Actually, there's no date yet. But I'd encourage you to all start putting a little money aside so you can attend the 2008 One Club Student Workshop next May.
As part of the One Show festivities, the One Club holds a student exhibition and workshop each year. While it may have changed over the years, here's what I remember about it:
Students from ad schools all over the country meet in the One Club's small lecture hall and are treated to a series of speakers. My first year, we heard from Mike Shine and Jamie Barrett. My second year, we heard from Bob Barrie and Eric Silver. Not bad people to listen to if you're trying to put your book together.
Following the lectures is a portfolio review. And it's with some of the biggest names in advertising (they've all come to town to pick up their pencils at the One Show). The very first person to review my student book was Mike Shine. Kind of intimidating. And a great thrill when he pointed to a couple campaigns he really liked.
The review lasts from the afternoon into the evening. Both years I attended, I probably showed my book to at least 30 different professionals.
Some people walk away from the review with job offers. I think that's pretty rare. But the real reason to attend is to show your work to some of the biggest names in the industry and hear what they have to say.
My first year, I had one campaign that I loved and one that I thought was pretty okay. At the end of the day (sometime around 9 pm), I'd heard over 30 people tell me the campaign I loved really wasn't that good. And the one I thought was pretty okay was very, very good. I believe you should trust your gut. But I also believe that that many top-tier people can't be far wrong.
The event cost me about $100. Maybe the price has gone up. The bus ticket from Richmond to New York was probably another $100. Except for the really big lady who sat next to me on the bus, who smelled like KFC and whose love handles robbed me of my armrest for the entire 7-hour ride, it was absolutely worth it.
Next May, you'll probably have your book together. Now would be a good time to start investing in its debut.
Vintage
For those of you who'd asked, I'll reiterate my belief that 1999 and 2000 were exceptional years for the CA Advertising Annual. Both are replete with very good headlines and really tasty layouts.
That's not to say focus solely on these two. But in my opinion they were very good years for advertising.
That's not to say focus solely on these two. But in my opinion they were very good years for advertising.
The Mike Hughes Challenge.
This is Mike Hughes. He's president of the Martin Agency. They do some pretty great advertising. You'd do well to get a job there.Mike Hughes tells the story of his first job in advertising. For his first assignment, he took out his typewriter (yes, a typewriter), and wrote 1000 headlines in one night.
1000.
I guess that's just one of the reasons why he's the president of one of the most awarded agencies in the country today. Fast Company did an article on them last month.
Do you think you could do that? Without the typewriter, I mean.
My friend Jim tried to when we were first semester advertising students. He actually numbered them. I'm not sure if he ever made it to 1000. I don't number my headlines. But if I were to take a guess, I'd say I average 500 per assignment. I could do much better. I don't think I've ever broken 1000.
So do you think you could do the Mike Hughes challenge? Art directors, you can play, too. Just do them in layouts.
We won't be checking this in class. But let me know if you ever reach 1000.
Process > End Result
Dear Class,
There seems to be some confusion as to the nature of this week's assignment.
Your grocery store ads were to be done off the concept Jeff highlighted on those write-ups you did. (They're your concepts. Not Jeff's. All he did was locate the concept you already established, and point it out to you.)
If you did your ads on another concept, I suppose that's fine. But it seems like it would have been busy work. You have your direction on your write-up. Coming up with a new area when you could be coming up with ads is risky. Sure, it could pay off. Yeah, you could discover a much more fertile, viable area. But to completely ignore your initial direction in this class or in an actual job would be folly.
Ultimately, I'm interested in your ability to make ads that will go into your book and get you great jobs. But here's a quote from Tim Delany:
“The strategy comes first. I can’t think of anything until I know the area in which I’m writing. The premise has got to be right. If the issue seems muddled or plain wrong, then I can’t start. So the first thing I do is sort out what I’m going to say, and check on it, and believe in it, and make sure that it’s what everybody wants me to say.”
Lastly, a few of you who've brought this to my attention have mentioned that you've already done your ads in a certain area. Already done? What does that mean? Please remember this:
There is no finish line. You will never be done. When you've completed an assignment, there will be revisions. When you've laid out your ads, there will be revisions. When your student book is put together and mailed out to 30 different agencies, you will still need to be coming up with ads (it's much better to send new work to a prospective employer than just calling up and asking if any positions have opened up since you last sent your book). When you have a job, you will need to keep coming up with ads because clients and creative directors will want revisions. The best creatives still want to make revisions to their work when it's appeared in the One Show.
You do, however, have deadlines. Yours is this Thursday at 6:00pm. And I would encourage you to keep coming up with ideas until that point.
I repeat: There is no finish line. Turkeys are done. Pot roasts are done. You are never done. That's what's so great about being a creative person. Learn to love the process more than the end result and you will be a great success.
See you all tomorrow.
There seems to be some confusion as to the nature of this week's assignment.
Your grocery store ads were to be done off the concept Jeff highlighted on those write-ups you did. (They're your concepts. Not Jeff's. All he did was locate the concept you already established, and point it out to you.)
If you did your ads on another concept, I suppose that's fine. But it seems like it would have been busy work. You have your direction on your write-up. Coming up with a new area when you could be coming up with ads is risky. Sure, it could pay off. Yeah, you could discover a much more fertile, viable area. But to completely ignore your initial direction in this class or in an actual job would be folly.
Ultimately, I'm interested in your ability to make ads that will go into your book and get you great jobs. But here's a quote from Tim Delany:
“The strategy comes first. I can’t think of anything until I know the area in which I’m writing. The premise has got to be right. If the issue seems muddled or plain wrong, then I can’t start. So the first thing I do is sort out what I’m going to say, and check on it, and believe in it, and make sure that it’s what everybody wants me to say.”
Lastly, a few of you who've brought this to my attention have mentioned that you've already done your ads in a certain area. Already done? What does that mean? Please remember this:
There is no finish line. You will never be done. When you've completed an assignment, there will be revisions. When you've laid out your ads, there will be revisions. When your student book is put together and mailed out to 30 different agencies, you will still need to be coming up with ads (it's much better to send new work to a prospective employer than just calling up and asking if any positions have opened up since you last sent your book). When you have a job, you will need to keep coming up with ads because clients and creative directors will want revisions. The best creatives still want to make revisions to their work when it's appeared in the One Show.
You do, however, have deadlines. Yours is this Thursday at 6:00pm. And I would encourage you to keep coming up with ideas until that point.
I repeat: There is no finish line. Turkeys are done. Pot roasts are done. You are never done. That's what's so great about being a creative person. Learn to love the process more than the end result and you will be a great success.
See you all tomorrow.
“After an assignment is over, stop and think about it. What happened when you did good ads? What did you do differently than the times when you did bad ads? Then think about how you’ve got to do those things more often than not, like an athlete. If great athletes could only perform that way occasionally, it’d be terrible.”
– Gary Goldsmith
Right now, you are either asleep or having fun.
It's 11:22 p.m.
On a Friday night.
We have a big meeting on Monday we're trying to get ready for. It's a pitch. And I want to win the business.
I'm in my office waiting for my partner to finish comping up an idea so we can talk about it.
Every year, Optimus, a local editing house has an awesome block party.
I've had to work during the Optimus block party for the past 4 years.
Today, made it five.
While my partner and I have been working, we've seen other co-workers come back to the office after hanging out at Lollapalooza.
While I get to have breakfast with them in the morning, I haven't been able to put my kids to bed once this week.
It's not like this all the time.
But sometimes it is.
So I have three rhetorical questions for you:
1. Is this really the career you want to have? (I'm not on a downer. I enjoy my job very much. In fact, I enjoy my job a great deal more than most of my friends enjoy theirs. But it is a question you need to ask yourself.)
2. What is it about advertising that will help you get through times like these?
3. If you're not putting in these kinds of hours now, as a student trying to put his or her book together, how can you possibly expect things to be different when you have a job?
On a Friday night.
We have a big meeting on Monday we're trying to get ready for. It's a pitch. And I want to win the business.
I'm in my office waiting for my partner to finish comping up an idea so we can talk about it.
Every year, Optimus, a local editing house has an awesome block party.
I've had to work during the Optimus block party for the past 4 years.
Today, made it five.
While my partner and I have been working, we've seen other co-workers come back to the office after hanging out at Lollapalooza.
While I get to have breakfast with them in the morning, I haven't been able to put my kids to bed once this week.
It's not like this all the time.
But sometimes it is.
So I have three rhetorical questions for you:
1. Is this really the career you want to have? (I'm not on a downer. I enjoy my job very much. In fact, I enjoy my job a great deal more than most of my friends enjoy theirs. But it is a question you need to ask yourself.)
2. What is it about advertising that will help you get through times like these?
3. If you're not putting in these kinds of hours now, as a student trying to put his or her book together, how can you possibly expect things to be different when you have a job?
Something for the Weekend
It's a few years old, but this article from David Baldwin is worth reading.
How Nice are the CPS Softball Uniforms?
This summary is not available. Please
click here to view the post.
BBC from BBDO
I love these ads. They could have hit me over the head with a blunt message. Instead, they let me connect the dots. It's a platitude, but it's true: What happens in the mind stays in the mind.
“Creative people often don’t work hard enough. They go to lunch, whinge, and go home. They should be more prolific. If people want to write, they have to write and write and write.”
– Tim Delaney
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)