Magazine

Job Description: Marketing Manager.

Workshop

How to... Create a good first impression at interview.

by Creativepool. We've all heard that first impressions count and never is it more true than for an interview. If 70% of a first impression is based on appearance and body language, then dressing appropriately for your interview is of the upmost...

Features

5 Minutes with...David Dalley, Creative Director and Fine Artist

by John Fountain. Following a successful career as an award winning creative director, David is now a successful fine artist. Here he talks about his career, his travels and how things have changed over the years. So how would you describe your day...

Features

Taxing. What we can learn from the Starbucks fiasco.

by Magnus Shaw. There's only one thing that surprises me about the Starbucks saga, and it isn't their reluctance to pay tax. As large corporations are only really answerable to shareholders, that is to be expected. No, it's the fact they thought...

Features

Over promise, under deliver. How lazy clients kill campaigns.

by Magnus Shaw. A couple of years ago an ailing roadside restaurant chain called in a radical TV chef to boost their menu and therefore their revenues. They refurbished some tired looking outlets, hired new people and ran a fairly hefty marketing...

Features

Off and On; The twisting tale of the ITV logo.

by Magnus Shaw. Perhaps surprisingly, there's only been an official ITV logo since 1989. Until then, the network was divided into autonomous regions, each with their own brand. If you're in your thirties or forties you'll remember your own - Thames...

Features

The good book. The problem with a copywriter's portfolio.

by Magnus Shaw. Here's a problem which only came to my attention this week. Actually I think it has been lingering in the back of my mind for a couple of decades, but it only came into focus a couple of days ago. Because I write columns here and...

Inspiration

Spotlight: Aindri Chakraborty

Website: aindri.com Creativepool: creativepool.com/aindri Facebook: www.facebook.com/aindri "I am an illustrator/designer/animator gathering experience in different sectors since 2006. My creative practice so far has covered education, television...

Workshop

Freelance Landscape - freelance creatives are in demand and here's why

by Ross Taylor, Managing Consultant, Purple A couple of years ago, freelancers in the creative industries were really suffering - clients were cutting costs and freelancers' day rates were being pushed down. In fact freelancers were even...

Features

How to... Work from home effectively

by Ashley Morrison. One of the perks of being a freelancer is the ability to work from home. I love it. No arduous daily commute (and related expenses, obviously), no noisy work colleagues, and seriously good coffee on tap when I want it. But in...

Features

Clay Marzo. Creativity in a 6ft wall of water.

When it comes to surfing, Clay Marzo is unique. He has revolutionised the sport and taken it to a whole new level. In fact, he has pioneered moves so original and complex, that other surfers simply look on in wonder. The "Marzo Reverse" is one such...

Features

Ten reasons to quit your job.

by Ashley Morrison. There are many reasons why, according to a recent poll by Forbes, 74% of people would consider changing jobs. One would like to think that this is just because they want to move onwards and upwards in pursuit of an ever-more...

Leaders

Lovie Awards Winners Announced

SoundCloud, VICE, StumbleUpon, Akestam Holst awarded alongside Special Achievement Honourees Stephen Fry and Professor Heinz Gerhäuser & Team, creators of the MP3 file format. On the 16th October the International Academy of Digital Arts and...

Features

Spotlight: Alex Donne-Johnson

Alex Donne-Johnson is a multidisciplinary creative living and working in London. His work has been featured in numerous magazines and books. Computer Arts magazine named him a 'Leading creative' and he's been hired directly by clients such as adidas,...

Features

Have Obama supporters created the most insulting ad of all time?

by John Fountain. Reading the comments, it seems that quite a few people think the Obama ad that repeats the line 'Wake the Fuck Up' is pretty funny. Many are saying that for the first time someone has made a political ad that they get, and like,...

Workshop

Opinions - Who cares what you think, Mr. Freelancer?

by Ashley Morrison There are a great many perks to being a freelancer (if you’re regularly employed, obviously). A lot of variety, regular change of scene if you work on site for multiple clients, working days to suit your personal schedule,...

Workshop

Opinions - Did you make the right choices at the start of your career?

by John Fountain Do you remember what it was like when you started out? If you were anything like me you probably focused on getting the basics right. Becoming good at the key elements of the job. Making sure that you were employable rather than...

Industry

London Fashion Week 2012

It’s that time of year when the world’s leading fashionistas descend on the capital to let the high street know what everyone should be wearing this season. According to the 2010 Value of the UK Fashion Industry report, British fashion is...

Workshop

Opinions - Copywriters: Are you Mac or PC?

by John Fountain A few months back I started a new full-time job. Now, I won't get myself into trouble by naming the agency, but it didn't quiet work out the way I would have liked. So after 10 days into the job, I quit. The problem was that this...

Workshop

Opinions - Working capital. Do you have to be in London to be a proper creative?

by Magnus Shaw Paul Burke is a writer and producer with AMV BBDO. In a piece for The Drum and Creative Circle magazines on 28th August he wrote this: "If you work in advertising and call yourself a creative, why on earth would you move away from...

Inspiration

CP Loves... Designers In Residence at the Design Museum.

by Jessica Hazel. Today marks the opening of the 5th Annual Designers In Residence exhibition at the Design Museum. The 2012 brief, entitled "Thrift," invited designers to explore whether or not it is more difficult to produce a refined design for...

Workshop

Opinions - Help yourself. Is it ever okay to nick an idea?

by Magnus Shaw An enormous advertising company (Leo Burnett) and a small creative film company (Asylum) have had a difficult couple of weeks. It's a tangled tale but essentially Asylum produced a film for the McDonald's charitable foundation for Leo...

Workshop

Opinions - Cut! Why the cinema is the last place you should watch a movie.

by Magnus Shaw When Matt Pledger posted this https://www.facebook.com/ODEON/posts/523396924342167 he couldn't have imagined he'd attract 120,000 "likes"and 10,000 comments, but perhaps he shouldn't be surprised. Almost anyone attending a multiplex...

Workshop

Opinion - The will to live. How complacency is ruining retail.

by Magnus Shaw I hope you enjoyed your Bank Holiday, thunder storms and all. I did some light shopping on Sunday, such is my hectic rock and roll lifestyle. My good lady wife and I wanted to make a couple of specific purchases: some reading glasses...

Workshop

Opinions - Sign here. Introducing the new freelance/client contract.

by Magnus Shaw Freelancing - it's a tough old game, eh? You don't know if you're coming or going half the time. Working in your jim-jams one day, sipping a latte in a la-di-da marketing agency the next. Occasionally you even miss "Cash In The...

Workshop

Opinions- Your move. Losing your job before it has even begun.

by Magnus Shaw Writing in The Drum this week, Phil Haselhurst describes how his determination to climb the career ladder brought him to grief. He had a decent job with an agency he liked - good team, lots of experience, satisfying work. But, not...

Workshop

Online resources for better freelancing

Is it a good time to be a freelancer working at creative agencies at the moment? It's a question that seems to get very varied responses as everyone's situation is different, and the availability of work is spread unevenly across the disciplines this...

Workshop

Opinions - Doing bird. Should Twitter be policed?

by Magnus Shaw In the early hours of this morning Dorset police arrested a 17-year-old boy. It's alleged he sent a tweet to Olympic diver Tom Daly which read "You let your dad down I hope you know that." Daly had finished fourth in the Men's...

Workshop

Training is an investment, not an unnecessary cost.

by Mark Young, Academy Class. In difficult economic times employers can be forgiven for looking at their expenditure and deciding that some things are easier to do without than others. While utility bills and direct employment costs are unavoidable,...

Workshop

Opinions - Sharpe practice. Can we be creatives without sounding like idiots?

by Magnus Shaw If you've been following the BBC's peerless Olympic comedy "2012" you'll be more than familiar with Siobhan Sharpe and her empty-headed, rapid-fire marketing eyewash, delivered to perfection by the superb Jessica Hynes. Anyone who...

Workshop

Opinions - Are creative people more likely to lie and cheat?

by John Fountain A few years back a copywriter, who shall remain nameless, took it upon himself to take a piece of my work and put it on his website. He claimed that he had a right to do this because he was involved in the creative process, although...

Workshop

Opinions - Wright ore rung. Does spelling really matter?

by Magnus Shaw Browsing through my emails this morning, discarding increasingly bizarre spam along the way, I was struck by a common element. Of the dozen or so genuine messages, over half contained basic spelling mistakes. I wasn't particularly...

Industry

Speakers Corner with Creativepool

With the amount of likes and comments we can all do now on the internet, the art of being able to get your point across in a face to face environment seems to be getting lost. So to counter this culture of 140 characters and faceless avatars we are...

Workshop

Opinions - Trouble downstairs. How FemFresh got their knickers in a twist.

by Magnus Shaw Last year I wrote a column on a brilliant campaign for Mooncup - an alternative female sanitary device. The brand's wit and frankness were refreshing and the correspondence I received suggested the gadget has many fans. And now a...

Features

Spotlight: Ben&Brian

"We genuinely love what we do - as long as we can inject some good creative thinking, we're happy." Creativepool meets Ben Stainlay and Brian Jefferson - better known as wonderful wordsmiths Ben&Brian - to talk cross-platform creativity,...

Features

5 Minutes with... Euro 2012: flags with a twist

by Ashley Morrison As Euro 2012 draws to a close, and while we lick our wounds and I am constantly reminded that being called 'Ashley' is not exactly a blessing right now, thanks to Messrs Cole and Young you may find some artistic Euro 2012-based...