Inspired by her recent book cover redesign of the “Kama Sutra,” London-based illustrator Malika Favre gave the ABCs an erotic twist by creating Kama Sutra typography.

Each letterform is created by two bodies (a heterosexual couple with the exception of the letter ‘C,’ which features two males) in the act.

Fun names for each letter—like “The Naughty Squirrel” for ‘N’—continue the raunchy theme from A to Z. And the fun doesn’t end there. Favre also brings the font to life with the help of animated gifs, to which one viewer responded, “Complete with gifs? That’s just pornography,” and another commented, “Kids would read more books if this was the type used!” It may not be the ideal typeface for your next client project, but design doesn’t get much sexier than this.

The beautiful book certainly looks like a labour of love! Sorry pun was not intended

London-based French graphic artist Malika Favre has given the cover of the Penguin Classic ‘Kama Sutra’ book a makeover.

In the new ‘Classic Deluxe Edition’, Favre illustrated letter-forms to spell out the sensualities about the ancient book of love and sexual technique.

“The edition itself is a translation of the original text written by Vatsyayana. There are no pictures inside the book so the challenge was to make the cover sexy, modern and daring without being vulgar or over the top,” Favre told Creative Review.

“I decided to create a very bold and playful alphabet that would run across both flaps and front and back cover spelling ‘Kama Sutra’.”

“Once folded, the words become hidden and the big letters themselves turn into acrobatic positions. I also wanted to keep that Indian feel in the color palette, but make the design itself very modern.”

“This book is part of the Graphic Deluxe series,” Favre also said.

“Basically every classic they re-edition is paired up with an artist that pretty much has free range to design the cover. The whole concept of this specific range is to make each classic a collectable item and to push the boundaries of the book cover design.”

The provocative addition would be available from 31 January 2012.

Want to create your own fun font? The source where I discovered this sexy font example also has a book about how to create your own typeography, and like my friend Paul, I am very tempted to create my own typeface, but really, with what time?! Yest another creative project?! Now that’s funny! If wishes and desire were only $dollars! If you are interested in doing so seriously though, you can start with the Mastering Typography Ultimate Collection.

I know it’s great being busy ’cause it means steady income and fun projects, but I don’t get the time I like to post everyday. I don’t really have the time today either, but I came across these cool fonts and I wanted to share!

Sonar

Savu Condensed

Sintony

Calendas Plus Regular

BillMoney Font

Corbet

Salt & Foam

Bloquer Modular typeface

Higher

Secretary at design agency loses her cat and asks graphic designer to create a ‘Missing’ poster

August 3, 2010 | In: Funny

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This ‘Missing Cat’ email chain is the brainchild of Internet pot-stirrer, David Thorne -also the genius behind the spider email and popular book, The Internet is a Playground. Check out his website and strap on your funny bone pads.

In fact, it was inspired by the romantics’ belief that folklore is the clearest reflection of the soul of a people. The show is called Eyes as Big as Plates, and it started out as a play on characters and protagonists from Norwegian folklore. Norwegian photographer Karoline Hjorth and Riitta Ikonen  (www.riittaikonen.com) collaborated with sailors, farmers, professors, artisans, psychologists, teachers, parachuters and senior citizens.

Eyes as Big as Plates- exhibition opened at the The Finnish-Norwegian Culture Institute in Oslo, Norway in 2012 andwas part of the World Design Capital Helsinki 2012 events.

Daily updates on Eyes as Big as Plates – New York from the brand new Eyes as Big as Plates site. Reception in Redhook, Brooklyn on the 22nd March 2013.

So at times like these when I have to sit down and write a brief for a client, it’s not really a problem, but it always helps to double check against current industry advice right?!

That’s where Graham Robertson comes in. He has a blog called belovedbrands.com and is a key and vocal brand strategist and champion. I checked  my version against his and was pretty darn close!

Here is a reposting of his blog post on strategies.

The value of a creative brief is focus! Like a good positioning statement, you’re taking everything you know and everything you could possibly say, and starting to make choices on what will give you the greatest return on your media dollars. If you’re not making choices then you’re not making decisions.

Unlike other creativity, advertising is “In the Box” creativity.  The best advertising creative people  are problem solvers, not blue sky thinkers.  Therefore, the role of the creative brief is to create the right box, enough room to move, but enough direction that defines the problem.

Advertising is a balance of freedom and control.  But, oddly enough, most Brand Managers allow too much FREEDOM on the strategy but want to exhibit CONTROL on the creative.  It should be the reverse. Brand Managers should control the strategy not the execution.  Briefs with multiple objectives or many main benefits send the signal to agencies that you aren’t quite sure and want the agency to pick the strategy.  But a long list of mandatories sends the signal that even though we don’t know the strategy, we do think we know what we want the creative to look like.  This is where the marketer should get a bit more comfortable in dealing with ambiguity and allow some creativity to come about.

The agency should write the brief. I’m not sure why this is so contentious–but it seems that half of brand people still want to write the brief.  Let it go!  You can still write an advertising strategy, but let the Agency Translate it into a brief, in their words and their format.   You can still debate every word for hours or even days to ensure that it aligns to your strategy.   But having them write it, allows the agency to own it and believe in it.  It also allows the account team to communicate with their creative teams–which is the main role of that brief.  Using the agency format makes it simpler for the creative teams.  This is the first step in giving the agency some freedom, while still maintaining control over the strategy.

The smaller the brief, the bigger the idea. A good brief should be brief.  One page maximum.  I’m still in shock when I see briefs reaching 5 or 6 pages.  That’s not a brief, that’s a long!  Take the pen and start stroking out words, forcing yourself to start making decisions.  Avoid the “just in case” type of thinking.

The Brand Plan and Advertising Strategy

In the smallest of words, the brand plan should be focused

• We have some long-term thoughts on where the brand can go (vision) and the special assignment to get us on our way.  (mission) And help shape the things we want to achieve with our brand (objectives) To get started, the brand has different options (strategies) for how to get there (tactics)
• We try to find a slice of the population (target) to get them to take an action (expected result) that makes our brand bigger.   We then find out what to say and how to talk to them to trigger that action (main message) We need to re-enforce why we can do it and others can’t (support)
• We then create the most motivating stimulus (product, ad, promotion) to get them to take action and put it in part of their life where they are most likely to hear it and act on it (the medium)

Within a good brand plan,you should have an advertising strategy that should answer the following six key questions.

1. Who Do We want to sell to?  (target)
2. What are we selling?  (benefit)
3. Why should they believe us?  (RTB)
4. What Do We want the Advertising to do?  (Strategy)
5. What do Want people to do?  (Response)
6. What do we want people to feel?   (Brand Equity)

For those looking for a basic creative brief format, the best I like includes something that outlines a) the long-term consistent brand essence and strategy b) consumer knowledge including target definition and insights and c) the core of the brief, outlining the problem to solve, focusing on stimulus and response.

Most Brand Managers struggle with the target. I once sat in a room where a brand manager had a target of 18 to 65, current customers, potential customers and employees.  Basically, everyone but prisoners and tourists.  While it’s tempting to sell to everyone, you should focus your resources on those most likely to buy, pays off. Focus on those who may love you, not everyone who just might tolerate you.  Spreading your limited resources across an entire population is cost prohibitive.  While targeting everyone with a “just in case” attitude might make you feel safe at first, it’s actually less safe because you never get to see the full impact.  You should use consumer insights to bring the target to life.  The dictionary definition of the word Insight is “seeing below the surface”.   Too many people think data, trends and facts are insights.  However, these facts are merely on the surface—so they miss out on the depth. Insights can be sorted into three types: life Insights, brand insights and category insights.   You are really looking for these “aha” moments that brings the focus onto the consumer.

Brand Managers also struggle with the main message. Sell the Solution, Not Just Your Product.  Keep in mind that “people don’t want to buy a quarter-inch drill, they want a quarter-inch hole!”   Agencies use so many tricks to get it down to the ONE THING.  And whatever works for them or you, the better.  If it’s a

postcard, a bumper sticker, “what would you say to get someone to marry you”….find your own way to think about one thing.  One of my favourites is the “SHOUT FROM THE MOUNTAIN”. It forces you to want to scream just ONE THING about your brand—keep it simple.  Yelling just one word is so much easier than a 13 word sentence or even worse, a long list of 6 bullet points. Another good exercise, once you are close on the brief is to challenge yourself to go through the brief one more time, and see if you can take out 5-15 words.  You’ll be surprised how much better it gets.  And lastly, I always have fun throwing three objects at people, starting one at a time and then all 3 at once.  It’s so much easier to catch one than all three.

I have occasionally interviewed well, and I did find that  the book ‘what is the colour of your parachute?’ helped me get the jobs I really wanted and the ones that ended up being great for my career. We have all heard the question, what is your biggest flaw, or greatest weakness, but now, this is my new favourite question!

The One Interview Question You Should Ask

This question is guaranteed to reveal the most organized, analytical, and efficient candidates.

Getty Images by way of inc.com

“I want you to explain something to me. Pick any topic you want: a hobby you have, a book you’ve read, a project you worked on–anything. You’ll have just five minutes to explain it. At the beginning of the five minutes you shouldn’t assume anything about what I know, and at the end I should understand whatever is most important about this topic. During the five minutes, I might ask you some questions, and you can ask me questions. Take as much time as you want to think it through, and let me know when you want to start.”

– Kevin Morrill, CTO and co-founder of Referly, a San Francisco-based start-up. He has used this question more than 200 times.

“It is amazing how many candidates will not premeditate before diving into this interview question,” adds Morrill on the Referly blog. “What’s most incredible about this is how accurately it predicts disorganized and non-goal directed behavior on the job. I’ve been overruled a few times by my manager on a hiring decision, and this question was a harbinger of things to come. Conversely, the people who think it through and have a few crystal clear points are amongst the best people I’ve worked with.”

Before using the question, consider these pointers:

“As they start explaining, I make sure to have the most vacant look on my face possible,” writes Morrill. “I do not give any ‘uh huh’ or ‘I see’ kind of interjections that underlie most conversations. A star candidate will pick up on this and ask if I understand so far.

“Explaining by analogy is a shortcut some of the best candidates use. One example I heard while someone was teaching me the basics of poker was to take advantage of the fact I had played backgammon even though I hadn’t played poker. He talked about how in backgammon all the pieces on the board are exposed information that both players can see, but in poker you have hidden information. These types of explanations go a long way towards quickly communicating an idea with all kinds of implications very succinctly.”

Morrill notes that “only one or two out of every 10 candidates will do well on all these points.” But those numbers should improve: At press time, Referly was hiring for engineering and marketing positions. We’re guessing the new candidates will be a little more prepared.

The inspiration helped me create my trademark card style of a quirky thought or line and old fashioned art. So, both personally and professionally, I send a message to you in preparation for the big day tomorrow! I look forward to what it might bring me, and me to it! How about you?!

I usually blog about creative things, art direction, creative direction and design, but today I just want to show you the things I noticed in my neighbourhood since I really love it! Perhaps this says more about my selection and how I see as well, but some of these things I found interesting, amusing, noteworthy both aesthetically and humanly!

Cool Graffiti:

Wierd things the city does:

Neat and odd things stores and people put in windows:

That last one is my favourite I think! Not quite a hello Kitty raincoat, a faux one at that is being used to cover the air conditioner . . getto fabulous darling!