Tools of the Trade is an AgencySpy feature to help highlight the many tools that help make advertising and marketing folks successful. The tools can be anything that helps people perform at their top form, from a favorite drafting table to the best software program to a lucky pen, a vintage typewriter or a pair of headphones.
Next up is Matt McCain, co-founder of Seattle agency Little Hands of Stone.
Matt McCain’s lighted pen is great for writing at night.
What is one tool you use all the time at work, and how does it inspire your work?
My most prized work tool is an ink pen with a tip that lights up. I rely a lot on my subconscious brain to solve the toughest creative problems, and when those solutions come, they typically come fast and furious between 2am and 3am. This magic pen allows me to capture those ideas in the dark without bugging the hell out of my wife.
Why is it your favorite?
I have my wee-hours-of-the-morning brain to thank for my weirdest and best epiphanies. Even if the ideas turn out to be shit in the cold light of day, I trust that anything that bubbles up at 2:39 a.m. is worth considering. For that reason, I’ve always kept a notebook next to my bed. Before I came into possession of this pen, I wrote my predawn thoughts down in the pitch dark, which made the legibility of those thoughts a challenge come the waking hours. So, I switched to a headlamp, which wrecked my wife’s sleep every time I turned it on (I typically write things down a dozen times when they start coming). Since I got this pen, there’s nothing stopping me from capturing these potentially genius/horrible ideas, no matter how late or often they materialize.
How did you acquire your tool or hear about it for the first time?
My partner/co-founder gave me a set of the pens for Christmas. He probably spent $4 on them on Amazon, but whatever.
How does it help you be successful?
I’m thankful that a lot of what separates good from great in creativity is still the weirdness and unpredictability of the human brain. And the best way to grow creativity is to get to know how your brain works and let it do its thing. My brain works best in the most inconvenient time of day, and this light-up pen has become a conduit from the great subconscious unknown to a notepad to my 9-to-5 brain, and when a few things go our way, onto the national stage.
Does it have sentimental value?
I love that my creative and business partner knows my brain well enough to know that this pen would serve us well. So in some ways, this pen also represents the strength of our 20-year friendship and partnership.
Do you think your tool could go TikTok viral? Why or why not?
Hard no. It’s impossible for me to video myself while writing things down in a notebook at 3 a.m.. And my wife won’t let videographers into our bedroom at night. I’ve asked.
We want to know what tools you use to make you successful. If you’d like to contribute or know someone who would want to be featured in Tools of the Trade, contact kyle.obrien@adweek.com and fill out our survey.