Ian has started a two-week holiday.
I, Barbara and Sophie keep going.
Prepare for the coming meeting with client next week.
31.1.07
London 129
Ian has started a two-week holiday.
I, Barbara and Sophie keep going.
Prepare for the coming meeting with client next week.
London 126
We have a debrief meeting the following day.
When we have finished, another team comes and uses the room.
One of them who has sat down already gets up and approaches me...
21.1.07
London 123
It's so satisfying, just like seeing your own drawing being
put up for display in class when you were young.
( To young kids in Hong Kong, work get posted on
the big notice board in classroom is like receiving citations. )
London 122
Michael, Penny, Adam ... the team are happy with work we've done!
We then post the work on wall with blu tack.
Prepare to share the ideas with client.
London 121
8:30am Review Before Meeting with Client
We're nervous, Michael is studying the work that we've done ...
Although Michael is dressed causally,
I can still tell he has put some effort in it.
He's made it, he looks smart today!
London 120
We worked till 5:00am the next day.
Much to our relief, we get things done finally.
Ian said he likes the board that i've done most,
as it's something he hasn't seen before.
I'm so happy!
London 119
Michael has gone.
We'll have meeting with client tomorrow morning, aren't he worried?
This maybe how a real creative director should act.
I saw many creative directors who aren't at all clear about their roles.
They sat next to you and saw you working for the whole night.
They can't relax until the last moment when you've put the logo to
the layouts. Why on earth don't they spend their time more meaningfully?
Inside thinking bubble: I don't want to be a creative director then!
London 118
We all agree that it would be better to work on a full stomach,
especially in the livelong night...
London 117
At around 7:00 p.m.,
Michael has chosen some scripts that Barbara and Sophie have written.
He'd like Ian and me to think about the visuals and develop some storyboards.
London 116
To my understanding,
the brief requests at least one TVC in the campaign.
I guess next step is to explore more on the
"interesting" areas of the bits and pieces we've developed so far.
London 115
Michael hasn't picked any ideas in the meeting.
We're told to gather again three hours later.
When I return to my seat,
Michael said " You don't have time to think. "
He finds me a good excuse and tries to comfort me.
How can there be such a kind-hearted creative director on earth?
London 114
I'm like a computer with broken speakers (language barrier)
which hangs as it's still loading too much data.
I don't think they (even myself) understand what I'm talking about.
19.1.07
London 112
Oh, aren't we going to review the ideas with creative director first?
The client servicing people are all here too. Stressful!
London 111
There will be meeting with client tomorrow morning.
The first internal review takes place this afternoon.
We show all we've done. We're ready ( actually, I'm not ... ) .
12.1.07
London 109
It's not surprising why he is so surprised.
An Asian, unknown to him, suddenly walks pass his seat
when he is working at office on sunday.
However, I'd like to ask him why his seat is so small,
or it seems to be small because he is big?
London 108
Barbara, Ian and I are back to office to share ideas
we generated on our own with each other on sunday.
oh, no, Ian has made so many stuff,
they are so fine that are ready for output!
London 107
However, most of the time good ideas are pushed
within boundaries unexpectedly.
It's like the case when you're inside a crowded bus,
the boundaries (other passengers) allow you to hold a pose
which is impossible to maintain on an open ground.
As suggested by Michael, do whatever I want!?
I find it even more difficult.
London 106
There must be complaints from creatives about
too many restrictions on every brief.
" The deadline is so tight ...
there is a lack of manpower ...
the budget is so low, it's impossible to use a better
photographer or director to execute the idea...
the client is so greedy, they try to tell everything in one ad.
which isn't single-minded, the consumer will get none of
the messages as a result....blah blah blah...
it is impossible to do good work!"
11.1.07
London 105
All of them seem to know what to do, but I'm totally confused!
It seems that you can do anything with the brief,
but you totally have no idea where and how to start.
We agree to go back to the office to gather our ideas on sunday.
It's surprising to me that here they also work at weekend!
So I have to think about what's happening at home.
This is the first day of my experience of working abroad!
London 103
Other members in Yakult team.
Barbara loves to use stop-frame while Sophie suggests to make model,
we are all excited!
London 102
Ian is an art director in the Yakult team.
He told me in a cold voice,
without moving his eyes from the screen,
that his background in graphic design allows him to work directly
on computer instead of sketching ideas out on paper first.
But he seems to be sweet as he has to look at his
girlfriend's photo to keep him working.
London 101
However, I really like this drink,
there is a bond between us as I've been drinking it since I was young.
London 100
I have no idea why Michael thinks that I suit Yakult.
Graphics is what I'm weak at.
I always suspect to be scratched by it's coldness.
It has been making me feel weak and scared.
London 099
I can't believe that I have this chance to do ad. for it now.
From the brief and the documents they have given me,
I find that what they are trying to tell about Yakult is
quite different from what I was told in Hong Kong.
I'm like rediscovering an old friend who has even changed his name.
Chinese name of Yakult pronounced as yat lick dor in cantonese.
'Yat' means HEALTHY, 'lick' means ENERGETIC and 'dor' means MORE.
London 098
When I first discovered Yakult in Tesco,
I felt excited for meeting an old friend from a place afar.
But it's four times more expensive than the price in Hong Kong.
The old Chinese saying
"human life abroad becomes cheap ( me ) ,
goods become expensive( Yakult )" is so true!
8.1.07
London 097
Irrelevant topic 1:
Later, I found a very good way to mount printouts on foam boards.
1. Cut and remove the middle part of the backing paper.
2. Mount the layout on the foam board.
3. Remove one side of the backing paper slowly.
4. Press the layout up and down firmly with one hand while peeling off the backing paper with another hand.
5. Repeat step 4 for another side.
6. Layout in all sizes mounted firmly and as flat as mirror on foam board.
Irrelevant topic 2:
Luckily we won the pitch at the end.
One of the TVCs was shot without too many changes from the
storyboard. I think the director was just lazy.
London 096
At 6:00 a.m., I managed to finished two storyboards with computer
eventually. It was the first time in my life to use foam board.
There were air bubbles between the layouts and the board no matter
how many times I tried. I didn't know what to do.
I sat on the floor and cried at the empty office.
London 095
I guess I join in the middle of the project,
that's why the schedule is so tight.
However, this always happens in Hong Kong.
The most crazy experience I had was a pitch I did in Grey.
ECD fixed two TV ideas at 12:00 at night.
Meeting with the client would be held at 9:00 the next morning.
I was left with two freelance visualizers for the pitch.
I was just in my fifth month in advertising after graduation.
Sam Chung, ex-ECD of Grey who gave me the first offer in advertising.
People suspected that either we're relatives or he's gone crazy.
London 094
oh, no, there will be a meeting with the client on Tuesday.
(It's Friday already) Michael suggests me to relax.
He puts his head in hand and says this with a tender smile.
The true reason for the worried look on my face is that I've paid for the
train tickets and hostel to Scotland already. Sigh, I probably won't be able to go to Ron Mueck's exhibition there now.
London 093
When I'm awake from the past, professor Cheung appears again?
I wonder why they like to sit in this way, is it really comfortable?
Rabbit: Forget it! People with short legs can never understand.
2.1.07
London 092
Facing the new environment, I can't stop looking back.
One moment, I analyse and spot the difference between
the new and old one logically; The next moment,
I feel emotionally disturbed by old memories.
ar.......I can't tell what's happening!!!
London 091
I still remember what Professor Steven N S Cheung told us
during the first lecture. He said the knowledge inside textbooks
isn't what we need, it's more important to learn the
thinking of the best professors.
Agree! Also, Economics is a social sciences studying the
consuming behaviour of human beings.
Again, I can't see any problem with my choices!
London 090
(from wikipedia: Steven N S Cheung, a Hong Kong born economist, specializes in the fields of transaction costs and property rights.)
London 089
woo... would be great if everyone could think in this way!
My background of majoring Economics and Finance in university gave
me a hard time in my first few years in advertising as an art director.
I had to work extra hard to be treated equally.
I enjoy thinking, that's why I've chosen Economics;
I enjoy thinking, that's why I've chosen advertising,
What's the problem?
London 088
After the meeting, I go back to my seat.
Michael and I sit opposite to each other.
I ask him whether another girl in the meeting is
art-based or copy-based
London 087
confession:
I did have the experience of disliking the account that I was
working on. Treated it as if a dog which has just shitted,
I wished I could kick it out.
Are you sure I can do whatever I want?
This sounds so familiar to me.
Every time I was told " It's advertising, not arts!" at the end.
London 086
Briefing to gwen
I can recognize Michael only,
I can't remember the names of others and what each of them does.
But I can see that they are all excited and passionate.
Yakult sounds as their babies. They seem like a group of housewives
discussing what's best for the babies. Which one is better,
infant formula or breast milk. Any good nursery in the area?
They are longing for the bright future of the babies!
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