Thursday 16 June 2016

Be a Kiwi, Not a Sheep


I recently saw Old Mout Cider's new ad. It focuses on going further for better things and to not follow the crowd. What initially got my attention was that – as shown below – the underground train advert uses two panels instead of one to illustrate its message. I took a picture as I thought it was an interesting idea I wanted to remember, but later I saw another of their ads showing a different copyline: "Be a Kiwi, Not a Sheep".



This got me thinking about not only how quirky a line this is, but also how I should be applying this into my life.

As a designer I am required to come up with idea after idea after idea. Sometimes it feels as if I'm on a conveyor belt, just going through the process throwing out mass-produced ideas one after another because that is what is being asked of me. And I don't want to be the sheep, I want to be the kiwi. I am the kiwi deep down, and my mind boggles with crazy ideas 24/7. But because we're so restrained, either by brand guidelines, or because you're told "the client won't like that", we start to lose faith in our abilities as creatives. We start to become a little embarrassed by our own ideas, thinking they won't be accepted. I'm proud to say that I am making changes in my life to ensure this is no longer how I feel, and will power forwards to show every quirk, every 'mad' idea I have, because you never know where they'll take you.

I am a kiwi, not a sheep.