Thought Chicago Would Be Windier

A trip down Magnificent Mile makes it evident I'm not in downtown Winnipeg anymore. The shear height and architectural design of the buildings puts Winnipeg’s concrete jungle to shame.

It was a treat to visit such a bustling downtown where everything is just a walk away. Here in Winnipeg, everything is a drive away. I have never had any reason to walk through downtown Winnipeg, but it felt great to stretch out the old legs in Chicago.

Food Highlight: Grand Lux Café.

They had an international menu, which meant everyone could find something to eat. The atmosphere and waiters were very classy and upscale but the prices were of a casual dining place. (Which means I had no complaints!) The highlight of their menu was their desserts – huge portions that were cheaper than Baked Expectations. Some desserts were made to order, which meant you ordered during your meal because it took 30 mins to bake from scratch. Mhmmmm. I had Red Velvet Cake that melted in my mouth. What I wouldn’t give for another slice!

Their delicious Sloppy Joe:





Some other highlights of the trip:

Buddy Guy’s Legends blues club


We grooved the night away!


“The Bean” in Millennium Park


Visited this strange piece twice to take photos. The mirror effects are so neat when you are underneath the structure.


Shedd Aquarium


The Jellyfish exhibit (an extra $3) was so fascinating to see up close.


The Second City comedy club


I fell off my chair from laughing so hard!


Garrett Popcorn (featured on Oprah’s Favorite Things)


Big lineups just for popcorn! Brought some bags home for my family. The famous Chicago Mix and the Buttery flavours were yummy but the Caramel Crisp tasted a little burnt for some reason.

Taking a SNAP at Photography

If you can push a button, you can take a photograph. Taking a picture seems simple enough. When I signed up for photography class, I assumed it would be like using my little pink Canon point and shoot. Obviously I was wrong.

A Digital SLR camera is a little more complex than my little camera. Yes, you can still just snap and shoot in automatic mode. But in order to better quality images, taking the class was much needed.

I had no idea about shutter speeds and f-stops, about depth of fields and ISO modes. Who knew you could blur the background while leaving the subject in focus? Not me!

After learning about direction, contrast, depth, and lighting, I feel that I have left the class with a little more knowledge about the photos I see everyday. I can now see why for so many people photography is a hobby (an expensive one!) It’s an immediate result where the photographer’s creative brain juices and their surroundings create a visual piece.

By no means am I an expert, but I took a go at photography using my boyfriend’s Plymouth Satellite and my brother as subjects.

The Plymouth:






The Brother:

The Launch of a New Interactive Era

One interactive magazine for your iPad? Coming right up!

For advertising class this term, 16 of us students paired up with the 2nd year Graphic Design students to created online magazines to run on the iPads we were given to use for the year. My partner Melissa and I came up with the concept “Social Jungle” which was a humorous, light-hearted ePub about Winnipeg’s young social scene. The magazine featured the types of people often found out-and-about around Winnipeg, how they interact with one another, and a quiz to see where the reader fits into Winnipeg’s Social Jungle. Our magazines also features an ad for Berns & Black Salon & Spa, a client the advertising students produced campaigns for.

Six Graphic Design students created their own version of the magazine. To check out the ePubs, please visit my Advertising instructor’s blog: Kenton’s Infotainment Scan.

Tonight, Tuesday April 5, 2011, our work will be on display on the 3rd floor of Red River College (The Roblin Centre).

10th Floor Please!

Here’s something rarely seen in elevators across Winnipeg! In all my 22 years of living in Winnipeg, I have yet to see an elevator treatment. It would probably be a good idea for companies to look at elevators as an option for their advertising space since the market isn’t saturated with advertising in EVERY Winnipeg elevator.

I’m unsure as to how much it would cost to put up a treatment in an elevator, and if there is even places that will allow for them. But it could be beneficial to inquire.

Take a building, a tall one, with a large number of people, and guaranteed your message will be received. Specific elevators could be used depending on what type of people live/work/visit the building. Also, by monitoring the elevators use, you’ll be able to find out the who is seeing your message and how many times they are seeing it in a week.

Here are some treatments that caught my attention. For more please visit: creativecriminals.com

Want to Forever Live in Forever 21

It is finally here and I’ve finally gone. An apparel store unlike any apparel store....Forever 21.



Not only do I wish I could be forever 21 years old (it was a good year!) but I wish I had the energy to regularly shop at the new Polo Park location. Since it’s the largest store in Canada (taking over the old Safeway), it’s not a surprise that on my first visit I was in there for a couple hours.

To get the full experience, I had to take it one collection at a time. Thousands of clothing and accessory options to choose from made it a little overwhelming for me.

But I braved the lines and grabbed two of their black tote carrying bags and set off to find some new spring clothes. By the end of my journey I had expected to spend way more than $187. With over twenty items in my bags, I left the store dizzy from all of the various prints and patterns found at every turn.



After shopping at the Forever 21 in West Edmonton Mall and Mall of America as well as their online Canadian store, I find the Winnipeg location the most elegant, cleanest, and most organized. However I was a little disappointed at the men’s section. With such a large store, there could have been a little more selection for the lads. For the guys not shopping, but instead accompanying their girlfriends as they shop... well, my heart went out to them.

Continuing the Campaign

I came across an advertising campaign for Bayer Aspirin and thought it was pretty clever. The print ads I looked at were simple, had few words, and yet were easy to understand and the message was instantly clear.

The tagline said it all: “If it gets stronger, we get stronger.” The message: one of their products for a mild headache, and a stronger version for stronger headaches.

I decided to give it a go a come up with three more. Here are the original ads followed by ones I came up with:

Original Ads:






My Mock-up Ads:

Taking Handheld to Another Level

Taking video with a little camcorder used to be the only video shooting I had under my belt. Fast forward a couple of years and here I am holding a fairly heavy ENG Camera on my shoulder. Now this wouldn’t be an issue if I were standing in one place.

In order to learn about the cinéma vérité style of shooting documentaries, I propped the large piece of equipment on my shoulder and followed around a very energetic personality who happened to be dog sitting.

For me, cinéma vérité is basically shooting everything from an observational point of view. It’s seen as more natural. For example, following a person around capturing what they are doing and saying “live”.

For my Cinéma vérité video sequence, I followed around Michael for 30 minutes as he went about his day. Thanks to Sean for holding up the boom mic so high (Michael is 6’2), we were able to put together a few minutes of a footage...