insights, ironies and idiosyncrasies in communication and design

from the wide, wide world and the world wide web

Tuesday 14 September 2010

Sign of the times.



In the shadows of the vandalism and theft of Bangkok's Ratchaprasong sign, the city is seeing a new breed of street insignia spring up, with the specific goal of duping the motorist as s/he snails forward in the gridlock.

With marketing real estate at a premium and anything now fair game it seems, brands are taking ever more desperate measures to get under the radar and into the consumer psyche – even if it means stealing legitimacy from the highways as this cheeky invasion of corporate signs in disguise testifies.

And while one can understand how hospitals and even hotels justify their street presence – condominiums and golf clubs clearly have no place on the road, though the community is admirably it appears answering back en masse directly with self-authored content.

Wednesday 1 September 2010

Spot the dummy.


Not the first time the boys in brown have enlisted body doubles, the Thai police nationwide have begun to plant wounded mannequins, their twisted torsos smeared in fake blood, alongside right-offs as a part of an innovative deterrent to scare motorists from being, er, real dummies and driving drunk.


Photography Gary Inman. Retouched by THEC.