Siege!
And so the battle begins. One force throwing itself upon the ramparts of another. Ah, I smell the hot oil boiling now.
That is almost always how I feel as I begin a new project. You're hurling yourself, once more, into the abyss. It's exciting, the challenge rushing up towards you, but when they pour that first vat of hot oil down onto you and your brethren, ugh, time to leave.
The key, and what sets people apart is the will to stand there, run over the bodies of the wounded and dead and rush once more into the breach. Or so I'm told.
I used to work with an art director who had a fantastic approach to this. He was a former marine who fought in the Korean war. He was a nice guy and a good art director, but what amazed me was his utter lack of anger when faced with client who just refused to listen or understand what we were trying to do.
He would just laugh and say, "Well, I suppose we'll charge back up that hill tomorrow." I am trying, after 20 years of art directing, to acquire that type of peace and understanding. That doing great things doesn't really matter in the day to day of advertising. That, somehow, you have to grind through whatever clients want and at the end of they day if they get mediocre work it is no reflection upon who I am. It is only advertising after all.
Argh, just writing that makes me cringe a little.
I have always tried to put only great work in front of my clients and was always taken aback when they asked for or forced the work into the mediocre realm. I know it is something to overcome on my part. It's their money and if they want to waste it who am I to try and convince them of something different? I give it my best shot on the first, second and third tries.
What are you going to do? Me? I'm going to draw my little sketches, write my little blog, love my wife and attempt to not care. The first three I know I can do. Number four, I'm sure I'll still working on it for years to come. Ugh.
Sleep well and cheers!
That is almost always how I feel as I begin a new project. You're hurling yourself, once more, into the abyss. It's exciting, the challenge rushing up towards you, but when they pour that first vat of hot oil down onto you and your brethren, ugh, time to leave.
The key, and what sets people apart is the will to stand there, run over the bodies of the wounded and dead and rush once more into the breach. Or so I'm told.
I used to work with an art director who had a fantastic approach to this. He was a former marine who fought in the Korean war. He was a nice guy and a good art director, but what amazed me was his utter lack of anger when faced with client who just refused to listen or understand what we were trying to do.
He would just laugh and say, "Well, I suppose we'll charge back up that hill tomorrow." I am trying, after 20 years of art directing, to acquire that type of peace and understanding. That doing great things doesn't really matter in the day to day of advertising. That, somehow, you have to grind through whatever clients want and at the end of they day if they get mediocre work it is no reflection upon who I am. It is only advertising after all.
Argh, just writing that makes me cringe a little.
I have always tried to put only great work in front of my clients and was always taken aback when they asked for or forced the work into the mediocre realm. I know it is something to overcome on my part. It's their money and if they want to waste it who am I to try and convince them of something different? I give it my best shot on the first, second and third tries.
What are you going to do? Me? I'm going to draw my little sketches, write my little blog, love my wife and attempt to not care. The first three I know I can do. Number four, I'm sure I'll still working on it for years to come. Ugh.
Sleep well and cheers!
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