WHIP – Junior - Celebrating life at the bottom

May 17, 10

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.

Tags: WHIP

May 10, 10

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.

May 03, 10

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.

Apr 19, 10

The Monday Morning WHIP // 70

If there’s one thing you should have learnt by now after seventy lashings from Stan (http://branddna NULL.blogspot NULL.com/), it’s that your folio is never finished. Time and putting in the hard yards, can equal a bit of folio brilliance.

It’s very rare to see a junior creative folio where every idea is brilliant. More often than not, there are generally one or two ideas in a folio that really aren’t folio worthy.

Thing is, many of these ideas could easily have become folio worthy if the person who created them had spent just a little more time on them.

And when I say a little more time, I don’t mean polishing them up on a Mac. I mean thinking a little harder.

You see it is very easy to stop work and pat yourself on the back when you have an idea.

Don’t.

Once you have an idea, keep going. The more work you put into an idea the better it will get.

Unless it’s not that good an idea.

In which case you should still keep going, only rather than working on your idea you should be working on another idea.

Tags: FOLIO

Apr 12, 10

The Monday Morning WHIP // 69

You may say you’re not afraid to fail, but are you really? It’s a question that deserves some deep thinking. Stan (http://branddna NULL.blogspot NULL.com/)‘s got the perfect thought starter in a man who embraced it more than most…

One of my heroes died last week. Malcolm McLaren (http://en NULL.wikipedia NULL.org/wiki/Malcolm_McLaren).

As a young person looking to live a life of creativity you can learn a lot from Malcolm.

He was an innovator. An instigator. A trouble maker. And a man of intense passion and belief.

These are traits shared by many (if not all) truly great creative people.

In a revealing interview with Andrew Denton, McLaren spoke about how it was better to strive and fail than to not have tried at all.

He learnt at art school that failure was something to be embraced not avoided. Interestingly “embrace failure” is the motto of Weiden & Kennedy (http://www NULL.wk NULL.com/).

And Weiden & Kennedy’s greatest contribution to our culture is, of course, ‘just do it’. Surely just another way of saying dare to fail.

Click here (http://www NULL.youtube NULL.com/watch?v=CYktxyQeZlI) to watch Andrew Denton’s interview with Malcolm McLaren.

Tags: FAILURE, PUNK ROCK, WHIP

Mar 29, 10

The Monday Morning WHIP // 68

Sometimes it’s hard being a junior… But then you realise it’s waaaay easier than paying for a mortgage and trying desperately to keep your job, so you chill out and find a way to make it awesome. Sound like a good philosophy? Stan (http://branddna NULL.blogspot NULL.com/) has an anecdote or two to help spread the good word.

In last week’s Whip I wrote about people failing to turn up for appointments. Why did I do this? Because people who make an appointment to see me and don’t turn up shit me. End of story.

However I should tell you that there is another side to this story. And it dates back several years.

As a young shitkicker I booked an appointment to see a Creative Director with my folio. I had to take time off from my day job to make this appointment, so you can imagine how disappointed I was when I turned up to find that the CD wasn’t even in the building.

His assistant apologised and made me a new time to see him.

Yet again I had to take an afternoon off work to make the appointment. Yet again the CD wasn’t there when I turned up. The third time this happened I decided the CD was obviously a dickhead and gave up trying to see him.

The lesson I learnt from this string of disappointments is one I still follow to this day. It’s a lesson you can learn from too;

Be nice to people as you scale the career ladder because chances are you’ll meet them again when you’re on the way down.

Tags: WHIP

Mar 22, 10

The Monday Morning WHIP // 67

When was the last meeting you organised with someone in your industry? Did you go ahead with it or chicken out? You’d be surprised how often the latter happens to Stan (http://branddna NULL.blogspot NULL.com/)…

When you make an appointment with someone to show them your work be sure to ask them for a number to contact them just in case something comes up.

The day before your appointment, I’d recommend you give the person a call to confirm your appointment.

After you have done both of the above, my advice is to actually turn up for the appointment. Yes, turn up.

I know it sounds like an obvious thing to say, but in the last month I’ve had a couple of people make appointments to show me their folio and fail to turn up.

Suffice to say if they ring me again I will not be making time in my seriously busy schedule for them.

I’m not telling you how to suck eggs kids, but you need to realise looking at junior folios is pretty low on the priority list for most senior people. So if they offer to make room in their schedule for you, don’t waste the opportunity.

Tags: FOLIO, JOB HUNTING, WHIP

Mar 15, 10

The Monday Morning WHIP // 66

A lot can happen in an instant. You could change someone’s mind, or make them happy, or impressed, charm their pants off, make them smile, or just feel good. But don’t confuse them, because Stan (http://branddna NULL.blogspot NULL.com/) knows what he’s on about, and that won’t get you a job now will it?

For this week’s Whip I must tip my hat to Simon Veksner (http://scampblog NULL.blogspot NULL.com/) of BBH in London, whose headline I stole and whose wisdom inspired this piece.

When you sit down in front of someone to show them your folio you are at the mercy of their finger.

Believe it or not, a finger can flick through folio pages faster than the brain can think.

So you need to ensure your ideas are so simple and so clearly laid out that the person looking at them gets them before their finger goes to turn the page.

If your folio is messy. If your layouts are cluttered. If your headlines are not legible. Then your work is not instantly gettable.

And unless your work can be gotten in an instant, you will never beat the finger.

Tags: FOLIO, JOB HUNTING, WHIP

Mar 08, 10

The Monday Morning WHIP // 65

Sometimes, we can’t help but think Stan (http://branddna NULL.blogspot NULL.com/) is talking about us. Actually we’re pretty darn sure he is talking about us. If we were to give you an excuse, it’d be a good one. Something like our dog ate our interviewee. Seriously kids, take heed of Stan’s advice — excuses are lame. And people who do what they say they’ll do, like Stan, have blood worth bottling.

I had a flashback to my brief time teaching at RMIT this week.

Tasked with the opportunity to contribute to something amazing, a young creative came to a review session empty handed.

Their excuse?

Too busy, apparently.

Pay attention kids, for this may be the most important piece of career advice you ever get. And it’s free!

Don’t ever, and I do mean ever, say you were too busy when you have been given something to do.

Make time. I don’t know how. Nor do I care for that matter. But if you want to get a job, or keep your job if you have one, then you need to go out of your way to impress.

And nothing impresses like a decent work ethic.

Mar 01, 10

The Monday Morning WHIP // 64

When you don’t know any better, it’s easy to think your folio should look and feel a certain way. But, as Stan (http://branddna NULL.blogspot NULL.com/) will have you know, conventional wisdom is hardly ever that interesting.

Accepted wisdom is that an advertising folio should consist of loosely drawn black and white concepts. A design folio however is generally finished to quite a high standard.

What the design and advertising folio have in common is that they are generally paper based.

What I want to know is why?

Two young guys who worked for me in London back in 2000 showed me their folio on a laptop. That was ten years ago!

Now I’m not for one minute suggesting you go and scan all your scribbles and put them on a computer. But I am asking you to question the way you are putting together and presenting your ideas.

Those two guys from ten years ago are no longer working together, but they have both gone on to become creative directors. Not because they put their folio on a laptop, but because they dared to be different.

This week I had someone show me a selection of their work on an iPhone. Yes an iPhone! Obviously not the best medium for print and posters, but terrific for TV and video work.

And as you can imagine it took me completely by surprise when the guy whipped his phone out of his pocket!

So how about this month, rather than focussing on making your folio better, you focus on the folio itself. Who knows what you might come up with.