This & That

Breasts and Cancer: Ads too sexy?

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Breasts and Cancer: Ads too sexy
-Trevor Lee
http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/health/2009/09/24/cho.save.boobs.cnn?iref=videosearch

Check out this ad (ink above) for a non-profit organization, Rethink Breast Cancer. Critics say the ad, created by Canadian MTV host Aliya-Jasmine Sovani, goes too far to get its point. Too much boobie, they argue.  I don’t think that’s the problem though. I think the question is: What is it’s point? What is the message? Apparently it’s to raise awareness and educate men about breast cancer. So Sovani’s solution?  Lets focus on her chest!
Does her ad show off her assets?  Yes. Will it raise awareness of breast cancer to men? Probably. Unfortunately, men do constitute approximately half of the population. So, more importantly, which male segment is she really trying to communicate to? Teenage boys?  College students? Typical males who want to check women’s  breasts  for lumps?
Sovani (or who ever else was involved in this creative) might want to rethink the message being communicated here. We can agree that everyone should be aware of the symptoms of breast cancer, and all it’s horrid effects, but an ad like this is questionable and is it really achieving any objectives?
Donations of time, money, and effort to independently educate themselves about breast cancer, I would argue, aren’t coming from the people she’s targeted with this strategy.

However, she get’s an A for effort and a D for, well, her boobs.

– Trevor Lee

The newest contributor to the Definium Design Group blog is Trevor Lee.

Trevor, a brand strategist and planner, believes a brand is the most important asset a company must manage to create a sustainable competitive advantage.  To him, almost everything else falls under the brand umbrella.

He currently calls ‘The Big Smoke’ home, but before arriving in  London, England, he spent several years at The Beat 94.5 in Vancouver, Canada, where he implemented promotional campaigns for the station and for clients like McDonald’s, Rogers Wireless, Mazda, and Vancity Credit Union.

Trevor holds an M.Sc. in Strategic Marketing from Cranfield School of Management, and a B.A. from the University of Waterloo.

www.definium.ca

Definium and Pride Celebrate 2009 Pride Parade

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Over the BC Day long weekend, Definium Design is proud to “Educate, Liberate and Celebrate” with one of our longtime clients, Vancouver Pride Society (VPS), while they host Vancouver’s largest yearly event, Pride Parade 2009.

We have been involved and working closely with the VPS to develop and design the graphics and identity system for their 2008 – 2011 season, a relationship and a client we are thrilled to work with over the years. Stay tuned over the next two years as Definium Design and Vancouver Pride Society reveal the graphics for VPS’s “Educate, Liberate, Celebrate” campaign.

“Educate, Liberate, Celebrate”

Related Links

www.vancouverpride.ca

www.definium.ca

Right on w/Gotham and Pride!

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IDSN’s design blog is hot on Hoefler & Frere-Jones’ Gotham!

Spotted in many campaigns world wide from Obama’s Presidential Campaign, Nike, Saturday Night Live, and Coca-Cola, Definium Design found it an appropriate use for 2009’s Vancouver Pride Society’s campaign: Educate, Liberate, Celebrate.

Related Links

IDSN
Gotham Typeface
Vancouver Pride Society

www.definium.ca

Definium does Dragon Pedicab

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If you’ve seen them around Vancouver’s Downtown streets picking up tourists during the day or delivering party goers at night, Dragon Pedicab Adventures will take you on a relaxing city ride. Definium Design is proud to work closely with the Vancouver Chinatown Business Improvement Association on another project, this time on the design of the identity of Dragon Pedicab Adventures, tailored to indulge passengers on a modern day rickshaw tour through Vancouver’s heritage rich neighbourhoods, Coal Harbour, Downtown Vancouver, Gastown, and Chinatown.

www.definium.ca

Vancouver Chinatown Festival 2009 – YTS Design revealed

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Call out for applications officially started today for the Annual Vancouver Chinatown Festival – Youth Talent Showdown 2009. This will be the debut year for a special YTS,Dance Edition. So If you’re a dancer, solo or a group, old skool, new skool, and between the ages of 15 to 35, call the VCBIA to register and get ready to kick it!

Working closely with the Vancouver Chinatown BIA, this year’s design will mark our fourth consecutive design in helping this summer event a smash.

Larger version View.

Youth Talent Showdown Website

Chris and Kevin's interview on Extrawest

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www.xtra.ca/public/Vancouver/Vancouver_Pride_Society_unveils_new_theme-6480.aspx

http://definium.wordpress.com/2009/03/23/educate-liberate-celebrate-with-vancouver-pride-society/

www.definium.ca

A Tribute to Paul Rand

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Paul Rand (1914-1996) is a graphic design legend in my book and I don’t think many studios or agencies will be here today if not for him.

He studied at the Pratt Institute and Arts League and was one of the originators of the Swiss Style of graphic design. In my opinion he took the best features of what was coming out of the Bauhus and other places in Europe and called it his – making it very “American”, fun and Rand-like.

He started off his early career designing stock images and quickly building a portfolio of work he art directed Direction Magazine. As a well versed designer, advertiser, illustrator, artist and industrial designer, Rand is mostly noted are his corporate identity work, IBM, Ford, ABC and UPS were some of his largest clients. Practically working as a freelancer, Rand single handedly raised the value of designers with his identity work, giving graphic value to these companies who’s logos has been relatively untouched- some for over 25 years – paving the way for other great designers, studios and students to go out in the world and make a living doing what we love to do.

Thank you Paul Rand for all you’ve done.

Book Cover Archive

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Book Cover Archive

A new online source  just launched recently that is a source and archive for book covers. It’s in Beta mode right now but it seems like its sole intent and purpose is to archive, organize and categorize for alll “appreciators” to gaze, look and appreciate. There are some great designs here by Chip Kidd, Pentagram Studios, Frank Miller and Wolfgang Weingart.

This has all the promises of a great resource so stand by all for future updates.

www.bookcoverarchive.com

Remembering Shigeo Fukuda (1932 – 2009)

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I ran into Shigeo Fukuda’s work as a student in design school. At first glance I just thought “oh just another old-school designer”. But after looking closer at his work and spending a few more moments in a book I found in the library I developed a deep appreciation for him. As a sculptor, artist and designer his work challenges the norm visual norm. Coined a master of deception and compared to the likes of Escher and Dali, Fukuda is extrmely well known in Japan and his impossible objects, ambiguous sculptures, distorted projections and anamorphic art can be seen all over the world.

“Shigeo Fukuda passed away on January 11th, 2009 at the age of 76. He was a master of creating optical illusions, simplistic logos, and designing bold and engaging posters. In 1987 Fukuda was the first Japanese designer to be inducted in the Art Directors Club (ADC) Hall of Fame.”
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