In the advertising industry, “Quick and Dirty” refers to completing a project without much creativity, design or thought behind it. People whose primary goal is to keep costs down are the usual instigators of Q & D, and we often hear phrases like, “Just throw it together” or “Just do something really simple and quick.” If the project is a website, it’s, “We just need to get something up on the web. Don’t spend a lot of time on it.”

Here at Hile Design, we don’t like Q & D because it negates the core skill-set we bring to our clients—namely, developing thoughtful, well-designed advertising promotions. Advertising is about connecting with people, and with all the media messages we get every day, coming up with something fresh that gets noticed (and acted upon) is hard work. Creative directors, marketing strategists, graphic designers, writers, art directors, illustrators, web designers and photographers are hard-wired to do their creative best for their clients. Removing the goal of excellence takes the wind out of their sails. Because Quick & Dirty usually starts with the word “just,” there is the implication that advertising and design are processes that don’t require much thinking.

Further, when a client reviews the hastily “thrown-together” promotion it’s not uncommon to hear phrases like, “So that’s it?” or more often, “That’s not what I was looking for.” Because in the end nobody is satisfied with Quick and Dirty. Clients want solid, professional work.

When I was in college in 1973, I bought my aunt’s 1963 Mercury Comet for $300. The car is an entire blog article unto itself, but to make my point I will discuss the vehicle’s ancient, treadless tires. Although I was working two part-time jobs, money was scarce. So when it came to replacing tires I decided to buy retreads for $13 a pop (pun intended). The problem was that one of my tires would blow out every two to four weeks, so back to the tire store I’d go for another retread. Looking back I can’t believe I didn’t see the futility of this so-called inexpensive solution. Over the three years I drove that jalopy I ended up paying more than the equivalent of a good set of tires, not to mention the hassle of changing flats along busy highways in freezing rain and blistering heat. Quick and Dirty is like my collegiate tire buying approach: Spend a lot of time and effort trying to go cheap, and in the end you’ll deplete resources that should have been invested in a thoughtful solution.

My recommendation is that if you are going to advertise your company and its services, don’t skimp. Advertising is about ideas, and good ideas are hard to come by and take time to develop. Give your creative team the resources they need to do their job right, and you will end up with an effective solution that offers a great return on your investment.