Byline: Brittany Gillen
The panelists from the “Beyond Mad Men Life In Today’s Ad Agency” agree that it’s key that you love what you do.
“If you love what you do, the 55 hours a week isn’t that bad,” Sabrina Jordan said, media supervisor at GSD&M.
Colin Decker, art director at Schematic, checks tutorial sites daily and buys a design book regularly to keep on track.
John Livingston, art director at nFusion, said it’s important to be able to come up with ideas to span different mediums of art history.
“Know what your client wants. Having an idea of what’s out there and going on is key. Constantly needing to push through,” makes an art director Livingston said.
Although grades are important, the panelists agree that they aren’t what employers are looking for.
“It’s more about being street fighter smart . . . being creative and a lot is personality as well,” Jordan said.
Decker explained that the extra hour you spend thinking rather than watching TV makes all the difference.
“If you slack off and don’t do work you won’t get hired. If you are gonna be successful, you’re gonna make good grades,” Livingston said.
Decker’s ideal creative environment consists of being around creative people who push him and allow him to push himself.
“I tend to work at night. Some of my best work has been done by working with creative people,” Livingston said.
The panelists stressed that sometimes you sleep on the weekend or get very little sleep during a huge project.
“Sometimes you have to get the life balance back. There are some weeks you work Monday through Sunday, 15 hours a day. I bring a lot of work home with me . . . I do it on the couch while watching ‘The Office’,” said Jordan.
Christopher Verdier, an advertising major, was very impressed with this event.
“It was awesome to hear professional really talk about their jobs and tell you the good and the bad . . . I definitely know I chose the right major after seeing how passionate they are about their jobs,” Verdier said.
When asked if they have a large budget and start big to small by Michael Baum, an audience member, the panelists agreed it depends.
“Always do research first. It sometimes does happen that you get a big chunk first,” Jordan said.
The size of the agency people work at isn’t what matters.
“It’s not about how big the company is, it’s about the work you do,” Jordan said.
Photo Credit: Brittany Gillen
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