How d’you like them (actual) apples? ➜

This latest Sainsbury’s OOH campaign is outstanding in its field (quite literally). As outdoor advertising gets increasingly more innovative with budgets, this new one from long term agency partners Weiden+Kennedy takes the ad to the source with billboards placed right in the farmland where some of the ‘Taste the Difference’ range’s ingredients are harvested. A transparent fixture perfectly frames the featured foodstuff alongside 2D branding which echoes the supermarket’s signature packaging. Simple and impactful, the concept will also feature on social channels via drone-filmed sequences. Tasty!

From :-) to 🙂 – the emoji turns 40 ➜

Who’d have thought that a simple bulletin board (remember them?) suggestion in 1982 would turn into a globally shared lexicon? Yep, emojis have just turned 40 years old. The world’s first smiley was crafted by a Professor Fahlman from Carnegie Mellon University, who posted: “I propose the following character sequence for joke markers: :-). Read it sideways.” These earlier versions of emojis were of course fashioned using regular keyboard characters until the advances in mobile phone tech in the 90’s where more graphic based versions were introduced. Later formed into the globally recognised standard ‘Unicode’ in 2010, the following year Apple added an official emoji keyboard to their phones and it all 💣💥 from there…

The 'tones they are a-changing ➜

The relationship between Adobe and Pantone is coming to an end later this year. So what, we hear you RGB’ers cry? Fair enough, you and your HEX codes crack on. But what of those of us who still love the smell of ink on paper, the tactile feel of print? Well, we’re going to have to open up our wallets with yearly subscriptions to Pantone Connect to keep those beloved PMS swatches in our toolboxes. Time will tell what kind of impact this might have on how the design industry specify colours for printers, clients and projects. Probably just paying up and grumbling about it we imagine.

Just walk on beer ➜

Here’s the latest cultural mash-up – trainers and beer. Quite literally in this case with this collaboration between the LA based Shoe Surgeon and Heineken, with soles filled with beer. Yes, you heard right, actual beer filled shoes. Created (only 32 pairs, mind you) to mark the launch of the brewing behemoth’s new beer ‘Heineken Silver’ this, er, distinctive footwear features the brand’s signature red and green tones with silver accents, built-in bottle opener and surgically liquid filled mid-soles. Handy if you happen to get thirsty on your walk to the pub.

Alloy, alloy, what's all this then? ➜

Occasionally we like to give a creative tip of the hat to some stand out design work that has caught the collective studio eye. One such project is Alleima – the result of a three-year creative and strategic process between Sandvik Materials Technology and powerhouse Swedish brand agency Kurppa Hosk. Put simply, it’s a global scale rebrand perfectly executed. It might not necessarily be pushing the creative envelope but the minimal monogram, refined typography and grids, colour palette and impressive image library come together to create a beautifully flawless result that will, we imagine, stand the test of time.


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