"The Holley Mantra"

As part of our Senior Presentation class at O'More College of Design, our seniors were fortunate to visit The Buntin Group and hear the wisdom of Bill Holley before he retired. In order to appreciate this blog entry, you need to know a little background on Bill. He's what I would consider a Nashville Advertising Legend. He produced outstanding advertising design for almost half a century. That's over 225,000 jobs—many of which have resulted in advertising awards including a lifetime achievement award from the Nashville Advertising Federation. 

So, imagine nine students and myself sitting around a conference table absorbing Bill's wisdom. Among the things we left with was a sheet of paper with the word "MANTRA" hand-written at the top. Below are a few of the "nuggets" given to my students that I hope they frame and hang on their wall. No matter the experience or area of the industry you practice, these still apply. Here were a few of what I call "The Holley Mantra":

1. Accept that there is no excuse for a badly art directed ad. (It's your job to try and save the ad no matter what happens. Even if the client tries to screw it up.)

2. Throw away a lot of paper. (Tweak the layout as much as time allows.)

3. Art direct all the way to press. (If something can be improved anywhere in the process, and you can still make the deadline, improve it.)

4. Avoid tight comps. (You lock yourself in too soon in the process. Comps have the tendency to stop the evolution process. Comps also promise something to the client that you might not be ready to promise. The only time to use a tight comp is when it will be impossible to sell a concept without developed visuals. And, if that's the case, maybe the concept is not strong enough.

5. Don't start a layout at a computer keyboard. (Good art direction comes from concepts and ideas. Computers are an executional tool. They do not generate ideas.)

I'll try to post some more in the future.