The secrets of food photography

July 26, 2010 by deepgroup

Ever wonder why food looks so tasty in advertising? This video might answer some of your questions.

The science of impulse

July 22, 2010 by deepgroup

When Otis Spunkmeyer decided to participate in the National Association of College & University Food Services (NACUFS) 2010 National Conference, the Otis team at deep jumped at the opportunity to develop a theme for their booth that would be fun and memorable. The Otis marketing team wanted to focus on their merchandising materials and how they help students crave what Otis Spunkmeyer has to offer, so our idea was to take those vintage videos you used to see in science class to talk about how Otis helps create impulsive behavior in students.

We love the way the video turned out. With the help of the fantastic Brandon Goodwin, we were able to create a vintage-style science video that not only made us laugh (in a good way), but which also helped Otis stand out at NACUFS.

Zombies, blood, skates and art

July 20, 2010 by deepgroup

We always love finding ways to be creative outside of the foodservice realm, so when some of the designers at deep were given the opportunity to design posters for our local Springfield Roller Girls, we willingly accepted the challenge.

So far, designer Steve Krone has two SRG posters—Sunday Bloody Sunday and Sibling Rivalry—under his belt, and local artist Ben Rook illustrated the zombie-themed Return of the Rolling Dread poster, which was finished by designer Mark Leicht. Since there are still a few more SRG bouts left in the season, we look forward to creating more killer work that helps support the girls.

Please pardon our mess

June 24, 2010 by deepgroup

It’s becoming increasingly harder and harder for us at deep to microwave our Lean Cuisines—but for good reason. Our siblings over at Food IQ are currently growing from a couple of cubicles and a kitchen they have to share with the slovenly oops-I-left-milk-in-the-fridge-for-six-months staff of deep to an entire space of their own. As their space expands, our kitchen is being turned upside down. Still, despite our mess, we’re excited to see—and eventually taste—all of the ways Food IQ will utilize their fancy new digs.

Congrats, Food IQ! We look forward to walking the few extra steps in order to burn off the goodies you sometimes have us sample.

Mark Leicht is a winner

June 11, 2010 by deepgroup

Like proud mama birds watching their fledglings fly for the first time… or something… we at deep are über proud of our talented designer, Mark Leicht, who was recently awarded with Best Art Direction during the Springfield and the Ozarks (SATO) 48 Hour Film Festival.

Now in its 5th year, the SATO event brings in teams of filmmakers from the Springfield area and tasks them with the challenge of creating a five-minute short film over the course of a single weekend, or 48 hours.

This year, every film had to begin and end with the same sound, the numbers 1 through 5 had to appear sequentially but not in the same scene, an illustration of a man with a film head had to appear twice in the film in different forms, and one key plot point had to be told using shadows.

Mark’s team filmed the entire film in a friend’s basement and in one shot. And, as you see, it’s a sweet love story that is endearing and beautifully done. It’s no wonder that, in addition to best art direction, the film also won audience favorite.

Congrats, Mark and friends. We have fallen in love with color all over again.

Playing a game of Mousetrap

March 2, 2010 by deepgroup

By the time you watch this, chances are you’ve already seen it. But we couldn’t resist posting it none-the-less. We loved OK Go before for their “Here It Goes Again” video, and here they go blowing our freaking minds again with their newest video, “This Too Shall Pass.” A brainchild of the band’s, the video is a giant Rube Goldberg Machine/giant game of Mousetrap that was designed by the brilliant brains at Mindshare/Synnlabs.

The Synnlabs site says: “The requirements were that it had to be interesting, not ‘overbuilt’ or too technology-heavy, and easy to follow. The machine also had to be built on a shoestring budget, synchronize with beats and lyrics in the music and end on time over a 3.5 minute song, play a part of the song, and be filmed in one shot. To make things more challenging still, the space chosen was divided into two floors and the machine would use both.”

The result? A-ma-zing. And hey—the song’s pretty great too.

Bacon lovers, rejoice!

February 24, 2010 by deepgroup

The Twitter universe is slowly seeing a buzz over the announcement of Torani’s newest syrup: Bacon.

Yes. You read right. Bacon.

OK. We’ll admit—we, too, were a little skeptical at first. But when first sampling this syrup, our food insights group, Food IQ, found a number of ways to use Torani Bacon syrup on the menu. From drinks like the Bacon Bourbon Sour to interesting dessert and food applications (coffee cake with a hint of bacon flavor, anyone?), we found that this syrup added an interestingly smoky savoriness to the food and beverages we were tasting.

So now we’re curious. Has anybody out there actually tried it yet? Tell us what you think.

Fresh baked goodness

February 19, 2010 by deepgroup

We couldn’t be happier to announce that deep has been selected as the agency of record for Otis Spunkmeyer, the world’s tastiest supplier of frozen cookie dough and other sweet treats.

The Otis team at deep headed out to San Leandro, CA earlier this month to learn about everything Otis. Not only can we now bake the perfect cookie, but we came home gushing with excitement over this great brand and our budding relationship.

Thanks for trusting us, Otis Spunkmeyer! We look forward to more hugs, fighting the Otis 15 (think Freshman 15), and the great work we see coming down the road.

We left our hearts in North Beach

February 17, 2010 by deepgroup

We couldn’t help but fall in love last week. Not only with the incredible city of San Francisco, but also with the little gem of a shop called Al’s Attire in North Beach, which made us feel all warm and swoony inside.

Filled with incredible custom-tailored men’s and women’s clothing—and even shoes and hats—we found ourselves lusting over bolts of fabric, stacks of hat boxes, vintage spats, and these incredible shoes that would have so perfectly matched a certain copywriter’s ever-popular Purple Rain coat.

*Sigh.*

Coming home, we’ve continued talking about the amazing things we wanted to bring home from Al’s. And just to put us back in our dreamy stupor, Patrick stumbled across some great YouTube clips that reminded us just how lovely Al’s Attire is.

We were smitten with all of the great fabric and buttons, and vintage-inspire hats, and the custom footwear that left us practically speechless. Still, it doesn’t beat the real thing, so do yourself a favor and drop by next time you’re in San Francisco. Rumor has it, you might just bump into Tom Waits.

Edible perfection

February 15, 2010 by deepgroup

How often do you get to find the absolute best realization of a thing? And eat it? Well, this past week Lynn, our Copywriter and intrepid culinary explorer, managed both. In the same place. Madison, WI.

David Bacco is one extraordinary chocolatier. What he and his warm, wonderful staff of choco-culinarians are creating would look perfectly at home behind a glass case in MoMA. Or, more aptly, Tiffany’s. Except there you’d miss the flavors.

Imagine Chocolate truffle with cardamom. Chocolate with Szechuan pepper. Chocolate with Chardonnay and smoked bacon. An impossible realization of a “caramel” that squirts the essence of passion fruit into your mouth as you bite it. Rosemary-bergamot. Thai peanut. Lavender. Jewel colors and shapes that leap into the eye. And precious flavors that appear only once a season. Over and over again. Times-30.

Stop me. Before I eat again.

Not a chain. Not a mere way-station in a mega-empire of boutiques tucked into high-end shopping destinations. Just David. And the team. In one place. It’s the sort of place you almost hesitate to share, fearing that he’ll grow too big. As it is, it’s Fantasyland there in Madison, waiting to seduce the tastebuds of anybody lucky enough to discover him.  Oh well… here it is. And a word to the potential explorer: The photos on the site don’t begin to approximate the vibrant, amazing beauty of the real thing. Warning: Don’t lick the screen…the experience just won’t be the same.