#makeascene

For the past week or so I keep getting nagged at work to take part in their latest competition which involves creating your own short film from their latest ad campaign. So I thought I'd give it a go and see what all the fuss was about. You have to choose 6 clips, the mood, the music and genre and this is all put together to produce your film directing debut.

Click on the link below to watch my film 'One Day'.

One Day

And if you like what you see, please feel free to share it. At the end of the day, I'm not complaining about a free trip to Sydney if I win!

Enjoy xx

beyonce for h&m

I'm always a little sceptical of the H&M collaborations. More often than not they seem to look a little cheap and don't really reflect the true quality of the collaborating designer. I'll admit it's a good way for fans to buy into their favourite designers collections at a fraction of the price but for what they are getting, is it ever really worth the money? However, it seems to bring plenty of success to H&M and with Beyonce being announced as the latest collaboration, all I can do is hope that this collaboration doesn't end up like the rest. 

From the first photo the collection and Beyonce is looking pretty good! Can't wait to see the rest now.

Enjoy xx

fierce

So ASOS has recently launched it's Christmas campaign #BestNightEver and to coincide with this they have released a series of shoppable videos featuring some very current and hot musicians. The other week saw ASOS take to Pinterest where they released a jigsaw of images which needed to be pieced together to work out who the celebrities featuring in the campaign would be. The outcome was model Charlotte Free, and musicians Ellie Goulding and my favourite Azealia Banks. This is a great and fun way for a brand to interact with their consumers.

This week saw the release of the campaign videos; a separate one for each artist. The final one was released today by the renowned fashion blogger Susie Bubble and is the cherry on top of all three; Azealia Banks. 

This is Azealia's version featuring new track Fierce for ASOS's #BestNightEver campaign. When the video is finally uploaded to the ASOS website you will be able to shop Azealia's outfits straight from the video. The video features a mixture of 'London downtown aesthetic mixed with some uptown glamour' styled by Sharmadean Reid. 

ASOS is at the forefront of e-commerce, but it won't be long until you are seeing shoppable videos from all your favourite high street brands.

Enjoy xx

greyhound

As collaborations go, this is one of the most suited I have seen in a while. When do you drink vodka? On a night out. So what better than teaming an alcohol brand with a DJ. Or 3 as it turns out. Absolut Vodka collaborated with the legendary Swedish House Mafia on their summer anthem 'Greyhound'.

Absolut presents 'Greyhound' - the drink, the song and the video to accompany. With some subtle product placement within the music video the two brands fit perfectly together. 

The video, directed by Carl Erik Rinsch, sees three groups of racing enthusiasts, all kitted out in couture Lady Gaga would have been proud of, as they watch and cheer on their robotic greyhound; whilst casually sipping on their light pink Absolut Greyhounds - cue the product placement. Whilst those enjoy the race across the Bonneville Salt Flats, the Swedish House Mafia trio are confined to a remote location where they remotely control their robodogs. 

The visuals of the video are stunning with eye popping colour set against a gorgeous background along with some stunning outfit choices. The music fits the video perfectly and Absolut Greyhound seems to be the perfect drink for these couture cladded socialites to be drinking. In my opinion this is a brilliant collaborative choice with two brands that fit and compliment each other perfectly.

Enjoy xx

coca cola - spread the happiness

For my uni project I have been looking into different brands and how they market their products or any PR stunts that they have carried out. Recently, over the past year, Coca Cola have taken part in some interesting guerilla marketing campaigns using their iconic vending machines. Last month in Korea a vending machine was set up with a big screen attached to it. The idea was to get consumers to dance in public. So when the public copied what the characters were doing on screen the they received a free bottle of coke.

Earlier this year they set up a special vending machine in an Istanbul shopping centre to coincide with Valentines Day. The vending machine looked like any other but with rigged with a secret camera inside. The only way you could get a can of coke was to prove that you were a couple. When you did, a can of coke was released for both you and your partner. Quite a cute way to share the love for Valentines Day.

Really interesting way to grab consumers attention and make them aware of the brand. Now they just need to bring one to a shopping centre near me and make it Diet Coke!

Enjoy xx

lana del rey + h&m

Driving to work the other morning I lost complete focus of the road ahead of me - sorry Mum! But don't worry I didn't crash - as I was totally distracted by the billboards I saw on the edge of the road. These posters we're of course for the new H&M collaboration featuring the stunning Lana Del Rey. I would never have considered her as one for celebrity endorsement, yet saying that she does have a Mulberry bag named after her, but she seems like the perfect face for H&M's A/W12 campaign. 

This is the full video of the H&M commercial where the sultry singer croons Bobby Vinton's 'Blue Velvet'. Everything about the commercial fits perfectly, from the song to the setting and LDR's wardrobe choices. I love the cheeky ending as well as it proves that the brand or Lana don't take themselves to seriously as well keeping in line with H&M's fun side.

She is a perfect choice for this seasons campaign. 

Enjoy xx

identity crisis

So I have been meaning to blog about this post since I visited Berlin in January, but every time I remember I seem to forget again, until today. The topic is to do with visual merchandising, in particular the mannequins. And seeing as I was reminded by something my friend showed me today, I felt it was still very topical and still worth blogging about. 

Whilst I was in Berlin I saw a recurring theme within visual merchandising with the use of alternative objects as heads for the mannequins. This not only featured in displays themselves but also in various magazines that I collected from the various trade shows I visited. Since then I have seen the trend appear in Victoria Beckham's latest collection at Harvey Nichols and even in the windows of Jack Wills at the little seaside resort Rock, in Cornwall. 

Here are a few photos to help explain what I am talking about: 

Here the model had flowers as an alternative to a head. This image was taken at one of the stands at the Bread and Butter trade show in Berlin.

Victoria Beckham launched her latest collection at Harvey Nichols on kitten headed mannequins.

This was the image on the website for the spring/summer collection at French Connection. As you can see they have balloons covering their faces. This advert is very fun and playful like the rest of the FC adverts this season.

This was an image of the Christmas window at Jigsaw last year. They were ahead of the game with this trend, however animal heads, in this setting, have been around for a while. To create a display that is innovative, you need to go beyond this and think of a complete alternative to a humans face. 

These images were taken from photoshoots from magazines I collected in Berlin. The first image was taken from JN'C magazine whilst the second and third from a photoshoot called 'Hairy Fashion' from a magazine titled Bitchslap.

Even Jack Wills have jumped on the trend where they have used rose bushes instead of the mannequins head.

These visual displays are all very postmoden. They also all pose the question of identity and do the clothes we wear really give us an identity any more; or do we actually just blend into the person next to us, wearing exactly the same thing. How do we create our own identity these days?

There's a question for you all the think about.

Enjoy xx

bjorn borg

So last week I got an unexpected tweet from Bjorn Borg saying I was the random lucky winner of some Bjorn Borg underwear, which was definitely a nice surprise. And then today on my arrival home from uni I had a lovely, and very colourful package waiting for me. An even better surprise. Inside contained 2 pairs of ladies knickers and 3 pairs of men's boxers, which will make for a perfect accessory to sleep in! There was even a handwritten note which gave the whole package even more of a personal touch.

This is a great form of promotion for a company like Bjorn Borg. It builds up and a good reputation and creates a loyal fan base which all in all will mean good results. 

Follow Bjorn Borg on Twitter.

@BjornBorgUK

You never know, you might be the next lucky winner!

Thanks xx

une fille comme les autres

Jalouse Magazine - Une Fille Comme Les Autres

Having recently been asked to make a viral video for our last university project, it was so refreshing to see a viral video as fun as this. It is ironic how a video mocking the way fashion viral videos are made has gone viral itself.

Filmed for French fashion magazine Jalouse by Matthew Frost, the video is complied of beautiful imagery, as we would expect to see in a fashion viral, and a beautiful model in the form of Ashley Smith, yet the witty voice over makes the video it's own as he narrates in such a mocking tone on what we would expect to happening at each point in the film.

This video was shown to us in a lecture and personally I think it is brilliant. Let me know what you think.

Enjoy xx

addicted?

For those of you that know me, you will know that I have a slight addiction to Diet Coke. So when we got give the project to make a zine (an independent publication) in the space of 48 hours on the topic of our obsession, what better to focus mine on than Diet Coke itself. 

There are plenty of areas of Diet Coke that I could of focused my zine on, from the advertising and promotion to the design of the packing itself, which is what I chose, looking in particular at the development of the Diet Coke can. 

And quite rightly I named my zine 'Addicted?'. Pretty self explanatory. 

These are the layplans made up of all the images that were put in my zine. This sheets were then cut and folded to make the final piece.

Here are a selection of images which show my zine at different angles. As you can see, it is not set out like a normal booklet but instead is made to be free standing so you can see see the images from all angles. 

Enjoy xx 

london fashion weekend

At uni we are currently working with the British Fashion Council on a project based around increasing the footfall to London Fashion Weekend. We are focusing on the section Weekend Mens, which is currently very limited and has a lot of potential for improvement. As a way of promoting Weekend Mens to the public, we carried out a photoshoot with the intention to use some of the photos in the advertising campaign. Here are a sample of some of the photos and potential adverts to promote London Fashion Weekend and Weekend Mens:

We loved the idea of projections so here a few examples that we tried out. As it is London Fashion Weekend we thought the tube map was most appropriate. The second projection is of Somerset House where London Fashion Weekend takes place, and the final is of our logo projected over our model Will.

Here are an example of a couple of the photos transformed into adverts. The one promoting Weekend Boutique is to show how our idea is transferable to all areas of London Fashion Weekend. 

Enjoy xx

perfume adverts

adverts don't normally catch my attention unless they are funny or the complete opposite and are really annoying. to be honest as soon as the adverts come on i usually start flicking through the channels until they have finished. however, recently perfume adverts have been catching my eye and there are some really stunning ones around at the moment.

marc jacobs - daisy advert

i know this advert is a little cheesy as the three models, sophie srej, frida gustavsson and hannah holman, frolic around in the meadows with horses and oversized daisy perfume bottles, but at the same time the advert is cute and i think it encapsulates the mood behind the perfume through the use of lighting. the song played over the commercial compliments the advert very well.

love the cropping of this image which takes the model completely out of the image leaving only their arms and the perfume bottle is now the pure focus.

dior - j'adore advert

there is just something about this advert that i love. i love the song, it is always stuck in my head once the advert has been on, and charlize theron is stunning in it. i don't know if you notice but the dress in the commercial very much resembles the j'adore bottle. i also love the cameo role from marylin monroe, however if were going to get technical, we all know that monroe's choice of fragrance was chanel, so the fact that she appears in a dior advert doesn't quite add up. 

prada - candy advert 

this advert may be a little bit tacky and doesn't seem as put together as other perfume adverts but it still has a lot of character and sums up the perfume and compliments the brand very well. the walls are the perfect shade of pink and the domineering woman is perfect for the brand. 

these adverts are all completely different but they all have something about them.

enjoy xx