11.25.2008

Futility and Passion

I am very passionate about my work. Sometimes a little too passionate, though I would still have to be convinced there was such a thing.

A question that's been on my mind lately is when to stop fighting? Where do I draw the line and say I've given enough, any further and the idea would be compromised beyond recognition?

I'm not sure. Especially since the client ultimately holds the cards. The power and the money is in his or her hands. And the hands that control me, the ones that don't fire me and let me come to work every day, have to bend to that bottom line.

 Sometimes I worry that it's going to break me. That eventually I'll have to quit advertising (unimaginable) because I've lost the love and the passion that I have now. Or I'm afraid that I'll separate myself so much from my work that I'll just be a machine, a means to an end for client whims. (Also unimaginable.)

But how do I sustain my passion? I'm told that I keep it in my book in the director's cut. Or find another creative outlet. And I've been trying to do that lately. I need to regain my sense of control and start making art again.

I miss art.


11.24.2008

Black Friday

I wish Black Friday didn't exist.

How much are you hurting your brand by discounting things to the max? And add to that the absolutely horrid shopping experience customers will have in your store. 

I like a discount as much as the next girl. I've also seen the articles this year that hinge a business' entire future on their success this Friday. But isn't there a better way to do this?

Continuing discounts, loyalty rewards?

11.21.2008

Happy people.

I just saw an article on nytimes.com called, "What happy people don't do." My first thought was, "Read this article," but I chose to click anyway. I got through the first paragraph before I realized I must be profoundly unhappy.

Turns out happy people don't watch tv. I already knew that some psychologists advise not reading the news so much. I wonder if there's a connection between being culturally savvy and terminally unhappy. Is media bringing gloom and doom upon us all?

Probably. But the oblivion of not reading the news or not watching television - the oblivion of the human experience, I would say in a dramatic flair - is not the kind of happiness I want.

See Synecdoche, you unhappy tv watchers - it's good.