Showing posts with label Creative Advertising. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Creative Advertising. Show all posts
Monday, 24 October 2011
Go Beyond the Cover
Where can I buy this concealer? Perfect demonstration of the product's benefits.
Thursday, 9 June 2011
Creative Books
I am constantly adding books to my Amazon Wish List from people's recommendations, therefore I have decided to give some recommendations of my own.
Here are my Top 5 creative industry books, not in any order, but all have been very useful to me:
1. "E" by Matt Beaumont
Amazon summary:
The idea of the first e-mail novel could have been a disaster but instead is a minor comic triumph thanks to Matt Beaumont's E. The novel of letters goes back to Richardson, of course, but things have moved on from Regency rape to the lethal office politics of an advertising agency. The beleaguered protagonists may appear to be concerned with pitching for the Coca-Cola account but their real problem is watching their backs: the knives are out and everyone from head honcho David Crutton downwards is well aware that their careers are on the line. Another part of Beaumont's lineage in this unputdownable novel is the This Life school of detailed interpersonal observation: no one character is allowed to assume centre stage; people screw, argue and discuss professional responsibility while the reader slowly makes his mind up about them from the information conveyed in the increasingly frantic e-mails.
It took me months to get round to actually reading this, but once I started, I couldn't put it down. The internal agency relations described in this story are so familiar to anyone who has worked in advertising. Very funny and easy to read as it is completely written through internal emails.
2. "Hey, Whipple, Squeeze This: A Guide to Creating Great Advertising" by Luke Sullivan
Blurb:
Veteran copywriter Luke Sullivan returns in a third edition of his irreverent warts–and–all look at advertising. Part how–to and part exposé, Hey Whipple, Squeeze This is an insider′s guide to coming up with great ideas as well as an unapologetic send–up of all that′s heavy–handed, dim–witted, and ineffectual in the industry....
For those who haven't guessed already, I enjoyed this book so much that I named this very blog after it. Enough said.
3. "The Advertising Concept Book: Think Now, Design Later" by Pete Barry
Amazon says:
Here is a systematically presented course on everything anyone needs to know about advertising, from how to write copy and choose a typeface, to how agencies work and the different strategies used for print, TV or cinema and other media, including interactive. Exercises throughout help the reader judge their own work and that of others. By getting to the heart of the creative process in a way that other guides dont, The Advertising Concept Book can help anyone produce better advertising.
This book was released when I was still studying advertising at Lincoln and it really helped me with my dissertation. Unlike all the other articles and wordy books I had to trawl through. This simply categorises different types of advertising and gives examples of scamps, which you don't really get to see in all the fancy ad books.
4. "A Technique for Producing Ideas" by James Webb Young
The blurb says:
Since its publication in 1965, A Technique for Producing Ideas has helped thousands of advertising copywriters smash through internal barriers to unleash their creativity. Professionals from poets and painters to scientists and engineers have also used the techniques in this concise, powerful book to generate exciting ideas on demand, at any time, on any subject. Now let James Webb Young's unique insights help you look inside yourself to find that big, elusive idea--and once and for all lift the veil of mystery from the creative process.
There are 3 main benefits of getting this book:
- It is tiny, you could probably read it in under half an hour.
- The tininess means it is CHEAP and therefore a good'n for you students
- It is the clearest definition I have read of the illusive 'creative process'
5. Now this one isn't technically a book, it is a magazine. 125 Magazine to be exact
Strictly speaking this is a photography magazine. Each issue is so beautifully crafted they're like a book in themselves. They are released quarterly but you can order back issues from their website: www.125magazine.com - I just made the mistake of checking this URL works and have ended up buying 3 back issues.
That's your lot for now but I may extend the list to 10 if I can decide on some more, so stay tuned.
Here are my Top 5 creative industry books, not in any order, but all have been very useful to me:
1. "E" by Matt Beaumont
Amazon summary:
The idea of the first e-mail novel could have been a disaster but instead is a minor comic triumph thanks to Matt Beaumont's E. The novel of letters goes back to Richardson, of course, but things have moved on from Regency rape to the lethal office politics of an advertising agency. The beleaguered protagonists may appear to be concerned with pitching for the Coca-Cola account but their real problem is watching their backs: the knives are out and everyone from head honcho David Crutton downwards is well aware that their careers are on the line. Another part of Beaumont's lineage in this unputdownable novel is the This Life school of detailed interpersonal observation: no one character is allowed to assume centre stage; people screw, argue and discuss professional responsibility while the reader slowly makes his mind up about them from the information conveyed in the increasingly frantic e-mails.
It took me months to get round to actually reading this, but once I started, I couldn't put it down. The internal agency relations described in this story are so familiar to anyone who has worked in advertising. Very funny and easy to read as it is completely written through internal emails.
2. "Hey, Whipple, Squeeze This: A Guide to Creating Great Advertising" by Luke Sullivan
Blurb:
Veteran copywriter Luke Sullivan returns in a third edition of his irreverent warts–and–all look at advertising. Part how–to and part exposé, Hey Whipple, Squeeze This is an insider′s guide to coming up with great ideas as well as an unapologetic send–up of all that′s heavy–handed, dim–witted, and ineffectual in the industry....
For those who haven't guessed already, I enjoyed this book so much that I named this very blog after it. Enough said.
3. "The Advertising Concept Book: Think Now, Design Later" by Pete Barry
Amazon says:
Here is a systematically presented course on everything anyone needs to know about advertising, from how to write copy and choose a typeface, to how agencies work and the different strategies used for print, TV or cinema and other media, including interactive. Exercises throughout help the reader judge their own work and that of others. By getting to the heart of the creative process in a way that other guides dont, The Advertising Concept Book can help anyone produce better advertising.
This book was released when I was still studying advertising at Lincoln and it really helped me with my dissertation. Unlike all the other articles and wordy books I had to trawl through. This simply categorises different types of advertising and gives examples of scamps, which you don't really get to see in all the fancy ad books.
4. "A Technique for Producing Ideas" by James Webb Young
The blurb says:
Since its publication in 1965, A Technique for Producing Ideas has helped thousands of advertising copywriters smash through internal barriers to unleash their creativity. Professionals from poets and painters to scientists and engineers have also used the techniques in this concise, powerful book to generate exciting ideas on demand, at any time, on any subject. Now let James Webb Young's unique insights help you look inside yourself to find that big, elusive idea--and once and for all lift the veil of mystery from the creative process.
There are 3 main benefits of getting this book:
- It is tiny, you could probably read it in under half an hour.
- The tininess means it is CHEAP and therefore a good'n for you students
- It is the clearest definition I have read of the illusive 'creative process'
5. Now this one isn't technically a book, it is a magazine. 125 Magazine to be exact
Strictly speaking this is a photography magazine. Each issue is so beautifully crafted they're like a book in themselves. They are released quarterly but you can order back issues from their website: www.125magazine.com - I just made the mistake of checking this URL works and have ended up buying 3 back issues.
That's your lot for now but I may extend the list to 10 if I can decide on some more, so stay tuned.
Tuesday, 3 August 2010
Meechan & Taylor
One of The Big Kick's creative directors recieved a rather amusing postcard today:
What a good idea for a creative team mailer. I asked Danny if I could put a picture of it up on the blog and he revealed a stash of other great letters from the same team (Meechan & Taylor). Here are a few of my faves:
The text at the bottome simply reads:
"Fingers worn to the bone
Names of consultants: Meechan & Taylor
Caution: Frequent exposure to long hours can damage you digits. Seek freelance creative help if symptoms persist. Call for an imediate appointment"
This fake Kit Kat reads "Break - When did you last have one?"
And on the reverse:
"Your holiday's booked but so is the pitch. Your creative team's off but the client presentation is on. Now's the time to have a fast, knowledgeable and expierenced team on your side..."
And here are a couple from their Flickr page:
Really creative ideas, only wish they had a website I could oggle. Although they do have some nice ideas on their Flickr page.
What a good idea for a creative team mailer. I asked Danny if I could put a picture of it up on the blog and he revealed a stash of other great letters from the same team (Meechan & Taylor). Here are a few of my faves:
The text at the bottome simply reads:
"Fingers worn to the bone
Names of consultants: Meechan & Taylor
Caution: Frequent exposure to long hours can damage you digits. Seek freelance creative help if symptoms persist. Call for an imediate appointment"
This fake Kit Kat reads "Break - When did you last have one?"
And on the reverse:
"Your holiday's booked but so is the pitch. Your creative team's off but the client presentation is on. Now's the time to have a fast, knowledgeable and expierenced team on your side..."
And here are a couple from their Flickr page:
Really creative ideas, only wish they had a website I could oggle. Although they do have some nice ideas on their Flickr page.
Monday, 7 June 2010
The End Is Nigh
The final show opening was a great success and our self-promo went down a treat.
The show is open now! Mon-Fri - 10am-4pm and Sat 12th 10am-3pm, get down to Thomas Parker House!
Thursday, 3 June 2010
Advertise and be saved.
Here are a few of the posters from our final show. The theme of the show is beliefs and how each creative team follow their own sort of religion of advertising.
And here is Vicky and I as 'The Clarity Crusade'...
The show opens tomorrow night along with our self-promo screening at the Lincoln Odeon. It's open to the public from Saturday the 5th of June until the 18th and is closed on Sundays. It will be interesting to see whether my parents understand our theme or our self-promo...
And here is Vicky and I as 'The Clarity Crusade'...
The show opens tomorrow night along with our self-promo screening at the Lincoln Odeon. It's open to the public from Saturday the 5th of June until the 18th and is closed on Sundays. It will be interesting to see whether my parents understand our theme or our self-promo...
Tuesday, 1 June 2010
Old Blood Makes Way For New Blood...
Vicky and I are putting the finishing touches to our work for D&AD New Blood. That's right, we're exhibiting and this year's hottest advertising event along with a few other teams from the Creative Advertising course. The show is open to the public from Saturday the 26th of June - 28th so book a ticket on dandad.org and come on down....
Here are some of the fantastic posters created for the event:
It's Alex Taylor!! (She has been a visiting lecturer on our course)
See the rest of the posters here.
Here are some of the fantastic posters created for the event:
It's Alex Taylor!! (She has been a visiting lecturer on our course)
See the rest of the posters here.
Saturday, 29 May 2010
A Successful Week
Despite having technically finished our Creative Advertising degree, I still seem to have an extensive 'to do' list. The past week has definately had it's ups and downs - the downs being a funeral. On the positive side, YCN announced the winners of this years student awards...
Vicky and I were delighted to find out that we'd been commended for our work on the P&O Ferries brief! Here is one of our ads...
Hopefully we'll feature in the next YCN annual!
The day after the YCN announcements we got our dreaded dissertations back. I had written mine on the subject of Ambient Advertising, how it is defined and why it is increasingly popular. Vicky wrote about cool and what it means to people. We both ended up getting really good marks, which was great news as we'd put so much hard work in!
Vicky and I were delighted to find out that we'd been commended for our work on the P&O Ferries brief! Here is one of our ads...
Hopefully we'll feature in the next YCN annual!
The day after the YCN announcements we got our dreaded dissertations back. I had written mine on the subject of Ambient Advertising, how it is defined and why it is increasingly popular. Vicky wrote about cool and what it means to people. We both ended up getting really good marks, which was great news as we'd put so much hard work in!
Monday, 17 May 2010
The End Of Our Degree
The theme of our final show is 'The 33 paths to advertising nirvana' And here is Vicky and I in our 'Cult' costumes, we are 'The Clarity Crusade'.
Tuesday, 11 May 2010
Busy Bees
Vicky and I have been REALLY busy with our final deadline, which is next Tuesday! We've also (along with everyone one our course) been helping to build our final show...
It looks like a giant black maze at the moment, but soon it will be displaying some beautiful ads. Our show opens on the 4th of May until the 18th if anyone fancies visiting.
We have also been getting on with our self-promo film and I think we might have finally completed it! After 6 re-shoots we are finally satisfied. I will of course upload the final film on here when complete. Today we also helped out with Josie & Megan's self-promo...
...Which also looks like its gonna be a funny one!
It looks like a giant black maze at the moment, but soon it will be displaying some beautiful ads. Our show opens on the 4th of May until the 18th if anyone fancies visiting.
We have also been getting on with our self-promo film and I think we might have finally completed it! After 6 re-shoots we are finally satisfied. I will of course upload the final film on here when complete. Today we also helped out with Josie & Megan's self-promo...
...Which also looks like its gonna be a funny one!
Thursday, 29 April 2010
Perfect For Dipping
Our Doritos T.V. ad has made it to the competition website!!!!
Lets hope we get through to the top 100... and then the top 50... and then the top 15... and then win lots of money!
Lets hope we get through to the top 100... and then the top 50... and then the top 15... and then win lots of money!
Monday, 26 April 2010
Death By Doritos
Vicky and I are currently editing our Doritos ad. This is involving A LOT of rendering and trying to master After Effects and Premier. You may have heard about the competition. Lets hope we win £200k ! We decided we might as well have a got at it as we're filming our self promotional film at right now as well - kill two birds with one stone and all that...
Our filming involved a lot of broken crisps and me getting my hands covered in 'Mild Salsa' dip, yum. We will of course upload it to this blog when the deadline has passed for everyone to see, along with our self-promo which is onto its 5th re-shoot!
Everyone on our course is making a self promo film and they will all be shown on our final show preview night, back to back, in the Lincoln Odeon, how very glamorous. We're hoping that ours will be a little bit different to everyone else's, but we'll have to wait and see.
Thursday, 8 April 2010
Competitions
All our competition work has been sent off. We've got two entries in the YCN student awards and two entries in the D&AD awards. How exciting !
We've got our fingers crossed but just look at how big the D&AD awards are...
We made the silly mistake of showing our entries in our London book crits, after we'd sent them off. Frustratingly we got loads more ideas and ways to improve! Oh well, too late.
We'll obviously post immediately if we get any good news!
We've got our fingers crossed but just look at how big the D&AD awards are...
We made the silly mistake of showing our entries in our London book crits, after we'd sent them off. Frustratingly we got loads more ideas and ways to improve! Oh well, too late.
We'll obviously post immediately if we get any good news!
Sunday, 28 March 2010
Vix & Ric
So we had a team from DDB talk to us (3rd year creative advertising) yesterday. Vix and Ric. Vix was one of the first students to graduate from our course, back when it was called Advertising Art direction.
They're so famous, I found them on Google images!
They gave us a really interesting talk about the sort of things they did wrong and what they did right. They also showed us a couple of examples from their original book. They highlighted the importance of digital and having just a conceptual idea for an event or stunt instead of a couple of billboards.
They also showed us an ad that they had done for Esso Optiplus - The oil that heats your house...
A really simple ad that is nicely executed through illustration.
Vicky and I will hopefully get a chance to meet them on Tuesday as we are daaahhhn in Laandan for book crits anyway (a blog post shall explain soon).
They're so famous, I found them on Google images!
They gave us a really interesting talk about the sort of things they did wrong and what they did right. They also showed us a couple of examples from their original book. They highlighted the importance of digital and having just a conceptual idea for an event or stunt instead of a couple of billboards.
They also showed us an ad that they had done for Esso Optiplus - The oil that heats your house...
A really simple ad that is nicely executed through illustration.
Vicky and I will hopefully get a chance to meet them on Tuesday as we are daaahhhn in Laandan for book crits anyway (a blog post shall explain soon).
Tuesday, 2 March 2010
The Horberry
A couple of weeks ago I attented a copywriting workshop wit a man called Roger Horberry. Why am I only telling you about this now? Well I've had things to do and people to see.
Roger has a book:
(No you can't click to look inside, I just stole the picture off Amazon)
He got us to do some really fun exercises to get our creative juices flowing. One of which was to re-write a paragraph selling a product in the style of a celeb we would get at random. I was given the name of Peaches Geldof and decided to get her talking about wine...
"This wine is like totally epic, and like really fruity. It's got loads of grapes in it, not that I give a shit. I've got better things to do. It comes from Burgundy - my dads probably been there, he's like... really famous. You can buy it from Asda, I've never been there, but you could send your assistant? That might be cool."
I really think I captured the Peaches we know and love.
Roger also told us a few things about tone of voice:
It is content + expression + audience.
It is personality in print.
It is everything you don't have to say, but probably should.
He told us some other interesting things like how we could summarise text down into bullet points but it would take out all the character and tone of voice. He showed this by getting us to cut down famous speeches into bullet points - they were very uninspiring after that.
I would probably buy Roger's book if my Amazon wish list wasn't a mile long already. I still believe that I will one day win the This Morning competition, pay off my student loan and buy all the books I want. One day...
Roger has a book:
(No you can't click to look inside, I just stole the picture off Amazon)
He got us to do some really fun exercises to get our creative juices flowing. One of which was to re-write a paragraph selling a product in the style of a celeb we would get at random. I was given the name of Peaches Geldof and decided to get her talking about wine...
"This wine is like totally epic, and like really fruity. It's got loads of grapes in it, not that I give a shit. I've got better things to do. It comes from Burgundy - my dads probably been there, he's like... really famous. You can buy it from Asda, I've never been there, but you could send your assistant? That might be cool."
I really think I captured the Peaches we know and love.
Roger also told us a few things about tone of voice:
It is content + expression + audience.
It is personality in print.
It is everything you don't have to say, but probably should.
He told us some other interesting things like how we could summarise text down into bullet points but it would take out all the character and tone of voice. He showed this by getting us to cut down famous speeches into bullet points - they were very uninspiring after that.
I would probably buy Roger's book if my Amazon wish list wasn't a mile long already. I still believe that I will one day win the This Morning competition, pay off my student loan and buy all the books I want. One day...
Wednesday, 24 February 2010
Rory Sutherland
The famous Rory Sutherland of IPA and Ogilvy fame gave a lecture to my course (Creative Advertising) on the 10th of Feb to talk to us about consumer behaviour and economics. It was really very interesting - In fact it was SO interesting that I couldn't write down notes fast enough because I was trying to concentrate too hard. However, I've manage to write down a few interesting points:
John Kay is releasing a new book (that you can pre-order now) called 'Obliquity', which is basically another way of looking at creativity and how we should think about all the other oblique ways to skin a cat.
One of the main reasons behind the Smash martians' advertising success was because audiences were seduced by the funny, likeable aliens and weren't conscious to the hard sell.
He went on to remind us that people like animals more than humans - especially in the UK. We can't judge animals, they're innocent. So people will always prefer a non-human ad.
He told us lots more:
The difference between caravans and yachts
Why banks have marble pillars
The value of seduction over force
The downfall of web design/internet advertising
How to sell coach travel
To stop my rambling, here is another of his great lectures for TED:
John Kay is releasing a new book (that you can pre-order now) called 'Obliquity', which is basically another way of looking at creativity and how we should think about all the other oblique ways to skin a cat.
One of the main reasons behind the Smash martians' advertising success was because audiences were seduced by the funny, likeable aliens and weren't conscious to the hard sell.
He went on to remind us that people like animals more than humans - especially in the UK. We can't judge animals, they're innocent. So people will always prefer a non-human ad.
He told us lots more:
The difference between caravans and yachts
Why banks have marble pillars
The value of seduction over force
The downfall of web design/internet advertising
How to sell coach travel
To stop my rambling, here is another of his great lectures for TED:
Friday, 12 February 2010
Don't be precious...
After Vicky and I spent a good couple of days toiling over our YCN work for P&O, we were told it was a load of rubbish. As you can imagine, this was mildly frustrating as we had reworked and reworked and just didn't realise that the visual idea was impossible for us to realise...
We only had 3 days left until our crit, but we 'sucked it up' and came up with something new and photographed our ideas in the nick time.
This just goes to show that we can't hold our ideas too dear. There is always a better idea, and if you're too precious you will never find it. Our new P&O work is now a whole lot better - a lot simpler and was much easier to visualise... So fingers crossed we get some YCN recognition.
Wednesday, 27 January 2010
P&O Ferries
This must have been fuel for us today because we have been hitting the Photoshop for at least 4 hours, this is probably the hardest we have toiled for a few months.
Our main task for the day has been to illustrate our 48 sheet ads for P&O ferries. This is easier said than done. Once these are finished I will upload the images, but it may still take us a long time to get them perfect.
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