Along my way..

Pongo & Perdi

2011-05-02T01:51:00.003+05:30

The two brightlights are looking for home(s).

Please pass the message around!

Location: New Delhi

Classic Dilbert Strips

2010-09-21T17:53:00.000+05:30

Found some recent Dilbert strips worth posting! Enjoy :D

2010-09-19

2010-09-16

2010-08-06

2010-08-05

2009-10-24

2009-10-25

2009-10-27

Queries@21st Century

2010-01-10T20:34:00.007+05:30

An evergrowing list of random queries!

Why isnt there a Gtalk client for Mac?
What is the difference between News Feed and Live Feed in Facebook?
Why does the new haircut always suck after you reach back home?
Why is your belly the first to respond to the sedentary lifestyle?
How come wrong numbers are never busy?

Noteworthy: Lee Clow

2009-12-15T11:29:00.004+05:30

Lee Clow- The Chairman and Global Director of TBWA\Worldwide, spoke for SHOOT's 50th year of publication in its year-end issue.

Back around 1970 when Chiat\Day was starting up in Los Angeles, Lee Clow found himself working at N.W. Ayer and didn't enjoy the environment there. "It was too much about what was bad about the Mad Men days--martini lunches and keeping clients happy rather than striving to do something better and creative on their behalf," recalled Clow. "Meanwhile there was a lot of buzz about this shop across town on Olympic Boulevard [in L.A.] called Chiat/Day. Jay Chiat and Guy Day were there, Hy Yablonka was the creative director. It was a place I wanted to work. After bothering them for a year, I finally landed a job and I've been there ever since."

The "there" has changed quite a bit over the years, as reflected in Clow's current roles with Media Arts, TBWA Worldwide, and with TBWA\Media Arts Lab. Yet whatever titles he's carried over the years, Clow has always found himself trying to maintain a key working dynamic. "It was fun being 18 people on Olympic Boulevard," he related. "There was a passion and intensity in trying to figure out how to do new brave stuff. Jay Chiat pushed for breakthrough work. Today, we still aspire to do the same. But when you get as big as we are now, it gets harder to maintain the feel of what we had at Chiat\Day with those core people. That's the feel, though, that I still look to attain today, so that our creative brand groups feel and act like little agencies with the same kind of passion we had for one or two accounts back then."

Clow's creative passion has translated into such iconic work as Apple's historic "1984" Super Bowl spot, and years later the reunion between Apple and TBWA\Chiat\Day which first yielded the lauded "Think different" campaign. That creative spirit now extends all the way through iPods, iPhones and the ongoing "Mac vs. PC" campaign which has become part of mainstream pop culture.

As for how agency creatives and their mandate have changed over the years, Clow observed, "Back in the day it used to be that the high threshold for a creative person was to do TV. Lower down the food chain there was print, and further down there were dealer ads. But today creative people and creative departments have to be part of an all-media thinking creative group. Creative is not just about a TV commercial.

"Today," continued Clow, "creatives have to consider what kind of conversations are going to start up around the idea they're putting out there for a brand no matter what the medium. You don't have control over conversations in social media, blogs, chats, on Facebook and Twitter. But you can do things as a brand, take actions that beget conversation, beget interest, that tap into the power of people wanting to spend time talking about you, your brand, what you do. We have never sought to seed or try to force conversation on the Internet. It's the brand that does that and the conversation is spontaneous. 'How do you like your iPhone?' The brand has to be smart, likeable and trustworthy. Everything a brand does is advertising.

"Ultimately," affirmed Clow, "brands are going to become media, with people choosing to seek out a certain brand and spend time with it. If the brand has done a film, people want to see it. They want to see their product, their store. The Apple Store is probably the best ad Apple has ever done. The store is an audio-video experience with passionate kids at the genius bar, an inviting design, interaction with the products, a theater in back where they teach and where other forms of film are shown that engage, inform, tell stories and sometimes entertain. Apple's packaging tells as much of a story about that brand as a TV spot. The experience of getting an iPhone, opening the box, how reverently that packaging is designed, the words and pictures taking a dimensional form on the package. People want to touch, feel and see a brand. Our task is to help build a brand that's strong enough as a medium so that people will want to interact with that brand's stories."

Click HERE to read more from Lee and other people sharing their vision!

-Article from Shoot Online Dec 11, 2009.

brainache

2009-12-07T16:12:00.005+05:30

Couple of PJs, that left me brain dead~

Why did ganesh become anesh?- Kailash Kher had sung

ter naam se jee(G) loon.

Thats why!

There was a male elephant
whose girlfriend, a female elephant
got married to some other elephant
so he was depressed.
So his friend took him to a park to cheer him upthey saw a seesaw in the park

n tried riding it but it broke.Guess which song did he sing then???
-Seesaw ho ya dil ho, akhir toot jata hai

toot jata hai

toot jata hai..

Courtesy- Amrita Basu.

p.s. Don't hit me.

Gross Insensitivity & unfair practices at Fortis Healthcare, Vasant Kunj New Delhi

2009-10-12T01:33:00.005+05:30

I want to draw the attention to a recent incident which happened with a friend of mine and her sister while their stay at Fortis Healthcare, New Delhi. Here is the account in her own words:

"Situation1: My sister had been admitted at Fortis Vasant Kunj since 5th Oct for very low BP (70/40). Till 7th, the doctors didn't know the reason for this (though they told me that it was most certainly a post viral syndrome), but they wanted to keep her in the hospital for atleast a day or two more just to give her fluids and in their own words 'tender loving care'. But as soon as it was found that she was H1N1 positive, they told us to leave the hospital within half an hour. Is it legal in the state of Delhi to do this?
Situation2: They claim that we'll not get medical insurance for this since we left so soon. Though they are on the list of 'cashless transaction' hospitals, they not only demanded an upfront advance before registration (its their policy, no matter which insurance they have tied up with), they also demanded a full clearance claiming this was the way billing happened, even if our insurance did say 'cashless transaction'.
Situation3: They have ofcourse overcharged - charging us for extra stay even while telling us to leave, again claiming this is the way they function - they'd 'love to help', but they can't where money is concerned.

Its too bad that a hospital with wonderful support staff can mess things up so badly. Since then ofcourse, we have been to RML in Delhi (the Tamiflu guys), nice people, we are both on medication now, both recovering from Swine Flu.
Guys, this is a medico-legal query. Any quotable information you can get from credible sources - doctors who are working somewhere, lawyers - I need to be able to quote them - please send me messages, so I can put together a strong case against Fortis Vasant Kunj. I don't know how the blogging thing works - so if you can put this out through your blogs, that'll be just great."

Indeed this is gross! Sad to find such big hospital acting in such a way to a sensitive issue. If anybody can help out in any way mentioned or, just blog it, you have contributed! Thanks.

Visual delight: Projections!

2009-08-21T11:28:00.001+05:30

Projection on Buildings from NuFormer Digital Media on Vimeo.

555 KUBIK_ extended version from urbanscreen on Vimeo.

Muzorama: weird and scary animation film

2009-07-28T15:55:00.000+05:30

Muzorama from Muzorama Team on Vimeo.

via designlenta

TRUE BLOOD title sequence

2009-07-28T11:40:00.000+05:30

TRUE BLOOD from Tiago Ribeiro on Vimeo.

Things to do: post it notes

2009-07-19T01:56:00.003+05:30

Good Collection of 'Post-it' Notes art

The Montreal Window

2009-07-14T18:59:00.001+05:30

La Vitrine - Montreal from steven bulhoes on Vimeo.

Life Story of a bubble in pics!

2009-07-13T23:20:00.006+05:30

courtesy: Dailymail UK

Private Library and Writing Studio : Things dreams are made of!

2009-07-12T21:27:00.002+05:30

Private Library from A Space In Time on Vimeo.

James Victore

2009-06-19T20:50:00.001+05:30

SPD Speakeasy: James Victore from SPD Videos on Vimeo.

life made simple

2009-06-13T18:53:00.002+05:30

Complaining is silly. Either act or forget.
Thinking life will be better in the future is stupid. I have to live now.
Being not truthful works against me.
Helping other people helps me.
Organizing a charity group is surprisingly easy.
Everything I do always comes back to me.
Drugs feel great in the beginning and become a drag later on.
Over time I get used to everything and start taking if for granted.
Money does not make me happy.
Traveling alone is helpful for a new perspective on life.
Assuming is stifling.
Keeping a diary supports my personal development.
Trying to look good limits my life.
Worrying solves nothing.
Material luxuries are best enjoyed in small doses.
Having guts always works out for me.

-Stefan Sagmeister

Lights!

2009-06-08T02:17:00.000+05:30

lights on from thesystemis on Vimeo.

Yay!! My work's won :D

2009-06-06T22:30:00.003+05:30

Two brand posters for Fox History & Entertainment which have won silver in Promax BDA 2009 (Print category).
Thanks FH&E !!

Most Adorable Robot Experiment Ever

2009-04-13T02:40:00.001+05:30

The ad Tata does not want you to see

2009-04-03T23:37:00.003+05:30

Greenpeace is urging Tata to reconsider its decision of building a deepwater port in Orissa. Such an action will threaten the survival of endangered sea turtles and two important Protected Areas. Here's a print campaign regarding the same to be launched in major Indian newspapers:

legend goes on..

2008-04-14T10:58:00.006+05:30

James 'Rip' Kemsley the legend that brought Ginger Meggs every day, to over 120 papers in over 20 countries has died. The acclaimed writer and illustrator passed away at his home on Bowral, New South Wales, on Monday 3 December 2007, after a two-year struggle with motor neuron disease. He was 59 years-old.

I have been religiously following this comic strip since 4 years and truly enjoy the wit and dry humour of this school going Australian icon known as Ginge(r). It cames as a shock to me when I came to know of Kemsley's sudden death weeks ago. Felt empty for a moment & lost that all good things come to an end. I even had exchanged a few emails wid him, when I'd congratulated him for his crazy one-liners written in the corners of every strip.

4th April, 08 : Its a historic day for all Ginger-meggs lovers. Today this (above) strip appeared, marking the beginning of a new era in the new hands. From now onwards, the daily strip will be taken over by the award-winning Perth cartoonist, Jason Chatfield. Wish Chatfield all the best in his endeavour, its surely a challange to meet the standards set by Rip.
We'll miss you :( ......

Somebody got inspired

2007-02-16T00:03:00.000+05:30

Latest FORD Fusion 'what's your excuse' creative done by JWT India :

click img to enlarge

Levi's 'As Days Go' done by BatesAsia, Malaysia:

click img to enlarge

Store dis(play!)

2006-11-30T12:32:00.000+05:30

IMG_0097, originally uploaded by dishi54.

strange sign- supermarket wisdom

2006-11-30T12:31:00.000+05:30

supermarket wisdom, originally uploaded by Dale Anderson Mason.

After 74 bands, 100 movies...

2006-09-05T01:49:00.000+05:30

The Virgin Digital "Exercise Your Music Muscle" contest has already become sort of a legend in viral marketing. The well crafted image contained graphical representations to 74 music bands which the viewers had to identify. Challanging enough to provide endless hours of amusement and head scratching! Click here for the full picture and the answers.

Now along the same lines, lovefilm.com has launched a contest celebrating 100th edition of their weekely newsletter. Click here for the full image, and the answers. Lets see how much buzz this's able to create, n how many movies you can spot.

What I have learnt in Advertising

2006-08-08T15:09:00.000+05:30

I'm on the threshold to join Advertising. Here are my learnings from observations in life & teachings. These are not laws but my beliefs, many of which waiting to be busted..

Advertising is the second oldest profession in the world. We all know what’s the oldest one. (Maybe advtg got triggered by the increasing competition in the oldest one..!)
There are no rules in Advertising; only trends. Trends, waiting to be reversed.
Advertising in one word: PERSUATION
God lies in detail. Even a lame idea can go places if executed well. Execution plays the most important role after the idea.
Women have been used to sell anything & everything under the sun.
Audience’s state of mind: Yaa that people are leading busy lives n nobody cares for the odd 3000-5000 advtg messages he’s daily exposed to. But hold, its also true that gradually people have developed a taste for ads. Good (read ‘creative’) ones are noticed and discussed like fire. Interestingly, when we are sifting through the pages of a magazine or newspaper, we’re as well seeking ads that stimulate & thus entertain us. There are websites that cater to this particular need gap.
Collection of experiences: Advertising is all about exaggeration. And its not amplification to say that all ads are based on real life people & experiences. (Ya dont believe..?) Thus what one needs is to keep the observant eye open & analyze it with a few ‘ifs’ thrown in.
Ads that don’t seem like ads: Determined to get consumers' attention, advertising has taken its creativity outside the box and into new dimensions. No-Copy Advertisements offer a solution in the form of messages without the messages. They employ an indirect approach by placing visuals that represent single strong proposition, and cutting out unnecessary copy. This does breaks clutter by being unconventional, and is currently the flavor of the season.
Involve the audience for gaining retention (visual vs copy): Advantage with No Copy ads is that they are indirect ads led by visual information posing a puzzle to the audience. Now the audience gets involved in trying to find out the intended message and finally when he cracks the ad, the process and the brand gets registered in the memory. While, traditional approach simply lays down the verbal claims and hopes for the brand to reach the consideration set of the audience.

Posting more soon...

Wanted Steve

2006-05-12T19:12:00.000+05:30

Steve, originally uploaded by McK74.

Found tis interestin one on Flickr...

Blast from past: Axe Viral

2006-04-26T00:20:00.000+05:30

Told you about the 'hot' Napster viral here.

Now, here's the hugely popular Axe Feather Viral. Its been circulated umpteen number of times , but still holds the audience.

The user has to tickle the female with a feather & she makes different gestures (oomph!). She is highly motivated, n even yawns if you're boring her.

Clever use of imagination coded into flash action script. Goes absolutely well with the Axe philosophy of tickling the male libido..

Water Bears, the world's toughest animal !

2006-04-18T02:20:00.000+05:30

Oh man, what if this thing was comin' straight for ya! Too bad you wouldn't notice it - the biggest one would be a millimeter and a half in size, and you'd probably find it on a lichen or moss.

They are apparently the World's Toughest Animal. You can shoot them into space, take them to the deepest ocean depths and let them go, deprive them of air, water, and food for years and they don't care. Send them into the core of nuclear reactor. They'll be fine.

Check out wikipedia's take on these 'bears' containing more amazing facts such as : They can hang out at 150 degrees C, or close to absolute zero. They found a living one that had been hibernating for 120 years...etc.

Uh... I'm not impressed. Do you have to be so small to be 'eternal' or invincible ?!

For St. Valentine's Day: The famous love sign!

2006-02-18T01:28:00.000+05:30

Nobody can deny from the famous, omnipresent double-lobed heart symbol: the symbol of love; & must also have wondered about its origin. The heart shaped symbol is definitely not inspired from the shape of the heart. (Alas!)

Well, the symbol traces its origin to the famous 'pair' of the female anatomy(as you rightly guessed!), but hold on, its not those curves which you're thinking of..

Read what the history & research work says, & links it to the Greek goddess of beauty, Aphrodite's 'assets'... (Agreeably!)

Advertree

2006-01-25T16:48:00.000+05:30

..'m sure this tree wud be makin lotz of money..!

Some fun with ads!

2006-01-25T16:10:00.000+05:30

found at flickr

Skype Device!

2006-01-04T02:37:00.000+05:30

Ok, so we used & felt glad that there are some free applications that can enable real time talking over the net (read:Skype). But now they have gone a step further & got a handset which is Skype enabled! Checko!

Top Ten Moments in Apple's History

2006-01-04T02:17:00.000+05:30

We all know a lot about Steve Job, iMac & iPod. Here's an interesting reading of Top 10 events in Apple's life- right from its inception to OS X to G5. (..like it all started on April Fool's Day!)

viral up!

2005-12-08T03:55:00.002+05:30

here
Virals: nothing to do with viruses, but still pretty contagious, in an entertaining sort of way. The great thing about viral emails is that they’re better than work. Everyone loves an entertaining viral but have you ever thought of a viral idea that would get the whole world talking? Which ones are stirring you up? Time to pass it on... This is the current fav-of-da-world from Napster. I'll keep updating more...

take a quiz

2005-12-08T03:55:00.001+05:30

Think you know all about Trojan, worm, virus, spyware, and adware ? Take this Malware Quiz.

google translation shock!

2005-12-06T00:58:00.000+05:30

Found a funny Google Translation Joke, showing how the similarities in languages could screw up the situations! Try this:
1. Open browser then go to google.com & click 'language tools', or click here
3. Write "Britney's mom is very nice" in 'Translate text:' textbox.
4. Select "English to Spanish" in the below combo.
5. Press Translate and wait for translation.
6. Now copy the translated text from the above text and paste it inthe'Translate text:' textbox.
7. Select "Spanish to English" in the below combo.
8. Press Translate and wait for translation.

A wonderful evening!

2005-12-04T02:47:00.000+05:30

Yesterday evening I got to attend a musical play- Pinocchio (thanks to free passes by Maina) done completely on stage by children. The music was composed by maestro Zakir Hussain & voiceover was by famous poet Gulzar. The piece that I enjoyed the most was a group of kids aged below your expectation & performance far exceeding your imagination. We all got completely engrossed throughout the musical.

This makes me think again of the kid-kaliber. If channelised, these chldren can achieve amazing results. But then one may also ask of the amount of pressure to perform on this tiny tots? Two sides of the same coin?!

The bottomline may be whatever, but I'm left wondering will these kids replace us adults some day?

ahoy !

2005-11-13T04:48:00.000+05:30

sombody's been seriously inspiring me to push-button-publishing..so I'm here.
Must say, there's really juicy stuff going on blogs these days..just land somewhere, randomly.
Cheers,
ASH