Communications Arts: 50 Years of Excellence

Communications Arts, probably the creative industry's preeminent bible, just released a retrospective for the past 50 years. They highlight some of the most memorable design, advertising and other creative efforts over the past five decades. These were a few that I found to be rather interesting.

1962: NBC publishes an advertisement announcing that more than two-thirds of their programming will now be in color.
1971: Nike commissions student artist Carol Davidson to design its iconic Swoosh logo. Her fee was $35.
1974: 7-Up unveils the "Uncola" campaign.
1979: Print ad for BMW 7 Series touts that a $30,000 car shouldn't require compromises.
1980: Helvetica typeface introduced.
1983: Wendy's "Where's the Beef" campaign hits airways.
1984: Bartles & Jaymes "...thank you for your support.." of their wine coolers.
1988: Joe Isuzu makes the car company a household brand. 21 years later and the company's market share in the US is non-existent.
1991: GM introduces the Saturn brand. It has yet to be profitable.
2001: Before YouTube and viral videos, BMW launching online film series "The Hire," of which I had something to do with in my agency days, by the way.
2002: Campaign launched to introduce MINI Cooper to the US, which I was also involved with.
2005: Geico introduces "So easy, a Caveman can do it."

Wagman Site Featured in St. Pete Times

On the heels of such a massive election cycle, it's hard to believe that the local races are already in full swing.

We were happy to see a The Times wrap up of the St. Petersburg mayoral candidate websites give kudos to the strategic use of video and social media for Scott Wagman while touting his "Mission to Listen."

"Mayoral contender Scott Wagman has a Web site that also links to his Facebook and Twitter features. On Facebook, he wrote that he digs Anita Baker and Caddyshack. His Web site has YouTube videos of residents talking about why they love the 'burg. In fact, his site seems to be more about what residents think than self-promotion, which supports his campaign's stance that he's still in the listening-to-voters stage."

Visit Scott Wagman online or on Facebook and check out his Mission to Listen below.

Almost Made It: Qué gi

John Kerry almost became president, Eddie Murphy almost won an Academy Award and The Chicago Cubs… well. The world is full of “almost made its”, and we’re no exception.

Not wanting to see great ideas go to complete waste, we’ve decided to start this occasional blog topic for those RK works that didn’t quite make it, but are worth sharing anyway.

Qué gi was the brainchild of one of the greatest beauty product minds in history. His various product line inventions grace the shelves at top day spas and high-end department stores across the country and the world. Unfortunately, as much as I like to drop names, I cannot do so here—so you’ll have to trust me.

While not dead in the water, the originally well-funded Qué gi 5-in-one firming emulsion line suffered at the hands of a slowing economy and has been shelved for the time being, and not in the way it was meant to be. But thanks to the internet, we can share the idea with you anyway.

When it comes to successful package design, getting prime real estate in a crowded marketplace (eye level on the shelf) takes unique art or design that retailers think will draw interest and thus, increase sales. It also helps with how much the store will attempt to market the product through its sales people.

With that in mind, we came to the table with some highly visual designs that also played on the products natural elements and environmental friendliness.

Executives at the company finally decided on the grass and blue sky. Hopefully someday, you’ll see it while shopping at Neiman Marcus.

May not be Coke, but RK Brands are Global!

On a recent trip to Asia, we came across the DreamTime Publishing Open Your Heart series of books on sale at National Bookstore.

We’ve been with DreamTime since the beginning-- Before printings, distributors, reps and trade shows, we were with founder Meg Bertini as she realized her dream as a publisher and budding motivational speaker.

Today, Bertini has her own take on motivational speaking, Vegas style as Madame Meg, teaching folks how to Find Their Sexy.

Looking back, we’ve come a long way and seeing our product half way round the world was pretty cool.