This Advertising Life

Life and Times of an Art Director.

[mengskuniverse]

This Advertising Life: Back to Work

Walking down the halls once again in my agency gave me a certain kind of nostalgia. Within these halls were nights of overtime, of drinking until I was drunk and heated arguments over the most mundane stuff. I thought I’d never return and yet, here I was again, getting my pencils ready and my head back in place.

I’ve really entertained the thought of not coming back. Of just living a simple life with a few cash from my investments and just work on small projects to keep my mind sharp, but there’s something about the advertising agencies that just kept pulling me back.

Maybe because I still have so much to prove or maybe it’s the other way around, but the point is, I didn’t choose the simple life, I choose this. And what an entrance has been.

I kicked off my first day as simply reorienting myself to the ins and outs of our agency. A month isn’t a long time but things have changed, some for the better, and some, who knows. But it was quite the scene.

People have finally put their grievances against the new office design to rest. Or at least kept quiet about it. People are more pensive now, probably still not as comfortable with the two groups of business units as our CEO would think. And of course, people are still the most chaotic group of people I know. This might be the reason why I stayed, to be honest.

The rest of the week was full of pitch meetings and award show preparations. Everything felt new to me again since even before my month of sabbatical, I was in production for almost half a year. I had to learn to rewire my head to see in a creative’s perspective again.

The week was quite tiring too since I’ve been made the Q.A. department for our most anal client. Let’s hope I can live through this.

But to top everything off, we ended the week by going to an awards show, the adobo design awards where my officemate won gold for typography. This award shows usually leave me hungry for great creative work. 

We had dinner in this really good ramen shop and I was with a good friend from advertising, we talked about how stupid award shows can get most of the time and it would be a blessing to get one but also a curse cause it cements you to a certain style.

In the end, it was a good first week.

[mengskuniverse]

This Advertising Life: Procastination

So recently, my office started implementing some new funky work policies. Mental health benefits, love life benefits and other stuff that keeps the applicants drooling at the door. But right now, with how the digital age is and a physical presents is now optional, our Captain has decided to try out a Work anywhere policy. No slow burn, no turn overs, no acclimation period, it’s happening now. 

I mean sure its probably just an excuse to get people out of the office while its being renovated but still, not everyone’s built for this kind of environment yet, most especially, the Captain. He doesn’t even appreciate the beauty of Google Docs yet. 

But anyway, seeing how I’ve always enjoyed working at home since I can do everything in my underwear and have the occasional naps (without the prying eyes of the office manager), you’d thing I’d be built for this. But today, I got my full work load and I haven’t even started a single sentence. This can be hellish on my performance if I don’t put a system to this and my neighbours’ screaming kids aren’t helping at all. 

So it’s 2 am, I still haven’t started a thing. Should i kick it now and just start early tomorrow? Probably.

[mengskuniverse]

Traces

ACT 1

Last Fall

He sat there on a bench in the cold morning air, nursing a cup of hot coffee. The park was surreal in the morning like it was from another world and how everything that any body did has a curtain mysticism that tugs on a chord deep inside you.

He lift the coffee to his fair face to fight off the cold and though it did little to fend it off, it comforted him none the less. It reminded him of warm hands that used to keep him warm. Of hands that fend of the cold and intertwines perfectly in between his fingers. Of vague figures in his head that he cant piece together. Of people from a past life that refuses to be forgotten. All of this kept him warm.

He sat there for an hour until a unknown feeling deep inside told him to go home, that he's waiting for nothing. But he told himself "just another hour". So he sat there, his coffee now cold from the morning air.

Then the tugging in his inner chords rang louder, telling him to go home. This time, he followed. He took a cigarette from his pocket, then a lighter. He cupped his hand and lit the cigarette, took a long puff and stood up. Leaves crushing beneath his feet, he leaves.

Volition

The walls reek of cigarettes and paint. Though the smell of moving boxes over powered it temporarily. Erick was in the middle of the clutter, sorting his clothes from books. Beside him is his phone and a Bluetooth speaker. It was playing Lua by Bright Eyes, the tempo set his speed as he sort the stuff into the boxes. He never realized how much stuff he had and how much clutter he accumulated over the years. Small trinkets from events, sample prints for posters he designed and random key chains as souvenirs that friends brought home. Some of them went to a separate box except for a chosen few.

In the middle of his packing a knock on the door came. "It's open" Erick said. A girl in her mid 20s came into the room, long hair, black rimmed glasses that framed her face perfectly and a black shirt that says "Pessimism".

"Malcom couldn't make it. He said he had to band practice." said the girl.

"It's so like him to ditch me, even for the last time." said Erick as he lowered the volume on the speakers. "Well atleast I have you to help me Yan."

"I'm only here for the free coffee you promised." She looked around the room and grabbed a marker, looked inside one of the boxes and labeled it "Shirts". "You don't have a lot of stuff do you?"

"Well graphic design doesn't pay well." said Erick. "Plus most of my money goes to a freakin Creative Suites account since the ad council has been strict with pirated softwares."

"That doesn't seem to stop you from buying cigarettes and coffee." Yan said as she taped some of the boxes. She proceed to another box and checked the inside of it. It was filled with art books and a paper that had an address on it. "Do you really want to go to New York?"

"Mom has always bugged me on moving there for so long. Might as well put my dual citizenship to good use right?" said Erick. "That and a couple of other reasons."

"Couple of reasons?"

"I'm not leaving just because of that, ok?"

"Well it did contribute the most. Didn't it?"

"Can we not get into right now?" Erick lit a cigarette. Yan went over to him and took the cigarette before he could puff another. She look a puff and sat in front of Erick. Erick took another and lit it up. "This is called running away." said Yan.

"No. This is called forgetting." said Erick before taking a puff.

"I've known you for so long, you're not one to forget." Yan stood up and returned to the boxes.

Erick blew a long smoke and whispered under his voice "I can try."

Yan's phone suddenly ran. Her ring tone was the bass riff of Seven Nation Army by  The white stripes. She had a different ringtone for each person. "Yan, Malcom's calling." said Erick as he picked up his own phone. He changed the song to Seven Nation Army.

"Zup ditcher? Having fun not packing boxes?" said Yan as she put Malcom on speaker. "Can totally feel your fun all the way here. Listen I'll make it up to you tonight, come over to the QX, Tracy called us up for a gig. Booze's on me."

"I rather have coffee man." said Erick without looking up from the boxes. "I'll bring a bottle of Bailey's if that'll get you to come out." said Malcom from the speakers. "Fuck." he whispered. "Fine, I'm in." "Awesome, see you there." Said Malcom. Before Yan pressed the red button on her phone, "And Yan, don't bring Joshua, he's an asshole, bye." Then the call got cut off.

"You're still dating him?" said Erick. Yan sighed and took a long puff as he took Erick's phone. "Well, we got back together. Malcom was so busy with his band and you're always zoned out since 'that' happened. Needed someone to talk to." Yan scrolled through Erick's playlist and changed it a Gising by Autotelic.

"But he's such a prick. So clean and organized. He's practically the complete opposite of me."

"That's the point." There was a long awkward silence.

They continued to pack with the music on the background. Suddenly it stopped. They didn't bother to check why it stopped. They continued in silence. The silence was unsettling especially on the 30th floor where the noise of the street below doesn't reach them. Just the sound of the wind and the occasional plane flying by.

Then in the middle of the silence, Yan started humming a familiar tune. A tune they both knew. It started slow with a single note dragging a few seconds then a few melodies entered. Erick stood up and lit a cigarette. Walked to the corner of the room where a digital piano lay on the floor. Yan didn't notice this so it took her by surprise when his fingers caressed the first note. She stopped for a moment and smiled and continued humming. And as the melody continues its crescendo, Yan started to sing:

We saw them coming from miles away, With hearts on their faces and minds out of place. So don’t give me a reason to stay To be fooled by them and take my mind away Because only in your heart, my mind is at bay.

Erick entered:

Steal your heart dear, I know you're at bay For I am a fool for letting you stay When the winds wants you what more can I say But to look down on my feet and walk away

Erick stopped playing. "We should really finish writing that song." said Yan. "I rather not." said Erick before continuing packing.

[mengskuniverse]

This advertising Life: I think it’s almost time.

So for the past one and half years, I’ve been working in this young advertising agency in Pasig. The work there is great, tons of great people, plenty of challenges and activities to keep you engaged. Though if you prefer to have a life outside of the office, I’d recommend not applying. 

There are mountain of great things to say about this advertising agency and only a few that would get me to leave and yet, I’m still thinking of leaving. 

Here’s the thing, I went to UP after my college education for a crash course in game development and programming fundamentals. There I found this kindling passion for programming and computer science. But it was just a kindle, a very expensive kindle mind you but only just a kindle. But even in those little buds of flames, I found a comfort in my craft that I can’t seem to find with visual arts. I mean as much as visual arts has been my passion since I was young, I couldn’t find a purpose to it, certain rules to govern it, which was why I wouldn’t go full blast. But when I was building my first legit website, I left this fire in my chest that kept me going for a few nights, solving problems going through complex codes to apply to my application. I even dreamt about it the night before the submission.

I’ve always liked front end development more than the rest of the subjects in UP since it was the closest thing to visual arts and advertising. Game development sure but it was way too complicated and would require a whole team to create anything that you could call an artful display. 

Going back, I’ve learned a lot about on how to play with visuals in advertising and a lot more on how to send a message through media. But as my dilemma in quitting my other job was because I wasn’t applying my learnings from my college degree, now my new dilemma is that I’m not applying my crash course learnings. And to think, developers are the heralds of the future yet I’m here trying to please artless clients and their promo posters that no one can seem to get right the first time around.

Maybe I’ll quit tomorrow, maybe in a few months or maybe when the year end, but I have to leave if I want to explore a more coding centered career.

I think by doing this makes me a hybrid of the two industries. Maybe that’s a good thing or a bad thing. We’ll only find out when we’re finally retrospecting in a few years.

[mengskuniverse]

This Life: Why I was never a full fledged anime geek.

Way back in college, I was part of an anime organization. It was fun hanging out with them though I was never the guy who watched every single anime like the rest of my club mates. I was never the guy who could draw in the anime art style, there was some attempts but it was never my cup of tea. What I really enjoyed in the few anime that I watched was the story and how simple yet complex they were. I found it fascinating how they could present heavy ideas such as the philosophy of madness, existentialism or even the purpose of human identity in such a simple fashion that even a teenager can get a grasp of it. 

Though I could only say that to a few titles. For the rest that the I chose to ignore, not so much. Sure I indulged on a title or two that involved copious amount of fan service but that was to quench some other requirements.....

Some anime are art, but not all of them. Probably during the early age of the craft when the grandfathers of the genre were still drawing their first frames or from some directors who drew from a different school of thought.

Art draws inspiration form the world, not from other art, and that concept holds true to majority of new art forms may it be animation, video games or web. And that’s my problem with majority of the anime titles out there. They drew inspiration from other anime that they watched as children. There is some merit in drawing inspiration from other art works but the core foundations of the thing that you’re making should always come from the real world. 

Majority of the titles I try to avoid offers nothing new to the table, may it be a new art style or a new form of story telling. This days, they’re just cookie cutters like a really bad fanfic with big budgets. This is why it’s so hard to take them seriously, because they don’t take themselves seriously. In the end, everything is just bastardized over and over again until you get this grotesque product of inbreeding. As Hayao Miyazaki said “the industry is filled with people who doesn’t want to look at other people.” Anime looks like anime, not a reflection of the real world.

I’m not saying every anime should be a Makoto Shinkai or Hayao Miyazaki production but people should be more conscious of the media they consume. People create cookie cutter anime because some people think it’s good without knowing the genealogy of it. Anime or animation is an art form to express an idea or to make a statement. Sure its main purpose is to entertain but people has always found a way to both entertain people and enrich their lives in the process.

[mengskuniverse]

This advertising Life: Just another rainy day

It's just another rainy day. A soft tune flew out from a blown up speaker as it tries to fight off the sound of rain. The room tinted in mild grey. Everyone working in a comfortable quite and mild whispers and conversations echo’ed in the air. Hot coffee in some table, warm water in some. No one felt alone and there’s a just smile on most people, the kind that doesn’t show on your face but is seen never the less. It’s just another rainy day.

[mengskuniverse]

This Advertising Life: Change of Plans

So much for resigning. Actually, it has been a few months since i said that and yet I’m still here. I’m probably a masochist for staying but i’m having fun which made this past few months bearable. It has been tremulous to say the least.

Being surrounded by so much talent is humbling and depressing at the same time. Its just one of those moments when all this time, you think you’re really good at something but a few people show you that what you know is just a drop in the sea of knowledge you need to learn. That there are still books to read, techniques to learn, details to polish.

What really surprised me in the few extra months that i decided to stay in this company was how dedicated people were, especially our little princess of the office, we call her the O.T. Queen because she always stays late to finish something. I’m a pretty laid back person, a type B personality if you’re in to that kind of classification, so I like loafing around and watching youtube videos all day. Brainstorming and research gives me an excuse to just scroll through tombs of articles and papers on a topic. But unlike my lazy ass, people really put in 120% effort to their work, I’m struggling to just give it 50%.

That’s one reason why I want to leave, because I don’t think I’m dedicated enough to work here. And I just can’t magically give it my all because I always see faults in everything, and the moment the systems shows faults, i just fold up. I really like working on stuff if i think it aligns to my personal values, I’m willing to give even 200% of my energy to it. Who knows, maybe It’s just a matter of looking at it from a different view for me or maybe there’s a magical utopian company for me out there. I rather it was the latter.