I’m just not too sure Gucci intended this to go this far, right? (click to skip the smoking canister)
Clearly a provocative image, likely re-released to become a viral sensation. Gucci obviously took it upon themselves to race to the bottom of the heap. But why?
As we all know, understand, and imagine; Gucci sells sex. Since 1994 when Tom Ford took over Gucci the company had one clear message “sex!” It was the sexual revolution of women lead by Tom Ford who’s dream was who’s dream was to empower women on a sexual level.
This recent campaign follows a simple undeniable trend: Sex sells. Gucci rose out of what seemed certain bankruptcy to one of the most popular and successful luxury fashion retailers.
Although controversial the original provocative ad campaigns by the “then” creative director Tom Ford ensured his message of sexual empowerment became a series of intriguing ads.
But let us be clear about the “now” brand message under new leadership of Frida, Gucci is a beacon of luxury taste, a fashion role model with a halo of respect. The imagination runs wild on Gucci’s seductive visuals, never the explicit. Sure my own righteousness is questionable.
Paula Scher’s original napkin logo sketch. Michael Bierut talks about it:
When Citibank merged with Travelers back in 1998. On the very first meeting of the first day they worked on the project, Bierut doodled the “T” of the word “Travelers” as an umbrella handle. Now, he said, you see pretty much that exact idea everywhere. “99% of the word was done on the first morning.” He also good-humoredly acknowledged that partner Paula Scher insists she did the fateful doodle.
I can’t compose a proper eulogy for Steve Jobs. There’s too much to say, too many capable of saying it better than I ever could. It’s one thing to miss someone, to feel a void when they’re gone. It’s another to do something with their legacy, to honor them through your actions.
Steve devoted his professional life to giving us (you, me and a billion other people) the most powerful device ever available to an ordinary person. Everything in our world is different because of the device you’re reading this on. What are we going to do with it?
Visual Landing System for a US Navy Aircraft carrier. As the aviator approaches the flight deck, the aviator watches the light and puts the ball in the center of the square mirror.
The goal is to keep the ball in line with the row of green lights on either side of the mirror. The typical exchange to an incoming naval aviator, a la Top Gun, “call the ball” which illuminates the lighting system followed by, “You have the ball…”
Very practical mechanical system for tracking progress around trajectory of an in-bound plane in the middle of the ocean. This has many great (slightly obvious) parallels for the skills of landing projects and tracking things.
The hawk comes to you indicating that you are now awakening to your soul purpose, your reason for being here. It can teach you how to fly high while keeping yourself connected to the ground.
As you rise to a higher level, your psychic energies are awakening and the hawk can help you to keep those senses in balance. Its message for you is to be open to hope and new ideas, to extend the vision of your life.
The Hawk is an animal of flight. It soars through the air looking down, and sees everything. It has a larger perspective of what is going on down below. With its keen eyesight, it looks down as it soars through the air looking for its prey. It can see the smallest of creatures below.
Pretty powerful symbolism.
The Hawk is known as a messenger, similar to the planet Mercury, for the hawk soars close to the Grandfather Sun, as does the planet. When you listen to the power of the Grandfather Sun or Wise Spirit that lives within, you are protected from all types of harm.
The Hawk teaches you to be observant and take a close look at your surroundings. It soars with the power to overcome difficult situations. It soars in circles over the life of the earth, asking you to circle over your life and view it from a higher perspective.
Any quote that makes abstractions about viewing the landscape, from 20,000ft is good reading.
The Hawk has a distinct cry, one that most people are aware of. Its cry signifies awareness. If you hear the cry of the hawk use your intuitive ability to discern the message and seek the truth. If a hawk has soared into your life, you require a higher perspective. You need to see the details of what is going on and look at the bigger picture. Take a look at your situation from above.
Meaning, passion and purpose are good enough reasons to find noble higher purpose . That’s the beginning of a life changing decision.
Short lecture by Kurt Vonnegut on the ‘simple shapes of stories’ using nothing more than chalk, a blackboard, and his famous wit.
From the moment we exit the womb, we tend to hear the same basic stories over and over again. For instance, one wouldn’t normally draw comparisons between Jane Eyre and Avatar, but the two actually share the same trope. You know the one: “boy gets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl back.” Most literary folk agree that there are common plots on which all literature is built, though they quibble over the exact number. In this video relic, the late Kurt Vonnegut boils them down to three, which he charts on just two axes. What you get is an old-school infographic of the shapes stories take.
The Apple way – do it right, or don’t do it at all. If you do it wrong, can it quickly and pretend you never made it in the first place (or, alternatively, call it a “hobby”).
The Google way – do it, put it out there regardless of the state it is in, hope to be able to fix it or upgrade it later to something worthwhile.
I am not saying one method is better than the other in all cases (Gmail and the iTunes Store are enormous successes of the two respective philosophies) but when it comes to something like this, I can’t see a future where GoogleTV has been fixed or upgraded to make it worthwhile. It is exactly he kind of thing that you don’t bother launching until all the partners and especially all the content is in place.
Otherwise you’re just doing damage to the brand, and later on when you do have the partners and the content, all anyone will remember are the jokes from the early days about how you don’t have anything to watch and can’t buy a screen with it built-in anyway.
Getting the tech right and the content wrong is a classic error, and Google should be smarter than this. It’s not like that film; just because you build it doesn’t mean they will come.
Designers: Jock Kinneir and Margaret Calvert, 1958
These are so familiar that no one notices how clever they really are. They convey important information quickly, unambiguously and without distraction to motorists travelling at speed. This demands expertise in perception and information processing, but the result is anything but academic, combining shape, type and symbol with simplicity and style. They look as good today as they did 50 years ago and have made motorway travelling safer and easier for millions. It is one of the hardest tasks to be simple. And it’s a triumph.
United States education statistics for reading. I guess you might say it’s staggeringly shameful.
