One of the big questions one faces when taking a job as a DM creative is how seriously should you take yourself?
There's a good chance you'll tell your relatives you work in advertising (you do, don't let anyone tell you different) but this can lead them to asking you if you've done anything famous. In most cases, this leaves you at something of a loss. Your mouth has written a cheque that your job can't cash.
You can't say "I did this really nice mailpack for Skoda". Because you'll get the response "Mailpack?" And then of course you're going to have to explain how marketing works and you'll be exposed as a pretentious nobhead. A pretender. A bullshitter.
I used to have a boss who could have said "I am a Creative Director of one of Europe's largest advertising networks" but instead opted for the more humble "I design junk mail". He of course sold himself short: but it tells you something about the man. He was not a twat.
How seriously should we take DM?
I consider myself an intelligent person, and were it not for considerable upheavals in my youth I would probably have entered one of the 'professions' and made a pretty good, respectable living. Instead I opted for booze, music and rejection of society. When I needed a job, I fell into DM.
So it could be argued that I am in a job that is beneath me intellectually. And I have known many copywriting collegues to whom this could equally apply.
So what does one do? Does one knuckle down and really try to revolutionise the industry? Or does one become a well-paid alcoholic who is depressed and unfulfilled?
I have personally traversed between the two. I have tried to convince people that junk mail is an unhelpful, pejorative term; that we are instead disseminating necessary and relevant communications. On the other hand, I've watched Bill Hicks, got pissed, and lamented every single soul involved in our business and hoped that they all die painfully.
But there is a third option which has struck me recently:
We don't have to take this shit so fucking seriously!
Why don't people smile in Campaign? We are not doctors or lawyers. We are not investment bankers or actuaries. Nothing in our business gets better by taking it seriously.
Another boss of mine used to tell me "you get paid to muck about".I love that sentiment.
DM is not as glam as above-the-line advertising; it's not as intellectual as pshychiatry; it's not as popular as being a nurse. What it is, however, is a fucking riot.
We are not making the world a better place - sorry, charity copywriters. We are not creating high art - sorry, automotive art-directors. We are just doing a meaningless job which pays well and allows us the privelege of being surronded by interesting creative people.
The fact that we create shit - and be in no doubt about this, it is shit - is neither here nor there. It is difficult to do well and allows creative people to make good money simply for being talented.
There's a good chance you'll tell your relatives you work in advertising (you do, don't let anyone tell you different) but this can lead them to asking you if you've done anything famous. In most cases, this leaves you at something of a loss. Your mouth has written a cheque that your job can't cash.
You can't say "I did this really nice mailpack for Skoda". Because you'll get the response "Mailpack?" And then of course you're going to have to explain how marketing works and you'll be exposed as a pretentious nobhead. A pretender. A bullshitter.
I used to have a boss who could have said "I am a Creative Director of one of Europe's largest advertising networks" but instead opted for the more humble "I design junk mail". He of course sold himself short: but it tells you something about the man. He was not a twat.
How seriously should we take DM?
I consider myself an intelligent person, and were it not for considerable upheavals in my youth I would probably have entered one of the 'professions' and made a pretty good, respectable living. Instead I opted for booze, music and rejection of society. When I needed a job, I fell into DM.
So it could be argued that I am in a job that is beneath me intellectually. And I have known many copywriting collegues to whom this could equally apply.
So what does one do? Does one knuckle down and really try to revolutionise the industry? Or does one become a well-paid alcoholic who is depressed and unfulfilled?
I have personally traversed between the two. I have tried to convince people that junk mail is an unhelpful, pejorative term; that we are instead disseminating necessary and relevant communications. On the other hand, I've watched Bill Hicks, got pissed, and lamented every single soul involved in our business and hoped that they all die painfully.
But there is a third option which has struck me recently:
We don't have to take this shit so fucking seriously!
Why don't people smile in Campaign? We are not doctors or lawyers. We are not investment bankers or actuaries. Nothing in our business gets better by taking it seriously.
Another boss of mine used to tell me "you get paid to muck about".I love that sentiment.
DM is not as glam as above-the-line advertising; it's not as intellectual as pshychiatry; it's not as popular as being a nurse. What it is, however, is a fucking riot.
We are not making the world a better place - sorry, charity copywriters. We are not creating high art - sorry, automotive art-directors. We are just doing a meaningless job which pays well and allows us the privelege of being surronded by interesting creative people.
The fact that we create shit - and be in no doubt about this, it is shit - is neither here nor there. It is difficult to do well and allows creative people to make good money simply for being talented.
Why justify what we do when we can simply enjoy it?
Any passionate DMers care to disagree?
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2 comments:
I consider my work to be something between a craft and art.
Mind you most art is shit.
We are definitely craftsmen and artists. I think it's more the work itself that we can't take too seriously. It's difficult and it takes a lot of skill. But just a bit rubbish when you view the bigger picture.
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