Think Hard, Sell Soft
One of the topics I was previously unaware of from "The Advertising Concept Book" is the idea of Hard vs. Soft advertisements. Hard ads are those that display a product or special offer in a very straightforward way. Soft ads are ads which are creative and conceptual in nature, and are not nearly as direct.
I had not yet made this distinction between the two types of ads. If I had a subconscious distinction, it was that there are good and bad ads - soft ads being the "good", hard ads being the "bad". But even when creating ads for classes and other projects, I would concentrate on the design for hard ads. Then I would wonder why I hated the work that I was producing! It always seemed boring, no matter how much I liked the design work.
I'm very excited to work towards creating soft ads. It's going to take the designs to a whole new level.
