Inspiration blog - by PaperNotes

Someone asked me

...to design the style for his blog. It was a collegue of mine, Philippe Borremans, who's going to do a blogging-tour through China with Debbie Weil (writer of The Corporate Blogging Book).

So, I grabbed my virtual pen and started going crazy on the assignment (thanks to both for getting me started again). Here's the end result and they seem to be quite happy with it :-)

I'm curious to see how the bloggingtour is going to develop. I'm quite interested in corporate blogging, and both Debbie and Philippe know much about the topic... Furthermore it seems that Chinese internet is a great opportunity for blog-savvy companies, so Edelmans "Corporate guide to the blogosphere" tells us. If you are interested too, just follow Chinabloggingtour.com I would say.

I'm going to start off with reading Debbie's book though... Will keep you posted on that one.

Two artworks from Hype gallery

Hair poetry by Veronica and I wish peace by Hans van Mechelen, found at Hype gallery.

The awesome Volvo c30 website

Volvo gets it. I'm talking about a creative new media/internet approach, going beyond the boundaries of regular campaigns... That's why I definitely wanted to write something about them, specifically about the c30 online campaign:

Volvo c30 'homepage'

Creating your own Volvo c30

Playing a funny game

Watching TV ads, rating them and download to your iPod etc.

Why I think this is a good campaign?

• It has a very visual approach with lots of video's and such
• It's very creative and nothing like 'regular' campaign setups, I honestly think people are getting numb for a lot of online advertisements and campaigns.
• The website connects to other devices like mobile phone, iPod, etc.
• People can rate the video's, play short games and download funny stuff (not only promo things but also non branded, crazy ringtones for example), it's highly interactive.

Did you come across more good examples like this...? Feel free to send me an email or share a comment below:-)

Reinventing the Ice cream truck

Came across this, the new style ice cream truck... The maker's inspiration:

"recently, I bought my four-year-old daughter an ice cream, and the whole theatre of my childhood came flooding back. Wouldn’t it be great to relive the excitement of getting butterflies when you heard that kitsch music playing from around the corner?" Adam Ellis (design director of brand agency Coley Porter Bell) tells on Thecoolhunter.net.

The small van attracted my eyes immediately. Probably because I love recycled old things and people turning it into something cool again... Check the article at Thecoolhunter.net.

Interesting article on verbal identity

I came across this article at Pingmag about an agency specialized in verbal identity. It is a very interesting topic I must say...

The article tells us about the Verbal Identity department of Interbrand Japan. What verbal identity is...?

"‘Scott and his team create not only a name for a brand, a label, a product – they create an image in your head only by the sound of that brand’s name."

Happy valentine!

I really really love this picture I came across at The Style Files and now, must also agree with Danielle on this:

"The best Valentines Day gifts are the ones you make yourself. Bake for instance some heart shaped brownies for you loved one."

So if you have some time left today, knock yourself out and spoiled your loved one with something like this. When you're eating together, the best conversations take place ;-) Enjoy Valentine today!

 

The art of quitting (to smoke)

This seems to be a Dutch initiative, as Thecoolhunter tells us...

"through to personal images of the smokers themselves, the site is constructive, creative and inspiring."

 

I find it quite cool too. Looks a lot like Postsecret, but hey - maybe it will really help people quite smoking...?

Check out more @ Theartofquitting.com

The scribbled woman - by me

Nice product designs

Product design is appearantly a hot topic at the moment. I came across these nice Japanese designs at Pingmag and then at Thecoolhunter.net I spotted an article about cool product designs. An example from their site:

The Coolhunters are looking for more ideas on this, so I suggested the kids HEMA designs by Studio Kluif (can't help it, I'm a fan!). Let's see what happens. At least I'm very interested in the other nice designs that might be added...

Pony shoes and Fred & Farid

On several places I came across the Pony shoe-campaign. Since I try to be quite a shoe freak ;-) this campaign really stood out for me. My first encounter was at this week's Le Cool Amsterdam... Let's get inspired:

When I come to their homepage (nice visual too) it's a bit weird though - I can't click anything... Who wants to test - to see if it's just me?

Another visual from the same campaign (wild guess) I came across at Ads of the World.

That's also where the famous French duo Fred & Farid (also quite vague a site) are mentioned as the creators.

As you can see already from this campaign, they are very creative. They seem to be hired all over the world and by quite big brands too. Read an interview with them at Adformatie (dutch site, English video's).

Fred & Farid's agency Marcel Republique is also behind this beautiful TV spot/campaign for Orange - they even won an award...