As For All Unforgettable Show The Predictability Ain’t Here

Adland was talking about these ads last month, for a jazz and blues festival in Brazil. As they note, the illustrations are pretty beautiful. They’ve got a wild intensity and boldness that you just have to love.

All I have to add to the conversation is that the translations may be a bit clunky, but somehow they look perfect to me. Especially the line above. Intentional or not, it’s brilliant that a line about being unpredictable uses unpredictable syntax and grammar.

And I think there’s something to that. We all know that the unexpected is eye-catching. If you’re given a chance to be informal and playful, why not take the opportunity to play around with the language as well?

Here's another: "To singing, dancing, and shaking the hands. If you stand up beside the fans adding the squeals please."

Write in tropes and predictable syntax if you like. Nothing wrong with that. But the predictable is a shortcut for reading and understanding. It means that you don’t need to think as much. Sometimes – often – you want people to think more when you talk to them. And a great way to achieve that is to be a little less conventional in the way that you talk.

If it still makes sense, you’re still communicating. And you’ll turn a few more heads along the way.

I mean I’d love to see that line on a jazz festival poster here. I’m not even much of a jazz fan and that would make me want to go see it. It feels alive. It feels playful. It feels exactly like jazz.

As for all jazz – as for all unforgettable messaging – the predictability don’t need to be here.

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