Bscly – Packaging

Bscly is a direct to consumer clothing company that has paid real attention to their packaging and environmental footprint. Their mission is to make getting dressed a simple exercise, that requires no thought – almost like a Soylent-style meal replacement for dressing.

What we really love about them is their packaging. They’ve used entirely biodegradable sugarcane as their substrate, which means that after you’ve received your kit, all you need to do is put the packaging in with your compost. Done.

It helps too, that the packaging is appealing and modern. If you think about it, for a direct to consumer brand like Bscly, this is one of the few times a consumer will interact directly with their brand. The packaging has to work really hard! Other than the clothes themselves, the experience of receiving and opening the packaging (and disposing of it) is vital. It raises an interesting idea for us creatives – when is it packaging design and when is it UX / service design. Are these becoming the same thing?

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‘Every Covid-19 Commercial is Exactly the Same’ – Microsoft Sam

After sharing examples of how brands are communicating about corona virus last week, we thought we’d show the other side of the coin. How similar they all are!

YouTuber, Microsoft Sam, put together this edit of all the ads that have been made about corona virus by big brands across the world. The scary thing is – how many of these follow almost exactly the same formula, down to the wording, choice of imagery and choice of music.

For an industry that prides itself on creativity, this feels a bit damning!

Check it out below!

Sean Longcroft – Illustration

Sean Longcroft is an illustrator based in Brighton, UK, who has a great eye for character design. We’ve shared his work for a travel sticker book today, which is such a great showcase of his work. We love the attention to detail in all the characters and the life he gives them.

Top notch stuff!

You can see more of his work on his website here.

And you can visit his Behance profile here.

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Jeep – The Great Indoors

In our third post this week about ads dealing with corona virus, we’re featuring this by Cummins and Partners for Jeep. For a brand that pretty much only exists in the outside world, the current situation is a real problem. But not for Jeep!

Using their iconic grill and lights motif, they created these ads about exploring ‘the great indoors’. What a smart way to communicate at this time!

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Heineken – Ode to Close

Our second corona virus inspired ad of the week is this one from Heineken. It’s interesting to see how an alcohol brand (which sells itself on groups of people socialising) is coping with self distancing and trying to flatten the curve.

This is, of course, the answer – a heartfelt, emotional ad that reminds us of all the good things about being a human and all the times we spend close to each other or touching each other. And a reminder that for now, we need to protect each other before we can get close again.

Lovely!

Dove – Courage is Beautiful

This week, we’ve decided to share some of our favourite responses to the corona virus crisis we find ourselves in. This piece from Dove in the US is the first of three.

As most of us will know by now, Dove has redefined just what ‘beauty’ means in the consumer space and has really pushed the boundary in terms of how we define it. It’s not about photoshopping, perfect unattainable bodies or standards we can never reach. And to honour the people working on the front line, Dove used selfies of doctors and nurses with the message: Courage is Beautiful.

We love it. It’s on brand, it’s meaningful and as you’ll see at the end of the ad, it’s not just about making sales either – Dove communicates that they’re donating towards helping frontline workers.

This is how you communicate about these sorts of things at this time.

Stellenbosch Academy Honours Students Publish Reviews of the Stellenbosch Triennale on ArtThrob

What about some reading to see you through the isolation we all find ourselves in? We’re really proud that our honours students have been featured on ArtThrob, reviewing works from the Stellenbosch Triennale.

You can find pieces from Megan Vermaak, Tammy Manson, Nadine Wiese, Candice Williams, Brittney Moolman and Anke Geldenhuys here.

Well done everyone!

BusConnects – Working it out Together

To encourage more people to use the bus system in Dublin, TBWA created this ingenious campaign that shows how buses make things easier. We love how they’ve represented the city as a rubik’s cube; showing how buses can connect everything together. The art direction and style as well as the animation is just perfect.

So clever!

Facebook – We’re Never Lost if we can Find Each Other

What an inspiring piece of film! This ad for Facebook was put together by Droga5 and brings to life Facebook’s core purpose: Helping people connect. Using found footage, press footage and other sources, this beautiful film offers us just a little bit of hope in these crazy times of corona virus.

Hats off to the editor!

Every Waking Hour – Photography

Edi Inderbitzin undertook this amazing project to raise awareness about the high rates of depression brought on by social media. To show that there was beauty in every moment, rather than just those ones we curate and style for social media, he decided to take a photograph every hour he was awake for an entire year!

What follows is this incredible website and project, which encompasses over 5000 images taken over the course of a year. What a powerful use of photography!

You can visit the site here.

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