Apr 11
Copywriting
The series Mad Men, set in 1960s New York, is a fictional portrayal of, as the producers describe it, "the ruthlessly competitive men and women of Madison Avenue advertising, an ego-driven world where key players make an art of the sell".
I don't claim that advertising is now or has ever been a business for the faint of heart — but the true story is a lot more complicated than the AMC series portrays. To illustrate, I tracked down some video clips of three iconic copywriters: David Ogilvy, Leo Burnett, and Bill Bernbach. Though I don't find that any of them had particularly warm and fuzzy personalities, I think it's instructive to see how they present themselves and explain their respective businesses.
David Ogilvy...
Leo Burnett...
Bill Bernbach...
Their agencies today...
Ogilvy & Mather...
Leo Burnett...
DDB Worldwide Communications Group...
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Mar 21
Ideas 101
Yes even graphic design is, at its core, as much science as it is art. Those who see design as a pursuit of style miss the point. Design is about solving problems, communicating ideas, moving people to take specific actions, immersing audiences into new experiences, and so much more.
If you want a sense of what a broad, important discipline design is, take a few moments to explore these links. They are both inspirational and challenging. Lots of us flounder around in an attempt to find our place in the wonderfully rich profession of design. I have no doubt there is a place for anyone with a passion for the creative process and an open mind.
Let's start with Paola Antonell, senior curator in the Department of Architecture and Design for the Museum of Modern Art. A few years ago, at the first 5D Conference she talked about design and science...
The 5D Conferences are about "immersive design" for narrative media (film, TV, and so on) and the construction of imaginary worlds. This is the conference website...
Organizations like OBLONG, think big — that's what great designers (and scientists) do. Instead of narrowing one's focus, their mission is to "fundamentally change how humans use computers". Design is a scientific discipline...
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Jan 2
Basic design
The Walker Art Center in Minneapolis and the Smithsonian Institution's Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, in New York have co-organized an international exhibition titled Graphic Design: Now in Production — what is being called, "an ambitious look at the broad-ranging field of graphic design".
As the exhibit's website describes it, the exhibit "explores how graphic design has broadened its reach dramatically over the past decade, expanding from a specialized profession to a widely deployed tool." The work featured, "explores design-driven magazines, newspapers, books, and posters as well as branding programs for corporations, subcultures, and nations".
Whether or not you are able to visit the exhibit, I encourage you to order a copy of the exhibit catalogue, a 225-page book that includes hundreds of examples plus twenty-some opinion pieces on the recent history and current state of graphic design by the exhibit's curatorial team and others.
The irony is graphic design, as Ellen Lupton puts it, is "about doing something in the world" or pragmatics — and the very nature of such an exhibit is to look at the work and describe it (for the most part) outside the context for which it takes action. It will fascinating to see how well the exhibit is able to bridge that divide.
I'm anxious to see it — here are the venues:
Walker Art Center, Minneapolis through January 22, 2012
Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, New York, May 16, 2012
Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, California, September 30, 2012
Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, Texas, July 19, 2013
Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art, Winston-Salem, NC, Oct 24, 2013
A quick overview...
The exhibit web page...
About the exhibit catalogue...
Purchase the exhibit catalogue...
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Oct 3
Copywriting
Last week, on his Facebook page, Bob Bly (the copywriter's copywriter), pointed to a service that is developing technology that, "...Generates news stories, industry reports, headlines and more — at scale and without human authoring or editing." As they characterize it, they are working to "turn data into stories."
It's one more step in the struggle between art and science. Faster than we could ever hope of adapting to it, science marches forward attempting (with a fair amount of success) to automate all manner of human interaction, thought, and effort.
I wonder if the media will cover this or if the story will be written by its new competitor?
Narrative Science...
An article on the idea and the organization...
This all folds into Seth Godin's seismic column last week, The forever recession (and the coming revolution...
As implemented in the WSJ...
My reply to Bob Bly's post on Facebook: Ironic — I'm working on an application that reads data-generated text and converts it to clean drinking water. Here is his website...
And just for fun, Bob Newhart's wonderful bit, An Infinite Number Of Monkeys...
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Jun 22
Illustration
If you're a writer, designer, illustrator, photographer, editor, developer, or marketer, the obvious answer is yes. The proof is in the many new studios popping up to specialize in the development of content for the new generation of phones and tablets.
Electric Type, for example, bills itself as a digital book foundry. Here, they provide us with a taste of how some of the aforementioned players have collaborated to reinvent a storybook.
A video tour of their first project: The Jungle Book...
How it was made...
About Electric Type...
Illustrator Nigel Buchanan's portfolio...
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May 4
Ideas 101
If you need pure inspiration, print advertisements are hard to beat — each one reveals a different architecture for drawing a reader in and communicating a message through an abbreviated set of words and imagery.
If you learn to distill and combine and deconstruct those ideas, you'll have an endless stream of ways to kick-start your thinking. How do you create something new a fresh? Get a sense of what's already been done.
Here are some good sources to track.
For an overview: AdWeek's AdFreak. (Love this New York City subway staircase in the middle of Charlotte, North Carolina.)...
For deep international coverage, Ads of the World...
Lürzer's Most seen ads this week...
For some history: Duke University's 30,000-plus advertisement collection...
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Sep 27
Marketing PR
I was talking to a fellow designer the other day and we were discussing the horrendous state of marketing in certain quarters—where unscrupulous marketers put forth products and services that are clearly meant to do nothing more than part people from their money. It's an old problem, the tactics of which, I hope and believe will become less and less viable in the years to come.
Though their approaches are very different, I want to point to two men who really do seem to have a finger on the pulse of that change—Seth Godin and Tim Girvin. They are both passionate advocates of honesty, clarity, and style.
The "honesty" part insists on worth and value. I doubt either of these guys would even consider selling a product they did not believe in. That would be antithetical to their nature.
The "clarity" component is what they are about. Though they are both great teachers (and prolific bloggers) their passion seems to be that of students. You simply can't understand and articulate foundational ideas if, from time to time, you don't shut up long enough to listen.
And "style" is their mantra. They both preach that the story you tell and how you tell it is what distinguishes you from everyone else. I can't help but think, as the world amalgamates, that greater and greater value is going to be placed on the positive things that make each person, place, and thing unique.
I'm not telling you anything you don't already know. But these gentlemen will.
Seth Godin..
Tim Girvin...
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Aug 25
Learning
Cabell Harris is a designer who understands the big picture. By that I mean, he understands the intricacies of making real things happen through design. That requires a keen understanding of many disciplines--marketing, development, branding, copywriting, layout, typography, imagery, production, and publicity--and how they interplay.
Need a model for a rock-solid communications designer? This is how it's done.
Harris' company is Work...
Most of the objects on the page are clickable and lead to interesting tidbits such as this...
Here is the Work Photostream on Flickr...
And their blog...
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May 14
Copywriting
In high school, my objective in English class was to get the biggest laugh, not to actually learn anything. Onlinestylebooks.com, as I image it, was created by the girl in class who listened attentively and chuckled when someone said "chomping at the bit" instead of "champing at the bit".
For the record, a style manual is a set of style, usage, procedural, and technological standards adopted by a particular organization for the writing, design, and production of documents. Mary Beth Protomastro, the founder of Copyediting newsletter, owns and operates OnlineStylebooks.com—a search engine for 50-plus online stylebooks.
(To the best of my knowledge, she did not attend my high school.)
The search tool...
The stylebooks referenced, by subject...
The Copyediting newsletter web site...
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