We spent an eventful Tuesday trying to navigate through London without the Tubes. But we managed to get to Gyro on time. However, keeping to tradition, National Express are still at the top of my most hated companies. I never have much luck with them and the simplest of A to B journeys always turns into a complex one. Basically this time, the bus driver decided to stop at Earls court (20 min from our final destination) to have a 45 minute break. So 50 passengers angrily got off, after already being over an hour late because of traffic. Anyway, rage over....
Gyro is based in Chelsea, right on the river. The agency, well at least from reception looked very nice. The meeting started with some Polaroid photos taken of us, which felt very much like a model casting, then followed by a quick 5 min flick through our portfolio. Depending on our success, we may be called back for a second interview in two weeks time.
I'm not to sure how the meeting went. We weren't allowed to ask questions about Gyro nor were we given any feedback on our work so we're not too sure how we did, eeeps. We also came to the tricky question of... who's the art director/copywriter? Of which we both promptly answered "a bit of both". This answer didn't seem to impress, which worried us. Now, we know that this team structure is particularly important to some companies, whilst others see you as a creative team, sharing both roles and some even say its an old fashion system that in this day, of less and less copy, this structure is becoming more and more irrelevant. The problem with Aaron and I, is that we both enjoy art direction and copy, yet, we would both say we are stronger in art direction and both okay at copy but it is not our strength. Now, does one of us simply cave in and take a role, or do we simply stick it out and hope that agencies take us the way we are; a creative team, who work well at conceptualising together. Its all a bit confusing. At the end of the day though, we don't want this structure to ruin our chances in interviews, so how much does it really matter?
Whilst we ponder on this situation we have a couple of weeks left to prepare for New Blood and finish our website.
5 comments:
Interesting!!! I think their may have been some confusion around the concept of the day. This was not a folio workshop, this was trying to give some new graduates an opportunity in a time when not a lot of people are hiring. By seeing more people rather than less it gave us an opportunity to get a good idea of what is out there, in a very short time period. At a time when agencies are fighting for their lives time is very important.
As far as the point as to copywriters and art direction I believe that ideas are key and that without it you are never going to produce a great piece. But... delivering that idea is also essential. A finished piece needs copy, copy that works through the piece, copy that can explain the product or proposition, and written by someone who understands the idea and where it came from. "In this day of less and less copy" (as you said), I agree with, but only from an ad point of view not an integrated point, a dm still needs copy. Who will write this copy, who has the understanding and training to create a great tone of voice that the customer can connect with. It does seem that people feel that if they write headlines they can write copy. I am not so sure.
In all, from a very selfish point of view, we had a great day. There was a real buzz and some very talented people. You guys being one of them.
Hi Darren , thanks for the reply..
I think that your right about the misunderstanding of the concept of the day. On our part we understood it was a pop in session but didn't really know what it entailed. We weren't annoyed by the lack of time spent on each team we just selfishly wanted longer to impress you!
From the copy dilemma. I think partly due to our course consisting of 26 art directors and 2 copywriters, not much resource has gone into teaching us the art of copy apart from headlines and tags. I think to strengthen our portfolio and really push us Aaron and myself need a great copy based campaign. I think maybe we Both feel comfortable as art directors and really haven't tested our ability on copy. So I think now the challenge is on to create a copy campaign by new blood time.
Overall, we couldn't be more greatful for Gyro to see us and put on such an event. Getting a crit is hard enough these days! It's hard to get a placement when, like you mentioned agencies are struggling to stay afloat!
Again thanks your your nice comment at the end about us!
Sounds good, we did one of these at Rapp last year who spotted us at Newblood, so you might spot a few more about.
On the subject of art or copy.. we've always done a bit of both.
However CR is a wizz on photoshop and I can spot a line spacing error from a mile off. So we now have a system of he does the AD i do the copy... then we swap and correct each others work. so I'm copy and he's art for agency purposes but we still do a bit of both!
at the end of the day ideas are king but for the day to day things they need to know they can relay on one of you to do a proper retouch or write a letter. we've become more useful that way :)
I like the way you work AP. I think that once we have done some more copy, we shall see how it pans out. But i like the idea of taking a role and swapping over after to check each others work.
I was just wondering how useful you thought the New Blood experience was and if you attended the portfolio surgeries?
Hi guys...just to butt in and add to what AP is saying, we'd say experiences like New Blood are fantastic! You get to meet so many great people in such a short time, however this can also be the problem.
If i were you i'd use New Blood to strike up as many contacts and cheeky crits during the show as possible! Although you'll very rarely get longer than 5 minutes. At least once you've got those contacts you can jump on it, use them and visit agencies for much longer concise opinions. Definitely do the portfolio surgeries, another way to establish these contacts!
Hope this helps...we were there last year and can let you know about our experiences. We'll be there this year looking at books, can't wait to see you guys!
Good luck in the run up! P
Post a Comment