{"id":33430,"date":"2020-05-05T05:49:41","date_gmt":"2020-05-05T10:49:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adpulp.wpengine.com\/?p=33430"},"modified":"2020-05-05T05:51:42","modified_gmt":"2020-05-05T10:51:42","slug":"the-adpulp-interview-david-t-jones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.adpulp.com\/the-adpulp-interview-david-t-jones\/","title":{"rendered":"The Adpulp Interview: David T. Jones"},"content":{"rendered":"

David T. Jones is a Chicagoan. He makes ads, he draws cartoons, and he started his own ad agency with two friends from Indiana University. Many of us already have an inkling about his perspective on the business thanks to his Ad Land cartoons. In this interview, we learn more about the man and the maker, and how he became Chief Creative Officer at Third Street<\/a>.
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

Q. When did you begin drawing advertising comics? Is your comic strip syndicated? <\/strong><\/p>\n

A. I\u2019d drawn a cartoon strip in high school and college, featuring a rascally rabbit named Emerson. Those terrible little cartoons were even a part of my spec ad portfolio I was pitching to get my first advertising job. Many years later, I got back into doodling and created Ad Land in 2003 that ran in Adweek<\/em> magazine for 5 years. Then I drew it for the Yahoo! Ad Blog for another 2 years. Since then, it pops up from time to time, including, right here on Adpulp. It\u2019s not syndicated \u2013 heck, it\u2019s barely tolerated.<\/p>\n

Q. Are you a collector of comic books? If so, what\u2019s the best work in your collection?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A. I\u2019m not one of those comic book connoisseurs and I can\u2019t hold a candle to anything even close to what the amazing graphic novel artists do. But I do appreciate the art form. I\u2019ve got a lot of 1st issue comics books piled away likely not increasing in value. I loved Mad Magazine<\/em>, Krazy Kat<\/em>, and of course, Peanuts<\/em>. Of contemporary work, I adore my fellow Ad cartoonist Tom Fishburne<\/a> and there is nobody on earth better than Chris Ware<\/a>, I have some signed work of his.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Q. What factors led you to join the ad business originally? What was the main impetus?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A. It\u2019s amazing \u2013 or possibly pathetic \u2013 but I wanted to be in advertising since I was a kid. At age 10 after a trip to King\u2019s Island Amusement Park, I drew up little ads for the rides complete with ad copy (\u201cIf you only ride one roller coaster this year\u2026\u201d) I have always liked the idea of art for commerce sake.<\/p>\n

Q. Why and how did you start your own agency?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A. I\u2019d been at FCB Chicago<\/a> for 15 years and was by all accounts happy and treated incredibly well. But for the first time during all those years, I had started to feel the very first tinge of burnout and worse boredom. And that\u2019s no good for me or the agency. So, I did the thing that injected excitement back into my veins. I left a lucrative position at a huge agency and started making no money at all while working out of my basement. That\u2019ll put some pep in your step!<\/p>\n

But I also had two friends since college in different fields having the same epiphanies. So, we hung our shingle as Third Street (named after where we lived in college) and figured out what our business was going to be.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Q. Tell me about Chicago as a creative place? The city has a long history of innovative thinkers and doers. Who is driving or making culture in Chicago today?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A. Chicago\u2019s creative spirit has always been about getting things done \u2013 and not listening to naysayers. Chicago may not always be the most cutting edge place in the world, but don\u2019t ever tell the people of this city that they CAN\u2019T do something. It is always innovation and creativity out of necessity. Out of opportunity. It\u2019s a city of hustlers.<\/p>\n

Q. When you hire someone new, what\u2019s the one thing that you need to see in them?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A. Four things. Hunger, honesty, creativity, and humor. Third Street<\/a> has been lucky to make some great hires right out of school who have stayed with us and grown into true leaders. We made our first hire, Phil Robinson before we had any clients. Not sure who was crazier, us to hire someone without any clients or him to take a job at an agency without any clients. But Phil has grown into a leader in the digital space and this year we are proud to have made Phil a Partner.<\/p>\n

Q. Cubs or Sox?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A. Cubs. I have a set of retired Wrigley Field chairs in my back yard. To give you an idea of the era in which they served, someone had carved into the seat \u201cGuns & Roses Rule<\/a>\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Q. What elements make for a great client?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A. A great client has respect for, and at the very least an understanding of, what good advertising can be. If they don\u2019t know the difference between good and bad, then they\u2019ll never appreciate what you do for them. A great client sees ideas as opportunities, not hassles.<\/p>\n

Q. If you\u2019re visiting Chicago and can only make it to one museum, which is one is the must-see museum?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A. There is a great Museum of Baseball<\/a> at 1060 West Addison.<\/p>\n

Q. What\u2019s wrong with advertising today? Have we lost a lot of ground and respect?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A. There is nothing wrong with Advertising that Advertising can\u2019t fix.<\/p>\n

Q. You made a new typeface! Tell us more about Times Uncertain.<\/strong><\/p>\n

A. It was a fun and very cathartic little project. After hearing endless brands talk about \u201cuncertain times\u201d on repeat, it just started to sound like a font to me. So, I made it one<\/a>. I just took Times New Roman and distressed it and made the kerning extra wide for social distancing. To match the feeling in the world we now live in, I only gave it exclamation points and question marks. We offer it for a free download on our site and while I originally expected it to be downloaded by approximately nobody, it\u2019s actually gotten hundreds.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Q. What is an \u201cAttention Agency\u201d?<\/strong><\/p>\n

A. When we launched our shop, we knew for certain that the world certainly didn\u2019t need another Ad Agency, so we called ourselves an \u201cAttention Agency\u201d. It goes back to the definition of advertising, which is \u201cto call attention to something\u201d. Sometimes it is something you recognize as an \u201cad\u201d but other times, not. We handle social, influencers, naming, design, events, websites, internal communications, sales materials \u2013 we\u2019ve even worked on a client\u2019s hold music.<\/p>\n