Moodboard Monday #62

Weirdness as a strategy, design studio principles, Snoop Dogg for the AFL and more.

This one jumps around a lot, so pour yourself a coffee, shut the inbox, and strap in.

Weirdness as a marketing strategy

Now let’s not beat around the bush. The Vibram FiveFinger shoes are weird. Similar to Crocs before Justin Bieber sent the internet and Crocs’ stock price soaring by posting a photo of just a pair of Crocs on his grid, these shoes, like Crocs back then, are seen as a novelty. I haven’t considered buying them for two main reasons. 1) Both of my feet have a history of issues, and these shoes would either solve my problems or leave me hobbling for the next 4 months. 2) They look the way they do.

But I recently saw this piece of content from Abby Bucknall, the Global Head of Marketing for Vibram:

Grip. Grit. Glory.
This is Toe Wrestling.
This is Vibram FiveFingers.

It’s more than just a sport-it’s culture, energy, and toes that won’t quit.

vibramfivefingers

A post shared by @vibramfivefingers

Traditional advertising and brand work won’t work with a product this untraditional, so as Hunter S. would say: when the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.
Kudos to the FiveFinger team for this one.
It definitely got me thinking.

Mouthwash Studios Values / Principles
I have no context of what this presentation was about, but looking through the slides from Alex Tan, the Cofounder of MOUTHWASH Studio chat at POV Budapest, mainly just appreciating the design of each slide, I saw this:

MW.S has always been one of my favourite design studios. Even before I lived in LA, I was a fan of their work. I think it was their involvement in the Utah Jazz rebranding that turned me into a real fan most recently. But now, having seen their principles, it all makes sense. All of their work feels genuine, authentic and extremely considered. So now I’m asking myself, how can I bring similar principles into my own work, and what might that look like?

Everything Now: Lessons from the City-State of Los Angeles by Rosecrans Baldwin
A book I recommend if you’re like me, still trying to figure out this place called LA. Baldwin’s Everything Now frames Los Angeles as less a city, more a prototype for modern life, where extremes collide: wealth and poverty, nature and sprawl, fame and anonymity. He shows how LA’s contradictions aren’t flaws but the very things that define it, making it feel like its own city-state with its own rules where culture, climate, and capitalism crash together first.

AFL Grand Final
In terms of those who love Aussie Rules and those who love 90s hip hop, I’d definitely be in the top percentile. But I do think they’ve really missed the mark, again, with their choice of pregame performance. Snoop Dogg.

And this is not even taking into consideration the Aussie Rules’ cultural issues with homophobia + other topics and Snoops’ recent controversial comments on such matters. It’s more about the audience, the stage, and his style of performance. Sure, in 2022 we saw one of the best Super Bowl halftime shows with Snoop, Dre, Eminem, 50 Cent, Kendrick and more… but that was in Inglewood. It was a homecoming for the hip hop gods that are Dre and Snoop. Snoop didn’t have to carry the show. He was simply a quarter of it. Now we’re expecting him to carry this show all on his own? I just don’t see it having the energy needed to capture that pregame buzz. But speaking of that iconic half time show, here you go.

Also RIP Meatloaf btw.

As always, thanks for reading!