Our top articles for creatives from 2021

Boy did this year ever fly past! We hope you’ve stayed productive and healthy. 
 
In what’s become a big tradition here at Copel Communications, we’d like to offer you our annual wrap-up of creative skill-building articles for the entire year. If you missed any of these, here’s your chance to catch up; if you already enjoyed any of these, here’s an opportunity to re-hone your skills. 
 
Enjoy! 

• Altered reality and the seven-page PDF. How can you draw a line from Gutenberg to post-Covid creative direction? Better yet, how can you create more impactful deliverables? Get set to get liberated, with this fun, inspiring read. 

 

• How to create social ads that sell. You may be surprised to learn how the exact opposite of a social ad can, well, help you create better social ads. Get a nice creative workout with this quick read! 

 

• How much input do you need for that creative assignment? This useful article arms you with two important pieces of information: 1) Exactly how much input you should get from your client for that next creative assignment, and 2) How to get that exact amount! Learn from our experience! 

 

• What the heck is a “responsive” website? If you know all the answers and design-impacting subtleties already, then you can skip this one. But we’ll bet you don’t. Grab some useful info ASAP!

 

• How to write killer catalog copy. Okay, quick question: “Catalogs???” No, we’re not smoking anything funny. This is actually an article that you can use, a lot, right now. It also takes a fun little tour through advertising history. Enjoy! 

 

• Old and new tech for capturing creative inspiration. We’ve weighed in before on awesome low-tech ways to help you capture ideas; building on that, we add lots more here, and even some very high-tech tricks. If you’re in the idea biz, you need to read this one. 

 

• How to save money on corporate video voiceovers. This one isn’t just about saving money; it’s also about getting the best possible performances, on a budget. Read this one before you submit your next script to a voice artist! 

 

• How to write marketing emails that sell. Are you aware of the “three-legged stool” of direct response? Do you know how to tweak copy for similar-yet-different campaigns? Lessons from the trenches, all here! 

 

• When should you break the rules of composition? From TV spots to social ads, there are a lot of rules about composing for content within the bounds of a rectangle. What are they? Better yet, when can you—and should you—creatively break them? 

 

• Ghost writing needn’t be spooky. How do you find and hire a ghost writer? Or how do you do it yourself? We’ve condensed decades of experience on this topic into one quick, fun read, which we’d timed for Halloween, given the “ghostly” subject matter. 

 

• Creativity-enhancers we’re thankful for. Our annual Thanksgiving roundup of things that make creative work just a little easier, and for that, we’re thankful. You’ll be, too, when you read this post. 

 
Have a creative topic you’d like us to weigh in on next year? Let us know. We’d love to hear from you.

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