Interesting set of aesthetics chosen by #SabrinaCarpenter and her team to market her new album ‘Short n’ Sweet’. A good dose of VINTAGE / RETRO underpins some of these collaterals. Drawing inspiration from classic 70s-style billboards which musicians like Donna Summer and others would have up all over LA / Vegas back in the day- you know with cut-outs of the face / instruments or text jutting out past the edge of the frame (see quoted tweet). Also, is Sabrina attempting to channel some pin-up energy here (à la Anita Ekberg in a similar poster for The Temptation of Dr. Antonio)? The CD and vinyl booklets are based on even older print ads and classifieds of yore. Her songs’ lyrics make up all the copy. The typeface on them plus the layout is reminiscent of what you’d see in an old advert from the 50s of say a Campbell’s or Dove. Not sure if other artists have tapped into this theme lately. Nevertheless, will hand it to Sabrina for trying to cut through / to revive an old style and presenting things with a certain degree of panache. It may not necessarily have wide appeal as such but feel that her audience, even with no reference of the past, will likely take to it for its novelty if nothing else. #Marketing #MarketingTwitter #Advertising #OOH #Music #ShortnSweet #DonnaSummer [CD booklet images via Ruby Naldrett]

To those online who were crying hoarse over the legibility of the new “Rocastle” custom typeface for #Arsenal, it’s fine really, it reads just fine out in the wild. In fact, it looks gorgeous.

Have all the time in the world to watch Daniel Roseberry sketch his ideas and creations for #Schiaparelli. That these videos routinely clock a million views comes as no surprise. Genius at work. >>>

#Pirelli’s 2027 Calendar will be unveiled this weekend. Shot entirely in India for the first time w/ the likes of Bhavitha (the Chanel girl), Padma Lakshmi among others. This is so interesting. And about as different as it gets vs the Pirelli cals of yore. Ever since the calendar’s pivot in the mid 2010s, each edition has felt quite distinct from the other. That’s good but with the trade-off that there doesn’t appear to be an obvious or common visual thread akin to a DNA running through them anymore. Perhaps not having a fixed language is the language now. In fact, wonder if Pirelli will start flirting with a derivative of their old formula in the near future? Did catch shades of that in the 2025 piece. Re sensuality or nud!ty in the visual vocab, who is to say that the pendulum won’t swing the other way again? Time will tell. Wouldn’t be surprised if there’s an attempt to reclaim the codes that back in the day made this IP distinctive, ofc sans any of the baggage that came with it. Not exactly apples to apples, but the return of Victoria’s Secret runway show could be an interesting parallel in that context. Suppose these things move through cycles in culture.

Another season of marathons. Another set of words by #Nike for out-of-home. In #Chicago and #Portland the last couple of weekends.

This is lovely by #Oura and their creative partners. Beginning to outdo themselves with every passing campaign. Main film BTS

Straight lines over curves any day. Rimowa, Clark’s, P&Co lately..

Liking this 2032 Brisbane #Olympics & #Paralympics logo. Glad it’s not abstract. Inspired by the Australian cockatoo. The crest does double duty - representing the Olympic flame while its outline is kind of shaped like the state of Queensland with Brisbane as the eye. Geography nerds would appreciate.

First signs of #Chanel warming up to the idea of being a little more out there, a little more involved on the ground vs just lending their name and money to the Cambridge v Oxford Boat Race in the UK. Entering the third year of this association, they’ve now assumed the mantle of designing the silverware for the winners w/ designers from their watch division taking over, which is why the black and white treatment comes as no surprise- looks like a direct nod to the Chanel J12 watch. White frame on the women’s trophy, black on the men’s. Both trophies now identical in size too- don’t see that often in sports. Have it on good authority that Chanel’s been trying to figure out how best to approach this partnership by the year and calibrate based on their learnings after each edition. After all, The Boat Race remains its first and only title sponsorship of a sports event anywhere in the world. Getting involved with these trophies is a good and balanced progression in that sense, without having to overplay your house or brand codes. >>>

Safe to say every year now seems to have a little dance-off, if you will, among brands ie. a month-long window when a whole host of them, not just in apparel but across categories, happen to drop their dance-heavy spots within weeks of each other. Like there’s something in the air. 2026 has been no different. Just in the last couple of weeks alone- Peloton, CK, Reebok, Nothing have put out their song and dance routines. Not even counting GAP here, pretty much a year-round thing for them anyway. >>>

And again. Not a year goes by without #Apple saying “Hello _____” in some form or the other on a billboard, mailer or landing page to introduce its new offerings. Very basic by copywriting standards yes. That they’ve been doing this quite unapologetically for years now makes you wonder if internally there’s an unwritten rule that requires the team to (begrudgingly) slide in these Hellos in the headline, as a soft callback to Apple’s no-frills commercials of yore (Macintosh iPod for eg) from the Steve Jobs era? Plus, Apple screens have been greeting us with “Hello” since forever. Whatever the case, they’re definitely aware of its repeated usage. A tiny, banal Apple-ism of sorts. >>>

These look beautiful. #Clarks Shoes made the trek to Mongolia to shoot their AW’26 collection. Worth the effort this one. That neck of the woods and Central Asia more broadly is so different and remains a relatively underused visual territory in brand campaigns. And that is not necessarily a bad thing. Perhaps a lot of the appeal lies in it staying that way. That said, wonder if some of the new-found attention around the recently concluded World Nomad Games in Kyrgyzstan would’ve made more brands and creative teams take note of the vast and beautiful canvas these places offer for telling stories. Likely, although a proper brand-connect, budgets and logistics would always be a factor. Nomadic excursions like these are not everyone’s cup of tea. Should be interesting to keep an eye out though.

So next on #On’s radar is golf, per their investor note today. What’s to say they won’t follow the same Thierry Henry-Kylian Mbappe type of playbook for category legitimacy? But then who might be golf’s Henry-Mbappe? Rory, Scottie are tight with Nike. Gut says they’ll go with one of the European guys. Tommy Fleetwood could be a good match? Let’s see. Just fun to speculate.

Hmm .. #Nike to introduce Jordan Brand fitness equipment on top of their own swoosh line. Pretty much the same equipment. The branding looks solid alright. Wonder what the Jumpman premium will be. And will any premium be significant enough for Nike to not be too concerned by any cannibalisation?

Barca had unveiled a beautiful new custom typeface for their kits back in June w/ some really nice flowy and wavy detailing on the jersey numbers, drawing on the rich visual language seen in the region’s architecture. But it is such a pity to learn that the new type cannot be used for jersey numbers during La Liga! Champions League yes, Copa yes, but not La Liga, as was evident in last night’s match vs Racing Santander (see last pic). All because of the league’s standardised typeface for teams. So then why go through the trouble of creating a distinctive piece of club identity in the first place if the very competition, in which audiences are likely to clock it most often, is the one where they can’t use it? Don’t get it. What a dampener, unless there’s more to it that is not immediately obvious.

Arguably, nobody in luxury is as committed to posting their OOH from the wild on main as #BottegaVeneta. Standard operating procedure for them. Became a thing during Matthieu Blazy’s time and continues w/ Louise Trotter. Said this before as well- wish brands put out real-world billboard photographs as a follow-up more often vs just circulating over-produced polished mockups or renders to the press. Make it the norm.

Incredible to think that #Apple continues to draw on the silhouette-led visual language to this day in some form or the other across its creatives for the AirPods. This after debuting it more than 20 years ago in that iconic and sexy af iPod campaign. Wires or no wires- doesn’t matter, the treatment has lived on through successive generations. Safe to say it’s their signature now. Not quite as colourful as it used to be, but that’s alright. The art team behind the original iPod work must be a happy and proud lot though.