Nov 30, 2005
More Billboards From Archive
More outdoor stuff that's been sitting on my hard drive waiting for a slow blogging day like this. No details on the work, though. Click on pics to zoom in.
Nov 28, 2005
Book "Signs of Life" Documents Spoofs
"The new Signs of Life book is a hilarious compilation portraying one man's crusade against a world of senseless public notices and warnings, with hundreds of spoof road signs, warning stickers, and council order notices being stuck up around the country [the country being the UK]. From shops to roadsides and offices to hotels, Dave Askwith's witty and cutting 'art' is his futile but highly amusing gesture of dissatisfaction with the most woeful public transport system in the world and the inane protocols and rules of modern life."
-- Amazon's synopsis. The 80-page book just came out in November and sells for £4.99.
Nov 27, 2005
Preparations for Macy's Thanksgiving Parade
A great Flickr set of eerie pictures showing preparations for Macy's Thanksgiving parade last Thursday (where the M&M balloon crashed down).
-- via HappyPlace
The Price of New York's Outdoors
NY Mag gives a list of prices of putting up different kinds of outdoor ads:
- Ads on urinals and on the back of stall doors: $100 to $125.
- Sidewalk chalking: $150 to $350 per image per day.
- Spotlight or projection on a building: $4,500 and up per night.
- Subway platform: $40,000 to cover 200 stations.
- Kodak’s 1,500-square-foot Times Square moving-images display: $175,000 a month.
Rooftop Signage
Click picture to zoom in and see how Boston's Lord&Taylor store put its signature on the rooftop. Google Maps wouldn't pick it up, but the signature can be seen (and photographed) from the top of a nearby Prudential skyscraper. (Thanks to Barry for sending this in).
Nov 26, 2005
Nov 25, 2005
M&M Balloon Injures Two
NY Times:
"A giant balloon in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, swinging out of control in sudden bursts of wind, struck a light pole in the heart of Times Square today, injuring two spectators and scaring scores of others in an eerie replay of a 1997 accident that had prompted pledges of safety reforms.
The M&M balloon, a 515-pound plastic contraption filled with 13,335 cubic feet of helium, began to list erratically as it entered Times Square around 11:40 a.m., witnesses said, before it crashed into a lamppost and was punctured. As the balloon collapsed, it pulled off a light fixture, which crashed to the ground amid a small sea of spectators."
Earlier:
Blimp Gone Wrong
Billboards From GTA San Andreas, Part I
I went sightseeing to San Andreas, so here are some billboards from the game:
Crowex: when you are too rich too care what time it is.
Drive-Thru Confessions, Park-n-Pray.
Making fun of True Crime: Streets of New York, a GTA wannabe.
Zip is like Vice City's Gash, only cooler...
... and apparently more upscale.
Crowex: when you are too rich too care what time it is.
Drive-Thru Confessions, Park-n-Pray.
Making fun of True Crime: Streets of New York, a GTA wannabe.
Zip is like Vice City's Gash, only cooler...
... and apparently more upscale.
Nov 23, 2005
Dripping Billboard
This installation works like a flat shower that shoots out water droplets with different frequency. The difference in distance between droplets results in an image.
"Real Business" Billboard
This Russian billboard reads, "Strategy and tactics of success. The real business." The billboard is hanging on the wall of the city jail in Rostov. Source: advertka.
Truck Art
These trucks are too good to be real (!), and are a great source of inspiration. There are more of them here.
-- Media Bum via Bifurcated Rivets
-- Media Bum via Bifurcated Rivets
Hot Mario Brothers Billboard
A subway billboard for what's apparently a new Mario Bros. game for Gamecube in Japan (source: sanchome).
Nov 22, 2005
"Bulletin Board" Billboard
This "Variable Message Sign" billboard in Cardiff provides "an opportunity for members of the public to post messages using a mobile phone" during Cardiff Festival on Creative Technology. More info here.
-- via information aesthetics
Matrix Billboard
I'm working on a paper about advertising in computer games and came across a screenshot of this billboard in Matrix Online. Lovely.
"Wear" Billboard
Kenneth Cole: "Hurricanes aren't ending. And bird flu is now coming. But wear?" Uh?
-- FishDrinkWater
Nov 21, 2005
Billboard Photoshop Contest
"Billboard ads just don't put in the same creativity that they used to. In this contest you will help ad companies think of some clever ideas to help distract drivers while they are going 70 mph."
-- Worth1000.com
Nov 18, 2005
"Coke Contains Coke" Billboard
A billboard for a competing "Dolly Guarana" drink that reads: "Federal Police Report CONFIRMS: Coca-Cola contains Coca Leaves." Expect Coke's prices to soar. Credit: d.r.lynch.
Nov 17, 2005
Billboards as Social Commentary
"This billboard is inane on so many levels, it's hard to know where to start. The camera she's holding? It has the shutter button on the right-hand side. She can't even work that camera until she puts down that bottle of Skyy Blue." Keep reading.
French Billboard with Fake Construction Workers
All I know about this billboard is that it came from a Flickr user john, says "You must mistrust words" in French, and features fake construction workers, a trick we've seen on a Mini Cooper billboard.
"Slice of House" Billboard
This one has been sitting on my desktop for a few weeks now, but I don't have any details other than that it used to hang in New York's Crowne Plaza and apparently advertisers a furniture store.
Nov 16, 2005
Old Joke Billboard
A billboard for the Newcastle beer, which, in all fairness, isn't quite as stale as this joke.
-- mafleen
"Bulb" Billboard for The Economist
A bulb goes off on this billboard for The Economist, triggered by a motion sensor. -- London International Awards
Nov 15, 2005
Sears Snow Globe on Times Square
Sears encased an entire family into a giant snowball set up on Times Square last week. Too bad I missed it. Here are some pics and videos (and a bit more).
Nov 14, 2005
Billboard Hunting in New York
So, I went on this long-weekend trip to New York, which was mostly about business, but also wandering around looking for cool billboards in what's supposed to be the billboard capital. Or so it claims.
The center of the universe, also known as the Times Square, was pretty disappointing: lots of razzle-dazzle, but very little substance, and overall very forgettable. The only exception was this animated Coke billboard,
which on one night showed silhouettes of construction workers putting it together, welding and all. Mesmerizing.
This subway poster reminded me of a recent story about British night clubs not letting people wearing Prada in because apparently Prada is what British "chavs" wear.
Here's a pretty weird subway poster for some storage. Are there lots of doll-collecting New Yorkers?
The same storage company is running a "butt" billboard somewhere in downtown. Copy: "Does my butt makes this room look small?" Our answer is a resounding yes.
There's something about New York and big butts:
A smart way to mount a city map - this one actually hangs on UPenn's campus in Philly.
The center of the universe, also known as the Times Square, was pretty disappointing: lots of razzle-dazzle, but very little substance, and overall very forgettable. The only exception was this animated Coke billboard,
which on one night showed silhouettes of construction workers putting it together, welding and all. Mesmerizing.
This subway poster reminded me of a recent story about British night clubs not letting people wearing Prada in because apparently Prada is what British "chavs" wear.
Here's a pretty weird subway poster for some storage. Are there lots of doll-collecting New Yorkers?
The same storage company is running a "butt" billboard somewhere in downtown. Copy: "Does my butt makes this room look small?" Our answer is a resounding yes.
There's something about New York and big butts:
A smart way to mount a city map - this one actually hangs on UPenn's campus in Philly.
