There’s a load of stuff no-one tells you at college or at your first job. You’re just expected to know.
Unless you’re reading these tips that is.
Go back on my blog to see all the earlier ones if you’ve missed them.
Tip 26 // Don’t let shyness win.
One thing a lot of young creatives ask me about is nerves and shyness.
Some creatives are big and loud. Others more introspective, and can get overshadowed.
I’m by nature quite quiet. Which can hamper me, but there’s one trick that has helped.
In the minutes before a meeting I’d get into character. Imagining the people I’d worked with who were full of themselves and think ‘be like that’.
Playing a flamboyant exaggeration of myself. Just like an actor.
It usually brought me out of my shell.
Tip 27 // Keep evolving your book.
A lot of people fall into the same trap with their books.
Once they’ve got a good, or great, one put together they’ll start to just make odd small changes here or there. No matter how many crits or interviews they do.
Your book should never be finished. Every project should be at risk of getting cut by something better.
Even when it gets you a job. Keep pushing, tweaking and improving it.
Tip 28 // Love knowing things.
My old art teacher used to tell us that to be a good designer or creative you had to know a little bit about everything. Not just art or design.
It means that you can find different ways in. Apply thinking from one field to another. Put together weird and unusual connections.
If you only ever look at advertising or design you’ll end up repeating what’s been done already or default into the latest trend.
There’s far too much of that happening already.
Tip 29 // Get in & put it in.
Placements are great.
You’ll not only learn so much about how the industry works but there’s a great chance you’ll end up getting taken on through them.
So chase them down. Ask for them.
Then when you’re on one show what you’re made of by really putting the effort in.
Don’t just do well on the work you’re given, go above and beyond.
Find ways to stand out, to show your drive and ambition, to get remembered.
That way when they have a job going they’ll think of you.
Tip 30 // Quickly get them excited.
You need to get people interested in your book as quickly as possible.
Most campaigns will take someone a moment to read or get, unless they’re simple posters or press ads.
Especially if it’s a script or has some tech that needs explaining.
One sentence elevator pitches for each project can whet the appetite.
It doesn’t have to explain everything. Think of it like a headline that sells the sizzle.
Then the work’s like the body copy, explaining the sausage.
