Our Thoughts
Casey Butler Harwood
How to Speak Agency
When you're deeply immersed in any culture, you start to get a little "inside baseball" about it. For the sake of our non-industry friends (and self-awareness), here's a thoughtfully compiled selection of design and/or advertising jargon and how to interpret it.
An accessible primer on perplexing industry jargon.
ASAP adv. As soon as possible
YOU COULD ALSO SAY: at the next reasonable opportunity
Bleeding Edge n. The cutting edge, but bloodier; more “raw”
YOU COULD ALSO SAY: front line, forefront, ahead (of something)
Creative Agency n. A group of people who get paid to make [cool] things for other people
YOU COULD ALSO SAY: N/A This is industry-standard despite its enigmaticness. ← Not a real word.
CTA n. Call to action; request for someone to do something, sometimes indirectly — ideally, sans manipulation or other coercive tactics
YOU COULD ALSO SAY: appeal, invitation, challenge, ask
Deliverable n. Something created for a client and eventually handed off to them
YOU COULD ALSO SAY: whatever the thing is
Evergreen adj. Suitable for use in a variety of seasons; not seasonal or time-sensitive in any way
YOU COULD ALSO SAY: “It has longevity.”
-Fi (Fidelity) adj. Quality or state of completion
Lo(w)-
Med(ium)-
Hi(gh)-
YOU COULD ALSO SAY: draft, revision, final/detailed
Human n. An actual person (not a persona, a data point, or a social media profile)
YOU COULD ALSO SAY: person
Ideate v. Generate ideas
YOU COULD ALSO SAY: generate ideas, brainstorm, think about
Optimized adj. Designed to perform as well as possible
YOU COULD ALSO SAY: effective
Also: SEO Optimized n. Search engine optimization optimized (yes, literally)
YOU COULD ALSO SAY: N/A This is industry-standard despite its redundancy.
Product n. Thing — sometimes tangible, sometimes not
YOU COULD ALSO SAY: whatever the thing is (again)
Ship v. Complete
YOU COULD ALSO SAY: finish, submit, send, publish, launch
Synergy n. Working together
YOU COULD ALSO SAY: teamwork, collaboration
Use Case n. A situation in which a thing might be used
Pronunciation: yoos-kase
YOU COULD ALSO SAY: scenario, circumstances, case
Voice n. How you sound (esp. as a brand)
YOU COULD ALSO SAY: tone
Yesterday n. Now
YOU COULD ALSO SAY: immediately, quickly, ASAP, “I should have planned better.”
Illustration by Trask Bedortha