No sooner do I get rid of my old, slightly broken Art Director with the wonky drawing hand and dodgy proposition-reader, then I begin to miss him.
The new one is competent, which is nice. But he’s also rather demanding. For instance, I now have to write subheads. Previously, I could bat those requests away with, ‘We can work that out if the client buys it’ and he’d smile and do a squiggle (a nice little conspiratorial moment, that).
Worse, lines are often batted right back at me or sometimes even IMPROVED without my say-so. This is a particularly mean trick as he knows full well that if I complain, I’ll have to think of something better.
The old one said embarrassing things, which at the time I felt reflected badly on me. But now I wonder if he made me look good? Have I now become new AD’s embarrassment? The fly in his career ointment?
Posts
2 weeks ago
I sympathize with you.
ReplyDeleteMy ex-art director also insisted that because he was a DM specialist, I had to listen to his rules when it came to DMs.
So, Johnson boxes, PSes, teaser lines - the full Reader's Digest works.
Think I got even when it came to non-DM.
My argument was, if he was a DM specialist, then I'm the non-DM specialist.
I think it's annoying when folks read a 1950s book and then insist that we stick to all the 'rules'.