helen neville ads

good ads

2012-01-27T05:07:00.001-08:00

Some of you may remember this time last year when I applied for AWARD School (Australian Writers & Art Directors Association). I didn’t get in, and I thought it was the end of the world. I am applying again, but I don’t think it’s the end of the world if I don’t get in, and sometimes its good to see things fail.

One of the questions asks you to find a good print ad and describe in less then 50 words why you like it. Here are two that I have drafted. Which do you prefer? Please comment!

1. Yarrah Bio.

It was a natural reflex for the dog to lick the Talent’s face.
 In doing so, it demonstrates the simple line of copy. 
It simultaneously participates in a staged event, without even knowing.
 The Ads capture the essence of it’s stereotype brilliantly and celebrate the consumer who purchases this product.

2. Maccas A.M. P.M.

You are instantly aware one side is a good version and one side is a bad version.
But the differences are very subtle.
It’s targeted audience become engaged with the Ad as they are both flattered by the authenticity and also disarmed by the brand’s exotic campaign style.

first billboard!

2012-01-27T03:40:00.000-08:00

Okay, I knew the day would one day come, and it finally did. My first billboard, proud moment. Although all that I contributed was the Finished Art and Logo (with Art Direction from Creative Team Mic+John at Marmalade), it's still a moment, in my life. I love billboards, how could it not be?! Also, check out my groovee friend Toney Tone in a candid snap. Nice red Tone! :0)

christmas hangover

2012-01-01T21:35:00.001-08:00

An enchanted morning, late December, I walked out of the club only to be presented with a double take vision. Was the Melbourne city Council really erecting Christmas decorations with 1 week to go before the big day, and was I lucky enough to be viewing this imperfect and slightly comedic scenario in real life? YES I WAS! and I think someone may have had too much brandy. ho ho ho...

some cultural jam on your season's toast

2011-12-28T20:38:00.000-08:00

I ain't really into preserves and jellies, but i couldn't resist.
Thanks to Luke Mico for the snap, taken Williams St Kings Cross, Decemeber 2011.
And finally to be politically correct, Happy Holidays...

Helen x

advertising word of the month

2011-11-29T21:05:00.000-08:00

Media Rich

"Yes this is a media rich advertising product".

What does that mean, you are going to make the media rich by placing it? Or is this new concept as contagious as AIDS.

Media rich - meaning to simultaneously incorporate 20 media platforms at once, and sound like a wanker whilst you do it.

logomatics

2011-11-21T19:55:00.000-08:00

To celebrate the rebranding of News Magazines (when i saw their new logo, i kind of pissed my pants a little), I have decided to appropriate Jonathan Zawada's famous Fashematics model. I will incorporate this into the helen neville ads roster much like "Marketing Buzzword of the Month" and "Advertising Word of the Month". Sporadically and when I see fit.

rgb killed the cmyk star

2011-11-19T19:13:00.001-08:00

Funnee. The way Magazine Publishers of Australia patronisingly refers to online advertising with use of dry quotation marks as being "instant". Last time I checked, said publication, Famous, was consumed in an instant. With Nescafe Blend 47 on hand, I feverishly flick, eyes epileptically darting from picture to picture, taking in one or two words, then proceeding to toss in the bin and its all over in an instant.

If MPA is suggesting that the magazine as a platform for advertising has more longevity then online, well they chose the wrong one to advertise in!

What the hell is something as sparse and serious doing in a trashy magazine such as Famous? MPA is preaching to an audience that is disappointed that they can't seem to find their instant coffee sample glued to the page. This Double Page spread is a complete waste of ink, the readership of Famous are less likely to take out an ad in Famous then Kim Kardashian is going to graduate from Oxford. Nice one MPA.

madc ball 2011

2011-11-17T21:57:00.000-08:00

Well, the night finally arrived. my first industry night. finally.

Marmalade cast members:

Kryistyna Perri - Account Manager

Tove Ekstrom - Creative Co-Ordinator

Frank Trobbiani - Art Director

Andy Vukasav - Photographer

Gary Simm - Studio Manager

Helen Neville - Graphic Designer

We dressed, we danced, we ate.

We advertised.

marketing buzzword of the month!

2011-11-12T18:56:00.000-08:00

Brand Activation

what is your brand a button or something now?
I apologise, when we are in conversation and you mention these words - my brain goes on active vacation.

minimalist tampon ads

2011-08-15T03:52:00.000-07:00

Here is some wonderful new work that I did the typography and illustration for at my new workplace Marmalade Melbourne . This was for client T.O.M. tampons, a 100% organic product, and the ad was a full page colour in Dumbo Feather magazine.

old signs

2011-05-20T22:01:00.000-07:00

For some reason, I really find old signs inspiring. The polished perfection in faded glory. I found this one irresistible, on my journey from Sydney to Melbourne, on the side of the Princess Highway.

After a bit of digging around, it appears on the 8th of August, 2000 and its 62nd day, the flame passed through Rosedale going from Bairnsdale to Morwell. I found this info, at a weird archived ABC website that itself could be classified as an Old Sign.

Anyway, I have a feeling, that this sign isn't legit! Funny though, the sign-writers, or petrol station owners, really captured the communist propaganda vibe to a T!

marketing buzzword of the month!

2011-04-20T18:24:00.000-07:00

Micro Blogging

Like your microcosm of personal tripe can be any less significant?

werk

2011-04-10T17:11:00.000-07:00

So I am currently working on a new identity for an up and coming eCommerce site. Yes, after the first concept, I was alerted to the fact that there was no B in Breadcrum. Stay tuned for final results, and follow the breadcrum trail....

advertising word of the month

2011-03-28T15:41:00.000-07:00

ABSOLUTELY!

As in the adjective of Absolut Vodka? Or as in you are prepared to do exactly what I say and will follow my orders and beliefs 100% and will compromise yours and jump off a bridge if I tell you to?

righhhhht...... absolutely.

when the circus come to town.

2011-03-16T22:43:00.000-07:00

Oh well. I didn't get into AWARD school this year, but I promise you I will die trying.

As a consolation prize, the Communications Council was offering all applicants free entry to the 3 day "Circus Festival of Commercial Creativity". Well to me, that is a pretty good trade-off. So, i decided it was a good way to get back on the bandwagon after a defeat, and took half a day off work to attend.

The sessions I decided to attend, were chosen for two prominent reasons:

1. Meat and Livestock Australia (Lamb)
2. Transport Accident Commission (TAC)

The structure of the talks involved the Agency and the Client, together discussing relationships and the process of creating a successful campaign.

First off, the Creative Director from BMF Sydney Dennis Koutoulogenis spoke, he being responsible for the Sam Kekovich's LAMB monologue we have all come to admire.

What was great to see from this guy, after feeling the my AWARD school application read like a comedy script, was that there is a place for satire and high irony in Australian advertising. I was worried for a second there wasn't.

Take for example the culture jamming prevalent in both below examples. Firstly, a direct pisstake of the annoying QANTAS white shirted underage choir, and secondly, a hilarious parody of a perfume commercial, directly jamming the Lancome logo.

A bonus was being able to ask the genius two questions at the end of the talk. I got handed the microphone and asked....
Q: "Was the 2008 Lamb Australia Week TVC referencing the Qantas Australian Children's Choir?"
A: "Yes it was"
Q: "Do you think there is a danger the consumer is going to expect Lamb campaigns to become more and more extravagant?"
A: "No not particularly"

Interestingly my question was deflected by the CD, but fair enough, he was standing next to the brand’s marketing manager. What did rock, was the next Agency CD to speak, from Grey Melbourne, touched on this point. He mentioned that the TAC campaigns he had championed for the last 13 years, are in the same boat as Lamb Australia’s. They have raised the bar so high, there are certain things that just become expected from them. That’s the thing, both of these agencies have created such great work, its like is there a glass ceiling that they have already shattered in Australia? There must be.

That brings me to the next Agency/Client duo. The Agency was Grey Melbourne, Creative Director Nigel Dawson, with Client the Transport Accident Commission. A you can imagine, the mood in the auditorium swiftly moved from silly to serious.

We were presented with a visual assault, flashing back on the last 23 years of TAC advertising. Gruesome as it was, we were left with an understanding that this stuff saves lives.

Nigel summarized the TAC campaign essence with the following:

WORK IT OUT FOR YOURSELF
THAT COULD BE ME
BE AS EMOTIONAL AS POSSIBLE
BE AS SHOCKING AS YOU LIKE
THE FMD FACTOR (Fuck Me Dead Factor)

We were alerted to the fact that Victoria was the first place in the world to make seat belts compulsory. This gave the sense that perhaps Victorians really do get behind the cause to keep the road toll down. We were shown graphs indicating the road toll had dramatically dropped since the first TAC ad had aired and could be attributed to the use of effective advertising.

Nigel's Team and the TAC have the daily reminder of how successfully they are doing their job. All they need to do is open a tabloid newspaper and view the Road Death Toll, comparing today with this time last year. WO these guys must be commended for the heavy content they have to deal with.

On a lighter note, here is a delightful St.Patrick's Day special, using the Irish phonetic spelling of the TAC's catch call...

young guns 2010 winners announced

2011-02-14T14:51:00.001-08:00

Sorry guys, we didn't win. But we came 4th out of the finalists! Pretty good for an international competition aye?

Anyway, if you are interested to see whom won, there is a showcase with winners (an equal draw) and finalists up on the Young Guns website.

Unfotunately for some reason, our entry is not loading very quickly - but I am sure you have all seen it enough!

Visit the showcase here...

mmmm not much of an art...happening

2011-02-08T19:13:00.000-08:00

So I arrived at 8:15am, was shooting for a good 15 minutes, and still no appearance of the artist? Good god, we are not talking about Linda Evangilsta, I don’t get out of bed for les then $10,000 a day here. I was waiting, there were no grand gestural brush strokes. Just a couple of pigeons and cars tooting their horns.

Sorry Original Juice I would have to agree with the given consensus. This was a weak justification of the copy “Tastefully Original”, and seemed very much like an after-thought to a solid campaign. Why dabble in novelty PR stunts? The only people that believe in them are the agencies.... $$$$$ KA-CHING KA-CHING!

collect them all!

2011-02-07T22:11:00.000-08:00

For the past few months it has been hard not to notice the barrage of Original Juice billboards, peeping at you from the side of the road. But I have no problem with this. Because refreshingly, we see a campaign that relies on nothing other then its finished art. There is no "story" as such, no wackiness, no wittiness, just simple and well executed finished art.

The finished art uses a Ven diagram type treatment of fruit sillhouettes for each juice blend. I remember making Ven diagrams in grade 4, maybe that's another reason why I am so attracted to the art.

But its nice to see a fiftiesesque aesthetic, paired with the nineties looking Original Juice.

And even more astounding is how much they have spent on ad space. I seriously would have spotted at least 12 billboards around Marrickville/Enmore/Erskinville (NSW), one at Melbourne Airport, and every weekend something in one of the newspaper glossies.

I was intrigued to open up Campaign Brief this morning to discover an article announcing an "Art Happening" in Taylor Square Sydney. And dissapointed as I am, that they have had to try and Justify a campaign that hedged purely on it's prettyness (I thought this was bold), I am still interested to go and witness another chapter of this campaign.

So bear with me if you will, and I will jump on the pushie to take it all in before work tomorrow morning. Posting the results tomorrow afternoon.

Ave a good one!

everything you could hope for in a service....

2011-02-02T18:43:00.000-08:00

Wow, I want these guys to clean my house.
I have a feeling things would be really really clean afterwards!

award school application

2011-01-27T22:06:00.000-08:00

So it's been at least 5 years since i first heard of its existence. Apparently it is the holy grail, the secret hand shake. A 16 week competitive course that shapes you to become an Art Director, officially.

Now in the right circumstances, and with a competent skills set, i felt it time to apply.
You can see my application below, the fruits of 2 weeks worth of scrunching up bits of A4 paper.

QUESTION 1.
Why are you applying for this course?
(If your answer is in writing, please keep to less than 50 words).

QUESTION 2.
If you could work for any brand or type of client, who would it be and why? (If your answer is in writing, please keep to less than 50 words).

I would work for Meat & Livestock Australia’s Lamb.
It has a history of comedic campaigns; from the classic “Lamb roast over Tom Cruise”, to the recent Sam Kekovich as brand ambassador and Spring Lamb Collection.
This brand appreciates a healthy dose of absurdity, delivering memorable moments in Australian advertising.

QUESTION 3.
Find a good print ad.
Explain in less than 50 words what you like about it.
Please include a copy of the ad.

Speeding has long been perceived as a solemn and weighty subject - unfortunately of no appeal to its perpetrators.
With a genius change of tack, now speeding becomes mutually unacceptable.
This ad represents a campaign, which transformed the perception of what it was advertising.

QUESTION 4.
Find a bad print ad.
Using pen and paper only – no computer layouts – create a better ad for the same product. Please include both the original ad, and your improved version. (Importantly, if the outtake of the original is ‘Brand X cars are fuel efficient’, that must also be the outtake of your new ad).

QUESTION 5. Using pen and paper only – no computer layouts – create an ad for the following brief.

Product: La-Z-Boy Recliner Chairs.

Goal: Get people to buy one.

Proposition: The most comfortable chair.

QUESTION 6.
Using pen and paper only – no computer layouts – create an ad for the following brief.

Product: Aussie Bodies Protein drinks.

Goal: Get people to drink them.

Proposition: Aussie Bodies Protein makes you physically stronger.

QUESTION 7.
Fill in the speech bubble and create an advertisement out of this comic.

virile viagra

2011-01-22T03:23:00.002-08:00

Just had to mention these particular ads, done by M&C Saatchi Auckland. Nothing philosophical, or insightful. I think the ads pretty much speak for themselves. When there is nothing to say about it, that means its good, REAL good!

floodout creative finalist for 2010 young gun award!

2011-01-20T19:16:00.003-08:00

Good news guys, in fact wonderful news, such good news, nearly as good news as wining it.

The Choice Anxiety campaign has made the top 11 shortlist for the Young Guns International Creative Brief competition.

Winner is announced on Moday 24th of January.

To see the shortlist visit here and to view the original entry visit here.

advertising word of the month

2011-01-13T19:13:00.000-08:00

Scope

Let me get out my telescope and see what you really mean...

pizza perfection

2010-12-15T03:17:00.001-08:00

Going location scouting today, I looked up as I always do, only to discover a beautiful relic from the past. I thought to myself, "could this really be a pizza hut family restaurant, time travelled from the 1990's?" And then I thought no - but how wonderful that the centre management had forgone an update to this lightbox.

Checkout what wikipedia has to say about the logo here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pizza_Hut

electro done well in advertising

2010-11-24T14:27:00.000-08:00

Yes, sometimes it can work - although always cheesy, these are my faves...

Young Guns Creative Brief 2010 Entry

2010-11-13T00:15:00.000-08:00

Helen Neville - Art Direction, Copy & Graphic Design

Cara Stricker - Photography

Kevina-Jo Smith - Styling

Tammy Moir - Eskimo

Entry Details below taken from the site www.ygaward.com

2010 YoungGuns Creative Brief - ‘Drop one product’

Why are we advertising? (Background)

The desire to truly take hard economic decisions to responsibly manage the future of our planet by governments and corporations was shown lacking in the failure of 'Copenhagen Climate Change Summit' in 2009.

We must understand that the future of our planet is the responsibility of all of us and we need to stop abdicating that responsibility to governments and corporations who have their own agendas, political and commercial.

We must also realize that the smallest of act of restraint by us individually in our behaviour as consumers can have an enormous collective positive effect on the environment and the future.

Consumer societies drive the belief of individuality through multiple product choice, but it comes at the expense of our environment.

Just stop and think about all the choices in any product range that you use (for example, toothpaste, cereal, cars, clothes, pens etc) and then think about the tonnes of resources used, carbon emitted and waste created in the process of production and packaging those millions of choices, for you.Personalization is an important part of being human, but at the cost of our planet and future?

Role of the communication?

To make each person realize the simple action of asking themselves one question:

“Do I really need that?”

and by making the conscious choice to 'drop one product', whatever it may be, that they start their own Butterfly effect of indulgence reduction that will have a positive effect on the future of the planet.

The simple act of dropping one product that you really don't need, or changing the way you consume it, will reduce waste creation, resource drain and other negative production impacts on the planet.

For example, think about that plastic bottle of water you have in your hand now.

Over 1.5 million tons of plastic is produced and used each year to bottle 89 billion litres of water. The carbon footprint and other environmental impacts in the production and delivery of that plastic bottle to your hand is significant.

Further, what happens when you are finished with that bottle? Well, even with the best intentions of recycling there is something called the “Pacific Ocean Garbage patch’ (Google it), a swirling mass of garbage (90% plastic) about the size of Texas out there in the Pacific Ocean. And it is getting bigger every day.

Let's be clear, this is NOT an anti-advertising campaign. We are looking for an idea that inspires each person to take stock of their own consumption habits and look to reduce it by at least not purchasing one item that they do not really need, or could attain in a less environmentally harmful way. With the bottled water example, use a glass and tap water instead.

This role of the communication is to deliver a message of restraint, of reduction, of indulgence control, to get comprehension that simply by not acting as a blind consumer can help our planet survive by creating new economic, social and commercial realities for producer organizations and governments.

Primary target

Consumers

Mandatory Inclusions (Logos, addresses, legals, permit no’s, etc)

Logo / mark – you need to create one

Advertising requirements

Print, Video, Digital, apps – whatever you think is the best communication channel for your idea.

Prize

US$1,000 hard cash coz we think you deserve to get paid for a good idea.

YoungGuns will promote the idea on the site and with relevant organizations to try and get funding to create and run the winning idea.

FONETIX

2010-11-07T16:49:00.000-08:00

Hey guys, just to let you know...my bacon maker is the art of Graphic Design.
And I also love speaking phonetically (in my twisted mind, I waste time spelling out words people use in conversation phonetically).
So you must forgive me for this slightly nerdy but cheerful post, on a stroll through the Murdoch fun park News Limited in Alexandria, I walked past this sweet as street sign. How cool!

PUNKY POLLY WAFFLE WAFFLE

2010-10-19T18:34:00.000-07:00

How great is the British accent - to make it even a little more Save the Queen? Pitty about the iconic Sydney/Melbourne Luna Park facade in the background... no seriously guys, this should have been a New Romantic video clip....

Is that even how you spell Yoghurt?

2010-10-11T19:00:00.000-07:00

No its bloody not. But that's the least of the grammatical brilliance in this little 6cmx 1 Col display ad, stumbled across in the SMH 12.10.10.

Let me reprint the absurdity:

"Famous Yoghourt eaters. Maybe. Kevin Rudd.
For years, the former Prime Minister tucked into shedloads of yoghourt, everyday of the week.
But when he got the Top Job and started spending a lot of time out of the country, his minders found the homegrown substance harder and harder to get hold of.
Worse, Mr. Rudd allowed his love of Australian-made yoghourt to be supplanted by foreign foods. Especially imported Chinese figs.
And we all know the sad end to this story."

Okay, what the hell? This is hilarious. Apparently the ad also ran in the Daily Telly (according to Mumbrella). What makes this ad so brilliant is the fact that it squirts in the face of the so called savvy digital and social networking ad space, in favor of a somewhat Jurassic advertising form - display advertising. This even looks as low as classified display advertising. As it was wedged in between a neighboring Toyota Vehicle Recall and a Fella Hamilton older ladies clothing ad.

I am hoping that this is not a teaser and part of some staged subliminal advertising campaign designed to mess with the minds of people who read the Obituaries, but just a simple act of random kindness.

Council's Cheap take on GFC

2010-02-20T04:11:00.000-08:00

Funny, the look and feel of municipal marketing is just so RAW! City of Port Phillip tries to re-assure its consumer that everything is A-O-KAY......clearly there was no budget for ideas in the making of this campaign.....:0(

Advertising Word of the Month

2009-08-17T16:13:00.000-07:00

"Prescriptive"

Meaning there is no freedom to do what you want.....

BMW ART CARS

2009-06-22T04:56:00.001-07:00

art meets advertising meets cars meets money, its pretty good. but how good is bmw's bold use of a whole outdoor advertising module - dedicated entirely to a panel of art, with no copy, no price point, no logo, no message. thats truly taking the idea the full circle..... brilliant.

See look, here's me at the BMW art Car exhibition at MCA sydney, circa 2007, pretty swell ha? there was a lichtenstein, a warhol, a ken done (the best) and frank stella. not to mention a jenny holzer and david hockney. so whoever the artist is that bmer have chosen for their most recent rendition - id never heard of the guy - we can be pretty sure he will be famous one day....

Advertising Word of the Month

2009-05-18T16:25:00.000-07:00

"Synergies"

Does it have synergies to the project? Why yes of course!

Can you show me any of your past synergies?

Just a moment, let me wind up the synergies machine......

Stupid beer ads that give a hand made ideal

2009-02-10T00:19:00.000-08:00

Really, we all know that the reality is the complete opposite - beer is made in a big sterile factory by comatose robots who couldn't give a fuck about knocking off....

The Brand Shop Agency

Dandenong Rd, St.Kilda Junction

Back of Good Weekend Magazine

Cars are awsome!

2009-01-22T03:56:00.000-08:00

Start off with an outdoor, my billboard of 2008. This humor is hillarious, its like the car is sniffing around bezerkly like a dog, or a blind mole. I LOVE it!

Speaking of cars, has anyone noticed car culture slowly creeping into their lives? I now watch Top Gear, Long way down, and the Dakar Rally - what is with that?

Start off with an outdoor, my billboard of 2008. This humor is hillarious, its like the car is sniffing around bezerkly like a dog, or a blind mole. I LOVE it!

Speaking of cars, has anyone noticed car culture slowly creeping into their lives? I now watch Top Gear, Long way down, and the Dakar Rally - what is with that?

Thanks Radi

2009-01-19T16:49:00.000-08:00

Helios Nevelios is a 60's 70's 80's black wigger home boy with mad skills that developed through a series of most fortunate errors and successes and continues through this most elaborate myriad of said events much like the rest of us. Peace x

the first day of my life

2009-01-19T14:10:00.000-08:00

was ages ago