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Years ago, I wrote a piece for Creativepool suggesting the confused.com logo was a prime example of branding designed by a client. Looking for all the world like the worst clip-art available from the briefest Google image search, it featured a stick...
Posted by: Magnus Shaw
In 1999 a website called Napster appeared on the internet. With little in the way of its own content, and certainly no means nor intention of producing or releasing music, it set a ball rolling that in 2013 tumbled most of HMV’s high street...
Posted by: Magnus Shaw
I'm in Egypt, as I write this. I've returned to Dahab on the Sinai Peninsula to see how two revolutions have changed things since I was last here. As it turns out, the Egyptians are still as warm, hospitable and helpful as ever. The Red Sea remains...
Posted by: Magnus Shaw
'The Creative Industries' - it's a phrase we hear all the time, isn't it? But what exactly does it mean? Well, if you're a government statistician, it refers to : public relations and communication activities; advertising agencies ; and media...
Posted by: Magnus Shaw
The post-Christmas advertising landscape is a rum old scene. The big retailers have withdrawn - some to lick their wounds, others to bathe in glory and ass's milk. This leaves the field pretty clear for other, less seasonal outfits, to pitch their...
Posted by: Magnus Shaw
As the Christmas schedule proved, telly in 2013 was a very hit and miss affair. On the one hand, we had the hilarious glory of 'Gogglebox'; on the other, the clunky scripts of Matt Smith's last days in 'Doctor Who'. Still, we're a week into a new...
Posted by: Magnus Shaw
If there's one thing HM Coalition Government don't like, it's spending money on public services. Yes, they're really very adamant that nothing more than the absolute minimum needed to keep us slaving away and stumping up our taxes, is available....
Posted by: Magnus Shaw
For all its joys and thrills, fun and frolics, 2013 still managed to deposit a substantial quantity of manure into our desperate existence. So, as 2014 crashes unbidden into our lives, let us exorcise the demons which threatened to engulf us this...
Posted by: Magnus Shaw
For all its trials, hardships, wars and woes, 2013 still managed to inject some wonderful stuff into our busy, pressured lives. So, with 2014 snapping at our heels, this would be an appropriate moment to celebrate the things which enhanced the human...
Posted by: Magnus Shaw
Christmas is rather a competitive activity, isn't it? From those rather ghastly households attempting to out-decorate their neighbours by festooning their brickwork with flashing reindeer, to the restaurants fighting to see who can charge the most...
Posted by: Magnus Shaw
Understandably there's been quite some fuss about the John Lewis 'Hare and Bear' Yuletide spot. Not only is it high profile and eye-catching, but the cartoon alone cost somewhere in the region of £7m. With that sort of investment, you 'd hope it...
Posted by: Magnus Shaw
In the early days of television, a journalist asked the British Prime Minister whether he had anything he wanted to say to the nation. Eden paused for a moment, then said - "No." This exchange has passed into history as an example of a considerably...
Posted by: Magnus Shaw
So, you think you know your social media? What's the biggest social network in the world, then? Right, Facebook. Even my Auntie Janet knows it's Facebook - and I don't have an Auntie Janet. Okay, which social network is the second biggest? Twitter,...
Posted by: Magnus Shaw
Not that I have anything against festive cheer, but for some reason, this sometimes means that good taste seems to vanish completely, and this could not be more true when it comes to Christmas songs. With videos featuring a load of scouse wigs and...
Posted by: Creativepool
I've written before on the clumsiness and general lack of bite of the ASA (Advertising Standards Authority) and this week sees them back in action, in hot pursuit of Spotify. It seems the music streaming site recently threw out an email to selected...
Posted by: Magnus Shaw
Until recently, I can't say I was overly familiar with the nu-metal band Lostprophets. Now I don't think I'll ever forget them. The crimes to which their former singer has admitted are so monstrous, they leave even the most jaded person reeling and...
Posted by: Magnus Shaw
Had it not been for an internship, I wouldn't be a copywriter. Once I'd completed my training, my tutor arranged for a series of placements at various agencies. It was called 'work experience' then, and each placement lasted a few days. It was a...
Posted by: Magnus Shaw
Like most people in the creative industry, I know a fair few people who operate websites. Some of those sites are superbly designed and executed, others are a bit dull, and a minority are a right royal mess. It's also notable how few make real...
Posted by: Magnus Shaw
Many Creativepool readers are already well into their career, but it's clear a fair few are just starting out, possibly still seeking their first gig. If that's you, please stay with me. First, let me say that I recognise your wretched luck. You're...
Posted by: Magnus Shaw
I'm no statistician, but I can be fairly sure fewer people are watching movies at the cinema with every passing month. Netflix, Sky Movies, Film 4, downloads and DVDs are all conspiring to keep film buffs glued to the sofa and away from the big...
Posted by: Magnus Shaw
As a kid, I was very fond of the word 'wacky' - largely because it featured in the title of my favourite TV shows 'Wacky Races' (if you're too young to remember it - find it on the web, you'll be glad you did). As an adult, I'm less keen. It has some...
Posted by: Magnus Shaw
Say what you like about Tesco, but they know how to create a fuss. A couple of days ago, the digital, broadcast and print media fell on a story about the retail giant and its latest advertising wheeze. As a plethora of reports rushed to tell us,...
Posted by: Magnus Shaw
In the laptop market, competition is fierce. So many brands, designs and features - manufacturers are constantly looking for innovative ways to make their kit more attractive. Interestingly, none of them has ever released a machine emitting the...
Posted by: Magnus Shaw
I'm sorry for implanting a most unwelcome picture in your head, but I was taking a bath the other evening. The radio was on, I was leafing idly through a magazine and that's when I saw it - the least effective print ad of all time. In fact, it was so...
Posted by: Magnus Shaw
I tried Corsodyl once. My mum had a bottle in her bathroom cabinet and, as it said it was a mouthwash, I took a liberal swig. It was very much like rinsing with floor polish and Polo mints. But it is a 'medicine' and the worse a medicine tastes, the...
Posted by: Magnus Shaw
You have just under two weeks to get down to the Serpentine Gallery in London’s Kensington Gardens to see this year’s Pavilion, designed by multi award-winning Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto. Over the years, the Serpentine Gallery has...
Posted by: Ashley Morrison
Last week, I wrote about the key differences between copywriting and 'writing'. And while I attempted to make the challenges inherent in copywriting clear, I wouldn't say the profession is in crisis. Unlike the art of writing comedy. Quite when the...
Posted by: Magnus Shaw
The World Wide Web, it's a wonderful thing to be sure. You've got your social media for endless moaning and pictures of your holidays. You've got your YouTube for Little Mix videos and footage of other people's pets. And you've got your online...
Posted by: Magnus Shaw
Over the summer, I was working for a client in southeast London. I’ll be honest: the travel was a pain in the butt. We were in that ridiculously hot stretch of the summer where it was hotter in London than in most of Europe. The tube was...
Posted by: Ashley Morrison
There can be few things more cringey than a big corporation “trying to be yer mate”. (I'm taking the whole dads-dancing-at-weddings thing as read, obviously.) And yet, time and time again, they try to make out that they value me, you and...
Posted by: Ashley Morrison
When the Kevin Bacon EE 4G mobile network commercials first came out at the cinema, the auditoriums (or at least the ones I sat in) were awash with laughter. Tightly scripted, informative and amusing to boot, they were a breath of fresh air and just...
Posted by: Ashley Morrison
Do I moan a bit in my Creativepool columns? Don't answer that. As a fully paid-up, grumpy old copywriter, I know I probably do. But you can relax, because today I'm discussing something I really, really like. And handily, it's an...
Posted by: Magnus Shaw
If you’re a freelancer who’s got a steady stream of work coming your way - either from the same loyal clients who know you and trust you, or from referrals from said loyal clients, or you’re very good at selling yourself and you...
Posted by: Ashley Morrison
One Minute Briefs is a concept borne out of the minds of Nick Entwistle and James Clancy who run The Bank Of Creativity. It's designed to change the way people think about advertising, change the way in which creatives work and also provoke a lot of...
Posted by: Jessica Hazel
You've got a little less than a week to get yourself down to the Royal Academy to marvel at the wonders of the Summer Exhibition. Or do I mean wonder at the marvels? Or neither? Do I mean marvel at the lack of talent - or the extraordinary choices of...
Posted by: Ashley Morrison
by Ashley Morrison It's a wet Sunday afternoon (no, not in summer 2013, obviously; that would be a sweltering Sunday afternoon), and there isn't much to keep the family occupied. Well, apart from the 200-odd TV channels now available. Or a DVD. Or...
Posted by: Ashley Morrison