I live in San Diego, and last week, there were fires here. Boy, were there fires here. My family didn’t have to evacuate, like we did during the fires three years ago. So aside from the smoky air and having the kids indoors all week, it was mostly business as usual. We were very fortunate. Naturally, I had my...
Perhaps you’ve seen this story making the rounds: A Texas teenager is suing Virgin Mobile because it used her image without permission in a billboard campaign in Australia. The girl appears in a photograph which was released under a Creative Commons license. The photographer, via the license, expressly permitted commercial use of his image, as long as he received...
Apparently, some people think the success of online, interactive advertising is all due to blinking lights and sound clips, so they’re bringing the same capabilities to print advertising. Yes, print ads can now sing to you and flash lights at you; they can give you a temporary tattoo, a whiff of black cherries, or a taste of rum. Take...
This article from Computer Arts (UK) explores the challenge of staying fresh and original while still employing the tools of visual shorthand in communicating concepts. I’m reminded of a quote from Pablo Picasso: “Good artists copy. Great artists steal.” Hey, that’s what all those award books are really for, right? But I’m also reminded of a good technique for...
If you’re doing any direct mail in the U.S. – including brochures that may be mailed – then you should look at the new postal regulations. Because it wasn’t just a rate increase that went into effect, it was a change in how the Postal Service calculates rates. Odd size? Lumpy enclosure? Material that might jam the machines? Oh,...
Helvetica, the über-ubiquitous sans-serif font, is celebrating its 50th birthday. Here’s a BBC story about why this font has endured despite designers’ love/hate relationship with it. Now, why should a copywriter care about a type font? Well, type is where the tone of the copy meets the tone of the design. Copy in Garamond Light Condensed (to pick on...
Some clients, especially those that do no business over the web, question the need for a website or an SEO effort. But they seldom question the need for local publicity. My wife writes magazine articles. One recent assignment had her seeking out local farms. They were hard to find, in part because few had any web presence. After all,...
How much is that logo worth? $500? $5,000? $50,000? $500,000? There are designers and brand developers at each of those price points. But, how much is a brand worth? How about $66,434,000,000? That’s Google’s brand valuation – the amount of its overall value contributed by its brand. Don’t have $66.4 billion? General Electric’s brand is valued at about $61.9...
Outfoxing the Small Business Owner: Crafty Techniques for Creating a Profitable Relationship, by Gene Marks (2005, ISBN 1-59337-157-8) is worth reading if you’re thinking of freelancing. Small businesses make up the vast majority of potential clients, and the approaches you’ll take to work with them profitably are different from those you’ll take with large corporate clients. I’ve worked with...
I am among the last generation of copywriters who sat with art directors and designers as they sliced into type galleys to hand-kern letters, adjust word or line spacing, or piece together new words and sentences. “Can we cut seven characters out of this copy block?” they’d ask, and I’d take up the challenge, think of another way to...
