This old fart

And this how we tackle creative briefings.

I like it a little complex and apparently so do most of the guys in our creative team. Besides, it is something of a given in advertising. Communicate with wit. Be playful. Contrast for clarity. With an explosion of trickery in your exposition. But not everyone goes for it. A few are amused and applaud the effort. Most just want it straightforward. Say it as it is. Simple.

And I keep hearing this: People don't have the time to think anymore. So keep it simple.

Really?

Are we all just reflexes now? Dismissing things that demand a little of our time? And I'm also getting tired of blaming the usual suspects: technology, the immediacy of the net, Paris Hilton. Kung gusto mo, aalamin mo.

But curiosity itself (as an impulse) has become rare. I watch the kids that I'm in contact with and they have no sense of history. It's mostly all the now, and never the how or what came before. And there's a lot of who and what came before in music, comic books, literature, art, etc. Endless volumes.

This is old fart peeve at work.

So yeah, I'm peeved.

The rejects but aren't they a great looking bunch?

I had high hopes for these and I never learn (not to hope). We lost the bid so at least I get to post these lovely rejects. Brilliant art direction by Arne.

The countdown continues

I'm blaming it on the weekly comic. Ever since 52, and now Countdown, days, weeks, months have been passing faster. Which is fine, except for the getting older bit. Makes one think, if my life were a weekly serial, would it be as engaging?

Birthday celebrations have been getting more low key. I don't even remember last year but I think it was spent in bed. Sleeping, of course.

This year's was equally laid back. Lounging in the living room, beer in hand, watching Austin City Limits (Rilo Kiley and Death Cab for Cutie) and Temptation Island. Then Battlestar Galactica talk til 3 a.m. with Faye and Dodo.

Taking time to relax is a luxury. A rare, sweet luxury that my body isn't used to. I read somewhere, Reader's Digest I think, that one should relax by degrees or else the body gets shocked and gets sick. So here I am, sniffly. The price of a long vacation. The price of getting old.