#GTHD

Ok, I’m going to start this post by admitting: I’m not a great sports fan. Or a sports fan. Period. Disclaimer ended.

I mean, I did intend to go to the Duke game in all the snow and mess. Maybe it shows how much of a fan I’m not in that I still hadn’t reached the Dean Dome at the time of the game’s cancellation. Whoops, sorry.

However, I’ve done some research.

And a lot of it looked like that. From what I’ve gathered (and I guess from my personal fan support of other less showy sports), big qualities for fandom include: apparel, superstitious beliefs, routine, and a level of ardency that often leads to violence – probably coaxed on a little by the consumption of alcohol. The biggest thing that I’ve noticed about fandom is that it’s not a very positive experience. A lot of fandom circles around promoting negative thoughts, notably about rivals. This is interesting. This is also probably the reason why fandom, from my research, has also gone hand-in-hand with violence (hello hockey!). Just for fun, I’ll share my most recent example of what true ‘fandom’ is. Exhibit A: Friends of mine engaging in a 3-day GroupMe discussion about where/how much/what price is best/how permanent getting ‘GTHD’ lip tattoos would be. They even got to the point of discussing price points for traveling to Smithfield because the tattoo (being non-permanent) was $20 cheaper than here in Chapel Hill. People who had class at the discussed traveling time considered ‘biting the bullet’ and paying the extra $20. The plan fell through – maybe for the better, since the game was cancelled. If that’s not a fan – I’m not sure what a fan is. I also heard about a solid amount of people walking from Chapel Hill to Dook in protest. I don’t know anyone who did it personally, so I can’t verify whether or not this was actually a thing.

Exhibit B) Not a personal example — but one I really like. I’m a film nerd. I live life vicariously through films, because I’m boring. Ok, maybe not ‘boring,’ but I definitely could lead a more exciting and invigorating lifestyle. As much as I love David O’Russell, I often wonder if Silver Linings Playbook is a film film or just a homage to the Philadelphia Eagles. Sadly, I couldn’t find the clip of the gigantic Eagles fan fight scene on YouTube….but I found the clip of DeNiro complaining about the ruins of the Eagle’s JuJu – which plays into the idea of superstition and ritual (homeboy sits in the same seat, positions his remote in the same way during every game in a bizarre OCD way). The entirety of the film dives into the various aspects of fandom that I’ve previously identified. If you’ve seen it, you’ll totally understand what I’m saying (and might not have previously realized all the ways that the mentality is working in the film, even beyond the obvious Eagles plot-line). For those of you who haven’t seen it: I’ll do a check list. Cooper wears a Desean Jackson jersey to a dinner – apparel, check. Superstitious belief/routines — see the clip, check. Ardency — again, see the clip and I really wish I could find the fight scene. Anyway, love the film. I also think it’s pertinent to this post.

But how does this relate to brands?

It’s the same thing, that’s how. People can be fans of brands – but brands ingrain themselves via lifestyle culture (vs. athletic culture like sports teams). First example I can think of: Apple. Typical, I know. I thought of another, I’ll elaborate after the obvious choice. Replace apparel with product. Superstitious beliefs — this is what advertising tells you about the product. Not just advertising, I guess, but what the world of consumers tell you, the way that people engage with the brand. It’s a superstitious belief to think that all graphic designers use MacBooks….but they do. Routine. People are creatures of habit. That’s a fact. Lastly, a level of passionate ardency – this is the one that kind of differs depending on how well branding has been done. For Apple, the ardency is real. People live, eat, sleep, breathe Apple. This might not be the case for example, a toilet paper brand (but you could easily check off the other items on my list).

(This is literally the only thing I could think about while writing about Apple…)

Another example I thought of is Lululemon. Girls eat this stuff up (I know I do). The superstitious belief about this product is that it’s the haute couture of athletic garb — you wear Lulu and you’re a forreal, active working out gal (despite whether or not this is true). They’re an entryway into a socioeconomic status…..through working out. People gobble the Lululemon lifestyle — and I guarantee the brand has upped the level of ridiculous women in yoga classes. Like my grandmother, for instance, who outfits herself in pearls, diamonds, and Lulu — the holy trinity. People are fans of this brand. Actual and true fans. When the LuLulemon store opened at South Park in Charlotte, NC there was a line of women at least 200-strong. There was an Internet outrage when Lulu pulled a large majority of a recent shipment of yoga pants because they were too ‘see through’ – things got real. If these aren’t aspects of fandom, again, I’m not sure what is. People buy into the lifestyle, and see the brand as their guiding light.

These concepts relate in an awesome way – meaning, if a brand is developed properly, it sets itself up for a fan base. From what I’ve gathered, this is done via creating a lifestyle around a brand. As I said earlier, rather than tapping into the athletic world (which in itself is a crazy crazy culture), they do it through pop culture and lifestyle. Buy this brand, live this life. Well, or at least be perceived to live this type of life — to yourself, to others, or to both. It’s interesting the way these two concepts correlate, and when I first started writing this post I didn’t see it. However, working through my examples, it all kind of crystalized. Glass un-fogged.

literal briefs.

I meant to include this in my last post, but I completely spaced — again, probably because I spent the majority of the post-writing process drooling over hamburger pictures while google searching images. Anyway, I found this website, and thus a link to these creative briefs. I wanted to write about them, but couldn’t find (FOR THE LIFE OF ME) the inside contents of these briefs. So, here’s to hoping that the inside is as awesome as its packaging. I also perused Creature’s website and it seems like they do pretty neat work. New Zealand is a bike ride, a skip hop, and long ocean swim away though. Sadly.

(Missed my rantings of hamburger-driven advice about why to always have your briefs? See here)

My creative mind is already giddy. And I haven’t even been tasked anything yet. This is a brief. This is the goal.

never leave home without ya (creative) briefs

As someone interested in working within the advertising world in a creative capacity, the brief is key. Inspiration is key. In order to really take off with an idea, it has to talk to me. I think I dove into this a little bit in my creativity post — creativity is communication. It’s finding a cool, unique and exciting way to convey something. And that communication could be through any medium. Actually, it’s cooler when it’s a medium you wouldn’t have expected. I’m interested in communication and the way that people use various media to make that happen. Creative briefs have a lot to say. And it’s important that creatives get to use what it’s saying and get a spring board. Because let’s be real here, creative people are really just interested in creating cool and exciting stuff. The brief lays down the nuts and bolts and reigns them in a little bit. Can’t just have a bunch of creative people running around in a wall-less room. Things would be crazy! But fun.

I did some super searching (and believe me, I mean super) for a brief that I liked. The bulk of my search was finding brief formats at all, actually. But nonetheless, with guided help (thanks!) I found some! This one in particular spoke to me. It’s a personal approach brief from one of the account planners at McCann Erickson. Of course I like the personal one. I also like that it’s in red writing. I’ve taken a few graphic design classes (out of curiosity mainly, not quite sure it’s my thing), and through it I learned that white background/black text is a standard. There’s hardly anything creatively inspiring about the standard. That’s like ordering a hamburger with no condiments – and who does that? Let’s get a visual.

(Looks sad, doesn’t it?)

(Even just a little more inspiring, right? And all it’s got is ketchup)

(Anyway, so inspired I can’t finish this post.)

Well, now that I’m so hungry this blog post is looking less and less intriguing. I’ll get into my analysis. What I believe is so powerful about this brief (beyond that it’s in cool red color), is the way it’s talking. The brief itself takes on a personality, so the brand can too. That’s awesome. Creatives like to be talked to. This brief allows room for personality. The brand can literally talk. And it can do so because the brief uses expressions like ‘what do they think of us?’ and ‘what do we want to say?’ – we, us. It’s speaking from the perspective of brand. So beyond just getting the answers to these questions, the creative is also getting the way in which the brand would respond to the question. We’re basically interviewing the brand here – what could be more ideal? A lot of the briefs I looked at didn’t have this awesome wording opportunity (and trust me, I’ve got a folder of 24 saved on my computer now – because they’ll come in handy later, right?). The wording is casual. It’s not too jargon-ridden. It’s to the point. The thing that turns a creative off most is rigidness. ‘Things to be anal about’ – that’s great! It’s how I would talk. I can have an effective conversation with the brand I’m working with.

The opening thought is a cool notion too. It gets me into a mindset to start thinking about something. Anything. It doesn’t just jump straight to business – I like that. Isn’t it proper to have at least a 10 min convo before jumping into official talk? Or did I make that up? Maybe it’s because that’s how the Swiss banker explained things in ‘Wolf of Wall Street.’ Anyway, I also like how it moves downright into the question of all creativity – ‘what do we need the communication to do?’ It’s easy, simple, and clear. Clarity is such a key. I think the major thing that I would look into changing would be the question ‘what do we need and by when?’ I feel this is really open-ended. Maybe I’d move to a bit more specific and maybe key that up into two questions. ‘What are we doing?’ ‘By when do we need to do it?’ I don’t know – those probably weren’t better. It’s the only question on the brief that doesn’t dive directly into dealing with how the brand-consumer-creative triangle is functioning, so that might be why I think it’s weaker.

I like that the strengths of this brief come in the form of knowing how the brand perceives its consumers. It allows for the brief to develop a personality for the brand. And this is inspiring. Moving back to that hamburger thing I’ve got going on. Yes – I am judging you by what condiments you put on your burger. And yes, those condiments do say something about where you’re functioning and what you’re about –> just like this creative brief. You go account planner at McCann Erickson! Now go eat a burger!

my blank wall.

My creative mind is constantly running. Like, I’m talking Iron Man training stuff.

(Except I feel that my brain would be wearing cuter trainers…maybe)

I’ve got my hand dipped in a lot of different honey pots. But I like to connect them. That’s how I get to ‘scratching,’ as Tharp calls it. I’ll talk about my choreographing process first, because I do it more than writing and it comes more naturally. I guess I have to start by talking about how I view dance, or what ‘dance’ means to me. A particular moment comes to mind. Middle school. Community recital. Our studio owner called us up onto the stage and passed a microphone around to each of us so that we could explain what ‘dance meant to us.’ After a plethora of answers bordering this response: ‘I love dance because it’s my family, these are my friends and we get to do what we love with each other’  yadda yadda yadda — I responded with one single sentence. ‘Dance is like poetry through the body,’ and trust me, the jokes never ended. Branded a geek for life. But I don’t apologize for my passions. It’s true. Dancers are the Shakespeare of body language. And quite frankly, body language constitutes for about 70% of communication. Dance to me, is a form of communication; it’s a conversation with an audience. And quite frankly, I feel privileged that I can emote through physical movement. I don’t know how people listen to music without this ability. We dance to emote. We dance to make up for words can’t – because let’s be real here, words are outdated. This is what I have to know before I begin choreographing. What conversation am I going to have?

As I choreograph, I need a scene. Like I said, I also write films and plays. I need an aesthetic. I create a vivid world in my mind. I need to do this, so I know where to place my dancers (my actors); how are they going to communicate with each other? What type of communication is prompted by the world I put them in? This is how I begin to create. This is how the scratching begins. I transform an empty studio space and let the mirrors reflect an imaginary scene I’ve created. The dancers are my actors, and their bodies form the words they might’ve spoken. It’s like a silent film. A concave of the shoulders and chest expresses the beginnings of aggression, a sadness, a vulnerability. The sway of the hips represent a confidence, a subtle tone of sexuality maybe. A single arm movement, in the way its executed, could show complete control. I might have to geek out for a second – but it’s beautiful the way that a dancer can control their body. It’s powerful.

(It’s hypnotizing, right? And I can’t even begin to talk about what it’s like to see it live) 

I like to work in empty spaces. I hate being around other people. When other people are around, I feel judgmental. Or I feel judged? Or I feel there’s all these weird things about skewed perceptions – who really cares in the long run? I feel cluttered. When I create in a space where I can be alone, I can focus. Let me not forget to mention that I have the most severe forms of ADD. I don’t like to constantly create in the same space. I get far too bored with routine – despite what Tharp claims. The process stays the same, I like to switch up locations to get new perspectives. I’m interested in expanding my mind, and my ability to think beyond borders. Being in new spaces is integral to this process. If I’m writing I’ll drive to a book store and tuck myself in a small corner. I’ll drive anywhere that seems like it might be interesting. And I tuck myself away. If I’m writing – I also always bring a Mountain Lodge Yankee Candle; I guess it’s part of my mantra….and I think it smells good. For choreography, I like to be outside. I’ll bring headphones and go to a park. I went hiking once. That was pretty cool. A lot of the time though, I find myself doing choreography in my room. I work on deadlines so it’s hard to be able to get to cool spaces all the time. My room is the place where I feel most comfortable. I can dance wearing whatever I want. I can play the music as loud as I want. And I’m not afraid to experiment with new shapes.

For fun, I can walk you through my process a little. I’ll use my most recent dance:

‘This is the most recent dance I choreographed (it’s messy – dress rehearsal stuff). This came out of a deadline. We get groups we choreograph for the year and we have a date choreography starts. That date was looming near and I had no clues. No inspiration. So, instead of homework – I watched the Bling Ring one night. That was interesting. Youth culture. Rebellion. Life without restrictions. What does one do when one gets bored? It was all really interesting to me. I channelled poster children like Kate Moss, George May Jagger. As the song states, ‘super rich kids with nothing but fake friends,’ and thought about what that would look like. I’m deeply involved in the process of creating the dance. I pick the music, I cut the music, I design the costumes, and I choreograph the routine. Leather rompers. Black cat-eye shades. A kind of cool slinky song that crashes into crazy, rhythmic pulsating beats. And I wanted weird movement. Strong, hard hitting, but just that much of a bit off – because they can. Because of who they are. And that was the ending product. Looking back, the only thing that might’ve made it better would’ve been a fur vest. And for this particular video, more cleaning. I’ve since changed a few parts. But you know, creativity is never really settled. I don’t think I’ll  ever be 100% happy with a product because I’m constantly seeing ways that I can change things and make them better both aesthetically, musically, technically – you name it.