Breaking In

In case you missed it, check out some great work from Eitan Chitayat.

WS: What do you look for in a student book? And what impresses you?

EC: To say I look for something original wouldn’t be very original at all. What I like most is just people who aren’t afraid. A lot of books are cookie cutter. A lot of them are the same. I don’t think that means what they have isn’t good work. But I like to see stuff that’s different. Someone who took a risk. Not for shock value. It has to be good, obviously. Otherwise you end up looking bad.

I like writers who can art-direct and art directors who can write. That’s impressive and important. What you’ll sometimes get in real-world advertising is, ”Let’s come up with the idea and then I’ll take care of the art direction and you take care of the copy” or vice versa. I enjoy working with people who won’t draw a line. I’m a writer but I’m very passionate about design, too. And I love working with art directors who can sit down and say, “Let’s write it like this.” They’ll be just as involved with the writing as l will be in the art direction. And nowadays, with new media and, more than ever, lines should be blurred, or even not there at all in some cases. 

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Check out some great work from Eitan Chitayat, a freelance creative director working in New York, Tel Aviv, and London.

A Google A Day

Eitan helped create a new daily puzzle while at the Google Creative Lab.
There’s no right way to solve it, but there’s only one right answer.
Find the answer with your creativity and clever search skills.

Target 2-day Sale – Case Study

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In case you missed it, check out some great work from Alan Buchanan.

AB: …But when you’re making a book, you should think very carefully about how those long-copy ads play off the rest of your work and how they influence the pacing of the book. I just saw a great book today and the last ad campaign was just a simple visual solution. By then I had already looked through a variety of ads, some that demanded more attention than others, and I was ready for something quick and easy. That was nice; he paced it really well.

WS: Do you like to see things that aren’t ads?

AB: Definitely, yeah. I think Kevin [Proudfoot, former ECD of W+K NY] once hired a writer here and he had great work, but the most interesting parts of the book, he told me, were the scans from a sketchbook of his which were just doodles and miscellaneous ideas and random thoughts. One of the thoughts was the concept for branding Republican peanut butter.

And if you’re an art director, bringing examples of design that you’ve done shows your breadth there; or if you dabbled in photography. Or, there’s a guy who came in today, and he was in a band, and just the fact that he was in a band at one point, and he played in Athens, Georgia, and hung out with Mike Mills from REM, gave him an interesting story, other than just being a guy whose focus was solely on advertising. So it’s sort of nice to see that other stuff. You have to have advertising in there, obviously, but it’s the other stuff that sets you apart from everyone else.

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Here is some great work from Alan Buchanan, Art Director at Wieden+Kennedy, New York.

ESPN

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WS: What do you look for in a student book? And what impresses you?

MB: Originality. With student books, I have to be a little bit more forgiving for the lack of breadth. Because it’s only as great as the different projects you’d be given at school. Although some of the kids go out of their way to do stuff. Different voices are very important. If you’re an art director: craftsmanship, design sense. I’d like to see someone be able to art-direct a piece of body copy. I know it sounds old fashioned, but it’s good to see that someone can do this. And, likewise, a copywriter’s body copy. Show me some body copy.

I think humor is helpful. I find that if you are going to rein yourself in on a student book, you’re already in trouble because we need to see how far you can go out there. And I’m talking relevance though, not just “I’m crazy.” How far you can go out there on a project because inevitably your creative director will rein you in, the client will rein us in. So, if you’re starting conservatively then we have no clue what you’re capable of.  

The ease with which you can go through a book is important. I don’t have a lot of time. The ability to contact the person is really important. Sometimes I get books from people and I don’t know how to contact them easily. A phone number and an email address are enough. I’d like to be able to see some campaigns. All the alternative media—people are already addressing those things.

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In case you missed it, check out some great work from Andy Fackrell.

WS: How important is finish? If ideas are the most important thing, can sketches be enough? Do you look at physical books anymore, or is it all websites?

AF: Mostly it’s websites, and I haven’t seen a physical book for a year. And really, that has to be the case these days. Some kind of leave-behinds are always useful. A young Dutch team we hired left funny little paper sculptures that sat on my desk for a few months, before actually hiring them. So ’80s of them.

As always, it’s the ideas that will be remembered, not the slickness of a blog, or the shininess of the portfolio. Creating a blog is a trend for juniors up to creative directors. And dangerous for employers. I mistrust them, as they are disposable in a way, and loose in their truth. People can post their colleague’s work that they admire, somehow implying it’s their own. I’ve seen it happen on all levels. As my friend says, you’re a creative, not a curator. Show me your ideas.

WS: How important is writing? Do you need to see long copy?

AF: Definitely, you can see how disciplined young people are by actually working through the process of writing an ad or website. Writers are more important now than ever before. But it’s a bit different than the tortured prose of the golden era of ‘80s D&AD. These days, agencies are more multifaceted, meaning less pretension in this particular craft. You will find a lot more nuts-and-bolts writing is needed, as well as poetry. But traditional long copy? A rarity.

WS: What do you think of showing work that is not advertising?

AF: It can [provoke a] wince—having peoples’ souls displayed—so you have to be super careful showing personal work. It depends who you’re talking to. I remember Kash Sree and I were being interviewed through video conference by Dan Wieden and all his creative directors. He asked that very question. Kash had a very obscure book project that made him, and by association, me, look pretty smart. The obscure always worked with Dan.

WS: Do you have any other advice for a student or junior trying to get into the business?

AF: By all means be out there and original, but also be professional. Find out everything you can about the people you meet. The worst thing, and it has happened a lot here at 180, is when they have only a vague idea of your agency’s work. I’m not saying they need to list all the work on my personal reel, and reread scripts back at you, but a little flattery never hurts.

Here is some great work from Andy Fackrell, Executive Creative Director at DDB Group, New Zealand.

Adidas OOH

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If you missed it, check out some great work from Jon Bunning.

WS: What do you look for in a student book? And what impresses you?

JB: Big thinking. Simple execution. And anything that doesn’t look like an “ad.” The average consumer is barraged with communication overload much like the average creative director is barraged with portfolio overload. You gotta stand out in the clutter.

WS: How important is finish? If ideas are the most important thing, can sketches be enough? Do you look at physical books anymore, or is it all websites?

JB: A great idea is a great idea no matter what it looks like. But in this day and age, with all the resources available, bringing an idea to life is much more possible. So it’s hard to be impressed by anything that doesn’t look polished. You probably should have a book and a website. Everyone is looking for some kind of digital/interactive ability, so you can’t ignore it. Some creative directors still like to hold a tangible book in their hands. Whatever you do, make your work easy to look at.

WS: How important is writing? Do you need to see long copy?

JB: Whether you’re a writer or not, you need to be able to write well. We’re in the business of communicating. It doesn’t matter how you show it, just show that you can write.

WS: What do you think of showing work that is not advertising? Things like art, journal writing, photography, hobbies, etc.

JB: If it’s interesting and relevant, show it. Personally, I think a book of ads is boring. Some creative directors would disagree. Treat your book like it’s an experience. There should be treats and surprises along the way. It should blow minds in some parts and crack smiles in others.

WS: Do you have any other advice for a student or junior trying to get into the business, either in putting together a book or how to actually start looking for jobs?

JB: Don’t over-think your book. Make something that excites you—it will make you more passionate when you share it. It’s your body of work. If you don’t love it, don’t show it. Don’t tailor your book to what you think people will like. You’re trying to find a place that will let you make the work that you want to make. If someone doesn’t like your work, you probably don’t want to work there.

Check out some great work from Jon Bunning, freelance art director in New York.

MINI

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In case you missed it, check out some great work from Fabian & Ida.

Fabian Berglund & Ida Gronblom were interviewed at Wieden+Kennedy London.

FB: …a lot of students have books full of ads with smart visuals or fun copy, but they haven’t thought about why they made the ads. What’s the problem they are trying to solve? And is an ad the best way to solve that problem? The issue with a lot of student books is that they’ve made a lot of ads without a brief, without a real problem to solve. 

IG: A lot of students just go, “Okay, we’re going to create a campaign for like…”

FB: American Express… 

IG: Yeah, American Express, and they end up doing advertising for a credit card, not American Express. You could just swap the product, you know? It could be any card, really. That happens a lot. We tell them to do your research, try to figure out the tone of voice of the brand, what makes it different from other brands doing the same thing. Is there anything you can dig up from the brand’s history? What do people associate with this brand? I think this is something that, as a student, you’re not that used to doing because you are looking for quick fixes. You get an assignment and then it’s more fun to hang out with your mates and then, all of a sudden, you need to deliver it tomorrow so you go with an idea without having analyzed it enough. But what you really need to do is to get under the skin of the brand. This is the main feedback we give to students about their books. And when some students already think this way, then it’s like, “Wow! These guys are great!” 

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