Aap! - Alternative Advertising Possibilities

Hysteric Glamour - Tokyo’s glam rock brand du jour has an amazing collection of slef published photography books featuring international photography superstars Terry Richardson, Araki Nobuyoshi, and Wataya Osamu among others. Seriously amazing work and highly recommended for a dose of daily inspiration. From Tokyo to Suburban chaos to loss - the collections are just mind numbing examples of greatness.

Visit Bueno Books by Hysteric Glamour

A tour of Times Square from Keyframe on Vimeo.

John Woods visits Times Square and explores digital signage and outdoor media.

Most impressive is that One Times Square building is empty and tenant less. Millions are instead generated off digital signage on its exteriors. Great intro video and fun interview with owner of Landmark
Signs, Tony Calvano, whose company has been maintaining and installing
most ads in Times Square when they were painted!!

Sex and the City - Integrated Alternative Advertising from aapglobal on Vimeo.

Warning - Shameless Plug:
Integrating different mediums is an effective way to build and drive a successful client campaign. This is exactly what New Line Cinema has done by integrating alternative advertising mediums Aap!Rails, escalator handrail graphics and Aap!Motion lenticular billboards with traditional flyer and poster work in Norway via Aap!Global distributor MediaLoop. We’re excited by the implementation and will be sharing some more pictures, videos and more shortly. In the meantime check out Sex and City the Movie at your local cinema or learn more about alternative advertising.

[Sex and City - the Movie]

More on

Aap!Motion - Lenticular Billboards

Aap!Rails - Escalator Advertising

W

GTA IV, “the new open-world, action-driving video game released today around the world will easily “top last year’s record-breaking $300 million first-week sales of Microsoft and Bungee Studios’ first-person shooter “Halo 3″ — and all without a similar marketing bonanza or budget. 

According to the AP report - ‘Grand Theft Auto’ Promo Campaign Kept Quiet’  Rockstar has been trying to keep their marketing message on the “downlow.”

We’ve been truly impressed in Rockstar’s ability to communicate and build hype directly with gamers through viral internet teasers and low cost non traditional out of home media including amazing phony wanted billboards, graffiti, and viral websites. (Even Bagel Bags, Coffee Cups…)

Some of the ficitional wanted adverts have included in them an e-mail address where residents of “liberty city” (the game’s fictional universe) can send in “tips” to LibertyCityPolice.com, a website which undoubtedly will be accessible inside the game’s internet function.

From a marketing perspective all this has been absolutely brilliant. From a CFO’s perspective the campaigns have demonstrated the value of low cost non traditional media and most importantly from a gamer’s perspective they have even been critical in building trust, interest and a direct relationship with players.   Seen in certain European and US cities, while we love the work we are just a little curious to see if these posters raised any objections.

Of course knowing Rockstar this was probably the intent…

GTA IV out today. Instead of enjoying the marketing - go play the game…

Review of GTA IV @ IGN 

Other Related Articles of Interest 

GTAIV ads pulled because of San Andreas flap Chicago - Transit Authority gave up a contract potentially worth more than $200,000 in revenue because people complained about another ad campaign more than three years ago.

Yup - there is indeed a Japanese  design company focused on the exciting niche service of designing creative, functional barcodes for products sold throughout Japan and the world.  The Design Barcode Inc. a Shibuya based graphic design studio has won several awards including a Cannes Titanium award for their work incorporating unique designs and motifs into conventional barcodes. Great example of some level of attention put into some products.

More @ Design Barcode Inc. [Japanese only]

With over 5000 downloads of our original iPhone Subway maps for Tokyo, Madrid, Paris, London, and others - user requests have been pouring in for cities around the world.  Our designer Phillip is trying to keep up with the demand and has just released three new subway maps for the popular Apple iPhone.

Enjoy

Download Singapore Subway Map for iPhone

Download Osaka City Subway Map for iPhone 

Download Toulouse Velib Map for iPhone

Other Cities (Tokyo, London, etc)

Enjoy and travel safe!

Amazing poster design by Australian graphic designer Anthony Kolber in his new series Reflections.

Anthony explains his work with

“The image exemplifies the snowball effect which occurs in stylistic trends within the design community. The photograph of the figure holding their poster has been adopted, realized and exhausted until it is void of all meaning and originality.

This poster functions more as a commentary than a critique. Its focus is aimed ideologically at the prototypal nature of the image within our contemporary visual culture, yet it removes itself from making any direct critical comment on it.“

Highly recommended.

Based in Paris, Zevs the anonymous Parisian street artist has been active since the early 90s.

Aside from his “shadow” work that consists of painting the outlines of the cast shadows thrown by permanent city fixtures - Zevs does wonderful work that “attacks” billboards and other city advertisements to create new interesting art.

His best known work is when he cut out shapes from a a gigantic Lavazza-poster in Berlin and stenciled above the poster the message: “VISUAL KIDNAPPING - PAY NOW!.” He is also known for attacking billboards and other city advertisements, spraying a dot of red between the eyes of models, letting it drip down like blood. He has taken this drip technique to corporate logos as well, and in his first solo show in London at the Lazarides Gallery, titled Liquidated Logos, he presented them on canvas for the first time.

Other links on Zevs:
- Zevs’ Commercial Work
- Zevs takes on McDonalds with “liquidated logos”

Banksy vs Paris

Banksy shop-drops 500 remixed Paris Hilton CDs

UK graffiti virtuoso Banksy has smuggled 500 doctored versions of Paris Hilton’s new CD into stores across the country. The CD contain Banksy’s remixes and have titles like “Why am I Famous?,” “What Have I Done?” and “What Am I For?”

Kudos to Banksy!

Read BBC Article on the stunt

Pictures + Videos of the affair.

‘And what is that philosophy?

“Most graphic design is about making things clearer, so that people get what you’re saying. But we often do the opposite. We make things more complicated. So we’re not problem solvers, but problem makers!”‘

Points shared and of interest were covered in the latest feature on design duo “YokoLand” in the latest issue of I.D.

Read the full article:
A Breath of Fresh Art
The graphic design duo called Yokoland just published their first monograph. And you thought Mozart was a prodigy.

http://www.id-mag.com/features/feature.asp?id=1557