The Tuesday Rant: Read a Few Books that Aren’t Filled with Pretty Pictures

By / October 29, 2008 /

Volume 14 In a Series By Felix

Most decent agencies, including in-house, have a solid library filled with inspirational books. But most of them are what I call the “gimme an idea” kind. You know, the One Show and D&AD annuals, the compendiums of great work from around the world, and the books filled with examples of typographic genius. And that’s just not good enough.

Early on in my career, I heard CD Peter Souter (who had just taken over from the great David Abbott) say that the only books you needed in your library were the D&AD and One Show annuals. I disagreed then, and I disagree now.

Later on, I arrived at an agency with a very different kind of library and it affected me deeply. The CD told my art director and I that we should check it out, and read at least one book every month.

“One book a month?” I thought. “No worries, I can get through one of those every hour.” Then I saw the library, and I froze. There wasn’t one annual. Not one. There were no typography books. There were no books on layout. This was a library filled with a fountain of knowledge. Here are just some of the books I remember as I skimmed though the titles:

Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind by Al Ries and Jack Trout

The Book of Gossage by Howard Luck Gossage

Hey, Whipple, Squeeze This: A Guide to Creating Great Advertising by Luke Sullivan

Confessions of an Advertising Man by David Ogilvy and Sir Alan Parker

Truth, Lies and Advertising : The Art of Account Planning by Jon Steel

The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing: Violate Them at Your Own Risk! by Al Ries and Jack Trout

The craft of copywriting: How to write great copy that sells by Alastair Crompton

Behind the Scenes in Advertising by Jeremy Bullmore

Commonsense Direct Marketing by Drayton Bird

I could go on, but you get the idea. There were hundreds of books like this, and I didn’t know where to start. This was all new to me. During my college years, the only book I had read from that list was “The Craft Of Copywriting.” Everything else had been an advertising annual of some kind, filled with glossy photos. At other agencies, it was the same.

But now I was being presented with a myriad opportunities to expand my thinking. I grabbed “Positioning…” from the shelf and took it home. I read it in three nights and was hungry for more. I was like a sponge, I soaked it up and by the time I left that agency I had read about a quarter of that library.

Ever since then, I have always picked up the books that will help me be a better thinker, both strategically and creatively. The people who create the great work you see in those annuals more than likely do the same. And if you want to create great work, it’s far better to do it on a foundation of knowledge and understanding than by simply standing on the shoulders of giants.

Not only that, but going out of your comfort zone, or your area of expertise, gives you a greater understanding of the whole process of advertising. I wasn’t exactly happy to be reading a Drayton Bird book, it was pretty dry. But when clients and account managers fired “direct marketing rules” at me, I had the ammunition to fire back; I knew the rules they were referring to, and the context. And I knew how to steer the creative back on track, speaking in a language that the client understood and respected.

Reading books on planning and positioning makes you a well-rounded creative. Far too many creatives think that kind of stuff is dull and pointless. I have bought books for my department that have remained untouched on the shelves because they were about branding; or strategic thinking; or account planning. But having a deeper understanding of all aspects of the business gives you a better chance to be successful every time you put pencil to paper.

It is not nerdy or uncool to read these books. You are not betraying your craft by reading books you would expect to find in the office of an account manager or CFO. A well-furnished mind is the greatest tool any creative can have, and that includes art directors and designers as well as copywriters.

If you want to produce work that is inspired by other creatives, go right ahead and keep flicking through the annuals, hoping that one idea in there will align with something you’re working on right now. With any luck, no-one will realize you’ve ripped it off and you may even get yourself a shiny gong.

But if you want to be the one that is inspiring others, close those books with pretty pictures and open the ones crammed with words, knowledge and insight. I guarantee, you will be creating work that is the future of this industry, not work that is a facsimile of the past.