Hello boys. Oh, and here come the girls. Creative Review has been asking its readers to share their thoughts on the best advertising slogans ever. The art of the copywriter is to take the pith and turn it into something profound. Images are important, but when it comes to memorable marketing, it’s the copy that’s the real thing. So, which slogan is pure genius? Which does exactly what it says on the tin? And do washing machines really live longer with Calgon?

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Creative Review, Slogans, Taglines

Punctuation is not just a great friend of the copywriter and author. Designers and typographers have long valued the punctuation mark for its succinctness and beauty of form, bringing simplicity, clarity, homour and intelligence to design. This charming Print.Magazine gallery showcases a history of the question mark and exclamation mark in design through the years.

Art, Book design, Copy, Copywriting, Grammar, Illustration, Typography

Smith Magazine is the home of the six-word memoir. The publication is inviting readers to submit their (very) short stories about working life. The theme is ‘Why I do what I do’.

I’m a fan of economic wordsmithery (Orwell is the master) and this is certainly a novel challenge.

Submissions so far have included ‘To get away from the kids’ and ‘Haven’t been offered a better job’. They’re certainly honest. And they’re preferable to some of the more worthy stories, such as ‘Chances to reach others deeply, spiritually’ and ‘Work is passion. Passion is work’.

My best attempt is: I write for a living. Cool.

So, what’s your story?

6 word memoir, Smith magazine

Writing’s not just my job. It’s my hobby. Ok, it’s an obsession. For me, a finely-crafted sentence – or headline – is as beautiful as any of the pretty coloured boxes created by my design colleagues.

The English language can be fun, too. Carry On star Kenneth Williams once suggested that if he ever saw a double entendre in a script he’d whip it out (think about it), but I love mischievous or ambiguous word play.

I’m a ‘crash blossom’ collector. A crash blossom is a dubious headline a newspaper sub-editor has placed above a story – either unintentionally or with a wry smile. The phrase is based on a 1980s headline about a young violinist whose career flourished after the death of her father in a Japan Airlines crash: Violinist linked to JAL crash blossoms.

As a fan of clever headlines – and betraying my background in newspapers – I’d like to share some of my favourites.

Many years ago, the late former UK Labour leader Michael Foot took on the chairmanship of an anti-nuclear organisation. The Guardian headline read: Foot heads arms body.

And there’s more: Tories join talks on high speed line; Giant waves down funnel; Female binge drinker arrests rocket; Crowds rushing to see Pope trample six to death.

Let’s get bang up to date with a headline based on model Katie Price using social media to brief against her ex-ex-husband. In 140 characters or less, she told her ‘followers’ that Peter Andre was lacking in a key area. It’s not a crash blossom, just an example of a classic tabloid headline: The Twitter Batter of Tiny Pete.

I guess all this is a niche subject for a blog site devoted to design. But I’d love to hear any of your favourite headlines or examples of word play.

No tags

Here’s a terrific 5-minute film we featured in the Creative Forum on writing. It shows the difference choosing the right words can make.

Story of a sign, Words, Writing

If you’re anything like me, you’ll grimace when Ian Wright ask contestants “what are yous going to do with the money?” or new Strictly judge Alesha Dixon gushes “you was moving around that floor…”

Or perhaps I’m being too picky? I could certainly forgive Alesha…

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Copy, Grammar, Speech, Writing

Thanks to Damon and Darren for a great Forum, dissecting the writing process. After having many speakers from outside the company it was good to get some expert opinions from part of the Linney team. There was even time to take part in a ‘guess the ending’ game which showed quite clearly that the Forum audience can’t quite compare to Enid Blyton.

Creative Forum, Creative Writing, Linney Design