September 15, 2008

Post-it Power

We've seen a couple cool things people have done with sticky notes, now check out what the Mentos and Coke folks did with them:

EepyBird's Sticky Note experiment from Eepybird on Vimeo.

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September 14, 2008

Make it from Paper

What's more fun than making stuff out of paper? In Japan, they have origami, but they also have plenty of other paper craft. For example, a guy named Motomachi takes a photo of a vending machine every day and offers a vending machine cutout on his web site. And the Japanese Railways site offers downloadable papercraft trains as well.

Meanwhile, artist Bert Simons uses computers to model totally insane 3d papercraft models of people's heads:

And Yamaha uses downloadable papercraft to promote their motorcycles:

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August 5, 2008

Schwag Symmetry Is Freaky...and Cool

Here's a really cool website that creates strange images by taking images from flickr and rearranging them so they are symmetrical. You can actually use any keyword, but schwag works pretty well:

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July 2, 2008

Plastic Bag Projects

So, while smart, eco-conscious retailers and consumers are switching to reusable grocery and shopping bags, you may be wondering what can be done about the millions of disposable plastic bags we've already got hanging around. Terracycle has some ideas, and they built a business around them. But there are also plenty of projects you can do on your own, including plastic bag clothing:

Messenger bags made out of plastic bags:

And tote bags made of plastic bags. The basic concept behind all of these creations is using heat to fuse the bags together.

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June 16, 2008

I Pity the Poor Fool...

...who is not familiar with the idea of using loads of Post-it Notes to create mosaics to liven up your display windows, promote your vintage video games, redecorate your office, or just pay homage to Mr. T.

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June 9, 2008

Another Google Logo Lego Project

Here's a great version of the Google logo done in Legos, including a step-by-step account of the process. One thing is for sure, this guy really likes Legos. Check out the wall of Lego bins behind the logo. And if you can't get enough Lego, check out the Lego Indiana Jones website.

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June 8, 2008

Lego My Town, Lego My Google

Here's an interesting Lego twofer. First, Jan Voorman fills all the cracks in the walls in Bocchignano, Italy with Lego pieces. Next, someone re-creates the Google logo in Legos. Previously we've seen Legos promote architects and giant Lego man on the beach. (Jan Voorman's art via Designverb, who also have a recent post full of famous photos re-created in Lego form.) Update: One thing I just noticed about this photo is that it is a real-life Lego version of a Lego-ized Google logo that Google had used on it's home page in honor of Lego's 50th anniversary. It makes the head spin, don't it?

Posted by mark at 9:26 AM. Permalink: Lego My Town, Lego My Google | Comments (0)

May 1, 2008

Post-it Mosaic Art Gains Traction

We featured post-it note mosaic art here a long time ago, but recently it seems to have gained quite a bit of traction. A couple months ago we saw it at work promoting classic games on the Nintendo Wii, and now it has shown up in a department store window, featuring the Mona Lisa and, I believe, Frankenstein. What would you do with thousands of promotional post-it notes?

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February 27, 2008

Twisted Pair Gets Festive

Here's a really astounding promotion that dares to go way beyond everyday promotional products. Created by an up-and-coming South African telecom company, Neotel, it's a "festive seasonal gift" made from copper wire. While copper wire had a great hundred-year run as the primary method of transmitting telephone (and telegraph) signals, Neotel used this promo to promote their fiber optic network. The tagline was "Copper wire still has its uses." It's a not so subtle jab at Telkom, which previously had a monopoly on land-based telecommunications in the country, and a much older infrastructure.

This promotion also gets bonus points for utilizing a local resource: there is an established local cottage industry wire artists hand-crafted sculptures from discarded wire. (via Direct Daily)

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January 19, 2008

Direct Impact: Hyundai Paper Lamp

This great promotion is a superb use of direct mail and a great interactive promotion. Mailed flat, this kit can be constructed to create a rotating lamp that features a Hyundai. The design is actually a traditional Chinese lantern design, and the promotion, which targeted the Chinese market, promoted a particularly fuel-efficient car. A great example of a promotion that's fun and interactive, while also educating consumers about the benefits of your product. (via Direct Daily)

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December 21, 2007

Stress Guy Pyramid Challenges Dart Man Army

The army of dartmen was impressive, but now they have a challenger in the form of spunky stress guy pyramid. In this battle of promotional homunculi, who will reign supreme?

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December 19, 2007

The Dartmen Cometh

Dartman is a cool promotional product that has a special sticky tip that will stick to anything, yet pull off easily with no mess. Put many of them together and you can take a cool picture of a Dartman army!

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October 11, 2007

Lifehacking with Logos

Here's a great idea from Lifehacker: use company logos to label file folders. Because logos are (hopefully) distinctive, they should make it easier to find folders more quickly. If you've already gone paperless, use logo jpegs as icons for the folders for each company on you file server. (via BNET)

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September 27, 2007

DIY Pez Camera Attachment

Pez dispensers are essentially the granddaddy of candy promos. They are to candy what the weinerwhistle is to hot dogs and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles molds are to Easy Cheese, and even that's an understatement. Anyhow, some genius was smart enough to figure out how to fit a Pez dispenser in a camera's hot-shoe, and kind enough to share it with us. The purpose? To make people at ease when taking their photo.

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September 20, 2007

Bouncy Balls Aren't Just for Bravia

I was looking at this rather stunning photo of a bunch of bouncy balls in mid-bounce, as well as some other technically intriguing photos of objects in motion, and it made me think that promotional products are really underutilized in commercial art. After all, having a whole bunch of anything allows for some interesting possibilities (like Sony's Bravia commercial). Simply amassing, arranging, and repurposing these items can turn everyday promo products (like promotional bouncing balls) into something visually compelling on its own.

Posted by mark at 7:31 AM. Permalink: Bouncy Balls Aren't Just for Bravia | Comments (0)

September 13, 2007

Color Swatch Business Card Holder

Normally I don't feature ways to avoid buying promotional products, but I do if it's a cool project. Find out how to turn your paint chips/color swatches into handy, colorful business card holders. Here are some step by step instructions.

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August 5, 2007

Super Glue Broken Vase Promo

Here's another image of the super glue promotional direct mail piece that used a broken vase to convey the benefits of super glue. Rather than putting it back together, though, it may be more fun to do some broken vase mosaic with it.

Posted by mark at 10:52 PM. Permalink: Super Glue Broken Vase Promo | Comments (0)

July 22, 2007

Planters Grill Reuses Corn Chips Can

Here's an awesome grill we found at a flea market up in Vermont. It's made out of a Planters corn chip can and seems like it would be totally functional, although we didn't actually purchase it. We've featured Mr. Peanut previously. If you're looking for a similar portable grill, check out the cooler grill set.

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July 16, 2007

Balloon Art

This piece of art by Martin Creed was featured recently in the New York Times and at an exhibit called "Feelings" at Bard College. The piece, entitled "Work No. 628: Half the Air in a Given Space" would be easy to adapt for a corporate sponsor, all you would need are promotional balloons.

Posted by mark at 3:56 PM. Permalink: Balloon Art | Comments (0)

July 6, 2007

Flickr Beach Ball Smiley

Photo-sharing website flickr created some cool promotional beach balls that emulate their two circles logo and got people to do cool stuff with them, like play faceball and create a smiley face using a bean bag chair. Of course, flickr has been using promos wisely for a while now.

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July 5, 2007

Bottlecap Carpet

Not really promotional product related, but kinda cool: a walkway paved with bottlecaps.

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June 23, 2007

Second Life for Promotional T-shirts

My girlfriend's uncle has been involved in BRAN (Bike Ride Across Nebraska) for approximately forever now, the bike ride is in its 27th year. The ride generates revenues for a scholarship fund, but also provides a great opportunity to get to know the state, get in shape and have fun. Anyhow, the quilt pictured below features dozens of BRAN promotional t-shirts from each of the years of the ride, which is a great way to keep those memories alive.

Posted by mark at 4:06 PM. Permalink: Second Life for Promotional T-shirts | Comments (0)

December 8, 2006

Mystery Solved: BBC Promotional Pencils

The answer to yesterday's promotional mystery is BBC promotional pencils. I guess in retrospect, that photo was not so tricky to identify. Seeing them did remind me of the scene in Nashville where Opal says "I'm not with the media, I'm with the BBC."

Posted by mark at 1:31 PM. Permalink: Mystery Solved: BBC Promotional Pencils | Comments (0)

April 24, 2006

Best Use of Tape Measures: Los Carpinteros

The award for awesomest use of custom tape measures goes to Los Carpinteros an artist collective from Cuba. For their Biblioteca (Library) installations, they hang custom tape measures that are imprinted with the names of famous books and have the actual text of the book printed on the tape instead of the inches/cm/etc. They may not be terribly effective as measuring instruments ("We're gonna need to roll out two paragraphs of cable here."), but they do make a nice piece of art.

Posted by mark at 9:14 AM. Permalink: Best Use of Tape Measures: Los Carpinteros | Comments (0)

March 28, 2006

Temporary Promotional Sculpture

Once again, one of my favorite things is seeing a bunch of something together. In this case, it's a bunch of promotional flyers from Adobe stacked and arranged like some kind of Busby Berklee giveaway station. Speaking of which, I bet these light-up flyers would make a good kaleidoscopic spectacle. And isn't that what we all want in life?

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March 22, 2006

Ai-Kon-test!

Ai-Kon is having a contest to get a new design for their mascot, Aiko. What is Ai-Kon? Oh, it's just "Manitoba's largest japanese animation convention!" Anyhow, you have to enter by March 25th, so you'd better get started. Perhaps they'll make your entry into a custom inflatable mascot costume. Personally, I'd vote to change their mascot entirely and respectfully submit the concept of the Ai-Kon Daikon.

Posted by mark at 4:07 PM. Permalink: Ai-Kon-test! | Comments (0)

February 24, 2006

Promo Photography

Is it art because you hang it on a wall? I have no idea. I do know that one of the easiest ways to make art is to have many, many of something. It works if you're painting soup cans or erecting decorative gates in Central Park. Or get some promotional bottle openers, arrange them on a table and take a photo. Art? For sure.

Posted by mark at 7:03 AM. Permalink: Promo Photography | Comments (0)

February 20, 2006

Interactive Promos: Leave Some White Space

I was browsing a rather incredible collection of coaster art, and the image below caught my eye because it was the only one that preserved the original advertising. If you know that people love to doodle on coasters and business cards, why not take advantage of that? Leave some white space on your custom coasters, give out some pens, and maybe even set up a gallery where people can submit scans of their coasters.

Posted by mark at 2:45 PM. Permalink: Interactive Promos: Leave Some White Space | Comments (0)

January 26, 2006

From Promotional Pen to Wireless Antenna

We already showed you what to do with excess promotional sticky notes, and I haven't seen a lot of great promotional projects since, but this looks pretty cool: instructions on how to make a mini-antenna for your laptop's wireless connection using a pen. It doesn't have to be a promotional pen, but it could be. Preferably one that matches your laptop. (Also, if you have a great promotional project, let me know: blog@epromos.com.)

Posted by mark at 7:23 AM. Permalink: From Promotional Pen to Wireless Antenna | Comments (0)

December 14, 2005

Promotional Project: How to Use 2,000 Promotional Post-its...

What do you do if you have 2,000 promotional Post-its? Well, one option would be to create an Elvis mosaic, and another is to line an entire bedroom with them. Follow the Elvis link for instructions. In other news, the Post-it turned 25 in April of this year. Not sure if they were the first sticky notes ever made, but they did celebrate by releasing super sticky notes this year.

Posted by mark at 9:14 AM. Permalink: Promotional Project: How to Use 2,000 Promotional Post-its... | Comments (0)

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