1. The Seed (2009): “a two-minute animated voyage through nature’s life cycle, following the trials and tribulations of a humble apple seed.”

2. Procrastination (2007): “Graduation film for MA in animation at the Royal College of Art. An investigative and exploratory hands–on gloves-off study into the practice of putting things ‘off’. Sometimes the only way to get something done is to do two dozen other things first.”

3. Shelly (2007): “the story of a lobster with a new-found love for music” based on a short story by David O’Doherty.

More Johnny Kelly:
Making of “The Seed”
mickeyandjohnny.com
Johnny Kelly on Flickr
Johnny Kelly on Vimeo

“Powers of Katsu” (via ni9e blog) is a clever take on the classic 1977 short documentary “The Powers of 10″ by Charles and Ray Eames for IBM, which was an adaptation of the 1957 book Cosmic View by Kees Boeke.

“Powers of Katsu”:

“The Powers of 10″:

More Powers of Scale:
Universcale by Nikon
Men in Black Power of 10 outro
The Simpsons Power of 10 intro

More Katsu:
Katsu on Flickr

I’m not a big advocate of awards shows, particularly in advertising, but the Outdoor Grand Prix winner the 56th Cannes Lion International Advertising Festival this year is noteworthy. From AdAge:

The “Trillion Dollar Campaign” for the newspaper The Zimbabwean from TBWA Hunt Lascaris, Johannesburg, South Africa, plastered real Zimbabwean trillion-dollar banknotes onto billboards, murals and fliers, serving as a real-life symbol of the country’s record inflation and economic collapse. The campaign ultimately aimed to raise awareness of Zimbabwe’s suffering under the Mugabe regime and increase the newspaper’s customer base elsewhere in the hopes of getting it back into the hands of Zimbabwe people.

The paper was exiled from the country for exposing the corruption of its government, which subsequently imposed a 55% luxury import tax on the publication, making it unaffordable for the average citizen.

I’m glad the campaign is getting recognition outside of Zimbabwe.

Grizzly Bear’s “Two Weeks” is hauntingly brilliant. The video was directed by Patrick Daughters and the track is from the addictive new album Veckatimest.

In a recent interview with Newsweek, Trent Reznor praised Grizzly Bear: “Sometimes listening to stuff like they’re doing makes me feel irrelevant. That’s a nice, healthy kick in the ass.”

On Wednesday I went to an AIGA sponsored talk by Tina Chang and Esther Mun of Start Here. From the AIGA page for the event:

Start Here has a deep and abiding belief that design ain’t no beauty pageant. Their award winning designs for print, product, brand, web and packaging share one common goal: to elegantly provide exactly what’s needed. Founders Tina Chang and Esther Mun joined forces 3 years ago to forge a new way of working clients and customers: No more overselling, overtalking and overdesigning. Instead, they offered smart, straightforward problem solving. Their innovative product line of notebooks and tote bags echoes their design philosophy: wipe the slate clean and Start Here.

Their entertaining and inspiring presentation focused on their shared vision, process, and collaborative partnership. The first product is a series of notebooks that interconnect by sliding the back cover of one notebook into a front pocket on another notebook—a simple and elegant system. Below are pictures I took of my red and orange notebooks from Start Here.