Ad For BUC International

Page Layout & Illustration

Illustrator: John Potter - Escape Key Graphics
Client: BUC International

About BUC International

BUC International Corporation has been around for more than 40 years. They started by publishing the BUC Used Boat Price Guides in 1961. Today, the BUC Books are the industry standard, kind of like the Kelley Blue Book for boats but for the marine world.

In 1985 they introduced BUCNET, a worldwide multiple listing service for yacht brokers and boat dealers. Think of it as Cars.com for boats. It connects buyers and sellers through a network of professionals, which was a relatively new idea at the time.

My Time at BUC

I was the Art Director at BUC International from 1996 to 2002. When I started, the internet was still a new thing. I mostly designed websites, but I did occasionally take on print or illustration projects. I coded a lot of HTML by hand. Toward the end of my time there, I taught myself CSS. I worked around ASP, CFM, and JavaScript, though I never coded in those languages directly. At one point I supervised six employees who were building custom websites for clients.

This Ad

This was a relatively early project in my time at BUC. The company needed a print ad that promoted the company's services. The deadline was tight.

I looked around my desk and had an epiphany. I grabbed my mouse and put it on the flatbed scanner. I found a photo of a dock cleat I had taken earlier. With a little time in Photoshop, I created an illustration that showed a connection between boating and computers. A mouse and a cleat. Digital and nautical. The idea was simple but clear.

I used a Kubrick amount of white space around the image, which made the limited text stand out. The whole thing felt clean and intentional.

I was proud of myself. I thought it was a clever, minimalist ad. My boss thought it was slightly gimmicky and passable at best. But it went to print anyway. I still think it is a clever and classy ad. I do not know if it produced the return on investment the company hoped for or if it conveyed the message as well as they wanted. But it taught me something about trusting my own instincts.