Start a new blog and keep it up

admin — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 21:13:29 +0000

Dontgetblog

YOU’RE EITHER BUYING OR SELLING

admin — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 21:12:56 +0000

Hey guys. I am selling a little book I made out of all of the posts of this website. It’s small. It’s plain. It’s nice.

If you want one, you can send me a little donation for shipping and good will.

Or just read this site for free until it disappears.

Thanks for reading. I’ll be writing more at a new site TBA.

DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT

admin — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 18:14:49 +0000

I don’t really know how to close this thing off. Today is graduation day. It is bittersweet. It is exciting to see where we will all go and what we will do. It’s sad to know it’s the last time we’ll be together in that big time machine of a building. I think about high school and that final day, a much tighter group is 12. A much stronger one. One with a lot more potential to change things, do things and do them big. From the directors to all 12 others, it was an exercise in working as a team, in staying focused, in listening, in speaking clearly. In creating and destroying and starting over. That was this year, starting over. It was a shot in the arm of all our lives. We will never be the same again.
The only thing I can encourage you to do is something different. There are a lot of people making a lot of safe choices out there. Different in this case doesn’t just mean unsafe, it means something you maybe wouldn’t consider. I would never have seen myself in advertising. I would never have seen myself moving to Portland. The greatest changes are things we never see coming. So allow yourself go walk in blind. And as the last thought said, take risks, and challenge yourself. And of course, never stop learning.

DON’T STOP TAKING RISKS

admin — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 00:06:10 +0000

The last week of 12 is upon us. We are scatterbrained, nervous, anxious, hopeful, sad, excited and scared. Also, I believe, very pleased. We all got so much out of this, it will be hard to let it go. I was telling Jess that it will be difficult afterwards, like some sort of postpartum depression.

The day-to-day craziness, the deadlines, the unexpected. The beautiful killed work. The late nights. The all nights. The catchphrases. The destruction. The creation. We made so many things. How can we ever expect to outdo this year? Will our entire lives be trying to live up to this excitement? Now I’m starting to sound like Beth.

But seriously, we had so many opportunities to create good work. And the best of it came from taking risks. This whole thing, after all, was a risk.

Jim gave us a lecture halfway through the year about how “wrong” he was so many times. This again, came because he took a risk. Usually risks cause some pain. I guess you could call spending your savings account and moving 1000 miles away some pain. But with that risk, I got to meet some of the most incredible people on the planet. People that made me better. I got to learn more about creativity, leadership, communication and planning than a real school could ever teach. I gained confidence in uncertainty. (As Dan would say.)

I am so grateful for this year. I learned many things, many more than I could ever list here. And I look forward to next year’s class doing it all even bigger!

THANKS JOE

admin — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 05:01:05 +0000

Today we said goodbye to Joe Staples. Joe was one of 12′s original directors who parted ways with us at the end of last year to work as a CD on Dodge. I can’t say enough about Joe. He is always dropping wisdom and actual examples to help us work out the brief or client frustration or personal issue we’re faced with. He inspired countless haphazard scrawlings in my notebook. “Be very something”, “It’s where you take it to”, “Logic, logic, logic, illogic” are all things he countlessly and classically referenced. I have a very analytical mind and sometimes it’s difficult for me to take the creative and make it make sense on paper. Joe made it easy with the questions “What is the thinking?” then “What is the idea?”, both of which helped clarify ideas in my head and helped me present them to the directors. If you couldn’t answer those two things, there was a problem. One he could probably give you an immediate example for. Gonna miss you 77Michael Jordan. Thanks again for everything.

LOVE WHAT YOU PRESENT

admin — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 03:18:09 +0000

In advertising, as in life, you shouldn’t put yourself in a situation that is going to cause you more grief. That said, we do it everyday anyway. We have clients. Campaigns are needed. Ideas are demanded. You put a lot of them on a paper. You pick your favorites. They are not all good. We show the not-good ones all the time, thinking this will be productive in the end. After all, it is a lot of ideas. That is good, right? That shows work, right? Wrong. One of the biggest things I have learned this year is containment and self-editing. Maybe I don’t talk less, but I definitely don’t reveal all that’s on my mind. I write 100 lines and show 2. Those 2 are pretty hilarious. Because the 3rd, if not hilarious. If incredibly trite, will be chosen. This is a guarantee. In a previous life, bad options for logos, the worst of the bunch, were the client’s favorite. Logos are similar ideas. We have to stare at them, and think about them over and over. So why subject yourself to this day-to-day torture? Love everything you are showing and you won’t have to. Even if that means saying, I have nothing. Nothing beats bad daily. So think-twice about those submissions, people. I have to look at this stuff too.

TELL YOUR STORY

admin — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 06:00:58 +0000

As 12 begins to end, we look back at the stack of work and wonder what is next. Our fearless leaders have been plotting and scheming, plugging away at their connections to help us in our job search. We can show what we worked on, client or freelance or fun, but one thing we have been assured will communicate heavily through the job market noise of college grads and floating vets is a personal narrative. There are a lot of people in advertising. But there is only one me. This is the attitude a book should convey. Yeah you did some spec ads in school. Sure you have people skills from that door-to-door knife sales job. But honestly, what is it about you personally that someone can get invested in? We talk a lot about brand stories. In fact P&G was here today discussing theirs positive results with “Thanks Mom” finally injecting some emotion into such a sterile juggernaut of a corporation. They found a story there. And you as a creative must do the same, for yourself. For me as a designer out of school, everyone had good logos, layouts, collateral, whatever. But what’s more interesting is their passion and personality, where they came from, what they overcame, who they are. Emotions run high at the end of the year. We have to maintain those heights within our catalog of work. And this ultimately forms our biggest brief yet: what does it mean to be me?

BE AN OWNER

admin — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 00:52:12 +0000

You do all this work for a client. And it can be killed instantly. You strive to do better. Maybe you’re at a small shop. You can’t fire this client, you have to keep going. This is really important to not only them but your business. How can you make sure that what you’re doing increases in value over time? How can you feel like even if your butt is on the line, that you will be rewarded eventually. How can you invest in this business together? The answer is become partners. Being an owner in what you’re doing makes the work better, and makes you feel like less-used if after months of effort, nothing happens. It promises a future to both parties involved and who doesn’t love commitment? I was reminded that this was even an option when OMFGCO came to visit 12. This new design/advertising/making firm features an ex-12er and fellow-Texan Jeremy Pelley and two ex-Wieden studio kids Matthew Foster and Fritz Mesenbrink. They make wonderful work. And they are owners by example. Something to consider at your next pitch.

MAKE QUICKLY AND ENJOY LATER

admin — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 02:51:09 +0000

This weekend we had a once in a lifetime opportunity to make a film with Michel Gondry. Hopefully, you know Gondry for his fine work in Eternal Sunshine, Science of Sleep, music videos and more. Being in his presence, at first, was understandably intimidating, but the man is the nicest, gentlest, most laid-back dude. And nothing but encouraging to spontaneous creation and seemingly-ridiculous suggestion. This was the basis of his Neighborhood Movie Club, an all-day workshop consisting of quick thinking, and even quicker execution.
It began with us creating a genre and titling for our film by vote, and then quickly throwing out ideas, and piecing them together for a makeshift plot. Add-in improv’d dialogue and homemade costumes and you get a seriously hilarious film, at least for us anyway. But for Gondry, that is the point. This should make you get together with friends and neighbors (sound familiar) and make something you will enjoy, something you can look back and laugh about. And that is precisely what we will all do with:MATH FIGHT: Night of the Throwing Stars, our “ninja-educational mystery”.

To top off the amazing day, we went to the Portland premiere of A THORN IN THE HEART, where Gondry did a live Q&A after, and then showed our film to the packed theater. I can’t say how amazing it was to hang with such talent, humility and encouragement. There are many things to be learned by not only his direction but his actions as well.

Photo: Beth Fujiura

EXERCISE WITH NO DISTRACTIONS

admin — Thu, 27 May 2010 17:57:12 +0000

Today I had coffee with my mentor Tyler. He suggests I start every morning writing 300 words about any topic. I have been writing around 200 on this thing, and definitely not everyday. In fact I only have a handful of posts for May. I am going to be going back and posting some things (cheating) but at least I will have captured them. So I look forward to tackling this exercise every morning. Flex the creative writing muscle. Join me and maybe send me what you write: zbard@dontgetbored.com