Japan's 2020 Olympics Kimonos

Ever since reading Memoirs of a Geisha when I was 16, I have always loved Kimonos. They are a beautiful art pieces as well as unique elements of Japan's culture and history. So what better way to celebrate and welcome all the countries taking part in the 2020 Olympics in Japan than to design each country a Kimono. The Japanese international outreach association Imagine Oneworld started Project Kimono in 2017 and the result is a stunning online exhibition. 

One of the things I really like about this project is that the makers looked for the beauty in each country. No matter if that country was going through war or international dispute each is represented in its best light in these Kimonos - with their beautiful flowers and landscapes, seas and peaceful dunes, impressive buildings and so on. These Kimonos are a real celebration of the variety and difference of cultures. This is at heart in harmony with what the Olympic games is all about - understanding, tolerance, acceptance, inclusiveness. 

There is also great democracy here. No country appears more important to the designer than another - small and poorer nations have equally beautiful kimonos. 

Here are a few of my favourites below:

The United Kingdom

I was pleased to see our iconic flag represented but also as a nation of flowers and style.

Ireland. 

This one is gorgeous with green and clovers and orange but also famous names and faces. 

Poland 

One of the most stunning in my mind. Who knew Poland was a country with such natural beauty.

Phillippines 

I love the overlapping fronds of this Kimono suggesting peaceful sunny scenes and rippling water. 

Norway 

The country of the Vikings, snow, water and Christmas jumpers. Are these bubbles pouring down from a waterfall or baubles on a Christmas scene?

New Zealand. 

The country of the All Blacks, with green green mountains and unspoilt nature. 

Afghanistan

This is a beautiful Kimono that reminds us what Afghanistan should be. Where Islam is a gentle peaceful religion where women and men have equal roles. I do hope in my life time this will be the Afghanistan we will find again. 

Chile 

I love this one. To me it looks like a landscape of passion - tumultuous seas, volcanic mountains and dramatic weather systems. Am I right? I know very little about Chile. 

To see the complete project with all the Kimonos visit Kimono Project. 

Olympic Advertising Gold

Great Britain are in second place on the Olympic leaderboard at this moment. Can we just stop for a second and think about that? We are ahead of CHINA and only the USA stands ahead of us. We are in Silver medal position and compared to the size of these other top of the leaderboard countries we are a teeny tiny island.

Craziness.

Anyway to celebrate I thought I'd pull together a medal  leaderboard for some of the Olympics advertising I've seen. So, on the podium we have....

Gold in the sport of "Hero" portrait goes to this Michael Phelps spot by Droga 5. This spot was is one of the most shared spots on social media ever so it wins a Silver there.



And here's the social media Gold winner, very well deserved - Channel 4 for the Paralympics. This has to be the biggest celebration of human ability in an ad ever. I love it. Gold for being generally uplifting then.



Gold for riffing off of the Brazil theme and Gold for CGI goes to the BBC for their Rio trailer.



Gold for biggest tear jerker (can't see my keyboard right now) goes to P&G - with the message Thank you Mum - It takes someone strong to make someone strong. How true is that and what a lovely sentiment, can't see my keyboard again through the tears.



This Samsung spot deserves a medal for most interesting angle - picking to tell the story of an athlete from South Sudan who are entering the Games for the first time ever.



This Nike ad wins a Gold for most annoying Voice Over. But I like the premise so let's give it an honourable mention for that ey?



And this spot for Gillette wins the Gold for most tenuous connection to their product. Congrats Gillette.



So there we go. My leaderboard. Enjoy the Olympics everyone :)

The 2012 London Kitten Olympics

Ziggy and Bailey have been settling in well and have decided to start their own London Olympics. As they are the only participants so far they are set to take gold and silver in most sports. I say most because Bailey isn't great at all the categories.

GO TEAM GB KITTENS!

Shoe diving.
Both kittens love and excel at this sport. It involves jumping face first into a shoe - preferably a boot so that a kitten can get their whole head inside. Points for paws and head and velocity at which it is done. This sport is anyone's for the taking.

Ziggy practices this tricky sport

High jumping.
This sport really only has one qualifier: Ziggy, who gained a personal best when she jumped the baby gate. Bailey has yet to compete as his back legs don't leave the floor by more than a millimetre.

Running.
Ziggy is in a secure position to win gold. With the ability to chase a cat toy for over half an hour without getting bored. Bailey is trailing far behind and will need to learn to chase things that actually move - rather than picking on knots in wood.

Wrestling.
Bailey will take gold due to has bigger size and weight which he uses to his full advantage against his sister. Biting is permitted and both cats are great at the "whole jaw in mouth" move.

Boxing.
Both kittens are adept at getting a sneaky paw to each other's heads - a high scoring zone in boxing. Bailey is the bookies favourite due to his willingness to start a fight and see it through.

Pot holing
This sport is anyone's for the taking. Both kittens have climbed inside our chimneys and Ziggy managed to climb behind the toilet, giving it a good dust on the way. This will be an interesting category to watch.

Ziggy practices getting into tight spaces for the pot holing.

Climbing.
Both kittens are great at this although this method is practiced more by Bailey - mainly due to the fact he refuses to do any jumping.

Bailey in the climbing heats

Gymnastics
There is one clear leader in this field - Ziggy who's mid air acrobatics are a sight to behold - she has mastered the single twist jump, the backflip and the roll poly. Bailey is more of a floor display boy and has yet to master a graceful landing - too many faults in his performances so far.

Bailey throws shapes in the floor display.

If you would like to enter your cat into the London 2012 Kitten Olympics please send me a picture of your kitten's feats of athletic ability.

Vermin Olympics!

Us people. We think the Olympics is all about us. But every 4 years thousands of vermin - squirrels, rats, pigeons also hold torch relays - some which stretch across the globe. Here is one such triumph - captured  by Amael Isnard and Leo Bridle 

Olympic Vermin from Leo Bridle on Vimeo.

Blame Canada for having such beautiful olympic branding.

Have you seen the rebranding work for the Canadaian Olympic team? It's very pretty. In complete contrast to the UK's effort which kicked up a storm of discussion and derision in the media. And also in contrast to the boring effort of the USA who, unsurprisingly, have been pretty conservative.In fact their team branding looks like it hasn't been changed since the 1950's.

Here's the Uk's attempt...90% of people in the UK hate it.


Here's the USA's version...I would imagine that 90% of people don't have any opinion on it


Here's Canada's...pretty don't ya think?


Here's a video which explains how the design was thought about.

The Canadian Olympic Team Brand from Canadian Olympic Team on Vimeo.

Being a design that doesn't contain itself is strange...I wonder how this is going to translate into olympic athletes' outfits. Maybe they will use just the mapel leaf with the design internalised.

Olympics to be proud of

After the disasterous unveiling of the Olympic Logo for London 2012 Britain has proved that they can at least do something right with this lovely animation for the Vancouver Winter Olympics on the BBC- thanks to RKCR/Y&R.



The spot continues on from the style of the advert for the Beijing Olympics which almost looks like it's an advert for the Gorillaz new single being animated by Jamie Hewlett. So, on the bright side, we may not do Olympic logos well, but we sure as hell can do nice adverts. Or is the difference here that one was commissioned by a creative and savvy BBC, the other by some stupid politician?