Edward Jones

This Edward Jones campaign was done by Brady Cotton (AD) and Nobuhisa Tanimoto (CW) of Brainco. Thoughts on the outdoor campaign?

Japanese Efficiency

This Toyota Prius ad was done by Glen Scott (AD) and Matt Bowne (CW) while students at Chicago Portfolio School.

An instructor of mine consistently drives home the point of brutal, pure simplicity in strategy. Is this accomplished here in your opinion?

Farming for Alternatives

These Factory Farm guerilla spots were done by Miranda Gerlock (AD) and Paul Korel(CW) while they were students at The Creative Circus. I think the first one hits home harder because the placement is more relevant.

Thoughts on these ads and the growing importance of having non-traditional media in your book.

Wrong Answers

Hey, it's casual Friday again. So something not in Ad World.

A roomate of mine created this short animation that debuted at a Fearless Film Makers festival in Minneapolis last year. This is one installment of a collection of conversations he had recorded over the years with telemarketers and wrong number calls. Thought I would share it.

Viva la Olympia

How did they get that idea?...

Well, I think...

Mission: Improbable?

This guerilla peice was done by Grace Chon (AD) of the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. To me an example of pretty cool guerilla that would probably be pretty hard to do in real life.

What do you think about hard-to-actually do alt media pieces and putting them into a student book?

Integration is Paramount

This integrated campaign for Trek II Relay was done by Alex Harvey (CW) of Chicago Portfolio School. It gives us the opportunity to talk about the importance of having an integrated campaign in your book. Alex's interests me particularly in that the only traditional media chosen was print (or poster?).

Thoughts on the importance of showing a big idea and blowing it out through different media. How valuable is it? How many integrated campaigns do you want to show typically in a standard student book?

The Uptown Effect

If you're in advertising, you shouldn't be all about advertising. That's my half-ass excuse for not posting anything today. So today, it's most definitely casual Friday. The question of the day:

• How legitimate is it to hate a team based solely on the obnoxiousness of their fans?

They key word here is solely. I certainly think that obnoxious fans can add to hating a team based on other factors (the players, the city, rivalries etc.), but can you for example, hate the Boston Red Sox or the Chicago Cubs because of the teeny-bopping, bandwagon-jumping fan base they attract?

Also, can this be applied to ad agencies? Sometimes I sense people hate on CPB because of their relatively explosive growth and popularity. Thoughts on what I call the "Uptown Effect" please.

Radio Flyer

This Radio Flyer campaign was done by Brainco graduates Paul Swiatek(CW) and Andy Westbrock(AD) as students.

Where do you go-to?

I'm stuck at dafont.com right now, searching for the font that clearly exists only in my head. I can't be the only one this happens to. So...tell me: what are your go-to sites for stock photography, free font downloads, and other ad-geek needs?

We learned way back in kindergarten how to share. Pony up. Save me.

The Impact of Interactive Social Networks

Internet social networking. Essentially, My Space and The Facebook. They are massive, with millions world wide. Reach, and involvement are incredibly high. People love branding themselves.

What is to come in terms of marketing for the present and future of this relatively new phenomenon--the possibilities seem vast. And how does that effect us as students of persuasion? Facebook executions in student books?

Air Inspiration

We all experience it, those moments when we feel completely uninspired to work on anything. When we feel we can't create something cool and original. The above two commercials are in my opinion the best Jordan commercials ever made and (among others) are what I turn to, to get me inspired, and motivated to crank out good work. God bless You Tube. What do you guys do when your brain feels like being lazy?

U.S.S. Pampanito

This one-shot for the U.S.S. Pampanito was done by Jac Madsen (AD) of The Creative Department in San Francisco. Demonstrates the 3-part headline. Fitting, or inefficient? Thoughts on the art direction.

SAS Airlines

These billboards for SAS Airlines were done by Daniel Berenson(CW) of Adhouse NYC. It demonstrates the classic lingua franca juxtaposition line. Is the execution easy, or does its simplicity carry well and hit easy? Consider the medium.

Defining Greatness

Considering the subjectivity involved in what it is we do, I've often wondered to myself what makes a great ad? Recently, I spoke with a couple writers at Martin-Williams who stressed the need for every campaign in a student book to be great.

When they know you've spent a couple years devoting your life to building a portfolio, you shouldn't just be doing good stuff. But what if some say your work is good, but others say its great? What if some don't even think its good?

I say a great ad is an ad everyone (or most everyone in the great creative schema of things) agrees is great. For example, the above headline issued in the 2000 CA Ad Annual by Carmichael Lynch--no creative in their right mind could honestly say that this isn't a great ad, or at least a great headline.

Thoughts? How do you define what a great ad is?

The Eye Bank

This ad for The Eye Bank was done by Matthew Ogelby (CW) of 101 Ad School. Thoughts on the implementation of the braille execution? Does it work here--originally? Or has braille become so used that it becomes incredibly difficult to execute without being an advertising cliche.

Wolford Nylons

These spreads for Wolford (nylons) were done by Kelly Riordan (AD), B. William Johnson(CW) and Nobuhisa Tanimoto (CW) of Brainco.

All thoughts are welcomed and encouraged as usual.

What's in YOUR book?

Long-time reader, first-time poster.

I'm an art director (I'm clearly not a writer) and I'm interested in hearing your opinions on this:

I was proposing some spec work to one of my writers last night when I realized that I had no idea what's really missing from my book. I always hear things like "Oh, you should have some travel," or "There should be a parity product," or some other blanket statement. But no one's ever said "You know, these are the categories CDs are interested in seeing," and then laid out a list.

So, what I'm interested in hearing is what you think--or what you've heard--qualifies as an even mix of clients for a student book. What do you have? What do you wish you had?