So, it’s that time. After over three years working with Spring Design & Advertising as creative director, it’s time for me to move onto a different challenge.

It’s been a blast. There’s a wonderful group of people at Spring, and the clients that myself and the team have secured over the last few years have ranged from small start-ups that have flourished through to FMCGs and luxury brands.

Three years fly past, and not just in agency-land. In that time I’ve got married, and we’re now awaiting the arrival our first child. Which is part of the reason for my departure from Spring D&A. Being closer to my family, and having somewhere to work closer to home is at the top of my priority list.

What is the other part of the reasoning? Well, for a start taking on greater challenges and pushing myself to new levels is key to my career as a creative. This doesn’t just mean moving onto larger accounts, or dealing with bigger budgets (most of the time, quite the opposite), it means finding ways to evolve my creative processes, and deliver them in ways that are yet to even pop into my head.

Taking all of this into account, the best way for me to develop is to look at the situation from the top down, by which I mean that it’s time to start my own little agency.

Along with another brilliant creative mind and some sage advice from those with excellent business brains, early March will see the start of a new Ipswich-based creative communications agency. Condiment.

That’s all I’m going to say about who we are – or what we’re going to be doing – for now. You’ll have to just visit the new web site to see how we’re developing.

For now, just have a look at www.wearecondiment.com or just follow us to keep updated.

See you soon.

Image – http://www.flickr.com/photos/noizyboy/

Based in London and operating worldwide. Ogilvy is one of the names in the world of advertising.

Idea Shop will be in Brixton for 3 days in February. They’re open to anyone and everyone, from small businesses and social enterprises, to charities and arts projects. It’s an interesting idea, and a great CSR push. I do wonder though how much uptake there will be by the everyday SME, initiative or charity. In the advertising/creative industries, Ogilvy is a name synonymous with innovation, strategy and success, but what does it mean to the small business owner looking for advice?

Time will tell, and they’ll be updating their blog while the shop is open to demonstrate the types of people that are coming through their door.

Idea Shop, Unit 47, Brixton Village Market, London, SW9
10am-6pm, February 4th – 6th

Big pic - jSome1

See the large version on Flickr

The content of a brief varies greatly, it could be a single advert, and entire web site, or a complete re-brand. While the type of brief differs, there is one important aspect that cannot be overlooked… no brief at all.

Poorly prepared briefs are bad, but nowhere near as difficult to work with as no brief at all. While it is the responsibility for the creative team to do research under their own motivation, it is impossible for them to generate a direction for said research without a brief.

The importance of a brief also lies in detailing the production requirements for the job: format, deadline, colour usage, orientation, platform, even distribution are vital factors to be taken into account in design. If there’s no brief, it should come to no surprise that the creative misses something important.

From a client-side perspective, the origination of a brief – whether it’s written by the client, or by the agency and approved – builds in a level of protection for both parties, and a solid ground to work from. The client understands that the agency has what is required for the creative team to get cracking, and the agency knows it is working to an agreed set of definitions.

Obviously , on smaller tasks – like ongoing advertising – the project manager should create an internal brief for each ad. It’s not imperative for the client to see these, as they should be based on a larger brief that had previously determined the design and approach of the work.

When tight deadlines are introduced into a project that has no defining brief – things go wrong very quickly. With a tight deadline and no clear routes-to-solution, the entire process can fall flat on its face, fast.

See a larger version on my Flickr page | View On Black

This was brought up in a conversation the other day. It got me thinking, does this statement apply to the design and advertising industry?

In most cases, no.

Creatives and industry experts are there to benefit the client based on their perception of the brief, the client and the end-goal (usually ROI). All said and done – unless the agency or individual taken on by the client has completely missed a trick – the proposed solution of the creative/marketeer/guru should be taken on board, absorbed and (hopefully) acted upon.

Chances are the thought process of the creative team is based on a number of factors that have or have not been taken into account by the client. Not through lack of awareness or business nous, but because nine times out of ten, they are just too close to their business. The creative team do not have any of the barriers that the client usually possesses because they are seeing the requirements of the brief with a fresh pair of eyes.

Even with projects as simple as an annual report, things like cover images and headline styles need to be taken into account to ensure the right message (and quality of message) is coming across. This doesn’t just include design style but also factors of a technical nature like image quality, resolution and paper stock.

Naturally, there is a middle ground in these working relationships. Brand guidelines must be adhered to, core brand message must be maintained and the creative team must meet the requirement of the client. It is the responsibility of the creative team to both ensure these are met, and the suggestions they put forward have reason, logic and creative impact.

The responsibility of the client is equally important. They must be open to new ideas, take on board what the creative team are proposing (based on the elements above being covered) and to a certain extent leave personal opinion/pride at the door – there are more important things at stake here.

Image: 10ch