INSPO #1 - Renata goes to La La Land
I recently travelled to La La Land for my first ever overseas trip so naturally my inspiration for our first Creative Show & Tell is related.
While I've heard mixed reviews on LA ranging from "like Parramatta road" to "weird and scary", I really enjoyed my time there and found it to be quite a creative place.
One of my favourite days from the trip was stumbling upon a cafe in Echo Park called Eightfold. What I loved about it was that it stocked and sold independent magazines, photographic prints, and unique products that I hadn't come by before. I'm a huge print fan so when I came across 'Loading...' and 'Dog' magazine I was sold.
Besides just being in this creative and beautiful space surrounded by other people talking business and art; I was inspired by these magazines because it proves there is still value in print. Don't always listen to the rumours, there is a place for everything, it isn't automatically a "dying medium".
Another point is I often feel very overwhelmed with all the visual messages I am taking in everyday, particularly on Instagram, it's very hard to avoid. This print medium allowed me to stop and take in the images at more of a conscious pace - something we should all do.
I guess overall in writing this I realise that the trip, that coffee store and these magazines reminded me to stop living so much of life behind a screen and take things in slowly.
Loading...: https://www.rivaworks.com/
Dog: http://www.readdogmag.com/
Renata, Graphic Designer & Photographer
INSPO #2 - NSFW
My Creative Show & Tell this week comes unaccompanied with images or a video, and you’re going to be thankful it doesn’t when you read on.
Over the new year, I spent some time down in Hobart with some friends. Being a museum nerd, a must visit on my list was MONA, and ohhh boy did it not disappoint.
I could rattle on for paragraphs about everything I loved there, but I am going to leave it as a surprise for those of you still yet to experience the belly of David Walsh, but instead talk about something that happened to us before we even saw one exhibition.
For those of you unfamiliar with MONA, it’s all about the weird, wonderful, shocking and unseen, and this motif is evident in every element of the museum, from the exhibitions to the gift shop, all the way down to the bathrooms. So much so that in each toilet cubicle is a different experience. I was lucky enough to get a projection of running water light up at my feet, but my friend had a much more controversial experience. After um.. sitting down, she was confronted with the most shockingly graphic sight. A series of carefully placed mirrors showed her, how do I put this delicately, her undercarriage in action, leaving nothing to the imagination. Shocking to say the least.
What inspires me about this, is just the sheer nerve of the whole thing. It’s so confronting and going to rattle quite a few cages, but it’s so on brand and unapologetic. This is a theme for me this year, it’s time to push boundaries and ruffle a few feathers. Nothing was created out of complacency, it’s time to angle some mirrors ;)
Laura, Creative Project Manager
INSPO #3 - La Biennale di Venezia 2016
This summer I took a trip to Venice and there just so happened to be one of the most inspirational exhibitions being held that weekend. This year it was named “Reporting from the Front” in which the curator Alejandro Aravena urges viewers to observe that “the advancement of architecture is not a goal in itself but a way to improve people’s quality of life”. It calls us to consider new ways of addressing complex social challenges.
There were 88 participants from 37 different countries this year, of which I’d love to share the Finland’s interpretation that really inspired me.
Finland’s exhibition was called “From order to home”. They focused on Europe’s current challenge in transforming current cities to create a more balanced and inclusive society, in response to the current migration surge into Europe leading to a refugee housing problem.
They proposed several forward thinking, future proof methods of how to satisfy the need to bridge the gap between new additions to the culture and existing members. With current housing capacity for asylum-seekers at a minimum, they urge us to think now of ways to prepare for the need in the future.
They proposed ideas that unite people together to create opportunities for integration. One of which proposed making temporary housing an embedded function of our existing buildings and cities by featuring a self contained apartment inside your house which when in times of need can be a home for a new refugee.
This inspired me as I feel in all work we do at Dream & Do we must think of long-term solutions that cater to challenges that may emerge in the future, not just design for the now.
Ashley, Graphic Designer
INSPO #4 - Emotion & Sport
This week I am inspired by two ads, one for the Paralympics and one for Under Armer. Both focus on emotion to sell their brand and product, rather than the product itself.
Under Armer - Rule Yourself
There is always so much emphasis on that heroic moment of sport. Winning the race, becoming a champion and all the glory that surrounds it. Rarely do we see the blood, sweat and tears that goes into that 5 seconds of victory. This video artistically documents the raw emotion and hard work that Micheal Phelps puts into his sport, choosing to ignore footage of him winning anything at all but rather the endurance and hard grind that goes into getting the medal.
This video reminds me of being an entrepreneur and that people often do not see all the hard work and emotional rollercoaster the entrepreneur endures on a daily basis as they relentlessly aim for their dreams. "Rule Yourself" is an inspiring tagline which fits with the start-up mentality. You are your own boss, in control of your own destiny but that motivation takes extreme energy.
We're The Superhumans | Rio Paralympics 2016 Trailer
Equally as inspiring, but a completely different tempo, this ad takes you through a orchestra of emotions. In a world where everyone blames the user for short attention spans, resulting in the self-inflicted rule of video content no longer than 90 seconds. This 3 minute and 12 second ad has you hooked to the end, challenging this notion that it is our attention spans and perhaps the quality of the message and the content. Make something worthwhile of the time, and people will give it. I love that this ad has painted paraplegics as super humans and if they can, I can. It celebrates disabled people and not just athletes and how the "I can" mentality can help them move through life. It is a joy to watch and humbling thought to know that the world is full of people like these.
I challenge businesses and brands to list the obvious emotions associated to your product and consider doing the opposite. In this case, joy was chosen over sympathy and that has had a profound effect.
Tara, Founder & Creative Director