Wish I'd Done That! - Super Sexy CPR

The Sexiest Lingerie Ad Ever?



On May 12, a one-minute ad appeared on the video-sharing site Vimeo. It featured an advertisement for Fortnight Lingerie, shot in the style of a super sexy public service announcement. In this ad, two women demonstrate the proper way of performing CPR. On that day, the video earned a total of 15 views. After 5 days, the video had hit well over the 1 million mark.

No one ever knows which uploaded video will be a hit, but there’s an art form to creating viral advertisements. Does sex sell? Absolutely! Here, the Toronto based agency, Red Urban, used two sexy and attractive models dressed in frilly lingerie to promote CPR and Fortnight Lingerie.

So what’s the secret to this video’s success? Sex? Sure, but it’s also a legitimate instructional video. (Honestly! There was actually a medical expert on the set.) The truth is, more than anything, that this promotional video was brilliantly created for a lingerie company that hardly anyone had ever heard about. It was created by an advertising agency that wanted to go all out to show the world what they could do.

Red Urban’s creative director, Christina Yu, later admitted that the agency had created the spot at no cost to Fortnight Lingerie, and released it onto “the net” to see how it would do organically.

Now, all lingerie companies produce sexy bra commercials, but Red Urban did it with a twist. The concept was simple - Fortnight Lingerie makes anything sexy. And what’s the most unsexy ad an agency can possibly create? You guessed it, a mundane instructional CPR public service announcement.



In June 2010, the Super Sexy CPR site was launched and added its Super Sexy Abdominal Thrusts video, (also legitimately educational!) along with that cool, minimalistic soundtrack used in both videos.

Saving lives has never been sexier.

Thank you,
Pete C
Brainwerx Design

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When good logos go bad, who's to blame?

The original logo design I created in 1999.

In 1999 a local coffee house, MoonBeans Coffee, asked me to create a logo for their new business. One of the main requests, by the company owner, was that the logo appear as if the company had been a well established franchise. With that in mind, I dove into my research and worked closely with my client while developing sketches.

At the end of the entire process, the client choose the logo that you see here. I developed a full brand identity system for MoonBeans that included stationary, disposable cups, menu boards, etc. I even painted a mural on a wall and helped design the interior of their original establishment.

After months of collaboration and hard work, the client and I slowly stopped working together. He concentrated more on radio advertisement, which is a media that I do not work with. Days became months, and months became years. On a rare occasion, the coffee house owner and I would get together and work on a small project but our business relationship never blossomed again.

Flash forward to 2 1/2 weeks ago (1-15-11). I walked into a local burger joint and saw that same logo I created 12 years ago on a T-shirt, but it had been (how can I put this kindly) revised. As soon as I saw the altered logo, my first thought was, "Somebody changed it, and it doesn't look good." Honestly, I would have had the exact same thought whether I had designed the original logo or not. Knowing what the original logo looked liked and seeing what it became, makes me think that "the change" did not improve the logo or my ex-client's business. It seems that whoever altered it had a very specific audience in mind. Or absolutely NO audience in mind.

Altered logo.

Now, don't get me wrong. I don't feel bitter about this at all. No designer should expect their artwork to live forever without being adjusted after so many years. As a general rule, graphic designs rarely last more than two years, due to changing trends. Most well designed logos will last 8 - 10 years before someone changes "something" about them.

So who's to blame here? Me for not keeping up with the client? The client for allowing a negative change to his image? The designer who made the change for not having a broader audience in mind?

I've passed by the coffee house many times. Each time, I see the exterior light sign that still bares the original logo. That gives me hope that not all branding efforts are lost for my ex-client. Maybe it's time to stop by for a cup of coffee???

-Pete C.
Brainwerx Design

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Creative business card design

Everyone knows that marketing and branding go hand in hand. I'm a firm believer that every point of contact your business has should make a statement. It should say exactly what your business is about and it should be memorable.

When I began sketching design concepts for my business cards, I knew that emphasizing the gears (or one gear as it would turn out to be) would compliment my logo. It would also make a statement about my work process, which I touched on in my previous blog article, Logo Design Case Study: Brainwerx Design.

I wanted my potential customers to have an "interactive feel" to the card and "moving the gear" (opening the card to reveal my contact information) would convey that feeling. For this to work properly, I had to keep the gear graphic to a specific size so that the information below would still be at a legible font size. Doing this would keep the logo on the front of the card, smaller than most start up companies would care for. Many companies would rather have their logo or company name as large as possible. That's part of marketing and advertising. I wanted my customers to "feel" what my work is about. That's branding.



Now, there are hundreds of ways that I could have dealt with the main gear graphic in the front of my business card. I could have used metallic inks, foils, even casting actual metal, but all those options are quite expensive. Anyone that has ever created their own business cards and wanted to do a custom die cut (the use of a metal template to cut away a specific shape) has found out that this is a very expensive process. So what's my big cost cutting secret? That's simple - having a very steady hand.

When I had decided to treat the gear graphic as a die cut, I knew that I could do the cut on my own for a very low cost. I bought a 1/4" hole punch, a 1/2" hole punch and very sharp X-ACTO knife, all for approximately $20.00. Whenever I have some free time, I sit down in front of the television and cut and hole punch the cards. I've never thought of it as a tedious project since I enjoy being constructive away from my computer. Plus it reminds me of my final semester at the Art Institute of Houston, preparing my final portfolio presentation.


 Pete C.

Brainwerx Design

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Logo Design Case Study: Brainwerx Design

In mid, 2010 I created Brainwerx Design as a way to market myself as a freelance graphic designer. Truly creative designers spend hours upon hours sketching the perfect logo for themselves or their clients. I do the same...usually. When designing a logo, I normally do not pay attention to my first few sketches. I consider those to be a starting point and know that they will lead to something greater. Those first ideas have so much room for improvement. Even after you settle on a concept, it can still be developed so much further.

Although I had sketched out several different logo ideas, I kept coming back to one of my first concepts, the design that you see in this blog post. Why would I do that? Well, allow me to refer to one of my previous articles (Looking for a "Creative" advertising agency) where I wrote: "Advertising agencies, design firms and freelance designers need to see themselves as their potential customers see them. They need to be aware of the market they are in, and market themselves accordingly." That's the key... market yourself accordingly.

I live and work in the very southern tip of Texas. For over a century the economy in this region has been well behind the rest of the US. It has only been in the past 25 years that there has been an explosion (revolt?) of high school graduates going on to graduate from college. And only in these past 10 years, has this area begun to grow to the metropolis that everyone knew it had the potential to become. Don't get me wrong, we have made great strides here. We have upscale boutiques, interior designers, etc., but I strongly believe that I could not successfully market myself in this area as an upscale graphic design service. Therefore, I could not use a logo that was too abstract. What I needed was something that was clever, creative and instantly memorable.

The image of the head profile with gears lends itself well to the Brainwerx Design name. They both emphasize the creative process. Aside from the final artwork that I produce for my clients, the "process" is what I want them to understand and hope come to appreciate. I want my clients to see that I create new images and not simply copy-and-paste objects onto a template. I custom create their logos, websites, advertisements, etc. I actually think about their business and their branding efforts.

Pete C.

Brainwerx Design

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