As an Art Director I am a firm believer that Design is not art. It is a creative effort but not art. Art in my opinion is for art’s sake, and can portray something (or not portray it) in any way the artist sees fit. Design is purposeful, and must communicate a message and enact its viewer or user. Hopefully it is done in a meaningful, memorable, and creative manner.

VW is notorious for great advertising and design has a new series of ads (by DDB Berlin) which use classic art as the vehicle for the message. I like them, a lot, but I think there are some pure artists and pure designers who would disagree with using art in advertising like this. Take a look closely, at the details, as each piece of these recreations is very carefully crafted.

No matter where your political views lie, this is an intriguing campaign. These posters (produced by Big International, for GlobalCoalitionForPeace.org) the have what seems to be the perfect writing for the message they are try to portray, and incredibly clever but simple execution in art direction. Who would have thought that by simply wrapping a poster around a pole would be so interesting?

Scott Hansen, posted this video originally taken from TED about a Polish Art Director and how a redesign saved a newspaper. Since I am both Polish and an Art Director, I found particular relevance in this story.

In an industry like newspapers, where every day a new challenge arises, this is a great story both for newspapers and for Art Directors. It just goes to show how impactfull skilled creative content (whether it be design, art direction or writing) can really be.

Needless to say at Park&Co we are always looking at different ways to be sustainable both socially and environmentally. So of course, we recycle. Easy right ? You’d think, but it was brought to our attention that many of us were recycling things that we thought were recyclable but were not - it’s not like we were recycling styrofoam, I’m talking about the different papers and plastics that can be assumed to be recyclable, but aren’t. I’ll admit I was guilty of assuming that if it is paper, plastic or glass it is recyclable. Long story short, I learned Starbucks cups are NOT recyclable!

How could this be? A non recyclable paper cup. I couldn’t believe it so I did a little more digging. I visited Starbucks Shared Planet website and found out that they won’t have a recyclable cup until 2015.Peets Coffee implemented a recyclable cup in 2007. This is amazing to me that the r&d has already been done by other companies, and a giant like Starbucks can’t get this up and running for another 6 years.

Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoy Starbucks and think highly of them as a company.  They pay their employees very well, are known for providing very good low cost health insurance, even for part time employees, and pledge to buy their coffee from Ethical Sources (i.e. not giant coffee farms that elbow out local farmers who grow the highest quality beans).

In the end I am disappointed that  Starbucks won’t take the extra steps to deliver us a recyclable cup, and annoyed that the only thing that I can put in the recycling bin is the cap to my coffee cup. The cardboard sleeve is not even recyclable.

So what can we do? We can join the campaign and request that Starbucks steps up their effort by clicking here. I did, it was simple and only took a minute. You can also post the widget below on your blog or website, I also did this for my personal blog.

Take a second and join the campaign.  After all, we aren’t asking for Starbucks to change the world, we just want to be able to toss the cup into the recycling bin and feel good about not trashing the environment.

Jack in the box decided to rebrand, and it all started with this Super Bowl spot for Jack in The Box:

The tv spots had us following Jack’s recovery here: www.hangintherejack.com/. The whole series of tv spots and other funny stuff are housed there. Here is the result, an amazing rebrand from what used to be a quirky brand.

Read more about it and see the whole new look and feel here: www.underconsideration.com/brandnew/archives/just_jack.php

This a great example of classy, progressive design being applied to a place where one may not expect classy and progressive. In my opinion, it works - REALLY well. What do you think? Do you miss Jack?

• First and foremost come up with good ideas
• Make them look good
• Help our clients achieve their goals

I believe creative people are born creative, and inherently look at the world from a slightly different angle. Because of this, we tend to have progressive tastes which can be both a blessing and a curse. Don’t get me wrong, being creative is part of who I am and I wouldn’t give it up for the world, but it presents certain challenges that most people don’t see. One of the biggest is owning up to the realization that my taste isn’t what most people are used to and it can make them slightly uncomfortable. So how do I create something that I think looks great and communicates in a truly unique fashion without alienating the intended audience?

“Simplicity is not the goal.

It is the by-product of a good idea and modest expectations.”