intrinsicalities

The 3% Conference Makes the Business Case for More Donna Drapers.

2013-03-03T23:02:00.000-07:00

It’s fairly mind blowing. Eighty-percent of all household purchases are determined by women, while only three-percent of our nation’s advertising creative directors are women. (And let’s be honest, women probably practice veto power over the other twenty-percent of purchase decisions anyway.)

But, in a study where female consumers were asked if brands understood them, ninety-percent said no.

So there it is. As advertisers, we’re tasked with marketing to women for much more than the stereotypical lady brands. You know, the spots featuring freshness-challenged women running through flower fields, dancing with mops, or sniffing scent illusions.

In fact, much of our challenge lies in coming to terms with bigger misperceptions.

Believe it or not, women currently out-use men in all social media channels except for LinkedIn. Statistically, they’re also bigger gamers and they watch more television. Women demonstrate more technology usage and more social influence.

Kat Gordon, founder of the 3% Conference said, “It’s not about equal rights, it’s about serving our clients better.” And women are notoriously bad in focus groups. They’ll tell half-lies because they self edit. However, when they’re on the other side of the agency table, they bring unfiltered intuition to the mix.

Let’s rethink how we market to women.

The key is to have people on your team that are not all like you. That’s how you find the uncharted truths. Fear not, marketing with women in mind does not have to alienate men. When positioning a brand – make it human, think collectively, don't sanitize, show diversity, and practice storytelling.

There are inherent differences between how men and women think, and divergent perspective is a good thing.

It shows up in childhood play. Boys enjoy reigning over their toys, and when they destroy things, it’s merely an act of fun and power. Girls empathetically imagine themselves as the toys and become part of the make-believe worlds. So, if a boy comes along and takes out the meticulously arranged princess castle, the girl is devastated. And the boy has no idea why.

So, what is it that’s making it so difficult for women to advance to ACD, CD, or beyond?

Times are changing. This is by no means a pity party for creative industry women. It’s about supporting talent. At all levels, advertising industry women are negotiating for the same salaries as their male counterparts. The biggest difference is that women are unlikely to ask for raises. It’s largely a matter of teaching women to be assertive and confident.

As a creative builds career momentum, this often coincides with family growth. The industry demands full commitment for advancement, and those with young families require more schedule predictability and flexibility. Many struggle with the challenge of work/life balance.

Mentoring enables advancement.

After Gordon’s keynote, the audience enjoyed mentorship from a truly stellar regional panel consisting of Dave Schiff, Partner/Chief Creative Officer of Made Movement; Charlotte Isoline, Executive Creative Director of Karsh Hagan; Jonathan Shoenberg, Executive Creative Director/Partner of TDA Boulder, Rachael Donaldson, Client Services Director of Made Movement; and Dani Coplen, Vice President/Creative of The Integer Group. Our excellent host Serena Wolf, Founder of Wolf Creative Company, moderated the panel.

"Women have to help other women. The greatest mentors I've had have been a combination of nurturing and badass." – Rachael Donaldson

"It's not about if you're male or female, it's just about who's good." – Dave Schiff. He also hilariously thanked his many mentors that may or may not have been state-appointed. And, he’s convinced that rock star ladies will inevitably phase him out.

Jonathan Shoenberg told us how he rose through the ranks, which involved a former employer liking his “country-ness.” Apparently, he had a great deal of farm experience on his resume back in the day.

Charlotte Isoline advised us to not be the genius in the room, but to maximize the collective genius.

Dani Coplen encouraged women to avoid invisibility. Say what you want to say.

Some of the advice from the panel that really resonated with me was the emphasis on mentoring. It’s crucial for career advancement. And in my mentoring experience, I’ve learned a great deal from those I’ve mentored. Always take time to help the driven ones; it’ll come back to you. The event was a full house, men and women. Everyone left inspired and excited about how they were going to move this knowledge forward. So, let’s empower some future Donna Drapers and keep this moving forward, shall we?

This piece is cross-posted on The Denver Egotist, design TAXI, and the Vladimir Jones Blog.

The new business battle.

2013-02-24T15:36:00.000-07:00

The new business pitch experience is kind of like a slow motion, extended director's cut fight scene. You have no idea where your competition or your breakthrough idea will come from, but you must be ready to defend it. All while maintaining your now business. And maybe some semblance of sanity.

(More specifically, I picture this way over-the-top scene from Boondock Saints II. Although, for what it's worth, I totally would have paired that scene with Conscious Killer from BRMC. I mean, come on, the MacManus brothers were religious vigilantes. It just fits.)

So, you get the new business creative brief. You may or may not have a clear weapon, but you most definitely will be blindfolded. That's the thrill of it though. In most cases, you have no idea who you're up against. What insight will your competition have that you don't? Are they close friends with one of the potential clients? Will they be smarter, or more funny, or find that one thing that the client can't deny?

Stop.

Don't think about any of that. You have to put all that anxiety aside and work harder to create something undeniably true. Something right. Be certain that everyone will be bringing their best to the table and push yourself and your team harder.

The whole process is a grueling mental spectacle clouded with adrenaline and anticipation. You'll wake up in the middle of the night and send ridiculous emails to your team. (Sorry team, it felt like urgent genius at 4:00 AM. At 8:00 AM, though still entertaining, clearly not genius.) You'll forget to eat. (However, you probably will not forget to drink coffee.) You'll annoy your family and friends who maintain a normal work/life balance. (Yeah, during a pitch, 'work' holds its side of the teeter totter down like a relentless schoolyard bully while 'life' gets stranded in the air. Legs flailing.)

Time stands still, but there's never enough of it. You fill the wall, your sketchbook, and your free-time with conceptual angles. Then, just when everyone has second-guessed themselves to death and almost lost hope, you get the inspiration when you're not looking for it. A big idea effortlessly launches more supporting ideas. And it all starts to make sense. You build it as quickly as you can.

Then, pencils down everyone. You submit the idea. And you wait.

Coming off the high of a pitch is both exhilarating and exhausting. Those of us who seek the thrill of new business will continue to collect our arsenal of randomness and find satisfaction in the delirious aftermath of the pitch. We'll gladly subject ourselves to the uncertain creative smack-down. We'll build our team and hone our plan of attack. Growing from mistakes and briefly relishing victories.

Wait, what's that? There's another new business opportunity? Already? Alright. Cover me, I'm going in.

How to survive in advertising.

2012-10-28T09:40:00.000-06:00

A lot of extremely credible, and no doubt, scientifically-tested rules that apply to horror movie survival can be used to ensure our own advertising industry longevity.

I'll get back to that in a minute. First, we must be aware of another potentially scary situation…

Years ago, a software program became capable of doing our job. Well, kind of. It produced mass quantities of ad ideas – all in blandly-adequate fashion. Acceptable creativity in ten seconds. About two coffee or martini sips worth of creative team time.

Is creativity merely an algorithm? Can a machine do that thing that not even strategists can realistically explain with a set formulaic definition? I've actually seen it defined with whimsical hand movements placed mid-sentence.

BETC Euro RSCG Worldwide, creators of the Creative Artificial Intelligence (CAI) technology, determined the software is only so clever. It's built with existing creative connections. Thankfully, enlightened humans are still superior. CAI was an experiment to demonstrate just that.

...But don't let your guard down quite yet. That's rule number one in advertising survival.

1. The moment you get comfortable and complacent is the moment you become obsolete. Think about it. If your "character" is not contributing to the main plot, you are potential prey. (Especially if you go off on your own, mock someone on the team, or live in Maine.)

2. The junior creatives are always right behind you. Always. They're hungry and they don't sleep. (Encourage them and let them inspire you. Seriously, you really don't want them turning on you.)

3. Anything you think you know about advertising you probably don't. The rules are always changing. Go with it. Arm yourself with current knowledge and collaborate with other creatives. (Whatever you do, do not take that shortcut you heard about from one of the locals. It never ends well.)

4. If an idea is dead, don't assume it's going to stay dead. An ambitious idea always has one last shot at reality. Theoretically, it could resurface at any time – with more power. Ideas love to avenge their own deaths. And, idea sequels are always in the works. (If the idea has access to a hockey mask, get the hell out of there.)

5. Do not try to unmask creativity. It shows up where it wants, when it wants. It's everywhere and nowhere. It laughs maniacally and probably hangs out in a sweet lair during it's downtime. Whatever it is, it's certainly not a single software program. (Sooner or later, in a shocking orchestra-crescendoed plot twist, you'll realize it was actually you all along.)

Thanks to everyone who voted this October's Post of the Month in Neil Perkin's Think Tank Hall of Fame.

This piece is cross-posted on The Denver Egotist , Uprising, design TAXI, and the Vladimir Jones Blog. It's also cross-posted throughout the Egotist Network: Austin, Boston, Chicago, Des Moines, Dubai, Kansas City, London, Los Angeles, Memphis, New York, Oklahoma City, Phoenix, Portland, San Francisco, St. Louis, Sydney, Toronto, Tulsa, and Vancouver

Dinner with the grandparents.

2012-08-31T00:08:00.000-06:00

In a world where things move fast and everything gets overlooked, I'm endlessly amazed by the lives my grandparents have led. They did not disappoint tonight. Spinning new stories and revisiting many favorites. I've written about them before. They are responsible for my appreciation of travel.

My grandmother threw out philosophical gems like these, "Everyone is like you, if you just let them in." And, "Respect all religions. They are built on similar beliefs."

The seemingly-amplified prolificness this evening was a bit unnerving. As they both approach 90 years of age, there was a sense that they were telling my sister and I things they wanted to make sure to pass on. Like how very proud of us they were. How much they enjoyed taking us grandchildren on adventures. How lucky they were to have lived through the depression to truly appreciate what they have. How they still remember things from so long ago. Like when my great grandmother carried my grandmother out of their burning house at age four. How happy they were able to take many of us to my father's Cave family castle in England. (I could play princess there if I could foot the back-taxes on that thing. However, with the maintenance bills and my significant lack of a trust fund, holy-woodland-creature-cleaning-assistance-needing hell. Oh, and I can't sing either. Instant princess disqualification.)

My grandmother has broken her hips. She uses a cain with extreme disdain for that unfashionable accessory. At almost 90, my grandfather just finished designing a home for my parents and they're headed to Europe next month (after we discouraged their extended travel adventures years ago.) Other people have even called them recycled teenagers. Do we worry about them with their blend of stubbornness and physical unsteadiness? Yes. Could I take away their crazy zest for living life to its fullest? Never.

If I end up with a fraction of what they've gleaned from life, I'm a very lucky person.

At the end of the day.

2012-08-21T22:21:00.000-06:00

In advertising, it's an overused phrase. For clients and brands, it gives us perspective. But what about our own expectations?

At the end of the day, all you have is...

your relationships.
your work.
your reputation.

devastation.
fear.
elation.

another night to work until failure.
an opportunity to change everything.
a chance to appreciate what you have.

patience.
trust.
luck.

At the end of the day, all you have is tomorrow.
And, at the end of most days, tomorrow is enough.

Beauty, imagination, and the what if?

2012-07-28T08:35:00.000-06:00

I'm not sure what I like most about this spot. The graceful overlapping of reality and surreality. The perfectly-woven dreamlike music. The regretfully-romantic voiceover of a favorite actor. The nostalgic-yet-timeless art direction. The flawless final scene transition, lingering on a fleeting look before taking us to a present day self actualization.

The idea that you could put an ad like this out into an audience that has previously been treated to humor, hijinks, and shallowness is impressive. Sure, they're supporting the concept in funny and less epic ways through social media. But still, they've hit on something that not only speaks to the AXE-drenched teenage kid who just wants to get laid. It speaks to anyone who's ever been in love. Or in high school. So, will guys in their forties be buying more AXE? Well, hopefully not.

Of everything, the copywriting gets me the most. It's the hopeless romantic in me. Every word is heavy-hearted, yet quirky. A man poetically lamenting about an intriguing girl next door. Not the cheerleader, but the universal girl who got away. Not a girl, the girl. BBH New York has crafted an unexpected masterpiece that plays to our own sense of what if.

Combinatorial creativity, experienced.

2012-06-12T22:22:00.000-06:00

Experience is more important than we think. But, it doesn't start with that shiny new internship. It starts well before that. When you first become aware of the world around you and begin collecting insights.

They say creativity is combinatorial. It's a remix of what came before. Originality builds from the existing and grows through recombination. It's the culmination of all your experiences.

For example, here's a quote from one of my favorite posts capturing the value of experience:

Picasso is sitting in the park, sketching. A woman walks by, recognizes him, runs up to him and pleads with him to draw her portrait. He’s in a good mood, so he agrees and starts sketching. A few minutes later, he hands her the portrait. The lady is ecstatic, she gushes about how wonderfully it captures the very essence of her character, what beautiful, beautiful work it is, and asks how much she owes him. “$5,000, madam,” says Picasso. The lady is taken aback, outraged, and asks how that’s even possible given it only took him 5 minutes. Picasso looks up and, without missing a beat, says: “No, madam, it took me my whole life.”

Everything you've done influences everything you'll do. Take as much in as you can. The more eclectic, the better. Then, someday, see what you can laterally combine.

Change is hard, but it's a great thing.

2012-05-14T22:20:00.000-06:00

When you leave an agency, it's not like clocking out from a factory job. Your coworkers become your close friends and family. A safe little world where you can unleash crazy ideas at will. You're surrounded by young talent who you've helped mentor and by creative incumbents who have influenced what you are today. It's always harder than you think to say goodbye.

No matter how busy things get over the years, you take the good times and the small victories with you. Like the time I was nominated to sell our suggestive app and disruptive ideas to a large group of conservative older women because, apparently, I was the only one who could pull if off without offending them. We built an elaborate presentation to repetitively remind them that they were not the target audience. We found examples that like-minded thinking had been successful within their intended audience of collegiate men and women. Believe it or not, and in spite of my inevitable blushing, I sold it. The work changed the organization's stodgy preconceptions and the executions generated positive awareness for their cause. It was the beginning of an evolution they needed to make to stay relevant.

So, after five eventful years at my last agency, I find myself at the forefront of change. Filled with excitement and anticipation, I hope to grow with a great new team of people in a brand new space. Opportunities are everywhere. I can't wait to see where we will go and what we will create.

Wherever you are, when you find visionaries willing to take chances and support innovation, find a way to keep that momentum going. Put your heart and soul into the projects that you want to attract more of. Find the people driven to do great things. And no matter where change takes you, always stay connected to them.

Storytelling and advertising.

2012-04-14T13:23:00.010-06:00

People ask why I'm drawn to advertising over design alone. Without a doubt, it's the focus on copy first. Storytelling is the difference between decoration and intentional visual meaning. And here's what George Louis said about that:

Even though the synergy between words and images is crucial, Lois always tells people just starting out in advertising that when concocting a great ad, the words must come first. "They look at me stunned," he says. "They say, 'No, no, you create these powerful visual images. Why would you think of copy first?' I say, 'Because, a line, a slogan should be famous."

One powerful idea or headline can spawn an instant visual direction. If you have a strong idea, you don't have to retroactively search for connections in the visuals. Art and copy ignite each other. And the idea's media road map goes from there. You're not forcing anything.

Whatever the application, we should approach every project with storytelling in mind. Build the brand's character and create what drives it.

For fellow fans of storytelling, this TED talk by Andrew Stanton is a must see. Here are some of his storytelling insights applied to an advertising audience:

1. Make them care. Emotionally and aesthetically.
2. Promise that the brand experience is worth their time. And always deliver on that.
3. Sometimes it's the absence of information that draws them in.
4. Give them 2 + 2, not 4. Let them participate.
5. An evolving brand experience should be inevitable, not predictable.
6. Find what drives your audience, then encourage them to take the wheel and steer it.
7. Remember, change is fundamental.
8. Evoke wonder.

Video discovered from this post.

Paper Fashioned.

2012-03-24T15:05:00.001-06:00

For a couple of years, I've attended the Art Director's Club of Denver's Paper Fashion Show. It's always more impressive in person. And, this year I had full appreciation for the work that goes into creating a dress out of paper. Not easy.

Our team had a Neenah Classic Crest paper swatch book. We could use 35 sheets maximum. Ninety-percent of the dress had to be created from those 35 sheets. We were also encouraged to make an accessory, so we did a lantern with a light inside.

Unless you go through the process, it's difficult to imagine all the details. Fitting the model, thinking about structure, and getting through those first cuts as you bravely use the scarce final paper. We worked with paper mache, oragami, paper braiding, grommets, and got very familiar with wielding a glue gun.

The dress tends to change as you go. Even if you have a solid plan, it's kind of a crazy science project. What about this? Or that? No, I think that would be way over the top. Uh, have you seen our dress? Yeah, we crossed that line long ago.

It was a great experience and our model was exceptionally awesome. I'm proud to say that our dress came in third out of 53 amazing designs. It was auctioned off for Downtown Aurora Visual Arts (DAVA).


Spring Renewal: My team's third place winning dress. Photo by Randall Bellows III.

On the runway with the lantern.

Too busy being busy.

2012-03-02T08:15:00.004-07:00

Without any semblance of bedside manner, my alarm clock ambushes me each morning. The grating noise crashes dreams and sets the conscious mind loose. Oh man, it seems like I just contained that thing minutes ago. Here we go again.

What day is it? What are my deadlines? How much coffee do I have access to?

I lay there watching the clock slowly change. One number at a time. You get a sense for the length of a minute when you do that. It feels like a long time, right? Throughout the day minutes disappear at warp speed though. As if they never existed.

Then, like a broken record, my mind runs through projects I'm working on. For whatever reason, this is a key time when I make sense of ideas. The subconscious solutions from the night before are there. Briefly. Waiting to be mixed with clarity.

I've maintained a crazy level of busyness for the last year. Being busy is a good thing, but I'm hoping to find more balance. More mandatory lost-in-the-moment time. Without the damn alarm clock.

What I Learned This Year 2011 #45: Jennifer Hohn

2012-01-07T15:14:00.003-07:00

For my contribution to The Denver Egotist's "What I Learned This Year 2011" series, I realized that learning is never really finished. Sometimes a contradiction leads to a revelation. In fact, opposition can drive innovation. You can change things. The overall concept of my post was inspired by this insight. And thanks to everyone out there who also inspired me. Here's the post, in its entirety:

What would happen if everything we’ve learned needs to be unlearned? (Within reason, of course. Put down the pitchforks and come out of your bomb shelters. If you want to light something on fire, that’s your call. I’m not condoning it.)

In advertising, this rethinking challenge has been wildly successful. Bernbach went big and thought small for Volkswagen. Then he unthinkably owned second place for Avis. Steve Jobs activated his reality distortion field at will and really got things done.

Suppose the opposed:

1. There are no rules, but there are rules. I don’t know anyone in this business who doesn’t seek parameters when approaching a creative brief. Though awesome, the thought of limitless possibilities induces nausea. We want to know the rules so we can break some of them. For a reason.

2. Common sense isn’t common. (And, it’s kind of boring anyway.) Aside from basic survival and navigation skills, see what happens when you react counter intuitively. Then realize everyone sees things differently. We can’t always make group assumptions.

3. Get comfortable being uncomfortable. Everyone is uneasy with the ever-changing technological landscape. Get comfortable with that. Stay agile and be creatively agnostic.

4. The future is the past. Albeit a never-ending, future-feeling remix of the past. Acceptance of the new is linked to previous behavior. For instance, the Google Chrome campaign doesn’t tell us about new technology. It shows us, like it has always been there.

5. Useless information can be useful. Or distracting. Or hilarious. Surface fascination is ironically deep among creatives. For us, disenchantment is in the details. (That’s right, constructive shallowness is encouraged.) Creativity is the combination of sometimes-unrelated yet related things. So, the more you know, the more likely you’ll come up with an original combination. (And then, really blow people’s minds by relating that to a cat video.)

6. Contributing is selling. I have to credit this one to our senior writer, Patrick Hunt. He tells me there are babies in Egypt named Facebook. The influence and reach of social media is undeniable. He said, “In 2011 and beyond, hell will have no fury like a citizen scorned. It’s no longer what we sell. It’s what we’re contributing to the global good that really matters.”

7. Affluence has nothing to do with money. “We are all born wealthy. We’re alive. Anything beyond that should be considered wealth enhancement.” I learned that from Bernard Amadei, founder of Engineers Without Borders.

8. Humility is loud. Our work can always be better. Always. Own what you’ve done, but build your potential.

9. Trust enables risk. As Wieden + Kennedy pointed out, "Trust is the secret sauce if you want to do groundbreaking work." If you have a team and clients who truly trust you, consider yourself lucky. Continue to earn that trust.

10. Fate is choice. It isn’t something that just happens. Life depends on decision and thrives on opportunity. We can choose to embrace the things we cannot change, and affect the things we can.

In 2011, I was fortunate enough to learn from and work with unbelievably talented people. Thanks to everyone for the inspiration. Let’s do great things in 2012.

[This piece is cross-posted on Uprising and The Denver Egotist.]

Sagmeister's wisdom and life's lines.

2011-12-04T12:37:00.021-07:00

"So, are you going to get your book signed or what?" my friend asked as we exited the packed auditorium. "Nah, this place is a mad house. I don't stand a chance." I replied.

We moved to the side and discussed the presentation we'd just witnessed. I safely leaned on a table as the crowd somehow continued to grow.

Years ago, Stefan Sagmeister was promoting his latest book, Things I Have Learned in My Life So Far. If you haven't seen it, it's a celebration of visual thinking and life realizations. All acquired on a year long sabbatical. I believe the way he captured words and statements inspired today's illustrative lettering movement. In fact, here's a project he did with the crazy-talented Jessica Hische herself: "Obsessions make my life worse and my work better."

The actual list of things he learned was inspiring. A mix of profound, simple, humorous, bold, and humble statements. Each line given its own execution and mini book within the die-cut-sleeve housing. (As you probably know, Sagmeister is seriously unafraid of x-acto knives.)

The things he learned:

Complaining is silly. Either act or forget.
Thinking life will be better in the future is stupid, I have to live now.
Being not truthful works against me.
Helping other people helps me.
Organizing a charity group is surprisingly easy.
Everything I do always comes back to me.
Drugs feel great in the beginning and become a drag later on.
Over time I get used to everything and start taking it for granted.
Money does not make me happy.
Traveling alone is helpful for a new perspective on life.
Assuming is stifling.
Keeping a diary supports my personal development.
Trying to look good limits my life.
Worrying solves nothing.
Material luxuries are best enjoyed in small doses.
Having guts always works out for me.

Seeing him speak in person added so much depth to each of those lines. My friends and I were getting ready to head out. Just then, I felt a tap on my shoulder. It was the man himself, asking if I wanted him to sign my book. I looked to my side. Apparently, in the midst of the crowd reorganization, I had unwittingly become the head of the massive book-signing line. I fumbled for my book.

So what did I learn? All of the above. And, there are times in life when you'll get a chance to be at the front of the line. It doesn't happen often. You may not be ready, but take advantage. In the meantime, always be learning. (No one is ever really ready.)

[ This is preliminary inspiration for a piece I've been invited to create for The Denver Egotist. Here's a link to last year's phenomenal 2010 series. ]

The Denver Fifty 2011: Great ideas can't hide.

2011-11-10T23:01:00.025-07:00

Sincere thanks to Bryce Boyer (photography), Ryan Johnson (copy), and Gneural (illustration).

Behind the thinking of The Denver Ad Club's call-for-entries campaign.
In advertising, there's an advantage when you're the audience. You know things outsiders won't uncover in a focus group. So, armed with a lifetime of subliminal creative knowledge, I took on the Denver Fifty creative brief with the excellent Ryan Johnson of Vladimir Jones.

Our challenge.
Get people to enter their best ideas. End needless brilliance un-acknowledgement. Combat the possibility that agencies are holding ideas back because they may not understand the concept of this bigger-than-local show. Inflict a sense of urgency to enter. Then, promise and deliver fame if they make the prestigious few that are The Fifty.

Our hero, and obstacle.
Creatives. We get distracted. We're always busy. We push the deadline. Wait a minute, what were we talking about? Oh yeah... Basically, we respond to challenges, praise, and deadlines. We fear judgment, but endlessly seek awesomeness. Is it possible to threaten and compliment creatives simultaneously? (Yes, and that's what we did.)

Great ideas can't hide.
What if, in theory, we took the creative's idea entry decision out of the equation? What if they had no choice in the matter? They had to submit to submission. Because the Denver Ad Club was watching. Waiting. Well aware of their great ideas and willing to confiscate them.

Introducing The Five-0.

Who or what is The Five-0? The audience will never really be sure. What they did know was that The Five-0 was coming after their ideas. A threat and an incentive – encouraging agencies to submit their ideas to The Fifty. Or else.

With Five-0, we liked the play on 'The Fifty' and that it's a slang term for the police. We also liked taking these idea police in an unexpectedly shady, omnipresent direction. Because there is no clear right or wrong in the idea business. The Five-0 were undercover. They were staking out agencies. They were calling out ideas. Curiosity. Paranoia. Good times.

The photo concept and art direction.
For the photo shoot, I honed in on this creative paranoia with the exceptionally talented Bryce Boyer and a team of amazing people. We pulled off six fun conceptual photos with six actors in six locations in two days. And also a short spot with special effects and original scoring.

I wanted to emotionally portray creatives in moments of idea vulnerability. Protecting and concealing their great ideas. Each shot shows an idea development device. The actors are creative stereotypes I dreamed up. The prima donna, tortured artist, early adapter, quirky guy, witty girl, and rock star. They could all be art directors or writers. The modern wardrobe is neutral and blends into the scenery. Timeless and cinematically-embellished styling.

To build up the unsettling atmosphere, we were shooting in both modern agency and creepy historical locations. It's funny, the first horror movie I saw was Poltergeist. It was most scary because it was shot in a modern day neighborhood. You couldn't write it off as something that would only happen in an abandoned haunted house far, far away. And as a kid, it made you think twice about your own closet.

I wanted all the focus to be on the actor's expression. They have an exaggerated, self-idealized glow about them. The glow that follows true visionaries. Usually, you don't see it. You sense it. They are passionate and you want to believe in their ideas. The whites of the character's eyes are drawn out, capturing pure emotional overreaction.

The line between this going campy or being visually arresting was thin. Our initial casting shots gave us insight into this delicate difference. We found the best direction was the moment you think you may have heard something, but you're not sure. It's subtle, but really intense.

By blending reality, emotion, and imagination – the images came to life. A secondary Five-0 shadow in every shot held the set together. We pulled the blues, greens, and warm tones. Blacks went to dark blues. I didn't want this to be the expected film noir look. I wanted it to be dark, but modern and vibrant.

The ads were posted on Ads of the World, The Denver Egotist, AdWomen, ffffound, and a bunch of other great sites and collections. Lots of thanks to Bryce Boyer (photographer/director/producer), Ryan Johnson (copywriter), Debbie Clapper: Gneural (illustration), Spillt (effects), Post Modern (color), Stephen Zinn (editor), Blorp Corp (sound), Peter Lugo, Ben Marrow, Ben Dicke, Shannon McKinnon, Danielle Lebens, Alaina Reel (actors with Radical Artists), Katelyn Simkins (stylist), Jamie Barkley (wardrobe), and Reese St. German (photographer's assistant), XYZ Graphics (retouching), Vision Graphics (printing), and Sherman Street Event Center and Lee Reedy/Xylem Digital (locations).

And here's the spot. The creative struggles with inspiration. Then she has it and gets lost creating it. And, well I don't want to give the rest away. See for yourself:

The Denver Fifty 2011: Call for Entries from The Denver Egotist on Vimeo.

Past and Present. Blended.

2011-09-05T23:26:00.003-06:00

Dear Photograph,
I told you there would be better days.
Joel Witte

I've seen the future, and the future is… well, actually it might be the past. Albeit a never-ending, future-feeling remix of the past. Yesterdays. Todays. Tomorrows. Layers upon layers of intuition gleaned from years of exploration. Reflections and realizations.

Dear Photograph, a blog by Taylor Jones, overlaps frozen moments from the past with present time and space. Old photographs lined up in current surroundings. Literally matching physical perspectives while looking back with if-I-had-only-known-then emotional perspective. The effect is powerful. Sometimes quirky. Sometimes heartbreaking.

It's a simple, yet profound idea. Family photos of strangers, evocatively telling us so much more than what we would have taken from the photo alone. Exposing introspection in a visceral way.

The photograph is tangible, but captures something fleeting. Something gone the second it is taken. Never to be exactly replicated. Always remembered as it was.

As time passes, you begin to remember the photo. Not specifically the moment as much. Maybe through something new, like technologically revisiting our former haunts, we'll find a window to the past. And see the future.

Creatively agnostic.

2011-08-14T17:29:00.018-06:00

As Garreth Kay beautifully articulated, the underlying strategy for everything from Making Digital Work was that "we need to become keen observers on human behavior." Technology advances. Digital strategy adapts. Motivation changes. No matter what the medium, remember, you are trying to reach people with something they find meaningful. And that's a constant.

"When people share content, they're building their brand. Not yours." – Daniel Stein

Everyone is uncomfortable with the ever-changing technological landscape. Get comfortable with that. Even the students at Boulder Digital Works are becoming experts in technology that may be obsolete by the time they graduate. And that's fine. They're trained to be creatively agnostic. To experiment and tinker. To engage in play that leads to legitimate implementation. To see the bigger picture.

From the beginning conceptual phase, include people who are well-versed in emerging technology. They are the illustrious makers. Creatives are sometimes perfectionists. However, the tension between the makers and the idealists creates better work. Both sides pushing each other forward. Collaborating in a more iterative way. Allowing ideas to drive technology. Steering away from technology for technology's sake. And making sure ideas can actually be implemented before a creative visionary promises something crazy in a pitch that cannot be done. (Only doable crazy please.)

Innovation thrives when teams are cross-trained. Creatives learning technological possibilities. Developers reading Hey Whipple, Squeeze This and knowing how to foster a concept. Account people up-selling through understanding both sides and building optimal project teams.

The sooner we realize we are uncertainly certain about anything, the better. After all, as Bernbach warned, "Advertising is fundamentally persuasion and persuasion happens to be not a science, but an art." We are persuading human behavior. And for now anyway, you can believe that.

Politically creative.

2011-07-25T23:32:00.004-06:00

No matter where you reside within an advertising agency, you're going to need some political prowess. Trust me, I'm a creative incumbent. You need it. Internally and externally. Like it or not, you are being judged.

How do you masterfully persuade a room? Can you command respect from your team? Do you effortlessly inspire action?

Much like a hopeful politician, the optimistic creative cautiously begins a new campaign. Carefully crafting strategy. Aligning personal belief. Preemptively asking questions and preparing for debate.

I've written about the art of selling before. It comes down to your own authentic endorsement. There's a difference between passionately standing behind the work and apologetically running through creative you wish could have been better. Your audience will sense it. Go in there unprepared and prepare to head back to the drawing board.

As a creative, I feel your pain. Our tendency is to dwell on what could have been.

Sometimes, we're too close to it. Or maybe there were too many obstacles. Either way, we have to ignite the spark. The one that shows up in our eyes when we present work we're truly excited about. The unmistakable glow surrounding a passion project explanation. The unwavering confidence reassuring your direction. The contagious charisma leaving your audience wanting more. Maybe even without revisions.

Creativity is not really measurable. It's subject to popular opinion.

Back your work with research. Emphasize why it speaks to your audience. Be ready for an opposing view, or ten. And, most importantly, make sure you are an avid supporter of the work. And yourself.

Rethink your thinking.

2011-07-17T19:44:00.008-06:00

What inspires you? It's different for everyone else, right? …or, is it?
What?! You mean I'm not the only one inspired by advertising, creativity, culture, design, and observation who admittedly has a slight music and film addiction? Do I have a doppelganger hanging out in a coffee shop somewhere getting excited about random things like this or that. (I won't go into all my what-I-thought-used-to-be-original intricacies, but yeah, it turns out they're really not. Sorry hipsters, you're probably not alone either.)

No matter how eclectically specific your interests are, you have a tribe out there. My advice? Find them. It will save a lot of time and inspiration hunting.

As a pursuer of patterns, it's getting easier to find like-minded people.
Though I have only started playing around with the nuances of Google+, the platform seems primed for combining the best of all social connectivity. All in one aggregated place. And let's face it, Google already knows everything about you anyway. Maybe someday you can just have Google auto-update your status for you. You'd probably have to set some ground rules for that to work. "No Google, you may not post my social security number or +1 cat videos while driving my online persona. Thank you." (Okay, if the cat videos are indeed hysterical, I'll go either way on that last rule.)

The question is no longer "What inspires you?" It's, "Do you actually have time to pay attention?" Because if you do, inspiration is everywhere.
An engineer may not care about an art installation. But, what if that nonsensical sculpture inspired a legitimate structure solution. And then what if a surgeon thought like that engineer? The most phenomenal development of the connected world is the immediate access to so many perspectives.

Inspiration is a catalyst for rethinking your thinking.
We're really not that different. It's amazing how small the world is. And I'm very excited to hear some of the world's most connected digital planners, instigators, and creators address this issue at next month's Boulder Digital Works workshop. In person. I'll have updates on that in future posts. And, if you're going to be there, say hi. I'll be the one that is, well, probably like everyone else there.

Is this good design?

2011-07-04T23:12:00.007-06:00

Poster designed by Bibliotheque.

Before complete brand integration, Dieter Rams feared the world was becoming “an impenetrable confusion of forms, colours and noises.” A very prophetic statement from the early eighties.

Everything good is usually designed, but not everything is good design.

We have a tendency to influence each other. Brands fall victim to 'me too' design and strategy. Especially among like-brand competitors. We must always ask ourselves, "is this good design?" And, if it is not, how can it be?

Design is a cross-platform discipline. No longer does it only apply to artists drawing pictures. Writers, programmers, engineers, and strategists all must be fluent in design. Good design results from inspired collaboration.

Anyone creating anything should take a minute and familiarize themselves with or revisit the 'Ten Commandments' of design. Human-centered in philosophy, the thinking ventures well beyond art alone. Whether you create products, campaigns, or identities – this list thoughtfully explores why design should and does matter.

Dieter Rams: Ten Principles for Good Design

1. Good design is innovative – The possibilities for innovation are not, by any means, exhausted. Technological development is always offering new opportunities for innovative design. But innovative design always develops in tandem with innovative technology, and can never be an end in itself.

2. Good design makes a product useful – A product is bought to be used. It has to satisfy certain criteria, not only functional, but also psychological and aesthetic. Good design emphasises the usefulness of a product whilst disregarding anything that could possibly detract from it.

3. Good design is aesthetic – The aesthetic quality of a product is integral to its usefulness because products we use every day affect our person and our well-being. But only well-executed objects can be beautiful.

4. Good design makes a product understandable – It clarifies the product’s structure. Better still, it can make the product talk. At best, it is self-explanatory.

5. Good design is unobtrusive – Products fulfilling a purpose are like tools. They are neither decorative objects nor works of art. Their design should therefore be both neutral and restrained, to leave room for the user’s self-expression.

6. Good design is honest – It does not make a product more innovative, powerful or valuable than it really is. It does not attempt to manipulate the consumer with promises that cannot be kept.

7. Good design is long-lasting – It avoids being fashionable and therefore never appears antiquated. Unlike fashionable design, it lasts many years – even in today’s throwaway society.

8. Good design is thorough, down to the last detail – Nothing must be arbitrary or left to chance. Care and accuracy in the design process show respect towards the consumer.

9. Good design is environmentally friendly – Design makes an important contribution to the preservation of the environment. It conserves resources and minimizes physical and visual pollution throughout the life cycle of the product.

10. Good design is as little design as possible – Less, but better – because it concentrates on the essential aspects, and the products are not burdened with non-essentials. Back to purity, back to simplicity.

“I think that good designers must always be avant-gardists, always one step ahead of the times,” he said in a speech to the Braun supervisory board in 1980. “They should – and must – question everything generally thought to be obvious. They must have an intuition for people’s changing attitudes. For the reality in which they live, for their dreams, their desires, their worries, their needs, their living habits. They must also be able to assess realistically the opportunities and bounds of technology.” – Dieter Rams

For more inspiration, read Less and More: The Design Ethos of Dieter Rams and check out Objectified.

Adventures in failure.

2011-06-25T17:25:00.022-06:00

Wieden+Kennedy has been embracing failure since 1988. It's working. And, as the mural demonstrates, sometimes doing things the hard way is more meaningful.

Fail harder. Fail faster. Fail better. Fail forward. For the love of awesome, would you just get it over with and fail already?

Small failures are encouraged right now. In theory anyway. It's part of our rapid-prototyping-world-in-beta lifestyle. Get it out there. Test it and fix it as needed. Everything is fluid. Feedback is immediate. Nothing is forever. (Well, except for diamonds. And maybe that poorly-planned tattoo acquired on a drunken whim.)

But what about the big failures? The ones that draw a line before you in the sand. Daring you to courageously step forward or cowardly bury yourself right where you stand.

"You can be comfortable or outstanding, but not both. Extraordinary begins with discomfort." – Sally Hogshead

Many a creative recalls a time their ego was destroyed – that is by someone other than themselves. Their book metaphorically or, in some cases, actually ripped to shreds and thrown back in their general direction. One brutally honest moment. And, thank God for that moment. Here's your adversity. Now, what are you going to do with it?

Failure is a powerful motivator. Learn from its lessons. Let it make you and your projects stronger.

There's a reason why scar tissue is the strongest tissue in the human body. And that it stands out. A timeless reminder of a misstep or an averted prognosis. A defining characteristic they may use to identify us someday. One look at the mark and we recall how we got it. Maybe even what we experienced right before it was embedded. Forever. The sound of rusty trampoline springs. The smell of overheated car side pipes. The pre-surgical anxiety while helplessly slipping under the veil of anesthesia.

"Wisdom enters through the wounds." – shamanic quote capturing the inherent pain of creativity

Box of Crayons adds some great thoughts around that quote, "I love the liberating sense that it is only through our bruises and scrapes and errors and mistakes and stumbles and confusions and hurts and tears and anxiety and wounds, it is only through the time we spend in the shadow that our wisdom grows. Seek out experience and stumble."

Invest in yourself. Find a way to be mentored by smarter people who know how to do things that you don't. People who fear mediocrity over failure. And yes, you're probably going to fail. Eventually. But if you're bold enough to avoid the plateau, it's just part of the adventure.

[This piece is cross-posted on The Denver Egotist.]

Commercial comeback.

2011-06-20T22:02:00.012-06:00

Think back. Back to a time before Tivo. It was the decade Chiat/Day changed advertising with their groundbreaking 1984 Apple commercial. Saving humanity from conformity in a spot officially airing once and barely mentioning Apple.

Then in 1985, I was introduced to the quirky art direction of JWT's Joe Sedelmaier. It was through a VCR game, of all things, featuring a collection of his work. You'd watch a spot and then answer a series of questions. Everyone knows his work for Wendy's and FedEx. However, his Alaska Airlines spots were my favorites. He was famous for making non-actors famous.

Before everything was social, advertising was social. Commercials were famous in the 80s. T-shirts, board games, and mascots. Even with Tivo today, social media is pushing appointment TV and bringing back commercial relevance. I'm hoping this leads to more Super Bowl-worthy campaigns shutting out the apparently endless Progressive Insurance spots. It's time for new thinking in traditional media.

A new idea? Well okay, just this once.

2011-05-28T16:23:00.013-06:00

I'll admit, I'm addicted to ideas. Adrenaline-laced epiphanies. It just took one, and I was hooked. I want more.

It's not just the idea itself, it's the whole process.
The inception of an idea. The rush you get when you make an idea better. The contagiousness of a good idea on the loose.

Work backed by a powerful idea, is no longer work. It's a mission.
You can't help yourself. You're obsessed with it. The project seems to almost effortlessly manifest itself. (Though you've no doubt lost hours in it.) You want it to be good, with all your being. It's part of you and your team. It's like Christmas morning when it all comes together, and you can't wait for the world to open it.

Making the decision to work for better ideas is not an easy road.
But, if you seek them, the work down the line will also be better. And often easier. If the idea is big enough, it becomes a master plan. Executed in many ways. Schedules struggle to account for the upfront ambiguity better ideas require. The cycles between engaging and disengaging from the project. Better ideas usually happen somewhere in between. Push past adequate or even good. That's where better lives.

Do you dare put yourself out there? No strings, spotters, or nets.
You have to think like an entrepreneur. Along the way, you might fail. Maybe a lot. But then again, you might succeed. In a much bigger, more meaningful way.

"In bold projects, it's a fine line between a big win and a total crash and burn. Reason? Success happens at the bleeding edge." – Scott Belsky

Sally Hogshead has a great post on whether it's better to broadly appeal to the masses or truly engage a smaller audience… really, really well. Vanilla versus pistachio. Safe and effective or bold and adventurous? Both have their place, but yeah, I'd rather go with pistachio.

Will everyone get the idea? Does it matter if the ones who get it, really get it? And come back for more. Because they're hooked. And they can't help themselves.

Accidentally innovating with purpose.

2011-05-23T23:38:00.001-06:00

At our creative meeting, I issued a team-brainsqualling challenge. The task had absolutely nothing to do with anything we were working on. It wasn't supposed to. We had no reason to get hung up on preconceived notions or restrictive details.

Everyone split up into three teams. No one HAD to do anything, but they knew the other teams might be presenting their ideas the following week. Implied group competition, strengthening team camaraderie.

Once the first email started, the ideas kept building. Team member's strengths enhanced each new revelation. Programmers, designers, and writers all equally participating. Before long, no one knew who's idea it really was. It became the entire team's idea. And everyone involved felt passionate about it. People lit up as they walked through details. It wasn't about winning, there was genuine excitement in hearing each team's thoughts.

The exercise was from Caffeine for the Creative Team. The challenge: to conceptualize a piece of playground equipment for today's kids – incorporating relevant technology.

Teams tapped into their own nostalgia, their kid's passions, and their technological prowess. One idea harnessed energy. Another focused on atmosphere and environment – for the kids and adults. And another team created an elaborate maze, laid out with a new mind-mapping program they found.

How we work together can make or break a team. Everyone works differently, but the team has to come together at various points in the process. Building excitement and expanding on thoughts. It should never be individual against individual. Ideas should evolve in a back-and-forth manner. You face your inner critic, refine as needed, and then throw it out into the group. Repeat as necessary.

Before the team's presentations, I asked a couple of questions with some interesting outcomes. First of all, there was no budget and ridiculousness was encouraged. Even without parameters – everyone imagined something that was safe for kids to use, could "probably" be built, met a business or health objective, and solved a problem. In fact, some of the thinking could be the seed of an idea for some of our client's companies.

Creative teams should take time to play every now and then. It reminds us why we love what we do and that there are always unexplored possibilities. Who knows, it could accidentally be innovative.

The surface is deep.

2011-05-08T11:58:00.024-06:00

The surface glimmers with intrigue and anticipation. It promises possibility and invites speculation. It curiously holds our attention. Begging us to look closer. Denying us details. Leaving us wanting more.

Disenchantment is in the details.
How long can you hover above something without getting mired in mundane minutiae? Will you stave off reality's inevitable infiltration? Can you hold the spotlight while the next big thing's shadow creeps closer. And closer. Until darkness overwhelms.

Advertising varnishes the surface.
Something forgotten becomes relevant. A product in a sea of like-products becomes the shiniest option. With extreme sheen and authenticity, a brand becomes the generic name for an entire category.

From the outside in.
Good advertising changes the perception of what's underneath the surface. Great advertising captures and celebrates real value below the fold. A new surface attracts an empowered audience of brand advocates. Prepare to deliver, or frivolously step aside.

Surface knowledge.
In Wired UK, Russell M. Davies has an interesting take on knowledge depth. He explores surface fascination – ironically deep for creative people. By overlapping surfaces, they create something the world swears they've never seen before. Maybe they haven't. Maybe they have. Either way, it sure is shiny. Let's get a closer look.

The thinking man's creatives.

2011-04-18T20:51:00.007-06:00

I've Been Thinking About Abstract Expressionism: 2009.11.21,
originally uploaded by Julia Kay.

Design Thinking is dead. Well, sort of.
And no, this doesn't mean we can stop thinking. Or that "because it looks cool" flies as a stand-alone concept. That's like ending a debate with "because I said so." You may have won the battle, but you've also rendered the battle meaningless.

The Design Thinking legacy.
Cleverly disguised as a process, Design Thinking became serious business. Less like art and more like thoughtful engineering. Businesses willingly invited quirky creativity to the innovation table.

Design Thinking as an overall descriptor is admittedly confusing.
It's not just design. It's the empathetic perspective that makes something matter. The advertising magic when David Ogilvy changed a homeless man's sign from "I am blind. Please help." to an emotion-evoking "It is spring and I am blind."

Make way for the Creative Quotient.
So what's next in our quest to quantify creativity? According to Bruce Nussbaum's Fast Company article, Creative Intelligence (CQ) is the new Design Thinking. He defines the more inclusive CQ as "the ability to frame problems in new ways and to make original solutions."

Excuse me sir, but I need to verify your CQ.

Who knows, maybe someday we'll have to take a CQ test to get into universities or earn an agency position. You test over 200 and you're a freakin' certified creative genius. Go ahead, acquire your intimidatingly-cool eyewear and refine your bizarre creative rituals. The lesser CQ-scoring minions await your brilliance.

But seriously, can creativity really be assessed?
Someone could individually have a high CQ, but creativity requires fuel from different variables. Project passion, collaboration, and even opposition. Robert Fabricant of Frog Design responds to Bruce Nussbaum's article with some valid considerations inspired by the esteemed Wile E. Coyote.

Whatever we call it, the world needs divergent thinkers.
Fearlessly-curious thought leaders who don't accept "well, this worked last time" as a definitive answer. Smart creatives who explore the messy intersection where multidisciplinary perspectives meet. A team of hybrid technologists, idea writers, strategic planners, and visual visionaries. Here's to the thinking man's creatives, and their crazy new solutions that (gasp)… just might work.

[This piece is cross-posted on The Denver Egotist.]