Dan & Amber on advertising

Dan & Amber a creative team at Y&R London gave an in depth interview for Careerplayer about their job as a creative team in advertising. It's very interesting, especially if you want to know what this job is all about. Check it out here.

Found on Biscuit Barrel

Wild Thing

A good friend of ours is looking for an Art Director in London. If you are a writer on the lookout or know anyone, let him know – creativepartner08@yahoo.co.uk

Jai & Wal

Happy New Year! С новым годом! Sal Mubharak!

The latter two are in Russian and Gujarati, spoken by the two of us. Oh and by the way the two of us are Jai and Wal. Here’s a really quick intro (a more in depth version of our saga will soon follow) we met back in college, had a ton of fun and did some pretty good work together. However life after Bucks led to a fork in the road, and we went in different directions.

Late last year our paths once again crossed and with a bit of luck we got selected for Cream 07. It kind of made us realise how much we missed ‘us’. So we made up our minds and promised that in the new year we would team up and make 2008 our year.

We’re now rested, armed and poised for what London has to throw at us, with our sleeves bursting with adventures, ideas, hunger and ambition. We hope you’ll join us for the ride. So stay tuned and get ready, Creative in London has now entered the year of the pig!

New New New

I decided that it's time for some change, so I've got myself a new haircut and lost some hair, thanks to Pimps & Pinups – great place! Together with this I got a new creative partner as well, yay! I am terrifically happy and excited. I cannot wait for January to start off in the new year and rock. Good things are about to happen, magic as a friend would say!

Who is it? We'll tell in January. Three more days at Publicis and then off to Germany for 'tis season's Christmas.

Street Creative

This topic has been covered by Scamp very good. I'd like to share my thoughts on it anyway since I'm in this situation right now.

It's tough. Choosing a new creative partner is difficult. You kind of know what you want, and what you don't. You meet a lot of diverse people, you do some trial working. Some stuff is good, some isn't. There are so many elements to it. First, it seems easy to find someone you get along with. It's much harder to find someone who you great work with. I think a good partner should be able to teach you a thing or two, and the other way round as well.

On one hand you want someone different than you, but then you need to be on the same level when it comes to liking certain ideas. Discussing and arguing is cool, when there is an agreement at some point. How different can you be? How similar should you be? It seems to be a rather difficult balance act. But to get that sweet spot right is crucial.

Having a partner who shares the same view on great advertising, is that good? Do you go with someone you do smart work with, or work that is more creative and 'different'. It all depends on where you want to end up agency wise.

Taking enough time for that process is important. Don't get me wrong, you shouldn't be sitting around for months and waiting for the perfect match to come along – always keep working. Work with as many people as possible, get the big picture. Be proactive.

Another point currently discussed with many of my friends, does the old formula or art director + copywriter still work? What about two art directors? Isn't that very helpful if you're going above the line where execution has to stand out and not much writing is necessary? Can art directors write headlines? Yes they can. Can they do it as good as a writer? It depends. I'm very curious about opinions on that.

Frankly, once you've been working with someone for a certain time and then you're on your own, it's kind of fun. But it gets boring after a while and you see the point in having someone on your creative side again.

In the end, it's all down to your gut feeling. A person who listens to you, and you like to listen to, is very valuable. Someone who is able to inspire you, is as well. It's and endless topic. Share your thoughts if you like.

Let's see where the creative partner search takes me in the end. I'm curious. It's exciting. Change is good.

Lonely Hearts Book Club

Since being a single creative I attended yesterday's Lonely Hearts Book Club, organized by NABS and The Talent Business (formerly known as Kendall Tarrant).

It was a very joyful thing to do. Speed dating for creative partners. Brilliant. Obviously, I tried to apply the tips given by Scamp. For me, finding a partner has been somehow odd so far, but very pleasurable. I've met many people, all very different, all have absolutely different work. Meeting people is probably the greatest thing about searching for a creative partner. You have a ton of topics to talk about and you get to know the person relatively quickly.

Now it's about to narrow the search down to the ones I like and do some trial working. Currently, I think it's gonna be a tough call, and an important one – looking forward to it. After that, I need to keep my fingers crossed that the other half agrees as well.

Thanks to everyone who's presence I could enjoy. I had a good laugh meeting these guys. Reminded me why I like this industry so much – the people, then the work.

Half of the cast from left: Rein, Giles, the strange guy, Shweta, Priyanka and Renee – great company

Most creative meetings end up like this