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Art & Copy: A Review

The film Art & Copy has been making its way around the design community for the past two years now. It debuted in 2009 and was featured at the Sundance Film Festival, Hot Docs in Toronto, and won Best Director for a Documentary at the Atlanta Film Festival.

I had the opportunity to watch it on a recent train trip to New York. The film aptly portrays how powerful and influential people in the advertising business can be, through hearing from some of the greatest creative minds of our time. It really hits home when watching the documentary. There are fantastic examples of past advertising campaigns that jump out at you right away. One that really struck me was “Where’s the beef?” I couldn’t help but laugh, remembering how funny that commercial was but also how effective.

As creatives we have a chance to really make a brand stand out from all the rest. This film really demonstrates that but takes it to the next level by analyzing the way we as designers think and achieve these results. Hal Riney, one of the people featured in the documentary explains it best: “The most difficult thing about being what someone calls a creative person, is that you have absolutely no idea where any of your thoughts come from, and especially that you don’t have any idea where they are going to come from tomorrow.” Yet some of the greatest ideas come from these thought processes.

Add this documentary to your must-see list. For me, it was the perfect film to watch right before rolling into its outcome, standing in the middle of Times Square.

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