WHEN DISCUSSING DIFFERENT ASPECTS OF ADVERTISING

These questions were originally posted on Adholes by Michael Iva. And they're good ones. It is a good exercise. As Micheal generally likes to make everyone think. I've added some additional thoughts to these answers as, I have more space to bable.

When discussing different aspects of the advertising business. . .

WHAT ARE YOUR PASSIONS THAT THE ADVERTSING BUSINESS SERVES?
To create something from nothing with tangible results.

What do you love about the business?
Continually learning. It is a humbling business solely because of the social and anthropological nature of communication. However the communication is expressed, it is inevitably advanced upon but always an abstraction initially. The ether is a fun place to hang-out.

What is fun, or interesting, or enjoyable, or exciting?
Seeing the idea in action. Working with other creative people, no matter what department they are in. And the tools being developed for executing our ideas just keep growing.

What is it about the advertising business that makes you want to get into the business? Eventually stumbling upon something that no one else is doing. Even if that means creating it myself.

If you are already in the business, what initially drew you to the business?
Realizing that; with an objective, art subsequently becomes communication. I enjoy this dirty little secret.

Is the business what you thought it would be?
Exactly as I thought it would be.

What keeps you in the business?
Smiling at-the-least, 2 hours a day and watching other creatives make a connection from inception to reality.

What do you hope to gain from the business?
A cultural shift that would be considered positive reinforcement. It happens everyday.

Does the advertising business serve your desires or needs?
Yes. A perpetually open mind that I hope doesn't fall out one day.

Does the advertising business put fuel on your passion’s flames, or water?
Both, as it should be. If I could do it alone, I would eventually end up alone. What good is success without someone to share it with? Collaboration is difficult, especially in a industry that makes things up–as it's respective service of offering.

WHAT ARE YOUR GREATEST FEARS ABOUT THE ADVERTISING BUSINESS?
That I'm entirely responsible for the words, images and experiences I submit. And so are you.

What have you come to truly understand about the advertising business that scares you?
That I'm entirely responsible for the words, images and experiences I submit. And so are you.

What is it that has you somewhat concerned or really worried?
The creative hybrid theory. It's bs and should be tossed out like the Taylorist that thought it up during their Zen meditation. The principles behind mastering something can and should be applied to every part of the curve thereafter. But that means learning one thing, first. Succession is good, but there are fundamentals to every aspect. As several agencies claim some positioning such as; *hot shop *anti shop and *pork chop, they tend to alienate themselves. Developing a culture of thought is critical in most organism–izations, but it inevitably equates to a self-induced form or creative inbreeding. People grow, they move on or you help them move on. Don't try to disguise the assembly line. It irritates me.

People like to know what they do and how they are valued. It merits their personal propensity to grow and learn. There is also a belief that creative should be executed faster based on the speed of technology–this is completely false. As anyone that has spent enough time online has already noticed the rate at which trends are absorbed and homogenized. I believe this thinking contributes to it. Creativity and design should be geared towards organizing and preserving the unique qualities of each idea, product or service–identifying and communicating attributes not otherwise associated with another brand. But because creatives and clients alike think ideas are as easily accessible as a stock-photo from an image site, we continue to see mediocre work. And the noise-breaker is coming from the consumer because, if its not obvious by now, they didn't read the same brief we read.

What aspects of the business make you frustrated, confused, upset, or angry?
When the brilliance of a younger-faster and more intuitive creative is attributed to ADD. We should be careful with that term. It's equally noticeable that the accuser is equally identified as lethargic. In a society that not only outpaces every other generation with consumption, education and technology, don't assume dumb-monkey syndrome. It is only natural that a generation learns to move as fast as the information being introduced to them. Retention and engagement have changed irrevocably.

How is the business changing, or how has it already changed?
The color spectrum of paints has been added to, but the canvas remains the same.

What do you think might happen that could make things worse?
Gliding on the positive aspects of a long-tail, nothing will get worse. Globalization will make things complicated, not worse. If it does get worse, bet your ass someone pwns someone else in public and without mercy. The opportunities and choices available, to all of us, will need to leverage out on an mutually agreed merit system. This is already happening in many ways. My thought is, the economy will eventually do this. As of now, we should expect a lot of noise, but it will be a different sound this time around.

Are there any remedies, fixes, or solutions for your concerns? What are they?
We might very well become idiot savants with no tangible value centers regarding creativity. But then that might be okay and would then be totally unnoticed.

THE LINK BETWEEN CREATIVITY AND SPIRITUALITY?

This question was originally asked by Jean David from within LinkedIn's Q:A section. I thought I would take a stab at this difficult question, as I think it affects all of us in different ways. My response below:

Spirituality is not inherently connected to religiosity nor faith in any one specific system of beliefs.

In a sense, what is true is simply what we have the best evidence to believe. And in order to believe, we determine the value(s) by the role they have in our lives respectively. And when we've combined things previously considered unrelated, we've demonstrated creativity.

Spirituality is a demonstration of one's creativity.
We create what we need to validate the truths most relative to us.

IMAGE METRICS

GO WORLD

VISA/GO WORLD


A friend at AKQA sent me a link to VISA's new microsite promoting the Olympic games. GO WORLD is a nice design and I really (as a bit of a techy) like the scalable background. I recently completed an exploration attempting the same thing. I think these types of designs are key to interface experiences overall. Okay, no more ranting.

The site allows visitors to upload inspirational videos and then send them to friends.
Overall, its a nice experience with a story derived from the successful stories of others–great achievers. The slow-motion graphics mixed with the still frames are executed nicely. Emotional at times, but not sad in the least bit.

A nice success for AKQA as well.
Thanks B, nice work.

THE VOICES OF THE FACELESS ( cept for avatars )

"The other implication of Mr Shirky's thought is a generational one. Growing up with the assumption that you'll always be able to publish whatever you want to say, to whoever you want to say it, is going to make people different. I don't normally hold with all those Gen This, Gen That generalisations but in this instance it might be true. We're going to need to tweak all sorts of things to get the most from a generation that's used to these expressive possibilities. We'll need to examine how we relate to them as employees, as customers, as colleagues, as voters and as leaders. And, individually, we should maybe start to explore what it's like to be them; we should all go out and start practising expressing our own voice."

Russell Davies Blog

ONLINE READERS

"Clearly, reading in print and on the Internet are different. On paper, text has a predetermined beginning, middle and end, where readers focus for a sustained period on one author’s vision. On the Internet, readers skate through cyberspace at will and, in effect, compose their own beginnings, middles and ends.

Young people “aren’t as troubled as some of us older folks are by reading that doesn’t go in a line,” said Rand J. Spiro, a professor of educational psychology at Michigan State University who is studying reading practices on the Internet. “That’s a good thing because the world doesn’t go in a line, and the world isn’t organized into separate compartments or chapters.”

Some traditionalists warn that digital reading is the intellectual equivalent of empty calories. Often, they argue, writers on the Internet employ a cryptic argot that vexes teachers and parents. Zigzagging through a cornucopia of words, pictures, video and sounds, they say, distracts more than strengthens readers. And many youths spend most of their time on the Internet playing games or sending instant messages, activities that involve minimal reading at best."

New York Times, original article