What is Heaven?

Heaven is a place where you write advertising about baseball. You therefore combine the two most enjoyable activities known to mankind.

Okay, that's a slightly biased belief. But it's my belief, so live with it. Once upon a time at another agency, I wrote ads promoting Major League Baseball. A swell gig. Spend a week in Florida during Spring Training filming players, then swing over to Arizona and do the same thing. I played catch with Ozzie Smith, interviewed and recorded Cal Ripken, and the list goes on. Picked up a lot of autographed baseballs in the process.

So, not long ago, I went to heaven again -- even if it was just for a few pro bono posters to promote the Salt Lake Community College baseball and women's softball programs. No budget. No access to players. No new photography. Didn't matter. I was writing about baseball. So with the help of ACD Dave Larson and illustrator/intern Destin Cox here at Richter7, we prepared several posters -- designed within the college's brand style guidelines that features drawings, handwritten type and a dusty gold color palette. (Click to enlarge.)

They're simple. But they're ads about baseball. And that means I went to heaven.

Where Ideas Come From

KEY FACT: You can't extract something from your head that's not already in there. That is a particularly important point for those of us involved with conjuring up ideas. Therefore, as one of my early mentors proposed:

Think of your mind as a computer. It's being fed information constantly. Don't put the intake button in neutral and most importantly, DON'T EVER PUSH THE OFF BUTTON.

Quotes of the Day

Over the years I have kept track of what I judge to be inspirational quotations from leaders, past and present, in the ad business (mostly). I have roughly 250 pages worth, a healthy handful of which are taped to my office wall. Rather than let them simply molder in a file, I thought I'd pass a few along in hopes you might find them as motivational as I have. Even if you're not associated with the MAD MEN society, there still may be something of value. Here goes:

“Train, eat your vitamins, say your prayers, and believe in yourself.”
Hulk Hogan

"Talent alone doesn't really count for much. Success comes from focusing single-mindedly, with the intensity of a laser, on your craft, on your goal. It's not complicated; you just decide what you want to do, where you want to go, what you want to acheive, and then don't let anything or anyone distract you."
Andy Berlin

“An idea that is not dangerous is unworthy of being called an idea at all.”
Oscar Wilde

“Merely to let your imagination run riot, to dream unrelated dreams, to indulge in graphic acrobatics, is not being creative. The creative person has harnessed his imagination. He has disciplined it so that every thought, every idea, every word he puts down, every line he draws makes more vivid, more believable, more persuasive the product advantage.”
Bill Bernbach

“There is no such thing as a me-too product, just me-too advertising.”
Tom McElligott

“Shake the Etch-a-Sketch in your head, start over constantly, and come at the problem from wildly different angles. Don’t keep sniffing all four sides of the same fire hydrant. Run through the entire neighborhood.”
Luke Sullivan