Hasta La Motion!

Whether it is advertising for a local product or a national brand, what drives advertisers is passion and challenge. While Shrikumar Menon and Abhijit Avasthi may have completely different ideals, their love for their work led them both to the same thing – success. Success may not always mean money. For them, success is when their work reaches and touches the hearts of all the Indians and the recall of the brand brings fond memories.

On the second day of Animation Masters Summit 2017, the two ad-men shared their stories and respective journeys in advertising.

Shrikumar Menon

PUSH Integrated Communications, founder and creative head, Shrikumar Menon, who likes to call himself a “local boy” as he has originated from a local town in Kerala, spoke on ‘Local Brands, Global Dreams’. Menon, who works only on local brands said, “It all starts with a dream. Dream leads to an idea.” He had “to settle” for local brands as he did not get a chance to pitch for national brands. “And after 22 years in my career, I’ve realised that it’s all in the mind,” he said.

The man who has made local products like Kalyan Jewellers and Manappuram Gold Loan national brands sticks to one belief: We can do it. Dressed in a simple shirt and a mundu (a garment from Kerala that resembles dhoti), this man’s humility spoke when he said, “I am no master, I am still learning.” With a command in his voice and persuasive tone, he left the crowd with one message: “It does not matter however small a place you emerge from. You can do anything.”

Abhijit Avasthi

Sideways Consulting, founder, Abhijit Avasthi spoke on how to look for inspiration. The former national creative director of Ogilvy & Mather said that ad and animation both create ideas and tell stories. “People ask me and I ask myself – how do I get ideas?”

Avasthi thinks he is a “hoarder” of ideas. He retains visuals, sounds, conversations and situations and they all come to him when he needs an idea. “I borrow shamelessly from all these,” he laughed. Having come up with taglines like “Kuch meetha ho jaaye” (Cadbury Dairy Milk), “Jo khaye kho jaye” (5 Star), “Dimag ki batti jalao” (Mentos), the modest ad guru said that he has not come up with these lines. “These are the lines we hear in our daily lives.”

The ads and taglines he has come up with are all taken from his life experiences. “We see things but fail to see the potential in them,” he explained, encouraging the artists in the hall to derive ideas and stories from their surroundings.

A wave of nostalgia ran through the crowd as Avasthi played some of the most heart-warming ads from brands like Google, Cadbury Dairy Milk, Fevicol, 5 Star, Center Fruit and a few more.

Sometimes we look everywhere searching for something that is actually right besides us – whether it is an idea, an inspiration or the answer for what we wish to do. The talks by both the Masters applied to any field that one may be working in. The simplicity with which they solved life’s conundrums left the crowd amazed and truly inspired.

The post The creative men behind the brands, Shrikumar Menon and Abhijit Avasthi, charged the crowd with their talks at AMS 2017 appeared first on AnimationXpress.

Made by Dyslexia, a new not-for-profit launched this month by dyslexic entrepreneur Richard Branson, is changing the world’s perception of dyslexia through the Dyslexic Sperm Bank in central London. No one left with a dyslexic baby, but everyone left with a new perception of dyslexia. Hidden cameras captured the public’s reactions. In 3 days, the stunt reached 77 million and changed the world’s perception of dyslexia. Research in the UK shows that 80% of the population think dyslexia is a disability. One in ten people are dyslexic, accounting for more than 6.5 million people in the United Kingdom yet only 3% of people think it is a positive trait (YouGov research 2017). Posters in the store and online at madebydyslexia.org feature famous dyslexic men (where are the women?) who rose to greatness. From Albert Einstein to Henry Ford, Steve Jobs to Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell, George Washington to Leonardo da Vinci and The Wright Brothers, dyslexics have made the modern world. The Made by Dyslexia logo is a matrix of nine coloured dots. The organisation’s “Connecting the Dots” report highlights key facts about dyslexia, combining a summary of what we already know, with new research into dyslexic thinking skills.

Richard Branson explains the thinking behind the Dyslexic Sperm Bank:

“And why the Sperm Bank? Well, some sperm banks haven’t let dyslexics donate until very recently, and have even described dyslexia as a “neurological disease”. Now, some progress has been made. We have been working with The London Sperm Bank, which now does accept donations from people with dyslexia.”

Dyslexic Sperm Bank Credits

The Dyslexic Sperm Bank campaign was developed at Y&R London by executive creative director Jonathan Burley, creative director Psembi Kinstan, art director/copywriter George Robb, business director Claudia Newman, account director Lou De Keyzer, agency producers Megan O’Hagan and Adrienn Major, head of strategy Tamsin Djaba, and junior strategist Jenika Haipour.

Filming was shot by directors and art directors Ben Hanson and Simon Frost via Praxima with producers Sam Barlow and Zoe Barlow. Editors were Jude Moore and Ashley Joiner. Post production and sound was done at Hogarth by producers Robson Yeo and Fiona Winburn. Music was produced at Native by composer Joe Skinner and producer Dan Neale.

There will eventually be a day where prosthetics are no longer just for the disabled.

However, it’s not just our outside appearance that will change – our genes will also evolve on microscopic levels to aid our survival. For example, an Oxford-led study discovered a group of HIV-infected children in South Africa living healthy lives. It turns out, they have a built-in defense against HIV that prevents the virus from advancing to AIDS.

And with gene-editing tools like CRISPR, we may eventually control our genes and DNA to the point where we make ourselves immune to disease and even reverse the effects of aging.

Another way to jump-start the human evolution on a different path is to move some of us to Mars. Mars receives 66% less sunlight than Earth. Which could mean humans on Mars will evolve larger pupils that can absorb more light in order to see. And since Mars’ gravitational pull is only 38% of Earth’s, people born on Mars might actually be taller than anyone on Earth. In space, the fluid that separates our vertebrae expands, which led American aerospace engineer, Robert Zubrin to suggest that Mars’ low gravity could allow the human spine to elongate enough to add a few extra inches to our height.

However, not even a move to Mars could spark the biggest change in human evolution that we may have coming in the next 1,000 years: immortality. The path to immortality will likely require humans to download their consciousness into a machine. Right now, scientists in Italy and China are performing head transplants on animals to determine if you can transfer consciousness from one body to another. They claim their next big step is to transplant human heads.

Whatever happens in the next 1,000 years — whether we merge with machines or become them — one thing is certain: The human race is always changing — and the faster we change and branch out from Earth, the better chance we have of outrunning extinction.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/sai

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Overwhelmed by a “phantom itch” from his missing pinky toe, a man must come to terms with his situation or succumb completely to his obsession. My second year film at CalArts! I was lucky to have worked with some amazing talent to make this possible. Thank you so much to everyone involved. Music Composed by Paul Michael Cardon Narration by Nick D’Agostino Sound Design by Paul Michael Cardon Set Fabrication by Ming-Huei Huang Props by Emily Martinez and Kesiah Manival 2D Coloring Help by Bryan Lee Enjoy the show!