Triangle Videographer Scores Superbowl Spot

Raleigh based 5 Point Productions scored big last night when their Doritos advertising competition entry aired during the first quarter of the Super Bowl, netting $50,000 in prize money, plus an additional $600,000 by winning 2nd favorite commercial in USA Today’s Ad Meter.

Producer Josh Svoboda’s commercial, ‘Underdog,’ features a man on a park bench taunting a dog wearing an electric shock collar, telling the dog to bark if it wants a Dorito. The dog, however, is not amused and gives the man some well-deserved comedic payback. The commercial was filmed at Cary’s Bond Park.

Thank You, Eduardo Catalano

Eduardo Catalano in front of the Raleigh House

From George Smart on Triangle Modernist Houses:

“I have very sad news today.  Eduardo Catalano passed away yesterday in Boston.  He was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina and came to the United States on scholarships to the Universities of Pennsylvania and Harvard.  Catalano taught at the Architectural Association in London until 1951 when was recruited by Henry Kamphoefner as a Professor of Architecture at the NCSU School of Design.  He built his famous “Raleigh House” in 1954, shown below.  Read more about his life and his internationally known house, now destroyed, here.

In 1956 Catalano moved to Boston and began teaching at MIT until 1977.  One of his NCSU students fondly recalls, “Catalano was known for the three E’s of architecture.  With his thick Argentine accent, he would tell us the three most important factors are espace, estructure, and escale.” (If this makes no sense, try reading the sentence aloud).  Buildings designed by Catalano include the US embassies in Buenos Aires, Argentina and Pretoria, South Africa, the Juilliard School of Music at New York City’s Lincoln Center, Guilford County Courthouse in Greensboro (below) and the Stratton Student Center at MIT in Cambridge MA.  After MIT, he ran a private practice until retiring in 1995.  In 2002, Catalano came out of retirement to design the “Floralis Generica” sculpture in Buenos Aires, a gigantic metal flower with 6 motorized 20-meter-high petals that open and close.

After the untimely death of NCSU College of Design Professor Robert Burns, his former student and employee, Catalano donated $200,000 to the NCSU College of Design in his honor. Catalano also gave a second gift of $400,000 — the largest outright gift at the time it was given in 2007 — to establish the Eduardo Catalano Endowed Lecture/Seminar on Innovations in Contemporary Architecture.  He was awarded an honorary doctorate by NCSU in 2007.”

Raleigh’s Autobahn Automotive Gets New Social-Savvy Website

New autobahn-automotive.com website by Killer Creative Group

Since 1989 Robert and Erin Drake of Autobahn Automotive have been providing some of Raleigh’s best automotive service for Japanese and European import vehicles. Over the years, they’ve earned a loyal following of fans due to going the extra mile for their customers, with perks like a free loaner car, free car wash, and other promotions that keep them returning time and again.

Raleigh Brand Design firm Killer Creative Group was recently asked to refresh Autobahn Automotive’s image and website. Autobahn has been very active in taking advantage of new Social Media such as Twitter and Facebook, and needed the ability to integrate those outlets, as well a needing the ability to add articles on automotive maintenance and related news to the site, with a budget-friendly solution.

Rather than build a complex Content Management System (CMS), Killer Creative designed a solution using the open-source WordPress platform. WordPress is a good platform for firms looking for a mid-range website that need a small amount of customization but also allows for basic content updates without advanced programming skills.

The new site at autobahn-automotive.com includes a status feed from the Autobahn Facebook Fan Page, a Twitter link, as well the ability to update news posts and articles at will, with commenting ability built in. Killer Creative also updated the logo design and extended the blue color theme throughout as well as an industrial brushed steel background. Raleigh WordPress web hosting provided by KillerHosting.net.

Killer Creative Designs Eminent Domain Law Website

Eminent Domain Law Firm Website designed by Killer Creative Group

“nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation…”

These are the words written into the U.S. Constitution in the 5th Amendment, effectively saying that the government cannot take your private property without reimbursing you for fair value. Sometimes the fair value offered in a land condemnation hearing is questionable, and that is where Raleigh NC Eminent Domain law firm Emmett Boney Haywood comes in.

Raleigh graphic design and branding firm Killer Creative Group recently rebranded the North Carolina law firm with an entirely new Corporate Identity, a stylized brushstroke ‘E’ that also symbolized rolling hills (or a leaf, depending on your point of view). The bold new look was also introduced into the firm’s new printed stationery and signage, as well as a complete redesign of the website which just launched.

Eminent Domain and property law often delves back decades, sometimes much further back in time to determine the rightful deeds to the property in question—so history plays a large part in what the firm deals with on a daily basis. The look of the new site takes its design cues from the historical aspects of eminent domain and property law: historic maps, old deeds, cartographic flourishes and of course the U.S. Constitution all inspired the look of an old document or map. The result is a memorable, unique Identity that is different from the polished electronic feel of firm websites in the same category.

Visit the law firm of Emmett Boney Haywood at landlaw-nc.com.

Raleigh Artists to Open ‘Studio 600′ on Glenwood South

Artists Jason Craighead and David Green will open Studio 600, their new working studios, to the public during Raleigh’s First Friday Art Walk, November 6, starting at 7 p.m. Studio 600 is located at 600 Glenwood South between the 606 Lounge and Abbey Carpets.

After working out of a spare bedroom-turned-studio in his downtown Raleigh apartment for several years, Craighead was seriously looking for separate space when two things came together: His friend, mixed-media artist David Green, also needed a studio, and the warehouse space behind Abbey Carpets at 600 Glenwood South became available.

“Studio 600 – which is simply named for the address – will make us more accessible to the public,” said Craighead. “It also gives us a place to create work without having to live in it. And it gives us a great place to collaborate on some work. I want to do other things, besides painting.”

Craighead and Green have up-fitted the warehouse-turned-studios themselves, with a little help from friends — framing out, dry-walling and painting the interior, and installing lighting. When Studio 600 opens to the public on November 6, the interior will feature a small entrance gallery/foyer, additional display walls beyond and to the right of that area, dedicated working space for each artist, and ample storage units.

About the entrance area, Craighead noted that he and Green do not intend to use it just to display their own work. They will invite other artists to use the space for shows and art installations.

“If you’re going to participate in the community, why just hang your own work? Participate in the community,” he said. “Let somebody else have some fun.”

He noted, however, that “shows” are only for a day and a half. Studio 600 will be open to the public each First Friday and the following Saturday. After that, all but the front area is strictly for creating art work and open otherwise only by appointment.

“This is not a gallery,” he stressed. “It’s a working studio.”

TMH: Architects Residences Tour November 7

1409 Ashburton Rd

Three Modernist houses that architects designed for their own families in West Raleigh will be the focus of Triangle Modernist Houses’ (TMH) Homes Tour to be held Saturday, November 7, from 1-4 p.m.

The tour will spotlight the private residences of architects Thomas Crowder, Raymond Sawyer and Brian Shawcroft.

Thomas Crowder is founder and principal of ARCHITEKTUR and currently serves as a Raleigh City Councilman. His 2400-square-foot residence at 1409 Ashburton Road was completed in 2000, replacing an earlier, more traditional ranch home that burned in 1998. A prime example of fitting modernist design into an established community, it was given an AIA Honor Award in 2004.

“It was almost therapy for me to deal with the loss by absorbing myself in the rebuilding and starting over,” says Crowder.

The house basically doubled in size with an addition on the back, and includes an art gallery at the front to display pieces that have replaced those that were lost. The house has a Japanese-inspired feel and includes large clerestory windows that provide ample light throughout the day.

Raymond Sawyer, the first recipient of the American Society of Beaux Arts medal, designed his house at 1300 Lorimer Road in 1958. Exemplary of mid-century Modernist design, it features extensive glazing that blurs the line between indoors and out. Retired now and living in Brevard, NC, Sawyer lived in the house with his family until 2006. The current owner, Adrienne Joergensen, has done some renovation work, and the house’s Modernist “bones” remain very much intact.

One of Raleigh’s true “deans” of Modern architecture, Brian Shawcroft, FAIA, designed almost all of the Modernist home inventory in the Triangle area from the 1970s through the late 1990s. He completed his current 2215-square-foot residence at 5215 Melbourne Road in 2002. In 1991, Shawcroft was awarded the prestigious Henry Kamphoefner Prize for achievement in Modernist architecture.

The November tour will begin at the Western Boulevard Presbyterian Church, 4900 Kaplan Drive, where a free shuttle service will take participants to the three houses.

Advance tickets are $9.95 and are on sale now via the TMH website: trianglemodernisthouses.com. TMH director George Smart recommends securing tickets early since TMH homes tours typically sell out quickly. Proceeds benefit future tours, TMH’s cataloguing program and research grants, and provide infrastructure as the non-profit organization works to create public awareness for the preservation of modernist design.

Photo Op: Raleigh Wide Open

Thousands came out to celebrate art, music and food and a newly revitalized Fayetteville Street Mall at Saturday’s Raleigh Wide Open. Although the North Carolina State Fair was going on simultaneously on the other end of town, and rain drowned out events for a couple hours, for the most part it did not dampen— er, damper— the events which also coincided with the music of Cherry Bounce Festival.

If that wasn’t enough, Krispy Kreme also debuted its new downtown location and Wheel of Fortune drew a large crowd with local tryouts for the show. The day culminated in a fireworks display over the newly opened plaza (with some fantastic new art installations) that provides a newly opened clear view between the State Capitol and the Progress Energy Performing Arts Center on opposite ends. See more on Raleigh Wide Open by the News and Observer.

Clayton Center 09-10 Season Launched

Season Graphics for The Clayton Center

The 2009-2010 Clayton Center performing arts series launches Saturday October 17th with two back to back performances by Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder. This marks the second season that Skaggs and his bluegrass troupe have performed at the Clayton Center. With a full stage of uber-talented musicians, he always puts on a great show and leaves his audience always wanting more.

Killer Creative Group designed the season’s graphics including banners, posters, direct mail and the season playbill, the cover of which is shown above. The design features images of some of the artists scheduled to appear this season, and meshes well into the Center’s continued branding and website with its theme of Small Town. Big Time.

Check out the full season:

Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky Thunder Saturday, October 17, 4pm and 8pm

The Spencers: Theatre of Illusion Sunday, November 15, 4 PM

Dr. Etta (Family Specialist)   Friday, January 22, 8 PM

Destino Saturday, February 13, 8PM

Blues Bash V: Soul Mates featuring Eric Bibb and Ruthie Foster
Friday, February 26, 8 PM

John Pizzarelli Friday, March 26, 8PM

Mike Farris & the Roseland Rhythm Review Saturday, April 10, 8 PM

Tickets, Subscriptions and Information: (919) 553-1737 or theclaytoncenter.com

Auto Tune, You Make My Heart Sing

Ah, Billy. I gotta admit I really do miss you. There is a huge void in the quirky salespokesperson advertising world without you.

Here is a catchy auto-tune video as a fun tribute to remember you, I have a feeling you’d like this. Although I’m sure you’re busy up there magically removing spots on angel wings and on heaven’s floors. Bet they got some cool products up there.

If you get a chance also check out the Carl Sagan auto-tune ditty, another fantastic composition from melodysheep. Thanks to Dave Potts for the link.

Best Celebrity Spokesperson. Ever.

Celebrities have been endorsing products for decades now, the concept is nothing new. The hard part for advertisers is trying to match the right celebrity to the right product. Sometimes they work, but most of the time, it’s just fluff and not worth a whole lotta weight or the checks they have to write to the celeb.

Unless your name is Meat Loaf. And the product is A1 Steak Sauce.

Now we’re onto something! A singer named Meat Loaf, pouring A1 Steak Sauce onto a fresh meat loaf while he sings, “I Would Do Anything for Love!” Of COURSE! Bloody brilliant!

One of the most memorable spots I’ve seen recently. Even more entertaining is the contest that it promoted where A1 Fans could sing and upload their own songs about A1 to YouTube, and the finalists win a year’s supply of steaks. Check them out at singforyourbeef.com.