Breaking In

Check out the work of Ryan Gerber.

What do you look for in a student or junior book?

In simple terms, I’m most interested in who you are as a person. Maybe you’re a bit crazy, but you see things that others don’t. Or you hate advertising but you feel like you can somehow fix it by working from inside the machine. Or maybe you’re neither of those things, but you’ve got impeccable taste and you’re a bit of an asshole. At the end of the day, I’m not hiring your book; I’m hiring the brain and the guts that crafted that thing. That’s what I’m after.

Continue reading →

Ryan Gerber is Creative Director/Director at Horses and Mules.

Jeep – “Built Free”

Continue reading →

Check out the work of Joel Chu, Creative Director at Communion W.

[ … ]

So you’re looking for strategic thinking?

To be honest, I’m looking for attitude. I can’t say I know someone completely after meeting them, but I will try to meet with them for one or two hours and I will sense something about their character. The portfolio can demonstrate skills, but it’s hard to get a sense for their attitude from it.

[ … ]

I don’t want regrets. Some people just want it to be done. But I want it to be as good as it can be. And I want to find other people with the same thinking. Sometimes I try to push them. But I really want people who will take action by themselves. When you love the job you don’t think it’s a job, it’s more like a hobby; and hard work isn’t a hardship—you enjoy it. I want people who love the job.

Continue reading →

Joel Chu is Creative Director at Communion W in Hong Kong.

Powershot G1x Mark II (2014)

A model designed with remarkable light sensitivity that allows for higher resolution and less noise, the Powershot G1x Mark II can bring out the stunning beauty in dim half-light, just like the concept 陰影礼賛 (Ineiraisann) initiated by Junichirō Tanizaki. Without shadows, there would be no beauty, the TV campaign shows the prowess of the camera in revealing the secrets of light and shadow.

VO Translation: Beautiful things are often hidden in shadow, unnoticed. With an f/2.0 24mm lens and a 1.5″ type CMOS sensor, the Powershot G1x Mark II reveals the secrets of light and shadow.

Continue reading →

Check out the work of Christiano Abrahao.

What do you look for in a student portfolio? And what impresses you?

I used to say that if you remember, it must be good. We see so much stuff everyday that remembering somebody’s work is a great sign. If something comes to mind, at that moment we lay in bed, after a busy day of work, it must definitely tick all the boxes of freshness, relevance, and tension that a great ad should have.

But being more specific, relevance is the word. It’s about understanding people and the common mindset out there. Then whatever you do, it will be relatable. The more honest you are, the closer you’ll be to a true insight. And it’s always the great insight that kills.

Can you think of an example you’ve seen?

Continue reading →

Christiano Abrahao is a Brazilian Creative Director working in New York. He has worked for agencies and companies including Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam, Google Creative Lab, 72andSunny, TBWA/Media Arts Lab, and VICE Magazine on brands such as Google, Apple, Nike, Coca-cola, and Facebook.

Google Maps – Hello World

Continue reading →

Check out the work of Toby Talbot.

How do portfolios come to you?

[ … ]

Honestly, if I responded to every single email I got about a job, I’d be an HR director, not a creative director. Since joining, I have set up a creative internship program called “The Farm.” Nic and Andy draw up a shortlist of the best teams out there, and every three months we revolve our intake. Three new teams come in. Three teams leave. If a team can make themselves indispensable to the agency in that time, we keep them on.

[ … ]

What do you look for in a student book?

Consistency is really important to me. Start with your best ideas and maintain that
standard. Easier said than done, I know. But too many times I see a great idea first up, then realize three campaigns on that that idea was either a fluke or someone else had it.

You want to see ideas that stay with you long after you see them. Usually because they’re so stupidly simple and contain a powerful emotional truth that you think, “Wow, why hasn’t someone else thought of that before? More importantly, why haven’t I thought of that before?” Jealousy is a wonderful motivator in our business.

I will also tell you what I don’t look for. There’s an awful lot of “cr-app” ideas out there. I went to the Cream show at Mother the other night. Lots of apps on lots of tablets. Barely any proper ideas among them. Nine times out of ten, they were just silly gimmicks. Apps can cost a shitload of money to develop. Clients need a good reason to invest in one, which is why they rarely do. These are the commercial realities that students need to understand. It’s tiresome that they plainly don’t.

Toby Talbot

Toby Talbot is Chief Creative Officer at Saatchi & Saatchi New Zealand in Auckland.

Continue reading →

Check out the work of Scott Nowell.

[ … ]

So once you’re looking at the work, what impresses you?

For a junior book you just want to see some interesting and fresh thought. I think a lot of students’ books have what that person thinks you need to see. But really you want to see what kind of thinker they are. We hire people who have hardly any ads in their book but they’ve done an amazing blog and we know they can write, or they’ve got a clever business idea or solution. You just want to see a fresh take on the world, whether that’s in advertising or in another pursuit that could be applicable to what we do here.

It’s got to stop you. Like a consumer [seeing an ad]. If you can engage a jaded creative director then you’re most of the way there.

[ … ]

Can you think of any examples of when it’s worked well?

One girl here came from AWARD School and had a lot of design work, having previously worked as a designer. And she had a few design and business projects that we just loved, and then she had her ad school stuff which demonstrated that she could think in that concise advertising way. But in combination it was a much stronger package than if it was just the ad work.

You just want to see a fresh take on the world. And that’s what advertising is. You’ve got to have a fresh take on a car or chocolate milk. It’s always good to see people who are obviously into what they are doing. We had another talented girl who came in with ads, but she also had a website where she was selling products, and some of those products had gone into the Museum of Modern Art. We were sold on that website.

One of our other guys started here after working as a designer for a company called Mambo, which is an Australian surf label. He’d worked on ads for Mambo but never for an ad agency. We liked the way he thought and the design skills he brought and hired him.

It is a wide-open thing; you could do anything. But it makes a person more interesting. If someone comes in with a bunch of ads and says, “And here are some bike designs; I’m building a bike.” If it’s presented well, that’s great. I don’t know how I’m going to apply it now, but we might be able to apply that kind of thinking.

[ … ]

Do you have tips about getting in touch with creative directors?

Don’t do creepy things. Don’t stalk them. No Photoshopped pictures with the creative director’s head on it. I just wouldn’t do that sort of stuff; you’ll be seen straightaway as a freak. Just do good ideas and be open to what people have to say about them. It can be confusing when you first start out because you’ll go to one person and they’ll say, “That’s great; you’ll get a job soon,” and then you’ll go to someone else and they’ll say, “This is rubbish; you’re nowhere.”

The best thing to do is keep working. Get briefs and keep working on them. If you can go and meet a creative director and you seem to be getting on, just ask them for a brief. If it’s alive or dead it doesn’t matter. If you come back with work it shows a bit of initiative. Attitude is so much of it. If you’ve got people who are sitting there with decent ideas and you can tell they’ve got a bit of talent and they’ve really got drive and a good attitude, you know they’ll make it. But if you have talented people and their attitude isn’t good, they’ll either have a reality check and do well, or they’ll just fade away.

[ … ]

I’m out of questions. Is there anything else you want to say?

Just on the attitude thing: we’ve met quite a few people who come in and say, “We’ve been at this place and it’s terrible…they kill good ideas and we want to work somewhere cool like your place.” The reality is it’s hard everywhere. And you never want people who slag off where they have been. It is acknowledged that it’s difficult to get work through at certain places, but there’s no point in bad-mouthing anyone or anything. And it’s always good to see people with a positive attitude, even if they’re working at the worst place and they say, “We keep trying; it’s pretty hard, but every day we try to come up with new things.” So attitude is a major factor. Good ideas and attitude. And don’t be afraid to put stuff in that you think is good that is not advertising at all.

Scott Nowell

Scott Nowell is Owner and Creative Director of The Monkeys in Sydney.

MLA Australia Day Richie’s BBQ

Continue reading →