Art Director Skills Every Copywriter Should Have.
After an open letter from Steve Jobs , it seems like war has been declared — Flash vs. HTML5.
I don't know HTML5, but I know a little Flash. I also know Dreamweaver and the basics of Illustrator and Photoshop. I'm not the fastest web site builder in world, but I can build one from scratch, dammit. And yes, I'm a copywriter by trade.
There are still writers out there who don't feel that it's important to know anything except Word. Really? You seriously feel that's all you need to get by? "Getting by" is the problem here. Agencies aren't looking for people to help them just "get by." They are looking for creatives who can move them forward.
I made a conscious decision years ago to piss off my art director partners as little as possible. Meaning, I don't hand copy to them with the expectations to "make this work." I'm not carelessly knocking art and text boxes all over the place and messing up links in their InDesign layouts for them to clean up later (I apologize if I do).
Taking web design courses helped me understand the basics. It really came in handy years ago when my company's digital team asked me to help them with a Transformers online game as a pre-launch for the Chevy Camaro.
On other projects, I witnessed writers, who lacked interactive experience, come up with concepts that didn't make sense or were technologically impossible to do. It's because they didn't understand the medium they were working in. By taking the most basic web classes meant the digital team wasn't speaking in a foreign language to me. I understood what they needed from me and what I could ask from them.
I see the Flash fight as another wake up call to writers to stay relevant. You don't want to be two steps behind on the technology and the world you need to work in.
It's not too late to catch up. The Flash fight is just beginning and it's too ingrained in the universe to go away quickly (or go away at all). We all know it will evolve into something else. Just make sure you're there to grow with it.
And before the job requires it, I will learn a little HTML5, too.
I don't know HTML5, but I know a little Flash. I also know Dreamweaver and the basics of Illustrator and Photoshop. I'm not the fastest web site builder in world, but I can build one from scratch, dammit. And yes, I'm a copywriter by trade.
There are still writers out there who don't feel that it's important to know anything except Word. Really? You seriously feel that's all you need to get by? "Getting by" is the problem here. Agencies aren't looking for people to help them just "get by." They are looking for creatives who can move them forward.
I made a conscious decision years ago to piss off my art director partners as little as possible. Meaning, I don't hand copy to them with the expectations to "make this work." I'm not carelessly knocking art and text boxes all over the place and messing up links in their InDesign layouts for them to clean up later (I apologize if I do).
Taking web design courses helped me understand the basics. It really came in handy years ago when my company's digital team asked me to help them with a Transformers online game as a pre-launch for the Chevy Camaro.
On other projects, I witnessed writers, who lacked interactive experience, come up with concepts that didn't make sense or were technologically impossible to do. It's because they didn't understand the medium they were working in. By taking the most basic web classes meant the digital team wasn't speaking in a foreign language to me. I understood what they needed from me and what I could ask from them.
I see the Flash fight as another wake up call to writers to stay relevant. You don't want to be two steps behind on the technology and the world you need to work in.
It's not too late to catch up. The Flash fight is just beginning and it's too ingrained in the universe to go away quickly (or go away at all). We all know it will evolve into something else. Just make sure you're there to grow with it.
And before the job requires it, I will learn a little HTML5, too.
Posted by Clifton Simmons at 5/3/2010 8:33 AM 
Categories: You've Been Schooled, Traditional In An Untraditional World
Tags: HTML5 Flash
Categories: You've Been Schooled, Traditional In An Untraditional World
Tags: HTML5 Flash
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