One of these things is not like the other... Oh wait.

Have you ever been sitting in front of the TV or waiting for your favourite movie to play at the Cineplex, and suddenly you're bombarded with an onslaught of cell phone ads.   Besides the fact that many of them are taking advantage of animal lovers out there (myself included), with their barrage of cute monkeys, lizards, rabbits, and even puppies, don't they all start to bleed together at one point or another?   Take a look at the following ads I found surfing the web:   (I take no credit for these photos as they are not my own)

Notice something strange?  Perhaps how they all seem to look so similar.   Don't get me wrong, there are other companies and ad campaigns which are exceptions to the rule.  

Ask anyone, and they will tell you that I am avid fan of clean, simple design, and I love white space.  I cannot emphasize how much I appreciate the value of white space and letting your design breathe.  My concern is:  All of these companies seem to have adopted the same technique - Tons of negative space, thin sans-serif fonts (myriad/swiss/helvetica for example), and superimposed elements seemingly floating over a vast sea of white.   While each company has managed to obtain a strong brand, they all seem to be sitting on the fence waiting for the next design trend to be rolled out.

Did somebody send out a memo?   I guess I wasn't in the office on that day.  Either way I must commend the campaigns that have gone above and beyond to stray away from the industry standard and create their own unique image.  While they may be outside of the norm, and perhaps may not appear as clean or sleek, they do stand out from the rest.   For this, I'd like to give them a big pat on the back.   

You can hear it too, right?  "Koooo-doh!"