http://www.cstadvertising.com/blog Creative thinking and critique from Dave Trott Mon, 08 Feb 2010 11:09:42 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en A few years ago I read an article in The Evening Standard. It was about seven masochists and seven sadists. All men, they would meet up every so often for group sex sessions. The sadists would perform various brutal acts on the masochists. One I particularly remember, was the sadists would nail the masochists' ... http://www.cstadvertising.com/blog/2010/02/back-to-the-future/ We read endless articles and interviews about how new media has changed the world overnight. Everything is totally different all of a sudden. Those who don't accept it are dinosaurs. And like the dinosaurs, they'll disappear. Personally, I think this is herd mentality. Insecure people feel safer when they group together. So these people are looking ... http://www.cstadvertising.com/blog/2010/02/new-media-isnt-new/ A year or so ago, I was standing in the agency reception in Soho reading The Sun. The TV is on, showing rolling news from CNN. Suddenly there's a news flash. A plane had just crashed into a building in Manhattan. It's only a small single-engine plane. But, because this is a couple of years ... http://www.cstadvertising.com/blog/2010/02/youre-only-ever-talking-to-one-person/ During World War 2, my mum and sister were evacuated to Wales. So my dad was living in the house on his own. Because he was alone, he tended to go to bed early. One night he was woken, about two in the morning. By the sound of a piano playing. Dad laid in bed ... http://www.cstadvertising.com/blog/2010/01/just-imagine/ There's a story I love about an ex student of mine. He was very talented, very creative, and turned into a good copywriter. He did some nice ads, and got a job at a really good agency. The CEO of this agency was very rich and famous. He noticed that Charlie Saatchi was into ... http://www.cstadvertising.com/blog/2010/01/the-creativity-of-mischief/ You start getting fired from your first job the day you get it. Because you start to relax. So you stop doing everything that got you the job. Which was whatever it takes. Working all the hours there are. Contacting absolutely every creative director you can find. Not being picky about where you work. Just wanting a ... http://www.cstadvertising.com/blog/2010/01/how-to-get-your-second-job-in-advertising/ When my kids were young they liked to dress up for Halloween. The usual thing, witches, vampires. Lots of fake blood, and pretend scars. So we'd dress the basement up with the usual props. Spider's webs everywhere, skeletons, witches, monsters. Try to make it look like a crypt or a graveyard. The main idea being to ... http://www.cstadvertising.com/blog/2010/01/imagination-v-reality/ When I was at BMP, I used to play snooker in the pub at lunchtime with my art director Dave Christensen. Dave wasn't a very spectacular snooker player. He mainly played safe shots. But he usually beat me. In fact he beat me because he wasn't spectacular. See, I always wanted to play like 'Hurricane' ... http://www.cstadvertising.com/blog/2010/01/you-cant-always-burst-the-back-of-the-net/ When I was eleven years old, I failed the 11 plus exam. Which, in my part of London, meant going to a bad school. I had the class record at school for getting caned: 20 times in one year. Not for anything violent or rude or aggressive. Just for not obeying rules. Playing about, or ... http://www.cstadvertising.com/blog/2010/01/how-illustration-class-taught-me-advertising/ This year I looked through two advertising annuals. Well actually I looked through one. The other one was impenetrable. D&AD. This used to be the first annual I turned to every year. When I was a junior, I pored over it and read every section. I couldn't have told you what won the awards, ... http://www.cstadvertising.com/blog/2010/01/a-creative-circle/