ART & COPY

Have you seen Art & Copy? (it's streaming on Netflix) Maybe only design and/or advertising nerds have, but it's just so lovely. There is so much out there about the evils of advertising that it was nice to watch something about the creativity behind it. Even if you are not a design/advertising nerd, I think you'll like it. It goes behind the scenes of some of the most iconic ads in history such as: "Just Do It," "I Love NY," "Where's the Beef?," "Got Milk," & "Think Different." The film also talks about the history of when advertising really took off with the real "Mad Men."

My favorite quote from the movie comes from Hal Riney. Here is a snippet about him taken from the Art & Copy website:

With his folksy style and world-renowned soothing voice, which became the narration for many of his commercials, Hal Riney created some of the most emotional campaigns of the ‘70s and ‘80s for such brands as Bartles and Jaymes, Saturn and Perrier. He also helped re-elect Ronald Reagan in the 1984 Presidential elections with his groundbreaking commercial, “Morning in America.” Interviewed in his San Francisco home before his death in April 2008, Riney offers a rare look into his ideas about excellence in advertising and working relationships.

The frightening and most difficult thing about being what somebody calls a creative person is that you have absolutely no idea where any of your thoughts come from really and especially you don't have any idea about where they're going to come from tomorrow. - Hal Riney

I've been working on lots of new stuff for NSS and that quote really hits home right about now. I think a lot of people think that if you're a creative person, that means that being creative comes easily to you. Sometimes it does, but most of the time it is a terrifying process that you hope turns out some good work.