Your Work Stinks, But It’s Not Your Fault

So you’ve finally made it into advertising. Now what the hell are you doing here?

It was bound to happen – the initial euphoria finally wore off. The designer furniture turned out to be uncomfortable. The espresso machine ceased to satisfy. And that suit’s absurd high-heels somehow lost their shock value.

So why are you in advertising in the first place? Obviously, because of the work.

Only problem now is that the briefs are crap, the timeline is tight, the budgets are miniscule, (and most distressing of all), none of your ideas seem to be getting through.

I have seen it happen many times with younger creatives: they forget why they’re in advertising and take the easy way out, pushing the job through with uninspired work. But it’s not really their fault; they just didn’t look hard enough to find the opportunity.

No doubt, everybody wants to see his work in print, on TV, online or wherever, especially if it’s something he’s proud of. But the fact is, for every really great idea you see come to life, there’s a whole whack of ‘almost great’ ideas hibernating in a drawer.

So start by acknowledging that the creative process is inherently one of trial and error, and that success only comes from failure (or at least the attempt to be great).

Does it really matter if the client can’t accept your ‘big’ idea. Do you really care if the suit didn’t sell it through? And how important is it for you to see your idea run as DPS anyway?

If you focus on the finished product – for instance a high-budget idea-based photo shoot with minimal copy, clever benefit and clear message – as your only objective, mentally you move your creative energy to a goal that might not be realistic. That becomes frustrating because you can’t control the agency, the client, the brief, the budget.

However, if you focus on the process itself, you can find triumph and success in every job you do, even when you have the foresight to recognise that your idea will never see the light of day.

Knowing that you will find the answer – and pursuing the job to its logical conclusion, is far more rewarding than spending the rest of the day idly checking out high-heels. Besides, you can do that while you’re working anyway.

Alex is a creative who always enjoys his jobs, even when the job is to figure out what the job is in the first place.