October 2006 Archives
The Critique
There was no escaping it; after every homework assignment, there stood the inevitable public critique. No matter the time spent perfecting technique, no matter how well the goal was explained, no matter how many upper classmen were pestered to find out the solution; still the assignment had to stand up under critique by instructor and class peers. In the beginning, squirm and persuade, explain and delay, excuses flew left and right until the obvious. Nobody accepted excuses when the design didn’t work or was unresolved. We were all in the same boat and until we all got it, no assignment escaped dissection, live dissection with the victim conscious. Of course it hurt. But you won’t find any of us on American Idol puzzled about why we weren’t chosen and arguing with the judges. By the end of the process, we all knew what worked and how to push for resolution in our work.
Control Freaks
It’s not a pretty picture; the perfectionists, the detail nuts and the anal retentive. Once you set aside the stigma and learn to read these labels as compliments, you have earned the title art director—it’s your job. This doesn’t mean you can’t be a nice guy and lavish compliments on everyone to cajole them to do their best work. Director Alfred Hitchcock was notorious for expecting upwards of fifty takes when filming, struggling for perfection. But like every good parent, sometimes he had to be the bad guy. And sometimes you have to insist on a reshoot, new makeup, a different model or change of set. It’s up to you to know the difference between solid advice from the photographer or if he’s just advocating what’s easiest for him. As the art director, everyone working on the shoot works for you and you’d better keep your wits about you, nice or not. It was that nice guy cheap printer who screwed up the last job because you didn’t know a small press can only run solids one way; and your design wasn’t going that way. And that printer couldn't be bothered to pick up the phone and let you know because he's just about cheap, not perfection. You don’t have to worry about that if you have a production manager . . . well, then, you’re just spoiled rotten and can concentrate on aesthetics, you lucky dog.
The new marketing manager for the company's most promising product had just graduated from an impressive university. He had a good education; a sign of encouragement for the team. His first meeting with in-house advertising put him off so much, he opted to hire outside services. At least with an outside vendor, he would get things done the way he wanted them done! Every bit of his margin went to cover the massive invoice that produced a mediocre print piece--all unnecessary charges, because his in-house advertising department was willing and able to create something better for a fraction of the cost. "Creative people are so difficult" was his complaint--and it is a common complaint from marketing. But it's not the creative department that's at fault. Sometimes marketing oversteps its bounds and exerts control over a project in areas where they have no expertise but still seek to control. One of twelve famous steps is "Admit the part you played" and in this case, the marketing manager arrived on the scene with unreasonable expectations; absolute and total control.
