I feel bad about being negative in the previous post. Here are some ads I saw on the tube this week which I really liked. The whole idea of MI6 advertising for recruitment is a bit weird, but the ads are great; involving, clear and fun.

I failed in both my missions so I won’t be applying, although it looks like I’m already on their books…

From the brand that brought you this oddity now comes a whole new level of indulgent nonsense. The red-attired assault on the tube station exit this morning had only one result…

…they were everywhere. So I did actually walk on red carpet practically all the way to work thanks to Virgin.

Who thinks up this stuff?

I don’t get very excited about the Oscars I’m afraid. It’s all a bit GMTV for me, but this year there’s been an interesting winner in the short films category. Logorama is a 15 minute film by H5 including a mind-boggling array of (mainly American) logos used in some really clever ways. Watch the trailer above to get the idea.

Apparently it took 6 years to create, I wonder how many of the companies they were using rebranded during that time…

There’s been a bit of a row online about it, as the entire film (which I’ve chosen not to show here) was leaked and – wait for it – the film makers did not have legal permission from all the companies whose logos they’ve used, to, er, use them. People hosting the entire film, or uploading it to youTube etc are getting slapped on the wrists as we speak, but that seems a bit hypocritical – If the film makers didn’t respect the rights of the logo owners, then they can hardly complain if people don’t respect their own intellectual property in turn.

Anyway, let’s all just be friends. If you want to watch the whole thing, it’s available on iTunes, or through some tactical Googling.

Tim from Hat-trick design sent me some images of their recent Giants of Rugby project, which he must have had some sort of sixth sense about, because it was right up my street. In fact, it’s very similar to something I’ve done for another sport-related project, but I’m not allowed to show you yet. I loved it when I saw it recently at their Typographic Circle talk, but couldn’t find much evidence of it online.

Anyway, as it’s Hat-trick, it’s pretty self explanatory. The giants of Rugby, made from little Rugby shirt icons, and printed at massive scale at Twickenham Stadium.

Which reminds me, their identity for the stadium itself was lovely too…

Apparently, Rugby is like footyball, but you’re allowed to pick the ball up and hit people.

I was asked to talk about significant brand this week at work. I chose Apple.

Yes, I know, I know, it’s all painfully predictable. But it’s only a predictable choice because it’s an obvious example, and it’s only obvious because it’s true. I showed the above clip which I stumbled across online. It’s Steve Jobs explaining what Apple is about. And in just over one minute, he renders flip charts and cryptic diagrams useless. Get ready to squirm if ‘dynamic’ is one of your brand values.

A little bit of me dies inside every time I see Apple used on a mood board or held up in a branding meeting, not because I don’t love it, but because it’s become a lazy cop out for people who aren’t thinking hard enough. I actually think a lot of people have entirely forgotten what really makes Apple different. It isn’t just because they have sold a lot of iPods, made computers transparent or managed to get people to spend twice as much on a laptop, it’s smaller and more straightforward than that.

Apple isn’t perfect, but a lot of what I admire about them comes down to clarity, and Steve Jobs is clearly behind that. He reinvented the company since rejoining it in 1997. He’s an inspirational guy. If you’re curious about what makes him tick, watch the speech below. He starts talking about 7 and a half minutes in.

Not every brand has a Steve Jobs, but that’s no excuse for not having vision, appetite and clarity.

AKA Selling Twitter to twits. Twitter might not have worked out how to make money out of its free services yet, but other people have.

Then I went round the corner and saw this:

Made me smile.