TWO HUNDRED FIFTY-EIGHT.

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I have to admit it takes me a little while to think of catchy titles. I think that issue heads back to Freshman composition class (ugh, you don't even know!) where were told that for the rest of our university career and as English majors, titling things is MANDATORY. Just like that. Caps and all.

So to keep in vain with that tradition and to avoid countless of puns (also learned in that class, puns not avoiding puns), it's time for some design news and odds and ends:

The Guggenheim and YouTube are partnering to find the next and greatest in video art. How cool is that? Beginning Monday, anyone who as access to any sort of video equipment or a simple camera and a computer will be able to vie for a place in a video-art exhibition in October at all the Guggenheim Foundation's museums.

Be sure to definitely take a peek at Sam Songailo's art, which is heavily influenced by design, electronic music, technology, and futuristic aesthetics. Media Centre is Songailo's first major installation. The photos of the installation are tremendous.

And to round this out, a bit of an interesting blurb on bloggers. Ad Blogger Jumps the Fence is about Mathew Van Hoven, who was the head of a mediabistro blog called Agency Spy and how he's now been hired as the Communications director for Skinny, an NY-based agency. It's a cool read.

ONE HUNDRED EIGHTY-FOUR.

While a Garbage album is most definitely on several 2010 wishlists that I have, this ad campaign for Oliver Peoples Eyewear is absolutely delightful. This short film was directed by Autumn De Wilde and is titled "Les enfants sennuient le dimanche" (The children are bored on Sundays.) which features the incredible Shirley Manson and Elijah Wood modeling. It's short and very, very sweet. Check it out.

SIX.

Television. The very bane of our existence, with the abundance of reality-based shows, to your grandma's stories, and the very few series that makeup the always changing primetime face.

Of course, we really don't think about commercials until the Superbowl, where it's about who has the funniest ad or the coolest, or the ever-favorite most expensive that leaves everybody talking for days - mostly with "What were they thinking?" as the first question on their minds.

So very rarely, we stumble upon an actual commercial that is both intelligent and sharp as the two spots running from the new Levi's ad campaign from Wieden & Kennedy.





Arguably, it might be too intelligent and too romantic for the masses. People are mostly uninterested in any commercial, too impatient and wanting very much to get back to their shows. But there's something about these two spots that have make you stop and watch, and with such a brilliant use of color and language and mood, the campaign is nothing short of being visually stunning. For sure, it embraces the iconic spirit of the Levi's brand.

And let's be honest. Sometimes it's just nice to stop and watch.