Make ads.
Seems pretty obvious, right? You want to create ads with an agency so you need to show that you can do just that. What better way to do that than to…well, do it.
I know this isn’t completely ground breaking advice and could be a complete waste of time for some, but there’s a reason I say it. I’ve had meetings over the last couple of months with numerous creative directors to review my portfolio and beg general advice from. Almost every single time they’ve told me that what they like most about my book, in one way or another, is that I’ve actually made ads.
It used to absolutely dumbfound me. Of course I have ads in my book; it’s what I want to do. I mean what were people showing these guys before, pictures of their cat?
Turns out that what they’d been seeing a lot of were school projects done by graphic designers. Things like t-shirt, website, and poster designs. Maybe a ‘campaign’ with a logo put on multiple mediums. Not actual ads that sell anything.
My first thought, because I’m a selfish monster, was about how good I must look in comparison to my anonymous adversaries and that these creative directors should hire me immediately. But I empathized with my faceless, nameless opponents because at the end of the day they were trying to do the same thing I am, which is break into an extremely competitive industry. Plus I have friends who are graphic designers who might fall into the same trap so I gotta do my best to help them out. It’s a lot more likely that they’re reading than my local competition.
My first bit of advice is to know what position you want and know which one you’re applying for. If you want to be a graphic designer as opposed to an art director, then school projects and stuff like that may be okay to show. But only bigger agencies tend to hire strictly graphic designers and they aren’t typically part of the creative process. They’re told the vision of the idea and then they go make it happen.
Art Directors are typically paired with a copywriter and work to dream up the big ideas. They design them, too, but there’s an element of problem solving and strategy involved that isn’t there with graphic designers.
Note that I’m being extremely broad here. I’m not saying graphic designers are incapable of having ideas and thinking strategically or that they’ll never contribute to a brainstorm. I’m just saying that, in general, they won’t be called on to do so.
So, if you want to be a graphic designer then school work can be good to show as long as it thoroughly demonstrates your grasp of a multitude of design programs. Still wouldn’t kill you to throw in some spec ads too, but I’d say it’s not quite as important as for Art Directors.
If you want to be an Art Director then you have to do some speculative work. You’re going to be asked to flex your creative muscles with brands every day in an agency so you might as well start practicing now. Pick an obscure brand and make it interesting. Write a strategy and then create a campaign that falls in line with it. Since you’re an Art Director really focus on the imagery and design aspects. Make ads that look like this and this. Let the images do all the heavy lifting. Or, better yet, team up with a copywriter and do some work. You’ll both be the better for it.
If you’re a copywriter do the opposite. Still do strategy and speculative work, but focus more on the words. Do campaigns that are copy driven like this and this. Play to your strengths and hammer home the skills you’re trying to sell. Or, better yet, team up with an art director. You’ll both be the better for it.
But seriously, team up with someone if you can.
It can be intimidating to start making ads. It’s hard stuff. You can literally pick any company, any product, any benefit to promote, and any strategic execution. But this is the only time in your life that this will be the case. Take advantage of it and do some cool, fun stuff.
To narrow it down, look at your own life. What products do you use and why do you use them? You might find that there’s something there. Chances are many other people use that product for the exact same reason and are just begging to know that they aren’t the only ones.
Just don’t show school work. At least not exclusively. If making ads is what you want to do for a living then it shouldn’t be hard to find the energy to start now. And if it’s hard to find the energy, then it might not be what you actually want to do for a living which would be better to find out now rather than 15 years into your career. It’s a win win.
-Brian
Struggling Copywriter 
