The Digital Radish Book Club: September’s top picks
This month’s book club has a lil’ twist. In the agency we find amazing insights in all sorts of places, from YouTube to podcasts, as well as on the page.
So it’s only right that this month’s blog focuses on our online faves that inspire us to push boundaries and think differently.
First up is a video series on the creative process by the global brand agency DixonBaxi, now pushing into its second season.
We’re also highlighting a long-running blog by David Dye, an elite brain dump of podcast interviews with legendary creatives and David’s own insights on the ad world.
Rounding off this month’s not-actually-a-book-club blog is Twenty Thousand Hertz by Dallas Taylor, which explores stories about sound for brands, films, video games and TV shows.
Give us a shout if you love these as much as we do!
- Check out last month’s top picks from the Digital Radish Book Club here.
What’s it about?
Reflecting on the lessons they’ve learned about creativity since founding DixonBaxi in 2001, Simon Dixon and Aporva Baxi launched a video series that breaks down the principles behind the studio’s campaigns for MTV2, Channel 4 and the Premier League, among many others. The first season is presented by the founders, and the second is an all-agency effort.
How do the founders sum it up?
“The focus for us is the audience. That’s who we really need to be concerned about… of course we’re doing it for the client – we’re making sure we’re meeting their challenges – but we’re concerned about the fans, or the people who that brand is for.” – Aporva Baxi
Why we love it
“I’ve always liked their work – it’s top tier. They really get to the core of the problems they’re trying to solve. The video series is a nice blend of their own experiences and the creative process in general – the series talks a lot about how to be creative and to do it better while tying it back to their own work and how they’ve applied those lessons.” – Lewis Jones
What we learned
From assessing exactly how much risk to take with a creative project to being “fluent in people”, there are tons of best-practice tips to chew on. What’s perhaps even more inspiring is that as Simon and Aporva have grown the agency, they’ve managed to cultivate their creative approach across a whole team, as the second season of the video series illustrates.
What’s it about?
The art director and ad industry legend David Dye – best known for his work with Adidas, The Economist and many others – has kept a rolling output of magazine interviews, hard-to-find archival material, his own podcast series, and reflections on previous work for the last ten years. It’s a singularly impressive brain dump of creativity.
How does the author sum it up?
“I had a domain and endless hard drives of creative work. There’d be jpegs and scans that I could never find, so I thought if I dumped them all on a site, I’d be able to access them when needed. And in the process of organising that, I thought I might as well write what happened, explain why there are six different rough campaigns for Punch magazine.” – David Dye
Why we love it
“When I was a young strategist, I went to a talk that David hosted. He showed us these CVs and job letters he’d sent; he kept everything in loads of folders. I love that he’s scanning stuff with all this phenomenal backstory attached. And I love all his creative work. He worked on a campaign for Adidas that was like, ‘One more lamppost.’ It was really smart.” – Charlie Boon
What we learned
While it’s important to celebrate the wins, what makes David’s blog so compelling is that he talks at length about failure, his process for writing ads, as well as the ideas he’s since changed his mind on, for better or worse. As the blog’s candid insights on craft and creativity make clear, there’s nothing throwaway in David’s loft.
What’s it about?
Billed as “the stories behind the world’s most recognizable and interesting sounds,” Twenty Thousand Hertz is a podcast dedicated to the narrative power of all that we hear in films, games, ads and much more besides. Recent episodes have explored insurance ad jingles, the longevity of Nintendo’s music for Zelda, and the origins of the HBO “audio logo”.
How does the founder sum it up?
“Twenty Thousand Hertz started to come out of this idea that the world is full of audiophiles. I don’t love the word in general… eventually it became a gatekeeping term: ‘You’re either an audiophile or you’re not.’ I just don’t believe in that concept. I wanted to… make everyone realise that we’re all audiophiles.” – Dallas Taylor
Why we love it
“It helps you appreciate familiar sounds with fresh ears. The ‘Foley Artist‘ episode’s a great example — about 90% of the sounds you hear in films and TV shows, like footsteps or creaking doors, are recorded by Foley artists, who create and sync sound recordings with a scene. And just learning about that process is really fascinating.” – Ray Philp
What we learned
Sometimes, the best stories are hiding in plain sight (or, in this case, sound). Too often, the power of sound to delight and persuade is taken for granted. But we know how pivotal it can be for a great story – we’re especially proud of our B2B Marketing Awards-nominated campaign with Addleshaw Goddard, where the music truly took centre stage.
SHARE YOUR FAVOURITES WITH US
Do you have any podcasts, videos, blogs or even documentaries that you’d recommend to the Radishes? We’d love to hear from you – email us at hello@digitalradish.co.uk
- Check out last month’s top picks from the Digital Radish Book Club here.