rouge

 

This is an advertisement for hair dye that uses the sex appeal of lips to its advantage! I can think of many other ways that Rouge could have tied in sex appeal, but none of them are as clever or tasteful as this.  I want to know more about their hair dye when I see this poster.  The color and shadow similarities between a part in one's hair and the part in one's lips is apparent and is working well.  The size and placement of type is also working because it is not obvious or distracting.

Good look.

Evian "The Baby Inside" print ads

FOUND IN: Lürzer's Int'l Archive 

Ads, TV and Posters worldwide Vol. 3-2010
Agnes Cavard, art director;
Valerie Chidlovsky, writer;
Agnes Cavard/Valerie Chidlovsky, creative directors;
Nathaniel Goldberg, photographer.

This series of ads is silly, clever, striking, and unforgettable.  I'm attracted to Evian's campaign and the two men above in particular because they are funny.  I love when t-shirt artists employ this technique, which involves the person wearing the shirt in the design.  I have a t-shirt that has what look like necklaces strung across it and in graphic design way back in high school, I made a t-shirt with an unbuttoning dress shirt.  It's an idea that's used a lot, but it hasn't gotten old to me yet.  Benji - I love what you've done for your t-shirt design and I see similarities in your concept.

peel back the pounds

Communication Arts - Design Annual 2010

There are many ways these calendars could be interpreted, but from a design perspective, they're so creative.  I will say that the female calendar is much stronger than its male counterpart.  Since the woman appears to be putting her weight on one leg, and bending the other, her body shape is much more recognizable than the male's.  The man stands vertically flexing his muscles, however there is little "fat" below his arms in the heaviest figure.  I don't see a body shape in the male's largest outline.  The designer made good decisions about the colors in each version.  I think that these designs are so strong, but I wonder how they would sell as actual products.  I don't think I'd ever be tempted to purchase a calendar like this, even if I were on a weight-losing mission.  Unless things went better than I imagine they could, I wouldn't ever want to change the month!  In addition, this isn't the kind of calendar you'd give someone as a present.  Even people who like the product may be wary of hanging it in a public space because of what it says about its owner.  Nonetheless, it demonstrates a creative solution.

rrapED around

Disclosures: A photographic Construct 1982, Found in: Julie Rrap Body Double by Victoria Lynn

My Mom brought me this awesome book full of work by Julie Rrap from a trip to Sydney, Australia.  I hadn't ever heard of this photographer and mixed media artist, but she's got some really neat work.  I think this piece in particular is striking because it is uninhibited, has a narrative quality, and displays wise use of repetition and color.  Rrap executes a visual representation of the process of disclosure which is simple and elegant.   Her "exposure," if you will, initially reveals her head and left arm, followed by the rest of her upper body, and so on.  The black and white areas almost start to appear as misrepresenting the woman, as we follow the images like text, from left to right.  This is likely because most of us see in color and therefore perceive it as more true.

I especially like that artist included the tears in the paper on the black and white images.  This clearly defines the separation between the photos and also articulates the layering of the images. This brings the image of unwrapping a gift into my head, which is something I believe many people understand to be a metaphor for revealing of one's body.  Most photographers consider a print the final outcome of their work - I like that Julie Rrap has done something unique and hands on with the medium.

In regards to visual composition, I appreciate that the artist used a slightly different photo in each frame.  It is not immediately obvious, but may be contain enough variation to stimulate initial interest.  She is posing in front of a beige wall that is close to the color of her skin and her hair creates the most contrast within the image.  I wonder how a black background would change this series.