A Copywriter Writes

Procrastination or, Just A Rant

God dammit.

I haven’t written anything for this blog in over a month.

What the hell happened? Things were going so well.

It’s not like I ran out of stuff to write about; I have a whole list of topics written down that I wanted to talk shit about.

And it’s not even that I don’t want to write anymore; I love writing.

I guess lately I couldn’t be fucked.

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Freelancing or, We All Got To Grow Up Sometime

So just over a month ago, many of us would’ve have cracked our eyelids open in an afternoon sun-drenched bedroom/hotel room/tent, head heavy from hangover and not yet ready for vertical alignment and thought:

“Shit, it’s 2013.”

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My Favourite Ten: The Gospel According To Dan or, Twenty-Two Tips For Interns

A reblogging of my top ten posts since I started.

NINE: POST #46 (25 May, 2011)

Over time, younger ad kids coming out of university have talked to me about getting an internship. Some have asked for tips and other times I’m thrown my two cents at them like a passerby to a man in the street juggling hackie sacks.

Either which way, during my time studying and working I’ve picked up a few tips and walkthroughs that I think can be very helpful to the clueless intern, the timid junior or even the unsure fish-out-of-water worker.

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My Favourite Ten: Failure or, The Most Important Advice After ‘Don’t Panic’.

A reblogging of my top ten posts since I started.

EIGHT: POST #45 (5 May, 2011)

I was recently asked to give some advice to an ad student.

Now, I’ve been asked for advice before, as I’m sure you all have, but in the capacity as a close friend, older brother, casual know-it-all or person mistaken for a 40 year-old who’s passing his prime and full of life wisdom.

Not usually as a professional ad person.

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My Favourite Ten: Great Ideas Aren’t Everything or, How Sucking At Selling Chocolate Helped Me To Sell Ideas

A reblogging of my top ten posts since I started.

SIX: POST #29 (29 Mar, 2011)

Great ideas: the be and end all of success in the creative industries.

You wish.

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View high resolution

What ‘Hey, Whipple, Squeeze This’ should look like when you finish reading it.

Hahahaha!

Please forgive me, but you couldn’t be further from any real worries. Having said that - it’s actually really cool that you’re concerned about your skill level so prematurely.

Not to worry. At all.

You’ll graduate high school and take up your course at university or specialist ad school and that’s when you’ll hone your skills as a creative. Once you start getting closer and closer to the industry, you’ll see just how little you actually have to worry about.

The industry is competitive, yes. But as a junior you just have to be really hungry to do well and work at the agencies you want. And hungry people get fed.

You seem to have a lot of passion to be a skilled creative. That’s a really good start. It’s passion that will drive you to eventually become a great creative at a well known agency that you might one day head. 

If you’re really interested already, try giving these books a read to give you a better idea of how to prepare yourself.

• Pick Me: Breaking Into Advertising And Staying There - Nancy Vonk & Janet Kestin
• Cutting Edge Advertising - Jim Aitchison
• Hey Whipple, Squeeze This - Luke Sullivan
• Making Ideas Happen - Scott Belsky
• Can I Change Your Mind? - Lindsay Camp
• It’s Not How Good You Are, It’s How Good You Want To Be - Paul Arden
• Whatever You Think, Think The Opposite - Paul Arden

Also, a good blog to follow is Junior: Celebrating Life at the Bottom.

Now, there are such things as small agencies, but not low-impact agencies, just low-impact work. The impact of the work does not, in any way, correlate to the size of the agency; a very highly awarded ad campaign for Orcon Broadband last year came from a 6-person agency called Special, in New Zealand.

Take any unideal scenario as a challenge and you’ll go far.

I tend to ramble when I do this, so if I could summarise this to fit you perfectly, I would simply say,

Don’t panic.

You’ll gonna be just fine.

Let me know if you have any other questions. I’ll try my best to help you out.

Cheers.

Humble Advice or, Rubbing Shoulders With A Malaysian Ad Genius

Last week, a very friendly and humble man by the name of Yew Leong Tan came into Lucideas for a chat.

Now, given this guy’s experience, I would be almost certain that he is one of Malaysia’s more influential ad men, along with his late wife, Yasmin Ahmad.

The two of them were responsible for the famous Petronas ads.

I was told earlier this year that if Malaysia had to put up any ad work that would make them known around the world, it would be those ads.

It was a rather pleasant evening as he modestly shared with us his 16 years experience working with Leo Burnett Malaysia.

Three points stood out for me as we sat, sprawled on bean bags as Yew Leong perched himself on the couch, talking to us all.

SAY ‘NO’
As an agency, learn to say ‘no’ from time to time. People tend to think that you show your power and popularity by saying ‘yes’. Define the work you would like to do and the kind of client you would like to work for and say ‘no’ to your clients freely, but within reason, of course. He illustrated with an Apple analogy:

“Electronic stores probably have hundreds of iPhones in the back, but they’re told to sell only 80 a day. Even though they can satisfy their customers now, Apple says ‘no’ by bringing the product out a little bit at a time. Saying ‘no’ creates a bigger demand.”

‘No’ is a strong word that gives you power when used correctly.

STAY OPTIMISTIC
You know that feeling you get when you get shot down, by a client, your boss or even co-worker? First, that fleeting moment of dread and then that rumble in the back of your mind: a figure of bulk and muscle, covered in sweat and dirt, sitting on a giant anvil surrounded by roaring fire, noisily chewing on a rusty iron pipe and starting at you with burning coal eyes and growls deeply:

“Keep going.”

Well sometimes, that’s hard to maintain. But no matter what, always fight to keep that optimism:

“Whenever an idea of yours is rejected, for whatever reason, think of it as a sign that you are meant to come up with something better.”

IT’S ABOUT STORIES
Technology and trends have come and gone in the advertising industry and they have changed the way we work and the way we’ve communicated to our audiences.

But one thing remains constant. Always has and always will. Storytelling.

Ever since man could pick up a stick and draw in the dirt, we’ve been capturing each other’s attention and imaginations by telling stories. If you can tell a good story, you win them over.

Yew Leong advises that this will always be the core element of our communication.

After he’d reached the end of his own story, we all sort of sat there in an awkward silence. Yew Leong sat, content and perfectly comfortable to look at us all before someone would speak.

“Wanna go for a drink?”

“Love to.”

"Believe in your fucking self.
Stay up all fucking night.
Work outside your fucking habits.
Know when to fucking speak up.
Fucking collaborate.
Don’t fucking procrastinate.
Get over your fucking self.
Keep fucking learning.
Form follows fucking function.
A computer is a Lite-Brite for bad ideas.
Find fucking inspiration everywhere.
Fucking network.
Educate your fucking client.
Trust your fucking gut.
Ask for fucking help.
Make it fucking sustainable.
Question fucking everything.
Have a fucking concept.
Learn to take some fucking criticism.
Make me fucking care.
Use fucking spell check.
Do your fucking research.
Sketch more fucking ideas.
The problem contains the fucking solution.
Think about all the fucking possibilities."

—

- Brian Buirge and Jason Bacher, creators of Good Fucking Design Advice

Two things I love about this:

1) It’s laid out, in black and white, clear as anything, simple and straight to the point, all you need to know to do well in your creative career (not just for designers).

2) I love the word ‘fuck’. A lot.

Abolish Caution or, Why I Now Order Prawns Like A Boss

It was a special occasion and my family decided to go to the local steak house for dinner to celebrate the said special occasion.

I was eyeing up the seafood menu, at the king prawns, specifically. I had my first nibble of those juicy underwater dwellers at a barbecue the weekend prior and had developed a taste for them.

I ordered them with much excitement and anticipation. An eagerness for food that is borderline unhealthy, to be honest.

The waitress finally came over. Here we go.

She served me soup and walked off as fast as she had set it down.

Now, I’m usually very polite in restaurants, and in general public for that matter, but this was mildly urgent.

“Excuse me! HEY! Sorry, excuse me! Miss! Yeah, sorry. I didn’t order soup, I ordered the king prawns as a main. Thanks.”

I held out the dish for her to take with a look that confidently said:

Hey, it’s fine. These things happen. People get mixed up, don’t take it personally. I’m not angry.

My parents snorted and the waitress smiled.

“Actually, that’s your finger bowl. For when you eat your prawns.”

Red as a cooked crustacean, I set my bowl of lemon water back on the table.

“Oh. Then thank you.”

Everyone else at the table spluttered with laughter.

Why can’t we look this silly all the time?

Why can’t we just let go and ask the stupid question and get laughed at and feel like a dick head?

Sure it’s mildly embarrassing, but the moment is fleeting in comparison to the rest of your life.

And you learn. Boy, do you learn. You can be sure I know all about what happens when you order prawns. No more surprises, just the immediate nonchalant dipping of fingers, as if I’d been doing it right my whole life.

Having said this, people, including myself at the best of times, are simply not willing to make such a small sacrifice; a moment’s stumble for a lifetime of strides.

There’s too much of a pressure to be right all the time or to appear in control.

I’m reminded of a creative team I studied with at university. They were given the chance to go and get work experience at Saatchi & Saatchi Auckland. That was big; a very good agency with a very prestigious name and some highly skilled creatives within.

They came back to uni from a brainstorm session with the agency. They had to come up with ideas for the campaign they were doing that went across a range of media, including something called ‘eyelites’, something which they knew nothing about.

“What’s an ‘eyelite’?”

“We don’t know!”

“Haha, didn’t you ask them?”

“No, of course not.”

“Uh, why not?”

“Dan, you don’t ask them those sort of silly questions. They’ll think you’re stupid. I mean, how bad would that look; not knowing what ‘eyelites’ are?”

“I highly doubt they’d care, you simply ask and they tell you.”

“No, it doesn’t work like that.”*

I left the conversation totally baffled. Later, they found out that eyelites are what the guys at Saatchis called bus shelter ads, or what we had always referred as ‘adshels’. So that creative team knew what they were all along, they just called them a different name. Had they asked straight up, they’d have found out earlier and avoided unnecessary stress.

As I’ve pointed out in a previous blog post, as a young person, the time to ask the stupid questions or make the silly assumptions is now, when you have little to lose in terms of your dignity and everything to gain.

Besides, they make for great stories to bring the next generation of timid juniors at ease when you become a ridiculously successful watchamacallit.

“Oh, I was just like you once, except worst! I screwed up everything! I couldn’t order prawns without looking like a dipshit.”

Just think of it this way: compare your possible embarrassment to the rest of your life. It’s will be a mere blip on the timeline that is your existence. Just like the entire universe couldn’t give seven shades of snot about what shirt you wear today. Once you get a little perspective, you’ll calm down a wee bit.

Remember, no one knows everything, so there’s no point in trying to appear that you do when you don’t. It’s ok.

So I’ve continued to order prawns with confidence to this day.

Except that one time at the Japanese restaurant, where I plunged my hands into a bowl of miso soup.

*Let me just point out that this is basically more-or-less how the conversation went. I’m not a tape recorder.

Portfolio Advice or, Taking The Sting Of A CD’s Critique So You Don’t Have To

My first year in the advertising industry yielded no permanent positions in any Auckland ad agencies. Obviously. 

That being said, I was tremendously lucky. There was never a time where I was unemployed for more than a week.

In between the various agencies I worked at, my art director, Kishan and I would get right back to work and set out to show our book around Auckland to the Creative Directors who gave us the time of day. All the while, hoping to find the new place we would be happily spending a third of our week in.

The thing with ‘doing the rounds’, as Kish and I would say, is every CD is different and has views and priorities that contradict those of others. It was good because you were criticised from different angles, which only turn you into a sharper creative.

During that time, I collected advice from some of Auckland’s well-known CDs and kept it to myself, referring to my notes every now and again when I had lost my way.

Until now, that is.

A few talented CDs I met with shared some profound thoughts in the art of portfolio building, maintenance and distribution. One thing that has become prevalent since I started blogging is sharing is caring.

ROB JACK
Creative Director, Special

The most important thing to have in the work is a nice thought behind it. Humour is nearly always the best way to go about it, too. You must also show contemporary thinking. It’s doesn’t matter what medium, a good print ad can still work.

Ideally, you should have 10 great pieces in your book. 7 campaigns and 3 one-offs. With a mixture of mediums, new and traditional.

PAUL CATMUR
Creative Director, Barnes, Catmur & Friends

A campaign has to have a big, bold idea behind it.

PAUL HANKINSON
Head of Copy, DDB

Each time you go to add something new to your book, make it the best work you’ve every done. Spend an entire week crafting and perfecting one ad campaign and in two short months, you’ve got 8 examples of your best work. There’s no rush.

GUY ROBERTS & CORY CHALMERS
Creative Directors, Droga5

When thinking about ideas, it’s always good to write down those first thoughts to get them out of your head, but always push further. What’s a different way of looking at what you’re saying?

Do ads in your book about things you’re passionate about. When you’re excited about the work, your best comes out of it.

Guy and Cory were previously CDs at TBWA/Tequila working on the Adidas account, doing a lot of stuff for the New Zealand All Blacks. Being both rugby nuts, the quality of work was high.

MIKE O’SULLIVAN
Creative Partner, Droga5

I’m 42 (then). I’m old. When I look at junior’s book, I should see something I haven’t seen before. In theory, a junior should be teaching me new things, not the other way around.

You need to have digital components and new media in your book.

PAUL WHITE
Head Lecturer, AUT AdSchool

Just keep on going.

Here’s a couple of gems from that book, Pick Me by Nancy Vonk and Janet Kestin:

BOB BARRIE
Executive Creative Director, BDM

One question: are your ideas real world applicable? Having creative ideas is one thing, but creative ideas that work is a whole new level. Your ideas should work across a range, if not all media.

RICK BOYKO
Managing Director, VCU Brandcenter

Online books and mini books make it a lot easier to cover a large group of CDs. Rick recommends you to come in with your book rather than send it. People hire people, not portfolios. It’s about who you are as well.

And finally, my own observations:

One thing that was said a number of times was if you can make your idea work in print, you can make it work anywhere. That’s a good test to see if a campaign has legs.

All the CDs you’ll meet will have contradicting views. In the end, it’s all about what you think is right. After all, your portfolio is a representation of you. Choose the CDs you respect more and want to work for the most and go with their advice.

Take up a CD’s challenge to meet again in a week with improvements made to the book. Even if you are sent away again and again, you’re building a relationship with that CD and if there’s anything as important as getting a job, it’s getting contacts.

Just because you haven’t got a job in an agency, doesn’t mean you don’t work like you do. Just saying. The passionate don’t need to hear this once, let alone twice.

A junior doesn’t necessarily have to be amazingly talented, as long as you show promise by means of your ravenous hunger for the work, you’re gold to any CD.

The Writing Rules or, The Only Commandments I Recite Each Day

The job I hold currently at Lucideas, I took from someone else.

I say take, I mean offered. My copywriter friend, Alan, was working here before me and decided to move on. So he called me up in NZ and asked if I wanted to take over his job and three months later, I arrived in Kuala Lumpur.

I was clearing Alan’s desk and making it my own when I came across a little gem Blu-Tacked to the wall at the desk’s corner.

It was a simple piece of A4 computer paper. And on it, was a list. Scrawled quickly and without ceremony in what looked to be an black inked Artline with a 0.6 tip. There was no title, just eleven points.

Any other writer would also not need a title.

Its instructions were quite clear:

1) Have something to say.

Otherwise, why are you writing? If there’s no purpose, then it will show and people will stop writing.

2) Be specific.

You’ve worked too hard to have some Joe read your piece and not be able to recall exactly what you were talking about. Be sure to mention exactly what you’re trying to say.

3) Choose simple words.

With most people, simple words are what we all know and love. The message gets across clearer. It’s nice to fiddle with English and explore its nuances, but if you come out looking like a douche, then there’s no point.

4) Write short sentences.

Short sentences are easy to read. They’re more punchy too. Biff.

5) Use the active voice (SVO).

Sentences sound better with an subject-verb-object (SVO) structure. It’s more active and quicker to say and read.

‘Joshua plucked out his grandmother’s teeth’ rather than ‘Joshua’s grandmother’s teeth were plucked out by him.’

6) Keep paragraphs short.

Keep to the point. Short paragraphs can get a reasonably long piece of writing read rather quickly. Long paragraphs look intimidating; the look of your writing will scare people before they read it.

7) Eliminate fluff words.

These are words that we tend to add to our copy that don’t actually need to be there.

Quick examples:

“He said that his father helped do his homework.” Take out ‘that’.

“We need to utilize his skills.” ‘Utilize’ doesn’t do what ‘use’ can’t. 

Some more examples in this article.

8) Don’t ramble.

Especially in ad copy. You’ve got 2 seconds to grab someone’s attention and 4 seconds to keep it.

Your girlfriend’s father give you 15 seconds to convince him why he should let you take his daughter out. Do you stick to the relevant points, or prattle on about how you’re making a portrait of her using all the photos she’s tagged in on Facebook?

9) Don’t be redundant or repeat yourself.

Repetition is a language device, true. But most of the time it’s not used consciously. It’s annoying enough when people say the same thing over and over. It’s no different in writing. Sometimes, it can be used in a clever way in your writing, but most people don’t use it like that. Don’t you hate it when people repeat themselves all the time to you? You turn off, don’t you? Same goes for writing.

10) Don’t over write.

A lot of writers tend to have a thunderous need that comes from deep within their creative soul to express their thoughts with such great and wondrous illustration and elaboration, that it completely loses the reader in a jumble of articulation and eloquence. We would be wise as the oldest sage to be mindful of such a atrocious risk.

11) Edit ruthlessly.

Wow, that’s a really well-written sentence. Good use of adverbs. I see that it doesn’t really do anything for your message, though. You’ve grown attached to it? Aw. Get over it. It happens.

If I have to condense them, the rules simply state when writing copy, keep it short and to the point, but not without your own bit of zazz. 

Maybe Alan wrote this list, maybe it was up on the wall all along. Nevertheless, these commandments were delivered to me (much less dramatically than certain dudes that live in the clouds) and I plan to uphold them the best I can, like any good copywriter should.

First, it is very flattering that you would ask me such a question.

Now, judging by your own blog, I assume you would like to work as a creative who will one day be capable of writing an ad that will be shown at the SuperBowl.

I’m not surprised there’s a lack of creative courses at a ‘Business Administration School’.

For a creative, marketing is a good thing to study because you tend to focus more on how to make an ad work, rather than ‘wow’.

However, if you want to write that crazy ad that will be seen by over 100 million people during the SuperBowl, you’ll have to take an extra year or so to do a creative course.

Alternatively, you could read a few books and immerse yourself in ad annuals, magazines, journals, film, art, design and observe what good creativity is, but there’s no real hands-on experience.

Also, you could throw together a portfolio and try and get an internship or ‘experience in the field’, but any mistake you make will have real consequences and I doubt you would want to deal with that if you’re not ready.

So, I would recommend a creative course, where a tutor who has worked in the industry can help you develop your creativity in a hands on environment, without the stress of the demands of a boss or a company.

Try and look for courses that promote industry experience.

Books I would recommend to get you started in thinking this way would be:

• Pick Me: Breaking Into Advertising And Staying There - Nancy Vonk & Janet Kestin
• Cutting Edge Advertising - Jim Aitchison
• Hey Whipple, Squeeze This - Luke Sullivan
• Making Ideas Happen - Scott Belsky
• Can I Change Your Mind? - Lindsay Camp
• It’s Not How Good You Are, It’s How Good You Want To Be - Paul Arden
• Whatever You Think, Think The Opposite - Paul Arden

Best of luck! I’d love to know how you get on.

Cheers. 

P.S. Should you, for some reason or another, decide you want to just get into it and hone your creative skills yourself, get back to me and I’ll recommend some stuff to do. 

The Gospel According To Dan or, Twenty-Two Tips For Interns

Over time, younger ad kids coming out of university have talked to me about getting an internship. Some have asked for tips and other times I’m thrown my two cents at them like a passerby to a man in the street juggling hackie sacks.

Either which way, during my time studying and working I’ve picked up a few tips and walkthroughs that I think can be very helpful to the clueless intern, the timid junior or even the unsure fish-out-of-water worker.

ONE

As soon as you’re settled, find the appropriate person and ask for a list of the agency’s clients. As an intern, there’s a chance you won’t see a lot of work for a first couple of days as you’re introduced to the agency and its culture. In the meantime, pick a client from the list when you have nothing to do and come up with some ads for them with your own SMP. This shows that you have initiative and you add value to the agency. Paul White told this to me toward the end of 2009, and I’ve lived by it ever since.

TWO

Any proactive work you do during the week, compile together and show the Creative Director at the end of the week. You’ll look amazing if you can make this a regular thing. This shows the CD directly that you’re always thinking and don’t waste time. If any of it is good, you’ve got some work to go in the portfolio (GOOD), or gets run (AWESOME) or may even be award winning (CRAZY AWESOME).

THREE

Before doing proactive work for the agency’s clients, do a quick round of the creative department and introduce yourself (if you haven’t already) and ask if you can get in and help on anything anyone else is doing. An agency appreciates a hungry intern. It gets you more relaxed and familiar with the other creatives too and you become more approachable to one another.

FOUR

Be talkative, smile and be approachable. Make sure people know you’re there. A small agency I once worked for took in a couple of interns who kept to themselves most of the time. After a month, the CD still didn’t know their names. In an agency with only 6 people in creative department, that’s awkward.

FIVE

As an intern, NEVER (without permission) drink the last beer/wine/spirit from the bar (if you’re lucky enough to get into an agency that has one). Psychologically, people tend to dislike whoever takes the last of something. Also, it can be perceived as a bit of a smart-ass thing to do. I found this out the hard way. I once drank the last of the whiskey at one agency and this news was quickly spread and was received with mild distaste. The senior copywriter even went as far as to make it a new rule and wrote an amendment to the agency induction document.

SIX

Unless work is beating down on you like a drummer in an African tribe, always take up the invitation to join people from the agency for lunch or after-work drinks. Get to know everyone outside of the office. Who knows? You may make some industry friends and (if you’re a swell person) some solid contacts for later in your career.

SEVEN

Get comfortable, but not too comfortable. It’s great if you’re one of those people who can easily adapt to a new environment, but careful not to rub others the wrong way with it. There’s a fine line between a cool intern who’s settling in nicely and cocky shit new kid on the block. One time, I was playing pool with the agency Managing Director and we were giving each other banter, as you do. He made a stab at me being fired if I won the game and I, in jest, made a remark along the lines of

“Please, you need me.” 

To which he replied after a pause:

“Sorry, who are you?”

This was also a joke, but with serious undertones. Got me thinking. Always pack yourself a slice of humble pie for lunch.

EIGHT

When invited to sit in on meetings, contribute. ‘Sit in’ generally means sit there, listen and learn about what’s going on and you’re not really expected to speak up. Show your enthusiasm by diving into the work and getting involved.

NINE

Know that you’ll be working long hours. Expect it. Be pleasantly surprised if they let you go home at 6pm. It helps to inform your family, friends, boyfriend/girlfriend.

TEN

A rule of thumb with most workplaces if you’re interning is to be there before your boss and leave only after he/she does. Special circumstances aside.

ELEVEN

If it’s 6pm and there’s nothing for you to do, stay. I mean, this job is mostly about long hours, you may as well start practising. Pull out that client list.

TWELVE

Know that agency life will be exciting and magical for a first weeks, maybe, if you’re awesome, it’ll last a month for so. But sooner or later, the cherries, rainbows and fairy bread will dissolve and it’ll be crunch time and there’ll be tension and a sea of shit to swim through. But there’s always land ahead.

THIRTEEN

Always check and confirm all meetings, no matter how minute, with your CD. For one, it’ll show that you’re on top of things and you’re proactive about your work. Also, a CD’s schedule is dramatically hectic and dynamic. Don’t be surprised if the number of times a meeting is postponed gets into the double digits.

FOURTEEN

You’re never too busy. Having said this, be sensible. Take on all work opportunities that come your way, but there’s a point where you go from juggling multiple briefs to being ridiculous. Plus, as an intern (and in some cases a junior), you’re hardly in any position to turn people away.

FIFTEEN

The receptionist is the gatekeeper of all things in the agency. She orders the new stationary, she keeps the taxi coupons in her top drawer and she picks the beer brand and biscuits to stock the fridge and fill the jar with. She loves gossip, talking about her (and your) day and dogs or cats or horses or possibly all three. And she loves doing favours for people who are nice to her. Most importantly, she is not, by any measurement, below you in any way. Give her the respect she deserves.

SIXTEEN

Some of the more stressed workers in the agency (usually the creatives) would argue that it is not in fact a good morning or something that even resembles a pleasant evening. But wish them one anyway.

SEVENTEEN

If you’re going to complain about trivial tasks you are asked to do as part of being an intern, don’t trust this to someone within the agency. It’s never a good look, no matter how much they empathise with you. Always be modest in this respect. And never, NEVER describe a task as “tedious” when someone has the gentle kindness to inquire how you’re doing.

EIGHTEEN

The pay will be shit. Deal with it. In my opinion, this is a test of your passion (and budgeting skills). If you can’t survive on the paycheck you’re getting, get a part-time weekend job.

NINETEEN

Sooner or later, you’ll hit the metaphorical fork in the road where you decide whether or not to get involved in the office politics. Try to avoid for as long as possible. If you do, remain as impartial as possible.

TWENTY

Office gossip: collect as much as you want, just don’t be the source of it. It’s fun, I’ll admit, but not worth the crappy consequences. You’ll be surprised at who’s loyal to who and who’s connected to who.

TWENTY-ONE

Attitude is everything. A smile when people enter your office is loved. A groan or a sigh when brochure/mailer work is given to you is not.

TWENTY-TWO

Careful about the bosses you try to impress. You’ll have two. The Creative Director and the Managing Director. In a large agency, you’re probably not going to have much to do with the MD but in a small agency, you’re likely to run into him/her now and again. These two people will have different work ethics. Example: one CD once told my Art Director and I that he didn’t care when we came into the office, as long as the work got done. This led to a couple of times where we sauntered into the office around 11am. The CD didn’t care, but the MD raises an eyebrow to this stuff. Bottom line: who actually does the hiring?

TWENTY-THREE

Always give them more than they asked for. If they want 20 concepts by Friday, go for 40. I once heard about a intern creative team who went into a major car brand creative meeting with one idea. Try not to impale yourself on that end of the spectrum. 

Failure or, The Most Important Advice After ‘Don’t Panic’.

I was recently asked to give some advice to an ad student.

Now, I’ve been asked for advice before, as I’m sure you all have, but in the capacity as a close friend, older brother, casual know-it-all or person mistaken for a 40 year-old who’s passing his prime and full of life wisdom.

Not usually as a professional ad person.

I was more than happy to do it. If it’s one thing that young students need is friendly advice from professionals.

However, in my reply, I skipped across a topic that really needs do be gone over in detail because it happens to be as important for a student to know as a midwife needs to know how to tie a good knot.

I’m talking of failure.

From when we’re kids, it is indoctrinated into us that failure is a bad thing. You’re given bad grades for not doing well, other kids tease you for not being good at football or handball (I think for girls, if you weren’t good at hand games, your life was pretty much over) and sometimes impatient parents would growl you for not doing something right.

This leaves us with one outstanding fact:

Failure sucks.

It sucks to the point where we are cautious about where we tread in most things we do just so we don’t screw up. We’ve become that annoying chess player who keeps his hand on his piece for half an hour before moving it back to it’s original spot.

We really should be doing the exact opposite.

What I did say to this student in regards to failure was

“Welcome rejection and criticism like old friends, because they’ll be visiting often.”

The smilie, I feel, is spot on because failure, like an old friend is someone you learn from and someone that helps you. Sure, you may not always be glad to see them at the time, but at the end of the day, you’re glad they were around.

Failure is how we grow as entrepreneurs, as creatives, as tradesmen, as parents, as friends, as people. You know, learning from our mistakes and that.

I guess that’s another great thing about learning from failure, is that you’re more motivated not to repeat a failure than you are to repeat a success.

It is failure that motivates us to improve ourselves and succeed next time.

Two non-advertising examples can be found in this very blog. Because of past failures, I’m now very careful about where I make out with girls and I will never look a mall kiosk salesperson in the eye again. Dumb examples, perhaps. But I’m not the one getting robbed from the back seat of a car or spending hundreds of dollars on beauty products I’ll never use anymore.

Most of us are scared to fail, even young people like students and juniors. If anything, it’s students and juniors that shouldn’t be afraid of it at all. When you’re young, most older, weathered people look down upon you and expect you to fail due to your lack of experience. Failing while you’re young is forgivable; it’s an invitation for guidance, waiting until you’re old to start failing gets you fired. So shit, you may as well! 

Take advantage of this and go for those weird ideas that you’re not sure about, feel that twang of unease and unsureness; take a leap onto that big, soft, cushiony bed, knowing that at any second, it may turn into a solid slab of cold concrete.

Many CDs have said they love working with students and juniors because they have an ignorance about what you can and can’t do, so their thinking is a little less stifled. Fear of failure and rejection will take that edge right away from you.

It really is a shame failure is shunned so early in life; the force of habit makes it hard to let that idea go. But a well-balanced diet of failure in one’s life is very healthy. In fact, it’s essential.

Just ask Michael Jordan. He puts it rather simply.

So when you ask yourself next time:

“But will the client/ boss/ partner/ lecturer/ friend/ investor/ consumer/ director like it, though? Hmmm perhaps not.”

Think again.

“Fuck that.”

Show them what you can do and if you get rejected, show them how you do it better, and better, and better each time.

Because at the end of the day it’s not the failing that those that matter look at. It’s the trying, your effort,

Try, fail and keep going and you’ll succeed eventually; it’s almost mathematical.

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This is dedicated to one-hit-wonder and all the ad students, art students, business students, all the rest students, entrepreneurs, dreamers, workers, people stuck in a rut, industry juniors and the people thinking about the best way to ask that special someone out for a coffee.