Breaking In

Ji Lee is a Creative Director at Facebook, and formerly at Google Creative Lab. He is known not only for his fantastic advertising and design work, but also for his many independent projects. The first one to be picked up widely in the media was “The Bubble Project.” Ji pasted over 50,000 bubble stickers on top of ads on the streets of New York and invited the public to write on them.

All-In-One Card Stamp

“Univers Revolved” – 3D Typeface

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In case you missed it, check out some of Ari’s work here.

[Interviewed at Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Miami]

AM: …I want to be surprised and entertained when I look at your book. First, I want to know that you know how to engage an audience. After that, I want to see that you have a good understanding of the people you are trying to reach. If the book has both of those things, then yeah, I’m impressed. You’ve managed to get my attention, and at the same time, demonstrate just how insightful you can be. You’ll probably be getting a phone call. But then, if your clever, insightful book is also a well-crafted one, you’ll have this creative director at your doorstep on his knees, begging you to come work with him.

WS: How important is finish? If ideas are the most important thing, can
sketches be enough? Do you look at actual books anymore, or is it all
websites?

AM: Back in the day, I remember spending hundreds of dollars on
thick laminations and felt backings, so as not to scratch the laminations,
for each one of the ads in my book. Today, such an expense is highly
unadvisable, given the opportunities you have to present yourself digitally.
Online portfolios and PDFs are faster, more efficient, and cheaper to
produce and send. Your student work won’t stay in your book forever, so
don’t bother with the fancy portfolio case. There’s no need to spend all
that money on packaging. Spend it on important things like food, rent, and
finding out Gerry Graf’s home address.

As for your ideas, well, that’s another story. The care and thoughtfulness
you put into executing your work matters. Every ad is an opportunity to
show your love for your craft. And no, it doesn’t mean I won’t take your
book seriously if it’s made out of cocktail napkins. I’ll probably look at
that one too. But it does help to know you take your work seriously. Well-
crafted writing and art direction say a ton about your talent and work
ethic. And to be honest, nobody has ever sent me a book made from
napkins.

WS: How important is copy? Do you need to see long-copy ads?

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Ari Merkin is Chief Brand Officer at Ten, Ft. Lauderdale and former Executive Creative Director at Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Miami.

Ikea – “Lamp”

Truth – “Body Bags”

Starbucks – “Glen”

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Take a look at some great TV from Goodby Silverstein & Partners.

WS: What do you look for in a student book? And what impresses you?

JG: I look for things that no one I know, even myself, would ever come
up with. If your solution is something that your friends or family might
come up with, throw it away.

WS: How important is finish? If ideas are the most important thing, can
sketches be enough? Do you look at physical books anymore, or is it all
websites?

JG: I look mostly at digital books these days, but that doesn’t mean
there wouldn’t be a notable place for a portfolio put together with Skil
Saw, Dremel tool, and black masking tape.

Finish isn’t important to me because I can imagine what the thing might
be like. But the majority of creative directors care about finish, I think.
They see it as a demonstration of taste and hand skills.

WS: How important is writing? Do you need to see long copy?

JG: How important is writing? Really? It’s the way we communicate and
organize ideas. Even if you’re writing with pictures, you’re writing.

I like to see some long copy because I believe that people who can write
longer-form stuff are better at writing short form too. They know what to
take out.

WS: What do you think of showing work that is not advertising?

JG: I love it. Much better than showing that Bagel Bites retail thing that
never quite got produced.

WS: Do you have any other advice for a student or junior trying to get
into the business?

JG: Try to look at the world through the eyes of a busy creative director
who doesn’t really care who you are. As David Ogilvy said, “When selling
fire extinguishers, open with fire.”

But first, enjoy a few great spots from Goodby, Silverstein & Partners.

Saturn – “Sheet Metal”

Got Milk? – “Aaron Burr”

Got Milk? – “Birthday”

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If you missed the last post, check out some Tony Granger TV spots here.

TG: …The people who succeed are naturally inquisitive. They hang onto their childlike enthusiasm about the business. They have an instinctive feel for innovation and an innate comfort with technology.

I think it’s also important, if you’re a student, to thoroughly dissect the
media landscape today and know what’s happening—who’s doing what,
which agencies are the best, what kind of work is getting the accolades,
what people are buzzing about on blogs. Schools can teach you a lot, but
you’ve got to have a natural passion for the work and lots of motivation.

WS: Some people say the idea is the most important thing. That’s the only
thing they care about. Where does craft fit in? Are they both important? Is it
enough to have the big ideas, or do you also have to have the craft as well?

TG: Both are important, absolutely. But you have to be careful about
what you think craft means. People often think craft means “beauty.”
But it’s really about having the talent to create something completely
appropriate to the idea. Is it right to use 16mm film, or more appropriate
to shoot with a hand-held? Does the work call for elaborate typography,
or are you going to spray words on a wall? So you have to have both lots
of knowledge and great instincts. Craft is the window to an idea, not the
wallpaper around it.

WS: It seems like it is getting harder and harder to get into the business.
What does it take to stand out at that level?

TG: You need to be enthusiastic. Passionate. Your work needs to be
brilliant. But maybe the most important thing, really, is to have a wide-
eyed enthusiasm about our business. That’s what’s going to make the
difference.

WS: Is it important to have a mentor, and if so, how can a student hook
up with someone who’s already in the business?

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Here are a few videos to set the mood.

Crest

Folgers

Land Rover

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For a little pre-interview inspiration, check out some classic Nike work in yesterday’s post.

DW: …I like to see the book before I meet the people because I’m too easily swayed by the personality. But what I look for in the book is that personality. I want to see if there’s a voice there that’s unique or an eye that sees the world a little bit differently, and has a unique sense of taste, and color, and all that kind of stuff. Or a way of talking to people that is unique to them. I think those traits make for much more interesting advertising or art. I really want to know more about who they are and what they’ve done, almost to get a sense of what their life experiences are.

WS: So the personality and the voice are really important?

DW: Right.

WS: So a lot of people would say, “But don’t you want a variety of voices, so that you can write for anything, or art-direct for anything?” How does that fit with what you just said?

DW: I want a very specific voice and that’s our job to make sure we can find some place that that works. When you take Nike, Nike has [many different voices]—primarily because they’re appealing to so many subsets of an athletic audience. Tennis players are far different from runners, or basketball players. And all brands have some similar sort of latitude. Times when they’re funny and times when they’re more serious. So my passion is for the individual talent, and we’ll find that place to plug it into.

WS: How important is the finish of a book?

DW: Well, for a writer, not at all. I mean, Jeff Kling can tell you, the book he sent me was a joke. It was all [sketches]—although he’s a pretty damn good cartoonist—and it was extremely rough, but you could just feel the idea there. But I think when you look at the art side of the equation, you expect a little bit more of a sense of, “What are you capable of, and what’s your aesthetic range, and what kind of finish do you feel more comfortable in?”

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Time to get excited. Tomorrow’s interview will be with Dan Wieden. (In the unlikely event you don’t know the name, he wrote “Just do it”.) Because his agency, Wieden+Kennedy, has so much amazing work, we’re going to narrow it down for this post to “just” classic Nike TV spots. There is still way too much. But here are a few.

“Bo Knows”

“Frozen Moment”

“If You Let Me Play”

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In case you’re not familiar with it, check out some of David’s work in yesterday’s post.

WS: What do you look for in a student book? And what impresses you?

DD: It depends on what needs we have. For me, the most important thing is—and there’s a couple of high-level generic things—but I’ll drill down. Obviously, there’s no question it comes down to their thinking, and the diversity of their thinking, and the originality. I think a lot of students spend their time trying to emulate what’s been done before, and to be on a level that’s in sync with the certain agencies that they’re going into, or stuff that’s won awards in years gone by. And for me, it’s not about that. For me, it’s about the broadness of their thinking and really just seeing how they tackle something in a lateral way.

Obviously, being a student is a fantastic thing because you can cherry-pick any brand and work on anything, right? The canvas is huge and completely open-ended. And I think I like to see the degree of difficulty that they put in their book as well. I said the broadness of their thinking, and how they’ve brought it alive in more than just a couple of mediums. For me I’m not seduced by the finish of the work. If I’m looking for someone as a designer then I want to see aesthetic sensibilities and all that sort of stuff. But if I’m looking for someone purely on a conceptual level, I really don’t care how it’s mocked up. It’s more just to see the diversity and the degree of difficulty. Because, as I said, I’m a classical advertising guy. I was sort of brought up in, and built my career on, TV and print. But now, particularly with what we’re trying to do now, while we still do that and I still believe in that strongly, there’s so much more out there than that. So I want to see the different canvases that people play on. That’s what I look at. And the thinking within those.

WS: You mentioned the finish of the work. What about just sketches? Can that be enough these days?

DD: It can be enough. There are some books that I’ve seen where the finish is so extraordinary. They’ve put so much effort into how they’ve mocked something up and brought it to life. But the idea—the foundation of the idea—is so rubbish. So I feel bad for them that they’ve wasted so much time. Again, if it’s someone who’s going to have a heavy art-directional role or a design role, then I want to see their eye. No question. But if it’s a conceptual thing, I don’t care if it’s on a…I mean, in London I’ve hired people who literally did have, almost, scraps of paper. Maybe that was a statement [from] them, but it was original. But it was what was on those scraps of paper.

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