In and Out
April 08|2003

I arrived at Sharpe at 10:15pm. Tony Miller greeted me at reception and invited me into the boardroom. Before he opened my book, he mentioned that he recognized me and remembered me having some good work.
So there we were flipping through; he liked the Glade ads, he liked the rock climbing ads, he found the De Boers ads interesting, and he also noticed an improvement on the Simply Sleep ads.
Overall, he thought my book was very clean, and very strong in terms of art direction. He also mentioned that my work was better than most books he's seen.
Suggestions; take out the Olay ad, the Rold Gold ads, and he wasn't too fond of the Scrub Free ads. Mr.Miller also stressed that weak ads weaken the strong ones. Don't let the viewer slow down on any piece. Keep it at a consistent level of thinking. He wanted me to work on a piece that just screamed at him. Spec work, of course.

He told me to keep in touch with him. Unfortunately, they weren't hiring. But I knew that already.

This was a valuable trip for me because it reminded me that I was on the right track. His honesty and strong words of encouragement gave me that new energy and outlook on ideas. I highly recommend that anyone who needs a humble opinion on their book should see Tony Miller! Just don't clutter his voice-mail, all at once.

alek.