insights, ironies and idiosyncrasies in communication and design
from the wide, wide world and the world wide web
Following on from Schofield's marvelous vendor bullying spot comes another dramatization of the poor treatment of creative freelancers – this time in animated form using Xtranormal's Text-to-movie software.
Mental Designer's Graphic designer Versus Client melds all the madness and patronizing megalomania of every bitch of a client you've ever met into one brutal assault on honest decency, undervaluing and disregarding the creative process and spitting in the face of professionalism with the common client insult of half-hearted familiarity.
While the police mannequins that have popped up on Bangkok street corners over the past few months have not really posed a serious deterrent – as the boys in brown, in their last, permanent inactive posts, are far too easy to detect as being the dummies they are from a distance of even a block away – there is one theory that this is all part of a bigger, less innocuous ploy.
Eventually, so familiar with seeing the plastic patrol cops all over town, Bangkok drivers may be lured into a false sense of security and naturally begin to speed by every intersection, confident that the only eyes upon them are resin; though the real police meanwhile may just take advantage of this lax attitude and reappear on duty, keeping as still as the dummies themselves (something that shouldn't prove to difficult for some considering their lack of manoeuvrability) thus catching out the lackadaisical motorists and fining them (all very fairly) on the spot.
Photography by Asit Prueangwet.
Thailand has long demonstrated true creative innovation in the fields of graphic, interior and product design but has, quite understandably, never been famed for its inventive use of English copy – not for want of trying – though the corner now might have been turned.
Either error has played the mother of invention and a poor parking lot signage order (double the amount of 'up' signs needed and no 'downs') forced Bumrungrad hospital into a resourceful rethink, or the signs are part of a deliberate design choice with an intentional economy of words. Either way it's a playful inversion and a sign that the craft of copywriting is on the, er, up.
Photography by Asit Prueangwet.
In spite of rising scepticism – specifically the exposure of the conspiracy behind the 'anthropogenic warming myth' – climate change propaganda is continuing to get stronger it seems with agencies like Mother London creating hard-hitting commercials for the anti-aviation expansion group Plane Stupid featuring dead polar bears falling from the sky.
And whether or not you buy into the stat that there are more bears now than in 19XX, if you think shorthaul flights are, er, a bare necessity then in my opinion you are plane stupid. Our earth needs looking after whether it's getting dangerously hot or not right now and filling the atmosphere with CO2 is never (ever) going to make the world a better place to live.
Having spent too much in the hands of Apple Care recently, I'm starting to feel like duped Snow White. Despite the fact that I put my Mac through daily processor-heavy full-HD FCP rendering it still doesn't really seem fair.
With either malfunctioning units in the case of the Sondhi assassination attempt or unverifiable footage in the case of the King Power airport scandal, the CCTV unit has come under some scrutiny in Thailand of late.
It's still surprising though that dreamy, suburban hi-so shopper oasis The Crystal has stuck its neck out be offering customers that little extra bit of personalised car park care in the shape of security guards strategically sat aloft in high-seat Baywatch beach chairs – as although the context switch (from beach or tennis court to car lot) is a deft and innovative design move, it remains strangely DIY for such a luxury mall.
As to its efficiency, only time will tell. The guards we saw appeared upright and hawk-like when we were there exposed by the midday sun – even though the car lot was empty – but what with their general reputation for a snooze, we just hope that when dusk arrives sleepiness won't kick in.
Photography by Asit Prueangwet.
It's easy to knock True as a brand for their unfocussed and frivolous product line extensions and general air of unwarranted hype – but for showcasing relevant, utile and engaging design such as this one has to tip one's hat.
Easily mistaken as an architectural leftover or structural orphan, Thai architect Duangrit Bunnag's Magic Mirror, housed on the third floor of True's Siam Square boutique store, is a cleverly understated piece of function-led design that ensures you never have leave the fitting room to show off what you're trying on. The electrical current that charges the crystaline film that renders the walls opaque (for while you're getting changed) is disengaged when the door is pulled ajar, allowing the glass to return to its transparent state when you're ready to parade whatever you've picked up from off the rail.
The really nice change though is the appearance of such a truly genuine triumph of design in a site of such popular appeal.
Modeled by Kwan & Gift.
With US regulators extending current laws to end blogger payola I thought as an act of defiance I'd celebrate the occasion with some rampant cronyistic promotion.
Cutely-dubbed Thai illustrator and designer Sillapim (real name = Pimduan Watcharapruk, sillapin = artist in Thai) produces spectacular hand-drawn pieces in ink with luscious lines and exquisite organic details.
Once a luxury (think 867 cable stations) and now the bane of many gadget geeks, choice or rather a desire to have it filtrated into a united form, has motivated 173 mostly frothy comments and 153 diggs, a response that has in turn egged on web programmers and platform providers Teehan + Lax to actualize a dream interface the pair were initially only speculating about in their blog.
The dream app is a live iPhone home screen featuring bespoke, scrollable lists of notifications tracking everything from missed calls, unread email and calendar events to Facebook, Twitter and Tripit updates. T+L describe it as: "A screen that doesn't require you to scan for red dots with numbers inside of them. Instead it displays information and notifications of things that are new and relevant to you."
Deadly simple and very sweet.
To manipulate the impact of the truth via a mass media smokescreen relying on the timely release of important news from one government department to distract public attention away from the error or evil of another is without question wicked; to attempt to achieve this effect through trumping one's own foul play with still greater controversy is pure insanity – though it seems such an improbable ploy may not be entirely without success.
It's by no mere coincidence that in a matter of days the Thai Ministry of Culture have unveiled their motion-picture industries ratings system and announced their plan to sponsor the historical epic Tamnan Somdej Phra Naresuan (Legend of King Naresuan) Parts III and IV. Neither moves have gone totally unnoticed, though as per usual it's the back pages and the web blogs where all the real reporting is going on – largely the result of course of self-censorship.
Bangkok Post columnist Kong Rithdee points out both banning and cutting of a film are still possible and that it remains uncertain if the board will demand scenes cut before issuing a rating or not. And while it’s this hidden seventh category – apparent by its omission or at least lack of icon – which has caused the most consternation (as it clearly poses the greatest threat to filmmakers) it's the ส่งเสริม (promote) category that is, in my view, potentially the most worrying – especially in light of the financial aid that seems to be given to particular films of a certain ilk.
(Khun Kong also makes a case for the unjustness of arguably Thailand’s most successful film director receiving funding for his latest project while hundreds of indie filmmakers are left translating their treatments so they can hunt for cash overseas.)
Not only will the existence of official endorsement allow (possibly even encourage) censors to act corruptly, pocketing bribes for an official stamp of approval, but with such an official PR blessing in place (unquestionably as part of a continued overall panic to force the populous to abide to a strict conservative moral code) the very fabric of the currently flagging Thai liberal culture will be put under threat – with anyone at least slightly susceptible to a fad being turned away from the avant-garde by being turned on to screenings of didactic, preachy poppycock and pointless, saccharine fluff.
Via one of my favourite Thai-based Twitterers – Wise Kwai.
Numbers are everything. Looks are more.
Pretty or pretty vacant?
Business cards that allow brand ambassadors (= staff) to demonstrate brand talent to potential citizens/clients on the spot. What Stefan Sagmeister was going on about back at Adfest last year.
For the Glamour Institute of Hair & Design.
Another campaign for the much-scammed Land Rover brand, but nothing complicated or tenuous, just super-efficient, clear-as-day dramatization of the thought – truly powerful as a piece of communication as the execution is so startlingly close to the insight.
All in all, deadly simple – but far from easy to pull off.
Socialism: You have two cows, and you give one to your neighbour.
Communism: You have two cows. The State takes both and gives you some milk.
Fascism: You have two cows. The State takes both and sells you some milk.
Nazism: You have two cows. The State takes both and shoots you.
Bureaucratism: You have two cows. The State takes both, shoots one, milks the other, then throws the milk away.
Traditional Capitalism: You have two cows. You sell one and buy a bull. Your herd multiplies, and the economy grows. You sell them and retire on the income.
Surrealism: You have two giraffes. The government requires you to take harmonica lessons.
A Corporation: You have two cows. You sell one, and force the other to produce the milk of four cows. Later, you hire a consultant to analyse why the cow has dropped dead.
Via Nicky.
Permanently secure in the annals of
common trivia, the often-posited myth that The Great Wall of China is the only man-made structure that can be seen from space isn't the only falsehood surrounding the architectural feat. Ironically, the very legend itself cunningly reinforces a greater lie about The Wall:
that the wall is in fact a wall.
It isn't. What it is is rather a series of (admittedly in some cases extremely lengthy) walls, though often with quite significant gaps in between.
From a cursory look at historical accounts, it seems that where hillocks and crests prevailed various dynasties largely (and lazily) got away with leaving chunks out, giving the impression (from a distance at least) of wall where in fact there was none – a technique that has lead to more than one long-term Beijing expat friend trying to put me off visiting the (tourist part of the) site, contending that it's a bit of a cheat, not that exciting and therefore ultimately only actually worthy of being called 'The Good Wall'.
Good here is though really truly great, with this illusion of defence deserving of going down in history as one of the most effective pieces of tactical communication ever – bar perhaps the Greeks' Trojan Horse. For a smaller than apparently necessary investment, the Chinese have done well. Even if The Great Wall hasn't always been entirely successful at keeping the Mongols out, the structure has kept enough tourists and Trivial Pursuits gamers in awe over the last century or so to be worthy of the title.
Thanks to heavyweight, Think Tank-winning blogger Tantramar for jogging my memory.
Working freelance or as part of a small creative collective or even boutique agency puts you at the mercy of larger corporations, with their in-demand demeanor, unflinching, hard-faced approach to negotiating, archaic, bureaucratic finance departments and sluggish payment processes.
Bullied exasperatingly so by bigger corporate fish, one is left wondering how ludicrous this vendor-client power play would seem if translated to other sectors – and that's just the thought that motivated this Scofield Editorial film.
And while this does leave you wondering how many of the production crew worked on the job for nothing, it is spot on, nonetheless, and therefore a great use of their free time – really.
...after not winning at Cannes (but everywhere else) last year with the same ad for Black & Decker.
Lack of authenticity has long been a personal grievance of mine, so often and so vast is the chasm between advertising claim and actuality, but in the case of Pizza Hut (Thailand) it is how the corporate giant pays for the promise that is preposterous.
As obvious and dull as it is as a USP, speed is mindlessly wheeled out again in this category, only of course in the capital, Bangkok, legendary traffic and tropical thunderstorms make delivery an impossible proposition to deliver on – though that doesn't stop Pizza Hut from offering (proudly and aggressively via print, web and call center) this deal: if your delivery's late, you get your total order for free. Which is fine if the company foots the bill, but they don't – they only pay half; the delivery guy or girl pays the rest.
And herein lies the trick. It's a corporate gamble, but the odds are heavily in favour of Pizza Hut, as in most cases their almost unanimously Buddhist, 100% superstitious consumer base will react to the fawning self-pity of the failed delivery guy or girl at the door with either sympathy, compassion or เกรงใจ.
Whatever one's response the late arrival of one's pizza leaves a tremendously nasty taste in the mouth – either in the knowledge that the delivery staff (who earn little more than the national daily Thai minimum wage of between 148 and 203 baht or between 4-6 USD) caught in traffic or rain will be docked up to two day's wages or because you the consumer are left eating cold, paid-for pizza and feeling cheated.
Either way it is a scam – a scam that has been going on since 2003.
Brands that favour their consumer base at the expense of their underpaid staff or that cheat their consumer base with guilt need to be exposed.
Let this be the beginning of a boycott – until the company can pay for tardiness themselves.
It's easy to get hooked by good design.
Under normal circumstances you realise I leave film criticism to the likes of Philip French, Xan Brooks, Jason Solomons, or even Adam and Matty at Filmspotting, but by boldly going where no captain of any Trek narrative has gone before, Abrams has forced me into comment.
By adopting the fairy tale functions of Russian formalist Valdimir Propp, Abrams slickly propels what would have been a trek into a skywalk. Having Roddenberry's science fiction cast reading from Lucas' fantasy script is genius and tantamount to having The Beatles playing The Stones, though it's his adherence to Vulcan logic that's clearly his masterstroke: featuring Nimoy in cameo and therefore dovetailing the film with the 60s series. The love triangle between Spock, Kirk and the now lovely Uhura adds romance where before there was only bromance and leaves the audience begging to know who will be star-dating who in the sequel.
