Breaking In

If you missed it, check out some great work from Yann Jones.

WS: What do you look for in a student book? And what impresses you?

YJ: Well, that’s a very difficult question to answer in a short sentence.

WS: It can be multiple sentences.

YJ: Okay, multiple sentences it is. I think books come in different leagues. I’m not sure where this analogy is going—I’m just thinking off the top of my head. Books from advertising colleges used to consist of seven or eight campaigns with four ads in each campaign. Each ad had a different headline and a consistent thought in a strap line at the bottom. This is now a very old convention of a campaign, you won’t get into a decent agency with a portfolio full of these. Some students make the mistake of thinking that advertising is a comedy sketch or a gag with a logo at the end. If you’re going to do your job well, you’ll have to go some way beyond this. For me this is a “division three” portfolio. I’m talking first, second, and third division, not the new “Premier League,” “The Championship League,” then “First Division” as we now have in football. That’s very confusing so you can delete that bit. I don’t even like football that much.

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Yann Jones is a creative and director, most recently at WCRS, London.

BMW

3 Mobile

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In case you missed it, check out some great work from Oliver Voss.

WS: What do you look for in a student book? And what impresses you?

OV: I think I’m old school. I like to receive books that I can either really flip through or look at them on a computer in a way that I see one page after the other—really structured, in a dramatic order. What I don’t like is a website where you have to search your way through…from this project, and then you go back and forth. I really want the book to be well structured and, yeah, give me 10 minutes of entertainment. What I learned in one of the first agencies that I worked in was: start with the best and end with the second-best thing that you have. And I think that’s still true. And then in between, I’m looking for campaigns that work with clients that are not too easy to serve. So if I see a book that only has Tabasco and those kinds of products—condoms, or something like that—then it doesn’t impress me as much as if somebody has a car in it or a washing detergent or something like that.

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In addition to being one of Germany’s most awarded creatives and President of Miami Ad School, Europe, Oliver Voss is also an artist.

Here is his “Riesen-Nixe” (grand mermaid) in Hamburg’s Lake Alster.

You can find his online portfolio here.

SG: …I don’t know if you were going to ask this, but I’m going to say it anyway: I think one of the things that’s really important with the junior portfolios is that they represent something outside of just who they are as it relates to advertising. So when people put together their books, if they are a screenwriter, or if they are an artist, or if they have a T-shirt company, or if they walk dogs on the side—whatever makes someone memorable—I think when that’s included somehow in their portfolio, it gives whoever is interviewing them something to relate to other than an ad and it gives them a talking point. So if you have something that’s interesting—that you grew up on a horse farm or whatever it is—then people are like, “Oh yeah. I remember that person’s portfolio, isn’t that the guy who grew up on the horse farm?”

WS: That was one of my questions, and you answered it.

SG: Oh, there you go.

WS: What do you think about long copy? Is that important these days?

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If you missed it, check out some great work from Colin Byrne.

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WS: How finished does work need to be?

CB: If they have just a really beautifully polished piece of design, that has its merits. To survive in this industry you have to be versatile. Being a creative thinker, capable of originating ideas and then bringing them to life beautifully, makes you more employable. The same applies to being able to write and bring the idea to life through language. Don’t think that agencies are merely looking for creatives who can originate ideas—they want people who have a point of view on how the finished product should look and behave, also.

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WS: What do you think of things that aren’t ads and don’t have anything to do with ads?

CB: It’s great to see if someone has other skills that could be put to use and nurtured within the agency. Some agencies look at non-advertising skills and interests over and above industry experience. It’s a creative business so showing some individuality is key, right? I like to see what people are interested in—that they have a geeky side or a techy side. That stuff can be nurtured and put to use; it’s a bonus. If they keep falcons, or got a bronze medal at the Lithuanian Ball Dancing World Cup in 1996, I struggle to see why that makes them more employable.

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Colin Byrne is a Creative Director at VCCP London.

AKQA Christmas Video

Trident web film

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In case you missed it, check out some great work from Michael Russoff.

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WS: So do you look for evidence of their personality?

MR: Yes, and their heart. I want to be able to feel a person through a book. Like humanity. That’s the main thing I look for in a book is humanity, because I think if you’ve got that, and if that comes through for different brands in your work, then you’re going to touch people in some way. And then it’s interesting. Then you’ll connect with people. I’m not interested in arrogance or bravado. Or cleverness, even. I’d much rather see someone with a big heart in their book than a big brain. I think that means a lot more in a book.

WS: What do you think of sketches or scamps versus finished work for books?

MR: I actually prefer scamps. Somehow, if it’s very finished you’re sort of saying, “It’s finished” as a student. It’s like a full stop when you finish something really well. You’re kind of saying, “Here it is, judge me, it’s not changing.” Whereas if you have a scrap of paper, there’s more emotion, there’s more fluidity. It’s like, “This is just a stage. This is just a process. I know it’s not about this. This is just to show you.” It says more about the person—the attitude of the person doing it.

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Michael Russoff was formerly Creative Director at Wieden+Kennedy, London. He is now a freelance Creative Director, songwriter and vegetable farmer.

Honda – “Grrr”

Honda – “Choir”

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In case you missed it, check out some great work from David Carter.

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WS: Do you have any other advice that you’d give to someone who is just starting out?

DC: Putting a book together is a lot different today. I don’t think people actually have physical books anymore, really. They just do everything online. I would say that fewer “great ideas” is better than more “okay ideas.” I would try to solve some tough strategic problems. I think anybody can do a good ad for highlighter pens, or White-out, or stuff like that. I think it’s more important if you can work on harder things. Unless it’s just such a great idea no matter who it’s for.

This is just my personal taste but I gravitate toward simpler [ideas]—the simpler the better—and more so in print than anything else. If it’s a really “designy” thing, I don’t have time for it, and I think most consumers don’t have a lot of time for that anymore, so I think the ideas have to be more simple and clear. What else? It certainly seems like, in this day and age, having interactive ideas is very important too.

WS: Do you have any thoughts on presenting those?

DC: If you don’t actually know how to build a site and it is just purely a spec thing, just comp a couple of the pages so you get what the idea is. As long as it is communicated clearly, I think [that’s okay].

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