More Number Based Friday Fun

Take a looky see at 7 8 9 by Barenaked Ladies. Neat little ditty. Neat little animation.

It's rare to find music that both parents and young children can enjoy together. On long car journeys there are only so many times that you can listen to "The Wheels On The Bus" and "Goosey Goosey Gander" without wanting to poke your eyes out with a rusty spoon. And that's just the opinion of my two year old daughter.

Maybe I'm a big kid at heart, but I think there's a whole new genre of music starting to emerge of well crafted, catchy music that can appeal to both adults and kids. Until recently, children's music was all about some cheesey session singers warbling their way through age-old nursery rhymes. That's all changing now. Barenaked Ladies have released Snacktime, a corking collection of original children's songs, and Dan Zanes ex-frontman of 1980's US college radio favourites The Del Fuegos has re-invented himself as a pioneer of "family music".

Rumour has it that Slipknot will be following suit shortly.

Field Day poster

Saw this poster for the Field Day festival today, which sounds nice. But the reason I've put it here is that it's great to see some classic Herb Lubalin-inspired type out there. I don't who designed it, but well played, whoever you are.

Art Department

We just got sent some smart newsprint posters of photographers' work from Art Department. Made a nice change from the usual glossy postcards. I love stuff printed on newsprint. This shot by Robin Broadbent is particularly strong in large scale - that'll be going up on the wall.

Advertising failing to help consumers choose...

A letter to the Viz Letterbocks highlights the confusion that modern, touchy-feely advertising is creating...

"I am in the process of buying a car and have narrowed my choice down to two. But I don't know whether to buy the one that floats away on balloons or the one that's made of cake. I think I prefer the one made of cake, but I'd like the security of knowing that the ad had won an award before making such a big commitment." Brian Fester

Read more excellent letters here.

Cheers! Cheers!

A big Sell! Sell! Welcome! Welcome! to graphic designer Ryan Young, who joins us having recently graduated from the University of Cumbria. We have been pre-warned by a concerned party about his penchant for fluorescent leisurewear which, although slightly worrying, virtually counts as camouflage here in the Shore of Ditch. Ryan will be contributing to the Inevitable Sell! Sell! Blog (yes, this what you are reading) and we're looking forward to him getting stuck in to our projects here at Sell! Towers. Smashing.

A big thanks to Dan at Dirty Mouse, and The Serif for helping us out!

Sexism In The Creative Department

A feature in this week's Campaign asks the age-old question of whether adland is shedding its sexist past.  No is the short answer.

It's fair to say, however, that women are being portrayed in a slightly more positive light these days...

Keep filling up

Inspiration – everyone needs it. When you are at art school or university, or just growing up you are constantly being exposed to new ideas and new things, you might see loads of exhibitions, films, art, stuff. Sometimes what happens is when people start work, they are so concentrating on working hard on their projects and making a good impression that they forget to keep looking for new inspiration. Everyone needs to keep inspired. And I don't mean sitting-on-your-computer-looking-at-youtube. And I definitely don't mean 'inspiration' as in 'watching-something on youtube then doing it again but with a logo at the end'. I mean good old filling up your brain with interesting, exciting, provocative stuff. Go to galleries, exhibitions, see films, art, design, whatever. Don’t forget. Otherwise if you stop putting things in to your brain, the things that come out of it will start to get a lot less interesting.