Great Commercials by creatives
There are good commercials and there are great commercials. Out in the yard outside my office we had discussion on what it takes to be a good creative. I initiated the conversation talking about that horrible “febreze” commercial. You know the one where the voices were dubbed in later. I made the comment “How does something like that get to a national scale?” My next question was how do kids suddenly rise to be the top creatives in the country. Firms like crispin porter +Bogusky who I would say are massively creative have kids leading these teams. Are they more creative because they work on a bigger scale? Are their creatives more confident? Is it better to work for a client or within a firm? I know nothing about this. That discussion led to another. A commercial doesn’t have to be good to be affective. How do I know this? I have now spoken about that horrible febreze commercial in two forms. First, in conversation now in a social media form. In Birmingham there is a commercial that plays constantly for Goldberg and to this day I remember the phone number to call because of that commercial. A commercial doesn’t have to be good to be affective. Take a look at the Google search I did on bad over dub here. Bad adr here. So people talk about it. I wouldn’t say I’m a fan of vague commercials but doesn’t there have to be something more that just a jingle. I’ve learned that I know nothing. Well.. I do know the commercial you are about to see is a great commercial. Guinness changed their tag line from “Good things come to those who wait” to “Bring it to life” I don’t really know how much marketing you need to do for Guinness I pretty much think you like it or you don’t but this may make you try it. Fantastic. So what thing are you going to create today?
Hobbies are good for the soul
I’m finding that hobbies are good for the soul. For a while I was the type of person that thought hobbies were… well ….stupid. Stupid may be kinda harsh but that’s just how I felt. That was until I started to throw my self into one. There is a benefit that it may help me in my job but that isn’t the main reason. We all need a little outlet. Especially when you work in a creative environment. When you are always having to create because of your job you get creation fatigue. I think I just just made that up. No, blogging is not that outlet. It’s taking pictures. I like it. I like buying stuff to take better pictures. What better way to learn. I need to print more. When it just lives on a screen its really not that cool. I’ve also started to randomly design websites. I know nothing about proper design of websites but I think that’s the point. I read and watch stuff and just do it. I like it… its my hobby. That brings me to another thing. So Cowert a dude some of us follow on twitter started this thing called Help-Portrait. Not going to explain I will just put the link to the video you can watch for your self. Chappy at ericchapmanphoto.com and I are trying to work this out for December. It’s going to happen. I’ve got a couple irons in the fire about it. This isn’t what the post is about….but I wanted you to be aware of what creatives are trying to do. This post is about finding yourself a hobby. We all can’t live to work. I’ve done that for far too long.
Design Exclusiveness-Paola Antonelli
Design Exclusiveness. I wonder if this exist. Do creatives sometimes want to create a world in which they feel that everyone else is an outsider. Have they been thought of as an outsider for so long they have taken over the role. Who is to say something is good or bad or right or wrong when it comes to design? I don’t really know. I don’t have answers to any of these questions. For a long time I realized that I lived in two worlds. One that is very much administrative and one where I have to make something out of nothing. I’ve tried to live by a mantra when it comes to creation. There is nothing new under the sun. There may be new ways of doing a task but the end product is not really new. You may change the color but its still not new. I could be way off though. Right? Because there are smarter people than me out there. I get a newsletter from Creativity and this was one of the articles this past week. Love your designers. They make your world work.
WATCH ME HERE
When you get done watching that check her out at TED. If you liked last Saturday’s TED you will really like this.
(from TED)
Since she stepped back from practicing architecture in order to focus on writing about design, teaching and curating gallery exhibitions, Italian native Paola Antonelli has become a force to be reckoned with in the design world. Working at the Museum of Modern Art in New York since 1994, she now heads up the gallery’s Architecture and Design department and has worked on shows such as “Humble Masterpieces,” which celebrated traditionally unheralded design icons such as the paperclip; “Safe,” considering issues of protection, and “Workspheres,” a look at contemporary workplace design.
Ever mindful that the majority of visitors to MOMA are attracted by artists such as Picasso and Matisse, Antonelli works to ensure that if they do stumble across a design-related show, they’ll be both entertained and enlightened. Her latest book is Exit to Tomorrow: World’s Fair Architecture, Design, Fashion 1933-2005.
Creativity in and of Education
This has been on my mind lately. One because I’m nearing the end of gradschool and second I’ve been trying to find what I’m really good at. I’ve started to write about pop-culture and entertainment more because that’s kinda what I know. Not the obscure world of entertainment but what we all kinda watch. People have asked me who my favorite musicians are and I always say who ever is on the top 40. I’m still trying to expand that so we’ll see how that goes.
When I was in school I wasn’t good at math (I still can’t make change), english (grammar) was sub par and I never felt in the right place. I wish I had believed that you could make a living creating stuff. Just making stuff up. I have a lot a friends that I would say are in the same boat and some that are the best of both worlds. My friends know who I’m talking about. But are our talents worth anything in this society. I’m glad I work at a place where its pretty high on the priority list. That brings me to what you will see on this nice Sunday morning. TED is a pretty cool conference or at least has some visionary speakers that make it worth poking around their site. Meet Ken Robinson. He is talking to me. I hope that I can see what are in my children before the world tells them its a hobby.
(excerpt from TED bio)
Creativity expert Sir Ken Robinson challenges the way we’re educating our children. He champions a radical rethink of our school systems, to cultivate creativity and acknowledge multiple types of intelligence.
Why you should listen to him:
Why don’t we get the best out of people? Sir Ken Robinson argues that it’s because we’ve been educated to become good workers, rather than creative thinkers. Students with restless minds and bodies — far from being cultivated for their energy and curiosity — are ignored or even stigmatized, with terrible consequences. “We are educating people out of their creativity,” Robinson says. It’s a message with deep resonance. Robinson’s TEDTalk has been distributed widely around the Web since its release in June 2006. The most popular words framing blog posts on his talk? “Everyone should watch this.”
A visionary cultural leader, Sir Ken led the British government’s 1998 advisory committee on creative and cultural education, a massive inquiry into the significance of creativity in the educational system and the economy, and was knighted in 2003 for his achievements. His latest book, The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything, a deep look at human creativity and education, was published in January 2009.
“Ken’s vision and expertise is sought by public and commercial organizations throughout the world.”
