Archive for March, 2010

I spent part of yesterday advising on sales copy. My client felt their existing copy wasn’t punchy enough and was – in parts – ambiguous. We talked a bit about ambiguity and then got onto the inevitable conversation about ambiguity in newspaper headlines, like this: “Stolen Painting Found by Tree.” Clever tree. And these: “Miners Refuse to Work after Death” and “Police Found Safe Under Bed.” Lovely.

From ambiguous to apparent, it’s always possible to swing too far the other way. Two cherished but quite hopeless headlines from the States: “Official: Only Rain Will Cure Drought.” And this one from the Collinsville Herald-Journal in Illinois: “Economist Uses Theory to Explain Economy.” Great!

Finally, from apparent to accomplished, my all-time favourite headline from Private Eye – on the library strike in Essex: “Book Lack in Ongar.”

Talent.

St Patrick’s Day gives me the perfect excuse to share this enchanting film from Ireland with you. The Secret of Kells was nominated for an Academy Award last month and has won many other awards at festivals world-wide. You illustrators are going to love it. All hand-drawn and gorgeous to watch. Happy St Patrick’s Day.

Joe Ferry – head of design and service design at Virgin Atlantic – spoke eloquently in yesterday’s Media Guardian about innovation in service design. What he said was so sensible, it’s the kind of thinking we all secretly hope goes on in the heads of our clients:

“We often work with external agencies. They work with so many different companies that they can bring you totally new ideas from other industries.” He goes on to say that “…the objective in service design is to define exactly what it is you want the experience to be and then work back to establish how you can navigate the constraints you have – and actually deliver that.”

Read the rest of this entry »

I was asked yesterday what the theme of my blog is. I thought I’d share my answer: I don’t have a theme. I write about things that interest me in the hope that you might:

a. Find it interesting
b. Discover how I write
c. Discover something new
d. Laugh

That’s it really. I’ll write about copywriting only if I think I’ve got something useful to share with you. Otherwise, you’ll see all sorts of comment from design and photography to innovation and (cough) dancing.

I’ll be making the comment function a little easier soon, but in the mean time, keep emailing me.

I love this extract from Vanity Fair’s ‘The First of Elvis’ article – a profile of photographer Al Wertheimer who followed Elvis in 1956:

“He dared to move,” says Wertheimer. “Singers just did not move onstage in those days. You stood there like Frank Sinatra or Perry Como, and you sang from the waist up. Elvis broke all the rules. He moved his hips. He charged the microphone. He was introducing something that was just not acceptable to grown-ups and the more conservative groups. I have the William Morris guys getting him into a corner, and they’re giving him advice: ‘Now, Elvis, look, you get up there, you sing your song, but don’t move too much.’ Elvis dutifully listened. He wouldn’t argue with them. But once he got onstage he did what he wanted. And it created such a sensation. Not because you could hear him sing—there was too much screaming going on. The kids loved it. And the kids were the ones who bought the 45s.”

Nothing quite like ignoring the William Morris guys.

Read the full article here.

I’m fast becoming addicted to photoblogs. Here’s one of my favourites at colourblindeyes from Japan-based Spaniard Alex Vargas. Use the translate button all non-Spanish speakers.

I’ve just finished an enjoyable time working on copy for the new Wireworks site. Very cool stuff for kitchens and bathrooms and inspiring design from Lincoln Rivers. Loved it. Keep an eye out for the new site and follow the link coming soon in Finished Words.

I went dancing last night. When I say dancing, I really mean just moving around to music. When I say moving around, I really mean shuffling. When I say shuffling, I really mean transferring weight from left foot to right foot in an ill-advised attempt to ‘get-down.’ Quite what I thought was going to happen once I’d ‘got-down,’ I don’t know. Discover the inability to ‘get-back-up’ no doubt.

I’m at the age – obviously – when the words ‘get-down’ can still refer to dancing rather than canine instruction. Which also explains my chosen style of strutting – see above.  But once the novelty of musical movement had worn off and the pitiful glances tipped into hostile glares, my prancing partner and I amused ourselves by producing a mental Venn diagram of dancing style and age.  What we realised is this:

If you’re under 20 you can pretty much do anything you like on the dance floor and get away with it.

If you’re between 20 and 30 and female, you’ll spend most of your floor-time with your arms above your head.

If you’re between 30 and 40 and male, you’ll dance like you did at your school discos. Thirty years ago.

If you’re over 40 and dancing like Beyoncé, you should go home.

If you’re over 40 and dancing like Ashley Banjo from Diversity, you should be ashamed of yourself.

If you’re over 40 and dancing like Fred Astaire, congratulations.

Who’s in the house. Etc.