Eleanor shared this video on her Facebook page, and as soon as I saw it I thought, "We need to hire some kids. They can bang out ideas really fast!" Well, not really. But I did think it was a pretty cool way to demonstrate that creative ideas and their execution take time. Playfulness and fun aren't the enemies of productivity. They are, more often than not, the backbone of effective results.

At aasman, we're fortunate enough to have a client base that, for the most part, understands this principle. As a result, our work often involves a lot of play, which makes this a pretty fun place to be—for us and our clients. 

Check this out for a little extra creative inspiration. Have a great weekend! 

The Kitchen-Kuiack family is representing the Yukon in a great way by participating in Canadian Geographic's Energy Diet Challenge.

Of the five other families they are competing against, the Kitchen-Kuiack household is leading the vote of public support.

It's probably because they write great blog updates with videos and fun pictures. Today's hilarious post is about making the meter part of the family–featuring heart felt music and various meter "costumes".

They're competing for a 2012 Toyota Prius hybrid. It may seem funny that a car is the prize for an energy conservation challenge, but for a Yukon family that lives out of town, driving is one of their biggest consumers of fossil fuels and a hybrid would make a big difference.

Car or no car, they're already winning a heap of savings in reducing consumption of oil, gas, electricity and water.

The rest of us Yukoners just get to be proud to be associated with them. They've got a strong online presence worth following. Check it out:

Kitchen-Kuiack Household bio

Their Facebook page

Their twitter page

The Energy Diet Challenge homepage

The latest aasmanaut keeps her cool amidst many blustery multi-tasking requests. While Naomi is settling into her new position with flying colours (and hair), some of us have been here long enough to warrant a new look.

I recently went to a shmansy cocktail hour before the Western Canadian Music Awards and met a woman who's portrait I had drawn during a previous concert. I was in the audience at that time and so we hadn't actually met before. When I introduced myself she said "Oh, I thought you had really short hair." That's when I made a mental note to have a new photo taken for aasman's about us page—where she had found my photo.

So when we did Naomi's great hair shot, we did one for my new long locks too.
Here's the change (still listening to the ball of course)

I'm not the only one who's changed their look. Pre-press master Paul Mantel used to sport a long-do too. Check out the difference from 2006 and now.

How does this fit into branding?

Well, personally, I like to talk about hair, so this blog is appropriate for me. For aasman, our brand remains constantly about brand excellence through compelling communications and purpose driven creative, but like the world we live in, we like to stay up-to-date with the latest looks, including keeping you informed about our hair styles.

A great way of presenting a new concept to your audience is to use a metaphor.

This charming campaign in the Frankfurt International Airport is advertising a newspaper that has changed format and become smaller. Instead of selling the features of the product—like how a smaller paper is easier to hold and read—baby versions of prominent world leaders grab our attention and get the point across quickly.

If you have an idea on the go, what metaphor might you use to explain it?

Last week the aasman team got together and carved, stabbed and massacred pumpkins for the office Hallowe'en ambience. Some of the pumpkins made it and some of them didn't . . .

(Looks like dude had a rough weekend.)

Here's a few Hallowe'en-themed commercials to get you in the mood. Happy Seriously Freak Out the Kids in Your Neighbourhood Day!