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by Magnus Shaw When I was a kid, homosexuality bemused and troubled us. I went to a public school and, despite the stereotypes, any boy even hinting at same sex attraction would be inviting ridicule or worse. That's how stupid we were. Now in...
Posted by: Creativepool
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...
Posted by: Creativepool
When Series 2 of the hit TV series True Blood was ready to be launched across the US, the executive producer of the show asked his agency, 'If Vampires are among us how would they be marketed to?' The agency, Digital Kitchen, decided to stick their...
Posted by: Creativepool
Here's a true story. Back in the late 70's, right smack in the middle of punk rock, I studied graphic design at Hounslow. Unlike some of the more respectable educational establishments, Hounslow was a bit rough and 'edgy'. The area around the college...
Posted by: Creativepool
Marmite, that Great British institution which we either love or hate (or love to hate, in some cases) has been given a temporary makeover by makers Unilever. And if I ever meet the person who rebranded it Ma'amite in honour of the Queen's Diamond...
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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...
Posted by: Creativepool
I had a go at being a creative director once. It didn't quite work out. All sorts of reasons why but the main one being that I was just 30 years old. Looking back that's probably too young to be in the hot seat. Although I knew how to come up with...
Posted by: Creativepool
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...
Posted by: Creativepool
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...
Posted by: Creativepool
Up until a month ago I'd never attended a networking group. In truth I didn't know much about them. I assumed that they were for geeks and braggers, for the totally incompetent and the mildly desperate, for people either short of friends or folk who...
Posted by: Creativepool
Being the product-loving and recession-conscious consumers that we are, we all want to get as much for our cash as we can. And in some ways, that even applies to giving to charity. People will admirably train themselves to death to run the London...
Posted by: Creativepool
Creativity has got to be one of the most important skills in the world today. Take a look at any recruitment ad in the corporate world and you’ll see how much the skill is in demand. Right now all kinds of companies are looking for...
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Opening titles to a movie should tell us more than simply the name of the flick. At best they should draw us in, set the scene, tantalize, wake us up, introduce us to a weird new world, make us laugh or failing all that - just simply entertain. What...
Posted by: Creativepool
Easter's a bit confusing, isn't it? I've managed to get my head around the crucifixion being on 'Good' Friday and Easter weekend falling on different dates every year - but now I find myself befuddled by the whole egg thing. Try as I might, I simply...
Posted by: Creativepool
From the moment the brief lands on the table and the creative team cast their eyes over the words 'TV Script' the salivating begins. Will this be the one? The one with the inexhaustible budget. The one that shouts 'GO BIG'. The one that doesn't...
Posted by: Creativepool
I've always been interested in creative people. Why they do what they do. Where their ideas come from. What makes them tick. Today, for no other reason than I want to, I thought I'd write something about a true legend and a prince among men: Roald...
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Tony Cullingham is principal of the famous Watford Creative Advertising course at West Herts College. The course at Watford is legendary and considered to be one of the very best in the UK. If you're trying to break into the business it is said that...
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Last year I wrote a piece and published it from Egypt while the population was engaged in an, ultimately successful, push to overthrow its president. Now I am back and writing this from Dahab, a town on the eastern coast of the Sinai peninsula where...
Posted by: Creativepool
Two bits of excellent news. First, there's a conference for copywriters and wordsmiths happening in Bournemouth on 18th May this year. And second, readers of the Creativepool blog can enjoy a special discount. The event has been pulled together by...
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Violent. Rude. Sexist. Dangerous. And harmful to animals. Here's some top TV ads that have fallen foul of the authorities. Suicide Bomber. Volkswagen Here's an idea. How about we show a suicide bomber in an ad designed to show the VW Polo as a...
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Years back it was said that creative people that chose to go freelance were either too old to be considered for full-time employment or simply not good enough to cut it in a top agency. In those days, I’m going back to the 80’s here, the...
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From YouTube, some of the finest female minds in the creative business provide us with a bit of insight into their working lives. Rosie Arnold It's all about enthusiasm and charm rather than being a tough...
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From YouTube, leading advertising creatives explain what they do, why they do it and what excites them. Bill Bernbach on Creative Qualities. 'The basis for persuasion is to understand what motivates a man' Brilliant stuff from the greatest...
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You’ve been working on a nightmare brief for the last four days. It’s been a dog and so far you’ve come up with zero. You’re staring out of your office window and slowly but surely the panic begins to set in. It’s...
Posted by: Creativepool My God, this is going to be a disaster, said Roy Thomson, the owner of The Sunday Times back in 1962. He was talking about the launch of the very first colour magazine to be included with a newspaper a maverick step forward and gamble when newspapers...
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I felt sure if we waited long enough, someone would grasp the nettle and prove that the art of copywriting isn’t dead, just having a lie down. The fact that this little miracle has been achieved by one of the nation’s best known (and best...
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At some stage in your creative career you will reach a point when you pass beyond the world of corporate employment. For some people, the desire to 'do your own thing' happens early on, while others need longer before they feel they can cut it in...
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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...
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Unless you're getting on a bit, you probably haven't given much thought to what sort of coffin you'd like to be buried in when the time comes. There's a funeral director in Golders Green that displays one in his window with a picture of a Spitfire...
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The year is 1988. Dan Weiden, creative director of ad agency Wieden and Kennedy is attending a meeting at his client Nike’s offices. He and a group of employees are seated around a table and the employees are explaining the Nike approach to...
Posted by: Creativepool As installations go, A Room for London is about as unique an example as you'll ever find. A one-bedroom apartment in the shape of a boat, it's perched high on the roof of the Queen Elizabeth Hall on London's South Bank. Chosen from over 500 entries...
Posted by: Creativepool
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...
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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...
Posted by: Creativepool
You can't get much more rock 'n' roll than the Rolling Stones...and you can't be more rock 'n' roll than Ronnie Wood, with his former lifestyle of drink, drugs, sex and out-and-out hedonism. But I recently stumbled across a gallery just off London's...
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It's a well known fact that some agencies spend huge chunks of their hard earned money turning lifeless commercial spaces into bastions of creativity. These interiors provide insight as to the breadth and depth of their thinking and creative...
Posted by: Creativepool
Recent months have seen a swathe of articles predicting the end of the traditional, journalistic newspaper. Indeed, I have commented on the topic on Creativepool. But, as far as I'm aware, there has been no suggestion that the art of copywriting may...
Posted by: Creativepool