New Year Resolution: A Mistake!

It's almost 2009. And with everyone flaunting New Year resolutions, I figured I'd be realistic and admit that I've been screwing up and making mistakes most of 2008. So in acknowledgement/celebration of that, I would like to share the song 'Mistake' by Fiona Apple from her album 'When the Pawn Hits the Conflicts He Thinks Like a King...' 

Check it out in the above video and part of the lyrics below. Pretty poetic.

-----

I'm gonna make a mistake, I'm gonna do it on purpose

I'm gonna waste my time

'Cause I'm full as a tick, And I'm scratching at the surface

And what I find is mine

And when the day is done, and I look back

And the fact is I had fun, fumbling around all the advice I shunned, 

And I ran where they told me not to run, but I sure had fun, so

I'm gonna fuck it up again, I'm gonna do another detour

Unpave my path

And if you wanna make sense... What you looking at me for?

I'm no good at math

And when I find my way back

The fact is I just may stay, or I may not

I've acquired quite a taste for a well-made mistake 

I wanna make a mistake.. Why can't I make a mistake?

----

+ More Fiona Apple

Continue reading this post...

Creepily Good Pole Dancing Robots

Strippers should be very afraid about their job. Check out the pole dancing robots by Giles Walker at Mutate Britain. The DJ is also a robot. Rather hypnotizing! 

Continue reading this post...

Anybody Seen My Baby?

Am I the only one who did not know about Angelina Jolie starring in the music video for the song "Anybody Seen My Baby?" by The Rolling Stones? The song is from their 1997 album 'Bridges to Babylon'.
Continue reading this post...

Top 50 Ad Campaigns in 2008

 

With the end of 2008, it is time to reflect on the top ad campaigns. Here is the Top 50 Ad Campaigns in 2008 by Trend Hunter magazine. The ranking is done according to the number of views a post had, so this list is kind of generated by the readers who made the trends popular not by editorial choice, which makes it more exciting. Quite a few of the ads in this list were featured here in this blog.

+ Top 50 Ad Campaigns in 2008 | Ad posts in Arab Aquarius

Continue reading this post...

Merry Slamming Christmas Messy Card

 

British design consultancy Boxer has created a very fun Christmas 2008 card using a slow-motion camera. The employees got cakes, turkeys and liquids slammed on their faces. Fun!!! Watch the video below.

 

 

Continue reading this post...

Trend Forecast in 2009

Trend Hunter Magazine has released an exciting video forecast for the top 20 Trends in 2009. The forecast was created by having readers 'filter' through thousands of trends that were sourced by crowds all over the world. These viral trends that were made popular by the magazine's readers were then clustered by the editors and formatted into a forecast of what things would be like in the year 2009. Needless to say, the economy crisis is strongly affecting and shaping trends in numerous areas such as fashion, food and design. Check out the above video and feel free to share it around. 

+ browse the trends that made it in the forecast

Continue reading this post...

Harvey Nichols Wallace & Gromit Ads

I always love Harvey Nichols ads and this one from earlier this year doesn’t disappoint. The campaign was photographed by Giles Revell for ad agency DDB London with characters from Wallace & Gromit as models.

+ see more Harvey Nichols ads | fashion | ads

Continue reading this post...

Kanye West Parody by Kevin Pereira

 

Kevin Pereira from G4 and Attack of The Show has done a parody of Kanye West’s excessive use of pitch auto-correction. Kevin explains, “Pitch auto-correction and a simple beat can make anything chart-worthy; even a freestyle about guacamole and expired milk.”

 

Reportedly, making the parody song "Kevye West: 808s & Expiration Dates (Guac Lockdown)" took fifteen minutes for the music, five minutes for the vocals, and the whole thing was created in GarageBand with standard built-in effects.

 

Continue reading this post...

Hope & Fear by Philip Toledano

One of my favorite photographers, Philip Toledano, has created photographic sculptures with his amazing series, "Hope & Fear". See five more images below.

+ see more Philip Toledano features | more Photography

Continue reading this post...

Greenpeace Japan Whaling Tattoo Campaign

 

Greenpeace is following the example of PETA (see example) for using skin to raise awareness about issues. Greenpeace collaborated with Leo Burnett Hong Kong on these ads that use tattoos to illustrate the awfulness of the whaling process in Japan through traditional body art. The ads tell you, “Not all traditions deserve to be preserved. Put an end to whaling in Japan.”

 

 

Campaign Credits:

Advertising Agency: Leo Burnett Hong Kong, Creative Directors: Connie Lo, Chong Kin, Yiu Man To, Art Directors: Kenny Ip, Jacky Tong, Copywriters: Chong Kin, Jove, Cheung, Illustrator: Thomas Ho, Photographer: Lewis Ho, Photo Retoucher: Bon Leung.

 

+ Check out a similar body-art campaign by MTV & VIVA for PETA. 

+ See more ad campaigns.

Continue reading this post...

Beautiful Day For Cancer!

 

Australian hip-hop artist Al Bino collaborated with Lyrics Born on the song ‘It’s a Beautiful Day for Cancer’ for an Australian skin cancer benefit project. It’s a rather unusual tongue-in-cheek style to raise awareness about cancer, but hey, anything that works to warn the youth of the danger of skin cancer and how we an avoid it is good in my book.

 

Continue reading this post...

Men as Pigs in Trojan Evolve Ad Campaign

 

Trojan has released new ads in their Evolve campaign which loosely translates into ‘men are pigs unless they use a condom, preferably a Trojan.’ Hey, women always complain about being portrayed in sexist and demeaning ways in advertising, so I guess we men can handle it once in a while.

 

 

Campaign Credits:

Ad Agency: THE KAPLAN THALER GROUP, USA, New York
Executive Creative Director: Linda Kaplan Thaler
Creative Director: Jason Graff/Whitney Pillsbury
Copywriter: Jason Graff
Art Director: Whitney Pillsbury
Account Supervisor: Brad Kay

See an earlier video spot from the 2007 campaign (the above prints are new however)

+ Want more? See more cool Arab Aquarius ad posts

Continue reading this post...

15 Cool Toys for Adults

Who says adults can't have fun toys? Here is a cluster I wrote of 15 such toys. From Karl Lagerfeld teddy to Zaha Hadid acion figures, it's ok to have fun!

+ see 15 toys for grown ups

Continue reading this post...

Cool Designs: Hangbag Keychain

I love, LOVE this cool keychain (ok, as a guy, I wouldn't have it heart-shaped, but still). The Hangbag by Ototo design studio is a very practical keychain that enables you to hang your bag (or anything else that can be hanged for that matter) on any table. This could be great at resaurants, libraries, coffee shops, etc...

+ Ototo design  |  more cool design posts

Continue reading this post...

Wolverine HD Trailer & Images

I wasn't really excited about the upcoming Hugh Jackman movie,  X-Men Origins: Wolverine, until I saw the new High Defenition trailer and official pictures. Now I can't wait to see it! See the HD trailer below.

Continue reading this post...

Cool Solar Sunglasses Concept

Wouldn't it be cool if your sunglasses could not only protect your eyes, but also collect solar energy and convert it into power that can be used by your phone, music player or other small portble gadget? Well, that is exactly what this concept design, SIG, by designers Hyun-Joong Kim and Kwang-Seok Jeong does. It will surely come in handy at the pool or beach to keep your iPod juice going.

+ see more cool design posts & more concepts

Continue reading this post...

Me & Kanye West Are Blog Buddies!

Yup, I was ecstatic last night to find out while visiting Kanye West's official blog that he posted about and linked to an article I recently wrote at Trend Hunter Magazine. 

So yeah, we didn't like hang out or go clubbing together, but the man read my article, liked it, posted it in his blog and linked back to my article. So that's kinda sorta blogosphere buddies. Pretty sweet!

Funnily enough, the article is about a door knob that is a light (or is it a light that is a door knob?). See how it went here!

 

Continue reading this post...

Top 20 Billboards & Outdoors Ads of 2008

Trend Hunter magazine founder and chief editor Jeremy Gutsche has started rolling out the year-end countdowns, basically counting down the top 20 most viral trends in 2008 of a particular category. Here is the Top 20 Countdown of Billboards and Out of Home ads that includes billboards made of real money, buzzle billboards, hatching & growing billboards, and billboards made of over 8000 pictures of females in their bras!

+ Trend Hunter’s Top 20 Countdown of Billboards and Out of Home ads

If you’ve been following The Arab Aquarius for a while, you will notice that quite a few of these ads have made it here as well. See more Arab Aquarius ad posts.

You can see other Trend Hunter countdowns/best of 2008 of other categories at this countdown page.

Continue reading this post...

Controversial Ads Mega Post

If you are looking for controversial ads then you HAVE to see the new cluster I created at Trend Hunter Magazine that collects over 160 ads and images from over 50 provocative ad campaigns that cross the line. You can browse through the slideshow or see all the pictures in one page.

 

Continue reading this post...

Robyn - Be Mine (Live Nobel Peace Prize 2008)

Here is an amazing Live performance by Robyn of the beautiful song 'Be Mine'  at the Nobel Peace Prize 2008. It's magical.

+ More Robyn 

Continue reading this post...

Funny Red Model Faces

Even professional models strike silly and funny faces each now and then. These are outtakes from a shoot by photographer Jon Malinowski of models from Red Model Management . See more photos here.

Continue reading this post...

Anti-Trafficking PSA

Pretty creative, if a bit creepy, PSA from Samilia Foundation to combat human trafficking. The ads, which are created by McCann-Erickson ad agency, Belgium, give 'attached to work' a whole different meaning. Good job everyone involved. 

+ Visit Samilia Foundation official site

+ Want more? See more ad posts

Continue reading this post...

Diesel Gets Footy Fetishy In New Ad

Diesel has released an ad from its new Spring - Summer 2009 campaign that has many people asking if maybe it's a bit too much. The controversial ad features model Jon Kortajarena by photographer John Scarisbrick in a foot 'worship' fetish scene with an old man 'worshipping' his feet / sneakers. I have seen pictures of this ad as an outdoors billboard, which is too much for sure. Maybe inside certain magazines, it's OK to have such strong ads, but I don't think its appropriate for public display where minors can see it...

Jon Kortajarena is not new to this scene, he was featured in a foot-fetish inspired ad in the recent Tom Ford Eyewear Spring/Summer 2008 campaign.

Continue reading this post...

Frozen 300

I came upon this excellent music video that uses scenes from the movie 300 with Madonna's song Frozen. Frozen is one of my favorite all time songs, not just of Madonna but in general. This video, which is created by Stormanology, is superbly edited with excellently chosen scenes and beautiful visuals. Check out both the Frozen (300) video and the original official music video, which remains a fantastic video to this day. 

 

 

+ Watch the video in High Quality in its YouTube page

Continue reading this post...

Pepsi Raw Ads

Pepsi is embracing the flesh in the new ads for Pepsi Raw, which invite you to 'Go Natural' as a play on the natural ingredients in Pepsi Raw.  BBDO UK has done a much better job than BBDO Düsseldorf's recent disastrous Pepsi Max suicide campaign. This new Pepsi Raw is edgy yet not offensive. The ads use copies that are painted on the naked models' bodies, such as, "Do what comes naturally", "Go raw as nature intended", and "Embrace nature, go raw." They might be a bit cheesy, but c'mon, it's an ad for a soft drink... 

The ads were photographed by Nadav Kander for Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO, UK.

Well done, I say. Click the images for bigger versions (you are welcome!)

+ See more PEPSI ad posts

Continue reading this post...

Review: Cipher Fall 2008 Sneaker Collection

I was recently approached to review the new Fall collection by Hong Kong-based sneaker brand Cipher. I was pretty busy setting up my new blog, Fashiontography, so I only got to it this past weekend. And I must say I am totally fascinated by the collection, as I am sure any sneaker lover would be. 

The uniqueness of this sneaker collection is the personality and thought that went into each design with inspiration ranging from Oscar Wilde to Vivienne Westwood and punk music.

Here is a fast introduction to the three new models in the Fall collection.

The Libertine is inspired by Oscar Wilde and his 'treatise on aesthetics with a street culture edge'. The design of the Libertine is a high fashion fusion of flamboyance and urban-street culture. Personally, I think the brilliance of this model is the contrast of the simple design with bold daring colors and the luxurious imported silks used on the outside.

An even more exciting and eye-catching sneaker is the Seditionary. Inspired by the famous retail location founded by Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McClaren, the Seditionary is all about Punk music. The Punk nostalgia is evident in the metal buckles and the Bondage Black and Siouxie Pink colors.

The third model, the Subterranean is my favorite one. According to the press release it is, "Inspired by the fluid dynamic movement of the fathers of the “Beat” generation; The Subterranean is a manifestation of the underground intellectual movement that stirred the American cultural awakening of the 1950’s and beyond."

What I like about the Subterranean is that it fuses high fashion, functionality, and comfort into a single design. When it comes to sneakers, my first priority is comfort and functionality, so when you add a touch of high fashion, you end up with a winning formula.

+ Go to Cipher official site Cipherism to see more

Continue reading this post...

The King

It's such a shame 'The King' wasn't officially released or had a proper music video, because it's one of the best Hard-Fi songs. Here are three fan made videos. The first is a simple lyrical video that showcases the beauty of the lyrics, the second is made with scenes from the movie 'Cold Mountain'. The third, and most creative one, was shot on the Midosuji subway line in Osaka, Japan.   

Continue reading this post...

Pulling & Squeezing

Check out a controversial and pretty intense Sisley fashion ad campaign at Fashiontography.

Continue reading this post...

Charles Devoe Goes Into The Wild

'Into The Wild' is a very cool photoshoot by photographers Chuando & Frey with model Charles Devoe. I love the theme, style, techniques and use of shadows. It's very nicely done. See the whole set in a story I wrote at Trend Hunter Magazine. 

 

Continue reading this post...

Club Campari 2009 Jessica Alba Calendar

Jessica Alba is the face of the exclusive Club Campari 2009 Calendar shot by Mario Testino. Click the image to see the full 12 images at Fashiontography.

Continue reading this post...

Dali & Magritte Inspired VW Polo BlueMotion Ads

DDB (Berlin, Germany) treats us to surreal Dali & Magritte inspired ads for VW Polo BlueMotion.  I love everything about these ads (click images for full versions), from the concept to the excellent illustration by Kirill Chudinskiy. Bravo.

Campaign Credits

 

Creative Directors: Ludwig Berndl, Kristoffer Heilemann 

Art Directors: Marian Grabmayer, Marcus Intek 

Illustrator: Kirill Chudinskiy 

Chief Creative Officer: Amir Kassaei 

Executive Creative Director: Stefan Schulte, Bert Peulecke 

Account Manager: Kathrin Thiele

+ Want more? See more ad posts

Continue reading this post...

game Addictions Ads :: Sony PSP Skirt

Haha, I always love Sony PSP ads. This is another one, by TBWA ESPAÑA (Madrid), that shows that when you're playing with your Sony PSP, nothing else matters, even if you're all exposed in the street.

Campaign Credits

Creative Directors: Juan Sánchez, Guillermo Ginés, Montse Pastor, Vicente Rodríguez and Bernardo Hernández 

Copywriter: Vicente Rodríguez 

Art Director: Bernardo Hernández 

Photographer: Txema Yeste

>> See more cool Sony ad posts at The Arab Aquarius

Continue reading this post...

Bum Like Robyn & Snoop

Remember that FIFA 2008 remix of 'Bum Like You' by Robyn that I told you about two weeks ago? I guess I was onto something, because now Robyn has Snoop Dogg featured on that EXACT mix. Snoop's guest spot is a payback for Robyn's feature on the remix of his Sensual Seduction (Sexual Eruption) mix a while back.

>> Robyn feat Snoop Dogg - Bum Like You (Remix) (Link taken down)

+ More Robyn at The Arab Aquarius

Continue reading this post...

Unfortunate Ads: Pepsi Max Suicide Campaign

I really hope these Pepsi Max ads are unofficial, but from what I could tell at the source, they look that they are. Created by BBDO Düsseldorf GmbH, Germany the ad campaign uses the notion of a lonely suicidal person to promote the fact that Pepsi Max has one calorie only.

I don't think suicide should be taken lightly, and I am sure they could have shown the lonliness with a different direction. At the very least, they didn't have to get so graphical with the razor blade, noose, gun, acid, etc...

The ads were created with creative director Toygar Bazarkaya, art director Michael Plückhan, and copywriter Kenny Blumenschein.

+ Want more? See more ad posts

Continue reading this post...

Safe Sex PSA: Use Condoms

The Ministère de la Santé in Luxembourg has issued these new public service announcement ads to promote awareness of the dangers of unsafe sex. The ads were created by Advantage ad agency, Luxembourg with art direction by Samy Guenane, photography by Marcel Veelo, and retouching by Glûcone.

Continue reading this post...

Tea Bag Coffin by Jonas Trampedach

The ‘Tea Bag Coffin' by Jonas Trampedach is a tea cup design that is so ridiculously simple yet so useful and ingenious. A special carved space in the plate serves as a 'coffin' for the tea bag. No more hassle or trying to figure out where to place the damn tea bag.

Jonas Trampedach, a student at the Royal College of Art in Copenhagen, Denmark, playfully justifies and explains his design: 

“Where do tea bags go to die?. Usually squashed on the side of the saucer next to the cup, or if you have a little less decorum the table will probably be just fine. Jonas Trampedach has been observing the behaviour of tea drinkers and has evidently been learning a lot. Consequently he has developed a solution to the bag dilemma that is as simple as it is ingenious. With the ‘Tea bag Coffin,’ the drinker can tidily bury the bag under the cup and out of the way. RIP.”

Continue reading this post...

Rove Live Funny Clip Compilation

I only recently got to know about the extremely funny Aussie Rove McManus and his fun weekly talk show, Rove Live. I have come across a YouTube clip of a collection of some of the random stunts he performed on his show, so I thought I'd share it with you. It's a nice introduction for those who don't know him or his show. If you like it, you can find other fun clips on YouTube.     

Continue reading this post...