So I guess Casey Anthony was found “not guilty” of killing her daughter. That’s a relief. After hearing the verdict this afternoon, it got me thinking about how this applies to me and I realized that the advertising industry is much like Ms. Anthony’s attorney. (Every time I hear his name, I think of Joan Baez…that can’t be good for her career.) Everyone deserves a fair trial, right?
Sometimes, we are asked to represent clients or products and show them in the best possible light. We’re tasked with spinning things in …

As a copywriter in the industry who has held not one, but TWO real jobs, I clearly know all there is to know about creating a good portfolio website.  So listen up, everyone (or not, since I’m clearly being sarcastic).
I’m going to go ahead and leave the actual “work” out of this, because your work is your work and I certainly can’t change it.  Bad work is bad work and no manner of presentation will fix that. These are just some non-technical things you can do to make your portfolio …

Is that time of the year when Creativity comes out with The Creativity Top 50: the list where every creative should dream of being. Not sure if all do though, but at least I do. From Darren Aronofsky to Masashi Kawamura, this year list is a great selection of really inspiring personalities that shows us that success is only possible with a lot of hard work. Take a look: http://adage.com/article/news/creativity-50/227968/
- Nicolas Mejia

While concepting for a project I wondered if some cool infographics would enhance my idea. Before deciding, I wanted to study some good executions vs poor executions and see what makes one work over another. I needed a good reason to get into this labor extensive execution.
I discovered the answer is much the same as any new technology advertising has explored. QR codes. Augmented Reality. Four Square Badges. iPhone Apps. All cool tools. But it all comes down to the simple question: Is the juice worth the squeeze?
We’ve all have …

For the past couple of years, Arby’s has had a tough run. I can’t even remember one of their commercials that I’ve liked. But they’ve sunk to a whole new low. Their new campaign about “Good Mood Food” has put me in quite the opposite of moods. Their newest commercial makes me want to rinse my eyes with horsey sauce or slice my ears off with the roast beef slicer. I’m serious people. And most of it has to do with their new spokesperson. I don’t know his name, nor …

I recently made an effort to rediscover my fun art side (to separate it from my work art side).
I was familiar with Threadless.com for the last few years, but never tried to submit a design. If you’re not familiar with the site, artists and designers submit designs which people vote on to get produced. There’s a lot of good thinking in the what’s produced and the standards are high on both design and concepts.
With the internet becoming so important for creatives, it’s good to explore these outlets. See how they …

“The difference between Bach and his forgotten peers isn’t necessarily that he had a better ratio of hits to misses.  The difference is that the mediocre might have a dozen ideas, while Bach, in his lifetime, created more than a thousand full-fledged musical compositions.  A genius is a genius, Simonton maintains, because he can put together such a staggering number of insights, ideas, theories, random observations, and unexpected connections that he almost inevitably ends up with something great.  ‘Quality,’ Simonton writes, is ‘a probabilistic function of quantity.’”
-“Creation Myth” by Malcom …

Empire Avenue is the new online game that allows you to buy and sell shares on your friends, famous brands, websites and blogs and even yourself.
A mix of Facebook’s “Friends for Sale” and maybe Monopoly (since its fake money) – it allows you to play while acquiring some kind of stock market knowledge. (at least that’s what made me interested)
Ranking, badges, points, fake money, makes this game interesting, plus, its linked to Twitter, Flickr, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube. The more social network stuff you use, the more money you have to …

30 rock hit its 100th episode this past week.  As a loyal watcher since episode one, the show already goes down in history as one of my all-time favorites (along with Arrested Development).  I read (and wrote about) Tina Fey’s new book last week and I saw Alec Baldwin interview Doug Liman at the Tribeca Film Festival last night, so I have had 30 Rock on the brain recently, even more than usual.
However, 30 Rock is a tricky show to do a top 10 list for, which I realized fairly …

My first agency was a small-ish interactive shop in Salt Lake City (that merged with a design shop in town a few months after my arrival, making it an interactive/design shop) called StruckAxiom. Steve Driggs, on of my ECDs there, taught me several very valuable lessons while I was working with him. I think the most important was something I’ve heard from many instructors in the past, as well as other luminaries and doers in the annals of history. (He, he – he said “annals.”)
The genius message: Make it happen.
Everyone …