A platypus and a spatula
walk into a bar...
Welcome to my portfolio.
That headline? It's a joke I'm working on. You can ignore it for now.
walk into a bar...
Welcome to my portfolio.
That headline? It's a joke I'm working on. You can ignore it for now.
Thanks for finding me.
As a freelance copywriter who is keen to build a network of smart and interesting clients, I'm glad you're here. Giddy, even. I'm reminded of another entrepreneurial milestone in my life: the day I set up my first lemonade stand.
Precocious, naive, but bursting with confidence, I set up a small table on the corner of my block with little paper cups, a pitcher of lemonade-flavored Kool-Aid and an old cigar box to contain the obscene profits I would rake in that afternoon. I wrote a sign that featured the most direct, unambiguous and unembellished marketing message I'd ever compose: "Lemonade 10 cents." Then I waited. And waited some more.
It's hard to wait.
Eventually, the thirsty, the curious, the easily persuaded and the competition found me. I learned a lot about marketing and advertising that day. Such as:
+ The customer wants lemonade, but more than that, they want a true experience.
+ If it's not fresh squeezed, you need good sales tactics.
+ There are always people who will buy - even if they're not thirsty.
+ On the other hand, sometimes 10 cents for faux lemonade is 10 cents too much.
+ You have to sell a lot of lemonade to buy a "Tiger Beat" magazine.
+ When you're out of lemonade and/or have sunstroke, you're done.
My experience as a purveyor of lemonade has remained with me. I've had my creative equivalent of sunstroke, believe me! I am still fascinated with influencing behavior; the art of creating a smart message that elicits a response is powerfully seductive to me. See what you think of the work posted here. If it rings true - conveys the authenticity of the brands depicted, captures the big idea, is simple and memorable - maybe I'm someone who should be writing for you.
Coming up next: the Big Reveal
Cut to Creative Director: "Who is this girl? Where has she been hiding? She's fresh, she's smart, and I think she's got a point of view we haven't seen around here in a while. Get her in here!"
Sfx: My cell phone rings, or maybe a singing telegram arrives. Maybe both, simultaneously.
In my ever-optimistic world view, things like this can happen. On a good day, I believe that things like this can happen to me.
For the last few months, I've been retooling, rethinking and reinventing my place in the universe, and part of that process has included becoming a student again. A student of - yes - advertising. I've discovered that my passion for communicating ideas can't be satisfied any other way. I've realized that when I'm in a room with other creatives, I see rainbows and unicorns and life is good.
Enter the venerable School of Visual Concepts and a 10 week Sharpie-enabled, beer-fueled odyssey whimsically entitled 'Creative Concepts'. Sounds harmless enough, doesn't it? I'll spare you the details (glamorous internship at stake!), but make no mistake: this was not a safe haven for weenies. Or whiners.
What I've posted here are my solutions to some of the creative briefs and pop quizzes (aka time delimited, in-class assignments) that we were given. From print advertising, to out-of-home, to radio and social media, we covered virtually every advertising channel, getting our hands dirty and our egos whacked good. As it should be.
Enjoy.
Sriracha Hot Sauce | Print
2011 Seattle ADDY Gold winner2011 Northwest ADDY Silver winner2011 National ADDY finalistStudent Entry | Magazine Campaign
2011 Seattle ADDY Gold winner2011 Northwest ADDY Silver winner2011 National ADDY finalistStudent Entry | Magazine Campaign
Sriracha Hot Sauce | Print
2011Seattle ADDY Gold winner
2011 Northwest ADDY Silver winner
2011 National ADDY finalist
Student entry | Magazine Campaign
2011Seattle ADDY Gold winner
2011 Northwest ADDY Silver winner
2011 National ADDY finalist
Student entry | Magazine Campaign
Redbox | Radio
Redbox | Radio
Redbox | Radio
Not Your Daughter's Jeans | Print
Not Your Daughter's Jeans | Print
Not Your Daughter's Jeans | Print
Zipcar | Out of Home
Zipcar | Out of Home
Zipcar | Guerilla
Chase Sapphire | Social Media
Epicenter Athletic Club | Social Media
Epicenter Athletic Club | Guerilla
(Chairlifts on Monorail supports to promote ski conditioning classes)
(Chairlifts on Monorail supports to promote ski conditioning classes)
Underdog Sports League | Radio
In-class concepting challenge: Pull out the Sharpies and come up with an idea in 15 minutes. Pitch your shamefully rough concept to the "client" - an agency account guy standing in as the client from hell. My idea was to create a living garden of flowers with the tagline, "The Essence of Fresh". Guess what? Fake client guy liked it. Whew.
