You might think Stan bangs on an awful lot about folios. Take it from us, he knows a thing or two. And after sifting through the work of some of the industry’s best thinkers all weekend, we think he’s got enough reason to tell us what’s what when it comes to that pretty little book that might just get you a job.

Last weekend I judged the Direct Marketing section for the MADC Awards. I have judged direct work a couple of times before, but this time was very different.

Sure there were the usual selection of clever mail packs and three-dimensional pieces, but what was noticeably different was the sheer breadth of work entered into the category. Much of it already awarded at Cannes earlier in the year.
It’s as if direct has become the new place to be for creativity. Well this year anyway!
Yet hardly any of the kids who come to show me their folio have direct ideas in them. Mind you, they don’t have many digital ideas either.

What I can’t work out is why.

Junior last Wednesday was pretty rad. We had Jason Ross – the Executive Creative Director of CHE give us 8 tips in 8 minutes, at the grand ol’ time of 8pm. According to the Chinese, the number 8 is as lucky as it gets. So if you happened to find yourself there, be sure to think of yourself as one of the lucky ones.

It’s also pretty darn lucky we filmed the whole thing just in case you missed it.

There’s no need to explain who the accomplished dude below is. He has changed the way we live. Watch this video and he might change the way you tackle life too.

Agency slow-time. Hours, days, weeks get entered into timesheets as “Admin Time”.
So what do you do?
Get yourself known as the agency’s best ping pong player? Stare at The Age online?

Why not make yourself indispensible?
Talk to people. Nobody will hate you for looking eager.

Re-read an old brief. See if there was anything you missed that might spark off something for the next one.

That killed-off idea from last month? Fix it. Make it better. Mock it up.

Read industry blogs then move on.
What’s happening in art? Ever read that Fin Review in the kitchen? Nobody has. That’s what your clients are reading.

Make a topical ad.
Make anything (lots of award winning work was made during Admin time) but just stay away from the table tennis table.

You can’t polish a turd. And although you might be able to make it a good looking turd, it ain’t gonna fly with Stan.

Had a creative team show me some concepts this week for a project I’m working on. I asked which was their preferred idea and they pointed to the first concept.

When I asked them why, they rambled on for what seemed like an eternity. Yet when they finished talking I was none the wiser.

So I asked them to explain the idea in a sentence. They couldn’t.

This is because what they had wasn’t an idea. It was a look. A feel. A design treatment.

So I gave them another chance to explain their idea.

They couldn’t.

Now some people might like cool looking stuff. Some people might be happy with well designed things. But not me.

I want to see ideas. Most creative directors do. And if you don’t have an idea, no amount of design or polish is going to hide that fact.

Are you striving for mediocrity without knowing it? Stan wants to know.

Close enough is just not good enough.

Unless of course you’re striving for mediocrity.

In which case it is perfectly acceptable.

“Blow your wad in the first paragraph.”

Here are some photos.

However cryptic, this week’s Whip is one of Stan‘s best. Give yourself some time to think–enlightenment will come.

Another weekend rolls around. Another Saturday morning where I sit and wonder what on earth I’m going to write for the Monday Whip.

Over the last couple of weeks I’ve been working on a big pitch, which has proven an excellent source of Whip material.

But now the dust has settled on the pitch I found myself sitting staring at a blank piece of paper.

Much like I do every day it work.

And much like I do every day at work I scribble a few thoughts, toss around a couple of ideas, then get started.

Most times it’s a struggle. Sometimes it comes within minutes. But unless I overcome that piece of blank paper I will have nothing.

And nothing isn’t going to inspire you. Nor will it keep me in a job.

Dude, don’t think so much, you’re gonna give yourself a headache. Simplicity is the key. Sit down, make some stuff, and listen to Stan.

While working on a pitch recently I watched suits and strategists going around in circles arguing propositions.

Not just for an hour or so. But for days.

Without a proposition there is no brief. And without a brief work cannot commence.

Or can it?

My motto is to worry only about the things that you can control.

I can’t control the circular habits of suits and strategists. So I put pen to paper instead.

Rather than waiting, I start generating.

So by the time the brief is ready I already have a body of work.

Obviously much of it will not be right or even usable, but by exploring many different territories with complete creative freedom, I will almost certainly stumble across one or two ideas that fit the brief.

Which means that when work is supposed to commence, I am already halfway there.