Welcome to the festive season edition. (#43)

With the holidays currently the focus of many, it's a slow news week in some areas - especially advertising.

But I have rounded up a few things that caught my eye.

I hope you find something inspiring here.

Links at the end of the newsletter.

Rodd

BRANDING

Some branding moments from 2024.

It's Nice That have published their top 5 branding moments of the past year.

Here's an outtake from their article.

Branding in 2024 took a divisive turn, with brands leaning into innovation and nostalgia as a way of defying expectation and instilling personality. While some stripped back their approaches, embracing minimalism and almost ‘debranding’, others have undergone a full reinvention in response to various cultural shifts including today’s chaotically polarising digital world – either embedding digital considerations into their brand DNA, or using subtle design choices to answer online concerns, like data privacy and consumer trust. It’s made for a varied and interesting marketplace where anything goes, but uncertainty remains around how to make branding resonate and scalable. Brands have instead focused on reconnecting with their audiences and injecting spirit back into their marketing efforts. From tech companies embracing playful aesthetics, to gaming brands getting grounded and legacy brands making comebacks, this year has kept audiences on their toes.

Read the full piece in the links below.

STREET ART - ASIA

Some wall beautification spots in my region.

There's a lot of great street art to be found here in Bangkok, but there are also some other great street art cities in the region, nearby Penang is renowned for its murals.

In the article below you'll find six spots to check out if you're travelling in the region.

QUOTE

“Creativity is contagious. Pass it on.” – Albert Einstein

THE WRITE STUFF - Copywriting Workshop

You still have time to grab one of the last spots available.

We put pen to paper from January 15.

A mix of Group calls (60 minutes, once a week) and 1:1 calls (30 minutes, once a week) over 4 weeks with 8 writing exercises. Then everyone gets 2 weeks to refine the work they've created for final review and feedback.

Please get in touch for full details.

chantcreative@gmail.com

MUSIC - COVER ART

What were some of the best album covers of 2024?

Creative Review has compiled ten of their favourites.

Here's a snippet from the article.

Most album art is dictated by the record itself, but for Vampire Weekend’s latest LP, the inspiration went in the other direction. A headline on the newspaper in the photograph used on the cover actually informed the album name: Only God Was Above Us.

The image was taken in the late 1980s by photographer Steven Siegel as part of an entertaining series shot in a ‘subway graveyard’ in New York City. Many of the train carriages were tipped over, lending all of the images an eerie, gravity-defying perspective.

For the special edition, the record sleeve features reactive inks that reveal graffiti when a UV light shines over it – a nod to the clandestine graffiti artists who transformed the abandoned subways.

Read about all of Creative Review's picks in the links below.

DESIGN - FONTS

Why do fonts make you feel something?

Creative Bloq published a piece that talks about the psychology of fonts.

Here's an excerpt.

We all know words have power – but the fonts those words are written in can have just as much. Font psychology is the study of how fonts and typefaces make us feel, and while it may not be something you’ve thought too much about before, it is a huge aspect of design and branding.

Someone might have some understandable scepticism regarding how much choosing the best fonts can really matter. After all, the meanings of words don’t change because of what the letters look like, do they? It’s not like a globally recognised brand could instantly and devastatingly alter how people perceive it, simply by changing the font of a single word, is it?

The full article is in the links below.

DON'T MAKE NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS.

Instead, aim for New Year Revolutions.

Some statistics show that around 80-90% of New Year's Resolutions fail.

Why?

Because many of them are not hefty enough goals and due to the high dropout rate most don't see it as a failure because so many others will be doing the same.

It's almost a - "Well, I gave it a shot" mentality.

A revolution is a bigger goal.

Here are some possible examples.

• Start a creative agency that flips the industry on its head.
• Reinvent some processes that are truly groundbreaking.
• Quit the job you hate and invent one that will satisfy all your career and creative cravings.
• Make some art that will stop people in their tracks.

So, if you compare something like quitting full-fat milk and cookies to the the examples above, it pales in comparison.

Do something that isn't so easy to quit.

That's it for this edition.

I hope something got you thinking.

See you in the next one.

Rodd

• See five moments in branding here.
• Street art spots in Asia, check them out here.
• Creative Review's 10 favourite album covers of 2024, see them all here.
• Read more about the psychology of fonts here.

#inspiration #creativity #ideas