think different variations of the cocnept should have been used. The metal detector's use in cool, but not in all the ads! Maybe asking them to remove their shoes, frisking them, ...

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Advertising Agency: 1861United Milano Italy
Executive Creative Directors: Pino Rozzi, Roberto Battaglia
Creative Directors: Vincenzo Celli, Peppe Cirillo
Art Director: Peppe Cirillo
Copywriter: Vincenzo Celli
Photographer: Andrea Melcangi Continue reading this post...

Geeky Bikini >> Geekini

Ultra wicked design by French designer John Nouanesing. The Geekini is one geeky bikini with game controls on the cool places!

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House Of Saddam

House Of Saddam is a new drama for BBC Two. It follows the rise and fall of Saddam Hussein from 1979 when he became president until his downfall and 2006 execution. It promises a fresh inside look and retelling of the events from inside the regime.

See the brilliant video promo below for an artistic 'melt down'.

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27 Awesome Batman Trends

In celebration of The dark Knight breaking the record for opening weekend, I have created a super gallery with 27 trends about the movie and batman.

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From batphones, racing batmobiles, and interactive sites to commerials and magazine covers. There is something for everyone, and its all in 1 place. Check it out here.

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Western Spaghetti by PES

Very creative stop-motion short film. Yumm

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You Know You're Not The First

(click image for full resolution)

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iGiveUp

Seriously weird yet cool Bluetooth set. Made from a real gun, iGiveUp works with any phone, but much better with an iPhone. Read here.

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The Beast Within

Such creative energy. You simply have to watch the video.

LISTEN / DOWNLOAD

>> Madonna - The Beast Within

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Oh, Not You Teddy!

sheesh, did they have to resort to stripping poor teddy from his innocence to ask us to support the Internet Group for Parental Control? See more images of this campaign here. Continue reading this post...

Hatching Billboards: McD's Giant Egg

The super creative Leo Burnett ad agency, Chicago created this awesome beyond words Giant Egg billboard for McDonald's. It was installed last week across from Wrigley field in Chicago.

The giant egg billboard starts cracking and opening up in the wee hours of morning. By breakfast time, the egg has already hatched, and you can see "Fresh Eggs Daily" written on the egg's yolk.

The egg stays open from 6:00AM till 10:30AM, to indicate the availability of fresh eggs during that time. Once the breakfast time is finished, the egg billboard shuts and stays closed as a whole egg till the next morning.

The mechanical engineering of the billboard was handled by Prop Art Studio, MMT.


Executive Creative Director: John Montgomery
Creative Director/Art Director: Brian Shembeda
Creative Director/Copywriter: Avery Gross
Art Director: Nathan Zuercher
Copywriter: Adam Rubin

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+ see more ad campaigns | McDonald's

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16 MacBook Air Trends & Innovations

Although I would currently rather get an Envy 133, the MacBook Air stays a sexy notebook. Plus, it's the one that started this new wave of ultra thin designs. In celebration of the 6-months anniversary of Apple's MacBook Air, I have gathered 16 Air trends over at TrendHunter Magazine in one Super Gallery. Check it out here.

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Pharaohs Out of Work

What better way to promote your skills as an advertising Art Director/ Copywriter than by creating print ads for yourself? Yes, you are the product!

A great self-promotion effort by an Egyptian team of Art Director/ Copywriter looking for a job. I particularly love the art direction which shows the two guys bored and obviously out of job. Their use of Pharos and Egyptian gods masks is a brilliant way to communicate their nationality to the International market.

These ads were published on July 2008, if interested you can contact them at packednready@gmail.com

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+ Want more? See more ad posts

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The Butch Murse

“The Koffski” by Nina Voss

I think this is the ultimate butch murse (man purse)

It comes with a detachable wallet.

A shoulder holster, shoulder strap and belt add-ons.

I WANT ONE

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Longchamp Fall/Winter 08/09

Kate Moss & Gaspard Ulliel for Longchamp

See the rest of the Fall/Winter 08/09 campaign

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Adidas: Swapping Shirts with Strangers

Adidas: Ajax Shirt Viral

Created by TBWA ad agency. Watch video below.

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Quit Smoking: Live To See It

Ads for ADESF (Association For Smokers Awareness)

'Live to see it. Quit smoking.'

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13 Minutes Behind 4 Minutes

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Domino's: Gotham Delivery

A pretty cool commercial for Domino's Pizza promoting their special offer for The Dark Knight fans, The New Gotham City Pizza.

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Inside The Action

A nice visual by TBWA Istanbul for sports channel, NTV SPOR. The TV speakers are embedded into the games and are one with the players. Simple idea, but pretty nice execution.



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Photography by Nejat Talas
Art Director: Koray Doyran.

Copywriters: Emre Kaplan, ilkay Gurpinar

+ See the rest of the campaign

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Happy Six Months Anniversary

It's been six months since I started The Arab Aquarius, my first foray into blogging. I never thought it would bring me so much joy and open up new horizons and opportunities that may be career and even life changing. I started this blog because I thought it was about damn time I had my own. And I wanted to share what I like and find fascinating in music, fashion, design and anything else. As you can see from the archive, the blog is still evolving and maturing.

The greatest thing that has come off this blog so far is that it helped me join and start writing at the awesome Trend Hunter Magazine in February. My first few articles in Trend Hunter used material from posts I already wrote here. It gave me the confidence and guts to try it out. Since then, The Arab Aquarius has been both influencing and being influenced by my experience at Trend Hunter.

During these first six months, the blog has attracted over 60,000 visitors and 100,000 page views. Which, to me, is simply amazing, considering it is just a personal blog. I thank all of you who read this blog. Those who followed my journey since its start, and those who are new. I hope you enjoy it, and I look forward for the next 6 months.

In celebration of this mark, here are the top 5 posts with most traffic during the first 6 months of 2008:

1. Crying Men

2. Weezer - Pork & Beans

3. Batman: Got Milk?

4. Toyota: Well, At Least He Drives a Prius

5. Handcuffed with Sony PSP

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Roisin Murphy - Movie Star

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