Advertising by Design, Third Edition

Advertising by Design, Third Edition

Robin Landa

Portfolio and Job Search

Objectives

01. Realize the purpose of a portfolio.

02. Learn about portfolio presentations.

03. Gather portfolio content.

04. Construct your own brand identity.

05. Recognize ancillary materials.

06. Learn how to write and prepare a résumé and cover letter.

07. Be prepared for the job search process.

08. Become familiar with the interview process.

Overview

A portfolio is a body of creative work used to showcase youraptitudes, conceptual and creative thinking, and experience.Every aspiring advertising art director needs one. By looking at your portfolio, a prospective employer will be able to evaluate your adideas, typography, visualization, composition, visual communication, creativity, and technical skills.

A portfolio is an ongoing project, perennially a work in progress. Make sure to archive your work.

Most student portfolios consist of projects created in response to course assignments, textbook projects, and student competitions, as well as self-directed projects and passion projects.
A student portfolio may contain some professional work created during internships or part-time jobs in the profession if the employer and/or client permit and if the work is suitably creative. (Just because you created work for an internship doesn’t mean it’s portfolio-worthy; the produced work must demonstrate creative strategic thinking.)
Carefully selectyour work to demonstrate your skills and sensibility.

Portfolio Presentations

Part I.Presentation

There are various kinds of digital portfolio presentations and platforms.
Aone- or two-sentence description of each project enhances your presentation and showcases your writing skills. If you do include a description, it should address your audience, strategy, and concept, not describe what people can see.
Points to consider:

Have you approached your portfolio presentationas a design problem?

Where will you post your portfolio online? Consider purchasing a domain and securing a web host.

Is your presentation user friendly and easy to look through?

Are your labels and/or descriptions succinct and well written?

Does your portfolio best showcase all the kinds of work you have?

Part II.Content: Advertising Design Portfolio

Your portfolio should contain about four integrated advertising campaigns, with each campaign representing appropriate media channels for the ad idea, such as: interactive, print, mobile, outdoor/out of home, ambient, installations, mobile apps, games, web videos (for video-sharing websites, such as YouTube), social media, digital installations, branded entertainment concepts, and TV commercials, among others.
Each advertising solution for each media channel should stand on its own yet appear to belong to the campaign as a group, sharing a common strategy, related concepts, and visual/verbal characteristics.
Remember: a campaign demonstrates the ability to create a flexible strategy and related ad ideas, conceive and craft ideas appropriately for specific media channels, and sustain a strategy and ideas throughout a series across media while designing for what each medium does best; for example, an ad idea for mobile media should be different from an ad idea for print.
One poor ad brings down the entire book. If you have a weak campaign, toss it and start again. Never include anything weak in a portfolio.
Passion or personal project. Some creative directors are more interested in a student’s personal project (some idea you want to bring to life that’s not an ad campaign) than in the advertising spec work (campaigns you create for a brand or organization). If you do have passion projects, include an outstanding one in your portfolio. (See this Fast Company article:

Part III.Your Personal Brand

Consider designing your own brand through strategic and aesthetic decisions: selection of color palette, typeface choice, paper selection (printed résumé), typographic design, choice of words, use of language—everything adds up to what kind of aspiring art director you are.
Consider the verbal and visual components of your personal brand identity.
Design your portfolio website with your personal brand in mind.

Part IV. Résumé and Cover Letter

A résumé is a summary of one’s skills, education, and work experiences for the information of prospective employers. Often, it is the first document that potential employers or creative recruiters see that represents a junior art director.
Résumé content should be pithy and organized into an information hierarchy. A résumé is an information design project and secondarily a promotion design problem.
A cover letter should be well written, short, and highlight something you’ve done that contributed to the success of a project (or anything terrific that is relevant to the job application) that is not readily apparent from reading your résumé. For example, perhaps you contributed greatly to an internship project buton your résumé it’s only a bullet point; your cover letter affords the opportunity to succinctly explain your contribution.
Be careful not to over-brand yourself; you’re not a corporation or a studio. Do take great care with all the typography.
What information belongs in one’s résumé and cover letter?
Résumé:
Contact information
Education
Design skills
Tech skills
Related design experience
Job experience
Relevant design experiences, awards, honors, workshops, conferences, affiliations, extracurricular activities, hobbies
Cover Letter

A cover letter is an introductory business letter that accompanies a résumé. Brevity, clarity, and proper form are vital.

Do not repeat many facts contained in your accompanying résumé; rather, include something not in your résumé, such as your good qualities. Explain what you specifically can bring to the studio or agency.
Keep the cover letter brief and to the point. Check your spelling and usage.

Part V. Job Search

There are many online sources for job and career opportunities, which are found on general recruiter sites and advertising industry–specific sites. Also, ad agencies and studios list job openings on their own websites under “careers,” “contact us,” “work for us,” or other headers.
Professional advertising and design organizations also list jobs, and so do online periodicals.
Networking: Attend conferences and professional workshops. Join LinkedIn and Twitter. Follow studios and agencies on social media channels. Many agencies announce jobs on social channels.

PartVI. The Interview Process

Advertising agencies can see a candidate’s work online before an interview, so the interview truly serves the purpose of meeting the job candidate—the person—rather than evaluating the work.
A group of people at a studio or agency may want to view work when a candidate arrives for the interview.
Pointers:

Be on time. Be respectful. Don’t take an interview lightly.

>Be prepared.Know something about the agency or company, especially the kind of work they do and who some of their clients are.

>Have a couple of questions to ask, but do not ask about salary.

Review

What purposes does a portfolio serve?

A portfolio is a body of creative work used to showcase one’s aptitudes, conceptual and creative thinking, and experience. Everyone aspiring to be a advertising art director needs one. By looking at your portfolio, a prospective employer will be able to evaluate your ad ideas, typography, visualization, composition, visual communication, creativity, and technical skills.

What type of presentation is valid?

The quality of the work is paramount. After that, there are two main considerations for presentations:

First is an efficient and professional presentation.
Second, along with an online portfolio, you may want to have a printed portfolioor a digital portfolio on your mobile device.

What kind of content does a portfolio contain?

Your portfolio content demonstrates your knowledge, skills, and creativity and also lets reviewers know which areas of advertising interest you most.
What kind of job would you like to have and where do you want to work?
Knowing whether you want to present a variety of work or focus on a particular area of specialization is the first step. If you want to specialize in one area of advertising, such as social media, the work in your portfolio should reflect that area of interest.
Consider including a terrific passion project.

What is the purpose of designing your personal brand?

Your portfolio presentation, your work, résumé, and any other materials you present will define your own visual/verbal identity, your own “brand” personality. Although you are not a corporation or product, your materials should have a coherent look and tone.
Your résumé is information design (clear information hierarchy) andvisual identity design (your distinctive brand), as well as a promotional design project (differentiates you and promotes your capabilities).

What ancillary materials are required for a job search?

Along with an online portfolio and résumé, you need a cover letter (formatted to the specific job). Other materials might include a business card and self-promotional piece.

Where can you search for a job?

Many advertising agencies, organizations,and corporations list employment and internship opportunities on their websites. You can use a search engine to find company websites by name, or if you don’t know the names of the studios or agencies in your metropolitan area, you can also use a search engine to find lists. For example, type in “advertising agencies in Cincinnati” or “social media agencies in Miami” to find the names and links to potential employers.
Keep a running list of work you admire from various studios, agencies, and art directors. Then visit their websites to view internship and job postings. You can see professional work in advertising periodicals and annuals, as well as on advertising magazine and professional organization websites.
Utilize creative recruiters who do not charge fees.

How should you prepare for an interview?

Know something about the company, especially the kind of work they do and who some of their clients are. If possible, try to get information about the person who will be conducting the interview. Be able to state the rationale for all your projects. Prepare a list of intelligent questions about their company, their process, and the job position.
Read the industry news. Know what’s going on in the advertising industry.
Be ready to honestly discuss your professional experience. Know what salary you are willing to take. But you can always and safely say, “May I sleep on your offer, please?”
Clearly state your unique capabilities and qualities, such as professional experience, internships, credentials, academic standing, and attractive personal qualities, like eagerness, being a self-starter, or being a quick learner.

Advertising by Design, third edition,by Robin Landa.