We have a tough cat. Not in the sense that she's a bruiser, or that she's particularly hearty.
I mean Kitty is difficult.
George Jacob is a strategic marketing professional based in Greater Philadelphia.
All in Blog
How to Use Commas
As a writer and editor, I've seen many confused acts of punctuation. Without question, the comma holds the title for the most commonly misused mark.
About My Becoming a Writer
I can trace my path to working with words back to a box of crayons. The 64-count Crayola box with a sharpener in the back.
On Used Things
Items behind panes of glass, tagged with labels—they are alien. They’re industrial design and curves and bevels. Tech specs and touchscreens. Mannequin-decked fabrics and jewelry. They’re cold and lifeless, sitting under white lights like museum exhibits.
On Writing on a Team
It starts with a conversation. Analysis. The client is the patient, the copywriter the psychiatrist, listening, nodding, watching, taking secret notes and judging judging judging.
Solstice: A Long Winter
This winter has pulled at my soul in a thousand invisible ways, plucking at the seams and yanking, stretching, twisting. If it is a season of death, I am one of many fighting it with rock salt and marching through puddles of runoff in the dark hours of the days.
Four Elements of Storytelling
Some storytelling skills may come naturally, or they may develop from upbringing—years of summer camp stories, family barbecues, or long car rides. I also think they can be acquired through conscious awareness, practice, and exposure.
Information Overload
I think we're at an interesting crossroads. We have more access to information than any time in history. But we struggle in terms of the general population’s awareness of key issues. Here’s the thing: I think we have too much information.
Notes on the Last Minute
I believe a great time to judge a team and a project is the last minute. The hours right before a deadline can say quite a bit about project management, the company, and the team.
How to Use Semicolons
First, let me admit that in my seedy, collegiate youth, I was once an overuser of semicolons. I, like many writers at that level, saw the semicolon as a softer end stop, a two-thirds period. I thought that longer sentences were academic and proof of my writing prowess.
Fun With Words, Vol. 1
In past professional lives, I was a creative copywriter. (Also, hopefully in future lives.) I enjoy the word puzzles that come from collaboration with designers and other creatives.
Why Mobile Kicks Ass
I grew up with Internet technology. I was a kid on dial-up, using Prodigy on the family computer, signing off when my Mom needed to use the phone. By the time I was a teenager, people were migrating from AOL as a one-stop shop.
Technology Should Mean More
As makers and users, we tend to lose sight of the interplay between technology and human beings. Our culture moves at such a pace that we've tended to lose sight of what makes technology so important.
How Spiders are Like Good Creatives
I've said (out loud and unironically), that I'm "tidal." I ride an emotional wave that peaks in optimism and production, and valleys in pessimism and general crankiness.