What to do when you’re not in an advertising program
I’m all settled for the winter semester with all of my classes finalized. Since the university I’m enrolled in doesn’t have an advertising program, I’m extremely excited to have gotten in the History of Advertising course (it also counts towards my History major, so there’s a plus).
This class is definitely not a marketing course, as emphasized by my history professor, but so far I’ve enjoyed watching and analyzing vintage ads from Apple and Canadian Tire, and print ads from the 19th century!
Ok, so this course won’t be teaching me anything practical about art direction, copywriting, nor account planing. But by being exposed to ads in the past and being able to critically think about their effectiveness, I’d at least gain a bit of insight that I can use later on when I create my own spec ads, right?
So if you’re not in ad school, what can you do to instead to get that top-notch portfolio?
- If you’re still in school, check your course calendar for anything advertising/marketing related courses in other departments.
- Check out the application requiremens for various ad schools (VCU, Miami Ad School, etc.): they usually have assignments to complete as part of your application. Try them out as – you can use them as creative exercises to get your creative flow going
- Visit IHAI’s Academia section to see what other student’s have done. Think you can do better? Take one of the products a student has done and see what you can make out of it.
- Always be on the lookout for crappy ads (I see a lot when I ride subway) and use that as your next product to work on.
- Start a blog! It can keep track of your progress and it can act as your portfolio/resume. And since we live in such a connected society, you can start conversations with others in the industry.
- Visit Open Culture: there’s hundreds of links to free, online courses. Try and search for marketing and psychology courses – maybe they can help you create ads that can persuade, influence, and move people.
- Take classes: visit your local art centre and learn how to sketch and paint, take a graphic design course, or take a screenwriting course. Take a class that interest you and that you think you would enjoy doing, and try and incorporate what you learned when creating your spec ads.
That’s just a short list I can think of from the top of my head. Just be open minded, get creative, and be resourceful – you’ll find your own way of making it work!
February 12th, 2008 at 4:40 pm
As a guy with more years in advertising than I care to recite, my advice is to take courses that teach you how to think, how to do research, how to use you imagination, how to write, statistics and logic. These are the most important tools for a career in advertising. Most college level “advertising” courses are a waste of time, in my opinion. Any thing they can teach you, you can p[ick up in a month on the job, and what you get in OJT will be more current and more practical.
Advertising is a very competitive field, with a premium on intelligence, communication skills, hunger for new information, willingness to take risks, resilience and hard work. These are matters of character, not curriculum. At least, that’s my view of an industry that has paid me well, given me a bit of fame and rewarded me with the most fun you can have with your clothes on. PS: I did NOT major in advertising.
I know that this advice, if followed, will be helpful.
February 15th, 2008 at 3:15 pm
Hi Wuilliam, thank you so much for that advice!