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Man, just finished my 4th trimester at a "portfolio school", and I*m thinking that I*m really lagging behind. I only brought in a few campaigns, and I didn*t really like those, but people like to work with me and most of the other students think I "get it". The school pres. says that he thinks I*ll break through and start cranking out some really good stuff, but of course he*d say that, he wants next trimester*s tuition. (Not really, he*s a good guy, I appreciate his pep-talks).
So, I have a month off and I need to decide whether I should spend my time with my nose to the ad-stone, or just try to relax for a while. I*m not sure that stressing out and trying to force things will help, but relentless pressure is a reality of the biz, so maybe I should just get used to it and keep pushing.
Thing to do over break
1) Get back of hand tattooed with "don*t forget the strategy, asshole!"
2) Buy some software books and write code for a new document format that works well across platforms and apps so that Kinko*s can*t fuck up my outputs. (Or maybe I can take a bunch of old transistor radios and a *81 Plymoputh Horizon and build my own laser printer?)
I*d go for building your own laser printer - thats more likely to happen than Kinko*s not fucking up your printouts yaknow.... wink
But uh... "only brought in a few campaigns" in the 4th trimester? I*ll assume these are polished layouted and near up to print quality things (so you spent lotta time on execution) because, you*re supposed to be doing a few campaigns a week yaknow. Thats what they*ll want you to do at a real job.
I got two suggestions. Don*t scream now, but have you ever considered going over to the dark side? Oh I don*t mean straight out accounting, I mean like planning, strategy.. etc - the creative suits. My first copywriter at school did this switching title thing a few times, First CW, not bad abut a bit of a punmeister. Then after we split he became an AD, where again he wasn*t bad but he had a bunch of years of art schooling missing from his skillset. After school and quite a few decent placements he switched again, to planner. Thing is, this was where he fit perfectly, not only does he now work at one of the hottest agencies in London (starts with B ends in H), but he*s having fun too. All his creative skills and ideas have found a place to be used, all creative apreciate him as he *gets it*, after all he*s been to portfolio-school-hell too.
I know a few that switched sides and titles, one even became Account Exec at Anderson and Lembke (and I never thought b2b was her style). I guess I*m just saying, keep your mind open - there are many titles in advertising, and the most creative geezer in the agency really should be the AE.
Might not be your thing at all, just felt like sharing I guess. wink
Other suggestion work up your stamina during break. Do at least one campaign a day (and by campaign I mean something that runs in several medias, not *three posters with the same tagline*.) Forget about working anything up pretty - just thumbnail away in your little notebook. Write (or copy someone elses) proper briefs ahead of time so that you have certain product problems to solve. It*s good practice, and you*ll think freer when you don*t worry abbout "man where am I going to get a shot of a Rhino riding a tricycle?". JUst doodle everything. Your mind is the limit. grin
and I*ll shut up now. Man I*m talkative today. blablabla me.
If you need some ideas for briefs to work from, check out the YCN site. They have about 20 briefs to pick from. I think it*s a lot easier to work from an existing brief, rather than making one up. Time saver too. wink
You might want to take your time off and do something where to alternate days of concepting like Dab said and just absorbing information (watching TV, reading the trade mags, reading any mags, going to the museums in your area, and stuff like that) which will help with the concepting.
it seems like after the first year a lot of people feel ike you-- why arne*t i *getting it?*
i*d not stress it over break. take time off, absorb info as someone else said.
thing is, you aren*t just learning how to write or art direct- you*re learning how to do that while learning craft,. conceptual thinking, strategy etc. it takes time. give it at least to the end of fifth quarter...you would*nt think three months could make a difference-- but sometimes it really does
it did for me.
get a good idea for a brief, check out existing ones. then find the one thing they want you to say, in the brief, and throw the brief away. write that single idea at the top of every page you use to write/concept etc.
and above all, as those assholes said many times when i was at school with no sleep for two weeks *have fun!*
grin
First year?
ahaaaa, i*m not getting that "quartersemester" thing. I thought three semesters was one full year and a half. And you were going for like a two year AAS style degree thing.
absorbing info is a must.
(although, at SCA in London three semesters = 1 year, and about 245 campaigns. at least one a day... )
Gillard had a thing for teaching us to concept fast.
(ps - about 243 of those campaigns were pure shite)
hehe.
I am finding much comfort in this post today. I*m working with my boss to get a portfolio together, but I just can*t seem to get anything good enough.
Anyway, misery loves company. So know that you are not alone in your frustrations.
Also, Caffeine, I checked out the YCN thing, and didn*t see any briefs, just a bunch of links to job searches and health food sites. Am I missing something?
I guess I should clear up a few things.
Yeah, about 1st year for the person asking about Trimesters. Spring, Fall and Winter are the term sessions, so I*ve been there for just about a yea. My school is a night class thing, since most of is have regular jobs, and the fact that all the instructors work at ad agencies during the day.
As for the few campaigns, yeah I know, I shoulda had a lot more stuff. This was a strange term though, I had 3 classes, Alt-Media, TypeII, and TV which kept me really busy and yet didn*t lend themselves well to producing portfolio pieces. I know that some of the TV stuff can be turned into print campaigns, but I was so wrapped up in trying to produce good TV work that I didn*t really have time to work on trying to wring "book" material out of them. Excuses excuses. I*ll admit that my motivation level wasn*t quite as high this term, and maybe a break is exactly what I need. I think one of the problems I had was that due to my classes this term, the work I presented was projects from outside of class, working with other students on our own, thereby avoiding bothersome things like feedback and criticism from teachers and peers. I think that we could have done a better job if we*d been more in touch with others during the creative process to help us figure out what was working and not.
I*m also a bit of a perfectionist, so there were campaigns that I suppose I could have shown, but I*d rather not just show a bunch of crap just to make the numbers look good. I picked up some A.D. work for other students at the last minute too, but since I wasn*t "in on the ground floor" I didn*t really feel that my direction was everything it could have been, so I opted not to show some of that stuff. I gotta get over that.
The weird thing is how you can be really happy with something you*re working on, yet the minute you walk into class(or critique) you know that it*s shit. I just need to figure out how to turn on my "bullshit detector" earlier in the process.
Working with briefs would be nice, it looks like that YCN site is down and has been replaced with a page holder. Tangent I was at a coffee shop, and ran into some guys bitching about "strategy, strategy, strategy". I couldn*t resist, and approached them. (They were working on a pitch for a HUGE product, which they subsequently won. When I saw the ads roll out, I thought "what a dumb strategy".) Anyways, I told them that I envied the fact they they always had a strategy to work from and keep *em in line. They told me that I*ll miss the old school days of making up my own strategy when I get one like they were dealing with, which pulls you in 7 different directions at once.
I think I*m gonna keep at it over break. My best friend is a writer, and we*ll tackle the OneShow student project for a while. I*m gonna take dabitch*s advice, and go get a new sketchbook and try to fill every single page.
Wow, well at least now I have enough time to write really wordy posts here.
Dang it. I got the link wrong! Doh! Sorry about that.
Here is the proper link YCN
And click on "this years live briefs".
grin
_________________
<a href="http//www.j-b-g.com">My Portfolio-ads done by a copywriter hooked on caffeine</a>
aye, that whole thing of carrying a little notebook with you at all times is a good one - no matter how *uncreative* you (as in we) might feel some days, we all have millions of ideas. Scribbling them all down no matter how silly they might seem is such a good way of reminding oneself of that. Plus they make really amusing reading a few years later (don*t loose *em!). As in "hahaha, what a crap idea" and "oh hey waitaminute thats not bad for X brief I*m working on today..."
In short, it*s a very good habit. I*ve been slacking, so I just got myself a few nice notebooks in various purse vs backpack sizes with little pens attached. I have to take it up again myself.
smile
You could post your visuals here and we could give you advice. Or, even better, describe your ads to us (rather than having to show us). Take the criticism as a good think. If you spend your life asking people toi tell you how good your ads are you*ll never learn anything. Ask them what*s wrong with it. Its the only way to improve. Its tough being a creative, you might just have to work harder at it. I know its difficult with a full time job, but take a notepad and spend lunchtimes coming up with ideas. Take your notepad on the bus or train to and from work (or if you drive, get the bus or train). Art Direction is all fine and well, but it*s the "colouring in" part, the fun bit. the bit you do AFTER the idea. So come up with as many ideas as you can. You claim to be a pefrectionist yet you have campaigns that don*t work. make them work. The tougher the brief, the harder you have to work and the more chance you have of coming up with something good. But most of all HAVE FAITH. You*ll get there in the end. It NEVER becomes easier coming up with ideas. You just get used to the process. Read "its not how good you are, its how good you want to be" by Paul Arden .it should help.
I know nodding the head does not row the boat, but I*m nodding in agreement to mikemysterys words of wisdom here. smile
Have you read Pauls latest book mikemystery?
Yeah, I*m feeling a lot better about everything after having some time off school. I spent my time reading, researching design-y stuff, and just practicing with a lot of page layout ideas. I*ve been taking on free jobs for friends and employers, and even got a job doing some illustration for one of my instructor*s agencies.
I think that at this point in my education, a bad crit is probably a lot more productive than a good one. I needed the kick in the pants.
Now, I*m gonna run home and build a display case for all those gold pencils I plan on winning. grin
I agree with what mikemystery said too. As long as it*s constructive criticisim. If they aren*t telling you what they don*t like about it, or how to improve it, ask. Constructive criticism is a wonderful thing. It*s a shame that too often in the ad world creatives egos get in the way of allowing that to improve them even further.
Two other things to remember - you are your own worst/hardest critic, and judging creativity is subjective. If you think something you did is great and some others do but some others don*t, listen to those who*s work you admire more. It*s not always as easy when that happens but it*s useful to remember that. It*s all subjective, baby. wink
_________________
<a href="http//www.j-b-g.com">My Portfolio-ads done by a copywriter hooked on caffeine</a>
>>I agree with what mikemystery said too. As long as it*s constructive criticisim. If they aren*t telling you what they don*t like about it, or how to improve it, ask. Constructive criticism is a wonderful thing. It*s a shame that too often in the ad world creatives egos get in the way of allowing that to improve them even further.
>>Two other things to remember - you are your own worst/hardest critic, and judging creativity is subjective. If you think something you did is great and some others do but some others don*t, listen to those who*s work you admire more. It*s not always as easy when that happens but it*s useful to remember that. It*s all subjective, baby. wink
that is the STUPIDIST thing i*ve EVER heard! You don*t know ANYTHING. j/k grin
razz