Superbowl Missed Opportunity

DORITOS!!

WHICH IS THE BEST:







Enough said. 3 wins.

No one cares about Art Direction

Unfortunately it's true. No one really cares. Consumers don't care. Creative directors don't care. Client's don't care. Writers don't care. Hell art directors probably don't give a shit from time to time. The only time people care: When it's piss poor.

I've come to realize the words on the page are the most important part, reluctantly I've discovered this. The words are what the client want and the consumer. They are the set in stone, legal binding contract between a consumer and a client. I admit that 50% off is more important to me than the stock photo of a lady twirling in a field of sunflowers, or the fact that that block legal copy is kerned properly makes it no more legal.

But if that lady spinning in the field looks like it was shot with a camera you give to your five year old, or god forbid they use Papyrus or Myraid pro as the font, then you can probably start preparing for a few angry emails. A lot of art directors are out there trying to make work that won't get noticed, because it lets them keep their jobs and keeps clients coming back.

The same is true for design, no one cares that people spend months trying to get their mouse to feel and look great, or that someone stared at lumps of clay for hours trying to make their phone look like a nuclear submarine. It only matters when your mouse feels like a brick, and your phone is closer to those paddle wheel boats in Central Park.

Thankfully there are not many of those that I have run into yet, but they're out there. But this same principle applies to work and book reviews. I've had my work looked through by some pretty talented eyes, who know how to spin circles around me, and I've heard comments about my art direction, drum role please......twice.

1. Your art direction is clean.
2. I like your art direction.

Ok well there's two ways to take these:

1. It's good keep doing what your doing.
2. You're not doing enough, and I'm being kind.

Its probably not one or the other. It's a hybrid between the two because if I was making work that blinded people I wouldn't be at school and if it was terrible I wouldn't be at school. I should be shooting for number 2 because as profitable as it can be to make spinning sunflower field work, no self respecting art director smiles at seeing their half off coupons on a bus seat in Detroit.

No one cares about art direction. Until it's amazing.

A win by any other name.

We won a pitch. Finally. It took a year and a half to win one. It feels good to win. Its why we are here, to win new business. So after all the work and time put in and a hard fought win over a lot of great pitches I should feel on top of the world but instead I feel exactly the same.

Well becuase the day you win one account there are 400 behind it that you have to pitch as well. I figure that you lose 9 of 10 pitches you participate in. Unless you work at CPB or W+K, pitches flow together, its great to win because you keep your job and maybe get a raise, if you lose usually no harm no foul. So I'm back pitching again today for Sigg water bottles, and tomorrow on to freezers, salsa, bronx zoo, dickies, One Show, D&AD, and portfolio. No rest for the weary.

My little red headed child.

I'm sorry blog and readers. I've treated this space badly. No updates. No culture. No nothing. I promise I'm here. Alive.

This blog has transformed over the year(s) and has changed from a how Brandcenter works into a how advertising works into a diary. It's a little wishy washy right now. Time to tighten it up. So I've decided to pick a format for the final push out of Richmond VA.

More updates to come on work here. I want to leave this a resource for students thinking about coming here, to have an inside view, one I didn't have.

Oh and don't worry Kelly. More culture to come.

Always on Display.

Faces pressed to the glass. Photos flashing. People constantly watching. Your second year feels a lot like this. You're expected to know the easy tricks and avoid them and move bigger and better.

We had our first presentation for the Navy today for our brands class. In my humble opinion I thought we did really well for a branch we knew nothing about. Of course it wasn't perfect but our team was all around pleased with the output. (see creative below)

Which is a good start. There seemed to be a lot of relearning this whole team thing again in the whole class. Some teams clicked had eager eyes to present and some teams leaned and slumped questioning their own work without knowing it, which creates a problem.

All the eyes look to the second years to see what will happen. Will they knock it out? Fail? Humiliate us? And while most of us would probably say I don't care, I feel the looks and pressure, but in a good way. I didn't come to this school just to make a good book. I came for a better work ethic, and god knows I've found one better than the last.

The sense of freedom of being almost gone has its benefits, the ability to just relax and do things you like for one, but that sense of freedom has a cost. Not caring at all. I can see how easy it would be to shrug off criticism in favor of a "I like it so screw it" attitude. To not try to improve it because it looks perfect in your head, and I completely understand.

But hopefully the feeling of 100 sets of eyes in the back of mind help push me a little further. Enjoy the work, comments are always welcome.

Artists beware.

287. Give or take.

One more glorious year of avoiding adulthood ahead.
One more year of infinite budgets, ideas, and clients.
One more year to live in a bubble called Brandcenter.

But as always the seeds of doubt are at foot. I've been thinking about where I want to go every day because I'll wake up tomorrow and it will be upon me. I think about my book about once a week because I'll cough and I'll be sitting in a cap and gown. I watch the economy every five mintues because nothing scares people entering the work world than a recession.

But wait, a recession is actually great for me.

I make half a peanut in terms of salary. A art director with 5 years experience makes enough peanuts to make Jimmy Carter nauseous. Agencies need art directors but not the large salaries. So in business terms I'm called a bargain.

So things look up as the numbers go down, or so I hope. This phenomenon has been reported on Agency Spy. Apparently people over 50 are getting the axe at unheard levels in favor of cheap and young. Guess ill start using anti aging cream this year.

I'm just missing the little umbrella.

I've been back in Richmond for a week now and have thoroughly enjoyed being back.

Met a few of the incoming students and have been very impressed by the quality of their previous experiences and portfolios. Brandcenter's new policies which include two years previous experience, and a degree involving some form of design, will make the Brandcenter much more competitive in terms of Art Direction and will produce great ADs for years to come.

I would love to keep posting but honestly I've had a extremely relaxed week and will get back to posting once I'm done doing the following:

Fung Shui

I asked a writer if he could come up with 20 lines for outdoor billboards today.

He said: "Of course! Can you decorate them?"

It's official, art direction is now something that guys like this do:

The realities of a recession inside an agency.

Recession.

The ugly 800 lb. gorilla/elephant sitting in everyone's corner, that we all are plugging our ears and shutting our eyes trying to avoid at all costs. We're headed torwards one whether we like it or not.

No matter where you are in the world, from street sweeper to king, intern art director to ECD you feel the pinch inside the ad world. Here on the 19th floor its slowly becoming evident. When you walk around a lot of people are web surfing, chatting, playing GTA, longer lunches, etc. There just isn't enough work to go around. The firm is pitching hard and strong trying to remedy this but the general feeling is still the same: what next?

What next in terms of:

Am i expendable?
Will we get more work?
When did i last kiss butt at work?
How does my resume look?

People are simmering and grumpy. Unlike any other industry when employees in ad world don't work they get pissed, because they really, really, want to work. Its the only way to move up in the world.

From a lowly intern prospective its interesting and probably a valueable lesson once im on the inside. Watching people scheme shuffle and position themselves is just as important as the work they do. As they say you're only as good as your last work. More importantly if this recession gets worse how does it affect me in 365 days when im out with a book and resume?

A professor at school told me during one review. That I was in a perfect position and that he was jealous of where I stood. I would be going into a market in semi freefall with clients slashing marketing budgets and fewer companies wanting to advertise at all. Obviously a great time to get in. Right?

he continued to explain that a talented AD from Brandcenter could do as comperable work of a higher salaried person for half the cost. Recessions are gold for Juniors and freelancers, murder for middle to high experienced people.

I have a year to see what happens but so far it's been a interesting fly on the wall here on the 19th floor in NYC.

129.

Days this semster.

Work:












DO NOT PUBLISH WITHOUT MY APPROVAL.

T minus:

16 Days until freedom. No more concepting or art directing...

For two weeks until I get to do it in NYC!

Exciting!

Back to work.

Coming next week. Year in review post and work! Yeah!

Brandcenter is not a school for Art Direction.

I've debated posting this but I believe it and it's important to put out there.

This school does not train art directors. There are no art direction courses. No photoshop. No illustrator. No anything. You get one technology class the first semester with a few tips and tricks and then a pat on the back and good luck.

This school trains writers and writes who can art direct. Besides Rick Boyko and Wayne Gibson the rest of the teachers I've had have been writers. I don't get judged on my art direction much in the open. It's always and I mean always this phrase:

Where's your big idea?

This is a good idea. This trains creative directors. The sad thing is that not everyone is going to be a creative director. Some people just want to be art directors, and I think that by not teaching art direction it handicaps more than it helps.

Miami teaches art direction. Year after year they get good visual ads coming from South Beach. Portfolio school teaches art direction. Chicago portfolio school teaches it too. I love the program. I want to learn to be as dangerous as possible, but it would be nice to have a little direct teaching every once and a while

The Final countdown.

No not the awesome Europe song made re famous by the man to the left, but the last two weeks here at the Brandcenter. And shame on you if you don't know this man.

Its busting ass time for the art directors and cruise time for copywriters. Not really. Everyone is busting their asses to finish work in the las few classes still running. It makes it hard to focus as the weather gets nice and the cold beers call.

On top of this most of us have been preparing for internships in far away cities. It's been a bad year for internships as only a few from the west coast have come through with spots. I dont know whether its the economy, laziness, or anything else. It pisses me off about the professionalism of some of these shops, and their lack of contact with the school one way or another.

I'm defnitely stressed out and will promise to put as much work up here for all to see when its all said and done.

A few of the things I'm looking forward to:

May 17th (all done)
First years
Summer in NYC
Heading back to CA for a while
Catching up on sleep, maybe not.

Your title will follow you for life.

I am not an art director.

Well I guess I am here for all intensive purposes. But I'm not.

I can write, concept, body copy, and long copy along with drawing, color correction, layout, and design. I feel that a lot of talented art directors don't get the credit they deserve for their abilities beyond directing art.

I came here to be an art director. I don't think I want that anymore. I came here to be a dangerous quadruple edged sword. I assure you there is a sweet ninja blade that has this.

So I tried to think of a new title for this. I checked the interweb and was not shocked to find many art directors with the same complaint/concern. So I now have a blank line in my email signature waiting for the right word or words. Does anyone know a better word?

CW vs. AD: Brain battle

Tiffany and CO. how me and my partner interpreted our concept. The stereotypes are true!

Same same, but different.

Do it for your mama.

Write advertisements for yourself. Its the mantra here. Do things that are cool that you like. Every teacher says it. The problem is no one does, me included.

We walk into review with our little pile of papers clutched in our arms hoping that the teachers see something that we missed or love the ideas that came out of our tired brains late last night. The 3-5 seconds of silence after a presentation are always the worst, unless you get cut off half-way through by Coz bellowing "Are you FUCKING kidding me?"

Most of the time it devolves into this:

"I see what you're trying to say but it isn't clear. This has been done before. Dig deeper. NEXT!"

It feels like the same advice every two weeks. Its frustrating. So in our desperation working on Sylvia's Soul Food my partner and I just went off on a tangent had some fun and came up with this little idea (Click for larger view):

The basic idea here: The high light of C-list celebrities lives.

I wasn't going to present it. I was afraid of it. I thought it would get ripped apart, laughed at, and discarded. I was afraid because it was just a joke that we threw around. I have to thank my partner for making me do it, since this would be lying on a notebook right now if it wasn't for him. It wasn't thrown away, instead it was approved, in a Coz/Wayne sorta way they're famous for.

The moral here was that we did something we liked and it worked. It has personality and humor that came from both of us. It was our idea. Our other ideas were manifestations of what we thought people wanted to hear.

Its so easy to forget that were here not to make things that sell stuff. We're here to make things that are funny or clever or intriguing, and hopefully people will remember that when they go out for groceries. If you make the ad for you, there is more voice passion and voice than any where else and people will like it.

Do it for your mama. She'll like it because you like it. She loves you the most.

Onitsuka Tiger Shoes

I came across this little ad. I like it alot.

AHHHHH! I GOT HIT BY A JAVELIN!

Its been a long week. A fucking long week and its just starting. Our beloved copywriters had their hell semester last semester. Its the Art Directors turn now. Not only do we sit through the concepting stage, we are responsible for execution. Its a lot of work. Ive been at the beloved Brandcenter 9 hours a day for the last week and a half, and only now have I gotten work approved.

Is it the best? No.

Will it go in my book? No.

Why am I doing it then? Practice.

The work that gets rejected is publish ready in my opinion and the opinion of a lot of other people. Its good and looks good, but thats not what were looking for here. Were looking for great. I haven't seen great here, by any class. This isn't because of lack of talent, its simply that great is like getting hit by a javelin at the Olympics. It isn't going to happen as long as you're looking for it.

Staring deep into your partners eyes or a nine foot high white board for a week usually doesn't help but its what is done here. And believe me there are people that put way more than that in. I never thought I would work this hard.

I guess I'll keep my head down the next time I cross the field.

Switching Into Strategy

Another week another Don Just project. This time was different though. It was the first time I tried the strategy hat on. The requested media was not on target with what I felt was the core audience. I changed the assignment to better fit the core audience.

This previous paragraph is not one you usually hear from Art Directors. Its all where's my brief I've got to make this pretty STAT!

Thats the difference behind Adcenter. Its not just about creative, its about learning to make decisions that are the best for the specific client. Its a weird feeling to act this way. I never came here thinking I would learn some business. I like making things pretty, but its nice to touch the other side for once.