Chicago Architecture Continued..

These fountains in Millenium Park were so fun! They are very large fountain towers that have video footage of Chicago residents' faces on them at all times and they spit water out of their mouths!











This is the largest commercial building in the world, don't ask me what is in it because I didn't get a chance to ask but it is HUGE! We saw it along the river on the architecural cruise.


Of course, the Sears Tower (now the Willis Tower, but don't call it that in Chicago) is the most spectactular piece of architecture in the beautiful city. On 103rd floor of the tower you can see four states!









And of course, my personal favourite piece of architecture in the 'Little Apple', the Blackhawks Store!

Windy City Architecture

I just got home from Chicago yesterday and I already miss the beautiful city. I was there for four days on a college trip with my peers. It was an amazing time and I am so glad I went. I am not a city person and will never live in one if I don't have to. But, I must say if I had to live in a city, I think I'd GO BIG and move to Chicago! I was clueless of the Windy City's beauty. I was most amazed by the green and spacious parks throughout the city and the wonderful architecture. My favourite had to be The Bean, above. I can't say I know the point of it or the reason behind placing a huge metallic kidney shaped object in Millenium Park, but hey tourists like me love it!

Another incredible piece of art within Millenium Park is the outdoor concert hall. It is magnificent! I would LOVE to go to a concert there! Here are some pictures of the theatre designed by an architect who uses paper folding to design his buildings before construction begins.
The Millenium Park is gorgeous, I could go on and on about it but I'll move on to show you some pictures of some incredible Chicago skyscrapers we discovered on the architectural boat cruise.

I'll start with my favourite: The Chicago Tribune Tower. It is so gothic looking, it's no wonder it made the perfect backdrop for The Dark Knight's Gotham City. The Batman movies were both filmed in Chicago and I understand why after visiting the city. Many of the buildings have a very gothic feeling to them.









While on the subject of the Batman movies this is the Union Bank, where the bank robbery was filmed, it's a huge and gotham looking bank!

The "corncob towers" were also very neat! These condos are shaped like tasty corncobs and the architect did this to use the space more wisely in a circular shape, and this way way more people have balcony views! SO COOL!


Post to be continued..

Weird Promotion That Works

Last weekend I made the trip to the liquor store in search of a tasty wine to take to the party I was going to Friday night. Let me first say I am a wine lover, not quite a 'wine-o' like the salesman asked, but I enjoy, really enjoy a nice glass of white wine.

After being enticed by new products introduced by the salesman, I decided to be boring and grab a bottle of wine that I knew was tasty and affordable (because that's always an issue for me), one that I often go for.

But, as I was walking to the counter to pay, I saw the WEIRDEST but in my opinion, SMARTEST (well not quite the smartest, but very creative) promotion on a bottle of wine. The brand of wine was XOXO, and I had heard of it, but never tried the wine. Attached to the neck of the bottle was a SHAVER. Yes, you heard me right. A woman's razor was attached to the bottle of wine. Is that not the most unusual promotion you have heard of?

I laughed about it and said, "Wow, I can't believe Schick and XOXO wine are cross promoting"!

But, I spoke too soon, because minutes later I was paying for the bottle of XOXO wine and joking with the teller about the funny sales promotion. Then he made me eat my words by saying, "It worked on you didn't it?"

Yes, it worked on me. That's the moral of the story. The promotion was effective to the target they were reaching for, women between the ages of 18-25. And I am 21. I fell for it, because which poor college student can pass up a free shaver?

Join The Fight

As promised, I am posting some of my favourite print ads from the Canadian Cancer Society's Join The Fight campaign. They are very effective, in fact I LOVE THIS CAMPAIGN.

What Would You Say to Cancer?

The Canadian Cancer Society is taking a different approach to raise awareness on the deadly disease. They have created a campaign that focuses on how people feel about cancer, and it all stems from one question: What would you say to cancer if it were in the room? The campaign is aggressive, and aims to get away from the "grandma's charity" stereotype. It's a 'Hit You In The Face' campaign that doesn't hide the uglies in the closet. This campaign lets it all out and really shows how cancer affects Canadians every minute of every day.

I believe this campaign is very effective, especially for a younger audience. I was thrilled to see the CCS take a risk by launching this gutsy campaign. I would love to know what you think about it after watching this first web video. To see more of the campaign go to fightback.ca.

Check out my blog tomorrow to see more of the campaign!

Ads That Became Artwork

I was reminded while watching the film, Art & Copy, about one of my favourite print ad campaigns from several years ago. It was Nike's campaign targeted toward athletic women feeling good about their bodies. In my opinion, it was genius and really stuck with me. In fact, I remember I cut them out of magazines and taped them to my locker at school and my bedroom wall. They became art work for athletic girls in high school and were posted on bulletin boards and change room walls. You cannot tell me this campaign wasn't effective. It was brilliant.

Inspired By Art & Copy

Today our class went to see a film titled Art & Copy at the Cinematheque. I was thoroughly impressed and inspired by the film. I have been wavering and wondering if I made the right decision by going into advertising next year. But during the film I was reminded of how interested I am in this exciting field, and anticipating next year with great expectations.

This film lets us inside the advertising world to meet some of the most successful creatives of our time, such as Dan Weiden, Lee Clow, and Hal Riney. They are responsible for famous campaigns, including: Nike's "Just Do It", the "Got Milk" campaign and iPod's dancing campaign. The film is very interesting, with all of the advertising statistics and sides of the advertising world you don't usually see. I would wager to say that even if you don't know much about advertising you will still enjoy it because you are submersed in it every day.