Photo Shoot 2
An unfortunate fold created an embarassing gap in the model's pants, making it appear as if they were unzipped. I spotted this just as the photographer snapped a polaroid. I mentioned it to the stylist—who immediately alerted the model. “Oh, that isn’t necessary,”said the elderly man, “you can stick your hands in there. I don’t mind being touched.” The stylist discreetly declined, suggesting he take the pin into the men’s room to made the adjustment.
Part of being an art director is preparedness (and to borrow a tidbit from Gene Roddenberry, creator of Star Trek, “to boldly go where no (wo)man has gone before.” Especially on photo shoots, where every mismove costs someone money or time, every save of the day keeps things smoothly running and on track. One company finally relented and agreed to use a professional photographer for their corporate head shots; yes, I finally convinced them that K-mart Dave’s Wedding Photography no longer suited their corporate image. Laugh if you will, monkey boy, but it happens more often than we would like to admit. How could anything go wrong? Anything that involves human behavior seems to encourage the unpredictable.
The informational memo signed by the Chief Executive Officer went out to participants: All division Vice Presidents, Corporate Officers and location managers were given a list of wardrobe requirements. This included personal hygiene (get a haircut, shave, etc.) as well as what was unacceptable (Auntie Geraldine’s neon paisley tie from last Christmas). The main requirement was a white shirt and conservative tie to enhance their reception at the NYSE (New York Stock Exchange) for their IPO (Initial Public Offering). This isn’t part of an art director’s job? You wouldn’t presume to suggest it to your corporate culture? Sweetie, get out your whip—think of it as whipping them into shape for public consumption. Bill Gates was notorious for forgetting to bathe, brush his teeth or change his clothes during the early years, and I guarantee he regrets some of the pictorial evidence of those times. You will, too, as those enduring pictorials of your art direction history follow you and your subjects throughout your career.
The day of the shoot, the VIPs arrived, mostly well coifed and cooperative, knowing we were a team of professionals there to insure they looked their best—all except one guy. His company was a recent acquisition and he dragged his feet throughout due diligence and the transition after the merger. Naturally, he expressed his passive-aggressive tendencies at the shoot by showing up in a yellow shirt, madras sports coat and garish mango tie but had no shame about admitting he had, indeed, received the memo. I displayed an unusual calm by supplying him with a generic white shirt and 3 more appropriate ties to choose from, and a borrowed jacket. The shoot went smoothly, but his non-cooperation was noted by senior management. It was the first of many indicators, including sabotage and meddling at the local level which led to his eventual dismissal. There was no golden parachute for him, just a mango-paisley splat.
Controlling image by controlling variables is the art director’s job, as well as controlling subliminal parts of the shot. And like I said, any time human beings are involved, look for an element of surprise. Financial backers as well as financial institutions deplore surprises. One mango tie in a group of conservatives shouts “this guy is not part of the team” so maybe the team isn’t a good team; and that frequently leads to “maybe we shouldn’t invest in this company.”
With under 3 seconds* to influence viewers, art directors must use every possible angle to make images deliver the desired message, control impressions and construct a believable reality for the client. For art directors in advertising, truth in advertising is an oxymoron, almost as good as mandatory option. The client comes to the ad agency with his truth my product is the best and expects the art director to create it. More corporate stability is built on typeface selection (Copperplate is a good choice for IPOs), adherence to financial traditions in dress and behavior and marketplace identity development than business acumen. If you’re in that game, make your subjects use a full Windsor knot when wearing a tie to show balance, a white shirt with a French cuff which is de rigueur for the financial district, and realize, as the art director, that any variation from the norm indicates instability. In other words, don’t design a logo for a building company that uses a letter precariously dangling from a crane. It will fill onlookers with a sense of instability which they associate with the durability of the structures your client builds. We deal in emotions; something most of the corporate world seeks to repress during the normal course of business. As the art director, you may have to argue your case because of their bias. Remind them how first impressions matter when asking someone to invest, and make them realize that tips from a good art director will make all the difference.
Finally, sometimes the simplest thing can save the day. The concept was direct; the visual was a nurse giving the good news to an elderly patient face to face. How hard is that? Part of an art director’s job is to coach actors into emoting the required expression before it’s captured on film or disk. No matter what I said, this otherwise qualified actor could not exude believable elation. When in doubt, ask. Turned out, standing face to face inches away from horrible halitosis made happy hard. A couple of breath mints saved the day, so I always keep a pack in my art director’s emergency kit (use Altoids for carb conscious models). Look for details on what’s in my art director’s emergency kit in future blogs. And for those of you who have read this far, there's a new POD cartoon tucked away on the BIO page at my website just for cat lovers.
*Focus group studies have shown target audiences allow 3 seconds of attention for each media type competing for their time. Smart art directors deliver the message via image or type within that time limit or risk missing the chance.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: If you enjoyed this article, you'll enjoy my book, too, because it's filled with great links and a full spectrum of experiences that will prepare you to face the unknown in freelance and the world of design. Even if you've been freelancing for years, you'll find new information and a trustworthy mentor to stand by your side through thick and thin in Start and Run a Creative Services Business. Excerpts are available online at my website.
Technorati Profile
About "K-Mart Dave," why is it so difficult to get clients to undertake or agree to professional photo shoots? These days, there always seem to be hurdles.
Yes, yes, everyone "knows" that stock pix are cheaper. Sometimes. But not if you're going to run a stock photo in an ad in The Wall Street Journal.
Frequently, it's not the money. It's the degree of difficulty: clients don't want to go to the trouble of getting shots set up, or cannot properly arrange the details. Recent example: a client is finally convinced that a professional photographer must travel to a remote location to shoot a specific piece of equipment. Everyone agrees. Photog arrives in the back of beyond - no equipment. It was pulled out the day before and sent to another job in the next state.
Sometimes, it's not the degree of difficulty. It's disagreement about people who don't "look like" the client's people. Among international companies, this happens when we use American models (of every ethnic and racial background). Overseas business units maintain that the models look American, no matter what flavor of human we're using. And this is true: Americans do look different than native-landers. It's a matter of straight, white teeth, clear skin and eyes.
There are so many challenges that some clients give it up. So we become "enablers." It is up to the creative team (creative director, account manager, designer or art director, even copywriter) to make the best expression of the corporate brand, position or product as pain-free as possible. In addition to Altoids, we all need to carry aspirin in our emergency kits.
When the decision to use a vendor is being made by men (and most business leaders are men), generally it isn't a good idea to bash all males in a column promoting your professionalism.
Using anecdotes that make men look like dolts traditionally is reserved for sitcoms written by someone trying to get a cheap laugh from the women watching the program. Frankly I'm sick of it. If this is the height of the women's movement -- to get some clucking at the expense of the other gender-- you've haven't come a long way, baby.
I don't claim to speak for anyone but me. I've worked for 20 years in public relations agencies and assure you that insulting men in business isn't going to get the phone ringing anytime soon...at least not from men in business.
I suggest that you review what you wrote with a male client and ask him to critique your cheap shots at men. Or sign up for a seminar on sensitivity training and stereotyping.
Unless, of course, you expect to succeed without half of the world's population and most of the business community as your clients.
SDK responds: You must have missed the pro-penis blog titled Weiners and Buns Stateside.
Well, that's an odd comment, JM. There were a lot of people mentioned in this column and most didn't have their gender mentioned. Nothing negative was said about the stylist, the photographer, senior management, a CEO, VIPs, and art directors. Are you assuming they were all women? Something negative was said about the nurse. Are you assuming the nurse was male, too? There were a couple examples from the author's experience that involved a man, and a mention of Bill Gates. As for the first, that seems strange to me: "Speak of your experiences in a predominantly male business world (middle management and above) but make sure to pick an even number of stories about men and women if you say anything negative." It seems to me that, to be fair, the number of negative stories should reflect the ratio in the population, and her article seems to do exactly that. As for Bill Gates, gee, I see men in blogs saying negative things about Bill Gates all the time. I don't think it would even occur to most people reading this that men were being singled out. When I read it, I didn't even think of gender. But, when I went back over it after reading your comment, I see a normal photographer, normal upper management, and so forth, and no reason to assume they are women. You yourself refer to men as comprising "most of the business community." I think you are reading things into the piece that aren't there.
I have to agree with Carolyn, JM. I don't feel that Susan's post contained any particular gender bias. Nor did I, as a long-time participant in the advertising business, take her anecdotes as anything other than instructive examples.
You're completely full of **it. And you take yourself way to seriously.
Author's response: My life, my work, my choice. Lucky for me, kid, you don't rule the world. Writing instead of saying it out loud is weasel-like. I live out loud and then I write about it. So who's full of it?