20-SOMETHING TRIPS & TICKS on inspiration, copywriting and art direction

1. 20-SOMETHINGTRIPS & TICKSon inspiration, copywriting and art direction

2. KNOW THE PRODUCT.Never be satisfied with what you find out from the brief. That is just lazy. You need to be curious, and SEARCH. The search for a cool insight is like a treasure hunt.If it's a consumable, go buy it. Look at the wrapper/package inside and out, feel it, smell it, study it, colours AND texture. Then study the product – break it, taste it, smell it, crumble it, lick it, smash it, see what happens if you sink it in water. You never know where a really cool and original insight might come from!If it's a service – experience it, ask for feedback from people who have experienced it, research it on the internet. Nowadays, it's quite easy to get your hands on information. So make the hands work.

3. BE SMART ABOUT GETTING INSPIRED.Inspiration is everywhere. On people on the street, in a building, in someone's t-shirt, in a random combination of objects, in a dog passing the street on the zebra, in the way the sun hits a piece of wood, etc... If you are stuck in front of a computer, no worries. Search for beautiful sites, especially the portal-archive types, that have words and imagery from fashion, design, culture, architecture, gadgets and all kinds of innovative stuff. Good examples:joshspear.comnotcot.orgdesignspongeonline.com

4. QUOTES = TRUTHQuotes are a lot like McCann's slogan : truths well told. That is why people have mottos in life, and relate to quotes – because they are TRUE, they are WITTY and they are INSPIRATIONAL.When you start working on a brief, go to a page of quotations (there's lots of archives online) and search for wise sayings on the subject you're researching (Ex: for the alcohol brief, “I have taken more out of alcohol than alcohol has taken out of me.” - Winston Churchill).

5. PLAY WITH RANDOMNESS.In order to stay away from the “first-level ideas”, try this fun method: random backtracking. Let's say your product is gasoline. Think of something totally random, for example a pink elephant, or a magical flower, or a cloud shaped like a heart, or a stripy t-shirt, or your favourite crayon sharpener. Now that you have your random object, try to link it back to your product. How do you get from a pink elephant to gasoline? That's were the magic is. Build the story!For possible results of this magical way of working, see Honda's Grrrr.

6. GO AS FAR AS YOU CAN.Never stop at the “first-level” idea. If you have to do something relating to time, you do something with clocks. What's special about that? Anyone can make that analogy. What if the clocks worked backwards? Or were kidnapped by aliens? Or what if you had a parallel universe where clocks where made of gingerbread and worked on sugar syrup? Challenge every idea you have! Take it as far as you can, even if you might come up with something that sounds insane and is too far from your product. As they say, “You can tame a wild horse, but you can't bring a dead one to life.”

7. This is what your copy should do:attract AttentionraiseInterestcreateDesireinspireAction

8. The flow of writing the best copy possible:write it in LONGHAND, a whole paragraph if you need it→ outline the KEY ELEMENTS → check for REDUNDANCY → SNIP and choose the shortest words and grammatical constructions possible for what you are saying → PROOFREAD a million times and check that every word is correct and the flow is good

9. DON'T FALL IN LOVEwith the copy you write. Even if you think you came up with the smartest wordplay in the world, or that your idea depends on you saying it exactly in that particular way, be open to changing it if you get negative feedback. Sometimes, YOU can be your worst enemy. And long copy, unless it's part of the graphic layout, will less likely reach the reader, just because it takes more work.

10. DICTIONARY.COMis your best friend. Check every word you have doubts about, a mistake can ruin a good idea and make it look sloppy and unprofessional. It's such a small task to perform, and it matters so much.

11. And his cousin,THESAURUS.COMAfter writing your copy, go to this site and look at all the synonyms of words you can play with, and pick the best one possible. It can have a nuance that will give it something special, or it can simply shorten your copy - see Latin words versus Anglo-Saxon ones (Ex: information vs. fact).

12. pUNcTuatIONis a joint work between the copy and the art director. Punctuation can make it or break it, it can make it sound strong, or cheesy. Look:FLOWER!Flower?Flower... flower.And also, take care where and how you use caps or not, every detail can make a difference and show, in a subtle way, how smart and attentive you are.

13. READ BOOKS.Books don't only offer you priceless information (on culture, history, geography, or any other subject the book might be about), but it also enriches your vocabulary and helps you improve your flow of speech and writing. And this, without any effort, this just happens the more you read.For art directors, books always make you visualise what you're reading, so this is also a great exercise for you.

14. TALK TO ME.As much as possible, use direct speech. A reader won't care as much if you say “People should do this...”, but they will more likely pay attention if you say “You should do this...”.

15. INVOLVE THE READER'S IMAGINATION.Make your ad like a good film or a good book: leave something for the reader's brain to chew on after seeing it. Explain what you're saying, but leave room for some imagination on their part. This way, you're bound to get them involved.

16. WATERMARKS SUCK.Don't use images with watermarks on them. It's just as bad as a misspelled word. Instead of looking at the idea, viewers will see that watermark and will think the work is unprofessional and cheap. Take the time to make an account on the site you're using for pictures and get rid of this for good.

17. GETTYIMAGES.COMCORBIS.COMDREAMSTIME.COMSXC.HU

18. KEYWORDS WILL GET YOU EVERYWHERE.When you look for pictures, smart keywords will get you exactly the picture you want: perspective, colours, characters, mood, anything can be sorted out from the way you search. And a perfect picture can make an execution. Check out gettyimages's archive of key words!white backgroundstudio shotno peopleclose-updark

19. SIZE MATTERS.Respect your work, and work like a pro! A professional will never work with a low-resolution image. Get used to working properly. When you use Google for finding pictures, make sure to select “extra-large pictures” or “large pictures”.

20. YOUR COMPUTER ISN'T AN ART DIRECTOR.Your computer is only a tool, used to execute your idea. Don't sit down at the computer and start doodling, hoping that something will come out. When you sit in front of the computer, you should already have the clear picture of what you're about to bring to life.

21. TAKE YOUR TIME.Looking for pictures, fonts, cropping, effects, positioning, size – take your time with all of this! Attention to every element of your layout will end up being a beautiful, clean result.

22. SHOW OFF.Don't be afraid to ask for opinions on your work, but only take criticism if it's valid and well-sustained. “I don't like it” isn't feedback, it's a subjective opinion that won't help you and should be ignored. Ask for objective arguments on why someone thinks your work isn't good. If they don't have something valid to say, ask for feedback from others.Test your copy! Read it, then read it out loud, then have someone else read it, something that looks good written down might sound odd when spoken out loud. Make every check you can. This is your work and it should be you pride, in the smallest detail.

23. INSPIRATIONAL WRITERS WE TALKED ABOUTPablo NerudaGabriel Garcia Marquez (“The Incredible and Sad Tale of Innocent Erendira and Her Heartless Grandmother”)Mario Vargas Llosa (“Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter”)Adolfo Bioy Casares (“Morel's Invention”)Charles Bukowski (“Post Office”)Jorge Luis Borges (“Six Problems for Don Isidro Parodi”)Julio CortazarKurt Vonnegut Jr. (“Slaughterhouse 5”)

24. INSPIRATIONAL MOVIES WE TALKED ABOUTLe Fabuleaux Destin D'Amelie PoulainDonnie DarkoPiAnything by Terry Gilliam (Brazil, Monthy Python stuff), Michel Gondry, Spike Jonze, Spike LeeVideos by Chris Cunningham