Far from the loud and lurid signs in Times Square and the double-truck ads featuring fashion femmes with all the girth of a Christopher Walken fresh from Ramadan are those itty-bitty ads that are the bane of creatives with extra large egos.  They’re those ads that lurk in the so-called “boiler plate” environments of marketing – high school football programs, bill stuffers, maybe even that printed piece of crap beneath your windshield wiper that doesn’t surface until you’re screaming past a semi.  The small stuff.  The stuff that clients often ignore as much as copywriters, designers and art directors.  “Just get it done” is often the mantra.  And that’s a shame.  Fact is, it’s a message.  And the more compelling, provocative and engaging that message is, the better you’ve done your job.  It’s called paying attention to the idea, not the medium.  And it’s also a great way to expand and elevate your portfolio.  Do it.  For yourself (whether you’re a smart and demanding client or an aspiring copywriter) and for the pertinent treat you owe your readers, do it.  Think big, regardless of whatever size the ad is.  Everybody will be better for the effort.

This example of a small space ad is in the 2010/2011 Heavenly Lake Tahoe trail map.

In these employee check stuffers, the client simply wanted to tell his workers (mostly young 20s and invincible) to be safe and contemplate the less-than-deadly consequences of reckless skiing.

In an event program where ads were heavy with corporate pablum, this small ad dared to be noticed.