Laundry! blurs the lines between art and ad.

In a world that is looking more and more like a giant billboard for advertising messages, we prefer at least when the advertising is artfully executed. If you're going to sell us widgets, sell them to us with an ad that we want to frame after, a video that we want to share with friends, a campaign that inspires our creativity, not just our wallets.

Working with brands to do just that is Laundry! Helmed by artists and Creative Directors Tony Liu and PJ Richardson, Laundry! gets its kicks by 'making it right and making it rad.' Never has a more respectable company motto been spoken. The studio has worked on the animation and illustration in music videos for the likes of Kanye West, The Strokes, and Duffie, commercials for brands including VEVO, Doublemint, Honda, and SONY, and has created graphics for Mountain Dew, The Cool Kids, Nike and others.

Check out the music vid for artist Uffie (watch for the incredible design and animation created by Laundry!)...

[This post originally appeared on http://curated.culturejam.com.]

Learning when to say goodbye.

Do you remember the first time you realized you weren't wanted somewhere? Perhaps it was in grade school during recess when you got picked last for the dodgeball team (I will vehemently deny that I'm projecting here). Maybe it was in high school, when you sat down at a lunch table to find that the conversation had come to an abrupt stop and no one would look in your direction (again, this has never--I repeat--never happened to me)?

Well, Governor Blagojevich has been given less subtle hints that no one wants him in office anymore...like, say, the FBI's arrival at his home to arrest him, the national media's recent talk of his criminal activity, or, perhaps, his own government cohorts' attempt to impeach him.

Today, however, Blagojevich publicly announced that he had engaged in no criminal activity, would not resign and promised “I will fight, I will fight, I will fight.” Typically, I've found, political fighting is best done on behalf of a general public, someone who cares. Who, exactly, does Blagojevich think he's fighting for, or with?

Seriously, Rod...seriously!...get the hint. Get off the dodgeball field. Pick your lunch up and go sit at another table. Resign for goodness sake. It's time to say goodbye.

Photo credit: NY Times