Lay-offs abound

The other day I was put in mind of a good book I read last year: Then We Came to the End, by Joshua Ferris. The tale is set in a high-end Chicago advertising agency, which, in these belt-tightening times, appears to be spiralling down the swanny – and fast. Those who have worked in an office environment will recognise the nuances of the story and the variety of personalities throughout; those who have experienced said office life in a ‘creative industry’ environment will appreciate them even more. Email perils, lunch-break politics, forced conversation and niceties, distractions, gossip, corporate camaraderie, the group dynamic, the creative process and the myriad opportunities for timesheet padding. Add to these the introverted, skeptical stirrings of regret, insecurity, isolation, mental block, purposelessness, lack of self-worth…the list goes on. And if all of that wasn’t bad enough, now the firm are letting people go.

After he left college, the author worked as a copywriter for an Ad agency for three years. He was “fascinated by the behemoth structure in place – the hierarchies, the coded messages, the power struggles… such an awesome, malignant, necessary, pervasive, inscrutable place deserved a novel’s attention.” In terms of what his Then We Came to the End creative department would produce in terms of a slogan to promote his book, Ferris conceded: “They wouldn’t have a single clue. They would bemoan the assignment while being happy to have a job to bill time to. After a couple of days they’d get down to business and feel woefully inadequate to the task. Eventually something would emerge, but there would be no consensus. The book would disappear from bookstores within two weeks and the firm would go bankrupt.”

It was after discovering this brilliant website that I wanted to write a few words about this book. The site is laid out as a blueprint of the office floor. Echoes of the creatives' deepest thoughts and daydreams reverberate around the walls. The dull groan of the photocopier is just audible over the whirr of servers and other overheated hardware. There are even links to some of the characters’ MySpace pages. I never encountered a book so meticulously supported before. Maybe there are lots of other examples, but this is the first I’ve ever discovered. The teaser below, as well as the interview used above can also be found on the site.

ICAD Book Launch

Behind the scenes at last night's ICAD book launch at the Radisson SAS, Golden Lane, Dublin. WARNING: Gazing at the carpet for extended periods of time may result in feelings of dizziness and nausea.


The book is a cracker. Entitled 'Gold, Silver, Bronze and Green', it is a definitive collection of awarding winning-Irish advertising and graphic design over the last five years. It is made from 8 different recycled paper stocks* and it weighs around 4 stone**: top drawer. If that wasn't enough, guests were also treated to a ringbound notepad, an ICAD awards leaflet, a free trial version 'create your own creature' computer game, and... hold it... a sexy gold and black canvas shoulder bag to take it all home in! No messing. Grocery shopping for those present will surely never be the same again.
*true ** possibly not true


I was allocated the lofty title of 'mound-supervisor'. Any guests who got up close to the finished mountain of bags will no doubt acknowledge this feat of engineering endeavour - dubbed a piece of 'installation art' by Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Eamon Ryan TD no less - and I can only say I was proud to be associated with its realisation.


Against-the-clock-fun was also had putting together the lightboxes dotted about the venue, produced exclusively by wrongsizesigns.ie


But after all the hard work, we were able to join the revellers and soak up the inspirational words of John Fanning (grandfather/godfather of Irish advertising), Martin Wright (ICAD President) and the aforementioned Minister, washed down with a few Kobra Beers (sic).


PS. Several complaints have been lodged by Dublin taxi drivers to the Gardai, the Dail and Joe Duffy after a sizeable amount of ringbound notepads, ICAD awards leaflets and free trial version 'create your own creature' computer games were discarded in taxis across the city last night.

Some things I like... number three

Great Ideas was a beautiful series of books published by Penguin a few years ago. The individual covers were designed with ornate and evocative typography, embossed and debossed textures. Red and black were the only colours permitted for the first twenty books of the series, while a second twenty followed in cyan and black. The covers produced for the series were so wonderfully subtle and alluring.