Creative Briefing - April 2022

CREATIVE

2 2 0 2 APRIL

BRIEFING

A MONTHLY-ISH ROUND-UP OF THE BEST OF POP CULTURE, CREATIVE NEWS, AND STUDIO WORK

CURATED BY

N G I S BRAND DE STUDIO

POP CULTURE ROUND UP

"BRANDS AND BRANDING ARE THE MOST SIGNIFICANT GIFTS THAT COMMERCE HAS EVER MADE TO POPULAR CULTURE. BRANDING HAS MOVED SO FAR BEYOND ITS COMMERCIAL ORIGINS THAT ITS IMPACT IS VIRTUALLY IMMEASURABLE IN SOCIAL AND CULTURAL TERMS." — WALLY OLINS

POP CULTURE ROUND UP

WHAT PEOPLE ARE CELEBRATING These are the events and holidays that the

world is talking about this month. Things are heating up, buds are starting to bloom, so why NOT get in the mood for celebration?

- April Fool’s Day - National Pet Day

APRIL FOOL’S DAY! THIRDLOVE

Why not bring together classic April Fool’s comedy AND America’s favorite poster child: Pets!?

Since we’re celebrating both this month – this tongue-in-cheek ad from ThirdLove Lingerie about their new line of DogBras hits the mark.

JETBLUE

Hate tra c? Yeah, so do New Yorkers. Which made JetBlue’s April Fool’s Day prank about a new route between JFK and LaGuardia airports, because there’s no tra c in the sky, even funnier.

TMobile And of course, one for our design freakz.

TMobile released its NEW brand color of magenta.

(And SURPRISE: it’s the same as old magenta).

- Easter - National Beer Day - National Sibz Day - Tax Day Okay, not so much a celebration– just reminding you.

- Earth Day

ffi

ffi

- 4/20

R E H T O T U O K C CHE STUNTS HERE!

POP CULTURE ROUND UP

WHAT PEOPLE ARE CELEBRATING Win Mother’s Day Campaign As we look ahead to upcoming Mother’s Day, this ‘Win Mother’s Day’ ad created by the Isobel agency for Thortful cards brings the confluence of satire and human truths front-of-mind.

It satirically addresses that little voice in your head that you only share with your therapist: “AM I really the favorite child? How will my gift stand up to my suck-up sibz?”

!

E R E H H G U A L A E HAV

POP CULTURE ROUND UP

WHAT PEOPLE WATCHING THE SLAP HEARD ROUND THE WORLD:

These days, everybody has an opinion on Will Smith. And it’s not because of his goofy acting on Fresh Prince of Bell-Aire, but rather his physical assault of comedian Chris Rock at the 2022 Academy Awards. And then winning an Oscar for lead actor shortly after.

But these opinions vary. To Shaun Harper, a professor and executive director of the USC Race and Equity Center, it was an example of toxic masculinity that “compels a guy to go immediately into bar fight mode when someone says or does something disrespectful to someone he loves” and ends up “inflicting harm on ourselves and others.”

On the contrary, Columnist LZ Granderson turned his gaze on the recipient of the slap, saying he was “more shocked that Rock decided to mock a Black woman’s hair on the world stage.”

And these opinions keep flowing in, loud and clear. One Google search of ‘the slap’ reveals live video and reactions from every angle… and news coverage from top-tier media outlets like NBC News, CBS, NY Post, The Guardian, CNN, New York Times, Variety, BBC, NPR and the Washington Post (among countless others).

Academy directors have been interviewed for hours on morning news talk shows. Comments from both Smith and Rock have been pushed publicly on every social channel known to mankind.

You can’t scroll mainstream social without seeing at least 3 memes (some even more crude than the comment and events themselves).

It begs the questions…when does pop culture take it too far? And how long will media consumers have to hear about it?

POP CULTURE ROUND UP

WHAT PEOPLE WATCHING LIZZO’S REALITY SHOW IS GOOD AS HELL Body positivity is making its way into the mainstream in a BIG way, and we’re here for it. You can see

examples coming to life in advertising everywhere—more and more body types, ages, colors, abilities.

Even Victoria’s Secret is breaking the norm of their iconic ‘angels’ with women who look like… women.

Now Lizzo is bringing that energy into the dance world in a reality show featuring entirely plus-sized dancers.

Y’all know Lizzo, and if you don’t—well, you don’t have to dig too deep to find her. Self-made megasuperstar, singer, rapper, songwriter, flutist and LEGENDARY twerker-- this bitch is spreading the gospel of self-love like glitter.

On March 25, Lizzo’s ‘Watch Out for the Big Grrrls’ shattered the Amazon charts by chronicling her search for badass dancers that look like her— AKA the BIG girls.

These mind-blowingly talented dancers are hand-picked by Lizzo to compete for a spot in her show.

All had been either overlooked or under confident based on their appearance. But the standards set by Lizzo are just as high—if not higher—as they would be for any professional dance competition. And these athletes DELIVER.

This show creates a kind of magic never before seen in the reality TV world. Women in competition with one another -- LIFTING each other up and becoming more beautiful and powerful in doing so.

Women falling in love with their own body for the first time because of what it CAN do.

Real women coming to the stage as they ARE because goddammit, representation MATTERS. To see these queens own the stage in all their glory is more than liberating. It’s about time.

The big takeaway: DANCE is for every. damn. body.

WATCH OUT FOR THE BIG GRRRLS: SHE DOES HER HAIR TOSS, SHE CHECKS HER NAILS, SHE’S FEELIN’ GOOD AS HELL AND SHE’S MAKING A REALITY TV SHOW! LIZZO IS MAKING SPACE IN THE WORLD (AND IN THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY) FOR THE BIG GIRLS. A HOUSEHOLD NAME FOR BODY POSITIVITY AND FEMINISM, SHE’S CREATING A NEW SPACE FOR REPRESENTATION OF NON-TRADITIONAL BODY TYPES IN THE DANCE WORLD.

POP CULTURE ROUND UP

WHAT PEOPLE ARE LISTENING TO

“DOS ORUGUITAS ”

This ‘Encanto’ Song Earned an Oscar Nomination for Best Original Song — And It’s Not ‘We Don’t Talk About Bruno’. Not us sobbing to a song about a caterpillar transforming into a butterfly from an animated movie…

(UNLIMITED LOVE) RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS

If you spend your time jamming out to the 90’s Hits Spotify playlist – get ready for

a NEW April-release Red Hot Chili Peppers album, Unlimited Love.

EUPHORIA SOUND TRACK

Spend ANY time on TikTok lately and it’s likely you’ve heard a few of these…

AGAIN and AGAIN and AGAIN.

THE THING ABOUT PAM:

This true-crime story produced by NBC Dateline tells the story of Russ Faria, who came home from game night to find his wife, Betsy, dead. He was soon charged

and convicted of her murder. But Russ Faria insisted he did not kill his wife.

Become a part of the never-ending saga that proves the old adage: Truth is stranger than fiction. And after you listen, check out the upcoming true crime drama on streaming on Peacock starring Renee Zellweger.

CREATIVE NEWS

"BRANDING IS DELIBERATE DIFFERENTIATION." –DEBBIE MILLMAN

CREATIVE NEWS

A LOVE LETTER TO CREATIVITY SOOOOOO, in case it wasn’t obvious, we’re a bunch of design nerds. We’re totally geeking out over the latest work from Debbie Millman, Why Design Matters.

For 18 years, writer, designer, and brand consultant Debbie Millman has been the host of Design Matters, a podcast where she talks to leading figures in the creative industry to learn what makes them tick and how they've forged a career in this sometimes turbulent vocation. With her personable presenting style and enlightening conversations, it's no surprise that the podcast has become a hit with creatives from all walks of life.

The book features text from Millman's conversations with the world's most creative minds, thought leaders, and intellectuals. Debbie herself introduces the book, which is a visually stunning feast that promises to be both revealing and enlightening. Speaking about what she's learnt through interviewing people since 2005, she says, "I've discovered that the arc of a creative life is a circuitous one, and I am endlessly fascinated by how people become who they are and how the decisions they make throughout their lives impact their work.”

E H T O T N E T S I L !

E R E H S E D O S I P E BEST

CREATIVE NEWS

THE 80S ARE BACK! The wheel of history is turning and we ALWAYS end up back from where we came.

Two years into a pandemic, and it seems like the collective ennui of isolated life has somehow led us headfirst into indulgence; ego is out, id is in, we’re smoking cigarettes and doing whatever the f*ck we want, even while the world burns around us. From the looks of it on Instagram, everyone under 40 has ditched there smoothies for caviar and martinis. And why not? It’s grim out there and we’re all craving a bit more pleasure and wit to make us feel alive again.”

Enter the 80s. Layered, type-driven design inspired by 1980s advertising is on the rise. The throwback ’80s editorial trend is text-heavy, with layouts comprised of a single, often silhouetted or gradient-backed image, a punchy headline, and supporting narrative copy. The most recognizable component of the trend is arguably its widespread use of condensed serifs —typefaces that just a few years ago would have been relegated to body copy, and certainly never run large as headlines. The current trend also includes an increase in visual motifs that cue physicality and real-world materials. Think: film grain, VHS dithering, airbrush art, and faux paper backgrounds. This interest in throwback textures even extends to art direction and styling, with more photoshoots incorporating old-school tech like fax machines, cassette tapes, and brick phones as props. The trend has mostly appeared in brand identity and campaign work, particularly in the fashion and lifestyle worlds (which always seem to hit on a new visual style before it trickles down to consumer packaged goods and tech).

While ’80s design is certainly resonating, it seems likely that nostalgia as a concept (rather than an explicit love of condensed serifs) is what’s really driving this resurgence. In response to a myriad of worldwide crises like COVID-19 and climate change, society is experiencing a collective yearning for the “better times” of the ’80s and early ’90s. Millennials who had their early childhood in the ’80s, and those who experienced remnants of this era in the beginning of the ’90s, are yearning for places in their memory that feel safe, and remind them of parental love and protection. For Gen-Z, who didn’t experience these decades firsthand, there’s still a deep romanticization of these periods (and their associated aesthetics) as simpler times, without cell phones and remote schooling. These editorial copy–driven layouts are advertisements with a capital A: this is what perfection looks like, and you can have it too. At a time when everyone wants a better life, maybe we’re just hoping that brands can tell us how to get one.

S D N A R B Y H W O R T E R E C A R EMB

CREATIVE NEWS

DOES BRANDING MATTER IN TIMES OF CRISIS? The demand for at-home COVID tests was at an all-time high earlier this year. Oftentimes drugstores, online delivery services and medical offices were completely sold out. But when that shortage regulated, how did consumers’ product selection change?

In most consumer settings, packaging and branding have importance. When presented

with more options than we can process, we use it to decide what to grab off a shelf or add

to cart. But what about purchases that are purely functional? Does the box, bottle or label really matter?

Brands like On/Go at-home Covid tests have put thought and effort into packaging,

branding, consumer outreach and user-interface functionality of their app. Using bright colors, geometric patterns, multiple fonts, mass marketing emails and social media

conversations– the brand is focused on building recognition for a customer’s decisionmaking process.

And it’s relevant because, nearly two years in, we’ve gotten to a point where the trappings of this pandemic have started to look less like medical equipment and more like

mainstream products. Trendy branding, after all, is really just a sign of normalization.

It’s a reminder to buyers that healthcare too, is a business.

STUDIO WORK

“EVERY GREAT DESIGN BEGINS WITH AN EVEN BETTER STORY” — LORINDA MAMO

APP AWARENESS CAMPAIGN

REDBULL REFRESHERZ CAMPAIGN

HOT DOG CAMPAIGN

ICE CREAM CAMPAIGN

SHEETZSHOP CUSTOM SHOES

HEATH MILKSHAKE PHOTOS AND CAMPAIGN

NITRO COLD BREW PHOTOGRAPHY

SPHIKED FREEZE SOCIAL

MTO AWARENESS CAMPAIGN

SHEETZ POP LABE

APRIL FOOLS DAY SOCIAL

EXTREME CAFFEINE COFFEE DIGITAL CAMPAIGN

ORGANIC SOCIAL

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THAT’S ALL, FOLKZ. SEE YA AGAIN IN A COUPLE OF MONTHS…ISH. ;)

N G I S BRAND DE STUDIO