HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL DAY.

Over the weekend me and Tony worked up some posters for Holocaust Memorial Day.

It was a stream of emails back and forth until we got to this conclusion. (images below)

The insight is that history is repeating itself.

Anti-semitism has increased across Europe.

And Holocaust Memorial Day is the perfect time to remind everyone to learn from the past.

And not become it.

MIX IT UP LIKE JOSHUA

Last night Anthony Joshua beat Andy Ruiz JR by unanimous decision to reclaim his titles.

Everyone expected the fight not to go the distance.

Either Ruiz would have Joshua's number and TKO him again.

Or Joshua would train like a man possessed and KO Ruiz in revenge.

It was so easy to predict because everyone had seen their fights in the past.

Everyone knew what type of fighters they were.

Joshua would always use his power to win the fight aiming to KO his opponent.

He was a fighter that came forward, never fighting off the back foot.

He would try to box but naturally was a brawler.

While Ruiz had the fastest hands in the division, catching his opponent out of nowhere with a fury of punches Mexican style.

Ruiz didn't have great footwork but he made up for it with his speed and granite chin.

And it proved successful beating Joshua via TKO in Madison Square Garden, making it the biggest shock in the modern era of boxing.

But the rematch was a completely different affair.

While Ruiz was the same fighter like before, Joshua was completely different.

Instead of coming forward he fought off the back foot, making space between him and Ruiz.

Instead of going in with heavy punches he utilised his jab picking his punches.

Every time Ruiz tried to land a punch on the inside Joshua would dodge and clinch him, smothering his attack.

Joshua made himself awkward, made himself hard to hit, used his size and reach.

The sweet science of boxing is to hit and not get hit, and Joshua did just that for 12 rounds.

But it wasn't his fighting style that was different, it was even his physique.

Instead of being heavy with muscle and having a bodybuilder physique, Joshua came in much lighter with less muscle, making himself slimmer.

This made him quicker in the ring to avoid Ruiz's fast hands, and also made him less prone to getting tired because he wasn't carrying so much weight.

Even his appearance was different.

Joshua wasn't clean cut, instead he had a unkept beard and his hair was growing out.

It just showed he only had eyes for this fight, nothing else.

It felt like I was looking at Joshua's smaller scuffer twin, but with a purpose.

Joshua had changed everything about himself to win.

While Ruiz didn't change anything, just gained more weight.

The gulf in quality was there to see.

The one dimensional fighter vs the fighter that can mix things up.

The lose was a blessing in disguise because it forced Joshua to be a better fighter.

To expand his skill set.

To show he can do more then throw heavy punches and win by KO.

But that can be clever, outbox his opponent for 12 straight rounds.

Discipline himself, pick when to attack and when to defend.

And stick to the plan.

The best people in their profession can change like a chameleon, shake up their style for the win.

Thats why when I am practicing I don't try and do one style of thinking, I spread myself out.

I'll make sure my traditional advertising is up to scratch with my untraditional advertising, so that I can switch between them when trying to crack a brief.

So that I have a plan B, C, D, E and F.

This fight was an inspiring example.

Never limit yourself, mix it up like Joshua.

THE 10 BOOK COMMANDMENTS

Just a week ago I was at the pub having a drink with this year's Watford, one the members of the class asked me how they should go about laying out their book, they told me there wasn't a written rule concerning preparing your book, so I felt I would answer that with a post of all the knowledge/experience I gathered over the years organising my book and going to critics.

I hope this serves everyone well now and into the future when they come to the task of organising their first book for this cut throat industry known as advertising, so in no particular order THE 10 BOOK COMMANDMENTS!

1. Thou shall be clinical - Have no more then 5-7 big campaign ideas in your book, but don't force yourself to make it 7, less is more, and great advertising has always been built around the art of simplicity.

Plus just having one shit campaign idea can make your whole book crumble, because thats what your potential employers will remember and talk about after the critic, about how shit that campaign idea in your book was, and how that other book they saw before you was soo much better, they couldn't pick out a bad idea!

And coming from a potential employer's perceptive; 5 of your strongest campaign ideas also make for a more clinical book, it shows you can judge your own work making the creative director's life easier.

2. Thou shall have well known brands - Well known brands speak volumes for your thinking if you crack them, and not a lot of these well known brands have good advertising, most of the time it's shocking, it's bad, which gives you the chance as a young up and coming creative to show you can do better then whats coming out.

One of the troubles of having brands not well known in your book is the idea will be lost, if you don't know the brand you won't really get the idea, which makes the magic of your thinking none existent.

3. Thou shall have some work other then advertising - The term creative doesn't just mean advertising, and that should be embodied in your book, don't just have advertising have other creative work.

Me and my creative partner are currently writing/designing potential publications (we are looking for a literacy agent at this moment in time), before that we designed and made a t-shirt to support breastfeeding in public, we went out our way to get it professionally printed by a t-shirt company. (Wieden + Kennedy London is a client)

What this tells potential employers is that I got someone who is creative 24/7, outside of advertising. (outside the job)

This is exactly what Tony means when he talks about being a modern renaissance man/woman, Leonardo Da Vinci wasn't just a painter, he was a inventor, sculpture, architect, musician, writer, the list goes on.

I am not saying you should be anything and everything, but its good you have other creative outlets, to show your skill set goes beyond commercial work.

4. Thou shall self promote thyself - Get yourself across social media, the creative community knew about me before I went though the doors of Watford, I was known as Creative Brummie on twitter, and built a reputation of being prolific with my One Minute Brief entries. (it earned me an award)

Branding/self promotion shows confidence in yourself, and sets you apart from the crowd, yes your work should speaks for itself but I feel self-branding is the cherry on the cake.

It could be a really cool logo for you or your team (we have one of those), or you have a cool name for your team, in my old team we called ourselves 'PotterScotch' combining our last names to sound like a tasty sweet, from there we could of turned our website into a sweet shop.

You see how branding yourself opens doors to giving your book a creative skin.

It could be something more disruptive then a skin, it could be a stunt or a video.

There was a team once offered a free taxi ride for a book critic in return, it got in all the major advertising publications, all the major players in advertising where reading it and even ending up in the taxi, this eventually lead to the team getting loads of placements.

I think the best way to summarise this all is imagine you are your own agency, what is your image, your culture, what makes you different from the rest of the competition.

4. Thou shall show thy can be serious and funny - A book shows how you speak as a creative, and if you can only provide one tone of voice, you come across one dimensional.

The best creatives can be a serious and funny, but always different.

This comes down to the brands you tackle, from a disposable like a sweet, to a more financially  demanding brand like a bank or car.

With bigger brands you have to be serious because your audience is making a financially serious decision on what they buy into, for example cars aren't disposable so you can't make a ridiculous insight that won't have a major benefit, which won't effect that major decision in their life.

While a sweet isn't a financially serious decision, its not a life and death situation, your only spending 50p, a quid tops, so a funny observational truth doesn't need a major benefit.

Also the audience you tackle can affect the tone of voice of your book, and mould and shape it anyway you like. The easy way out for a lot of student books is targeting a young audience like themselves, but the true art is targeting people that are a complete opposite to you're age/life style.

Imagine you're a method actor and you have to embody your role (audience), whether it be a single mum, or a pensioner, this comes down to understanding them, catching a insight in their life, turning that into an idea, which will eventually be executed through a tone of voice that can communicate to them perosnally.

Tell me, would you rather be Daniel Day Lewis or Jason Statham? (talking about overall ability, not action sequences)

5. Thou shall try to have different brands in thy book - I have already mentioned this in having funny and serious in your book, about having range of brands to create a perfect tone of voice, but if I was to say anything else about picking brands is to pick brands in different categories; food, tourism, car etc.

This will make sure you have a range of brands that aren't remotely similar, for example having Pukka Pies in your book but then having McVitie's is too similar, both snacks and both in the food category.

The golden merit in a book is to cover the big six (this fits under the bracket of having well known brands in your book), the big six as Tony (former tutor) would put it are the biggest/hardest brands to crack for your book, and these are the brands that bring in the big bucks for the agencies, so if you can prove you can crack them then you have potential to be a valuable asset to the company.

- Bank/Insurance
- Airline
- Beer
- Car
- Supermarket
- Tourism

In the modern age I feel phone networks/broadband should be added to this list.

6. Thou shall write less - This comes down to how simple your ideas are, if your ideas are simple, it won't require much writing to explain them, or no writing. Explaining your idea before you even show them almost insults the clarity of your thinking (the line is suppose to explain your idea), but if you have to it might not be a good idea for your book.

It is understandable if its a untraditional idea where you have to explain the mechanic, but even then you need to keep the writing down to a minimum.

The reason this is important is creatives/creative directors don't have time to read though your ideas, they'll skim through your book like a magazine, just seeing a block of writing before the idea will put them off, I know it does for me because I got the attention span of a toddler and that isn't a rare trait in the industry.

I think you need to imagine your seeing your book as an average joe walking down the road, he isn't going to stand there and read though it, he needs to get it in seconds, thats why working in poster is invaluable exercise because it teaches you to be quick with your ideas.

7. Thou shalt not just have a website but a physical book as well - This might be a unpopular rule with physical books becoming redundant, because websites are easier to share plus everyone holding a smart phone or carrying around a laptop nowadays, so why do you need a physical book?

Presentation. Talking directly to art directors here, you're sweat and tears in visually laying out and communicating your work will only really be appreciated if it was presented in it's grandeur like it would be in the Tate Modern, showing it on a tiny laptop screen won't bring it justice, this goes especially for print.

You want your audience to be immersed in the work, and that only achievable if doesn't require squinting at it on a screen, plus you want to present it 'in the real' like you where seeing it for the first time on a billboard, or bus shelter.

Which goes on to my next point, if you do go out and get a physical book make sure its A3, you'll be wasting your time getting it A4, you might as well show it on the laptop.

I feel lot of agencies that will appreciate this, especially the really hands on ones like Wieden and Kennedy who really love craft.

And a final point, with the saturation of books on laptops you will stand out.

8. Thou shalt not have brands in thy book that already have good advertising - There is no point tackling a brand when it already has great advertising, you're work will only be compared to it during critic, lowering the standards of your book.

However what said earlier about having well known brands in your book, there are plenty of big/well known brands that have terrible advertising, that if you crack will position you above the competition, so its a reverse effect if you pick the right brands.

But if you ever wanted to tackle the Nike's, Burger King's and Guinness's of this world you need to find a problem thats relevant and in the now for these brands, something they haven't acknowledged themselves, that can't be compared to past work, this will show great strategic thinking and awareness of the market.

Brands will always have problems, the challenge is spotting them.

9. Thou shall always start strong and finish strong - This is straight forward and comes down to the decision making of the campaign ideas you pick for your book, and how you organise them throughout.

During the the critic you want them to straight away have a good impression of you and your book with a nice simple campaign idea, and to leave with a good impression of you with your strongest idea at the end of the book.

Of course the work in between has to be at a high standard, but organising it also important, your book should be a like a story, it hooks you in at the start and grows until the finale blows you away.

10. Thou shall not have topical ideas that go out of date, unless they get publicity - You will see alot of books where people cover topical material that won't be relevant after month or even just a couple of days, do you remember Obama Care, do you remember Kony 2012?

How long will it be until Brexit becomes a distance memory, and we all get on with our normal lives, unless they extend it again!

It almost makes your ideas out of date doesn't it.

Other stuff could be using a individual to create a campaign idea, like using Donald Trump's attitude, how he effects the product or just using him literally appearing on every execution, again traditional campaign ideas need longevity, the famous ones like 'IKEA - The wonderful everyday' and 'Snickers - You're not you when you're hungry' can go on for years, and if you have big strategies like this it almost makes your thinking immortal. 

Donald Trump won't be in office for the next 10 years, unless he overrides the government and becomes a dictator.

However if you can make something topical and get it out there on the day/or following day when people are talking about it, that will get media attention, which will show merit that you can get work on the news and talked about amongst the public, something most advertising agencies waste millions, almost billions on and get nothing, not an ounce of attention. (FCK is an exception where a simple press idea gain media attention and awards)

And then you come along, doing it all on your own with pen, paper and some macing magic on photoshop. Great creative wit doesn't cost a arm and a leg, and the agencies will be thinking just imagine what they would do with some money behind them.

HUMANS SPEAK IN STORY

It's been a very very long while since I did a post, but its about time I make this a regular habit, so stay tune.

Recently I have been helping my former tutor Tony with this year's intake, coming in on Friday and reviewing the work to crown campaign of the week.

But coming out of the class I myself am still learning, and thats the wonderful thing about teaching, you as a creative improve as well, its a sharing progress.

And what I learnt from critiquing the work of the students is from the copy side, about being more emotional with what you write.

This is beneficial for me as an art director, because its kind of an advantage to be on both sides of the fence as a creative, knowing the tricks of the trade of a copywriter while drawing your pretty pictures, you don't need to rely on people so much, and it takes pressure off your partner.

I also sometimes think its extremely valuable especially when your writer is sick or on holiday.

Now I have always been disconnected about the emotional tone of voice of advertising, being such a literal individual in language (autism) I would ask what do you mean emotional and how would tackle that in a medium?

Emotional can be anything that talks about human interaction/feeling of a product/service, but also it can be how humanity tells stories about their experiences, and storytelling is a way to tackle emotion in advertising, because as humans we listen to stories and learn and grow through stories.

This makes it the most powerful form of copywriting because humanity is our audience, but people seem to forget that.

A lot of copy can be vague, robotic, filled with facts and figures we don't understand or give two shits about, but telling it though story we can progress that information, like we progress the moral lesson of a fable, or in our case the audience progresses the message of the product/service we are selling.

And to conclude this post quickly before I waffle on, I believe that storytelling is the secret to speaking to humans and not suits, speak story, because HUMANS SPEAK IN STORY.

I'll leave you with some classic examples that can better explains this, so you can hone your craft to storytelling whatever you sell.

WATFORD IS TWEETING

This entry is simply to raise awareness that Watford is officially on Twitter, so if you want to apply for the course or just want to know why I keep on yapping on about it, click on the link below and give this account a follow.

https://twitter.com/watfordcourse

There will be regular posts of great work you will most likely know done by watford alumni, and updates on available places and interview times.

Watford is now trending on social media!

TONY I WANT IN!

Over seven years ago I was sitting at the back of an empty studio space minding my own business, trying to rough out the perfect logo for one of many design modules, but I wasn't on my own for long.

In came a large class of the year above me, followed by an older student who had just came back from work experience, ready to finish his final year.

Everyone sat down as he began to talk about his interests that incidentally lead to his work experience.

I wasn't paying much attention to the talk as it was never intended for me, but as I was not getting anywhere with this perfect logo, I decided to take a break and listen in from the back.

The older student's name was Jolyon and he'd just finished work experience with an advertising agency based in London called VCCP.

I always found advertising a dirty word, a word that meant capitalism, money, suits in high rising skyscrapers and the cold calculated nature of making people buy shit they didn't really need.

But the more I listened in, the more it drove me away from that cynical concept.

Jolyon preached about ideas, ideas not just for commercial work, but ideas in general that make up all sorts of weird and wonderful things.

Thats what pulled me in ideas, not advertising but ideas, because thats the purist form of creativity, thats the starting point of most creative work, whether it be music, film, theatre, design, they all start with an idea, that intrigued me!

And then he said there was a course he was trying to break into, where this guy called Tony would teach you how to master this art, and get you a career doing it for a living.

But what sealed the deal was the challenge, Tony only wanted the best, the fastest thinkers, people with energy and passion, not talent, but energy and passion.

I have always been the impatient type I want to get things down on paper, made, and out the door, I couldn't keep sitting in front of a screen for hours deciding what was the right pantone colour for this particular logo, my best moments in the creative process was when I was coming up with the idea, and here was a course that centred around that, a course to test me whether I was actually good or if it was just all in my head, and if I succeeded I was guaranteed a placement and eventually a job in top agency in London.

After that I gave graphic design another crack, but Watford kept on ringing in my ears, I would keep looking at the site once every few days, it started to become an obsession, and eventually one day I dropped what I was doing in design and said 'I want to be a creative, Tony I want in!'.

If you feel the same click this link >

https://watfordadschool.blogspot.com/2019/05/watford-applications-for-seprtember.html

CONTEXT & BEYOND

After being hired at AMVBBDO last year, I have gradually settled into the agency,

and during that time I have been taking part in social activities like Pub Club.

Every Thursday the agency nominates a pub for everyone go to after work, this is announced through the traditional means of a poster, emailed across everyone's feed.

The guys in control of this are co founders of Pub Club; Scott & Ben.

Usually the posters they do for Pub Club are topical, whether it be something thats happened in the agency that week or general news, but usually its just a poster advertising the pub.

However one week something happened that completely changed the idea of Pub Club.

During Tuesday/Wednesday (can't remember what day), the whole agency was alerted by something naughty happening opposite our building.

A couple was having sex in a hotel room in broad daylight with the curtains open at a CitizenM hotel!

It was the main event of the week, the talk of the agency, well until Thursday.

On the day of Pub Club something happened again opposite the agency building.

The room where the couple had sex before was occupied, but with a message sticked to the window that simply read "PUB CLUB, ROOM 519".

Scott & Ben had 'literally' turned what happened a few days earlier into not just a advertisement for Pub Club, but Pub Club itself!

In the evening CitizenM became a hotel invasion, groups of people from the agency coming every 30 mins, filling up room 519, beers where shared, music was baring.

The night was very memorable, and everyone the following day was talking about how crazy it was.

But it wasn't just the impact of the event, it was how they did it that inspired me.

They didn't look at it as another poster, they went beyond that, they saw a bigger opportunity, a bigger idea, a bigger impact through the context.

At Watford we were always told to get our idea right on print first, that would tell us how simple/clear our idea was.

But when you get that right, ask yourself, how can we make this bigger, how can we make this more then a poster, how can we go beyond with the context of the idea.

Everyone knows what a poster is, we see them everyday, they have been going for over 100 years or more, but its what you do with the context of it that makes it different amongst the rest.

After that Pub Club, the posters got more different, for Valentines Day they put up a dating profile for the pub on Tinder, so people at the agency could match with it.

Then did a Brexit idea where you could vote between two pubs, remain (The Old Thameside Inn) or leave (Exit Bar).

Every Thursday now is a pocket of inspiration, making me think how far can I go with the context of my idea.

WHAT'S THE NEXT GOAL?

12th September 2018, thats the day the ECDs invited me and my creative partner into their office, and gave us a job at one of London's most prestigious advertising agencies, if not in the world.

I can now call AMVBBDO my new home, my first permanent job.

After two and a half years of placements, I have achieved what I set out to do, I have scored my goal, which was to get a job at a top advertising agency.

Not small or medium, but big, thats been the goal for two and a half years, and I have done it.

And I owe a lot to the people in this agency, for giving our team the chance, welcoming us to their family, there is trust that needs to be repaid in full.

But there is a problem now, I got no goal.

It's kind of a shock really, from dreaming of getting something, to getting it, it makes you wonder what should I do next?

It's like completing a game, what will the sequel be?

You're almost in a limbo, waiting, there are so many things you can do in this position of being hired, get work made, win some awards, try and be the best team in the agency, you're lost in all these steps.

Just imagine having one goal, and it getting spilt into many, thats how it feels at the moment.

However I am in shear excitement in what the future holds, and where I plan to direct my focus, what the next goal will be.

I feel goals are very important, just look at all the famous people in history.

Martin Luther had a goal to destroy racial segregation in the USA.

Gandhi had a goal to achieve independence for India.

Abraham Lincoln had a goal to abolish slavery in the USA.

Steve Jobs had a goal to make the computer for personal use and not just for sorting out your bills.

Stephen Hawking had a goal to prove the big bang started the universe.

Henry Ford had a goal to make automobiles affordable for everyone.

Cus D'Amato had a goal to make the youngest heavyweight champion in history.

Charles Darwin had a goal to prove evolution made us.

NWA had a goal to produce rap music that talked about the reality of police brutality and gangs.

Muhammad Ali had a goal to be the greatest.

The list goes on....

All these great people had something in common, they all had a goal to strive for, and they did it, changing things and making a mark in history!

So as I write I wonder how to tackle my new job, where I should take myself, what I should aim for, what my team should aim for, you can't just settle on having a new job, having a new job isn't a goal!

Instead you have to keep pushing, and aim higher, and the only way you can do that is focusing on what to do, what you want to achieve, what your next goal will be.

NEVER SWITCH OFF

At the beginning of July this year I embarked on a task to do a book a day.

I took up my time on train journeys to my agency to produce a book, by simply writing strategies on my phone.

The brands I picked at random, from my own archive, or simply spotting brands, whether it be an advert on the tube, or something a commuter was carrying or wearing.

Not all the books were perfect, there were some very bad books, and some very good books, but the point of this project wasn't about consistency but to demonstrate passion and energy, to warm me up for the work ahead at AMV BBDO, and to remind me of what I learnt at Watford.

In the end I got some gems that could fit in the book, if I can get them past my creative partner's solid judgement, and also an engine still up to working order, so I intend to carry on this project after securing my dream job.

I would encourage students to do a book daily, I would think it would give you a mental advantage over your classmates if you come in pumped up in the head. 

This industry is full of people that see creativity as just a 9-5 Job, and don't go beyond the boundaries of their working environment, as Tony highlighted in a interview post...

"Good creative people are constantly creating.  Again, it’s all about energy. Top students like Oli Beale and Paddy Fraser, who both work at Mother, never stopped thinking about ideas. If they were to write a letter to a milkman they would turn it into a creative idea. If they were to write Christmas cards they would create a brand of Christmas cards. They see everything as an opportunity, everything is a chance to create an idea. They will always be writing, they will always be thinking and jotting things down.  That’s what makes them good creatives. This quality is very rare. A lot of people only switch on when they walk through the doors of an ad agency and switch off when they go home. Creativity is about the way you live your life."

It's an old post, but I hold this sediment to heart, and it stands true whatever decade we are in, everything if you look at it in a creative lens is an opportunity to make something, even the dullest darkest stuff, however boring it may be, we as creatives can make something of it.

Paddy Fraser was a bit of an idol of mine, I wanted to be him, when I left Watford, and got into Mother London on my first placement as a single, similar to him. However it was never meant to be, 1. I couldn't be a single creative like Fraser, and 2. I was my own creative, my own person, I should of been myself, followed my instinct on how I would get success.

However I can take something from Paddy I do have, I never switch off, there is no turn off button on me, and I hope one day to illuminate Paddy and Oli, and either be a creative director in LA or the ECD of one of the most creative agencies in London. The point is these people got here form never switching off, and if you keep pushing, keep creating, keep practicing, you will get where you want to be in this industry, like Jamie Vardy in football, he started at the bottom and got to the top because he never settled, never stopped, never switched off.

The 50 books listed on a Photoshop document.  

ASPERGERS MADE ME A CREATIVE

Ever since I was little, I always had an obsession,

first it was Humpty Dumpty, I had to have all the merchandise, everything with the egg on it.

Then Jack and the Beanstalk, I wanted every book and film.

Soon followed Greek Mythology, I loved all the stories/myths of the Odyssey, Perseus, and the Minotaur.

Then my gaming craze, every game had to be limited edition, I would lay them out as tributes to my devotion to gaming.

Alien vs Predator, and Rocky/boxing followed.

This cycle of obsessions came from my autism, which I was diagnosed with at the age of 3, having asperger's syndrome.

This can come at an advantage/disadvantage.

The advantage being I grow a vast knowledge, living, breathing this thing I am obsessed by.

The disadvantage socially, that my obsession is all I talk about, caused me to disconnect with people, even get bullied for it. My school years were not very nice.

But when I figured out what I was naturally good at, and followed it, my obsession became my career, and everything fell into place.

I would lie if advertising got me into Watford, it was Watford that got me into advertising.

And when I mean got me into it, it made me obsessed with Watford and what it taught, its history,

the great people that have left the course, the work they made, inspires me to live up to the name.

Even when I was down on my luck, I would pull out my dog-eared "How to come up with ideas" booklet, and read over and over again Tony's teachings of how to come up with perfect strategies.

I kept every booklet, and have them in my Watford bookcase in my flat.

Every time I look on the website, or read an article about the course, it would pump me up to do better in my craft.

This obsession grew with my 'Tony I want in!' blog, for two years I noted down my progress of getting onto the course, that taught Tony's attention, that devotion got me into Watford.

Fast forward now, that obsession has turned into a placement at one of the top agencies in the UK, it has also sprouted into me helping Tony with new students every year.

I can see why Tony works tirelessly to create a new generation of talent, year by year, it's rewarding.

And I found out how rewarding that could be today through a tasty treat in the agency post.

For the past couple of months I was coaching a potential creative get into Watford.

Setting him briefs everyday, giving him feedback,

pushing him to come up with a book fit to get on the course.

There was failure, setbacks, he didn't get in on the first interview, but he showed true character and kept going, and in the face of failure he came out of his second interview with success, and got into Watford.

I was very proud, and over the moon in my email to him, that he sent me a gift of cupcakes to AMV BBDO, I have them on my desk now.

Just admiring this gift from the future Watford.

I would be lying if I didn't have aspirations of being a teacher in advertising one day, to live up the legacy of Tony, but at the same time, through coaching, and helping young talent, those skills contribute to being a creative director, and having a hand in building the next generation of talent, while directing great work is a dream job/goal.

What I have really learnt from having this obsession of Watford is I have entered a family, a family of creatives that appreciate my love for this industry/course. Who are keen to succeed like me.

'Family' is something Tony preached at our grad party, to keep a look out for our classmates, because in the future we could be working together shaping this industry, whether it being the heads of an existing agency, or even our own start-up.

And Watford is a family of people who didn't fit in, big dreamers who inspire to do big things, who asked too many questions, who want to make bread into surf boards and go rock pool fishing in the milky way. The weird and different is here on this course.

It's a change from the past when at school I was a outcast, bullied for being obsessive, for not being cool, in the social clique, I am now respected and appreciated for my obsessive love for this course and the industry, for being different, for all the reasons I was bullied.

I guess the moral of this post is, if you have an obsession for something, pursue it, keep persuing it, until it becomes a career, until people actually appreciate you for it, until you get love back for what you love.

For me it was from Watford with love.

P.S. The lad I helped get into Watford 18/19 was kind enough to write me a glowing report card on my performance as a tutor!

NEVER GIVING UP IS WINNING

Back in 1979 Tony graduated from Watford.

He had only three agencies on his hit list.

If he didn't succeed in breaking into any of them,

he would head back to Leicester to work at the markets,

until he finally broke into one.

He took his student book into Saatchi & Saatchi,

only for all his work to be rejected.

But it wasn't over, the following day Tony returned with a brand new book,

and got his first job in creative advertising.

Tony preached his story to my class after a bad session of not cracking anything.

It gave me a kick up the arse,

and inspired me to repeat what my tutor did to break into the industry.

Fast forward nearly 2 and a half years later.

I am preparing to start my placement at AMVBBDO on April the 3rd.

My road getting to this point hasn't been smooth.

It was quiet the opposite.

I have been to agencies that have folded due to disputes over direction.

I have been to agencies that spend more on drink and food, then creating great work.

I have been to agencies that care more about profit then creative merit.

I have had placement opportunities snatched in a spit second by other junior teams.

I have sent email after email, blanked, blocked and forgotten.

I have watched as all my classmates got hired in advertising.

And between all those episodes the job centre has been my second home. 

Not the fairytale I was hoping for after Watford, 

but I haven't given up.

Never have I stopped writing idea after idea,

book after book, email after email.

Never have I packed my bags and ran back to Birmingham,

to settle with a smaller, more comfortable agency job.

Never have I felt one second that this career wasn't for me.

Never.

If there was a Raging Bull or a Rocky Balboa type in advertising, 

I would like to throw my hat in the ring.

And here is why through a film quote from Rocky Balboa:

"Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It's very mean and nasty place and I don't care how tough you are it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't about how hard ya hit. It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done!"

Never have these words ringed truer as I pushed myself to achieve something in this industry.

Advertising is tough, its horrible, you need be to determined, resilient, strong,

its literally a cut throat business.

Its never an easy ride if you want the best out of this industry.

This is why when I talked to watford students,

I say to them cherish your time at Watford,

listen to Tony, take every little piece of advice,

use it, attack, secure a placement while your touring these good agencies.

Because these golden opportunities won't be this easy when your out there fighting,

fighting not just against your classmates, but every ad school in the UK.

However from not giving up, things are looking up,

I have the perfect creative partner now,

where our work actually works together.

Agencies we want to get into are liking what we're doing,

and considering us for placements.

We have broken into the news twice this year.

And now we are starting at arguably the biggest agency in the UK.

It shows that digging deep you will eventually find gold.

I write this post not just to document my journey outside of Watford,

but also its a rallying cry to those struggling in this industry.

Because never giving up, is not giving up on cracking a brief, a thought, a idea, a career.

Thats why there are so few creatives at the top,

because most have given up.

Never giving up is winning.

DON’T SAY, JUST DO.

Tonight, I got a pep talk.

Before I was down, eating my words.

I was down because I felt I was not doing enough at my agency.

Not doing enough to be hired or even extended.

Worst of all I was saying it to my creative partner,

affecting everyone around me.

And I am sorry to those who I affected,

whoever read this post, for it’s the last time I say I was doing bad.

Someone (for confidential purposes) took me aside and said….

“When you keep saying you’re doing bad, it only eats you inside,

you fulfill what you are saying.”

“Just do what you are saying.”

“Stay later at work, do that personal project you where raving about.”

“Just go out and do it.”

After that pep talk I had a release of life,

not to moan, but to act on my problems.

Yes, it might sound simple, but how long can you not say, no I can’t be bothered,

no, it’s too much effort, no I can do it another time.

It rings in your ear, and you don’t do nothing about it,

you settle in your ways, you accept the agency ways.

NO, keep alert, stay focus, if you have an idea, do it,

whatever the situation, whatever happens,

just know you went out and did it.

Wasn’t it W+K, one of the most creative agencies in this business,

breath the idea of testing it, and embracing failure.

I took that ideal recently,

I was doing a talk for OMBLIVE4, in front of 200 people.

Me and my former tutor and friend Tony Cullingham,

talked about the theme I wanted to talk about “LESS COMMENTS, MORE IDEAS”.

Tony told me to make a real idea of it,

instead of ranting about the subject,

live up to the theme, and ask the audience to throw you brands to answer with ideas.

I was scared, seeing how many people where there to watch, find mistakes.

They could have said anything, I might have not answered it…

No, the idea was there, it was better than what I was going to say, and I did it.

It wasn’t the success I was expecting,

but a least I had the guts, and went out what me and Tony planned.

I have never been the guy to walk away from the chance of testing my head.

All I was proud about, was I did it.

There are no doubts when you do it,

and even better if you keep working on it,

building that idea up as a creative denies any thoughts you have on not being active.

It shows you are training, getting better.

Like in boxing, there are those who mouth off, say who they are going to beat!

Only a few have backed it, Muhammad Ali,

an inspiration and someone who did what he said he was going to do!

He said he was going to beat Sonny Liston,

a man who destroyed former heavyweight champion of the world (Floyd Patterson) twice,

within 1 round.

Sonny Liston didn’t answer the bell for the 7^th round, Ali won.

Muhammad Ali said he was going to beat George Foreman.

Big George had knocked out the man who gave Ali his first defeat (Joe Frazier).

Ali out smarted him in the famous rope-a-dope, and won.

For the other fights Ali didn’t win, he still came in the ring with the confidence that he was going to do it, whatever the consequences.

That boldness is inspirational, and in a sense, you have to give Tyson Fury (recent heavyweight champion) a thumbs up.

I shall cut this entry short,

talk less, do more.

Peace out!

COMPARING THE CREATIVE TO THE BOXER. (PART 2)

PREPARATION

Before any fight you train, you study your opponent, watch videos of his fights, 

jog in the early hours of the morning, 

take on sparring partner after sparring partner, 

stay on a strict diet to make the weight for the fight, 

and never lose focus, training far from human contact, far from a social life.

Just you, your mind and your body.

You see the famous Rocky training montages, 

that is a perfect example of a fighter preparing, 

the different methods, training routines.

Specially the catching the chicken scene, Micky, an old-fashioned trainer, 

setting Rocky an old-fashioned task to work on his pace.

Tony once said to me, that a fit body makes for a fit mind, 

he would tell our class to stay away from the pub, 

not to drink during the working week, not to indulge in food too much, 

being hungover or simply having food baby would defiantly affect us coming up with ideas.

It would explain why Tony jogged, kept active, ate healthy, 

it would simply keep his mind going to come up with ideas for scripts,

or just to keep at the pace of the class helping with ideas etc.

But preparation isn’t just about warming up the mind, keeping it fit, 

it is also preparing for a certain client, 

understanding a brand, 

so when you have to answer the brief you will have a great insight/truth, 

an attack plan to deliver a great idea to win the client over, and get some live work out.

In boxing, you train a certain way for a fight/fighter, 

whether it be to increase your pace to counter a fast opponent, 

or your power to take the wind out of a defensive type, so they open for a clean shot.

Anthony Joshua had four sparring partners,

each one did 4 rounds and then they swapped. 

So, Joshua was sparring for 15/16 rounds in prep for a 12-round fight with Wladimir Klitschko. 

Because most of Klitschko’s fights had went the distance, 

with his clever boxing ability, to slowly pick off opponents with his jab.   

Joshua won the fight by knockout in the later rounds.

POWER

Mike Tyson was feared for his knockout power. 

Joshua is now carrying the torch with 19 win by way of knockout. 

Power, knockouts is what people pay to see in a fight, 

it’s what makes it exciting, 

whether fighter runs out of steam and is finally silenced by TKO (technical knockout). 

But it’s those flash knockouts that really make you stand up.

Tony told a team on this year’s course to be more Mike Tyson, was it to be bolder, 

or simply have more impact in their execution?

I feel power in advertising is summed up by the feeling of “I wish I came up with that”, 

that jealous feeling you have when you see a real great idea. 

That feeling is the knockout. 

Great ideas are powerful, they make an impression, you remember them, 

you talk about them to friends.

John Hegarty remembers when Ross Cramer and Charles Saatchi came up with the 'pregnant man'.

Hegarty thought he had won the brief for the Health Education Council,

with idea involving a pregnant school girl smoking a cigarette, 

but along came Ross & Saatchi with the pregnant man, 

and Hegarty felt completely disarmed, it was a knockout.

One great idea can be remembered for a lifetime, 

but some creatives strive to beat it with an even better idea, 

in fear that they are summed up by that idea for the rest of their life, like a one hit wonder.

Lennox Lewis had a series of great fights from beating Frank Bruno in a big British clash, 

to destroying the beast Mike Tyson in Vegas, 

he didn’t have one great fight, he had series of them at the top.

That’s why these sort of people are remembered, 

they made an impact, they made a statement, 

they entertained, they excited, they took your breath away.

COMPARING THE CREATIVE TO THE BOXER. (PART 1)

Last weekend I witness an epic clash between two great heavyweights.

Anthony Joshua of Great Britain got off the canvas in the 6th round,

to TKO (Technical Knockout) Wladimir Klitschko of Ukraine.

This was a unification fight for the heavyweight championship of the world,

in a record breaking attendance of 90,000 at Wembley Stadium!

It was truly intense, and amazing to watch!

Even my girlfriend, who wasn't even a fan of boxing, was on the end of her seat!

This epic fight inspired me to write a post about how a creative and a boxer,

stand in terms of heart, skill and entertainment etc.

This is something I have been meaning to write for a long time,

since I decided to pick a career in advertising,

I have been treating it as a sport, a boxing ring, fighting against the best creatives,

for the prizes and the recognition to get to the top!

This is why I enjoyed One Minute Briefs so much,

head to head against your opponent, to out think them in a minute,

while everyone watched in anticipation!

I can't think of it nothing less then my sport,

so I have decided to show this feeling in a comparison,

of the two professions.

So you can feel how I do about this career!


STYLE / TECHNIQUE

A boxers style could be determined by the gym they trained in,

who he was trained by, or simply down to his attitude.

Mike Tyson's peek-a-boo style, was designed and perfected by his trainer Cus D'Amato,

this technique was the reason Tyson knocked out nearly every opponent,

ducking and weaving, coming up with speed, landing a clean haymaker out of nowhere.

Tony Cullingham of Watford trains all his students in a certain way,

finding the insight and truth in the brand,

capitulating it into a idea/line with no more then 8 words to sum it up,

getting them to execute on the hardest but simplest medium, the poster.

You could say the Watford technique is an orthodox (traditional) approach,

compared to SCA (School of Communication Arts) which is unorthodox (untraditional).

However some fighters are already training themselves.

When Muhammad Ali discovered boxing, he was obsessed!

He would get his brother to throw stones directly at him,

dodging the stones with his head movement, improving his speed.

This obsession payed off, Muhammad Ali became known not just as the greatest,

but one of the fastest fighters who ever lived, in his prime you could hardly touch him!

There is quiet a lot of creatives in the industry that didn't even go to advertising school,

and trained themselves, taking everything they could at book critics,

and processing that into a more affective way of getting better ideas.

Muhammad Ali was a idol of mine, and before I went to Watford,

I used cover and cover paper, getting my answers with my stamina and speed.

However when I came to Watford, I gradually moulded into a more untraditional style,

with my thinking, tackling briefs more executional,

working backwards towards the line to sum it up.

The way I saw it was to simply answer the problem with a solution,

we are problem solvers at the end of the day.

This could be seen weird for someone who trained under the Watford banner,

in terms of approach, but I like to think of myself as a boxer who can switch styles.


HEART / CHIN

"You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't about how hard you hit; It's about how hard you get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done!" - Rocky Balboa

The heart in a boxer's arsenal is what makes champions,

the engine to win when your back is against the wall.

To get knocked down and get back up again!

Tony would call this 'passion and energy', the formula for any great creative.

Because it's the passion, the love for the industry that keeps you going,

and the energy to come back with more and more!

Until eventually your at the top,

whether it be the best creative in your department,

or the winner of the Cannes Grand Prix.

Like Paul Arden said's "It's not how good you are, it's how good you want to be.".

I also found that heart is how much you can take in criticism, and keep coming back with more.

Advertising is an harsh business, a subjective business,

with heaps of criticism flying from everywhere.

Tony would prepare us for this by constantly destroying our ideas,

he can be a tough man to please, but it was for our best,

because if you really had the heart for advertising you would come back with more.

Again, and again, and again.

I had a dark patch during the beginning of my second term at Watford,

where everything I brought in for Tony to critic was shit; everything!

So I began to work on finding myself, what inspired me in advertising,

I searched myself and got off the canvas with bigger and stronger ideas,

that best symbolised me as a creative.

The result showed as I was hand picked to go to Google.


SHOWMANSHIP

Some boxers have a show when they come to the ring,

flashing lights, dancers, singers, fireworks!

Some wear flashy robes, with tassels,

even shorts with their name engraved in diamonds.

The nicknames they have, Floyd 'Money' Mayweather, 'Dr. Steelhammer', 'Ragamuffin Man'.

Some with simply their lively attitude, mouthing off in the press conference,

building up the fight with their antics, they build a love hate relationship around them.

Neither way, it works to a extent to get people talking about them and the fight!

Some creative teams self promote themselves with a simple logo,

or go one step further and create self promotion videos, personal projects,

even create names that symbolise their team, instead of something boring like Tim & Joe,

just their normal names.... you are a creative, promote yourself creativity!

I greatly encourage it, my creative team is called 'PotterScotch',

basically me and my partner's second names combined with a sweet!

Also showmanship most importantly comes down to how you present you're ideas.

During my week at Google, a few teams including myself as a single, where chosen out the class.

Google was big, so when it came to presenting our world changing ideas, we did it in style.

Big keynote slides, on a large screen in front of the some of the heads of the creative labs.

Most of my classmates where clean cut, selling the idea inside out from the insight/truth,

right to how it would help people's lives, proper entrepreneurial stuff!

It was very professional.

However mine was the opposite, it wasn't as polished as the rest,

it was just one slide.

It was simply a black and white photo of me,

with a quote from me talking about innovation in ideas and the future.

I was parodying Steve Jobs, and it worked.

I felt more relaxed and interacted more with my audience, like I was at some big launch,

by starting off with a joke, and then bringing my future bending ideas into the fold!

Everyone was laughing and talking about it afterwards.

Memorability is key, I made not just a presentation but a show.


PART 2 COMING SOON.