The end of an era

*Sob sob* Today was our final crit ever whilst in the care of the lovely Frank & Lin, but at least it was a good one! Feel like I had a breakthrough with my work for the Milk brief, and REALLY starting to get my brain ticking over all my work from this year - which lucky few will make it to the final portfolio and degree show, and which are going to die a horrible and untimely death?

As for the amazing Milk brief in question, my campaign is based around a world with no milk, and the consequences this would have. So now it's time to EXTEND, EXTEND, EXTEND and bash out some stonkingly ace work for it! Here are just a couple of my initial rough ideas for the campaign:





Really looking forward to knuckling down and getting it done now. It's amazing what a bit of good feedback or even just a fab brief can do for your confidence and morale. Right now I'm just thinking BRING IT ON!! There's no way this last hurdle is going to defeat me, and I'll work my ass off so much, it'll be physically sore by the end of it lol!

So hey, while you're waiting for my next "Genius Update", take a look at this ace milk ad I found on trusty YouTube. Obviously a rip-off/pastiche, but oh so funny at the same time - love it!

Breath-taking

Here's Sony's latest advertising delight for us, promoting their cameras & camcorders. Had been seeing sneaky-peek footage of this foam malarkey for ages, but wasn't really sure how it was going to end. Again with a great musical score to back it up, it may not be half as impressive to watch as the Bravia "balls" ad (in my opinion, it'll be a struggle for them to ever out-do that), but I love this nonetheless. I think it's just something about capturing the images that are important to you, be it as a professional or just someone with a love of the strange, that makes this ad so great. I know that if a mass of foam suddenly descended upon me, I'd grab for my camera first and foremost (well, maybe after screaming a little and thinking I was going to die lol!)

Another amazing ad that I stumbled upon a week or so ago and has fast become the leading topic amongst my peers, is the new Schweppes "burst" ad. Maybe, just maybe, this could be the ad to rival the greatness of Sony Bravia "balls"? Coldplay track just finishes this ad perfectly to create an event so beautiful it might just be perfection itself.

Holy frickin' hell!

So, yesterday started with a sickly feeling and a butterfly-full stomach in anticipation (or sheer dread) of the GHD presentation at TBWA. The option to stay in bed and catch up on my sleep was looking rather appealing, but not one for regrets, I forced myself out of bed and into uni.

Where of course there was a slight feel of "panic stations!" as most were still putting the finished touches to their work. Luckily a bunch of the girls went en masse to the agency, so the nervous feeling subsided and I just decided the best plan was to take whatever was going to happen as constructively as possible, and just be thankful for the experience.

However, by the time we'd finally got there (3 trains and 1 bus later), the nerves had reared their ugly head again! Luckily Mick and Rich (the creative directors we were pitching to) were two of the nicest guys we could've hoped for, and the presentation went really well (aside from me turning into a life-sized beetroot the moment I stood up to speak!) Really constructive criticism from both of them, and had my suspicions confirmed about what was lacking from my campaign and how to remedy it. But all-in-all they seemed to like it (no "hallelujah!" moment, but still seemed positive) and thought the thinking behind "Never be in two minds again" was perfect for how I'd executed it so far, so I was glad I wouldn't have to go home and bludgeon myself to death in a state of despair lol!

Feeling much more at ease now about when I'm finally taking my book on the rounds after graduating now I have more of an idea of what to expect. Though somehow I doubt I'll ever find another whose boardroom is at the top of a converted church building!

And so, the end is near!

First week back at uni has been eventful to say the least! Thrown into 2 crits first thing in the week, with the third intended for Thursday being called off. And why was that, you ask? Well let's just say that the spirit of the English Seaside brief we should've been presenting got the better of us, and we wound up at Blackpool Pleasure Beach. Aside from the walk from car to theme park, the seaside was never actually seen! But hey, majority vote rules, and we wanted to act like big kids for the day instead - hell, even our tutor got caught up in the immense experience that is In Fusion lol!

This is possibly the closest we'll ever come to a full class photo, but hey!

This upcoming week is gonna be stress-fuelled to start with I'd imagine, as the time has finally come for our visit to TBWA in Manchester to pitch our GHD ideas to the creative director. Needless to say, some are less than keen at the prospect of getting full-on slated by an actual dude in the business, but I'm just looking forward to seeing my first agency and hopefully setting my mind at ease that they're not some big old dungeon-type places where you're whipped and beaten until you come up with work that isn't such a bag of crap.

GHD was hardly my favourite brief to begin with (and all through the middle, and right near the end too), but luckily it all came together for the final class crit we had in February. Now it's just a matter of getting it looking like the dog's danglers (not literally) and hopefully making a good impression.

So here it is - just about done all I can do with them and my Photoshop skill (or possibly lack thereof lol!):

The basic idea was to promote GHD's new gloss black and gloss white straighteners (which stupidly, we don't even know what they look like because they're not available to buy yet), the main onus being on the choices open to women when opting for one or the other. Though the imagery in my press ads is evocative and somewhat "black" in nature, the whole purpose is to put across a feeling of confidence to women, and the notion that whichever colour they should choose, this is a confidence that they'll carry with them always and will affect the way in which they make future decisions. I tried to encapsulate this in the line "Never be in two minds again", making women feel that with the confidence in their new looks, they can be the all powerful women they've always wanted to be, with no more worry or fretting over pleasing anybody but themselves.

Whether the layouts are OK is a whole other thing (as obviously to attempt an actual shoot for these would be difficult, with not many long-maned goddess-types out there), but as far as the idea and executions go, I'm feeling reasonably confident about pitching them on Tuesday. And hey, if they don't like it then that's only their opinion! That's right people, I'm trying on a little optimism for size to see if it suits me.

Well I'm sure I'll be on here again by the end of the week in order to let you all know how it went (and whether my optimism is still intact, or has ended up in the same place as my work lol!)

46 days to go!

So, in about 7 hours time I'll be dragging myself from my pit for the first day back in class after Easter. Not much looking forward to the early mornings and nearly falling asleep on the train every morning, but hey, it's only 46 days til final deadline!

This is something my classmates are well aware of, as each day I've been updating my Facebook status just to keep them up-to-date with just how many days are actually left. Needless to say, they don't like this system!

So as a little homage to the final stretch of the ol' degree, here is Europe with The Final Countdown for you! (Funnily enough, this song was playing in the ambulance when my mum was being taken to hospital in labour with me - hmm, coincedence?)

Narf!

My earlier post resulted in "They're dinky, the Pinky and the Brain, Brain, Brain, Brain, Brain, Brain, Brain, Brain, BRAIN" resounding in my head all afternoon, so I just had to get my Pinky and the Brain fix and figured I'd share it with you all.

And here's the Animaniacs (where Pinky and the Brain found their fame). Seriously, anyone born post-2000 just hasn't lived! These are the cartoons that made me into the wholesome and well-rounded young woman that I am today (no comments please!) Good times, good times!

Just one more video from Tiny Toons. Sad to say that having discovered these on YouTube, I've been bopping around in my seat and even managing to sing along to parts (yes, the men in white coats were unsuccessful in their attempts to track me down).

So for anyone else who remembers these cartoons (and if you don't, then WHY NOT?!), this post is basically me publicly reminiscing my lost youth and giving you a little insight as to why I turned into such an unusual adult.

Enjoy!

And tonight Pinky, we're going to take over the world!

They're bloody everywhere! Yes, as an advertising creative I've had to learn to "love" those pesky Macs, but do they really need to have a finger in every pie? I just had to laugh out loud when I saw this today as I was playing Animal Crossing on my Nintendo DS (yes, NINETENDO, not APPLE!)

The world has officially gone Apple crazy!