Favorite Ad Agency

I've been looking at the work of different ad agencies and researched some local Silicon Valley agencies. Liquid Agency appears to be the biggest or one of the biggest in the area, and is headquartered down the street from San Jose State University on Market St. downtown. Their work is top notch quality and I enjoyed the thorough explanations of some of their processes in creating their designs. I like the work they have done as they are very wise in their design sense. For example, they don't stray from a traditional solution if it makes sense. Likewise, they have a good understanding of how to keep important traditional aspects of a design or logo, or whatever it is they are working on, and still be able to refresh the work and innovate it to bring it into the future and create a modern, relevant new piece. I enjoyed poring over their past works and getting that insight into how and why they came up with the solutions they did for the companies and brands that hired them.

Clicky

Mekanism Creative Ad Agency was also good work in my opinion. This is more TV spots and such but I recognized alot of their work on their website which is saying alot for me as I don't have a television so I don't watch a lot of television at all. I've still seen these ads out and about and thought they were quite good. The video work is excellent and they have a great ability to add in some emotional aspects of what the company 'stands for" or their general branding strategy. Good work by them and it looks like they have an interesting culture as a company judging by their own style of branding and web design etc. 

Clicky

Intro to Advertising

My main interests in Advertising lay in the distribution of information or insights into hobbies or topics I'm personally interested in. Like others probably, an ad about something irrelevant to myself is considered intrusive and I just want to skip it or get through it to get to my intended information or media. A proper job done by the advertiser would be to somehow spark my interest quickly in the ad even though the product they are advertising may not have been of direct interest to me initially. This is the tough job then, of an ad creator.
Summarizing, I dislike ads that are boring, generic, product placement ads about your basic Proctor and Gamble etc. offering. These are irrelevant to my lifestyle, and don't entertain me, inform me, or otherwise create any sort of reaction from me. I can enjoy a humorous ad or creative ad even if the product does not attract me. These ads at least show some effort and spark a reaction, whether that be a smile or admiration for a creative concept thoughtfully executed. Im not a big fan of the lame, awkward, cheesy humor ads though... c'mon people, save those for the midwest or something.
I don't really have a favorite ad but I thought these were rather good: