Copywriting cultural shifts
With all my COVID-19 lockdown walks, I can’t get enough podcasts. Malcolm Gladwell’s Revisionist History is one of my favorites, and since I’ve flown through every episode, I’m now onto an audiobook of his titled What the Dog Saw. It's a collection of his favorite New Yorker articles, so each chapter feels like a podcast episode, and perfect for a lap around our local park.
In his chapter titled “True Colors” (From his New Yorker article), Gladwell recounts the story of two female copywriters who revolutionized the beauty industry by empowering women. Shirley Polykoff removed the stigma of hair dyeing when she penned taglines for Clairol in the 1950s, including “Does she or doesn’t she?”. In the 1970s, Ilon Specht’s new motto for L’Oreal, “Because I’m worth it,” took the new cultural norm to the next level, by inferring women should dye their hair not to impress others, but for themselves. The entire story is fascinating for anyone interested in how marketing and advertising shape our culture in often hidden ways. As Gladwell puts it, “their stories are about much more: they are about the relationship we have to the products we buy, and about the slow realization among advertisers that unless they understood the psychological particulars of that relationship—unless they could dignify the transactions of everyday life by granting them meaning—they could not hope to reach the modern consumer.”
I’m halfway through the book, so I might have more chapters to share next week! If you’ve read it or other Malcolm Gladwell books, I would love to hear your favorite stories.
Photo by Philippe Halsman / Magnum via The New Yorker
Dad Photoshops Kids’ Drawings as if They Were Real
In his Instagram account, “Things I have drawn,” father Tom Curtis brings his kids drawings to life in the most creative and adorable way. It’s hard to stop scrolling. I love the exciting way that Tom found creative inspiration. Are you looking for a new creative project? Just find some kids to do the work for you!
Digital art by Tom Curtis via Twitter
These artworks skyrocketed Tom to 750k Instagram followers, and he published a book (Found via Jack Shepherd on Medium).
A digital bullet journal to keep track of your life
I’ve been using my version of a bullet journal for about three years now and like it primarily because it's been the one method I have been able to stick to. My general approach is to journal for a few minutes before I start my day. Then I summarize my thoughts with a few key to-dos that answer the question, “what would I be happy if I finished today no matter what else happens?”. I keep the journal close to get any ideas out of my head as soon as they appear, so they don’t distract me during creative tasks. I recently discovered an app called Jotte to create a digital bullet journal. I’ve started my free trial and am still undecided if the digital version is better than a paper one for me, but I like the app’s simplicity and can see it's value as a super easy habit tracker.
(Found via Betalist, a handy site for discovering new startups)
Featured: Creativerly and “Curators are the new creators”
Philipp Temmel is a reader of this newsletter and the curator behind Creativerly, a weekly digest about creativity and productivity-boosting tools and resources, combined with useful insights, articles, and learnings from design and tech. His last issue featured thoughts on a story declaring, “Curators are the new creators.” Phillip argues in his message that people are done scrolling through social timelines packed with advertising. Instead, they seek trusted curators to find interesting creations for them. As UX Adjacent readers, I think you’ll also like his newsletter for the creative community. You can sign up here, or check out ‘Why curators are the new creators’ and ‘Email built for Wellness’ here.
For me, starting this newsletter has jump-started my own creativity. I’m consuming content through the new lens of “what can I write to add to this, or what can I learn from this that makes my readers or me more creative?”
What will you do to be more creative today?
Gif by Marimba via Creativerly
If you’d like to be featured in the next issue of UX Adjacent, send me a short bio and links to your portfolio or business website.
I’m a UX designer and copywriter, and design-adjacent content writer.
Thanks for reading!
Highly recommend the audio version of Gladwell’s “Talking to Strangers.” He did it in a podcast-y way, mixing in interview recordings and voice actor recreations. It was published in 2019 and covers a variety of topics, but the sections on police interactions are a must-read for Summer 2020.