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 a great film to promote the release of the ‘Air Balloon’ bag charm by Louis Vuitton. A ‘bag charm’ is a small icon attached to your Luois Vuitton trunk or bag that automatically traces your steps and thus becomes a memento of your journey – ‘charms’ originally are small jewelry icons hanging from a bracelet around the wrist. Louis Vuitton has been creating bag charms for more than 10 years now – according to LV some of them have become collector’s items. The film was created by Christian Borstlap – Part of a Bigger Plan – in his signature graphic style; black and white, crisp and clear, but with much eye for detail at the same time. The wonderful song Too Insistent by The Dø makes the journey complete.

Mr Porter is an online ‘Net-A-Porter’ platform where one can learn about and buy the most timeless and stylish men’s clothing and accessories in the world. So if you want to know everything about good taste, this is the place to be. From $ 285 Charvet shirts to a $ 293 straw Panama hat by Lock & Co., it’s all there. To celebrate this wonderful fashion institute, Natalie Massenet, exclusive trend spotter and founder of Nowness, asked Christian Borstlap’s Part of a Bigger Plan to create a film that conveys the feeling of living life in exquisite style. What a great job Borstlap did. Not only did we want to exchange our flip flops for classic suede tasseled loafers instantly, we also realised what a normal life we have been living so far. Doing a beer ad shoot in South Africa always sounded pretty cool to us, but after having seen this film, it feels bourgeois at best. Manuel Ferrari (The Ambassadors) created the animation.

Write the future did what most of us expected, it won big last night at the Dutch Art Director’s Club (ADCN) Awards: the Standing bulb (read: Grand Prix) and three golden bulbs (Integrated, Film, and Print/Magazine). Massive Music also won an award for the music in this commercial. Overall, TBWA\Neboko won most awards, taking home 2 golden (in Film for Pearle and in Print for Heineken’s Social Networks) and 4 silver bulbs. Live Interactive billboard (n=5) won gold in Outdoor. Bavaria’s DutchDress (Selmore) – causing such a big stir at the World Championship football last summer – also received a very deserved golden bulb in Activation. Christian Borstlap’s posters for the overview exhibition of Dutch advertising classics won gold in Graphic Design. In Interactive there was no gold. This could mean that digital creatives are still mostly tech driven, rather than aiming for the big idea. It could also mean that the ‘traditional’ creatives (the largest part of the Jury) are not able to fully appreciate digital innovations. Or it might be a bit of both. In any case, there were three silver bulbs in Interactive for Philips ‘Wake up the town‘ (Tribal DDB), Live Interactive Billboard (see above – a big digital idea, created by a ‘traditional’ agency), and Vodafone’s Madame TreSesti (Achtung!). Our very favourite film ‘Drama Queen‘ for the Young Director Award (TBWA Helsinki, directed by Rogier Hesp) got a bulb in the category Young Directors, but unfortunately not gold.

Dutch Designer Christian Borstlap starts a new agency, called ‘Part of a Bigger Plan’. The agency offers branding, advertising, and design. In the past Borstlap worked for Wallpaper* Magazine, KesselsKramer, and FHV/BBDO. One of Borstlap’s most successful works in 2010 was his Children Stamps campaign for TNT Post – among other prizes it won a D&AD award and Dutch Design Award. We first thought that the name ‘Part of a Bigger Plan’ was referring to the way small, modern collaborative agencies work nowadays, but Borstlap explained to us that the name actually refers to the modern media landscape where communication is always part of a bigger plan. The name also conveys the agency’s strategic ambitions; it creates communication with a long term vision. Borstlap assured us that there’s enough work in the pipeline, so we’ll be looking forward to see that!

We talked about Triodos’ new designy ‘Follow your heart, Use your head’ campaign – created by Dawn, designed by Christian Borstlap – a month ago. It was called a ‘missed opportunity’, since we thought the ads lacked an incentive for the consumer to move to Triodos (‘sustainable banking’). Now the incentive is there. “We invest in rubbish. Because recycling has the future” is what this outdoor ad tells us. The others communicate: “Let’s turn Fair Trade into a pleonasm” and “Banking without e-numbers and preservatives”. O.k. now we get it. Though it still feels a little too ‘fair trade’ to persuade the masses. But we sincerely hope we’re wrong. In any case, nice copy and design.

These outdoor posters were created by Dawn for Triodos Bank. The first two posters say ‘Use your head’ and ‘Follow your heart’. At night – when the lights in the JC Decaux outdoor furniture are on – both posters change into the third poster. Dawn worked with Christian Borstlap, who recently won a Dutch Design Award for the Dutch ‘Children stamps’ he created (here’s the commercial that came with it). We like these posters. They clearly stand out – both in tone and look – in a landscape of banks that all of sudden (not very credibly) en masse listen to their clients and offer ‘revolutionary’ consumer friendly products. Still it feels like a bit of a missed opportunity. Triodos Bank is the only bank that can honestly claim not being greedy. And while the sober style matches with this insight, the message feels kind of empty. We usally use our head and heart, but why should we bank with Triodos? We hope that in the rest of this campaign they’ll show a bit more of the aggressiveness all the other banks used to sell they’re lucrative products.

Update: Dawn told us kindly that “this is the introduction kick off for the people who’ve never heard of Triodos”. As from next Monday Dawn will explain us why we should all bank there. We look forward to it.

Already since 1924 Holland has a tradition of Kinderpostzegels (children stamps). The stamps are issued once a year by TNT Post, distributed by school children throughout their neighborhood and sold with a surcharge. The money of this charity goes to projects that focus on the welfare of vulnerable children. Every year the stamp has a different theme and this year it is ‘let the children learn’. The distinctive and clean design of the stamps and this commercial was done by Christian Borstlap and brought to life by director Paul Postma. And the catchy music by Hopkins and Kenjamin tops it off nicely!