On Tuesday, January 31, Ad2 Roanoke planned for a lunch-time tour of two of Roanoke’s finest printers’ shops, which we dubbed the “Brown Bag Series: The Fine Art of Printing.” Enter Press Press Merch and Appalachia Press. We were welcomed with open arms, warm smiles, pizza, and desserts by Hired Guns Creative‘s Erica and Patrick, along with Greg Szechenyi from Press Press and John Reburn from Appalachia Press.

Greg walked around their print shop, taking us through the production of a normal screen printing job, showing off their massive 10-station, 8-color automatic press and vacuum exposure unit. Later, Greg showed off their showroom, highlighting various printing techniques like soft-touch inks, 4-color printing, and discharge inks, which removes the pigment from the shirt in a non-toxic way. The whole time we were there, the Press Press crew was working seamlessly and professionally in the background, like there weren’t any strange people wondering around their shop.

John took over and led us a few feet through a doorway, bringing us into the Appalachia Press shop. There was a distinct smell of “Old Stuff™,” which should be a signature Appalachia Press candle scent. You’re welcome, John. Old presses, wood, steel, and iron. *Deep breath…ahhhhhh. What a lovely smell that is. As he led us through his workshop, John shared a brief history of how he got into letterpress, what he uses each piece of machinery for, and then explained the printing process for various letterpress jobs. There are some different processes that he goes through based on the type of job that comes in. Whether it involves hand-cut stencils, sending art out to be made into a block, or screen printing, every job always includes lots of hands-on work. Getting his hands dirty and lifting heavy equipment is how John stays fit. Having a new retail store in downtown Roanoke, a steady stream of online shoppers, and many resellers all over the country keeps Appalachia’s presses moving. John is working on plans to run a few workshops this summer, so stay in the loop on their Facebook page.

Thanks again to Press Press Merch and Appalachia Press’s hospitality. For those who couldn’t make it out, nanny nanny boo boo, stick your head in doo doo. You missed out.

Frank Chimero is a design god. There. I said it. What? He’s taking a hiatus from designing to write this book. (Watch the whole video. Seriously.)

He’s probably written some of the most compelling advice for students I’ve ever read, and in case you haven’t seen it before, we’re going to share some highlights here.

Look people in the eyes when you are talking or listening to them. The best teachers are the ones who treat their classrooms like a workplace, and the worst ones are the ones who treat their classroom like a classroom as we’ve come to expect it. Eat breakfast. Realize that you are learning a trade, so craft matters more than most say. Realize that design is also a liberal art. Quiet is always an option, even if everyone is yelling. Libraries are a good place. The books are free there, and it smells great.

And:

Don’t become dependent on having other people pull it out of you while you’re in school. If you do, you’re hosed once you graduate. Keep two books on your nightstand at all times: one fiction, one non-fiction.

But don’t forget:

Seeking advice is addicting and can become a proxy for action. Giving it can also be addicting in a potentially pretentious, soul-rotting sort of way, and can replace experimenting because you think you know how things work. Be suspicious of lists, advice, and lists of advice.

Read the full post here.

BMW is back in action! After taking a 10 year hiatus, the iconic automaker has inked a huge new product placement deal. Once a staple of action movies, the BMW symbol has been notably missing from major productions since 2002. After creating their short film series “The Hire”, which was at the time considered ground breaking online entertainment content, they made an executive decision to switch their marketing dollars to sports backing Formula One and America’s Cup car and sailing races.

This time around BMW is upping the ante. In addition to providing 2 custom made cars for filming, they are offering customers the chance to go to one of 200 special advance screenings of “Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol.” This is an incredibly smart move by the German automaker in a culture where customers expect to be be able to interact with their favorite brands one-on-one. While still holding the typical contest to send a few lucky winners to the red carpet premier, this extra initiative allows more fans to interact with the brand and ultimately create long-lasting loyalty.

During the film patrons will get to see first-hand the newest in-car technology on the market, ConnectedDrive. This is a huge leap forward from their history with the James Bond franchise where they only showcased invented technology. New model BMWs will have available options such as interactive traffic and parking assists, movile device connectivity, entertainment apps, and windshield displays. Even the actual car from the movie is being re-created and sold as the i8 hybrid and electric sports car.

From a consumer stand point, I don’t typically mind product placement where it makes sense. If during the RomCom of the month Katherine Heigl takes her newly adopted children to McDonald’s instead of Burger Barn it helps to create a more realistic scene. However, in BMW’s first product placement attempt with James Bond, they caused several scenes in the movies to be less realistic. Avid fans know that since 1960 Bond has only consumed Smirnoff martinis, worn a Rolex watch and driven an Aston Martin. It was shameful of the movie creators to “sell out” the James Bond character for BMW and later Omega.

Despite all the positive press surrounding this partnership, it still stands to reason that the inclusion of BMW could be overkill and gimmicky in the newest chapter of Mission:Impossible. Guess we’ll have to pay the $10 (or $0.99 from RedBox) to find out!

Source: BMW back for film ‘Mission’ on Variety

The always stunning Dan Cassero (@youngjerks) just completed a mural at the Ace Hotel in NY. Check out his original post for more photos, but be sure to watch the time-lapse video below. It’s precious.

Mural at The Ace Hotel from Daniel Cassaro on Vimeo.

On Friday, November 18, the Moveable Type Truck rolled into Roanoke, VA to share a lovely evening with the Ad2 Roanoke crew and anyone else who happened to walk by. Kyle Durrie, a letterpress printer from Portland, Oregon and the proprietor of Power and Light Press has been driving her converted 1982 Chevy step van/mobile letterpress print shop around the country sharing her love of letterpress with the masses. She’s been making stops at “libraries, community gardens, galleries, street fairs, farms, universities, back yards, and everywhere in between” since June of this year. Kyle’s plan is to continue the tour until March/April of next year, if not longer. I’m not sure how many miles she’s logged so far, but that’s going to be one hell of a cross country road trip!

Read more from Brian about his time at our event and an interview with Kyle at his blog.

We’re a big fan of the work coming out of the Charleston, SC studio Stitch Design Co. and the packaging for these candles is a great example of the caliber of their work. Using recycled wine bottles as the container, a wood veneer wax topper and letterpressed kraft paper labels, the Stitch team has given Rewined candles the perfect look and feel. The crowning touch? A wax seal and a signed producer strip that creates a personal connection with the candle craftsmen. Be sure to check out Stitch’s sister letterpress company, Sideshow Press.

Click here for their original blog post.

It’s always exciting when designers get married, well, for the designers at least. Their printers tend to have a rough time with all of the expectations and demands, but this project shows that when everyone works together from the start, the results can be stunning and budget friendly. Click here for the original post and more pictures from Designer, J. Kenneth Rothermich.

In a generation clouded by student loan debt and insecurity, you inspired many of us to veer from the pack and go our own way. While my mother might not approve of the path I have chosen, or the expensive equipment that’s required for the journey, I have continued on knowing that it’s the right direction for me. I’ll convert her one day. If it weren’t for trailblazers like you, I doubt that I would have thought it possible to make something of myself at an early age.

The world has lost a visionary, and far too soon.

(This video saw ONE MILLION visitors in the time it took me to open the page, copy and paste the embed code and finish this post.)

If it weren’t for your unabashed creativity and constant desire for improvement, I would not be sitting here typing this letter. I definitely wouldn’t be typing it on a Mac.

The competition requires AAF college chapter members to develop a 32-page marketing campaign and 20-minute presentation in response to a case study co-authored by Nissan Americas and the AAF Academic Division.  The case study will focus on the Nissan brand as it relates to multicultural audiences, expanding upon Nissan’s innovation theme. Each student team will first participate at the district level, and then winning teams will advance to the national level. Student teams will pitch their campaign to a judging panel selected by the sponsor during the AAF’s National Conference, the annual ADMERICA!, to be held in 2012 in Austin, Texas from June 2-5.

Year after year, the quality of work and level of creativity surpasses the previous year, and sponsors have been known to implement the ideas generated by these impressive, high-caliber student teams.
“Nissan is extremely proud to support the creative minds of the National Student Advertising Competition,” said Jon Brancheau, vice president, Marketing, Nissan North America. “We are excited to see how the students can help Nissan deliver even more innovation to our communication platform.”

The AAF has 15 districts with over 200 college chapters represented. Last year, 148 AAF college chapters competed at the district level, and it is anticipated that that number will increase in 2012.
“The automotive sector is incredibly dynamic, and Nissan is an exciting and innovative brand in that sector, and so I know our students are going to be thrilled to learn that Nissan is the 2011-2012 NSAC sponsor. I am confident our partnership with Nissan will be a true testament to the quality of work our AAF college students can produce. Most of all, I thank Nissan for believing in and supporting the future of the advertising industry by providing our college students the kind of hands-on training these students cannot get anywhere else. We look forward to working with the Nissan Team,” said AAF president and CEO James Edmund Datri.

Nissan Americas will not only sponsor the NSAC this year, but will also host the 2011 AAF Student Conference in Washington, D.C. on October 27-28. This event connects students with a variety of professional development opportunities and encourages them to meet and network with industry leaders and AAF alumni.

To learn more about how to start an AAF college chapter and participate in the NSAC, please visit www.aaf.org/education.