The Epic Portfolio Post

Whenever people ask me "Where to start?" my eyes get really big. *audible gulp.* It's not
that I don't know the answer - it's that there are soooooooo many answers, and the answers themselves lead to more questions... and even more answers.

The quick and easy answer is - To get a job as a creative (copywriter, art director or designer) in advertising, you need a portfolio to demonstrate your skills and understanding of the industry.

Yeah, that wasn't so quick was it?

So now we get to a whole bunch of follow up questions: What is a portfolio? Then, how do you get a portfolio? Then, what do you do once you have a portfolio? How do you get a job? How do you keep a job? (Thankfully, there are blogs like this that are here to help. Whew.) 

Here's a collection of just about everything I've ever written about portfolios. (1. Holy crap I've written a lot. 2. Holy crap there's so much I haven't mentioned yet.) 

(Just About) Everything You Need to Know About Your Portfolio

1. First things first:

Watch the movie Art & Copy and this video Pursuit of Passion.

2. Things to know before you get started: 

What is a Creative? Quick overview of what a creative is and does.

So You Wanna Be A Creative Director?: Tough love and 6 things you need to do right now.

Tips For Aspiring Copywriter & Art Directors: Basic explanation of the whos and hows of working in an agency, plus 5 tips to get hired at one.

3. What is a portfolio? (aka "Book") 

Your Portfolio: General tips about what your portfolio should look like and contain.

What Exactly Do You Mean By "Portfolio"?: Breakdown of what a portfolio/book is and what to put in it.

Tips On Putting Your Portfolio Together: Tips for copywriters, art directors and developers

What Your Portfolio Says About You: 5 things to do to make sure your portfolio is top notch.

4. What To Put In Your Portfolio:

What I Look For In A Book: 3 Things this blogger looks for in a book.

Make Somebody Cry: Why you should make people react.

Beef Up Your Book: Why you should have a non-advertising section on your site

Make Something People Need: Come up with an idea that solves a problem

New Ads for old things: Do a campaign for an old product

Make a PSA Today: Create a public service announcement

Change The World or a Law: Advertise for/against a cause or law 

5. What Not To Put In Your Portfolio: 

What Not To Put In Your Book: Quick answer: Anything you can't say "I came up with this" or "I wrote/art directed that" about.

Don't Benetton Your Book: Why you should be very, very cautious about using edgy humour

Sex Sells:  Don't put anything sexual or tawdry in your book.

Nike Doesn't Need More Ads: Why you should create ads for brands that create amazing ads and ways you can show your talent by the brands you have in your book.

Things to Stop Doing. Immediately: A few things to take out (never put in) your portfolio.


6. Notes On Your Portfolio 

Is Your Campaign Awesome or Awful? Flowchart (and checklist) to help you judge whether your idea is good and has all the elements of a campaign.

Here's an Idea - Keep It Simple: You should be able to explain your idea in 140 characters or less.

How To Train Ideas: E-book about brainstorming with tips, examples and advice.

Is Your Idea Big Enough: An example of a big idea.

Respect the Brand: Show you understand a brand's personality, tone and image.

Using Pop Culture In Your Book: Tips and examples of how/when to use pop culture references in your work.

What the big wigs think about your book: Some of the things young creatives do & don't do

Common Portfolio Review Mistakes: 5 mistakes juniors make when having their book reviewed.

Your Book Will Never Be Finished: 5 Tips about getting through the never-ending creative cycle

7. What are Portfolio Schools (aka Ad School) & Should You Go?

Where For Art Thou Portfolio: Pros & Cons

Portfolio School, Fool: List of a few schools

Portfolio School or Not to Portfolio School? 8 Reasons you should go to portfolio school

What is Portfolio School Like?: 10 things you'll do in portfolio school

How to Apply to Portfolio School: Interview of 3 admission staff at 3 different portfolio schools.

Two Creatives On Portfolio School: Interview of two creatives who did go to portfolio school

Creatives Who Made Their Own Way: Interview of two creatives that didn't go to portfolio school share their journey

What You Won't Learn In Ad School: 6 things they didn't tell you in school

School vs Work: What I Learned My 1st Year Out: 5 things she didn't learn in school and 5 things she did.

8. And lastly, don't say I didn't warn you 

But Are You Really Ready To Work?: It's going to take a lot of hard work

Don't Get A Job In Advertising: Some of the most difficult parts of working in advertising

How to Fail

Excerpt from Augusten Burroughs' book-  This is How: Surviving What You Think You Can't. I read this a few months ago and thought this section was especially relevant to all things in life. Love, work, personal goals, art, health, work... everything.

Inspiration: 20 Free Magazines for Designers

from bitfuul issue 5

Came across this and thought I'd share. It's not just for designers either -- art directors and
copywriters will also benefit from this stuff, even if it's just for inspiration. I've discovered and bookmarked a few goodies from this list.

Plus they're free - so what do you have to lose?

Be inspired!

20 Free Online Magazines for Graphic Designers

Posted by Ainsley | On 3 April,2013 | In Inspiration

 Online Magazines for Graphic Designers usually contain fantastic inspiration, interviews, designer spotlights and showcasing new and upcoming design talents. One way Graphic Designers find new and exciting ideas is by looking through Online Magazines, where you'll find the latest news, trends and in the design industry.

In today's collection I've gathered 20 creative Online Magazines for Graphic Designers, all of these magazines are of exceptional quality and highlight the importance of how important Graphic Design is. If you're in search of a monthly design fix, these free design magazines will help you out.

 

PDF Mags

Bak Magazine

Kromag

Veer

Proteus Mag

Blanket Magazine

Apocrifa Magazine

GizMag

Destructed

TXT Nein

Beast Magazine

Bitfuul

Revolution Art Magazine

Castle Magazine

Root Magazine

Breed Mag

Idea Fixa

Be Different

Design and Life

File Magazine

Read This: How to Put Your Book Together and Get a Job in Advertising

Another book to add to your Must Read list: How To Put Your Book Together and Get A Job In Advertising

I love you all, but realistically, there's only so much I know - and so much I can do/say. That's why I'm always posting books, articles and guest posts and such to make up for what I lack.

This book is great no matter what level you're at. If you're just starting out, it'll help guide you as you start gathering the skills, knowledge and work you need to get your book together. If you're about to graduate, it'll help you refine your book and interview and job search tips.

You need all the help you can get right now. So seek out every resource and soak up as much as you can. Don't say I nobody ever told you...

Get it on Amazon now

It's almost Christmahanakwanza and/or your birthday is coming up. Add these to your wish list:
Breaking In Book 
The Copy Book

Must Read: The Copy Book

This post is a merge between a Lesson from Other Blogs and a book review.  This post is also me being lazy and just copy and pasting. This post will also change your life. (Maybe.)

George at Ad Aged did a great review of this great book I definitely want to check out. It's called The Copy Book and I'm a copywriter, so I'm already salivating.

Maybe we could do a competition for this one like I did for the Breaking in Book, instead this time if you comment, I'll buy myself a copy. No? Not as fun? Fine. Whatever. (Grumble grumble)

As usual, I bolded things because I like blackness.

A book. 

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

 

I don't know where I got the recommendation, but recently I heard about "The Copy Book--How some of the best advertising writers in the world write their advertising." It's a D and AD book published by Taschen and you, like me, can get it through Amazon for about $40. http://www.taschen.com/pages/en/catalogue/design/all/06766/facts.dad_the_copy_book.htm

The book is a compendium of some of the best work by some of the industry's best writers: My old boss, Steve Hayden; my blogging friend, Dave Trott; and people I've always admired: David Abbott, Ed McCabe, Bob Levenson, Tom Thomas and a couple dozen more.

The book, which is unusual for awards books today, is full of ads of substance. With beautifully written copy that presents a compelling argument or tells a story. It's a book that recognizes the power of words. Full of ads that cater not to the lowest common denominator but that recognize that there are thoughtful, intelligent people in the world who can actually read--and will--if you offer them something worthwhile.

There are, sadly, people in our business who stop investing in their careers once they're in their jobs. They form a tight solipsistic circle and learn only from people around them--never allowing an outside or extraneous thought inside their closed system. You should never stop learning. And with this book, for just $40 or so, you can learn from some of the best.
                                                                               ----

Get the The Copy Book on Amazon now
See screenshots of the book's innards at Taschen

What Not To Put In Your Book

Anything you didn't work on.

Rule of thumb: If you didn't actually create anything original or play an integral role in the campaign then don't put it in your book.

Your portfolio is a representation of you and your skills. Putting something that you didn't come up with, write or design in your book is not only lying but it's also stealing.

Christopher Columbus got in a boat, landed (accidentally) on some islands where there were already people living there, put down and flag and said he discovered said place, and went on to name it. How do you "discover" something that people already know about?

And how are you going to do some resizes or edit some body copy and decide that this is your campaign?

Don't Columbus people's work. It's stealing and it's ugly.

As an intern/freelancer/junior you will probably be working on a lot of other people's stuff. That doesn't mean you can put the whole campaign in your book. It's not yours.

If you created a small piece of an overall campaign, only show that small piece. But don't put in the full thing as if you were at all the brainstorm sessions, working out the intricacies, pitching to the client or staying up late getting the assets ready for hand off.

Just because your mouse touched it or you were in a meeting or two, doesn't make it yours. There were already people on that land - um, I mean campaign - you cannot claim it.

Recruiters and creative directors are going to assume the work in your book is yours. Some will ask hows or whys and it's gonna be hard to answer those questions if you didn't actually play an integral role on that stuff. If you get hired, they'll expect you to do similar work and if you can't... *cue menacing music*

Feel free to list it on your resume as clients you worked on, but if you can't explicitly say "I came up with this" or "I wrote that" then don't put it in. 

Plus, don't be an asshole. Or Columbus.

Must Read: Breaking In Book

by William Burks Spencer

Guard your fingers my loves! 

Behold! A book. With words. And pages. And paper. And, thus, paper cuts.

And an amazing amount of information about creating a portfolio that will get you hired -- with interviews from big name creative directors that you want to hire you at big name agencies that you want to work at.

I present to you:

Buy it

Breaking In Book Site/Blog

Like on Facebook

Follow @breakinginbook

 

 

Ari Merkin (oops, I dropped something. A name.) recommended the site for this book when I reached out to him for tips for my Recruiter Loves + Hates post. He basically said: been there, done, that, here's the link. 

I don't know this William author/copywriter character, but this Breaking In Book is right on par with my mission: Helping you be a better creative. It's jam-packed with tips, dos, don'ts and straight horse's mouth talk on every page. Therefore, it has received the first ever Official Baby Food For Creatives Stamp of Approval. (It's not so much a stamp as much as it is sticky fingerprints on the front cover. But potayto potahto.)

Comment on this post and tell me why you need Breaking In the most and I'll mail you a copy.

For free. No strings attached. (Though all karma rules apply.)

 

Where for art thou Portfolio?

Now for those of you I made stand outside at the beginning of the last post, sorry about that. I have to have standards you know.

Don't take it personally. Well, actually, yes, take it personally.

You can't be very serious about getting a job as a creative if you don't have a portfolio.


So you have two options.

Work on your book on your own. Or go to portfolio school.

Portfolio School
Pros: 
You are trained to think creatively and strategically
You are taught by teachers who are or used to work in the agencies you want to work
You work with a partner (CW + AD)
You practice your computer skills
You hone your presentation skills
You get guidance, criticism and direction

Cons:
Expensive
Two Years

Go It Alone
Pros:
Cheaper
Quicker
More creative control and independence 

Cons: 
You either have to find your own partner or art director/ copywrite all your own work
You won't have the same guidance, network and placement opportunities

There is a 3rd option if you haven't gone to college yet, you can go to a four-year university with an Advertising creative or design program.

Whatever you decide is best for you, do it and put in 100%. There are 500 other people out there who want a job as bad as you do. So work harder, be smarter, push further and do your absolute best - then do a little bit more.