Bad week - good week

Every creative has its ups and downs at an agency. If you're truly devoted to the work you're making, some weeks could be a disaster. There's a spelling mistake in a published ad, you're having a big argument with the account people, a campaign is totally smashed on Ads of the World, the client kills a great idea; those things can all contribute to a bad mood. At some moments you even feel like quitting advertising as a whole and become a bus driver or something.

This week started off bad, when I've heard that the IKEA campaign - a campaign that took me the entire year to make - didn't even get shortlisted in Cannes. Although this campaign doesn't need recognition to impress people, it's still a bad way to start the week. But today, I had a presentation for a cheese brand for an awesome cross media campaign and the client agreed on making it. Finally, all of the work is worth it again, all your colleagues you used to argue with are great again and you feel like you've chosen the right profession again. Ah, advertising...at least it's never boring.

Congratulations to former Miami Ad School students Siavosh Zabeti, Alexander Kalchev, Rodrigo Linhares and Till Diestel for totally rocking at Cannes. For some reason this year I got a lot of deja vu's when I saw the list of winners (the Rolling Stone copy ad seem to have copied itself). But at least my former schoolmates kept the honour of Miami Ad School high by winning with very innovative stuff.

ADCN vs CCB

In my advertising career I've won one ADCN lamp, the most important award of the Art Directors Club Netherlands. But I think I will never win one again. I might win another Cannes Lion, but not a lamp. Simply because the work that is nominated and awarded is not the kind of work that I like to make. It's very Dutch and the focus is mostly on television commercials. It's not that there are no innovative work is made in Holland, but I feel that the ADCN doesn't motivate innovative ideas.

This is different about the Belgian art directors club, the Creative Club Belgium. I had two nominations there, but unfortunately I didn't win. But when I saw the results of the CCB-awards, I was amazed by the richness of the awarded campaigns. Almost all the work is in a casefilm, and that says enough about the type of work. Click here to see the winners.