Netherland It surprised me that a story about a Dutchman living in New York who falls in with a group of shady, cricket-loving immigrants could be so gripping. But Netherland by Joseph O’Neill is one of the most original, edgy books I’ve read in ages. Jim Davies Timbuktu I don’t remember [...]
What is your favourite children’s book? The Possum that Didn’t by Frank Tashlin Frank was a cartoon animator for Warner Brothers, wrote gags for the Marx Brothers, screenplays for Bob Hope, and directed a string of Jerry Lewis movies. This beautifully drawn and gently subversive book is laced with messages about ‘point of view’ and [...]
Which literary character would you most like to go on holiday with? Roger Horberry: Eeyore would be perfect for the Horberry family’s rain-soaked Lake District ordeal Jim Davies: Jeeves would be just the ticket. Between wry quips, he could put a perfect crease in my swimming trunks, do all the necessary grappling with sunbeds, and [...]
What book are you taking on your summer holidays? Mike Reed I’ll be taking Light, by M John Harrison, which I’m about one third of the way through. I don’t usually read space opera SF, but anything Harrison writes is worth reading. His stories in The Ice Monkey haunt me still, as do scenes from [...]
Which defunct brand do you most miss, and why? I seriously miss Woollies… and suspect many do but are too ashamed to say so. FW Woolworth, what a brand. What other brand going forward may ever again attain “the wonder of ” status? Indeed the whole notion of ‘the wonder of’ seems now purely attributable [...]
A semi-regular vox-pop feature in which 26 members voice their opinions on the ‘hot’ topics of the day… This month: Which literary figure do you think would make a good writer for business? Tom Lynham I would hire Italo Calvino for his ability to transform transience into substance. Organisations are immensely abstract institutions and the [...]
Target audiences, guerilla marketing, brand territory… should marketers be worried about using so many military metaphors? It feels a bit like wearing combat trousers. Do you actually need these pockets on your thighs and Velcro tabs at the ankles? No. Definitely not. But it’s about feeling rugged and physical: you could be dodging incoming fire [...]
‘Do you have an adjective better than merry for Christmas?’ John Simmons ‘Uneventful’ would suit me fine. After my soap opera life of the last two months, I can wish myself and family nothing better than ‘Have an uneventful Christmas’. I look forward to it. Roger Horberry It’s tempting to write something misanthropic like ‘wretched’, [...]
Business language is a rich breeding ground for new buzzwords and phrases. What’s the best or worst you’ve come across recently? There’s a terrible new piece of business jargon that I’m increasingly hearing from American based businesses. It’s ‘reach out’, typically used in a phrase like “I’ll reach out to you in the next day [...]
How important is it to have a writing outlet other than commercial work? John Simmons Vital. It’s very easy to get into a business writing rut. Fictional writing gets you out of that rut and helps improve your business writing. For the past year I’ve been writing a collection of stories that have come out [...]
Is the standard of business writing higher today than it was five years ago? Nick Asbury I think there’s undoubtedly been a general awakening about the importance of business writing over the last decade or so. For evidence, you only have to look at the proliferation of TOV guidelines, writing workshops, copywriting companies, and the [...]
Can you work with background music? And if so, what’s your pleasure? Nick Asbury I can’t, much as I’d like to. Only works if I’m doing something relatively brainless and robotic, such as invoicing or editing a 26 newsletter. Margaret Oscar No. There’s normally more than enough noise in my head to fill the office! [...]
Should foreign language entries be accepted in D&AD Writing For Design? Tim Rich No tengo ni idea como los altavoces ingleses se suponen para juzgar si un pedazo escrito en otra lengua es un ejemplo bien escrito de la escritura de diseño. ¿Usted puede tomar una vista en la disposició n y tipografía, pero cámo [...]
Does social media pose a threat to copywriters’ livelihoods? Roger Horberry By definition no. Bloggers don’t write brochures and so on. In fact the tidal wave of toss that is much social media content only makes a well thought through piece of copy seem all the more appealing. Ben Afia I think clients will be [...]
Emoticons: a useful addition to the written language, or a threat to writing as we know it? :-0 Mike Reed I started off hating emoticons. Idiotic things, I thought. People should take the trouble to write what they mean, so they didn’t have to use infantile pictures to make it clear. Now I’ve calmed down, [...]
What typeface do you prefer to write in and why? Jim Davies, totalcontent Helvetica 45 Light. Knowing the designers I work with, the copy will probably end up like that anyway. Andrew Arnold Times New Roman – otherwise known as ‘Sans Comic’. Sarah McCartney I like Gill Sans and I don’t know why. Were Ladybird [...]
Are brands (and brand writing) responsible for over-consumption? If so, what should be done about it? James Hogwood Unquestionably there are plenty of brands who fuel over-consumption, waste and materialism. But to criticise is easy, and you risk getting trapped in a binary pro-or-anti-consumerism argument. What’s more interesting to me are the brands (in various [...]
The colour of 2010, according to Pantone, is 15-5519 Turquoise. But what would be your word of the year? Martin Lee, Acacia Avenue I don’t know about the word of this year, but it feels like the word of 2009 was ‘storied’. From being a word I don’t think I’d ever heard of, it was [...]
More companies, including McDonald’s, are being moved to verse to advertise their products. Is this a welcome development? Stuart Delves Rhythm and verse are memorable. I still remember lines that my parents told me about from before I was born. “The Esso sign means happy motoring” (I can hear the tune) and “The Murray mint, [...]
Every year, copywriters go all cheesy at Christmas. Please share some of your stinkiest seasonal lines with us. Mike Reed, Reed Words Perhaps my worst Xmas line is from the heady days I worked at an agency called Other, alongside Nick Asbury, also of this parish. Desperate for a Christmas card idea, we came up [...]
