Advertising is an Art.

This week’s downsides and upsides of a small business:

Downside: A small number of employees means deadlines seem a lot tighter.

Upside: The owners are still so in touch with their employees that they can get excited whenever someone new comes in.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned from this experience, it’s that you should always have two bathrooms—one for men and one for women. No, really though, I’ve learned that process should not rule creativity. Think about it. “Process” is such a scientific word. It’s something that can be repeated over and over again and achieve the same outcome. Creativity is nothing like that. It’s messy. Everyone knows you can’t make two paper snowflakes that are exactly alike—even if you have a “process.” How do you define the average process? I think everyone’s process is a little different. It doesn’t make sense to have x number of people following the same steps for each problem they’re given. Advertising is not a math problem. Advertising is an art assignment.

That being said, if you don’t like thinking, this probably isn’t the business for you. Some people are completely content to work 9-5 at a job they don’t particularly love and come home knowing they don’t have to think about work until they step into the office the next morning. There’s no shame in that. But in advertising, you should probably be aware of your work (on some level) at every point of your day. Inspiration and/or solutions can come from anywhere. You wouldn’t want one of those to pass you by, now would you?

Some of the best ideas are “shower” ideas.