My preparations were simple yet thorough. A locked room. An empty
table top. A carefully adjusted Anglepoise lamp. A small woven hassock
on which to genuflect.
Slowly, reverentially, I prised open the end of the cardboard tube. With
trembling fingers, I extracted its precious cargo. There they were:
seven in number, as had been foretold, each tightly furled inside the
other as though unwilling to give up their ancient secrets. These, then,
were the Abbott Mead scrolls.
Well, if I’m honest, it did feel a bit like that. And needless to say, I
found myself looking at a very fine set of advertisements indeed.
(Campaign didn’t have to send me the proofs. Page references from the
1988-1990 D&AD Annuals would have done just as well.)
There’s something about this work that immediately strikes you: the fact
that the written word is king (and what a refreshing experience that is
nowadays, but we’ll let it pass).
Words never reigned more supreme than in the Economist posters. This was
the great grand-daddy of them all, the one that sired an entire dynasty
blessed with the same good looks and sharp intelligence. A small gripe:
how I wish some of the zip and sparkle of the advertising would rub off
on the magazine itself, which I find rather ponderous both in look and
content. There, I’ve said it. ’I never read the Economist.’ Advertising
chairman, aged 44.
Ah yes, the Queen Anne period of art direction. And what finer example
than this ad for Cow & Gate babyfood? Note the classical proportions of
the overall structure. Observe how the individual elements are laid out
with consummate clarity and balance. This is advertising architecture of
the highest order, and someone should slap a preservation order on it. A
headline you can actually read, copy that actively invites further
perusal, typography that promises to be digestible (which is just as
well, as young mums would have devoured this lot).
Everyone recalls the marvellous Apple Computer ad with the sorely
misguided tortoise - not least a team at Lowe Howard-Spink who paid it
the ultimate compliment of a Heineken parody. The original ad fairly
leapt off the page thanks to an uproarious visual. What the photo sadly
doesn’t show is the five years of patient courtship that it took old
torty to get this far.
Eee, when I were a lad, a Volvo was sold on safety, not on the fact that
it does 0-60 in three seconds and comes in canary yellow. Here’s a
poster from the sensible period, and jolly nice it is too. Nowadays
they’d probably be throwing this young man out of the back of an
aircraft into the path of a tornado.
I remember judging the Waterstone’s campaign at the time and pressing
the ten button as hard as I could. Beautiful photography to draw you
into the ad, a well-chosen extract to draw you into the book and a
nicely crafted clincher to draw you into your nearest branch of
Waterstone’s. Absolutely right for the target market, not to mention for
T. Waterstone Esq, who by all accounts is now plotting a takeover of W.
H. Smith.
Think Abbott Mead and you might think nice and cuddly. But they can be
vicious bastards when the mood takes them. Just look at this cruel
sideswipe at Ken Clarke in the BMA poster. If that’s not stepping all
over the poor chap’s suede shoes, I’d like to know what is.
However, that’s a mere snapping chihuahua compared to the full-on
pit-bull terrier of the RSPCA dead dogs ad. What an extraordinarily
powerful piece of work this was, and still is. Yet despite the snarling
violence of the headline and the visual, the argument in favour of dog
registration is elegantly and lucidly put forward in the copy. It’s a
pity that you won’t be able to read the words here, because they’re
undoubtedly best of breed. From the supreme champion himself, if I’m not
very much mistaken.
RSPCA
Project: Dog registration campaign
Brief: Stir up public support for a dog registration scheme
Writer: David Abbott
Art director: Ron Brown
Typographer: Joe Hoza
Photographer: Derek Seagram
Exposure: National press
Volvo
Project: Brand campaign
Brief: Reinforce Volvo’s
safety advantage
Writer: David Abbott
Art director: Ron Brown
Typographer: Joe Hoza
Photographer: Bob Miller
Exposure: National posters and press
Apple Computer
Project: New product launch
Brief: Convey Apple’s new compatibility advantage
Writer: Malcolm Duffy
Art director: Paul Briginshaw
Typographer: Joe Hoza
Exposure: National press and magazines
Waterstone’s
Project: Waterstone’s
book stores
Brief: Associate Waterstone’s with a love of books
Writer: Peter Russell
Art director: Rob Oliver
Typographer: Joe Hoza
Photographer: Graham Cornthwaite
Exposure: National press and magazines
The Economist Group
Project: The Economist
Brief: If you want to get
ahead in business, read the Economist
Writer: David Abbott
Art director: Ron Brown
Typographer: Joe Hoza
Exposure: National posters
British Medical Association
Project: Public awareness campaign
Brief: Draw attention to the BMA’s view on National Health issues
Writer: David Abbott
Art director: Ron Brown
Typographer: Joe Hoza
Exposure: National posters
Cow & Gate
Project: Babyfood campaign
Brief: Establish the benefits
of the product’s natural ingredients
Writer: Lynda Richardson
Art director: Andy Arghyrou
Typographer: Joe Hoza
Photographer: Steve Cavalier
Exposure: National magazines
