Working at the National Enquirer Is Just Like Working at Any Other Newspaper — But Weirder

The writing in the tabloids sucks. You know it and I know it — and so do the people who work there.

Well, at least the copydesk knows it. I’ve never seen a media outlet so dependent on its copyeditors. The writers turn in real crap, their editors fix only some of it, and the copyeditors do the rest. That’s standard operating procedure.

At daily newspapers, the copyeditors are often an afterthought. Reporters and editors don’t really talk to them. But at the tabloids, the best journalists work the copydesk — and the editors and reporters are almost as afraid of them as they are of the attorneys.

via Michael Koretzky – HuffPo.

Martin Nachtwey – more famous than Krispy Kreme doughnuts

I always say to young photographers, you’re screwed. They don’t like it, but there it is. If you really must insist on becoming a photographer like myself you need to carve a niche. Incubate your otherness. Detach yourself, and shoot like no-ones watching. Because they won’t be, not at your pictures. And iron your gingham shirts. And get a good agent. And be kind to small animals.

via duckrabbit.

Artist Statements

Sending out a bad artist statement is like sending out a CV printed on crappy paper, with stains on it. It doesn’t help to make you (or your work) look very good.

But aren’t you a photographer, a visual artist? If you had wanted to become a writer you would have done so, right? Over the past few years, I’ve tried all kinds of approaches to deal with this seemingly clever point, and none of them worked very well. So here’s my latest attempt: get over yourself!

See, here’s the thing: If you can’t even talk or write about your own photography doesn’t that tell me that you literally have no clue what it’s all about? Doesn’t it mean that I could simply take the work and define what it’s about, twist and bend its possible meanings to make it fit my own ideas? Is that what you want people to do with your work – after you spent all the time getting it together? Probably not.

via Conscientious Extended.

Unilever to Double Digital Spending This Year

“I think you need to fish where the fish are,” Mr. Weed said during a question-and-answer session with WPP Chief Executive Martin Sorrell. “So I’ve made it fairly clear that I’m driving Unilever to be at the leading edge of digital marketing.”

via Advertising Age.

Engaged Observers

“The journalistic photographer, can have no other than a personal approach; and it is impossible for him to be completely objective. Honest — yes. Objective — no.”

–Eugene Smith, 1948

via  latimes.com.

Why Clients Are Always Confused

There is nothing you can say about advertising that is always true. There is also nothing you can say about advertising that is never true.

This leads to big problems, lots of wasted money, and a very large quantity of disoriented, confused clients.

It makes it possible for a certain type of agency person — who is articulate but often wrong — to convince the impressionable and the naive to follow him.

via The Ad Contrarian

If you ever wanted a recipe for a cover that won’t sell, this is it.

David Schwimmer: This was my first cover for EW. I inherited the shoot from the previous regime. There were a lot of color choices and then this one, and since it was my first week, I figured I might as well cash in my honeymoon voucher for one free cover that would never run if it wasn’t my first week. Everyone looked at me and said, “Black and white period picture? Well, I guess he knows what he’s doing.” Worst selling cover of the year. So what. I thought it was cool. Still do.

Cameron Diaz and Ewan McGregor: If you ever wanted a recipe for a cover that won’t sell, this is it. A movie you’ve never heard of, an unrecognizable Ewan McGregor and Cameron Diaz acting out some sort of bondage fantasy in what appears to be a men’s room shower stall, AND the death of John Denver. It practically sells itself!

–EW’s third design director, John Korpics

via SPD.ORG – Grids.

The New Wired App

Good pictures speak for themselves. But text is a different story. It needs a lot of rhetoric skill and typographic care to do what it should: to communicate.

via iA