Did you know that Blackthorn Design actually designed the first official Usain Bolt website?

After we had done a range of promotional products around the GAA in the lead up to the 2008 All Ireland Final, including downloadable caricature masks of various Tyrone County Footballers, an interactive online game and popular website called takeyourpoints.com, we contacted sporting PR companies across Ireland and the UK with all the statistics on the site plus all the publicity that it had generated.
We got a wide range of design work for professional Rugby players, for professional Golfers and then we received a call from a Donegal native, who was based in London and was agent for an up and coming athlete called Usain Bolt.
We undertook the job and launched the website!  The rest is history!

During Usains meteoric rise to fame however it was decided that it would be better for a Jamaican team to manage his web presence, therefore we handed over all web files later that year.
Not before we received a few autographed postcards and an actual baseball hat that Usain had worn and had also autographed- (which we later donated this to a local fundraising run as a prize).

Blackthorns Claim to fame!

The Pop Art movement emerged in the mid-1950s in Britain and in the late 1950s in the United States.  
Pop art presents a challenge to traditions of fine art by including imagery from popular culture such as advertising, news, etc. You can recognize it by the little dots on the image.
In this campaign, however, they have used the lack of dots to good effect.  Made for Nivea in Ecuador by MAYO DraftFCB .

ec.mayodraftfcb.com

I have to say it caused much talk on the Today Fm show as well as across many offices in Ireland, but when Ray  and Mairead decided to have cheese made from bacteria found on their own bodies- it got us thinking about the obvious packaging requirements!Read more about this here:
http://www.todayfm.com/Did-you-know-you-can-grow-your-own-cheese

Harvey Nichols Ad Campaign Asks Shoppers To Spend A Little On Themselves
“Sorry I Spent It On Myself”

Adam&eve/DDB has launched a range of budget products for Harvey Nichols aimed at Christmas shoppers who’d rather treat themselves than their loved ones.
The ‘Sorry I Spent It On Myself’ range, available in stores and online from Wednesday, includes a series of low value gifts in minimal red and white packaging.

Shoppers can purchase a packet of ‘authentic Lincolnshire gravel’ for £1.61:

Inspired by all the growths of facial hair, we thought we would invent something to make the month of Movember that little bit easier to get through.
If your Dad, Husband, Son, Brother or Friend has started down the path of the bearded and moustached ones, then perhaps you could buy them some Tash Wash to ensure those bristles are kept in tip top condition- then again seeing as this is a fictional product by us at Blackthorn- dig deep and instead sponsor your buddy again!!
Well done to all taking part, looking forward to seeing how they all develop!

I actually had a discussion last night with someone regarding how some businesses are great at indirect marketing- promoting a campaign that is relevant to their product or business- but getting the message across in a totally unexpected way. 
I loved how the above design had done exactly this, injecting an element of humour to make the campaign both memorable but importantly a talking point with their target audience.  Really smart promotion.

Awesome chalk drawings and stop motions for M&C Saatchi GAD France.  
Photographed and then used to produce a range of promotional materials.

Donors save lives, which is, incidentally, what real superheroes do. Simple message, perfectly executed for this campaign from the government of the State of Ceará, Brasil.

(via I Believe In Advertising)

Do you keep up to speed with your marketing?  Do you know where it is going and how and what your visitors are after?
This advert asks these important questions-with a bit of humour!