If you're like us, you want your visual metaphors straight up, not mixed. So, despite getting déjà vu all over again, we greatly appreciate The Refinery's new Mad Men key art.
Be sure to click here to watch a video of the photo shoot with Frank Ockenfels.
Click on image to enlarge.
What's next, a list of condiments used by BLT?
Posted by: James Ensore | Thursday, July 23, 2009 at 09:41 AM
mmmmm. condiments!
Posted by: Homer S. | Thursday, July 23, 2009 at 09:53 AM
The perspective on the chair is off. All that effort to come up with this?
And the video...lol.
Posted by: Art Korector | Thursday, July 23, 2009 at 10:20 AM
What is with people like you, Art Korector? Are you so insecure that you have to take a big fat dump on everyone elses work? Tell us something you did and have Edwina post it so we can have it.
Posted by: Hired Hand | Thursday, July 23, 2009 at 10:24 AM
actually the perspective is not off and I agree with the other comment... I would love to see what you've done ....
Posted by: john | Thursday, July 23, 2009 at 10:42 AM
My only critique of the MadMen piece is that the water is so dark and murky. I love the idea but I wish I could see through the water at least a little.
Posted by: Sailor | Thursday, July 23, 2009 at 11:25 AM
Not only is the perspective off but he's not OPTICALLY centered in the frame. Obviously done by a "hired-hand" that didn't know better.
The Devil is in the details...or is it God?
Posted by: Art Korector | Thursday, July 23, 2009 at 11:47 AM
Perspective off? Not OPTICALLY centered? Did anyone watch the video? Come on people. It was made from a single shot. Nice photo shoot and nice poster.
Posted by: Clark Bran | Thursday, July 23, 2009 at 12:08 PM
Poor Art Korector. What a miserable wretch you are. It's a good piece of key art and you know it! How can the perspective be off when it's a photograph?!!!
Posted by: Art Lover | Thursday, July 23, 2009 at 12:45 PM
LOL! "made from a single shot" and then photoshopped to death!
And if the video did not evoke a sense of shame and embarrassment for the profession, then heaven help us.
Posted by: Art Korector | Thursday, July 23, 2009 at 12:50 PM
wow. you have been in this business to long if your that bitter. Nice art
Posted by: Junior | Thursday, July 23, 2009 at 02:37 PM
Jr, judging from your spelling, you must be and Art Director, too.
Posted by: Art Korector | Thursday, July 23, 2009 at 02:45 PM
I've worked with one or two sad cases like Art Korector. It really doesn't matter whether the Mad Men key art is good or bad, he's just seething mad because someone else did it.
Believe me, if you have someone like that in your agency it's a real drain on everyone.
Posted by: A Very Nice Lady | Thursday, July 23, 2009 at 02:58 PM
:)
Posted by: Santa | Thursday, July 23, 2009 at 03:09 PM
I want to make a correction on Art Korector's comment. "you must be an Art Director,". There, much better.
Posted by: Rudy P. | Thursday, July 23, 2009 at 03:30 PM
Thanks!
All I was pointing out was that the perspective of the chair is off and the figure is not optically centered in the frame which detracts from the power of the image.
Craftsmanship 101.
Posted by: Art Korector | Thursday, July 23, 2009 at 03:37 PM
Wow! No "this is a blatant rip-off" comment? Interesting.
Posted by: Ta-dow | Thursday, July 23, 2009 at 03:51 PM
I bet Christine Lahti is pissed, yet she is looking at him like he's pretty damn cool.
Posted by: Rudy P. | Thursday, July 23, 2009 at 03:55 PM
The 9 campaign is dark and unappealing. Yes, the barcode idea is very clever and the new technology is all well and good. But the image in the theater needs to attract a wide variety of people very quickly. The dark images won't cut it and the bar code will be great for the 15 techno nerds who know what to do with it.
Posted by: Randi Bland | Thursday, July 23, 2009 at 04:35 PM
For fuck's sake, why are you commenting on the 9 Campaign in the MAD MEN section? And BTW there's at least 27 techno nerds that know what to do with that barcode!
Posted by: Andrew Irving | Thursday, July 23, 2009 at 04:48 PM
I thought we were here to dis Mad Men, which, by the way, is excellent work. It should be noted that the Housekeeping poster was designed by none other than Peter Bemis when he worked at The Spiros Company.
A hearty "well done" to all involved!
Posted by: Bryan Allen | Thursday, July 23, 2009 at 04:57 PM
And there's at least 750 people who love QRs:
http://www.facebook.com/QRCode?ref=ts
Posted by: Bryan Allen | Thursday, July 23, 2009 at 04:59 PM
The guy's still off center...
The difference between "good" and "great".
Posted by: Art Korector | Thursday, July 23, 2009 at 06:44 PM
Yea, ahem, you win Art Korector...you're the best...or something.
Posted by: EAT YO' PIXELZ | Friday, July 24, 2009 at 09:12 AM
Have to applaud the effort, it's not often that a client agrees to go all old school. I'm sure that was the idea, to create the ad the way they would have back then (pre-photoshop)... but looking at the end results, it seems to me that this image could have been created the normal (cheaper) way. Now if we actually saw part of him underwater like they discussed in the film -that unique distortion could have made the difference.
Posted by: Abe Vigoda | Friday, July 24, 2009 at 10:11 AM
It's just a good thing one of the photographer's lights didn't fall into the water. The opening shot of the season premiere would have been Don Draper in a coffin.
PS And it is the best keyart out there in a long time, at least that's what I think.
Posted by: sniggerer | Friday, July 24, 2009 at 12:07 PM
I prefer the previous year's Mad Men key art. This one looks too Art Directed, er, I mean Art Korected.
Posted by: Salvatore Romano | Friday, July 24, 2009 at 02:27 PM
Also applauding the effort, I have to agree with Abe Vigoda. There's a great shot toward the end of the video that shows him clearly both above and underneath the water, just as they were discussing the concept. I think it would have been much more powerful that way.
In fairness, I did an underwater shoot last year (nobody did a story on mine though!), that I also over photoshopped, and it lost a lot of its potential cool too.
Posted by: Marco Polo | Friday, July 24, 2009 at 02:35 PM
Perhaps someone from "The Refinery" will weigh in with how many shots were actually used in the final art. (we're guessing six.)
Posted by: Joe Friday | Friday, July 24, 2009 at 03:05 PM
Sorry to disappoint you, it's actually only three pieces. They are, the smoke coming off the cigarette, the pack floating in the water and the shot you see before you. Nothing here is optically off, unless you want to argue that the lens of the camera distorted something. Perspective on the chair? Well that’s about as real as it can get, all in camera folks. Didn’t you watch the dorky making of video? No illusion or Photoshop trickery required. This piece is simply the brilliance of Frank Ockenfels, he deserves to be applauded for his mastery of light and execution.
Posted by: The Refinery | Friday, July 24, 2009 at 09:15 PM
Thanks for the gory details, Refinery. Great key art!! I like that the water is too murky to see thru -- creates a more focused visual. Frank Ockenfels is da bomb!
Posted by: Mad Woman | Saturday, July 25, 2009 at 10:06 AM
It still LOOKS off-center...that's what matters.
Posted by: Art Korector | Saturday, July 25, 2009 at 11:34 AM
Here, try this: Draw a line through the vertical center of the frame.
You'll see that the face, the most important part of the image, is off to the left. Also the perspective lines of the arms on the chair converge to the left of center.
Posted by: Art Korector | Saturday, July 25, 2009 at 11:52 AM
Art Korector, you're like a dog who has to pee wherever any other other dog pees.
Did you actually print out the image and draw perspective lines through it? You are one sick, sick puppy.
Posted by: Cesar Millan | Saturday, July 25, 2009 at 12:39 PM
It seems Art Korector is the final say on quality of key art, would love to see some of his/her work.
I say its pretty cool that they built a set and got an actor to sit in it. A majority of the time this would have been shot on a white seamless and assembled in Photoshop.
Stop being such a jealous a-hole.
Posted by: rachel | Saturday, July 25, 2009 at 11:31 PM
Has anyone thought that Art Korector may be pulling everyone's leg?
Posted by: Rudy P. | Sunday, July 26, 2009 at 09:46 AM
I'm surprised that it isn't the first thing anyone who refers to themselves as an "art director" wouldn't notice immediately.
Amatureville.
Posted by: Art Korector | Sunday, July 26, 2009 at 10:36 AM
Refreshing to see a client have such confidence on a real concept. Although not much an original idea here since it's been done once before, but still refreshing to see this one stay mostly all in camera. Nice job. Ockenfels is one talented fella.
Posted by: 11:11 | Sunday, July 26, 2009 at 11:21 PM
Aaah, Art Korector...you are good. Touché.
Posted by: Rudy P. | Monday, July 27, 2009 at 07:48 AM
Since when did staying "mostly all in camera" become a virtue in this business? And what's the point, if in the end, you screw up the layout?
Posted by: Art Korector | Monday, July 27, 2009 at 09:13 AM
Art Korector may be an internationally known expert on vertical centers and such, but he or she is certainly an "amature" when it comes to spelling.
Posted by: m. webster | Monday, July 27, 2009 at 10:01 AM
Art Korector, how is it that the mental institution you are in allows you access to the internet?
Posted by: Sigmund Freud | Monday, July 27, 2009 at 10:26 AM
That would be "horizontal center", Webster...maybe that's the problem.
Posted by: Art Korector | Monday, July 27, 2009 at 10:36 AM
I think Adam and Brad planted Art Korector to keep people talking about their work. Good one, guys.
I do love the poster.
Posted by: Notso Anonymous | Monday, July 27, 2009 at 01:56 PM
But Art Korector, I was quoting you:
>>Draw a line through the vertical >>center of the frame.
Posted by: m. webster | Monday, July 27, 2009 at 02:48 PM
It's still off center. A mistake by any measure...
Posted by: Art Korector | Monday, July 27, 2009 at 04:03 PM
My guess is Art Korector isn't an art director. He sounds more like an marketing exec's assistant.
Posted by: Hired Hand | Monday, July 27, 2009 at 04:21 PM
Tip-O-The-Day: "Kids, always remember to Lock Your Guides!"
Posted by: Art Korector | Tuesday, July 28, 2009 at 09:13 AM
Tip Of The Day, Art Korector: "Always remember to optically center your crack when Wiping Your Ass!" If you've run out of toilet paper, use something from your portfolio, Art, I'm sure that's all its good for. Har de har har!
Posted by: Jughead Jones | Tuesday, July 28, 2009 at 09:50 AM
I seriously don't get what's the big deal about this key art and why it's getting so much attention. It's a guy in a chair in water. Big whoop.
Posted by: Random Outsider | Wednesday, August 12, 2009 at 09:31 AM