The folks in the office know that I've been back on my David Ogilvy tip since I've been openly spewing his knowledge of late. Ogilvy's words and I have the same relationship that most people have with a favorite movie, song or book... I pick him up every 6 months or so, overdose on his prose and I'm excited about the industry again.

For the uninformed, the guy started his agency on Madison Avenue in 1949 and the biggest change during his tenure in the heyday of the "Biz", was that Television became a more important medium than Print to Advertisers.

So, it begs the question, "What could he have said that was so damn important to us today?" The answer is nearly everything...

Let's take a look at a few of Ogilvy's many points on "How to produce advertising that sells" and how they relate to today's design world:

• Do your homework.
  A great point. Just like back in the heyday of print, as designers today, we must rely on research to get us through client engagements, meetings and projects. Research remains the cornerstone of any project today (about 70% of any project's time should be spent on it) and if you disagree, you're probably wondering why clients aren't returning your calls.
• Positioning.
  Positioning your ads in the most appropriate publications and on the most effective pages continues to be the cherry on the top of any design project. You can do a fantastic job on something, but unless someone can see it and react to it, it's a useless effort.
• Brand Image.
  The image, as they say is everything. If you are a client, be sure that your brand and agency of record are in sync. Branding encompasses and revolves around a singular message when you're working in Print, Web, Motion Graphics, Audio or Video.

If you're interested in more of this kind of stuff to get your brain cooking, check out either Confessions of an Advertising Man or Ogilvy on Advertising.

Both sometimes get slightly dated in jargon, but overall are worth reading cover to cover...

...More than once.