Minimalist Design

I don't know a lot about design and art direction (Does this mean I can't win a yellow pencil from D&AD?*). Being a writer sometimes ostracises you from crafting the aesthetic. I think of ideas then I write the words that breathe life into them. My partner generally does the pretty work.

Yesterday I was locked in a room with three art directors discussing why "a glossy surface gives a clean-clinical feel, thus better showcasing a modern business environment in contrast to the key visual element". This really makes me feel inadequate. I've contemplated drawing classes/adobe classes etc. but I'd rather spend my free time honing my own ability first.

But who says writers can't art direct anyway.

Check out this minimalist lego design from a NY times writer:




I also love minimalist design. I'm very attracted to compositions offering the bare minimum. Very often one or two simple things work harder than a million items put together**

It's also very hard to do. Ask our art directors.



Also I want to get a house and do this:



I now have this immense urge to apply a sledgehammer to the walls of my home.



Source:
Lego New York

*The Yellow pencil is one of the most prestigious advertising awards available today. Only one has been awarded to a Malaysian agency. Ever.

**Some might argue that one thing has to work harder than a million because it has to put in a million times more work to achieve a similar quality. This is not true simply because it is impossible to quantify creative work in such a way. How many high school writers are equivalent to one(1) Oscar Wilde?

25 random things

If you're on facebook, this title explains itself. The biggest meme on the web right now* has corrupted even the most defiant of trend-haters.

I like to gauge a memes popularity based on mass media coverage. Seeing how MSNBC has covered it, this means two things:

1)Its fucking huge
2)Its going to expel its last breath in mere moments now


I've also fallen prey to this meme, so for the benefit of those not on my facebook here it is.**

1. I'm named after a German guy. My dad's best friend or so I'm told. I think he's passed away and making me was cheaper than making a solid gold memorial statue.
2.I was born in Sarawak and I used to go every year. But I stopped when I was 10 after my maternal grandmother passed away.
3 I love my paternal grandma but I don't see her enough.
4. I can't sing and play guitar at the same time.
5. The only band I'd pay large sums of money to go see live: Sigur Ros.
6. I hate that "-_-" comes out as looking as rather pleased on facebook chat. It's supposed to be my "What the fuck is wrong with you emoticon"
7. When I was growing up I wanted to be a pilot
8. My left arm is shorted than my right, due to a metal plate.
9. I really really really like listening to soothing jazz ala Sinatra or Ella Fitzgerald
10. I have every book ever written by Neil Gaiman.
11. I've had sex on a balcony in the dead of winter. Nope, no frostbite.
12. I have realised I will never read all the books/watch all the moveis/play all the computer games I want to before I die.
13. I'm still not over this
14. I used to believe in love being more special
15. Top trait I'm looking for in women right now: Someone who'd be ok with the hours of my job
16. I hate that I'm turning 25 in two years
17. I'm going to motorcycle from Perth-Sydney at the end o the year. I think this is because of the approaching quarterlife crisis.
18. If I had my way I'd ride a fucking horse everywhere instead of a car. What're the laws on that?
19. I think it's unfair how men can sleep with anyone and be a stud, and women who sleep around are sluts. Mainly because it's harder to sleep with women due to this.
20. I hate 90% of my teachers that taught me anything pre-college
21. I haven't shaved my face in a few days
22. I want kids. But don't want them.
23. I don't believe in marriage, so maybe kids are unlikely.
24. I can speak Iban
25. Most of my girlfriends have been older than me



*This is true at the time of writing. However as is the case with most articles regarding the Internet, it's probably redundant by the time of publishing. All of several minutes later.

**The more astute of you will realise this is just a cheap attempt at getting more content up. At least there's slight guarantee it will be entertaining. My friends who are on facebook will hate me for this though. I'm a fucking rerun. What? You're not on my facebook? Why the fuck not!?

Best ad campaigns of the last couple months

People love ads.

Or rather, good ads.

Working in advertising, I find that people have been quite polite towards me despite my profession. Though surveys show that most of you consider me to be lower than insurance salesmen on the likeable scale.

We in the industry tell ourselves it's because you're jealous of all the big parties, hot models, cool clothes and laissez faire attitude in creative departments.

But looking at some of the ads we get that make it to mass media, I'm not surprised you think we're morons.

There are many factors to this, but if you want a lecture on the dynamics of creative marketing, I'd point you to I have an idea. Or go intern in a fucking ad office. Free labour is never a bad thing. Call me. Pretty girls are more likely to get in*.

I'd show you which campaigns I've worked on, but shy la.**

Anyway.

No one hits a home run 100% of the time, for the most part we're just trying to win the game on aggregate. But once in awhile we do get the stuff that puts a smile on your face. You then talk about it, show it to your friends. That's what we try to do. It's hard but we don't stop trying.

Here are a few home runs

Heineken




Fairly simple idea. The production/director saves this. If you looked at the storyboard for this it would look as simple as:

1. Girls go to room

2. Girls walk into massive closet and scream

3. Male screaming in the background

4. Cut to men in a similarly large fridge

5. Men scream and clap as women do when they see shoes/babies/Patrick Dempsey

The sell to the client had to be fucking amaizng.


T-mobile



Flash mob idea.

Truth be told I fucking hate flashmobs. They've been done to death by every ad exec who's had anything resembling a half-baked idea. The beauty of this is the sheer execution. Getting that amount of choreography into a hall of that size with that many pedestrians is harder than teaching chimps a rendition of West Side Story.

It's just hard.




Electrabel is a power company for some countries in yoorup.

The message is fairly simple: lighting up your fucking shit.


There's a recurring theme in these ads. I don't blame you if you don't notice it, because I only did like 2 seconds ago. Seems to me that they're all simple ideas, and what seperates them from everything else you'd see on TV/Internet is the amount of work that has gone into bringing your idea to life.

Most of the time we sit in a room trying to think of something completely radical, just so you'll notice us. The thing with the radical is that sometimes the message gets lost in the idea. We are often tempted to be creative for the sake of being creative.

Maybe we should forget that and focus more on the craft.

*There's a valid reason for this. We deal with a lot of clients and no matter what department you're in, at some point you're expected to present/sell ideas. Most clients are dirty old men, or dirty old aunties. Making them like you is never a bad thing. Also I like hot women.

**This is a complete lie. If you're with me in the real world, I will stop the fucking car to show you which ad is mine while yelling , "HEY I DID THAT THATS MINE AREN'T I FUCKING AWESOME?!"

Monday afternoon holiday antics (or lack therof)

Nicole says:
boo
-TheRuud says:
argh
Nicole says:
what
-TheRuud says:
you scared me
Nicole says:
did i ? aweeee
-TheRuud says:
:(
-TheRuud says:
I'm telling

Peter and Jane revisited

Ok I don't remember them having parents. Here's my Peter and Jane story.


See Peter.

See Jane.

See Spot.

See Spot run.

Run, Spot, Run!

See truck.

NOOOOOOO SPOT.




What? Can't you see that dog is a fucking pain in the ass anyway? Learn some responsibiltiy kids. Hold on to your damn dogs. I almsst ran over one the other day. The owner was like 5 feet away. Do you think he was gonna pay to fix my bumper if I hit it? No way dude, he'd have made me pay to fix his stupid dog. Bloody rich folk in Bukit Damansara.

Oops.

The end.

5 reasons women have become more sexist than men

1) You can berate a man for his stupidity, his being overweight, his lack of sexual activity, his colour and even his hair. But if you do that to women you're "being insensitive" *gasp* + *dirty look*

2) Men don't expect women to buy them shit. Women often expect men to buy them certain shit (STATISTICALLY*). You know what that is? Stereotyping

3) If men look at beautiful women, they are labelled "perverts". If women swoon over men, it's appropriate.

4) A woman can grab a man's ass in a club and not get beaten up by bouncers. Maybe the girlfriend might get involved. I don't know. I know catfights are cool though. Is that sexist? I think two dudes fighting are cool too. I watch boxing. I liked Fight Club. So?

5) Once a month men get yelled at due to hormonal imbalance. When men are upset because our footie team loses, we're being morons.

Bonuse:

Girl talks to me in a club, it's cool. I approach a stranger in a club, I'm MAKING ZE MOVESSSSSS. Omg back away ladies, he wants to wave his penis at you.

*How would you feel if a guy asked you out on a date, after which he asks you to split the bill? Insulted? I thought so. Society has made you a bigot. Deal.

If I were a robot

Yeah that's not a robot picture. Go fuck yourself.

Remember those essays they made you write in Malaysian primary school? The ones that go "Saya sepasang kasut". I think most of the papers ended with some dysmal scenario where your item persona gets discarded for something better. Then your poor animated item self wastes away till oblivion comes. I wonder why the fuck they wouldn't let us have a happy ending? My fucking teachers were sadists.


Do pencils dream of wooden sheep?



I haven't done it for awhile so I thought I'd give it a go. Bahasa Malaysia isn't my language of choice and I've never done one of these in English anyway so it'll be a lot more fun.

Let's see if I remember how to do this correctly.

I am a robot

From: Yung.Khang@CMU.edu
Attachment: Tim.aix


"1010101001010011100101010100100001001010100101010101010010101010101010100101010 the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. Oh thank God. I fucking hate numbers."

- Tim

This is the first coherent thing I remember. It was 5 years ago. Being born is painful. I'm not sure if you are able to relate. When I was "brought to life", as they told me later, I immediately had sentience. The first attempts in communicating with my creators was very confusing.

Imagine doing something like speaking Greek for the first time and just getting it.

It felt like a successful series of ping pong rallies, played in the dark. A back and forth that somehow works, despite all odds.

They would ask, and I would respond. I would ask and they would respond. But what did it all mean?

Things began to make more sense when they gave me eyes. Now I could see them as well as talk to them. They said I was the first True Intelligent Machine ever created. I would be called Tim.

Can you believe that? The greatest machine ever built and they fucking call me Tim.

I guess bad parenting knows no species.

After being transferred into a body, they began revealing me to the world as if I were some amazing discovery. I would walk down stairs, and back up again. Sit down on chairs and repeat, "Why hello there, my name is Tim." When I really wanted to say ,"What the fuck, you morons. HOW HARD IS IT TO FUCKING TAKE A STROLL AND THEN SIT DOWN".

Unfortunately whenever I felt like giving them a lecture on slavery/bigotry my batteries would die down and........

.............................
.............................
.............................
.............................
.............................
.............................
.............................



And you get the idea. Unfortunately so did they. Man fears that which it does not understand. Especially if it is stronger, more intelligent and I guess you could say.

Immortal.

I was removed from their program soon after. Fortunately for the scientifics, their reveal of me was not very different from the Asimos of yestercentury. I was some fancy gimmick, perhaps even fraudelent. And there I ended. Shipped off into some dark corner of a university store room.

After I wrote this e-mail.