David Bowie’s music and artistic creativity have been a personal inspiration since my very first days at art school.
This morning, like so many of us, I was shocked to hear the very sad news of the death of David Bowie. Though I never met him in person, or ever (to my lasting regret) saw him in concert, his albums, songs, and even his acting (who will ever forget him as brilliant pantomime performance as the Goblin King in Labyrinth?) have become memory triggers that instantly conjure up images and emotions from the different periods of my life.
If I hear any of the tracks from Hunky Dory or The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust, Aladdin Sane or Heroes, I’m instantly transported back to the dank Victorian house that stank of joss sticks and stale food, and was my digs during my foundation year at art school; Let’s Dance, Tonight and Never Let Me Down trigger memories of the smell of the acrylic paints and watercolors I used for my work as an illustrator during the 80s; Outside and Heathen return me to the frenetic streets of Camden Town in North London during the heady, crazy days of Blair and Britpop — when I worked out of a leaky photographic studio behind the high street and regularly spent my evenings watching an eclectic range of punk and rock bands play at obscenely loud volume in venues such as The Barfly, The Dublin Castle and The World’s End. Hours takes me back to 1999 and the excitement of the impending millennium and possible Y2K meltdown; Heathen brings me back to the cold realities of post 9/11. …
Maybe this is the year we’ll become less frightened and more enlightened about the benefits of connected technology.
Back in November of 2014, I was discussing the general state of the creative industry with a great writer and friend of mine, Graham Scott, who at the time was bemoaning how “technology had killed his career.” “And now it’s going to save it!” I rather over-enthusiastically retorted. Though I still stand by that statement, as we approach the end of 2015 it’s hard to deny that my enthusiastic embrace of digital technology seems to be increasingly in the minority.
While the imminent “death” of the publishing industry has been discussed ad nauseam, it strikes me that the argument is often rather one sided. It goes like this: “The Internet” has made it possible for the once paying public to read content for nothing, which in turn has systematically destroyed the careers of countless writers — and photographers, artists, musicians, designers, and pretty much any anyone else who does anything remotely “creative” — along with it. …
Students Daniel Titz and Dorian Lebherz filmed a beautiful 90 second ad on spec. In the process, they created a viral hit for the very brand they wrote it for.
“Dear Brother” is an emotionally powerful 90 second short film written & directed by Daniel Titz and Dorian Lebherz — both of whom are students at the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg in Germany. To all intents and purposes, “Dear Brother” is simply a student spec ad for Johnnie Walker whisky; an exceptionally well produced portfolio piece. Except that it’s not.
“Dear Brother” is a very successful viral ad. There’s nothing “spec” about it. The fact that it was made by students is, if you’ll excuse the pun, academic.
To the best of my knowledge, neither the Johnnie Walker brand team, Diageo (who own Johnnie Walker), nor Anomaly (their agency of record) had any input whatsoever. According to an interview with Dorian Lebherz in Adweek, the creative duo have yet to decide whether they’ll show the film to the “client” at all — though I think it’s safe to assume that at least one or two people at Johnnie Walker may have snuck a quick peek on YouTube or Vimeo. …
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