Here’s some more student, grad and junior tips.
I post a new one on LinkedIn each week before collecting them all here.
So check it out there or wait till it’s here. That’s all completely up to you. I’ve no tip for that.
Tip 36 // Step out of your bubble.
When a creative’s working on a brief they head into a bubble.
Creating a space that blocks out every distraction.
You need to so that you can focus.
Just make sure you don’t get too locked in.
Get your head up and out of isolation.
Clear your mind and see what other creatives think about what you’re doing. Unlock new angles and discover problems you missed.
A single creative mind is not as good as many creative minds working together.
Tip 37 // Don’t take abuse.
The advertising industry can be a very high pressure environment.
It’s the nature of the business, especially as deadlines approach.
The stress stacks up.
But if it’s happening all the time, watch out, there’s usually a more systemic problem in the agency or it’s clients.
Be careful that you don’t start to accept it as the norm.
Like a frog suddenly discovering their lovely warm bath is now a boiling pan of water.
Don’t let yourself be abused.
Tip 38 // Ask creatives questions.
It can be tough to go into a creative agency on placement.
Everyone looks busy and hard to disturb.
An old Creative Director of mine had a great tip for placements.
Go up to a creative and say ‘That looks great, What you working on?’.
One of two things will happen.
That creative will think what they’re doing’s great and want to talk about it. Or they’ve think the brief is rubbish and want to talk about it.
Once you’re chatting, you’re in, ask anything you like.
Tip 39 // Look ahead one meeting.
Almost every grad or student treats a book crit the same way.
As a chance to get feedback on their book.
Makes sense. But it’s a missed opportunity.
You want to see them again in the future, and ultimately get work.
Do what agencies do on new business, they think about how to get another meeting, how they can keep the contact going and what they can come back in with.
How they can impress.
They listen, make notes, take action and eagerly go back in demonstrating they’ve done all of that.
Tip 40 // One thing to a page.
When creative’s are putting their book together they often don’t follow the same rules as when they’re creating ads.
If a poster site featured a whole campaign and had an explanation of why it works next to it, you wouldn’t expect the public to take it in. To like it or care about it.
So don’t make your book complicated.
Keep one thing to a page.
Give the ideas space.
It’s more likely they’ll be taken in and understood. And hopefully, liked.
