Some things I wrote.
Some things I learned.
Can you love someone to death?
That was one of 174 taglines I’d written for M. Night Shyamalan’s motion picture, The Village. It was also the initial favorite of my client, an art director at BLT Communications on Sunset in Hollywood. He wanted a few more like it, though, directing me not to use the following words: love, heart, lie, or death. I’d spent the day (and night) writing on-site, sharing a storage closet with reams of 11x17 paper. I was required to work onsite, because nothing — neither script nor screener (rough cut of the movie) — could leave the premises. Ultimately, Shyamalan and Touchstone Pictures went with “There is no turning back,” a slightly edited version of tagline number three in my copy exploration. At 174 taglines, written in less than 24-hours, by the way, The Village isn’t even close to how many I wrote for the Adam Sandler film, Mr. Deeds. More on that project later.
Sorry, a mouse ate my copy.
I wrote close to 70 taglines for Joe Dirt. My ex-wife wrote one. It was both the last one written and the best, because Columbia Pictures selected hers. Sorry about the last three pages of exploratory copy. As a former colleague said, “some things are best left on the cutting room floor.” A mouse in the basement agreed.
The name yellowell started off as do re mi.
Naming is my least enjoyable creative endeavor, albeit at times, also the most satisfying. It’s creatively challenging because there are so few names left, thanks to podcasts, social handles, blogs, personal sites, Amazon, etc. The New York Times wrote about this a while back with “All Your Favorite Brands, From BSTOEM to ZGGCD: How Amazon is causing us to drown in trademarks.” But it’s also a challenge because naming is personal, causing people to lose objectivity. It’s why branding agencies often struggle with branding themselves. “I’ll know the name,” the client says, “when I see it.” And that’s when your heartaches begin. I didn’t immediately see the name yellowell, but I also didn’t have to do much concepting to find it. I just had to write down “do re mi.”
A writer at a design conference?
A design partner from one of the most personally destructive, yet professionally productive, times in my life invited me to speak at Storytellers: UCDA Design Conference 2022. Thanks to Elissa and to the 86 people who attended my talk: Taglines—Dangerous or just useless. If you’re a creative working in higher ed, consider becoming, like me, a member of the University & College Designers Association.