You see it all the time, advertising being inspired by art. This commercial quite literally is. Which is to say, we’ve seen this concept, a mosaic of choreographed webcam images, already many times in many forms. It started in a music video we believe. But we can imagine that for the average (potential) Prius Wagon driver - in the Netherlands certainly not the George Clooney’s of this world – it makes quite a cool ad. And, in all fairness, it is very well art directed. Made by Launched and directed by André Maat (Hazazah). Creative tunes added by Massive Music.

This graphically inviting game called ‘Hitchhike with a like’ was created by Tribal DDB and Facebook. It let’s you hitch rides through Europe to different destinations with different Volkswagen Beetles. Though the copy teaches us that it’s about the journey and not the destination, the game doesn’t really show the journey. It simply tells you how many points you’ve earned after you’ve reached your different destinations. If you travel long enough, you can win a Beetle trip across Europe. Oh, and there’s also a ‘mojo’ meter that slowly runs on empty. Only by sharing your trips on Facebook you can recharge it. And that’s where Volkswagen’s briefing peeks around the corner: “Wir wollen Facebook Likes, und schnell!” As usual we weren’t patient enough to sit out the entire game, but we’re sure that if you do there’s champagne and fireworks – and if you’re lucky a grand prize. The game was produced by B-Reel, the 3D animations built by Prime Focus, and the different tunes accompanying each trip created by Massive Music.

It’s not easy to start a new financial service these days. Especially when it’s an investment service. Some see opportunities though. And since today transparency is key, you can imagine how ‘Open’ came out of the brand name brainstorm. What we don’t really understand is the random ‘h’ in there. Even if you want to own a short URL, oHpen does make quite a weird name – especially if you’re dyslectic. And while we’re at it; the logo (created by …, Staat) is a bit too grey in our opinion. This brand is about a fresh start, a new dawn. What’s more, there’s a foundation behind Ohpen – we found out on their website – that strives to create a better world. So we would have opted for a more colorful logo. Anyway, the voice over: “It’s a natural law; everything starts small. Just like an asset. That’s why Ohpen is the first in Europe to introduce index-investing and keeps it simple and responsible. So whether you have 1 million euros or just the one; Ohpen is there for everyone. Because everything that ends big, starts small.” So that’s why this pleasant film is shown in reverse. You see how money is made; and it all starts with a cotton plant. Got it. Created by SSSS & Orchestra, directed by Bruce St. Clair (Caviar), and music by Massive Music.

After having introduced our new columnists last week, this week we’re introducing a new item called ‘Inspiration’; Amsterdam creatives sharing their inspiration on a weekly basis. In order of future appearance we found the following posse willing to show us what they like, what fascinates them, or what they admire on a regular basis: Jennette Snape, art director at Dolly Rogers; Jarr Geerligs, art director at Selmore; Joep Beving, creative at Massive Music; Rick de Zwart, designer at Meneer de Zwart (and responsible for AAB’s visual identity); David Snellenberg, copywriter at Dawn; Johan Kramer, director at 328 Stories; Martin Pyper, designer at MeStudio; Reuben Alexander, creative at Buutvrij for Life; and Christian Borstlap, art director at Part of a Bigger Plan. Of course these people do more than just what their often somewhat rigitd title suggests (in art, music, photography, etc.) but you can read about that on their profile page, once they’ve posted their first contribution. Today Jennette Snape kicks off with an art piece she created herself. The title is “Inspiration lies in the eye of the beholder”; a nice kick off for this new genre, since it philosophies on what inspiration really is.

What you see is what you get: soft and strong – exactly what we all want our TP to be. Nice animation. Created by Publicis, produced by Glassworks, sound by Massive Music and Kaiser Sound Studios.

What a great clip, showing the grand opening of Massive Music’s fifth office in London – after Amsterdam, New York, Los Angeles and Shanghai – which will be run by Paul Reynolds and Nico Steiger. The clip was directed by Oscar Verpoort (Bananaz) and the song is ‘Sleeping Dogs’ by Big Smoky (a ‘Massive Talent’).