Ultimo Bra Test Drive

Nice idea from British underweaar brand Ultimo. A group of busty test-riders donned a variety of Ultimo bras and were put through their paces on several rides at Alton Towers to test the durability and lift support of bras-and to make sure they were a snug fit. Here's the link.

The Wilderness Downtown

Arcade Fire have released a Google Chrome interactive video for their new track We Used To Wait. At the beginning of the Chris Milk-created video, you'll be asked to enter the house where you were raised. Built entirely with the latest open web technologies, including HTML5 video, audio, and canvas, your information then forms a series of custom rendered maps, in real-time composited music video.

Interactive Twitter Murals For The CTC

A nice use of real-time social media updates in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles for the Canadian Tourism Commission. A series of interactive murals were put up to inspire Americans to book a holiday to their north American neighbour, by pulling in tweets about Canada from Canadians. A more engaging way of executing one of those "show off all the cool stuff you can get up to here" briefs.

The POV Concert Series

The innovative folk at Pitchfork recently created The POV Concert Series, turning the viewer into the editor. The way it works is simple, but something that I don't remember ever having seen before (correct me if I'm wrong). Pitchfork basically set up six cameras at a small concert venue and record the performance of a band. Then, instead of having a director chop up the six shots into his or her idea of how to present them, the viewer can pick which of the six views they want to see and can switch between the angles at any point.

This technique really seems to be in it's infancy at the moment and could definitely be put to better use - to tell different perspectives on a story for instance (see HBO Imagine). What I really like about the POV Concert Series however is being able to view those parts of the act that you would never normally see, like the bass player when there's no bass line involved. We're going to see more of this soon I'm sure.

Save The Words

Save The Words was created by the Oxford University Press to show all those lovely words that used to be in common use and are now in danger of going extinct. The idea is for visitors to locate their favorite one, register with the site and make a promise to begin using that word in daily conversation, thus taking a nearly extinct part of language and making it useful again.

The World’s Biggest GPS Message

Nick Newcomen has created the world's biggest piece of typography using a car and a GPS tracking device as a "pen." His message "Read Ayn Rand" consists of 12,328 miles travelled and stretches from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean, covering 30 American states. Created during the spring and summer of 2010, Newcomen turned on his GPS logger device when he wanted to write, and off between letters. He then input the recorded data into Google Earth to create the image above.

Ayn Rand was a Russian-American 20th century novelist and philosopher by the way. Newcomen says “the main reason I did it is because I am an Ayn Rand fan. In my opinion if more people would read her books and take her ideas seriously, the country and world would be a better place; freer, more prosperous and we would have a more optimistic view of the future.” Works for me. I'm ordering The Fountainhead off Amazon right now.

The After Hours Athelete

I very much like this spot for Puma from Droga5 and director Ringan Ledwidge, celebrating the after-hours athletes; ten-pin bowlers; pool players, and darts fanatics. Such a refreshing change after the summer's usual bombardment of epic football ads.

Tony Robbins And The Invisible Forces

Another incredible video on TED that I had completely missed. Here "Success Coach" (very American) Tony Robbins discusses the "invisible forces" that motivate everyone's actions. I'd really like to think that I haven't just been duped by another self-help speech as I found myself very moved by a great deal of what he had to say. Have a watch if you get 20 minutes to spare.

Sir Ken Robinson's Learning Revolution

Sir Ken Robinson carries on where he left off with his fabled 2006 TED talk. Here he takes the opportunity to make the case for a radical shift from standardized schools to personalized learning, creating conditions where natural talents can flourish. Look out for his wonderful appropriation of WB Yeats' Cloths of Heaven.

56 Sage Street

56 Sage Street is a nice little interactive game for Barclays, created by BBH London and B-Reel. Similar in style to Sim City and Grand Theft Auto, the game works as a kind of rags to riches story, whereby a kid comes to the city with a mission to make it big. The game is aimed at teenagers with the idea being that they manage their bank account well enough and end up at 56 Sage Street, the home of the mysterious Mr C’s empire. There's an interesting making of post over on BBH Labs' blog from creative Ali Merry that's worth a read.

Hard Times Of R.J Berger Trailer

I'm definitely going to be catching an episode of MTV's Hard Times of RJ Berger after having seen this stunning trailer. I'd love to know who directed it - IMDB lists four different episode directors: Anton Cropper, Jeffrey Melman, David Rogers and Ryan Shiraki - or if it's just some sweet editing of the series' footage.

Young Lions

I wasn't aware of Peter Szewczyk until I came across this music video for The Maccabees' track Young Lions. The film tells the story of a boy who finds solace from a tough world with the help of a pet moth. When his father intervenes both boy and insect escape in separate journeys in search of sanctuary. With a background in CG - having worked at Dreamworks, Lucasfilm and Weta - Szewczyk based Young Guns on James Thurber's short story Moth and the Star. Good tune too.