Art or Commerce

For two decades, I worked as an art director, copywriter and creative director at ad agencies in Boston. I got the opportunity to work on a campaign for Lotus Software. Up until then, they had big pictures of the yellow box of software with large price points and funny headlines. That is what was thought was needed to sell software. My campaign broke all the rules -- it had quirky visuals, handwritten copy that talked about being a visionary and the way most great inventions were first seen as a toy. A very tiny box of software—but a very real glimpse of the future.

Yes, it was art. So much so that the campaign appeared in a temporary exhibition on advertising in MOMA, NYC.

Shortly after the campaign and garnered attention, Lotus, the company, was bought by IBM for $3.5 billion dollars. So, yeah, it was commerce too.