By page 2 I wanted to hire this guy. He has absolutely one of the strongest junior design books I have ever seen. This is exactly what I mean when I say that, for me, strong design will always take precedence over mediocre and even good conceptual work.
Unfortunately, he had no desire to come work in California. (Still perplexed by that: surf, perpetual sun. I mean, really, life here does not suck). Anyway, once he shunned me I still tried to help him find a job. Here is a junior who could easily land a job around 60K, no problem. I thought it a sin that he wasn't at a big name agency. He really wanted to land in Chicago. So I emailed our Y&R Chicago ECD his link. I called a local recruiter and passed on his portfolio. I constantly refer to his design work in lectures I give about junior portfolios.
I don't know if he ever got the job he wanted in Chicago, but here's the point: If you show your book to a recruiter and it is not a fit, either for them or you, do know that they may be helping you behind the scenes get the job that will be.
Showing posts with label design. Show all posts
Showing posts with label design. Show all posts
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Execution vs. Concepting
As a Junior Creative, there is an inverted relationship between the amount of time spent concepting vs. the amount of time you'll spend executing someone else's concepts.
Coming right out of school you'll be incredibly lucky and downright unique if you land a job where you get to concept all day long. Perhaps 5 years ago when agencies were fat and happy with meaty AOR accounts this may have been the case. Today, when creative departments are integrating and streamlining (ie downsizing), every body counts. You must be able to execute and by that I mean be able to design and layout another (more senior) team's ideas.
Lately I have been reviewing junior books that are way too heavily focused on conceptual work and painfully lacking in design pieces. This balance is quite OK for mid- and senior-level creatives who spend more of their time concepting projects. But for juniors, not so much.
Sadly, I think your school instructors focus on concepting to the exclusion of design and, in my opinion, that hurts a junior portfolio. If you can't display a command of type, execute in a variety of styles, and show me you can work the software, then why in the heck would I want to hire you? I cannot afford to have juniors that lack these fundamental skills.
You know all those school projects that seem boring: logos, CD covers, identity systems, packaging, menus, invitations, etc. Those are exactly the means by which to show off your design skills. Don't discount their importance in helping someone judge your creative ability. And if you can throw in a couple of strong and smart conceptual pieces on top of that, you're golden.
Coming right out of school you'll be incredibly lucky and downright unique if you land a job where you get to concept all day long. Perhaps 5 years ago when agencies were fat and happy with meaty AOR accounts this may have been the case. Today, when creative departments are integrating and streamlining (ie downsizing), every body counts. You must be able to execute and by that I mean be able to design and layout another (more senior) team's ideas.
Lately I have been reviewing junior books that are way too heavily focused on conceptual work and painfully lacking in design pieces. This balance is quite OK for mid- and senior-level creatives who spend more of their time concepting projects. But for juniors, not so much.
Sadly, I think your school instructors focus on concepting to the exclusion of design and, in my opinion, that hurts a junior portfolio. If you can't display a command of type, execute in a variety of styles, and show me you can work the software, then why in the heck would I want to hire you? I cannot afford to have juniors that lack these fundamental skills.
You know all those school projects that seem boring: logos, CD covers, identity systems, packaging, menus, invitations, etc. Those are exactly the means by which to show off your design skills. Don't discount their importance in helping someone judge your creative ability. And if you can throw in a couple of strong and smart conceptual pieces on top of that, you're golden.
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