Guest Blog Post: NO FEAR
by Bernie Thornton aka @Red_Shark
Last night I received an e-mail from my friend Bernie in response to my recent blog post about D&AD New Blood and One Minute Briefs. I thought it was such a great e-mail that I asked if I could use it for a guest blog post. So here it is! Enjoy...
I read your blog post Nick; very good.
I didn’t notice the fear factor as much as you did, all the participants looked like they were having a ball to me, but you obviously picked up on it.
I agree, this fear of putting thoughts down on paper only inhibits the creative process.
If these students are saying to you that they’re not much good at this type of thing, they should be looking for another line of work!
I was always taught to, ‘Get something down on paper’ and be confident, it didn’t matter what the hell it was. Most of the work was usually on the mark, daft or not, and you never know; there might be someone around who can see something in a scribble that could end up being a top campaign. Something that may seem stupid to you at the time, but If you don’t get it down on paper, you’ll never know.
When I work with other creatives this type of thinking always loosens us up. It’s much more fun in my experience. It’s the way I’ve always worked and I still do, that’s why I like OMB – its bloody good fun and as a consequence the end results are of a very high standard.
Probably one of the daftest ideas I came up with, I remember – I did it for a joke – was a trade ad for a toothpaste. Armed with no more than a black Pentel pen, I drew a hand holding up a big tube of toothpaste with a large headline right across the top of it that said ‘Up Yours!’
Copy went on about sales up, profits up…usual trade stuff.
In less than a minute it was up on the wall, but I thought it wouldn’t stand a chance. When the account guy walked in and saw it he laughed his head off, he loved it.
I said to him, ‘Sell that to your client and I’ll buy you a drink’. He did, with no changes – I bought him two!
Sure it was daft, considered a bit rude – well, it was for the time – but it worked and it ran.
It would never have existed if there was fear.
OMB brings a bit of that fun back into the business and it showed at DandAD New Blood, where those have-a-go students really got into the One Minute Brief.
You didn’t see a miserable face on Stand 18 – well, not while I was there - and the photos prove it!
I just wonder if students are being encouraged these days to think out loud, or are being steered towards a more isolated way of working.
It’s been a long time since I’ve ever been involved with a University or a College so I wouldn’t know.
It’s something I sense though.
Thanks to Bernie for this great piece. Fear restricts creative thinking and once that is removed the great ideas will come.
by Bernie Thornton aka @Red_Shark
Last night I received an e-mail from my friend Bernie in response to my recent blog post about D&AD New Blood and One Minute Briefs. I thought it was such a great e-mail that I asked if I could use it for a guest blog post. So here it is! Enjoy...
I read your blog post Nick; very good.
I didn’t notice the fear factor as much as you did, all the participants looked like they were having a ball to me, but you obviously picked up on it.
I agree, this fear of putting thoughts down on paper only inhibits the creative process.
If these students are saying to you that they’re not much good at this type of thing, they should be looking for another line of work!
I was always taught to, ‘Get something down on paper’ and be confident, it didn’t matter what the hell it was. Most of the work was usually on the mark, daft or not, and you never know; there might be someone around who can see something in a scribble that could end up being a top campaign. Something that may seem stupid to you at the time, but If you don’t get it down on paper, you’ll never know.
When I work with other creatives this type of thinking always loosens us up. It’s much more fun in my experience. It’s the way I’ve always worked and I still do, that’s why I like OMB – its bloody good fun and as a consequence the end results are of a very high standard.
Probably one of the daftest ideas I came up with, I remember – I did it for a joke – was a trade ad for a toothpaste. Armed with no more than a black Pentel pen, I drew a hand holding up a big tube of toothpaste with a large headline right across the top of it that said ‘Up Yours!’
Copy went on about sales up, profits up…usual trade stuff.
In less than a minute it was up on the wall, but I thought it wouldn’t stand a chance. When the account guy walked in and saw it he laughed his head off, he loved it.
I said to him, ‘Sell that to your client and I’ll buy you a drink’. He did, with no changes – I bought him two!
Sure it was daft, considered a bit rude – well, it was for the time – but it worked and it ran.
It would never have existed if there was fear.
OMB brings a bit of that fun back into the business and it showed at DandAD New Blood, where those have-a-go students really got into the One Minute Brief.
You didn’t see a miserable face on Stand 18 – well, not while I was there - and the photos prove it!
I just wonder if students are being encouraged these days to think out loud, or are being steered towards a more isolated way of working.
It’s been a long time since I’ve ever been involved with a University or a College so I wouldn’t know.
It’s something I sense though.
Thanks to Bernie for this great piece. Fear restricts creative thinking and once that is removed the great ideas will come.
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