WHAT I LIKED before I knew what I was SUPPOSED TO LIKE – Vikki Ross.

Dave asked me to contribute to another one of his brilliant ideas – a series of posts by people in advertising talking about what ads they liked before they learnt what they were supposed to like. I never learnt what I was supposed to like. I didn’t study advertising at uni – I didn’t even go to uni. And I didn’t go to ad school – I didn’t know it was a thing until I started mentoring at School ofRead more

PODCAST: Graham Fink. (Part 1.)

Context. It’s the word that comes to mind every time I think about writing one of these intros. What seems familiar today was once considered very left-field, risky or just plain crazy. Each pushes the peanut along for the next generation. Take the 1988 D&AD Annual, it’s hard to believe now, but all but one ad in the press and poster section had black headlines, the one that didn’t was Graham Fink’s Metropolitan Police campaign. I was a generation behindRead more

IN-CAMERA 6: Barney Edwards.

”Question why anyone would be interested in this picture? What should be excluded or included to make it a better picture?“ – Barney Edwards. Where did you grow up? In my head, on the road, to a soundtrack. 04:00 Pre- Dawn. Sinai Desert. Cold. Dark. The door of our tin roofed Nissan hut thrown open wide. Shoal, a massive, Romanian-Israeli Army Dive Master towered over us, in Buddy Holly specs, accompanied by his growling Alsatian bitch. Shouting in broken English and Israeli.Read more

INTERVIEW: Jeremy Sinclair.

Occasionally, very occasionally, a client will ask me how they should judge their advertising. It’s easy to tell a terrible ad from a great one. But often the gap between the ads you are judging is smaller. The range is more likely to be – average to quite good. Or quite good against great. I’ve heard some creative people advise that ‘If it’s right, you’ll feel it in your gut’. Sometimes true, but not helpful. I tend to give themRead more