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Job Description: Art Editor.

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How to... Find a job in design

Finding a job in design is not particularly easy as it's one of the most competitive industries out there. Most design companies (when they advertise jobs) seem to always ask for at least 3 years experience, so the chicken and egg scenario starts....

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How to... Become a Freelance Designer

by Creativepool. Most design agencies at some time or another will need to hire freelancers or contract out certain pieces of work. Sometimes [fairly often in fact] agencies will hire in freelancers to free-up the in-house design team so they can...

Features

Taxing. What we can learn from the Starbucks fiasco.

by Magnus Shaw. There's only one thing that surprises me about the Starbucks saga, and it isn't their reluctance to pay tax. As large corporations are only really answerable to shareholders, that is to be expected. No, it's the fact they thought...

Features

Top 20 most pointless apps

by Jessica Hazel. The ways in which certain human beings decide to waste their lives away never ceases to amaze and appall me. The age of smart phones and no-so-smart apps for their not-so-smart users has opened up a doorway into a universe of...

Features

5 Minutes with... Marc Bessant, Real World Records

by John Fountain. Marc is the in-house designer and creative director at Real World Records, the label founded by WOMAD and Peter Gabriel. Over the past 12 years he has been responsible for over a hundred CDs, vinyl sleeves, T-shirts, flyers,...

Features

From Up North

As a designer I spent heaps of time on the Internet, searching for inspiration for whichever project I was involved in. I created a folder structure on my harddrive where I stored the most inspiring pieces in various categories. Day by day the image...

Features

How to... Write a great radio ad

by John Fountain. Tony Hertz is an award winning radio producer. Over the past 40 years there have only been two D&AD Black Pencils for radio and Tony has won both of them. Today he runs Hertz Radio, but many years ago he ran a company called The...

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Opinions - More than words. What do copywriters know about design?

by Magnus Shaw "Like all forms of design, visual design is about problem solving, not about personal preference or unsupported opinion." Bob Baxley It's funny. Art directors and copywriters work so closely together, for so much of the time, and...

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Opinions - Must haves? Ten products they told us we needed (but we didn't). Part 2

by Magnus Shaw Creativepoolers, welcome back to our list of ten of products advertising told us we couldn't live without (when, in fact, we absolutely could). Please feel free to use the comment box to let us know if there's anything we've omitted....

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Opinions - Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery or is it?

by Jessica Hazel When I am not blogging for Creative Pool I am running my vintage clothing market at Brick Lane and Spitalfields. All of the traders there follow the trends and stock their stalls accordingly, working hard to hunt down vintage...

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Opinions - The voice over artist

by John Fountain Successful voice-over talents often earn thousands in session fees and residuals, and more frequently than not, in less time than a half hour of work. Becoming a successful voice-over talent for television and radio commercials,...

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Opinions - Brand GB. As seen from USA

by John Fountain I was in the US during the entirety of the Olympic Games. As I wasn't able to secure any tickets to any of the events I couldn't see any particular reason for sticking around. So me and my mob headed in the opposite direction to...

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Opinions - Mange tout, Rodney, mange tout

by Ashley Morrison Hello from the Cote d'Azur, playground of the rich and famous and home to the wealthiest of the wealthy. Monaco itself boasts the world's highest GDP per capita (for that, read everyone earns shed loads) and, as a by-product,...

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Opinions - Come on, mums, pull your finger out!

by Ashley Morrison Look, love, just get back in the kitchen where you belong. What on earth are you doing, straying away from the cooker? Leash too long? Oh, mind you, with the leash off, you might as well do the vacuuming when you've finished...

Inspiration

#Trends. Why Twitter shall remain nameless

by John Fountain On Tuesday this week, as Her Majesty The Queen waved her hankie at the soggy hoards along The Mall, Twitter announced a new logo. Yes, as Her Majesty finally kicked off her overly softened shoes and dunked her chocolate bourbon...

Inspiration

CP Loves... Plane brilliant. How to get passengers to watch the safety film.

by Magnus Shaw I'm easily annoyed. So it really riles me when my fellow airline passengers don't pay attention to the safety film. Indeed, I often notice travelers reaching for a magazine as soon as it starts. Presumably this is some childish...

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Opinions - All in the name

by Ashley Morrison In the past, we bloggers at Creativepool have given our opinions, advice and guidance, whether you asked for it or not! Hey, that's blogging for you. The internet is a free-for-all where anyone can purport to be an "expert", but...

Features

The Devil's deal. Are agencies really paying to pitch?

I once worked with an Art Director who had just arrived in the UK from a stint at Leo Burnett in Venezuela. As well as alarming tales of armed guards outside his office, he told me this: when pitching, it was usual practice for the agencies involved...

Inspiration

Job Idol (Britain's Got The CV Talent X Factor?)

I'm a bit of a sad case. I like American Idol. There, I've said it. I prefer it to the UK version of The X Factor, largely because it hasn't got that buffoon Louis Walsh on it but also because I feel that the singing talent in America is better than...

Inspiration

Is brainstorming a waste of time?

We've all been there. The flip charts at the front of the room. The post-it-notes around the walls. The plate that once detained a packet of custard creams. The incessant doodling. The standing up and the sitting down. The glazed eyes staring into...

Inspiration

Facebook Vs. CVs - is it ok for employers to stalk applicants?

As Facebook timeline is being pushed upon us more and more forcefully from the powers that be, you might want to stop and ponder the implications of opting to have your entire Facebook past accessible to all. Click on 2008 and photos of a stag night...

Inspiration

Lessons from a freelancer

I was a human rights worker, specialising in gender and conflict in West Africa, when my first book was published. The freelance life appealed to my sense of adventure, so I tendered in my resignation. Here, in no particular order, are the lessons...

Inspiration

Who was your mentor?

Art director, designer, copywriter, illustrator, artworker, creative director - I have a question for you. When you first started in the business, were you lucky enough to sit at the feet of an expert? Did someone give you a helping hand and teach...

Features

Why has British TV advertising lost its sense of humour?

Last year, Nick Gill, executive creative director at BBH, was writing about the 2011 Arrows Awards. He made some interesting points about TV and how we seem to be watching more of it these days, rather than less. He said that we Brits are now...

Features

The Artist. Why the producer deserves the loudest applause.

In case you've haven't noticed, there's a new silent film called The Artist and it's getting some rave reviews. Not only is it silent, it's also shot entirely in black and white. It doesn't have any big name actors in it and the storyline is about a...

Features

@Rupertmurdoch - Twitter's newest recruit.

Twitter is a platform frequented by young liberals and techy celebrities, or their PR companies, but New Years Eve welcomed a very interesting new recruit, no less then Britains most-hated OAP Rupert Murdoch. Murdoch has previously referred to the...

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What does 2012 have in store for us?

In truth no one knows. Conversations we’ve had with many of our clients show that 2012 holds a certain unpredictability, which is making many a little nervous. There seem to be a lot of pitches around and enough work for everyone but with the...

Inspiration

What a [lovely] load of rubbish

Question: if a piece of art can literally be mistaken for rubbish, does that make it rubbish? No, not necessarily '“ but it does raise an interesting and valid question about whether art can ever be called 'bad' (or 'good') and whether it...

Inspiration

The art of the comic book

Comics have been a large part of popular culture for generations. Today, this genre continuously churns out amazing artwork from some extremely talented artists. Of course, comic books are close to many designers' hearts because often they are their...

Inspiration

The top ten evolutions of the Rubik's Cube

The humble Rubik's Cube has come a long way since it's inception in 1974. The original version of the cube still remains cool in its simplicity but in the last 37 years we have seen its reincarnation and influence in everything from awesome...

Inspiration

3D and animation

From our October Newsletter comes a grest selection of Creativepool freelancers. Steve Jenkinson 3d animations, illustration, and video "I produce 3d animations, illustration, and video for a wide variety of clients. I am Mac based and use...

Leaders

Postmodernism at the V&A

Hello dear blog readers. Apologies for posting this so late in the day but I have been out at the V&A Museum all afternoon trying to get my head around just what exactly Postmodernism is. Stupid though this may sound I managed to complete my art...