Zing-a, Zing-a, Zing BOOM!!

2011-09-18T10:49:00.000-05:00

It has a different name now. But follow the same link as below.

Follow my new blog! This one is dead.

2011-05-02T15:58:00.003-05:00

My new flying solo ad blog entitled 'Spice up your feed!' can be found at www.deanspicer.blogspot.com add it to your feed so you don't miss out

Click here to visit

It's been a long time.

2011-03-06T15:07:00.003-06:00

Blimey! Just incase anyone is still following this blog a little update is probably needed. About a year ago after lots of placements I was offered a job at Manchester agency Red C. Unfortunately this meant me and Martyn after our many months of traveling the UK for crits and placements went our separate ways. And so for the last 11-12 months I've been Art directing a designing some cracking communications and realising just how little I knew just a year ago. And so when I get a chance I'll eventually redesign my website and blog and begin reposting to this page. Soon the wait will be over my friends and your feed will once again be flooded with Mexican midget wrestling, exploding insects, and the occasional interesting piece of creative work.

ta, Dean.

Sneaky peek at the new John Smiths ad.

2010-05-01T03:11:00.003-05:00

Click here

Sorry Twitter fans.

2010-04-11T08:35:00.004-05:00

Sorry twitter fans, this is my view exactly. I don't care that you've just had jam butties, or that you've visited your nan, or that your watching last nights dancing on ice. If I met you for a few pints, would you tell me about you're visit to Tesco? If the answer is yes, hopefully we will never meet. Apparently this bloke feels the same twat.me.uk

The race for number 10

2010-04-11T07:01:00.023-05:00

Although some may enjoy a rant about politics, I'm not going to try and force my views down anyone’s throat. Everybody’s entitled to their views, it's just unfortunate that so many don't have one. Far too often people take other peoples opinions for gospel rather than filtering the bullshit to find the facts. If everybody makes an informed choice at the general election then whoever wins there can be no complaints.

But my problem is that people can be bought far too easily by false promises and more often than not base their vote on party allegiance. This isn't football boys and girls, an election mustn't be about supporting your side it needs to be about choosing the best person for the job. Don’t just vote Labor because your mum will, and don’t vote Tory because your unemployed mate thinks it's the answer to "the bloody foreigners taking our jobs". Weigh up your options.

You’d hope the majority of adults already practice this piece of common sense, so I suppose really I’m talking to first timers. Take everything you hear with a pinch of the white stuff. The sensationalist bias views of the mass media can be a useful informant if you know where to ignore the over exaggeration or sarcastic tone as political correspondents try to bend your ear. Be savvy, after all if everyone votes for their candidate based on policy and ability rather than what seams to be an increasingly x-factoresque popularity competition, I for one will be happy. But some how I can’t see it happening.

Bollocks, My promise of not ranting appears to have folded a bit, but the real reason for this post was because I discovered a great little app/microsite on The Times' webpage. It provides a simple explanation of who needs to win what, who currently holds which seat etc, (blah, blah blah). But it really is worth a few minutes of your time (pun not intended). Just bare in mind my slightly patronising rant about biased media, it doesn’t take a genius to work out whom The Times is backing.

Click here to visit it

If that felt a bit heavy for you fear not! We'll be back to midget wrestling, and half naked japanese dance routines soon.

Note: Although I respect most views, if you think "foreigners are taking all our jobs", you're a moron.

Screw advertising, I'm off to Hollywood baby!

2010-04-07T09:14:00.006-05:00

Just found this little gem after clicking through a banner ad.

To see the trailer for my up and coming Hollywood role click here.

T-Shirt War

2010-02-24T06:51:00.003-06:00

After the rapture pet care

2010-02-21T17:29:00.002-06:00

www.aftertherapturepetcare.com What can I say.

Scary mirror

2010-02-17T08:14:00.004-06:00

I've never really thought about the cliché mirror scene that much before now.
But this compilation of clips brought it home to me how often we see it. It's pretty funny.

Now this is romance.

2010-02-16T11:49:00.014-06:00

Last Sunday was all about love. The love that will only ever blossom between you and one other. The love that you'd die for, the unconditional, undivided, purely dedicated love, that leaves you bound to each other through thick and thin.

We all know that.

What we didn't know was how to get out of spending time with the missus so we could go visit the love of our lives.

This is what we should have done.

TRON

2010-02-14T14:35:00.005-06:00

I was watching Jonathon Ross the other night and they were talking about the up and coming Tron sequel. 28 years since the original release of Tron it's become one of those 80's sci-fi classics so it'll be interesting to see how they approach the CGI. Personally I loved the slightly dated but charming bike battle, as a youngster that now iconic scene had me mesmerized in front of the box. It was an easy way to shut me up. But mention of this upcoming sequel reminded me of this great little film I found a while back. Hope you enjoy it, if you loved Tron like I did, I'm sure you will.

Die Antwoord.

2010-02-09T08:18:00.006-06:00

Die Antwoord are the latest South African internet trip-hop sensation. Or at least that’s what I think this is a piss take of. It’s so stupid there’s no way this could actually be real but it’s still pretty fun. After all there are countless scenester style acts very similar to this playing in dives all over the world (like Hadouken) so it’s about time that someone has a proper dig at those neon supporting ultra-cool teenyboppers. I particularly love the front man’s shit tattoos and the obvious style statements like the token blond girl’s ridiculous hair. The fat DJ dressed like snoop dogg also made me giggle. Make sure you check out the secret chamber at the bottom of the page. As to what that’s all about I have no idea.

There are rumours afoot that this is all just an elaborate marketing ploy for Puma. I don’t know if it is or whether I want it to be. If it’s a clever piece of marketing then they’ve done an interesting job and you can only admire that. But part of me hopes it’s just some nutters who wanted to have a laugh.

Click HERE to visit dieantwoord.com

Blah!

2010-02-03T08:15:00.001-06:00

Optix ad

2010-02-01T15:26:00.007-06:00

Trouble parking? Then ask this old Flemish man.

2010-01-29T08:56:00.001-06:00

To I-pad or not to I-pad?

2010-01-28T10:30:00.024-06:00

"A big (non portable/too big for your pocket) I-phone, with no phone. That's all I've discovered from the demo video. Maybe if it was an entire home control then it might have a purpose. If you could use bluetooth to control your TV or wirelessly link it to your TV to watch the movies you've downloaded, or could link to your oven so you could monitor how your food's cooking. Or something to that level of home control I might be interested. Basically if Apple invented Hal from 2001 a space odyssey. I might buy one."

Is was what I said to a friend on Facebook earlier in reply to his post of: "I-pad, epic Fail!" But to be honest so far I agree with him. Maybe if I was to use one I would be converted but it doesn't seem to do anything that my I-pod touch doesn't already do.

One of their big selling points is you can download hundreds of books. Now I have a problem with this. If they're trying to sell it as a replacement for the book why would I spend 500 quid on it when you can buy one of those electronic book reader things for a couple of hundred? Plus there's always the original (proper book's) that cost a a few quid instead of a few hundred which to be honest feel nicer to hold and you don't care if they get a bit battered. Can you imagine chucking your I-pad in a bag full of sandy towels and soggy swimming trunks after visiting the beach? I don't think so. However there's a good chance I'm missing the point here because I can't believe apple would create something completely useless. What do you think?

Click HERE to visit the apple site and then click 'Watch the video.'

Make your own David Cameron poster!

2010-01-22T06:37:00.005-06:00

Stick it to the twat in style. Here's my first go. Click here to have a go at making your own.

Audition tape, rejected.

2010-01-16T16:13:00.003-06:00

A few weeks back me and some friends decided it was time to do something constructive with our time. So because all the ladies dig our moves on the dance floor down The Dog and Duck. We decided to enter 'So you think you can dance.' I still can't believe we were rejected. Just in case you were wondering I'm the one with the mustache.

Can you imagine this on the underground?

2010-01-05T15:07:00.011-06:00

We all know the rules of the tube.
(1) push your way on no-matter who's in your way, whether they be disabled, elderly or pregnant.

(2) Don't acknowledge anyone, and definitely don't make any eye contact.

And finally (3) arguably the most important, sit down and shut the fuck up. Conversation with other people is prohibited, read the Metro or listen to Beyonce on your I-pod skittle.

After all that's what everyone else does, and to some extent I agree with the unwritten rules of the underground.

But not in this case.
These blokes are Frick-innnn, Awesome Man! We all know, even if this did happen on the underground everyone would do their best to ignore it, and to be fair the commuters on the subway try their best at first. But eventually people really start to admire and enjoy the obvious talent on display. Even if it is a little egocentric.

Lookout for the token I'm down with kids woman.
She needs a slap. But otherwise enjoy.

konnichiwa!

2010-01-04T03:29:00.002-06:00

A new post, a new year, and a new site.

2010-01-02T12:16:00.007-06:00

Come take a look at our new website. Click HERE to visit it.

But if you're using Firefox be warned it may not work properly. All I know so far is it works on Safari. God only knows how it will react to internet explorer.

It's (nearly) Chrisssstmasssss!!!!

2009-12-24T07:04:00.003-06:00

Well? What would your daddy do if he saw your momma kissing Santa Claus? A-ha Haaaaa!

Worst acting ever.

2009-12-15T11:24:00.001-06:00

Get a personal message from Santa.

2009-12-10T07:53:00.007-06:00

Why not get Father Christmas to send a loved one a Christmas message, direct from the north pole! I've just used it and it works really well. I can imagine this would absolutely amaze kids, so if you have any young children it's defiantly worth five minutes of your day.

Click here to visit.

Strongbow Bankers and revellion dot org dot uk

2009-12-09T04:33:00.005-06:00

A couple of things on this blog wouldn't be here if Dan (Who we went to Uni with) hadn't posted them on his Facebook page. So it's only right he is accredited with finding them before us. Through his page we recently discovered the BBC Breathing places vial, which is also quite amusing. However more to the point here's another little gem he's introduced us to. Bit of a shame it didn't come out a few months ago, but it's still pretty funny.

Click here to visit Dan's blog. Though I don't know how often he writes for it.

New OK Go video

2009-12-08T17:47:00.007-06:00

They're such fun those OK Go boys, wouldn't you just like to have them round for tea? They could do a funny dance with some bangers and mash, or craft a chicken dinner into a face, or maybe they could build something, like a terra-cotta army made of Taramasalata. Who knows, the possibility's are endless, and with their continued interest in creating great pop promo's as well as music, it's quite likely something like this isn't to far off. But in the meantime have a butcher's at their latest creation.

OK Go - WTF? from OK Go on Vimeo.

The Muppets: Bohemian Rhapsody

2009-12-05T09:37:00.003-06:00

I must admit I was a bit skeptical when I heard this was happening. But in truth it's really quite funny. Particularly Beaker's performance. I hope it charts well. There's already plenty of support for it. Click here to join the Facebook group.

At time of posting it has nearly 11 thousand members.

Ukrain's got talent 2009 & Twinings.

2009-12-05T09:17:00.006-06:00

I was stumbling around the internet last night and found this video of Kseniya Simonovia, the winner of "Ukraine's got talent 2009". She creates spectacular sand drawings to demonstrate the history of her country during the second world war. However as soon as I watched it, what immediately sprang to mind was AMV's recent Twinings ads. I've posted both below so you can compare the obvious similarities.

(Be warned the Kseniya Simonovia video is nearly 9 minutes long and she looks a bit mental. But it's definitely worth a look, if you haven't seen it before).

Piano man

2009-12-01T09:48:00.010-06:00

Piano man Originally uploaded by dean spicer

There's some new pictures from my recent trip to York with the missus on my flickr page. Fancy a gander? Click through to our website (via the thought bubble on the right) enter the website and click photos.

(Or if you've used flickr before just click on the pic and look at my Photostream).

Happy Christmas!!! (Oh, and we're 50)

2009-11-30T16:46:00.004-06:00

For our 50th post (Not many when you think how long I've been writing this thing, but I can't do anything about that now. So.... yeah shut-up) we thought we'd get in the christmas spirit. Here's a festive little ad for bbc.co.uk/breathingplaces enjoy me lovelies.

The rules of the Blues.

2009-11-24T17:27:00.005-06:00

1. Most Blues begin, "Woke up this morning..."

2. "I got a good woman" is a bad way to begin the Blues, unless you stick something nasty in the next line like, "I got a good woman, with the meanest face in town."

3. The Blues is simple. After you get the first line right, repeat it. Then find something that rhymes... sort of: "Got a good woman with the meanest face in town. Yes, I got a good woman with the meanest face in town. Got teeth like Margaret Thatcher, and she weigh 500 pound."

4. The Blues is not about choice. You stuck in a ditch, you stuck in a ditch--ain't no way out.

5. Blues cars: Chevys, Fords, Cadillacs and broken-down trucks. Blues don't travel in Volvos, BMWs, or Sport Utility Vehicles. Most Blues transportation is a Greyhound bus or a southbound train. Jet aircraft and company motor pools ain't even in the running. Walkin' plays a major part in the blues lifestyle. So does fixin' to die.

6. Teenagers can't sing the Blues. They ain't fixin' to die yet. Adults sing the Blues. In Blues, "adulthood" means being old enough to get the electric chair if you shoot a man in Memphis.

7. Blues can take place in New York City but not in Hawaii or any place in Canada. Hard times in Minneapolis or Seattle is probably just clinical depression. Chicago, St. Louis, and Kansas City are still the best places to have the Blues. You cannot have the blues in any place that don't get rain.

8. A man with male pattern baldness ain't the blues. A woman with male pattern baldness is. Breaking your leg cause you were skiing is not the blues. Breaking your leg 'cause a alligator be chompin' on it is.

9. You can't have no Blues in a office or a shopping mall. The lighting is wrong. Go outside to the parking lot or sit by the dumpster.

10. Good places for the Blues:
a. Highway
b. Jailhouse
c. An empty bed
d. Bottom of a whiskey glass

11. Bad places for the Blues:
a. Nordstrom's
b. Gallery openings
c. Ivy league institutions
d. Golf courses

12. No one will believe it's the Blues if you wear a suit, 'less you happen to be a old ethnic person, and you slept in it.

13. You have the right to sing the Blues if:
a. You older than dirt
b. You blind
c. You shot a man in Memphis
d. You can't be satisfied

14. You don't have the right to sing the Blues if:
a. You have all your teeth
b. You were once blind but now can see
c. The man in Memphis lived
d. You have a pension fund

15. Blues is not a matter of color. It's a matter of bad luck. Tiger Woods cannot sing the blues. Sonny Liston could. Ugly white people also got a leg up on the blues.

16. If you ask for water and your darlin' give you gasoline, it's the Blues

17. Other acceptable Blues beverages are:
a. Cheap wine
b. Whiskey or bourbon
c. Muddy water
d. Nasty black coffee

18. The following are NOT Blues beverages:
a. Perrier
b. Chardonnay
c. Snapple
d. Slim Fast

19. If death occurs in a cheap motel or a shotgun shack, it's a Blues death. Stabbed in the back by a jealous lover is another Blues way to die. So is the electric chair, substance abuse and dying lonely on a broke-down cot. You can't have a Blues death if you die during a tennis match or while getting liposuction.

20. Some Blues names for women:
a. Sadie
b. Big Mama
c. Bessie
d. Fat River Dumpling

21. Some Blues names for men:
a. Joe
b. Willie
c. Little Willie
d. Big Willie

22. Persons with names like Michelle, Amber, Debbie, and Heather can't sing the Blues no matter how many men they shoot in Memphis.

23. Make your own Blues name Starter Kit: a. name of physical infirmity (Blind, Cripple, Lame, etc.) b. first name (see above) plus name of fruit (Lemon, Lime, Melon, Kiwi, etc.) c. last name of President (Jefferson, Johnson, Fillmore, etc.) For example: Blind Lime Jefferson, Jackleg Lemon Johnson or Cripple Kiwi Fillmore, etc. (Well, maybe not "Kiwi.")

24. I don't care how tragic your life: if you own even one computer, you cannot sing the blues.

Well that's me screwed. But I think my Blues name would be: Shaky apple Bush.

You wouldn't get this on Ryanair.

2009-10-26T09:02:00.004-05:00

To be fair you're lucky if your seat isn't an extra on Ryanair these days.

I hate Michael O'Leary.

But more to the point here's a great video that my Dad (of all people) showed me.

Owned!

2009-10-10T12:56:00.002-05:00

Two men in drag leave two dazed yobs on the ground - scooping up their handbags as they head off down the high street. Nice one boys.

Hitler's a big fan.

2009-10-04T04:46:00.004-05:00

This is quite old now but it's still funny.

Real talent.

2009-09-24T09:50:00.001-05:00

MC Jesus and The Church of Jungle

2009-09-20T06:23:00.005-05:00

Crank up those office computer speakers and bust out some moves!

Interesting noise.

2009-09-16T11:34:00.011-05:00

This is such a simple idea but it's strangle addictive. Different squares correspond to different musical notes. They send out a pulse and create strangely haunting tunes. Definitely worthy of five minuets of your time, and maybe more. Great fun.

Click here to visit it.

What a video.

2009-09-15T08:42:00.014-05:00

If you haven't seen it already check out the video for the new Coldplay song Strawberry swing. It's awesome. I posted a pop video on here in February (Her Morning Elegance / Oren Lavie) Which is also fantastic. if you liked that, you'll love this.

Link bellow.

Her Morning Elegance (It's about 3/4 down the page).

Big

2009-09-15T08:32:00.010-05:00

If you fancy a gander at Big's
Website Click HERE or visit bigcommunications.co.uk

The last few months. (A summary)

2009-09-15T05:31:00.010-05:00

There's been no post's from us for quite a while now, but this is not without reason. A few months back after meeting some great people, earning some dollar, and getting some work made. We left McCann Erickson Manchester.

We needed to become proactive in our search for the next Big opportunity. This is my excuse for the lack of blog activity.

But more importantly. What happened next?

So here it goes, 3 months in one post.

We chucked a mixture of new & old work into our book, and got in contact with a few old friends. In turn they put us in touch with their friends and so on. This resulted in a series of book crits mostly in London. We visited: Baby, Fallon, CHI & Partners, Big Al's Creative Emporium, & IRIS London. Everybody we met was very helpful and was happy for us to visit them again as we continued to build our portfolio. In the meantime we also applied for jobs on various websites and contacted a handful of recruitment agencies. As a result we visited TBWA Manchester for a book crit where we had a chance encounter with our friend Becci who we went to Uni with. She's working as a Junior Copywriter, and has been for the past year. We also visited IRIS Manchester, and Big Communications in Leicester. Once again it was all very helpful, and we hope to stay in touch with everyone we’ve met.

On our visit to Big We met with Executive Creative Director Dylan Bogg. He liked our portfolio and we got on well so he's offered us a 6-week placement on expenses to get a better look at us.

We accepted.

We start next week.

A New Dawn.

2009-09-14T17:31:00.003-05:00

It's quite late but it's still a new dawn. From the ashes of twiddle dee, twiddle dum. A new blog has become! A new layout, a new name, and another commitment to blog more.

More post's will follow my friends. But now it's time for bed.

Night.

Photos

2009-06-16T10:22:00.013-05:00

Most people who follow this blog will never have visited our website. As a result they will not have seen the other stuff we do, on top of half arsed blogging. So I just thought I'd post a link to my flickr sight. Take a gander at some of my pictures and feel free to comment on any of them. Whether your response is Yay or a Nay it's always good to know.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/deanspicer/

Click on the link above to visit.

The Love machine

2009-05-09T08:46:00.016-05:00

It's been online for a few weeks now, but I just thought I'd let you know about 'The Love machine'. The love machine is a fun relationship tester currently featuring on the Durex website. This follows on from The Invite which we created around the same time and released on valentines day. There's a few more of our quirky applications due to pop up soon. So keep an eye out. But for now why not give the love machine a whirl.

Click here to visit it.

Just in case you were worried about catching a pig cold.

2009-05-07T04:44:00.008-05:00

Don't worry yourself too much.

MCED

2009-05-01T12:41:00.016-05:00

MCED happened a few weeks ago and we took part, so what is it?

16 colleagues are given a crash course on the ingredients required for a winning pitch, they are then divided equally in to four teams, given a real-life brief and just two days to prepare and present.

This year the brief was “What we do and how we do it”, and CEO, Sue Little and a selection of Directors and Managing Partners were the judges.

So who won?

Do you really need to ask?

Me (Dean) and 3 others I'd only met a few days before, who luckily turned out to be very had working and knowledgeable.check out the pics.

Free Swimming

2009-04-09T14:41:00.012-05:00

The Mccann's blog talked about the launch of our free swimming campaign in Ashton, Wigan, and Leigh today. Here's what it said. Way Hey! Chegers!!!

TV celebrity, Keith Chegwin helped us launch our FREE Swimming roadshow for Wigan Life at The Wigan Grand Arcade on Saturday when he arrived in town with Paralympic swimmer Heather Frederickson. Keith entertained the crowds with some large costume sea characters who handed out free swimming goody bags.

Wigan is one of the first local authorities in the country to launch free swimming at all public pools across the borough. The free swimming roadshow aims to encourage people to go to the pool and let their imaginations run wild, as swimming is one of the nation’s favourite ways of having fun with family and friends as well as keeping fit at the same time.

The Free Swimming roadshow, aims to encourage people to go to the pool and let their imaginations run wild. Other Keith Chegwin events will be hosted at the JJB Sports Stadium and Leigh Sports Village over the Easter break.

Postcard

2009-03-31T07:58:00.004-05:00

Late Valentines

2009-03-25T06:10:00.018-05:00

I don't know why I didn't mention this before but around January we started work on an interactive element for Durex called the invite. It's still on the website and if you click on the links (Below + the title) you can have a go. The idea was to create a bespoke night out for you and your partner and they can choose to accept, refine the activities, or just decline. Its a fun way to invite your loved one on a night out. Why not give it a try.

Click HERE to visit the sight and have a go.

IHG Night out

2009-03-22T04:13:00.009-05:00

Over the last month or so we've been working on an international internal campaign for IHG (The company that owns hotels such as Holiday inn, Crown Plazza, and Intercontinental.)

Our ideas have been put forward and accepted by the company big dogs and will now be translated in to eight different languages, sent to 4100 hotels, and will be seen by over a quarter of a million employees.

Which is nice.

So to say thanks for all our hard work we were invited along to drinks and dinner in Manchester for the night and because we couldn't get home afterwards we ended up stopping overnight at a Holiday inn express. What a good night out. Unfortunately not quite such a good morning, we were both a bit delicate to say the least.

(Picture of the view from my room at the holday inn express at Salford quay's)

Swimming shoot

2009-03-22T04:04:00.015-05:00

Recently we've been working on a campaign to promote the fact that In Ashton, Wigan, and Leigh the council will be offering free swimming.

A week ago today was the shoot so I thought I'd post a couple of pictures of it.

Snowy view from the office.

2009-03-22T04:02:00.002-05:00

I am electro boy.

2009-03-03T07:28:00.004-06:00

Check out this electro drum kit and make some cracking synth sounds.

(Click the picture to visit the sight.)

Amazing new aeronautic technology!!!

2009-02-26T05:42:00.006-06:00

If anyone succeeds in doing this please let me know,
if you video it I'll post it on the blog.
(click the picture to see a bigger/clearer version.)

Ankle insurence anyone?

2009-02-24T11:36:00.015-06:00

One of the guys in the office showed me this nice idea earlier today.
Basically either buy Nike basketball trainers or your going to have to insure those ankles.
I love the way that brands are really starting to use the internet to its full potential. This reminds me of the compare the meerkat website. A great alternative way of selling your product.

(comparethemeerkat.com is also worth a gander in case you haven't seen it.)

Click on the links bellow to check them out.

http://www.nike.com/nikeos/p/nikebasketball/en_US/notmybrokenankles
http://www.comparethemeerkat.com/

Friendly fires

2009-02-24T06:57:00.007-06:00

I found this video a few weeks ago and thought I'd jump on it before everyone else did. However I forgot to post it, silly me. Anyhow here it is now, it's a pretty good song and a fun vid to match.

Cheers.

The desktop gallery

2009-02-09T07:59:00.012-06:00

Whenever me and Martyn are researching on a brief, checking out our favorite sites, or stumbling around the web we always make sure if we find something that interests us we file it in our desktop gallery folder. Every now and again I'll upload a few of these little treats for you to enjoy. (We've got hundreds, so I'll select a few of our favorites.) They've inspired us so hopefully these might inspire you as well.

Just fun.

2009-02-02T09:14:00.007-06:00

I found this when is stumbling it made me giggle so I thought I would share it.
Click the picture to enlarge it or follow the link to see its original location.

http://www.krazykorean.com/2009/01/30/how-much-this-graph-reminds-me-of-mr-t/

Great Video

2009-02-02T04:31:00.003-06:00

I love this video, I found it the other day when I was stumbling around the web. The songs ok, but to be honest its better as an accompaniment to the video rather than the other way round. In other words I could watch this all day but I wouldn’t buy the record. I’ve long been an admirer of stop motion and I find this example a particular delight. Although I am concerned it may be a little too good to be true, and I suspect there may well be a little digital trickery a foot.
I truly hope there isn’t.
What a wonderful piece of film.
Enjoy.

More best of the ads

2009-02-01T10:28:00.009-06:00

As I mentioned in the previous post Me and Martyn have been writing some entries for the McCann Erickson Manchester blog. This week it was Martyn's turn. If you'd like to see the original entry visit the McCanns blog.

This is the latest ad from the Cadbury’s dairy milk “glass and a half productions” campaign featuring dancing eyebrows. It follows on from the previously brilliant “gorilla” and not so brilliant “airport trucks” TV ads. This ad is back up to the previous high standards set, and best of all it made me laugh.

My favorite ad of the moment.

2009-01-19T04:28:00.006-06:00

Over the last couple of months Martyn and I have written a few entries for the McCann’s Manchester blog.
A couple of days ago I was charged with the task of writing about something that had interested me recently.
So I decide it made sense to add the entry to our blog as well.
Enjoy.

For my latest blog entry I’ve chosen not to focus on a new form of media, (no new I-Pint here I’m afraid.) Instead I’ve chosen to focus on arguably one of the best TV ads of the last 6 months. VW’s latest offering with its Hollywood style action reminiscent of the matrix, certainly injects a bit of excitement between the monotonous insurance ads.
“Sometimes the only one you have to beat is yourself.”
“Golf”
I want one.

A New year, a new post.

2009-01-02T14:10:00.004-06:00

These blog entries are getting less frequent as each week passes, but unsurprisingly our priorities have changed as we enjoy becoming a part of MECH. Our first couple of months involved a lot, but I’m not sure what to say really. I don’t want to risk exposing anything. What I can say is that as part of the MiniME scheme we feel we have been an invaluable asset and so far have enjoyed being a part of the team that has achieved so much in only a couple of months. As we've taken a couple of weeks break over Christmas we've been looking forward to joining up with our colleagues in the new year and hope to continue to help the agency as best we can whilst producing some great work. Back to it on Monday.
That’s all for now, and Happy New Year to all!!

Update

2008-11-22T09:28:00.003-06:00

Just a quick note to let you know how we're getting on. We've just finished our 6th week as part of Mini ME and we've done a lot. We've worked on pitches, at least 8 major clients and we continue to learn and get involved with the agency. Working on something at the moment actually so got to go.

Cheers

D & M

Our First week.

2008-10-17T22:23:00.000-05:00

So our first week at McCann Erickson has drawn to a close. We've done lots of different things and met a lot of interesting people. Working on a variety of products and brands ranging from milkshakes to bike grease. Not to mention the fantastic environment it has taken place in. Were looking forward to building on what we've done this week in the coming weeks and look forward to each day as it comes.

Monday's the big day!!!!

2008-10-10T12:52:00.009-05:00

McCann Erickson Manchester announced our arrival today as they posted an entry about the the 'Mini ME' initiative on their blog. We start at 9:45 on Monday as two of six young creatives looking forward to the experience. Wish us Luck.

To take a look at their blog click on the link bellow.

http://www.mecommshouse.co.uk/

Great News!!!!!!!!!

2008-09-05T08:14:00.010-05:00

After receiving a phone call a couple of weeks ago, today we both received letters confirming that we would begin our employment at McCann Erickson Manchester as trainee creatives on the 13th of October. Initially the contract, and the training scheme will run for 6 months and then we'll see where it goes from there. Naturally we were both delighted to here the news and can't wait to start. It's great to find work having only finished Uni a short time ago, and we'll be doing what we're passionate about. Hopefully things will continue to go well and this is the start of a long career in the ad business.

Cheers

Dean & Martyn

Called back to McCann's

2008-08-08T07:15:00.013-05:00

Cutting straight to the chase, Martyn received a phone call a couple of days after we first visited McCann's asking us if we could come back in as soon as possible, so that we could show our work to the Creative Director Neil Lancaster, and the Digital Creative Director Wes Hogg.

Unfortunately I'd gone home the day before so it was going to take me a while to get back up north. Though they understood and we organized to meet up the following week.

So once again we were at communication house. Neil and Wes came down to meet us and we headed to the onsite bistro grabbed a cup of coffee, and proceeded to chat away. They flicked through our book and watched our videos/digital work, though unfortunately the puny speakers in my laptop struggled a little amongst the sounds of the bistro.

However they were both very friendly giving us some good advice and expressed their opinions on our campaigns full of constructive criticism.

As we left, we once again became participants in the waiting game, though we were assured they would be in contact soon. Fingers crossed.

TBWA London (book crit)

2008-08-04T08:17:00.014-05:00

At 5pm we walked through the doors of 76-80 Whitfield Street after meeting about half an hour before outside Warren Street station. A few weeks previous Mick Foden at TBWA Manchester had put us in touch with Robert Harwood-Matthews who then put us in touch with Frazer Jelleyman (Creative director at TBWA London.) After a couple of e-mails between Frazer and ourselves we had aranged to meet up on the evening of the 4th of August.

After letting the receptionist know we were here, we took a seat and shortly after Frazer came down to meet us, and showed us up to his office.

After some chat, he suggested that because we'd traveled quite a way that it would make sense for us to have a few more book crits. (which resulted in us meeting two more creatives after Frazer.) Though firstly he flicked though our book, watched our videos and after gave us some pointers. Then we went next door and received another book crit again receiving more invaluable advice, and finally we met Senan who was only a few years older than us, and had recently landed his job at TBWA London. He gave us a few tips as well as also supplying us with a list of people at various companies that he recommended we contacted.

We left very pleased with how the visit had gone, as initially we only expected to be in the building for 20 mins at the most, but ended up chatting to three very helpful people all with different opinions and advice for over 2 hours.

Now we had shown our unchanged portfolio to 8 different people from a variety of different agencies we felt that we knew how we wanted to develop our book.

McCann Erickson Manchester - It started with a piece of paper

2008-07-25T16:07:00.005-05:00

Towards the end of our degree show Me and Martyn went into Uni to pick up our portfolios so we could pick out the best bits for D&AD New Blood which we were due to attend in the following weeks. As Martyn flicked though his portfolio he noticed a piece of paper in the back pocket. When he pulled it out it read something along the lines of, “We liked your work, get in touch Dave & Steve.” followed by their work e-mail addresses. I checked the back of my portfolio and I had the same note in the same place.

So we e-mailed them, and David got back to us and explained that McCann Erickson would be running a paid graduate employment scheme. They had been around lots of different degree shows at different universities and that we had been shortlisted and had a good chance of being 2 of the 6 that would eventually take part in the scheme. Though first they wanted to meet us to decide whether we had the potential required of a future McCann Erickson Creative. So thats why on Tuesday the 22nd we visited Communications house.

As we pulled in and parked up we couldn’t help but admire the location. Set amongst the grounds of an old country house with it’s own heated swimming pool, needless to say McCann’s made a good first impression on us. Shortly after walking in to reception David Harrison came down to greet us and walked us up to his office where he had a look though our book and watched our videos. He was quite impressed though he did also tell us what he believed to be some of the weaker campaigns which as we all know constructive criticism is always very useful.

He was particularly keen on the digital element of our work and said that he liked the fact that we could not only think creatively but we obviously weren’t afraid afraid to go out and make stuff. He also mentioned that obviously they’d interviewed a lot of people in the form of preliminary meetings such as these, but one of the things that made us stand out a bit more was the fact that he felt we had two very strong campaigns in the form of our Feelgood drinks work and our Bic campaign. This compared to most of the other people he and Steve had seen of which most of their books only contained what they considered to be one strong campaign. I think the fact that we had made a website may have also scored us a few more points.

After looking through our work he tried to get in contact with Wes Hogg (the Digital creative director) to show him a few pieces of our work. Unfortunately he couldn’t get through to him on the phone so he thought it would be good to take a stroll around the site to have a look for him whilst also giving us a guided tour.

Unfortunately we didn’t find Wes but we got to have a good look around and also find out more about David, the scheme, and the company. We left David our card and told him we could always come back and see them again if it was needed, and with that we said our goodbyes and left Communication house with a good feeling and a hope that something more could develop.

Back to St Pauls.

2008-07-24T16:02:00.008-05:00

On Monday the 21st of July we visited Mick Foden (executive creative director,) at TBWA Manchester to see what he thought of our work. Prior to Monday we’ve met Mick a couple of times before. Firstly when we presented our GHD work with the rest of our course-mates to him and Richard Sharp (also executive creative director,) and secondly when he and Richard, came to look around our degree show. We showed him our book containing our work from our degree show and to be honest I don’t think he said a bad word about it. Praise after praise after praise. One of the things that he said was that he believed we were more than capable of working for one of the big London agencies and that we shouldn’t have any problem getting a job.

Always nice to hear.

As a result he put us in touch with Robert Harwood-Matthews (Chief Executive of TBWA Manchester) Who put us in touch with Frazer Jellyman Creative Director of TBWA London. We’ve got a meeting with him on Monday the 4th of August and Mick told us to keep in touch, so lets hope it all goes well.

First couple of book crits (Love & Pravda)

2008-07-23T15:57:00.003-05:00

Now Uni’s done and dusted we decided it was time to get down to the nitty gritty and show the world what we’re all about. So we rang up a few companies, sent a few e-mails around, and hey presto! Two book crits.

The first was on the 16th of July at Love in Manchester with Harinder Bajwa. We’ve met Harri A couple of times before. He came and had a flick through our portfolio when we were at Uni, and more recently due to him being one of the judges at the Mpa Roses student awards, we met him at the awards show.

As we walked into Love, our first impression is that it’s obviously quite a quirky agency that prides it’s self on it’s individuality. This is not only reflected by the layout and decoration of their offices but also by the style of their work.

Harri flicked though our book and gave us plenty of feedback. He was particularly keen on our Bic and Scouts work. On top of expressing his opinion he also gave us the names of a few people he recommended we contacted. As well as telling us the sort of products and strategies he likes to see in a book. All in all we left Love full of enthusiasm.

The second was on wednesday the 23rd of July at Pravda also in Manchester and coincidentally only round the corner from Love. We met with Simon Sinclair the Creative Director.

Pravda was an interesting place to visit, providing us with another good insight and some good advice.

With Pravda being the newspaper of the Communist soviet union it made sense for the companies logo colour and office interior to be mostly red, however when we were invited into Simon’s office he had a huge portrait of Margaret Thatcher above his desk. So we did wonder where the name came from. Though afterwards we discussed how maybe they we’re trying to be disruptive by being both very right and very left wing or maybe there was a touch of irony thrown in for the people who know Simon. We were also of the opinion that maybe it was nothing to do with politics and more to do with the fact that Pravda is Russian for The Truth.

However thats our chat in Weatherspoons summed up now back to the point.

Simon invited us into his office and we took a seat on the bean bags around a small table in the corner. He flicked through our book and watched our videos. Generally he seemed quite impressed and as a result he asked his assistant to e-mail us a brief to work on. Overall Pravda seemed like a nice place, with lots of very friendly people, and looked like a very pleasant place to work.

Goodbye to friends in funny hats

2008-07-18T15:38:00.005-05:00

Graduation time (We’re on the right somewhere)

After discovering that we were both due to graduate with honors, and that we had both earned 2:1’s, it made sense to get all dressed up and make a big fuss.

Luckily the university seamed to have the same idea, and so did a lot of other people. What a coincidence!

After a load of speeches, a lot of cheering, and thousands of camera flashes, we both walked away with letters after our names. Though it would have been nice to keep the hat as well.

London (Earls court) Calling. D&AD New blood.

2008-06-25T15:27:00.004-05:00

From Monday the 23rd of June until Wednesday the 25th, The University of Central Lancashire exhibited at Earls Court as part of D&AD’s New blood “The race for talent.”

We were two of the ten people selected from our entire course to showcase our work at the exhibition which housed work from over a hundred creative courses.

In addition we were also privileged enough to receive a portfolio surgery (book crit) from an experienced creative.

We had our portfolio surgery with Tom Tagholm of 4 Creative (The communications company set up by channel 4.)

It was a great opportunity to receive completely impartial advice and the experience left us feeling positive after picking up some very good advice and some great pointers on how to develop our work.

Now that our degree is almost finished with only our graduation ceremony to attend, this experience has stood us in good stead, and has definitely aided us on the way to achieving our goal of working for a top advertising agency.

We’ve finished our degree show!

2008-05-23T15:14:00.008-05:00

Tired smiles (with some mates about 20 mins after we finished.)

Yes it’s done. After a good few months of continuous working there’s nothing left to do. (Except enjoy a few nights out that is.) But as far as our work is concerned neither myself or Martyn have anything left to do, It’s just a matter of waiting to see what our hard work has earned us. However in the mean time I’ll try to keep people informed of our progress and we hope to see you at our degree show some time. It opens on the 6th of June at 6pm and will reopen to the public the following monday and will run until friday.

(My apologies if this sounds like a bit of a ramble but I’m pretty tired.) Hence why we’re going for a well earned pint now.

Ta.

Dean & Martyn

Only 4 weeks left

2008-04-27T15:08:00.007-05:00

As our peers keep reminding us their is only 4 weeks left to get all of our work done for our final degree show. Hence whilst I’m writing this I’m also working like a dog on some scripts.

If anybody is interested in visiting to see a showcase of young creative advertising talent as well as work by other students of design at UCLAN our show will open to the public on Monday the 9th of June and I believe ends on Friday the 13th hopefully that won’t be an omen.

After that graduation awaits and then the world!!!

The address is: The University of Central Lancashire

Victoria Building

Victoria street

Preston

Lancashire

The end is near! (our final crit.)

2008-04-24T15:01:00.004-05:00

The end of 3rd year drew ever closer today as we had our final crit, ever. I (Dean) should probably consider a career as a glamorous assistant look how naturally I present my work and before you ask I can’t remember why everyones hands are up. Though I think it was to see which idea worked the best. A much more civilized approach to a crit than the normal bombardment of suggestions, jokes, and the occasional bit of praise. (Usually a taste of of all three)

Oh well onwards and upwards I guess.

TBWA Manchester (GHD)

2008-04-15T13:56:00.004-05:00

Earlier in the year TBWA set us a brief for a new product GHD will be releasing in the not to distant future. Limited edition black gloss and white gloss hair straighteners and today was the day we went to present. Both of us presented a different campaign and some of our work was better received than others. But on the hole it went well and was a very interesting experience not to mention it all took place in a pretty stylish building.

Decision time (Strategies and final work)

2008-03-24T07:25:00.002-05:00

Today we spent our time thinking about our strategies for our final pieces of work. These campaigns will be displayed at our degree show at the beginning of june.

The way our degree works is that we have to choose 3 briefs for our external project and 3 for our honours project from the 30 odd briefs set over the year. All have to to be fully structured campaigns and have to be extended. For example if we’ve done 3 press, an adshel, a 48 sheet, and a TV ad. We can extend it by venturing into less traditional media, such as ambient or alternative media. However it can also be extended by using traditional media in a more interesting sense, for example some original direct mail or web banners.

Although external needs extending it’s our honors projects that need to be extended the most as a large proportion of the mark for honours is based on how well this is done. Finally externals are called so because they are either briefs that have been set by agencies, (ghd from tbwa) or they are competition briefs, (feelgood drinks which was a ycn brief.)

Anyhow after months of brain storming and creating the outlines of hundreds of different campaigns. We’ve finally settled on 5 core campaigns as well as doing one each individually.

We’re both doing: Bic pens, Scouts, feelgood drinks,

Co-op funerals, and Malibu

But one of us will work on ghd, and the other will work on best beginnings (a campaign to get more young women to breast feed their babies) Both of these are externals.

We feel our initial ideas are strong and with a bit of work are capable of becoming good campaigns.

Competition time

2008-03-19T15:15:00.004-05:00

We decided to enter 3 competitions this year.

MPA Roses - The scouts brief

D&AD - The Royal Opera House Brief (Posters) and Best Beginnings (Postcards)

YCN - Feelgood drinks and Textperts

The pictures above show some of the efforts made by us and other people on our course all wrapped up and ready to be sent on their way.

Quick summary of the briefs

Scouts - make scouts cool

The royal opera house - Through posters encourage people to discover opera and the ballet at royalopera.org

Best beginnings - Though postcards encourage young women to breast feed their babies.

Feelgood drinks - Spread feelgoodness using whatever media you can

Textperts - let people know what textperts offers as a service. (They’re like AQA, they answer any question for £1.00 via text message)

All that we can do now (in relation to competitions) is sit tight and hope the judges enjoy our work.

Wish us luck.

The final few months of university

2008-02-13T14:40:00.004-06:00

This is a documented history of two Creative’s who met at The University of Central Lancashire and shared the dream of breaking into the world of Advertising. This website is a collection of our thoughts, feelings, and experiences as we begin our journey from the end of of 3rd year Advertising BA(Hons) to wherever it leads.

One from Hertford the other from Bradford, both aiming to work in a top advertising agency.