May – 2010 – Junior - Celebrating life at the bottom

Monthly Archives: May 2010

The Monday Morning Whip // 75

Do you work in advertising? Are you supposed to be working on a brief right now? Are you trying to make it funnie? Maybe a little wackee? Thinking about making it funkee? Stan (http://branddna NULL.blogspot NULL.com) thinks you should re-think…

As I’m sure you know, the iPad went on sale in Australia last Friday. We’ve had one in the office for a couple of weeks, so I fully understand why people were queuing up at the crack of dawn to get one.

What I’m going to talk about today though, isn’t the iPad, but the iPad advertising campaign.
This has consisted primarily of posters of people reclining on couches with the iPad on their knee. No headline to be seen. And that’s it!

So what would you do if you got hold of the iPad brief?

I’m sure you’d agree that a portable tablet computer that operates with nothing more than the swipe of a finger on the screen is typical of the kind of product that you see in a student brief.

So how come the creatives who worked on the launch resisted the opportunity to do something weird and wonderful? Why do you think they didn’t write a “clever” headline?
Because they’re not students. They’re smart and experienced enough to let the product speak for itself.
Now ask yourself what you would have done with the iPad brief.

If it involves an idea that demonstrates how clever you are, rather than why someone would want to buy the product, then maybe you might want to have a think about the type of work you have in your folio.

ADVERTISING, WHIP | Tags: BRIEF, iPAD, STUDENT

Junior Event // 17 // Sydney

‘FINALLY!’ We hear you say – ‘Junior events in Sydney’. Yes that’s right, we finally got shit together. And since we kept y’all waiting so long – we got two of the most awarded creatives in the country – Matty Burton and Cam Blackley, Creative Directors at Droga5 (http://droga5 NULL.com NULL.au) to give their 10 tips. But don’t worry if you missed it, it’ll be appearing as an episode of JuniorTV (http://vimeo NULL.com/user2421636) soon.

The next Junior event is in Melbourne on June 16 at the Workers Club (http://theworkersclub NULL.com NULL.au/) in Fitzroy. Guest speaker: Jo Walker, editor at Frankie (http://www NULL.frankie NULL.com NULL.au/) magazine.

ADVERTISING, DRINKS | Tags: CAM BLACKLEY, DRINKS, Droga5, MATTY BURTON

The Monday Morning WHIP // 74

Opportunities for a job, internship, new love or random cool thing are around all the time. But, as Stan (http://branddna NULL.blogspot NULL.com/) sees in you all, would you know what to do if you saw one?

Last Wednesday I joined a selection of Melbourne Creative Directors for Portfolio Night. For those of you who are not familiar with it, it’s like a cross between speed dating and showing your folio.

Without wanting to overstate it, the night is pretty much a chance in a lifetime for aspiring creatives, as it allows juniors to hawk their wares to around a dozen CDs over the course of a single night.

Notice how I said hawk their wares, not show their folio? Well sadly many of the kids that I saw came simply to show their folio.

I’d say I saw around a dozen kids on the night. And all of them had at least one interesting piece in their folios.

But very few of them came prepared to make the most of the opportunity.

I asked every person I saw if they had a business card. Two people gave me a card and one gave me a cd of their folio. But the others didn’t have anything for me to put on my pinboard or keep in my drawer.

Which is an opportunity missed.

WHIP | Tags: ADVERTISING, FOLIO, PORTFOLIO NIGHT, WHIP

The Monday Morning WHIP // 73

This week, Stan (http://branddna NULL.blogspot NULL.com/) reminds us all that getting things done relies on one thing and one thing alone… Stopping. Because stopping means finished, and finished means do something else.

The PR machine kicked into overdrive last week for the 40th anniversary edition of the Rolling Stones’ album Exile on Main Street.

Generally regarded by fans and critics alike as the greatest record the band ever made, at its time of release it was not well received.

People derided its loose, sloppy, dare I say it, shambolic sound. In essence it sounded as if they had released a collection of rough-hewn demos.

But over time people grew to love it and recognise its raw beauty.

This week sees the release of the anniversary edition, which includes a bunch of out-takes and unused songs.

I already have many of these out-takes, so was looking forward to hearing them polished up for official release.

Boy was I disappointed.

The Stones have messed with perfection. What was once rough ‘n ready is now overly overdubbed.
What made the original album what it was, was that the Stones knew when to stop.

Sure they could have smartened up a few songs, or even culled one or two, but they didn’t. They trusted their instincts and knew what they had created could not be improved upon.

You need to develop this kind of instinct for your own work.

Know when it can be better. Know when it isn’t quite there. And know when it is finished. Because if you don’t, you may find you overwork your work so much that the simple beauty of the initial idea ends up getting lost.

WHIP | Tags: WHIP

The Monday Morning WHIP // 72

Two heads are better than one, but unless those heads are agreeable, two heads may as well be none. If you’re finding it difficult to work with others Stan (http://branddna NULL.blogspot NULL.com) has some advice that might just make things easier…

When it comes to the act of creation, two heads are generally better than one. But working with someone else on ideas has its pitfalls too.

One of them is being able to speak freely and critically without worrying about offending the other person.

This is never easy to be honest.

However it is far better to be critical than passive. As being nice often leads you down the path of mediocrity.

Of course I’ve been doing this for so long I take for granted to ability to dismiss an idea whilst offering support and encouragement to the creator of the idea.

So I’ve put on my well worn and slightly tatty thinking cap and come up with five key things to successful creative collaboration.

Don’t be dismissive

If your partner has an idea and you don’t like it don’t be dismissive. Imagine how you would feel if they told you one of your ideas was shit. Just say what it is you’re not sure about it, and offer to come back to it later. Once you have a better idea your partner will see for themselves why their original idea isn’t right.

Debate is good – Arguing is not

There will be times, lots of times, where you disagree with each other. Remember you are working as a team not two individuals, so work together to solve your problem rather than taking your frustrations out on each other.

Take one for the team

When you show your ideas to a Creative Director or client, remember they are your collaborative ideas. Don’t ever take a snipe at your partner if an idea they originated gets criticised or rejected.

Strengths and weaknesses

You both have them. We all do. So recognise yours, and your partners, and work together to overcome them.

A pat on the back

There is nothing that lifts the spirits more than a pat on the back for a job well done. So whenever you and your partner get together to collaborate be sure to show enthusiasm for their contribution and praise them when they do a good job.

WHIP |

JuniorTV // 04

Here at Junior we love the Internet as much as the next gaggle of square-eyed RSS-fiends, but compared to real-life, it sucks giant pear-shaped balls. You may be able to fly from tab to tab making click-leaps from Copenhagen to New York and back home again, but can you high-five new acquaintances over a beer in an authentic and hip warehouse space?

No! You can’t! Oh and don’t you devil’s advocate me Mr. Naysaying-Web-2.0-changing-the-face-of-communication-magee. I know your type and you’re wrong.

And that, our favourite bunch of blog-reading creatives, was an incredibly badly written and verbose introduction with the sole intent to convince you to come along to our Junior events, because the Internet never beats real-life.

At last April’s 10 tips in 10 minutes event, kids were sitting on the bar, some were hanging from the ceiling, most were sitting comfortably on chairs, but some weren’t, so yeah. What we mean to say is, ‘it was packed!’

Everyone was there to see Ghostpatrol (http://ghostpatrol NULL.net/)–illustrator, chilled bro, artist–speak about his life and times. Our favourite new JuniorTV cinematographer Louis Mitchell captured it all on film. Enjoy.

DRINKS, JUNIORtv | Tags: GHOSTPATROL, ILLUSTRATION, JUNIORtv

The Monday Morning WHIP // 71

Some people think digital advertising will turn out to be a fad. Strange isn’t it? That why you should pick who you listen to carefully, and why we’re behind Stan (http://branddna NULL.blogspot NULL.com/) 100%.

There was a bit of debate on my blog (http://branddna NULL.blogspot NULL.com/2010/04/start-thinking-digital-kids NULL.html) this week over my comment that Juniors need to have something more than just print concepts in their folio.

Apparently it is because a print or poster idea is easy to get from a glance. You’ll get no argument from me there.

But consider this:

How will your print concept work in the new interactive magazines (http://www NULL.youtube NULL.com/watch?v=ntyXvLnxyXk) being created for devices like the iPad?

Yes kids, even print ads are becoming digital these days.

WHIP |

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