Why are they not dancing?

Checkin' in on the competition.

The impact of new technology on advertising

I received an email from Sital, a student at the London College of Communication asking me for help with questions regarding her dissertation. I remember how much bloody work it was to write my own back at Bucks so I decided to help. Maybe some of you would like to join the conversation and share opinions on his topic 'The impact of new technology within graphic design, specifically within the advertising industry'. Here the questions including my short answers:

1. Do you think that digital campaigns pose a threat to the more traditional forms of campaigns? Why?

I think both traditional and digital campaigns should co exist and work closer together. It's about traditional advertising telling stories about brands using . Then digital campaigns should pick up on his and engage people further with those ideas and stories and start conversations with them. There's a great article on the BBH Labs blog about that: If you want a conversation say something interesting.

2. Idea vs. Media. Do you think campaigns nowdays are getting too carried away with the media rather than the 'big idea'? Why?

Yes, there are different kinds of campaigns, some that use media in a new way, and other that just rely on great storytelling (strong & big ideas). I think we need both, the ones that get carried away with media are good because they explore the boundaries of what can be done. But then once the technology is 'exploited' campaigns are created that use a new technology or a new media and connect it with the story of a brand in a meaningful way. I prefer the later ones, but as mentioned before, boths are valid things. A current example for this is augumented reality. A year ago just using this media/technology was enough to create a buzz for a brand, now agencies must work much harder to come up with ways to use augumented reality in a relevant way for the brand. They cannot just play the novelty card anymore.

3. What do you think the future of advertising (online) will hold? Why?

Media knowledge will be crucial in order to create tailored concepts to reach people in a relevant way. On the other hand we might see more engaging campaigns once creatives will manage to combine digital media knowledge with great storytelling skills, disciplines that are somewhat seperated in the advertising industry today. We might see more specialized creatives that will collaborate closer with partners from other areas, for example storytellers + technologists. And there should be more hybrid creatives that will be able to span big stories over multiple channels all in a relative way rather than just being replicated in a different format. I would wish for more interactive and engaging stories being told around products and brands.

Hyper Island on tour

Facilitators and students will be traveling around in the next few months to represent the school in 8 major cities around the globe: Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin, London, New York, Oslo, Stockholm & Sao Paolo. It's a chance for interested people to learn more about Hyper Island and to apply for a course here at the same time. It's Hyper Island choosing students, and students choosing Hyper Island.

There will be 100 seats for international students between the five programs for next year. If you want the chance for one of them, check out the recruitment website. If you have any questions regarding the dates in November & January for London, send me an email to waldemar.wegelin (at) hyperisland.se or leave a comment here.

The Next

I'm back in London from Kazakhstan. It's been great being there and seeing many new things. More pictures will follow. But for now I'm planning what to do next. There are three routes I am considering. The first one would be to do a postgraduate course. I haven't applied to the Watford course, neither to Falmouth one. My application went all the way up north to Sweden, to Hyper Island where I applied for the Interactive Art Director course.

It's a one year course for people with work experience to dive in into interactive media. I think combining this with my former studies in design and creative advertising makes a lot of sense. So far I've passed the first application stage and I've been invited to the admission days in Stockholm next week.

The other more than interesting thing is W+K's Platform. Wieden+Kennedy is opening their own creative school for 12 people for six up to nine months. The deadline for this is in two weeks (3rd of July) so right now I'm working on an entry. Remembering my friends participation in the W+Kside application process, I know that there is going to be fierce competition from all around the globe for spaces on this program. I'll do my best to get a shot – how great would that be?

The third option is a direct one, looking for a new creative partner and get a first placement and turn it into a permanent job. Tough, but possible, it's just about finding someone who fits. So if you know anyone looking for an art director, send an email my way – write (at) creativeinlondon (dot) co (dot) uk

Share your thoughts with me on those things, I was considering Watford but many of you told me that agency experience is way more valuable, which I agree to. Thus Hyper Island, most of the time they teach at agencies and there are great work placements available. But to be completely honest, I'd prefer to stay in London and finally start off in a permanent position here.

Youtube films for Mother

Like last year, Mother London is asking 2nd and 3rd year creatives from Bucks new uni to produce and seed videos on YouTube. The teams/individuals that get the most views will win a placement.

We dug through all the films and ordered them by views. There are some good ones and bad ones. It's quite interesting that a couple of them are takes on Sony/Cadbury ads fom Fallon. We like the top two. We think that it's a great assignment, creating something viral is one of the hardest things to do, yet everyone, no matter the budget can do it - perfect for young creatives.

• 38851 Views - Raspberry Duet by Tom, Kim and Sarah


• 14684 Views - Real Beat Boxing by Matt and Matt


• 2502 Views - Cadbury Unicycles by Tom and Sarah


• 1610 Views - Terrible Angels by Linda and Alex


• 1200 Views - Dynamite Surfing 2 by Ben and Milo


• 1160 Views - Hit Me by Mark


• 941 Views - Computers in Love by Sam and Jack


• 902 Views - The Hippest Act by Mandy and Laura


• 837 Views - Juicy Balls Like No Other by Jill and Lucy


• 816 Views - When Times get Floppy by Jeff and Mark


• 765 Views - Boris Johnson by Nick and Dave


• 683 Views - Interview with Cadbury Gorilla by Claire


• 668 Views - The Fridge by Ben


• 570 Views - Stress Relief by Laura


• 376 Views - The Disappearance of Bob by Michelle and Clem


• 369 Views - Friends float in space by Alex


• 185 Views - Alfred the Snake by Fiona and Sarah

London advertising school

Creative education. Undoubtedly, there are great courses here in London to learn the craft and essence of creative advertising. Both of us graduated from Bucks, and we talk a lot about the course – what it gave us and where it lacked. The other top courses in Britain (=London?) are Central St Martins and Watford.

Now we received an email last week from a caring father from Italy who wants his son to attend a creative advertising school in London, not a bad idea we agree. He wrote:

'I would like to ask your advice for a top undergraduate course in Creative Advertising in London area. My son English mother tongue, now 19, but living in Italy is a very creative person born with this gift. His dream is to become an advertising art director. He has just completed Art School Diploma in Italy specialized in Visual Graphics. We have some confusion for the best choice in view that we have to apply soon for 3 choices with UK education system. These are the ones we have identified of course if any better suggestions is always welcomed.

• Central St. Martins
• Buck New University based in High Wycombe

Which would be the other 3rd good choice ?'

Looks very like he made his homework and is spot on with the first two choices. What shall the third one be? We would say Fallmouth, as they seem to produce good people as well recently. Would you agree? What would your third choice be? Any ideas on the Gloucester University? Other tips?

Remember, the Watford course is out of question as it is a post-graduate course.

Certainly, graduating from a top course helps, but it's not everything, it's always up to your initiative, no matter what course you're from. For me, more intriguing but out of reach, are other places that seem to be leading the field of creative eduction. Alternative and non-UK places like WK12, VCU Brandcenter and Fabrica – that's where the fun seems to happen. Also MiamiAdSchool, they seem to be in a transitional place from advertising school into a place where you can learn to 'change pop culture', a big claim yet interesting.

Although I reckon they are all more post-post-graduate courses. Maybe even post-first job courses.

We fear

The title of VCU Adcenter's magazine 2006. Dug it out from my bookshelf while looking for my typo book. There was a time I wanted to apply at VCU. In my opinion one of the greatest ad schools out there.