Halloween is when all things spooky come to the fore. It’s a perfect time to launch a book about scary things. Katie Reid, creative director at Founders Agency in New York and Miami Ad School instructor has launched a book about the things that scare advertising newbies – jargon.
The Ad Dictionary: A Collection of Scary Words That Should Not Be Scary is a collection of words, phrases and acronyms that seem to be trying to exclude newcomers to the industry, whether or not they were originally intended to aid efficiency. And yes, while it is intended as a guide for students and juniors, it’s also a wake-up call for everyone who has resorted to an overused word or phrase that possibly makes your reader wince. Note: bespoke, see, game-changing and iconic are in The Stable’s horror list. “This game-changing campaign saw the iconic launch of world-first bespoke executions…” shudder: ed.
The book, that launched on World Dictionary Day, October 16, (when did the world acquire more World/International/National Days than days of the year?, gives the industry’s most confounding, and in some cases deliberately arcane, words a macabre twist, defining them a simpler – and aptly sinister, way. Underlining the humour, carpe diem timing and earnestness of the project, a selection of first-edition copies of the book will be signed with a special ink created from Katie’s literal blood, sweat and tears, gathered throughout the creative process.
The book’s entries are sourced from the creative director’s own inboxes, old decks and Slack threads, as well as an Instagram poll and real-world conversations with peers, juniors and interns and in the spirit of the season, designer and formatter, Peyton Foley; illustrator, Kolega Soberanis; and 3D artist, Sofi Skiendziel gave the book a gothic, Victorian-inspired design.
Miami Ad School Punta Cana is also launching a 10-week course based on the book’s teachings with each class focusing on a different set of scary words, terms, acronyms, phrases housed in live creative briefs and feedback using them.
The Ad Dictionary: A Collection of Scary Words That Should Not Be Scary is available here in hardcover, softcover and eBook.
