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Ad Books

These are books that we've actually read, rated, interviewed the authors of or sometimes simply reviewed - if you fancy a peek we've included excerpts so you can 'taste' the writing before deciding if the book is something for you. Browse before you buy!

Alex White - "Advertising design and typography" - the new bible book for budding designers.

cover of Alex White - Alex White Advertising Design and Typography (Hardcover)

author: Alex White
rating:
asin: 1581154658
binding: Hardcover
list price: $50.00 USD
amazon price: $31.50 USD


When I first spotted this book, I thought I had died and gone to heaven. I'm a total sucker for those heavy hard cover tomes of design that you can read cover to cover and then flip through over and over and over again. This is exactly that kind of book, it's jam packed with over 1,500 advertising examples that reinforce the message Alex is trying to get across.

Sure, Alex will spend some time talking about research, clients, the market and such but it's his points on design and type that shine. Not so strange considering Alex White is an accomplished designer himself, he simply knows what he's talking about. Alex also clearly loves it as he spends the last part of the book showing off great examples of how typography sets the tone for any design, happy like a kid in a candystore.

This tome is really a must have.

Hey Whipple, one more time! The third edition of Luke Sullivan's guide to creating great advertising

cover of Hey Whipple, one more time! The third edition of Luke Sullivan's guide to creating great advertisingHey, Whipple, Squeeze This: A Guide to Creating Great Advertising (Adweek Magazine Series)

author: Luke Sullivan
rating:
asin: 0470190736
binding: Paperback
list price: $19.95 USD
amazon price: $13.57 USD


A lot has changed since the first edition of the now staple creative diet book "Hey Whipple, Squeeze Tthis", not just that Dick Wilson who played Mr Whipple has gone to squeeze the big fluffy clouds in the sky at the grand age of 91. There's also the galloping development of the web and the myriad of new media areas. So how does the grand old classic "idea" apply to these new solutions? Don't worry, Luke knows.

“Luke Sullivan writes just about as relevant an advertising read as you can get. It’s a perfect lesson in advertising for newcomers – and a familiar and highly painful reminiscence for those of us entrenched in this noble and often crazy profession.”
–Lee Clow, Chairman, TBWA/Chiat, Chief Creative Officer Worldwide
“This is a business that is changing like crazy, but Sullivan’s advice is timeless.”
–Mike Hughes, President, Creative Director, The Martin Agency
“Luke’s reflections on the advertising industry make me wish I could do it all over again. Except for that ‘scab’ story in Chapter 10.”
–Bob Barrie, Barrie D’Rozario Murphy

Lets do an excerpt. My favorite way to check out a book is to slap it open and read a bit. If I fancy it, I buy it. The third edition of this book doesn't just have two new chapters but old chapters have been updated as well as the examples were getting a little dusty. Check out chapter eight inside for your test read.

Paul Arden on God

cover of Paul Arden on GodGod Explained in a Taxi Ride

author: Paul Arden
asin: 0141032227
binding: Paperback
list price: $16.00 USD
amazon price: $10.88 USD


The man who always said "God is in the details" has lost religion and thus put out a book on the subject. A book short enough to read in one single cab ride sitting. A book which has it's own myspace profile. A book full of those little brilliant napkin scribbles that'll never happen.

Paul Arden quips again.

cover of Paul Arden quips again.Whatever You Think, Think the Opposite

author: Paul Arden
asin: 1591841216
binding: Paperback
list price: $13.95 USD
amazon price: $11.16 USD


Here's another pep talk for you special snowflakes who need someone to remind you to keep your opinions and your backbone, despite what the adgame might be doing to you. Paul Arden delivers his usual distilled smarts in his second book, despite the fact that he claims he can't write. He makes up for this by writing a lot of short sentences and hitting the return key way too often. His books are to young misunderstood adgrunts what the little black poetry book is to Emo kids. If you know a sulking creative at your office, this might be the right gift for them.

I used to commision a lot of photography.
Consequently, people weere keen to show me their work.
99 percent of portfolios I saw were of a very high standard.
But 98 percent of them contained pictures I had seen before.
Obviously not the same subject or composition, but I had the general impression that I was not seeing anything new.

Cutting edge advertising excerpt.

cover of Cutting edge advertising excerpt.Cutting Edge Advertising: How to Create the World's Best for Brands in the 21st Century

author: Jim Aitchison
Neil French
rating:
asin: 013012897X
binding: Paperback
list price: $29.99 USD
amazon price: $29.99


As a cutting edge communicator, you need to know what is happening. You need to understand the changes. You need to see how they will impact on your own creative thinking process, because they will.

Strategies and briefs

The joke goes something like this: a copywriter and an account director were visiting a client in Paris. The copywriter asked the account director how to get to the client's office, and the account director handed him a map of Europe.

When Mad Men ruled the world, or at least got smashed.

cover of When Mad Men ruled the world, or at least got smashed.Get Smashed!: The Staggering Story of the Men Who Made the Adverts that Changed Our Lives

author: Sam Delaney
rating:
asin: 0340922508
binding: Paperback
list price: $25.80 USD
amazon price: $25.80 USD


For those who are already pining for next season of Mad Men, why don't you dive head first into the golden years of UK advertising, the 60's, 70's and 80's. Back when men were alcoholics, women never climbed above the title of secretary, and all paychecks for creatives were insanely huge.

Little 1 by Ann and Paul Rand

cover of Little 1 by Ann and Paul RandLittle 1

author: Ann Rand
rating:
asin: 0811850048
binding: Hardcover
list price: $15.95 USD
amazon price: $10.85 USD


I can't be the only adgrunt who's procreated, so humor me here for a sec while I review a childrens book for wee little adgrunts-to-be. Did you know that Ann Rand wrote children's books, four of which were illustrated by her husband Paul? Start your little artist off right with some well designed classics I say.

In Little 1 we learn basic addition by following the number one around, in rhyming rhythmic verse no less. Don't worry, it might be lonely being the Little 1 but it has a happy ending - and great artwork.

Little 1 looked like a stick

Paul Arden's Lecture at the D&AD

cover of Paul Arden's Lecture at the D&ADIt's Not How Good You Are, Its How Good You Want to Be: The World's Best Selling Book

author: Paul Arden
rating:
asin: 0714843377
binding: Paperback
list price: $8.95 USD
amazon price: $8.95 USD


"Everybody probably does want to be good but not everybody are prepared to make the sacrifices it takes. To some people being nice, to be liked is important. There is equal merit in that too. But you must not confuse being good with being liked. There may be not one person in this room that truly wants to be great. Most of you have come here for a solution. The way to become good. I have to tell you that I have no such solution. I can't teach you anything. I can tell you, but you won't hear me. The only way to learn is through your own experiences and mistakes.

Adcult USA and Ogilvy On Advertising

cover of Adcult USA and Ogilvy On AdvertisingOgilvy on Advertising

author: David Ogilvy
rating:
asin: 039472903X
binding: Paperback
list price: $24.95 USD
amazon price: $16.47 USD


From "Adcult USA" and "Oglivy On Advertising"
about Subliminal Advertising.
"ADCULT USA"

By James B. Twitchell
Where's The Beef?
The subliminal explanation of Advertising

Ordinary Advertising. And How To Avoid it like the plague

cover of Ordinary Advertising. And How To Avoid it like the plagueOrdinary Advertising. And How To Avoid It Like The Plague.

author: Mark Silveira
asin: 1401098495
binding: Paperback
list price: $21.99 USD
amazon price: $21.99 USD



by Mark Silveira
Chapter One
How Bad Is Most Advertising?

The Other Side of Advertising by Wallace J. Gordon

cover of The Other Side of Advertising by Wallace J. GordonOther Side of Advertising

author: Wallace Gordon
asin: 0759640599
binding: Paperback
list price: $26.95 USD
amazon price: $26.95 USD


tip from adgrunt Laters - One man's view from 40 years in the trenches of the advertising wars.

A memoir is made of memories, and in these memories I've changed only a very, very few actual names, dates, and places. And those only for reasons best considered as prudent.

All the other memories are exactly as they were. Or at least as they seemed to me. If some of them seem unpleasant or less then flattering...? Well, that's the way I remember them.

Bluff Your way in Advertising!

no imageBluff Your Way in Advertising (The Bluffer's Guides)

author: Nigel Foster
rating:
asin: 1853040908
binding: Paperback
list price: $5.95 USD
amazon price: $5.95


In this small book, you can learn the lingo, who’s who in the mess of mystery advertising agency titles, and how to panic appropriately during deadlines. Like all Bluff books it’s very funny, and sometimes so true it’s scary.

Art Directors. Art directors are in theory responsible for the visual aspect of an advertisement. In practice, art directors will direct practically anything, the campaign, the account, the commercial, the agency, the client, and the personal lives of anyone they find attractive. What they think they do;

"Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die" by Chip and Dan Heath

cover of Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die

author: Chip Heath
Dan Heath
asin: 1400064287
binding: Hardcover
list price: $25.00 USD
amazon price: $16.50 USD


When I received the review copy of the book "Made to stick" by Chip and Dan Heath and started making dog-ears all over it I knew I had to share it with you all - at the same time I was kind of hogging it hoping to keep it my little secret ;) It's quite inspired by Malcolm Gladwell's The "Tipping Point", but an inspiring idea book in its own right where the brothers argue that the elusive thing that makes an idea stick can be boiled down to six critical elements:

Simplicity
Unexpectedness
Concreteness
Credibility
Emotions
Stories

Add sexy and you spell success.

Adcult USA

cover of Adcult USAAdcult USA

author: James B. Twitchell
asin: 0231103255
binding: Paperback
list price: $27.00 USD
amazon price: $23.40 USD


"The history of advertising yo-yo’s between hard and soft sell. During hard times we get the hard sell, during affluent times the soft.Until we got video,cable, and the remote control, we could observe the yo-yoing in approximately fifteen-year cycles. Hard or soft, however, the one thing advertising has not been ironic. But it seems to me that irony is becoming more and more a staple of Adcult and that irony is the deflation of Adcult. This irony often becomes parody, as if the only way to get through the clutter is to give up the charade and come out in front of the curtain.

A Big Life - in advertising

cover of A Big Life - in advertisingA Big Life In Advertising

author: Mary Wells Lawrence
rating:
asin: 0743245865
binding: Paperback
list price: $14.00 USD
amazon price: $11.90 USD


A Big Life (in advertising) - by Mary Wells

Under the radar

cover of Under the radarUnder the Radar: [Talking to Today's Cynical Consumer] (Adweek Magazine Series)

author: Jonathan Bond
Richard Kirshenbaum
rating:
asin: 0471174696
binding: Hardcover
list price: $55.00 USD
amazon price: $46.75 USD


WE ARE IN THE MIDST OF AN EPIDEMIC OF CYNICISM.

What's a Saatchi?

cover of What's a Saatchi?WHAT'S A SAATCHI...? (Graphis)

author: Thomas Jordan
rating:
asin: 1932026029
binding: Hardcover
list price: $45.00 USD
amazon price: $45.00


Looking to topple IPG, WPP, Omnicom and Publicis? Who isn't! Learn the tricks of the trade from Hoffman York, one agency that fought for their independence from Saatchi and Saatchi and won.

Tom Jordan, Hoffman York's creative director and author of recently published 'What's a Saatchi and How Come We Have Two of Them?' dropped by adland to share some pearls of wisdom with you adgrunts.

Click continue to read about Hoffman York and Tom Jordan, the Master of Marketing in the Mid-West!

Unspecial effects for graphic designers - Bob Gill

cover of Unspecial effects for graphic designers - Bob GillUnspecial Effects for Graphic Designers

rating:
asin: 1931241007
binding: Paperback
list price: $35.00 USD
amazon price: $35.00


Graphic designer says: to hell with special effects.

The thesis of Unspecial Effects for Graphic Designers is that the most effective way for print to compete with the dazzling special effects of the hottest music videos or the latest alien movie is by going to the other extreme...to reality! To, in effect, say to the audience, "have you ever noticed this before? Even though it was right under your nose."

Creative Company: how St Luke's became the ad agency to end all ad agencies.

cover of Creative Company: how St Luke's became the ad agency to end all ad agencies.Creative Company: How St. Luke's Became "the Ad Agency to End All Ad Agencies"

author: Andy Law
rating:
asin: 0471350265
binding: Hardcover
list price: $37.95 USD
amazon price: $30.36 USD


Chapter 18 : Culture

Ogilvy on advertising

cover of Ogilvy on advertisingOgilvy on Advertising

author: David Ogilvy
rating:
asin: 1853751960
binding: Paperback
list price: $26.85 USD
amazon price: $26.85


How to run an advertising agency.

"Hey, Whipple, Squeeze This: A Guide to Creating Great Ads."

cover of Hey, Whipple, Squeeze This: A Guide to Creating Great Ads, Second Edition

author: Luke Sullivan
rating:
asin: 0471281395
binding: Paperback
list price: $17.95 USD
amazon price: $12.21 USD


The Hack
by Luke Sullivan.

Many thanks to Luke Sullivan for e-mailing me this part of his book. - Dabitch

Yes, clients can misbehave. Thank God, most of them don't. And to account for all that awful work you see on TV every night, those bad clients must have a few friends in the business. They do. Like everything else in life, America's list of agencies makes up a big bell curve. There are a few truly great agencies, then a whole bunch of agencies that are just okay, and then a few bad ones.

A Communicator's Credo

no imageWhat's the Big Idea?: How to Win with Outrageous Ideas (That Sell!) (That Sell!)

author: George Lois
Bill Pitts
rating:
asin: 0452269385
binding: Paperback
list price: $12.95 USD
amazon price: $12.95


The big idea will always be what great advertising is all about

85% of all advertising is invisible. This wasted work may not be all bad, but it's not good enough to win your attention. Much of it could be thoughtful and well "positioned." A lot of it may even be visually appealing. But none of it is good enough to stop you in your tracks. 14% of all advertising is terrible ugly, stupid, patronizing, demeaning. Paradoxically, that's better than being invisible; at least it might get your attention.

George Lois, What's the big Idea?

no imageWHAT'S THE BIG IDEA? (That Sell!)

author: George Lois
rating:
asin: 0385414862
binding: Hardcover
list price: $22.50 USD
amazon price: $22.50


'You'd be paranoic too if people were out to get you!'
by George Lois.
From the book; What's the big idea?

Revisionism is a hazard of the advertising life. Credit for the big
idea and disputes about who said or wrote what when can drive you
up the wall if you let that kind of backbiting get to you. Advertising
attracts intense personalities who thrive on the heat of confrontation,
the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. Advertising also attracts

Mad Ave Must Have

cover of Mad Ave Must HaveMad Ave

author: The Art Directors Club
rating:
asin: 0789303698
binding: Hardcover
list price: $39.95 USD
amazon price: $39.95


If you're an ad geek like me (and you wouldn't be on this web site if you weren't) you might be afflicted with an ad book fetish. Well, get ready to squeeze a new tome on the bookshelf

MAD AVE: Award Winning Advertising of the 20th Century.

Herman Vaske interviews Tim Mellors

cover of Herman Vaske interviews Tim MellorsStanding on the Shoulders of Giants: Hermann Vaske's Conversations With the Masters of Advertising

author: Hermann Vaske
rating:
asin: 3931126692
binding: Paperback
list price: $38.00 USD
amazon price: $32.30 USD


It's only advertising. Nobody gets killed. The old saying about boxing champions "They never come back" does not apply to advertising. At the beginning of the seventies, Tim Mellors was the beloved wunderkind of British advertising. Then Mellors went into directing and failed. After an attempt to set up his own consultancy, which went bankrupt, Mellors ended up in the world of alcohol and drugs. Seven years back, Charles Saatchi and Jeremy Sinclair got the prodigal son back into their office.

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