God, The Devil, and getting the details right...

The German-born architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (who died in 1969) and German art historian Aby Warburg (who died in 1929) had absolutely nothing in common, except for two things.

The first was their nationality.

And the second was their favourite idiom “God is in the details.”

Decades later (when both were six feet under and none the wiser), some bright spark decided that it might be interesting to change the idiom’s religious affiliation.

And it went from Heaven to Hell…and became “The Devil’s in the detail.”

I only mention this because, at some point during the past thirty or so years, when I changed tracks and became an advertising copywriter, “The Devil’s in the detail” became one of my favourite idioms too.

I think it was a direct consequence of working for one of the clients of my first ad agency.

They were a plumber’s merchant.

They made things that joined lengths of copper pipe to other lengths of copper pipe.

They made hundreds of them, in lots of different shapes and sizes.

And my job was to write the copy on the packaging.

I was young and keen…and it was probably the most mind-numbingly boring task I was ever briefed to do.

It was the job from hell.

In the beginning anyway…

But the more I grew into it, the more it grew into me. And I discovered a talent I never knew I had.

I was a detail freak.

I was then…and still am now.

And it doesn’t matter how small, or how big, the details are, the thought of getting one of them wrong is enough to bring me out in a cold sweat.

I check my copy almost obsessively.

Not just every headline and sub-head.

Every word.

Then every letter.

Then every line.

Then every paragraph.

Not because I don’t like getting things wrong.

Not because of my copy for that plumber’s merchant, all those years ago.

But because of a German-born architect called Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and a German art historian called Aby Warburg.

And their passion for getting the details right.

Whether God was in them…or (more interestingly) the Devil…

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The above is an extract from my NOW PUBLISHED book Ad Interruptus.

Like its sisters Ad Lib, and Ad Infinitum (NOW AVAILABLE), it's about creativity, advertising, life, and lots of stuff in between.

You'll find Ad Interruptus, Ad Infinitum, Ad Lib, and Ad Hoc on Amazon, along with my other books, Love & Coffee and Heaven Help Us. In print and ebook. Just waiting patiently for you.

And the wonderful thing about all my Ad books is… it doesn’t matter where you finish any chapter or episode.

Because it will always be pretty damned close to where you started it…

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Ad Infinitum: https://amzn.to/3pof7Uq

Ad Lib: https://amzn.to/2kd4LKf.

Ad Hoc: https://amzn.to/2Nx8GL8

Love & Coffee: https://amzn.to/28IWaHq

Heaven Help Us: https://amzn.to/2nkQ1Jk

Grab a coffee, grab a chair, and grab a sneaky peek.

Then grab a copy...