In New York, boutique fitness clubs, private members’ lounges and upmarket health spas are a dime a dozen, but the city’s newest luxury hot spot is aimed at discerning clientele of the four-legged variety. Crown Creative has unveiled the branding for Barkhouse, a hotel designed to feel – in the words of co-founders Gabriela Desposito-Carlson and Jeffrey Carlson – like...
Marcel’s Visa campaign turns online fraudsters’ AI tactics against them
The central idea behind Visa’s The Feathered Lamb campaign highlights the fact that the vast majority of scams on social media originate from fake ads which are increasingly hard to detect. Using the anonymous account Petit Pamplemousse, Paris-based agency Marcel deliberately deployed a series of AI-generated images and videos with the intent of passing them off as real. Source...
The mentors who are helping others through redundancy
In the wake of creative industry redundancies, key voices are emerging to help those in career crisis navigate the messy middle and find a route through to the other side...
CoorDown’s new ad explains why we need to stop using the ‘R-word’
Following a string of successful and viral campaigns, Rome-based Down syndrome rights non-profit CoorDown has returned with a new short film for World Down Syndrome Day on March 21. Titled Just Evolve, the spot targets the regressive terms for disability that continue to be used in countries around the globe – primarily the ‘R-word’, which has its counterparts in Italian,...
Coinbase dials up the craft in cinematic new ad
After Coinbase’s karaoke-themed ad for the Super Bowl, which was stark if effective, this new ad from agency Isle of Any comes as something of a curveball. Directed by Oscar Hudson, its tale of an ‘NPC’ escaping the system is drenched in craft. While it may be set in a computer game world, the film is largely live action, using...
A peek inside the new Quentin Blake Centre for illustration
Opening in May in London with a major exhibition by artist Murugiah, the space aims to solidify the power of illustration as an art form...
How Kurppa Hosk went deep in its marketing for Marathon
Launching a new video game is a complex exercise, as the release of Marathon, a new multiplayer title from game studio Bungie, the creators of Halo and Destiny, shows. The game reached #2 Global Top Seller and #1 US Top Seller on Steam pre launch, surpassed 100,000 concurrent players within 30 minutes, and trended across major streaming platforms on launch...
Inside Ramdane Touhami’s magical world of retail
As the prolific designer behind hundreds of retail spaces, including the exquisite Officine Universelle Buly 1803 perfumeries, Ramdane Touhami is focused on craft, detail and delivering innovative products with authenticity...
Mizkan’s rebrand brings a Japanese staple into European kitchens
The Leeds-based agency worked with the Japanese brand’s UK team on the new identity and sought to combine a sense of Japanese heritage with modern European cuisine, making Japanese flavours less intimidating to consumers in the process. With deep roots in Japan’s culinary culture, the Mizkan brand has enjoyed a presence in kitchens and restaurants since its founding in 1804....
Gillian Anderson provides effortless charm in new M&S campaign
S Clothing has experienced a brand transformation in recent years, with improved products leading to a renewed love from audiences who might previously have given up on it. The confidence this has allowed the brand oozes from this new ad campaign, which features a star turn from Gillian Anderson. The campaign draws from the success of the weekly shoppable social...
The death and rebirth of trend forecasting
A decade after coining the phrase ‘normcore’, Sean Monahan explains how trend forecasting split into data-driven measurements and human intuition – and why AI might bring the latter back...
Dorothy hosts the Paper Bag Archive in a new exhibition
Excess Baggage is the first exhibition of examples from the Paper Bag Archive, the collection of designer Tim Sumner, which boasts the world’s largest archive of paper bags at over 2,500 in total. Sumner, who is creative director of Studio Summon, established the archive to celebrate this most humble of packaging designs. Once a ubiquitous presence in high street shops...

