By ‘eck, it’s tha Great Yorkshire run!

Is it the next Seb Coe and Paula Radcliffe (or just a couple of contestants in a gurning competition – in which case, I win!)?

Nutters and Chiddy rocked in at 54.25 mins on the Great Yorkshire Run, coming 1425th and 1426th out of 4500 runners.

Not bad for a pair of veterans!

Posted by: Yvette

I like the pub!

It’s a proper traditional pub with a twist – The Rutland is just down the road from our Sheffield office, in the middle of a really trendy cultural business area. It was going to be knocked down, but petitions from local businesses have saved it. The distinctive murals on the walls have helped to make it a real feature for the neighbourhood, and a great attraction (as well as the obvious magnetism of a good pint…)

Posted by: Richard

Fruity Branding

Branded fresh fruit - this is a different way of thinking... and what a delicious way to get your brand some attention?

Posted by: Richard

Gorilla on the Go

The “Gorilla Pod”, besides having a cool name, is an ingenious tripod designed to fit either lightweight digital cameras or heavier SLRs. It’s a veritable feat of fantastic engineering. It’ll cling to fences, branches, rocks, lampposts, or whatever… and create a stable platform for those of us who want to take sharp shots, but have the constant shakes from doubtless too many nights out on the trot…!

Posted by: Clare

Feel right at home with MFI

When these television ads launched I was hooked and thought they were hilarious. M&C Saatchi asked what actually goes on in kitchens, bedrooms and bathrooms. They wanted to show that MFI’s designs reflect real people, real lives and real needs – they certainly do that. However, the recent discussion about the campaign being too negative is a fair point. Where’s the loving couple in the kitchen… or the big family getting on well? – Because we do sometimes you know?! Even so, they are attention grabbing and really very funny.

Posted by: Jemma

The Writer

I picked up this little booklet after attending a seminar at Sheffield Millennium Galleries. It is by a company called The Writer and explains the top ten rules of excellent copy writing.




Everything about this piece is so well thought out, from its content to its print finish. A great device which is handy to keep, makes you think and isn’t a pushy selling tool!

Posted by: Jemma

Prague

Recently I visited Prague and had a wonderful time exploring both its history and more modern/cosmopolitan areas. I did expect to see a few stag parties but was very surprised as they were quite hard to find! I would recommend this city to anyone; it is truly beautiful and appeals to any age. Must-sees are the castle and Old Town Square. Dining out is a must, especially at Kampa Park Restaurant which is a huge celebrity haunt!

Posted by: Jemma

Yorkshire Sculpture Park

Taking advantage of the first rain-free weekend in recent memory, me, Claire and Daisy took a trip out to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year.

Prominent artist Andy Goldsworthy is exhibiting loads of new work, which is very impressive, but to me the permanent installations set against the stunning backdrop of the Yorkshire countryside are just amazing. And with 500 acres of it you could never get bored of wandering round on a sunny day.

Here are a couple of pics I took of some pieces I really liked.

Posted by: Bew

Escape from Blighty

Just got back from me holidays in the Valencia region of Spain. It was awesome to get away from the constant rain in Blighty and into some 35 degree sunshine. While we were there we drove out to quite a few places, but the one that particularly took me was the ancient cathedral city of Orihuela. The old part of the town was stunning. A tangled maze of backstreets with beautiful tiled fountains and squares waiting to be discovered round every corner. The new part of the town was a vibrant, cosmopolitan place with loads of shops and cafes situated around a huge tree-lined square and fountain.

Here are a couple of pics…




Already planning my next trip, Amsterdam in 8 weeks!

Posted by: Bew

Empire Magazine – Star Wars Covers

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Star Wars films, Empire Magazine ran a series of 30 different covers – showcasing 30 different characters from the series…which meant you can pick your fave front cover. I, of course, like Darth Vader best…: “No. I am your father.”

Posted by: Dan

Harvey Nichols Sale Leaflet

I like this as it is a very tongue in cheek way of showing how popular the sale is going to be – get your crash helmets on, the sale has started…plus I like the fact that it takes a while to get what it is…

Posted by: Dan

DKPM go Wireless again

To celebrate DKPM's 6th birthday we hit the O2 Wireless Festival again. So it was off to Harewood House outside Leeds in our wellies to make the most of what is fast becoming our annual day out. This year Saturday was indie day, so we had Editors and local heroes Kaiser Chiefs topping the bill, very enjoyable after a days hard partying in the mud!

Posted by: Tom

Top of the Ads

Last week Campaign magazine included a feature called “The Ten Ads That Changed Advertising” as voted by senior figures in the industry.

Whilst these ads may not necessarily be the best ever created, the've certainly changed the way that industry works and thinks... In chronological order, they are:


1. Gibbs SR Toothpaste, 1955 – the first ad to ever air on British TV

2. Volkswagen - Think Small ,1962 – because it went against all the prior rules of how to sell

3. Coca-Cola - Hilltop, 1971 – for the breathtaking appropriation of love and tolerance by a brand

4. Benson & Hedges - Iguana, 1978 – enigmantic, utterly compelling … opened up a new (and surreal) palette to advertisers

5. The Conservative Party - Labour Isn’t Working, 1979 – changed the way agencies (and political parties) thought about and used advertising

6. British Airways - Manhattan, 1983 – the first ad to straddle the corporate/consumer divide

7. Apple - 1984, 1984 – demonstrated that impact can be more effective than exposure

8. Levi’s - Launderette, 1986 – changed the way advertising thought about music

9. Playtex -Hello Boys, 1994 – the moment when advertising realised what PR could do for a campaign

10. BMW USA - BMWfilms.com, 2001 – demonstrated that the internet was a viable alternative to television and, that if the content is good enough, viewers will seek it out.

Posted By: Davey

Big Bites

I’ve had these ads on my desktop for a very long time now; if you’ve not seen them before, they were created by the agency Jung von Matt in Germany to promote a product called Stop n’ Grow. It’s a great example of ambient media in action - using plastic carrier bags

Stop n’ Grow is a product you can apply to your fingernails; apparently they taste so damn awful that no nail biter would ever consider sticking their fingers in their mouths again!

Bringing the biting concept forward to the grandest scale, check out this ad created by Demner, Merlicek & Bergmann for an chain of motorway restaurants called Oldtimer in Austria…

Posted By: Yvette

Now Wash Your Hair!

Check out this ambient media ad for the new CLEAR brand of anti-dandruff shampoo in Thailand.

The concept uses a giant print of someone’s head, with long flowing black hair. Upon the print, they’ve attached hundreds of little sticky white tabs, which of course resemble dandruff from a distance.

The tabs feature copy that reads: ‘Remove to get 10% off CLEAR anti-dandruff Shampoo’.

What a great way of engaging the audience with the benefit of the product – whilst also providing them with an incentive to buy.

Posted By: Davey

Pick Your Nose!

Look at this use of ambient media promoting Toronto Plastic Surgery; with a perfectly shaped nose printed onto the side of a coffee cup, it gives the impression a nose job is just as quick and easy to achive.

A nice idea, but it'll only work if you drink from the cup in exactly the right position... and of course if you're going to do that you're probably very, very insecure about the way you look!

The idea below is much better, using the concept above for party laughs - available in packs of 24, with an assortment of differnt noses for both sexs... go on: pick your nose!

Posted By: Yvette

Letterbox BAFTA

DKPM have once again been appointed as brand partners for the 2007 British Academy Video Games Awards.

Last year we sent the Direct Marketing mailer below to key people in the European Games markets as invitations to the prestigious event.

Using digital print production, we were able to seemingly engrave the recipients name on the base of the award.

Thanks to us; win or lose - everyone had the honour of taking a BAFTA home with them! Look closely, you’ll see my name on this one…

Posted By: Dan

Stuff the Web into a Single Screen!

So you never miss out on another post, be sure to add our very own RSS Feed

Posted By: Davey

Sign of the Times

TIME Magazine featured a special cover for its Dec 25, 2006 to Jan 1, 2007 Person of the Year edition. The Person of the Year was you!

Yes, that’s right, you! The magazine celebrated the Web 2.0 revolution for bringing together the contributions of millions of people and making them matter.

User generated content; things such as this Blog, MySpace, YouTube and Wikipedia are all about community and collaboration – people like you and me sharing the things we feel matter with each other through the computer screen.

Driving the idea that it’s you who will shape the future of the information age, the magazine cover uses a reflective panel in the format of a computer screen.

To create the cover, Time Magazine had to especially commission in secret 6,965,000 pieces of reflective Mylar film!

Posted By: Dan

Monkey On The Roof!

Check out the Arctic Monkey's music promo for 'Leave Before The Lights Come On', which just happens to be filmed on the rooftop of DKPM North!

A lot of shoes fell past the office windows that day!

Posted By: Davey

DKPM - Sing The Hits!

At DKPM, we’ve created the new graphic identity, packaging designs and point of sale materials for the latest Sony Playstation SingStar game – SingStar: Pop Hits.

They are in stores ‘now’ throughout Europe, Australia and New Zealand, so be sure to head down to your nearest retailer and pick up this fantastic fun game!

This SingStar game has all sorts of music for all music lovers. So, why not buy two copies; one to play and one to hang on your wall?

Posted By: Dan

Digital Beings

Lovebytes 2007 is an International Festival of Digital Art & Media, bringing together outstanding creative work from the fields of music, film, art and design.

This year’s theme is ‘Process’ and focuses on the creative and technical systems involved in creating art with computers and digital technologies.

The cute little character’s you can see in the image below have been appearing on postcards all around Sheffield, branding the festival and digital technology with a warm, soft, fuzzy identity. But how does this tie in with ‘Process’?

Matt Pyke of Universal Everything explains that each character is unique, and there are 20,000 of them out there! They have all been grown from a single ‘seed’, using a program which spawns different creature designs automatically through variations in parameters such as hair, colour, shape and size – it’ll even generate the characters’ own unique name.


Posted By: Yvette

Treadmills… Ok Go

I love the simplicity of this music video Ok Go. The concept is inventive and executed to perfection – the music, the outfits, the comic timing and the general child-like larking about make for a compelling watch – it really makes you want to join in!

In fact, let me at the gym so I can have a go (there’s a first time for everything…)!

Posted By: Clare

Jewish Museum

My sister in Law an architect and she said you can't go to berlin without seeing the Jewish Museum museum. How right she was.

It’s probably one of the best pieces of Architecture I’ve ever visited, both aesthetically and emotionally. It was designed by Daniel Libeskind, and architecturally, A very brave building symbolising a very delicate subject.

The building is very distinctive - blurring the lines between architecture and sculpture. It’s not designed to fulfill any functional requirements. Its purpose is to create a series of provocative and symbolic spaces that tell the story of the Jewish people in Germany.

Posted By: Matt

Under The Pier Show

If you want to see something completely unique, pay a visit to the The Under The Pier Show, on Southwold Pier in Suffolk.

It’s the brainchild and life-long ambition of Tim Hunkin and features a collection of mad homemade coin-op machines and rides built by a handful of dedicated enthusiasts. There’s nothing quite like it!

Try having your photo taken in an Expressive Photo Booth; walking the dog with the Rent-A-Dog, crossing the road as a zimmer frame assisted granny in the Mobility Masterclass, or having your brain washed in the BrainWasher...

Rent-A-Dog

Mobility Masterclass

Posted By: Dan

Beachside Brew

Southwold, on the Suffolk coast, is the home of the longstanding Adnams Brewery. This brand markets itself wonderfully, capturing the essence of timelessness and long sunny days by the sea.

The tranquility of a small fishing town is reflected in their strong visual identity.
Just look at the high production values and the quality of illustration in their promo cards...

Check out the ingenious design they’ve used to package three beers together with a pint glass – it makes a perfect gift! They also have a Broadside Beer flavoured run of Kettle Chips, mmmm delicious!

Posted By: Dan

Transformers Go Off-Road

Nissan have released an amazing high concept TV ad for their 4WD vehicles – Naturally Capable.

The vehicle in question metamorphosis into a series of robotic animals to show how it naturally copes with different off-road terrains.

What an amazing ad! Now where's the button that lets my car do that?

Posted By: Richard

Furtive Fashion

If you’ve gone to the beach and wanted to find some way to stash your valuables, without having to lug a bag around or find an elusive bikini with pockets, then these may be the answer.

These flip-flops, from premium surf brand Reef feature discrete slide away drawers in the soles. Not sure how waterproof they are, but you can check out the range in more detail here.



Posted By: Linda

Curb It Larry

I want to get the world watching Curb your Enthusiasm, there can’t be too many people left now - it’s one of the funniest shows on TV.

It’s loosely based on Larry David’s real life as the semi-retired creator of hit TV show Seinfeld.

Many scenarios are drawn from his own personal experiences; and also unconventionally, rather than using scripts, the show is based on story outlines and the actors’ own improvisations for dialogue

Check out the clip below for a taster; get yourself a season box set and say goodbye to the weekend.

Posted By: Dan

Infomercial Insects

How do you promote a sugar free sweetener in a new and interesting way? The Ad agency Rediffusion DYR based in Bangalore, India has come up with an unusual but impressive answer…

They placed plane white ad space on trees and coated outlines of sweet foods - including cupcakes and lollypops using the sweetener itself. Real live ants, known for their love of sweet sugars gathered from all around onto the outlines, making them visible for all to see.

Click on the image below, it'll link to the video so you can see the full effect…

Posted By: Davey