QVS releases "Design your own print competition"

M.A.C Party Launches NZ Fashion Week

NZ Fashion Week officially kicked off last night with the opening event hosted by M.A.C Cosmetics. The event features were eight body painted models, each representing famous artists including Warhol, Matisse, Mondrian and Lichtenstein. It took up to six hours to painstakingly hand paint each model for the event.  


Read on to view individual model photos.

Backing NZ 100% - Pak'n'Petone

Photo via Twitpic

The Soccer World Cup in 2010 perfectly demonstrated the fact, you don't have to be a sponsor, to capitalise on sporting events. Nike did it with their "Write the future" campaign - features most of the current soccer stars from around the world but perhaps the most remembered were the Bavaria beer girls. The official beer sponsor was... darn I forget... but it wasn't Bavaria! 36 dutch women dressed in matching orange dresses (the brand colour) were accused of ambush marketing - which carries jail time in South Africa. The girls and brand both denied any association - but the publicity and rumors were still widespread.

Auckland Tourism wraps Tower building

One of the New Zealand's largest (if not the largest) outdoor graphics has just appeared in Auckland. The graphic covers the Tower Building and is 23 metres wide and 54 meters high. It was installed by a team of abseilers who put it together as individual panels. 

Harper's Bazaar's Secret Cover Designs

Stumbled across this when looking today's post Color Story: Harpers Bazaar US September 2011, turns out Harper's Bazaar prints different covers for their general circulation than their subscription base. This strikes me as a great idea as it recognizes the difference between these readers. General circulation buyers are less loyal, they need to see an overview of the features inside to convince them to select from the cluttered magazine rack. Subscribers on the other hand are loyal readers, they don't need to be convinced. But they do need to be made to feel special, and an exclusive cover design, that's far less cluttered and much rarer is a good place to start. 


Read on to see cover examples.

Color Story: Harpers Bazaar US September 2011

It's a formula that works so well for dramatic fashion photography - beautiful model, blue sky, harsh desert landscape. When teamed with these vivid monochromatic dresses the final result is stunning. This was envied on Appelez moi Noemie and was featured in Harper's Bazaar US Sept 2011.

NZ Fashion Week: Absolut Studio

An earlier Envy Collection post envied the Huffer and Absolut collaboration and this month the fashion connection was taken further by the vodka brand with the launch of The Absolut Studio. Designed as a creative space to showcase the best of fashion, art and music across Fashion Weekend (2-3 September). 

I'm NOT Dan Carter

As mentioned in this post "Express yourself every day" All Blacks star Dan Carter has a few brand contracts in place, and I'm not the only one to notice. NZ radio station 91ZM has launched a tounge-and-cheek promotion "I'm not Dan Carter" promotion to find a look-a-like to endorse products during the Rugby World Cup.

If you look like Dan Carter you can enter here.

5 Great Post It Ad Campaigns

I love stationary! Post It notes are a wonderful invention that have a multitude of uses... here are 5 advertising ones... only one of which is actually for Post It themselves! 


Number 1: Galeria Melissa (Sao Paulo, Brazil)
Using stop-motion animation and 350,000 Post It notes this is truly amazing. The patience and imagination required to pull this off are mind blowing!

This isn't actually to promote Post Its (although I hope they came to the party with a discount on all those notes!) - the installation covered the facade of Melissa, Sao Paulo.It was used to launch their "Power of Lover spring/summer 2012 collection. It took 25 animators 5 months to create the piece. As a lovely unexpected twist to this tale, 30,000 spontaneous love note were written by Melissa fans and visitors - now that's powerful brand love!  

Update: Telecom Tweet Wall takes new form

Looks like Telecom's tweet wall in Auckland Airport has a long lifespan planned. And it's not just a one trick pony! I posted earlier about how this interactive wall allows visitors to tweet answers to questions which are then displayed for all to see (read more here). The latest interactive experience provided allows visitors to "paint" on the wall using hand movements (picked up by motion sensitive cameras) or an iPad. 


Envied from oneteachersview.  

Tuatara Beer offers $2 All Blacks jerseys

Tuatara Beer's answer to the overpriced Adidas All Black's Jersey...

Philips' & Dan Carter "Express Yourself Every Day" launches

It was announced last month that Dan Carter would be the new brand ambassador for Philips shavers. I saw the first of these ads in the Sunday Star Times "Sunday" magazine today (above right). 

Schick Quattro invites you to take a Shave-cation

While men's razor ads often rely on celebrity endorsements (Gillette has Roger Federer, David Beckham and Tiger Woods), the female offerings usually take quirkier, lighthearted approaches. The messaging is different too, centering around comfort and convenience not just the number of blades. I love these beautiful 50's style print ads for Schick's Quattro which invite the reader to enjoy a Shave-cation.

Kleenex makes toilet paper fashionable

How do you make toilet paper stand out on the supermarket aisle, and even make it seem fashionable? In 2009, Kleenex enlisted the help of some aspiring fashion designers to whip up catwalk creations out of Cottonelle toilet paper. And they've done it again for the 2011 NZ Fashion Week. 
Apparently 25,000 metres of Kleenex Cottonelle toilet paper and 22 dress style later 3 were chosen to grace the runways of fashion week.

“Once again the Kleenex Cottonelle Couture Collection adds a novel and excitingly creative aspect to the Designer Selection shows at NZ Fashion Week. We congratulate the three chosen designers and expect to see much more of their work in future...” 

~ CEO of NZFW Pieter Stewart   

New Zealand Fashion Week

WORLD 2010

New Zealand Fashion Week is 29th August - 3rd September 2011. There's already some great collaborations and brand partnerships emerging as sponsors and designers look to leverage this event. With sponsors like Red Bull and Absolut it's set to be some great envying action and of then there's the fashion! Particularly looking forward to seeing Hailwood, Lonely Hearts, Stolen Girlfriends, Miro Moda, Sable & Minx, NomD and WORLD. SO EXCITED! 

NZ Police - Street Art Campaign by Otis Frizzell

 The NZ Police recruitment campaign "You too can do something extraordinary" highlighted heroic actions of police in their own local communities. The pieces were created by renowned New Zealand artist Otis Frizzell. The story behind each can be viewed on the NZ Police website here. 

"You can do something extraordinary - Become a cop"

Nestrest - The ultimate cocoon chair

Doesn't that look like the perfect place to curl up enjoy a good book?

NZ Art Show - My purchase

Don't worry, I may have missed out on owning a Jordan Barnes, but I didn't leave the NZ Art Show empty handed. I feel in love with so many pieces but ended up settling on one piece "The Hand That Rocks The Cradle" by Lynne McMenamin. 

Anna Paquin by Jordan Barnes

Jordan Barnes - NZ Artist

I went to the NZ Art Show last month and was completely struck by one particular artist - Jordan Barnes. I wasn't the only one though, all his pieces had already sold. Perhaps a blessing in disguise as my bank balance was left a little healthier but still I can't help feeling a little disappointed I don't own one of these pieces! 

"I have an appreciation for the small moments that make up our lives. A lot of my paintings are focused on these moments, capturing the beauty in the ordinary".~ Jordan Barnes 

Quilter's Bookstore - One of my favourite's of the show (and my vote for Signature Piece Art Award), this piece is hard to describe using a picture. The realism and detail captured were unbelievable, I really did feel like I was invading a private moment as the subject browsed the books quietly)