Happy Birthday to our other third!

Happy happy birthday to our number one sidekick SAMSON SMITH ROPER!! Last year, your Aunt Li made you a banner out of computer paper and highlighters, but this year you deserve something much more permanent.

Anyone who knows lali knows our Samson. Tyler and Penny may come and go, but this guy stands by us almost every day. Possibly the most famous dog in the office, Samson is known far and wide for his many skills such as yoga and ballet. He entertains with his antics and warms our hearts with his cuddles. And today, he’s got a shiny clean coat, a new collar, and some fancy toys from mom.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lscribbly/5204136325/

Samson……….

He stars in our productions:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lscribbly/5204160075/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lscribbly/5204713270/

He’s got mad skillz:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lscribbly/5204341825/

And he’s always learning new things, like the doggy door at my house:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lscribbly/5204090993/

He is a cuddle muffin:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lscribbly/5204939794/

And a snuggle nugget:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lscribbly/5204090827/

…..The man of the hour…….!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lscribbly/5204115849/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lscribbly/4605145692/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lscribbly/5204677480/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lscribbly/5073904305/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lscribbly/5073900003/

And with all he puts up with, this is how he feels about us sometimes (ffwd to :20)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lscribbly/4566341445/

Samson, I hope sitting in our cube day in and day out hasn’t made you bored of advertising, and I hope lali always has you as our third member :)

xo, Aunt Li

Mission: Donuts… and oh! What a mission it was!

A man. A plan. Some donuts. (Our iAd.)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lscribbly/5202510748/

On August 11, I wrote a post about TBWA\Chiat\Day\Night. On that night, we ended up almost pulling an all-nighter. And by almost, I mean li left at 6a to go get ready for her wedding and I left at 6a, went home, took a shower, and came back to the office at 8a.

What came out of that night was a client presentation for the digital launch of the new Nissan Juke. And out of all that work, the one big thing that has consumed the past few months with blood-shot eyes, sweat (in our armpits, usually when presenting to Rob Schwartz) and tears (because yes, we’re girls) – oh, and carpal tunnel syndrome and degenerating eyesight for AD li – is our iAd. (What’s an iAd? Check here)

It’s the 27th iAd ever made. And the process showed that strain. More meetings than for any other project ever. More struggles and discussions and decisions than we thought possible. And since there aren’t any best practices yet, every step was a learning process. But a great one.

After 13 copydecks,
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lscribbly/5201850491/

27 versions of the userflow and wireframes,
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lscribbly/5201850373/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lscribbly/5202564856/

161 PSDs with hundreds of layers,
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lscribbly/5201853693/

and a little bit of broken glass.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lscribbly/5202485502/

The final product might not reflect all that work. What Steve Jobs refers to as the “superbowl ad of mobile ads,” is still, after all, a mobile ad (albeit hopefully a good one!). But what we learned through the process is probably far more valuable than the creative work that came out of it. Which is probably true for most advertising.

So without further rambling,

(Or maybe just a little bit more rambling,)

Here is what a creative director at Apple called “being able to taste the chocolate,” without actually eating any.

Or should we say more like tasting donuts.

The first-ever comic book iAd,

A choose-Kowalcyzk’s-adventure that you control,

We present –

Mission: Donuts

Watch it here,

Or look for it in your pocket.

xo to Chren, JDB, Glenn–dylan, Keith, Janet, Lisa and the rest of the team, without which we wouldn’t have donuts at all,

la

Huhh… You’re going to have another commercial!

Li and I have a new spot! If you watched college football at all, you saw a commercial where a dad finds out he’s having a baby. In dismay, he looks longingly at his 370Z that has no back seats. And in a slightly fantastical twist, he stretches his Z into a Maxima, the four-door sports car.

Well, in this follow up, we revisit the couple again, this time at the doctor’s office. And you’ll see what happens next… if the title doesn’t give it away!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lscribbly/5199493372/

We shot this one again with Antoine Bardou-Jacquet, and if anyone has spent any set time with him, they know he’s a jokester. And if you haven’t, here’s a little peek at what he’s like. And in a little behind the scenes content, li and I fake auditioned for the role of doctor and husband, with Antoine in the pillow-belly-stuffed role of pregnant wife. Tehe! Minus li, who is actually quite a talented actress, there’s a reason we’re usually behind the camera and not in front of it.

Please. Just watch Antoine’s face.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lscribbly/5200008744/
And for those who don’t constantly read the blog (PS you should if you don’t and we may not forgive you nor give you lalipops!), see what Antoine’s pregnant belly ACTUALLY looks like here.

xo,
la

Steve Jobs, wanna be BFF?

Looks like we’ll be heading up to sunny Cupertino, CA this Thursday/Friday to finish up a project we’re working on with Apple. Exciting! I feel like I’m holding a golden ticket. Maybe I’ll even get to meet Willy Wonka himself.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lscribbly/5182689997/
This hadn’t occurred to me, but the Genius at the Apple Store last weekend said that when his buddy was in Cupterino for training, Steve Jobs sat down next to him at the cafeteria.

OMG what would I say? Working at the agency that does all of Apple’s advertising, we hear his name a lot. Our CDs helped launch itunes and stuff, and are on a “last-name-only” basis with him. So when the Apple Store Genius made a big deal of it, I was all “oh whatever” on the inside. But actually, when I stop to think about it, who knows if I’ll ever be welcomed into the confines of Apple headquarters again, so I guess I shouldn’t take it for granted.

Unless we go work at MAL, in which case, maybe we’d get to be BFF?

At any rate, if past celeb encounters are any indication (David Duchovny implied in this post), we’ll undoubtedly giggle and tell Mr. Jobs he should read our blog.

xo and bracing for the embarrassment,
li

Don’t go to concept angry…

So it’s not all sunshine and lalipops in the ad world.

Even though this blog may be mostly written with smiles, sometimes there are tears.

Li and I got in a fight this morning. At The Mill. In front of strangers. The fight was over something really important – as most things in advertising are – the fact that I play with my hair.

Li said she wanted to count how many times I have played with my hair in the time we spend concepting. I asked her if it was really that annoying. She said yes. I got hurt and angry and overreacted. She told me I was overreacting. I continued to overreact. Margaret threw a piece of paper at us that said you two are silly. I threw it at li. So on. We worked it out.

Really, we hate fighting, but (and I counted) we have spent close to 3,000 hours together (not counting hours on the phone, on IM, and video chatting) making important decisions, solving problems, creating problems for other people, deciding what’s right for brands, sending emails, sticking up for our opinions, writing things, comping things, presenting to clients, deciding what to blog, go to meetings, bitch about meetings, text during meetings, buy each other smoothies, drink saki while making banner ads, recording celebrities, plugging our blog to celebrities, walking our dogs, picking up our dogs poop, speaking our minds, you know, that kind of stuff. And when you spend close to 3,000 hours doing anything with anybody, there are just going to be some tense moments.

Sometimes you have to be vulnerable. And you have to say what’s on your mind. And you have to admit when you’re wrong.

The best is when you both admit you both could have handled the situation better. And then share an apple cream crepe together. Which is what happened today.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lscribbly/5180180008/
(note the two forks)

xo to li, sorry I overreacted,
la

Omeed, I hope you always remember your first…

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lscribbly/5170799434/

This adorable facebook post from our adorable cubicle neighbor Omeed Boghraty got me feeling nostalgic about the early days. Anyone out there remember their first real ad? I do.

My friend Mark Tripp has this funny site called Freshmen Ads. You can see my contribution in its original form here, and also below.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lscribbly/5170799908/

The kind people of Saatchi Los Angeles threw me (a creative assistant) and Josh (an intern) this little bone.

As for the print ad, I thought I had struck “Archive” gold envisioning the city as a metaphorical labyrinth. Eureka!

The banner was more or less our creative director’s idea (it’s loosely based on the movie “Duel” which I had never even heard of) and of course that’s the part of the project that got noticed by the One Show. Maybe 2007 was a slow year for banners, I don’t know.

Truth be told, I’m not convinced a single consumer ever saw or took notice of these little gems, but my children will. I kept that issue of Rolling Stone.

– Lindsey Montague Art Director, TBWA \ Chiat \ Day \ Night

So here’s to internal communication billboards, NASCAR win ads, Honda Certified Used Cars, APR financing, KBB homepage spotlight banners, facebook profile pictures, keynote, website body copy, mood boards, resizes, and all the other most glamorous aspects of being a junior creative.

Congratulations Omeed! Many more to come.

xo, li

Movember’s not just for boys anymore!

Musings on mustaches:

Men always say other mens’ mustaches are awesome. Women do not. Growing a mustache is a sign of being a man, for a man. Growing a mustache may be a sign that something is wrong with a man, for a woman (note Noah Roper with a mustache, pictured here). Men take their mustaches very seriously. Women can’t take men in mustaches seriously ever.

Last night’s post where I used a Dali (who had a mustache) hipstamatic filter to take a picture of Noah (who also had a mustache), got me remembering Movember last year. Li and I were new little creatives at the big Chiat Day. And an assistant producer grabbed us and said, we need more people for our Movember photoshoot! Could you help? And we unwittingly thought other girls would be posing for these mustache shots…

Think again, Chiat noobs! If I can remember correctly, we were two of three (maybe four?) girls in mustaches. Mine is not attractive, to say the least. Li’s is downright disturbing! But all for a good cause. (read more here) I wonder how much $$ li’s mo raised for prostate cancer…??

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lscribbly/5162313597/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lscribbly/5162313731/

And since ours aren’t real mustaches and we can’t keep them for the entire month, here’s a smattering of infamous mustaches and the men who wear them.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lscribbly/5162921666/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lscribbly/5162313765/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lscribbly/5162313823/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lscribbly/5162920316/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lscribbly/5162324267/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lscribbly/5162313963/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lscribbly/5162920406/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lscribbly/5162314117/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lscribbly/5162324223/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lscribbly/5162324321/

xo,
la

iPhone, You’re a Star!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lscribbly/5159996289/

Just because we work at TBWA\Chiat\Day and not Media Arts Lab doesn’t mean we can’t film an iPhone! It just might happen to be my iPhone (with a slightly dented side) and not a fancy one. And using Brett Erlich (star of the Nissan Juke commercial but not a hand model) hands. And filming in a cubicle in the office instead of a fancy set.

I was without a phone all morning because we were using it to shoot a demo for our iAd (coming soon guys, keep an eye out on the blog for the demo!) We were reunited with Kowalczyk (AKA Brett Erlich) and lots of donuts.

As the readers of this blog may or may not know, my phone has hipstamatic. And hipstamatic supplies about 90% of the photos seen on this blog. So it’s a pretty integral part of our posts, as lali life isn’t nearly as interesting when not seen through the lens of purposefully aged photos circa 1976. Thank you, Roboto Glitter, Bettie XL, Helga Viking, and more, you’ve given us such goodies as:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lscribbly/4998688011/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lscribbly/4998687773/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lscribbly/4811473844/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lscribbly/4707571106/

(Speaking of hipstamatic, users should update and get the free promo lenses for the Dali Museum, entitled Dali Museum GoodPak, check out the mediabistro writeup here and check out the contest here)

And seeing as how I get my emails on my iPhone, my work phone transfers to my iPhone and even my IMs get sent to my iPhone, it’s a pretty integral part of the work la life and not just the blog la life.

However, today the tables were turned and instead of documenting the adworld, my iPhone was in it. Too bad it doesn’t count as talent!

So all of you fellow iPhone users, keep an eye out for our iAd. Coming soon to a pocket near you.

xo,
la

PS for those curious as to what Noah looks like through the Dali lens and with a mustache…
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lscribbly/5160057533/

lali learns the joys of the BSG hangover…

A few weeks ago, Mark and I finished all the seasons of Weeds that Netflix Instant has to offer. Very enjoyable, by the way.

Whenever we finish a series — and we have finished many in our almost 4 years together — we are faced with a very important decision: what on earth will we now do with our down time? Or, in other words, what Netflix Instant series will we watch next?

Netflix, in its infinite wisdom, served up the answer for us in the “suggested” popup window. The answer couldn’t be more clear: Battlestar Gallactica.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lscribbly/5148880599/

I think we finished season one in about a weekend. Just when you think it’s time for bed, Commander (now Admiral) Adama readies the nukes (cut to credits) or so-and-so is a cylon (cut to credits). Now…I’ve never tried hard drugs so I can only imagine the addiction, but almost any time I see those credits roll, I’m jonesin’ to reinject the goods.

I guess it was contagious, because before I knew it, I got a text from la at 1:26AM on the Saturday night of Halloween weekend: she was on episode 3. In fact, we both (unbeknownst to each other) stayed up until 4:30AM glued to our respective Netflixes. So much for being young and cool and out at bars with our peers.

Since then, it’s all we can think about. It’s all we do when we finally get home from our day jobs. Even while in production and waking up before the sun, we watch late into the night and wake up each morning with a BSG hangover. It’s awesome.

I wish I could tell you what transpired last night before my head finally hit the pillow, but I wouldn’t want to give it away to la who is a little behind me. Let’s just say a main character died in a fiery plane crash and might very well be a cylon. Omg.

xo,
callsign: li

PS image above provided thanks to Noah Roper’s record collection. Ha.

when not an ad girl, li moonlights as a valley girl.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lscribbly/5146453180/

This is an email I was cc:ed on from li the other day at the shoot:

Great. Shooting in t.o. today :(
Can he send a qt of a wip before his eod?
I know we lose him today, so I’ll reply ASAP.

:)

Can anyone actually decipher that whole thing?

Like, xoxo, gtg,
la