Rich ideas, not big ideas.

Ideas can come from anywhere - it's one's ability to internalise those ideas, expand on them and articulate them relevantly that make 'ideas people' valuable to a company.

How far to do want to push your idea?

This far?

Or this far?

Guess the Ad Agency.

A pictorial mnemonic puzzle whereby the images represent the name of a famous advertising agency - perfect to rid those Monday morning blues.


Some are phonetic, some are representative - there's even an 'Easter Egg' agency in there somewhere...how many can you solve? Good luck!

Why I love Advertising.

THIS is why I love this industry so much - The craft and tradition that is all but lost in the age of pixels. Paint turns the message into art. This is the honest and passionate side of advertising that so many people don’t see, a craft that I hope will be around for future generations to experience.

After a trip in NY back in 08 I came across the same wall (or at least I thought it was the same wall), with a giant GTA4 ad on it. At first I thought it was vinyl (the details were incredible), but after realising it had been hand painted I thought ‘my God that’s even more incredible’. Great ads it seems, really do add to the personality of a city.

Although it’s sponsored by Stella Artois and created by Mother NY…the video 'Up There' on Vimeo still documents a universal slice of advertising that too many Copywriters, Art Directors, CD’s (and Clients!) forget. This is advertising at it’s best, ever since they daubed the name of Pears Soap onto the painting of the little boy (rumoured to be one of the earliest 'mainstream' advertisements in the UK).

To all those working in the industry…remember what you stand for - you are in charge of what future generations will look back at to gauge a sense of history. You are the gardeners of the zeitgeist. Remember all that has gone before you; all the great men that have worked hard to create something great, something memorable, something genuine (regarding the medium) that outlasts the lifetimes of ourselves and transcends into the picture books of history, a gift to the ages.

Never forget that what we do is an art…

Why did you get into advertising?

Project 300

Over the last few months I’ve been proactive on various freelance branding projects and really would like to produce more work in order to create a reputable portfolio.

Project 300 is an attempt to appeal to agencies who use graduate creative in an attempt to be accepted onto a portfolio crit. The idea is simple…it’s a self-set brief of mine that I’d like agencies to participate in. Basically, I ask that agencies submit a single creative brief to me (old or preferably live) and within the space of a single day, I will try to create 300 ideas for the brief in question.

That’s one idea every 4 minutes...

I will then post off all 300 ideas back to the agency. All briefs are of course kept confidential and no I will not demand any payment, just a portfolio viewing. What have agencies got to lose? Nothing, that’s what.

A project overview can be seen here.

The idea came about after watching the film 300 - except instead of hoards of Persians attacking…its other graduates attacking agencies. Like a self attributed creative Leonidas, I’ll struggle against the odds to produce work that will impress an agency enough for me to be considered for employment (or at the very least, a placement).

With my mighty yellow pencil and trusty sketchbooks, victory against tyranny and mysticism will be assured.

Android 2.2...the Demise of the iPhone is at Hand.

Droid are getting their game together now that the latest update has Flash video compatibility…not even the iPad has it. Along with the fact that Google have just released the tools to create apps open source means there’ll be a boom in Droid apps very soon, mark my words.

A few comparisons….

It costs a lot of money to be an Apple app developer, not so with Droid.

No crappy ‘vetting’ scheme with Droid (Apple kills apps before they’ve had the chance to shine based on their commercial potential or what Apple deems appropriate).

No iTunes proprietary software with Droid.

Your Droid app is not limited to a 1cm squared homepage thumbnail as it is with Apple.

No SD card in iPhone (so no easy sharing of files either, and if the cloud goes down you’ve had it).

No ‘grip of death’ with Droid.

Affordable and reasonable tariff with Droid.

Removable battery with Droid phones (so no expensive replacement fees).

Widely available tethering software for Droid OS enables further customisation.

How long have 5mpxl cameras been around? Apple’s planned obsolescence at its best, unlike the Dell Thunder, whose specs already trump the iPhone.