Writers who design; designers who write

In the advertising world, there are many writers who are also wannabe designers and designers who are wannabe writers. In fact, I know quite a few designers who can (and do) write some amazing copy. I also know copywriters with a great eye for design who can whip up a mean writer's rough. I like to think of myself as being in - or at least edging into - the last category.

My design leanings case in point ...

Above: Cropped shot of my hat design on the Henri Bendel website.
The winning design, to be announced next month, will be manufactured and sold at Bendel stores.

From pencil and watercolor paint to an electronic newsletter wireframe I just did for a client ...

... and hundreds and hundreds of writer's roughs in between, I've found that it's good to think creatively in BOTH words and pictures. If I'm stumped on coming up with a headline or a copy approach for a new assignment, I start researching visual images or formats. Taking out my pencil and pad, I start drawing ... what if it looked like this? What would it say? How should I say that? And viola, a concept evolves. Sometimes it's even stronger than if I had started thinking in just words alone.

Next time you get blocked creatively on a project, try thinking in the opposite of what you normally do. If you're a writer, try to draw the solution; if you're a designer, try to write down some options. Think outside of YOUR box. And watch what happens!

Steal Smart

When you earn your living by your creativity and have to "be creative" on demand, you have to learn some tricks to keep sharp so you can keep producing. One trick is to "steal smart." Don't be put off by the word "steal." It should really be "borrow" - "borrow smartly" to be exact.

Here's what I mean and a great example.

First there was the Wheat Thins "snack attack" commercial and subsequent print ads featuring a woman being "attacked" by a oncoming swarm of flying crackers.

"This can only end one way," says the woman's voiceover in the commercial as she catches a flying cracker mid-air between her teeth. "Cruuuuunch!" Yum. (You may have seen a more recent version featuring a macho guy in the same scenario.)

Anyway, what a great technique - a flying swarm of crackers against a white background and the main character triumphant in the foreground! Great visual. Eye-catching, point making.

OK - witness now the new "Stop Breast Cancer" online web ads ...

In the animated version of this, the swarming black yukky stuff comes towards the woman who then thwarts it in its tracks with her outstretched bare hand. Swarming something. Woman in defiant stance. White background. Similar technique to the Wheat Thins campaign, don't you think?

Lesson learned - borrow smartly. That's not stealing.