The Writer’s Coin

With this whole change to the new domain, time has been at a premium, but there is something I wanted to discuss today:

The possibility of drawing my own ads for my book.

Last week I talked about a Netflix ad (after many tries and much thought) that I really thought would work and was creative and original. The problem was, I couldn’t get a good visual to go with it. I’m not talking design or drop shadows or anything aesthetic like that, I’m talking a picture of a fat mailman looking down at the scale that’s reinforcing that he’s fat.

Just couldn’t find it.

I had kicked around the idea of drawing my own ads before, thinking that my portfolio would stand out from all the other polished, good-looking ones out there, which is good. But I also didn’t want to come across as lazy. I also didn’t want to make it look like I hadn’t tried hard enough.

So I abandoned the idea.

Last week I met someone that used to be a copywriter and he told me that it was a good idea. That that’s what he did and that it worked and that, when he hired copywriters, he focused on the concept and actually had some resentment towards polished books with mediocre ideas.

So not this idea is back in my head as a possibility. 

But the problems is still there:

Fat Mailman

I can’t draw.

The more I bang my head against the wall though, the more I’m liking this idea of putting together a book of really good ideas I really like and making visualizing them the precise way I have them in my head. Will they look as “good” as the polished books out there?

Of course not.

But, if anything, I’ll be the guy that the Creative Director is talking about when he says, “Hey Ted, you have got to get in here and check out the book this kid just sent in!”

Tags: ads, putting a book together