People Of The Now 9: Gemma

A shop space in Kingly Court. Beer and ink flow freely, intermingling with synthpop as the evening glides along.

Me: So, this is pretty awesome.
Gemma: It is? Oh, thank you! I'm so glad everyone likes it!
Me: Well, I think you've tapped into a zeitgeist here. I mean, everyone wants to draw, right? But something stops them...
Gemma: Yeah! I designed the new t-shirts and I can't draw, really...
Me: This a one-off thing?
Gemma: Not at all! We try and do something with every new line release at Lazy Oaf; this time we just wanted a bit of a drawing party. Only had two weeks to organise it, but its worked!
Me: Well, you've hit on the kind of thing where the people make the event. It's changing the way people act, you can see it.

Vlad: And maybe they'll come up with some new designs for you!
Gemma: Oh no, its nothing as serious as that! We just want people to come and well, draw! How are you guys getting on? Drawn yet?
Vlad: Yeah!
Me: ...I had my drawing inhibitions for a while. I've been trying to shake them for a year, and then something like this comes along and smashes it...
Gemma: Have a beer!
Me: We certainly shall. Oh and, isn't this basically the best job ever?
Gemma: It's got its good points!

The Lazy Oaf drawing club stays open all weekend in Kingly Court, Carnaby. It's awesome as all hell and deserves YOUR support.

One And Other - because i can't think of plinth pun right now

Anthony Gormley's new venture to occupy Trafalgar Square's fourth plinth, One & Other, has now been opened for registrations - and its gathered over twice the number of applications to places. Shit. Even shittier shit for those of us in London, as you're looking at a 10% chance of success right now, which is set to change for the worse.


What? Oh right, well basically: it's a project spanning the summer months whereby a different member of the British public gets to occupy the plinth for a hour, every hour, day and night - that makes 2,400 slots. And once on the plinth, you can do whatever the hell you like - except:
-drinking/drugs (and you can't be affected by them when you start, cheeky rulebenders)
-bringing weapons or 'dangerous items' (fireworks, surely)
-race hate (tut tut! Naughty!)
-infringing copyright. So no freebie client work.

That all said, there's the potential to use your hour of fame to do something genuinely thought provoking and memorable. You can bet that's what Gormley is banking on. Alternatively, it might very well be an equally unique and valuable experience to just sit there and enjoy a unique view. I'm still undecided as to which is best.

But go on, sign up. It's gotta be worth a punt.

What would you do?

Up A Down B Left C Right A Start

I have spent the day beautifying the office in preparation for next week's big brainstorm on gaming:


Lots of people...

don't know...

what the hell...

is going on (spot the reference)

But it will all become clear on Tuesday:


Play again? (y/n)

Our APG Project: There's a magical place, we're on our way there...

After 10 weeks of hard thought, graft, and (some) dicking about, APG is over. The project brief was how to launch Best Buy in the UK, when it comes over in 2010. We answered it with verve and bombast, including reverentially watching the old Toys 'R' Us ad in silence.

Here's my bit - a madman's ramblings about recession psychology.

A Big Idea For Best Buy

View more presentations from Vituperative.

(what the bloody hell happened to the font? Use your imagination)
But the real payoff came when Ramzi (Yakob. No relation - or is he?) took the stage and went off on a beautiful, utterly impromptu serenade about the universality and creative depth of our concept.

We didn't win. She did. But I had a really, really good time.

Enjoy!


Still gives me goosebumps.

Trail of Breadcrumbs 2: Trust!

Is it the subject matter? Is it the execution? Either way, this thing grabbed me.

Global Gathering have found an interesting way to reveal their lineup this year. Why should this even be an issue?

The truth lies in what it means to host an event. There is nothing, absolutely nothing to draw anyone to a music event, other than who is going to be there and the inpalpable nature of the crowd. The second one is your emotional draw, and is a branding job. The lineup, though. That's your meat. How to take the lid off the silver platter?

Most events have a fairly standard procedure for doing so - reveal most of the 'good' acts before sale date, and allow speculation and fever to build up around the identity of the headliners (promoters' note: this may very well be because the headliner hasn't confirmed, but that's another story). So it's a system of withheld information. But if this is only an strategy of patience, well, how is that interesting?

So GG wove the possibilities of interaction into it. Basically you drive the car, and every checkpoint reveals the identity of another headliner. That also gives you a little extra time, as does picking up fuel. Avoid cars and potholes.



The game is eminently playable. It has 4 buttons and 3 elements - not far from 'AVOID MISSING BALL FOR HIGH SCORE' (thanks Pong). You only go forward. The artists are not revealed in order of 'importance' so there's always motivation to keep trying - and yeah, I left unsatisfied with plenty left to uncover. I did discover the identity of a certain out-of-retirement duo that will guarantee I go, though.

It's simple, playable, and shareable. And there's a hell of a lot of bravery involved here. When was the last time you trusted consumers to use their skill to 'get' a piece of comms, let alone their intelligence>

Good job, Global Gathering!

P.S. I got 30th. Though that's certainly gone down by the time of post...

You I Know I Love You Really, Dude

The master of causing controversy, as usual :)

Make us a good advert, please

Found this in a bin in Soho.

Tip of the Year

"You never know."

Generally, it's said when someone tries to sell you insurance, or when you can't decide whether to pack an umbrella.

But this sentiment is most true with people. And in the best way possible. If I were to digest my experiences from a year down into a single aphorism (yeah just the one, beat that School Of Life) it would be that You have no idea what 99% of people are like - and if you ask you'll be pleasantly surprised 99% of the time.

You might think that this is a comment on how adpeople are just so very interesting, dear, but that's missing the point. If anything its more interesting to hear stories from people who haven't polished them so effectively. They have truths that won't show up in ACORN - and the things we say and have have resonances that we can't predict, but should view a little more optimistically than we do. Could anyone have guessed that people would go mad for a drumming gorilla?

Nor is this an industry point. It probably goes without saying that in a business that starts and ends with the human psyche it's negligent not to have an empathic streak for those people you share your reality with - but in our disconnected world, I believe you'll find yourself a much higher existence in sharing situations with others, without necessarily waiting for them to share with you.

I have a few resolutions, but my prime one is to put these thoughts into practice in 2009. I'll let you know how it goes.

The Golden Gnome

Gotta give a mention to my old work experience, HS&P, who've really pushed some envelopes with their Christmas e-card, the website devoted to their mascot. Creepy little chap, I've often thought!

The site is jammed with articles on how to embrace (or just survive) the season, each one written by different employees. I was there when the project began; it was cool to see everyone get into the spirit of the task. And the videos are hilarious. Like, deliberately hilarious.

Go there!