20-SOMETHING TRIPS

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20-SOMETHINGTRIPS TICKSon inspiration,
copywriting and art direction
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KNOW THE PRODUCT.Never be satisfied with what
you find out from the brief. That is just lazy.
You need to be curious, and SEARCH. The search
for a cool insight is like a treasure hunt.If
it's a consumable, go buy it. Look at the
wrapper/package inside and out, feel it, smell
it, study it, colours AND texture. Then study the
product break it, taste it, smell it, crumble
it, lick it, smash it, see what happens if you
sink it in water. You never know where a really
cool and original insight might come from!If
it's a service experience it, ask for feedback
from people who have experienced it, research it
on the internet. Nowadays, it's quite easy to get
your hands on information. So make the hands work.
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BE SMART ABOUT GETTING INSPIRED.Inspiration is
everywhere. On people on the street, in a
building, in someone's t-shirt, in a random
combination of objects, in a dog passing the
street on the zebra, in the way the sun hits a
piece of wood, etc... If you are stuck in front
of a computer, no worries. Search for beautiful
sites, especially the portal-archive types, that
have words and imagery from fashion, design,
culture, architecture, gadgets and all kinds of
innovative stuff. Good examplesjoshspear.comno
tcot.orgdesignspongeonline.com
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QUOTES TRUTHQuotes are a lot like McCann's
slogan truths well told. That is why people
have mottos in life, and relate to quotes
because they are TRUE, they are WITTY and they
are INSPIRATIONAL.When you start working on a
brief, go to a page of quotations (there's lots
of archives online) and search for wise sayings
on the subject you're researching (Ex for the
alcohol brief, I have taken more out of alcohol
than alcohol has taken out of me. - Winston
Churchill).
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PLAY WITH RANDOMNESS.In order to stay away from
the first-level ideas, try this fun method
random backtracking. Let's say your product is
gasoline. Think of something totally random, for
example a pink elephant, or a magical flower, or
a cloud shaped like a heart, or a stripy t-shirt,
or your favourite crayon sharpener. Now that you
have your random object, try to link it back to
your product. How do you get from a pink elephant
to gasoline? That's were the magic is. Build the
story!For possible results of this magical way
of working, see Honda's Grrrr.
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GO AS FAR AS YOU CAN.Never stop at the
first-level idea. If you have to do something
relating to time, you do something with clocks.
What's special about that? Anyone can make that
analogy. What if the clocks worked backwards?
Or were kidnapped by aliens? Or what if you had a
parallel universe where clocks where made of
gingerbread and worked on sugar syrup?
Challenge every idea you have! Take it as far
as you can, even if you might come up with
something that sounds insane and is too far from
your product. As they say, You can tame a wild
horse, but you can't bring a dead one to life.
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This is what your copy should doattract
Attentionraise Interestcreate
Desireinspire Action
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The flow of writing the best copy
possiblewrite it in LONGHAND, a whole
paragraph if you need it ? outline the KEY
ELEMENTS ? check for REDUNDANCY ? SNIP and choose
the shortest words and grammatical constructions
possible for what you are saying ? PROOFREAD a
million times and check that every word is
correct and the flow is good
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DON'T FALL IN LOVEwith the copy you write. Even
if you think you came up with the smartest
wordplay in the world, or that your idea depends
on you saying it exactly in that particular way,
be open to changing it if you get negative
feedback. Sometimes, YOU can be your worst enemy.
And long copy, unless it's part of the graphic
layout, will less likely reach the reader, just
because it takes more work.
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DICTIONARY.COMis your best friend. Check every
word you have doubts about, a mistake can ruin a
good idea and make it look sloppy and
unprofessional. It's such a small task to
perform, and it matters so much.
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And his cousin,THESAURUS.COMAfter writing your
copy, go to this site and look at all the
synonyms of words you can play with, and pick the
best one possible. It can have a nuance that will
give it something special, or it can simply
shorten your copy - see Latin words versus
Anglo-Saxon ones (Ex information vs. fact).
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pUNcTuatIONis a joint work between the copy and
the art director. Punctuation can make it or
break it, it can make it sound strong, or cheesy.
LookFLOWER!Flower?Flower... flower.And
also, take care where and how you use caps or
not, every detail can make a difference and show,
in a subtle way, how smart and attentive you are.
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READ BOOKS.Books don't only offer you priceless
information (on culture, history, geography, or
any other subject the book might be about), but
it also enriches your vocabulary and helps you
improve your flow of speech and writing. And
this, without any effort, this just happens the
more you read.For art directors, books always
make you visualise what you're reading, so this
is also a great exercise for you.
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TALK TO ME.As much as possible, use direct
speech. A reader won't care as much if you say
People should do this..., but they will more
likely pay attention if you say You should do
this....
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INVOLVE THE READER'S IMAGINATION.Make your ad
like a good film or a good book leave something
for the reader's brain to chew on after seeing
it. Explain what you're saying, but leave room
for some imagination on their part. This way,
you're bound to get them involved.
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WATERMARKS SUCK.Don't use images with
watermarks on them. It's just as bad as a
misspelled word. Instead of looking at the idea,
viewers will see that watermark and will think
the work is unprofessional and cheap. Take the
time to make an account on the site you're using
for pictures and get rid of this for good.
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GETTYIMAGES.COMCORBIS.COMDREAMSTIME.COMSXC.H
U
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KEYWORDS WILL GET YOU EVERYWHERE.When you look
for pictures, smart keywords will get you exactly
the picture you want perspective, colours,
characters, mood, anything can be sorted out from
the way you search. And a perfect picture can
make an execution. Check out gettyimages's
archive of key words!white backgroundstudio
shotno peopleclose-updark
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SIZE MATTERS.Respect your work, and work like a
pro! A professional will never work with a
low-resolution image. Get used to working
properly. When you use Google for finding
pictures, make sure to select extra-large
pictures or large pictures.
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YOUR COMPUTER ISN'T AN ART DIRECTOR.Your
computer is only a tool, used to execute your
idea. Don't sit down at the computer and start
doodling, hoping that something will come out.
When you sit in front of the computer, you should
already have the clear picture of what you're
about to bring to life.
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TAKE YOUR TIME.Looking for pictures, fonts,
cropping, effects, positioning, size take your
time with all of this! Attention to every element
of your layout will end up being a beautiful,
clean result.
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SHOW OFF.Don't be afraid to ask for opinions on
your work, but only take criticism if it's valid
and well-sustained. I don't like it isn't
feedback, it's a subjective opinion that won't
help you and should be ignored. Ask for objective
arguments on why someone thinks your work isn't
good. If they don't have something valid to say,
ask for feedback from others.Test your copy!
Read it, then read it out loud, then have someone
else read it, something that looks good written
down might sound odd when spoken out loud. Make
every check you can. This is your work and it
should be you pride, in the smallest detail.
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INSPIRATIONAL WRITERS WE TALKED ABOUTPablo
NerudaGabriel Garcia Marquez (The Incredible
and Sad Tale of Innocent Erendira and Her
Heartless Grandmother)Mario Vargas Llosa
(Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter)Adolfo Bioy
Casares (Morel's Invention)Charles Bukowski
(Post Office)Jorge Luis Borges (Six Problems
for Don Isidro Parodi)Julio CortazarKurt
Vonnegut Jr. (Slaughterhouse 5)
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INSPIRATIONAL MOVIES WE TALKED ABOUTLe
Fabuleaux Destin D'Amelie PoulainDonnie
DarkoPiAnything by Terry Gilliam (Brazil,
Monthy Python stuff), Michel Gondry, Spike Jonze,
Spike LeeVideos by Chris Cunningham