James Jarvis Nike Commercial

Via Adverblog

As a fan of James Jarvis I was always going to love this Nike commercial. If you can get past the first one minute (yes it does have no sound – amazing how disconcerting that is) a really lovely animation to represent the pain and joy of long distance running. If anyone has heard James Jarvis speak (I saw him at D&AD a number of years ago) you will know is one of the Top 50 cross country runners in the UK which is not surprising given his compulsive nature (he once spent a whole week drawing the hands of one of his characters). I think this fact really shines through in the work as he really understands what it means to be a runner and is actually inspired by his own experience:

I had become interested in the idea of characters that were less referential and more iconic and abstract. I particularly wanted to do something with a potato-headed stick-man that I had been drawing at that time.
The film was inspired by certain personal experiences in running – a favourite run over Blanchland moor in Northumberland, being attacked by a crow in Singapore – and also by the transcendent, almost psychedelic experience of the simple act of running.
Rather than a marketing project inititated by Nike, the film was something proposed and produced by myself, and as such I hope represents a much more equal collaboration with a brand.
James Jarvis

First person to tweet James Jarvis runs to @CreativeSocial gets one of the new mini King Kens

How to win awards

I have just finished judging the Festival of Media Awards where I was joined by an extremely talented Judging Panel. It was great fun and extremely informative. What was great about these awards was that it truly was about strategy combined with media strategy and tying this into results. It is fantastic to judge alongside clients who obviously give a different perspective. I do sometimes think that Creative Directors judge stuff without regard to whether it really worked.

Also gave further insights into what is needed to win awards. One of the judges, Russell Buckley, wrote an interesting piece entitled ‘10 Secrets To Winning Advertising Awards‘. The areas I would add to this are:
Create a campaign video which really tells the story (it really can bring a campaign to life). You will be competing with others who have created these
Do not use gimmicks. A couple of videos had children in them while another used a synthesised voice (which just could not understand). Tends to only take away from the campaign itself
Treat the process of entering awards like you would a client’s campaign. This means doing to review process if you did not win – look at what actually won in your category. This might either influence/inspire you to do better work or may give you indicators of how you could have improved your entries
Also would add that entering poor work is not just about wasting time and money. It also influences reputation. There is no doubt that jurors spend more time with work from agencies they respect. Poor entries can destroy this trust. Having a reputation for only have great entries will enhance chances of winning (as judges will spend more time with your entries)

Finally well done to the Profero Performance team who were Highly Commended in the Performance and Affiliates category:

Baker tweet

BakerTweet from POKE on Vimeo.

Do like this as a little bit of experimentation from Poke

Vinyl Toys to sell

Am actually running out of storage space and therefore considering selling some of my vinyl collection but only if get the right offer Here is full details of the collection and prices would be willing to sell at (from forward centre clockwise):
Dunny 8″ Voodoo Jungle Edition by Tristan Eaton £295
KIDROBOT 8″ DUNNY Tristan Eaton TAG TEAM (Colour Me Happy and Brickface) + Flatcaps £100
KIDROBOT 8″ DUNNY – NIGHTMARE IN JEREMYVILLE £34
Original Fake KAWS Star Wars Storm Trooper £350
Amos Toys King Kun (grey) £180
The Troll of the Bridge of Kevin (Amos Toys) £200
Huck Gee Red Geisha 8″ Dunny £180
James Jarvis Blue Illustrated Yod £100
AMOS James Jarvis Night Bird God £83 each
AMOS James Jarvis Martin X TBC
AMOS James Jarvis Yod Green £75
Dunny 8” Bubble Yucky Blue (Tara Mcpherson) £120
Flying Tiger Sharky By Huck Gee £60

Tiger obsession

My latest addition to my Onitsuka Tiger collection (front row on the left). Maybe I am getting a little obsessive with my Tigers!