Coming up with Ad ideas
Nov 7th, 2007 by Nut
How is it done? Blasted if I know (I’ve been watching English/Australian ads so pardon the accent writing), I don’t work at an agency. Not yet, anyway.
But as I’ve been working on the idea part of my portfolio (the actual graphics of it are another story), I’ve discovered a few things that I now go by. They aren’t absolutes, just what works for me so far. Take it with a grain of salt, as I don’t have a job yet and it may be completely wrong.
- I pick a product beforehand: I used to think to myself, “What would make a great ad?” I’d think of all these abstract things that I thought were “good” and then I would try to pair it up with a product. This is wrong. First of all, it’s too broad and takes too long. Second, you are totally betraying the product by picking it randomly based on the idea of an ad and without the product at the forefront of the idea. Now I pick a product and stick to it until I have something good. I’m thinking it’s similar to the way it will work in an agency: “Here is the butt cream kid, make some magic.”
- I pick a product I believe in: Here is where the topics this blog is built around sort of intersect. Sort of. It’s the same way I go about checking out stocks: I choose companies whose product/service I am aware of, that I think offer something valuable, and that I wouldn’t mind owning myself. Many times it’s something I already use or own, like Old Spice deodorant (Pure Sport scent), Scottrade.com, or Careerbuilder.com (still waiting on that one to come through though). I know “believe in” can sound cheesy or corny or just outright vague, but it’s a starting point to keep me a little more focused.
- I try to come up with as many great ideas as I can: Can be tough, especially when you fall for an idea early on and you don’t want to move beyond it. But, like photography, quantity begets quality. I try to look at everything surrounding the product and try to come up with something new and fresh—always always always trying to keep it simple. Simple is key. Simple is hard. It’s why I like this ad so much:
– I try to get feedback and I try to put it into an ad layout: These two I sometimes do in different order, and I really don’t know which one I should be doing first. Any ideas? I want to know if it’s a good idea or not (when I should just trust my gut) before I do the graphic work. Feedback is huge here, and it’s the whole reason I started Ad Fridays.
- And this brings me to the biggest thing I’m struggling with right now: the art direction of my book (more on this specific aspect another time). It’s tough because I’m a copywriter but the idea is to get that idea, the feelings that come with it into a medium where it doesn’t lose any of its vibrancy. I look around for images that will fit in, sometimes I go on istockphoto.com and check those out. When I started (and I looked for the idea before I had a product in mind) I actually paged through magazines and cut out any compelling images that I might be able to use later on. It actually worked once—I came up with some Monster.com ads that I guess you could call my very first campaign. Maybe those will go up this Friday, I’m not sure yet.
Anyway, there it is. It’s a process that can be fun and can make you question your abilities to think creatively. But I’m doing it all between 6am and 7:45am. I can’t wait until I’m doing from 9–5 (or 8–10 as some say).
[...] 9th, 2007 by Nut I’ve already mentioned (briefly) my struggles with art direction, but I wanted to go a little more in-depth about [...]
[...] already mentioned (briefly) my struggles with art direction, but I wanted to go a little more in-depth about [...]