If This Is A Blog Then What's Christmas?

And other excellent lessons in this great post from Hiut Jeans.

Here’s a salutary and sobering story from the sharp end of the industry.

I guess there are a couple of points here:

The first is the obsession with the ‘importance’ of advertising. I know exactly how that feels. For years I obsessed over D&AD annuals, knew every piece of work by every half-decent team in town, and could tell you about every director from every production company on the planet. As much as something can be your life, advertising was mine, but what I didn’t know back then was the tighter I held on to the industry and its whistles and bells, the more it slipped out of my grip. I don’t mean that I didn’t do some good ads, or have a comparatively successful career; I mean that I was focussing on the wrong thing. I was, occasionally, a bit of a dick, and I fully believe that that by taking a step back from advertising I’d have been better at it.

But what the hey… I had a good time and no one got (particularly) hurt. Eventually I relaxed, stopped caring so much about the tiny things that really didn’t matter (hello, Creative Circle Bronze!) and focussed on doing proper work whose objective was to solve a client’s problems. I think that by obsessing over those minutiae less and less I gave myself the room to focus on what actually mattered, both inside and outside work.

Ultimately that’s bordering on the inevitable: you can get up a real head of steam when you start something off, but maintaining the same degree of enthusiasm for the following decades is neither easy nor healthy. Continue to do the best work you can, by all means, but I believe that keeping an eye on the context and the rest of the world is essential to making that happen.

The second point is the one about other halves:

I met my wife (we’ve been married 13 years) when I cast her in a commercial. We got engaged after five days and married after six months. Back then she got drawn into my obsession and ended up working in several production companies, eventually becoming an executive producer. So she ‘got it’. The thing was, after about ten years she became disillusioned with the industry and gave up her job to look after the kids. And she’s never been happier, nor have I and nor have the kids.

So what am I saying? That the path to happiness lies outside advertising? Not at all. But the sense of perspective that my wife and I both found around the same time made me better at my job and her better at being a mum. It’s difficult to be sure of something that never happened, but I’m certain that if I had maintained the awards minutiae drive I’d never have got to the point I’m at now, and I love the point I’m at now.

Where are you? Did an obsession leave you in a crappy place? Has your other half suffered through your dedication to something that ultimately didn’t matter? Have you ever stood at the crossroads of a Cannes Gold and a successful marriage?

What The Fuck Is My Wearable Strategy? (Thanks, W.)

Beautiful shots of Tokyo commuters (thanks, J):

A nice song to get you going:

Incredible paintings made in Excel (thanks, J).

Amazing Vimeo thing on beauty (thanks, D):

Do you want some? (Thanks, S.):

Fight club minus Tyler:

Lovely stories in the YouTube comments section (thanks, C).

Man does the Butterfield Diet (thanks, J). For those unaware, here is the Butterfield Diet:

Great fake underground signs (thanks, L).

Discarded Rolling Stones fan mail (thanks, S).

Size without size, but also with size.

Clever, well-written, funny.

I hope the public will enjoy the animatic pisstake as much as we all will.

A shirt that instantly squeezes your fat into muscles.

Here’s a great talk from Stewart Lee about the nature of stand-up comedy and how it changed so profoundly at the end of the 70s (thanks, J):

If you have the full 54 minutes, it’s all worth a watch. For the rest of you, you can skip to about 5-6 minutes in (his actual talk ends at about 34 minutes; questions follow). This is where he explains that UK stand-up comedy used to be a bunch of men in suits and bow ties standing in working mens clubs and telling the same 1000 jokes again and again, like they were a series of much-loved songs performed by skilled covers bands.

Then, following the American model of pioneers such as Lenny Bruce, the ‘alternative’ comedians came in and started writing entire shows that weren’t about one-liners, shows that could sustain a narrative thread for a couple of hours, shows that were entirely a constructed artifice (a subtler version of the kind of thing done by Al Murray).

The detail is fascinating, including how certain kinds of government benefits made it easier to spend a few years developing your act.

As a dissection of the growth and practicalities of the creative process it’s well worth a watch.

1. It must not be about what it appears to be about. The Godfather is about obligation, family, growth, proving yourself to doubters, history and many other facets of human existence. It is not about the Mafia. The Mafia is a vehicle by which the real points are transported. Michelangelo’s David isn’t a marble representation of a kid from the Bible; it’s a symbol of the defence of civil liberties. King Lear is about justice; compassion and reconciliation; appearance versus reality. It’s not about an old man who has to step down from ruling a country.

2. It must teach us something about the essence of life. See above. Lear: ‘Many a true word hath been spoken in jest’. This is really what all art is about: from stand up comedy (Lenny Bruce explaining the true function of the word ‘nigger’) to music (listen to Kooks by David Bowie. The fundamentals of parenthood are all there) and every other art form in between. If it hasn’t taught the world something, true greatness has passed it by.

3. Maximum meaning, minimum means. Anyone can explain anything in a million words. If art is going to be great it needs to rise above something within the grasp of every human being on earth. Donne said, ‘No man is an island’. Larkin said, ‘They fuck you up, your mum and dad’. Milton said, ‘They also serve who only stand and wait’. Those short sentences are so rich they say more to us than many books. Look how much personality and life Rafael brings to a single man’s face:

4. It must contain an element of originality. Just as easy as expressing a thought in many words is copying what someone else has done. You don’t have to be entirely original (after all, how many great paintings of the Virgin Mary have there been?), but you do need to bring something hitherto unseen to your art: a new perspective can be just as original as a new story or a new subject.

5. It must endure. This is why it’s hard to appraise more recent art as ‘great’: longevity is an important aspect of art’s quality. It lets us know that a fundamental truth has been expressed, one that is as relevant to a serving maid in the 1700s as it is to a newspaper editor in 2013. For every new day that we still find so much of ourselves in Othello, its greatness will continue to grow.

Your art can possess any, all or none of the above, but the greater in number and extent that it delivers, the greater it will be.

Stop these white people (especially 3&4. Thanks, J).

Romantic movie poster clichés (thanks, T).

Sugar-free Haribo reviews (thanks, J).

Biggie & Thomas (thanks, D):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6jtLAnqiiA

Lego album covers (thanks, T).

In-fucking-sane optical illusion (thanks, J):

Utterly magical: photographer inserts herself into her childhood photos (thanks, P).

Brilliant Soviet anti-drinking propaganda posters (thanks, J).

Bill Murray is very interesting (thanks, R).

How long can you listen to Michael Owen’s guided tour of Dubai without either falling asleep or committing brutal suicide? The record is 3:29. Good luck:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uD-LjX_K9Cg&feature=youtu.be

Beach Boys real recording of I Get Around:

Siri answers the deep questions.

Beautiful, heartwarming, homemade sex doll (thanks, J).

Movie quote infographics (thanks, A).

Worst food names ever (thanks, J).

Lego David Bowie:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63b4O_2HCYM

The new strategy seems to be: make a story about people getting together that is somewhat based on the name of Lynx/Axe’s new deodorant (see the astronaut one).

Okaaaaaaayyyyyy…

I mentioned this recently, but I’m just not sure what that’s got to do with Lynx.

The last one told me astronauts are the ultimate in hot men (thanks for the tip).

This one suggests that getting it on is better than war, so does that mean we should all buy Lynx, be more likely to get it on, then avoid war?

But that doesn’t really come out in the vignettes. Why does the tank woman want the tank driver, who she seems to recognise? Not apparently due to the Lynx effect.

Fuck knows.

I think I’ve wasted far too many brain cells trying to figure out something that is ultimately bloody pointless.

The shame is that they still had the core concept up to very recently (this 2012 ad is one of the best ever):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRB0i9-AUQs

Where’s The Lynx Effect idea gone, and why?

Around this time of year people seem to undergo the ultimately futile process of trying to improve themselves.

Take it from me: you’re fine as you are.

Especially you, you lovely little thing.

But if you still want to take on the battle of self-esteem vs yummy booze, here’s a little help created by my friend Oli Kellett and his partner, Stine:

You can click through the booklet here.

Good luck not being a useless shitestain!