To promote their new E71 phone, Universal Everything continued its collaboration with Nokia as one of four artists asked to produce videos for “Beautiful Connections”, a minisite exploring the beauty of connection. Also featuring work from Carl Burgess, field, and SHFT, each film is up for download, has an available wallpaper, and the site invites you to create and upload your own vids as well.

No big surprise, but Matt Pyke, Maxim Zhetskov, and Simon Pyke’s contribution for Universal Everything, “6 Billion People, 6 Billion Colours” was my fave. It resounds not just with the feeling of connection and human interaction given to these little shapes, but to the possibility of inspiration and change. How amongst even the largest masses an individual has the ability to impact all the others, and create a more beautiful, harmonious, connected existence. Plus the soundtrack, created by Simon Pyke’s Freefarm, is un-freaking-believable.

Vodpod videos no longer available.

I read an interesting opinion from Martina, creator of Adverblog, that the site is “…made of four very beautiful videos and not much else… I have contrasting feelings about marketing initiatives that mix art and advertising. As usual I have a very pragmatic approach, and I appreciate and understand them only when the brand and the product fit the artwork.”

I humbly disagree. But, then again, I’m artsy. For me, a brand with enough balls to promote and patron the creation of art and ideas is worthy of my loyalty because it does so without tying it in so neatly to the product. Similar to Sony’s groundbreaking “Colour Like No Other” campaign, these companies are taking something fairly techno-boring (unless you’re a techie) and imbuing it with an emotion. An artistic feeling. And for me that demonstrates not just an evolved thinking but the trust that I’m smart and saavy enough to relate back without having technical specs and other traditional sales pitches thrown at me. These types of venutres create the ultimate brand connection – they make me feel something.