OK, so it isn't really, it just feels that way at the moment. Only 2 and-a-half weeks to go now, and the pressure is really on. But hey, you know what? I'm sick of doing the whole "boo-hoo, I'm never gonna get this finished", because that attitude is getting me nowhere. Instead, I'm going to crank the music up loud and just enjoy the work - when all's said and done, this degree isn't the end of the world, but it means a hell of a lot to me, so all I can do is try my damned hardest for the result I want. And if I don't get it? Tough titties, cos I sure ain't doing another 3 years at uni! : )
So this is me signing out for the next 17 days, and hopefully the next time you hear from me, your eyes will be feasting on many a visual delight (and if not, then I'm shutting this blog down and going to silently sob into a bar of chocolate lol!)
For anyone who is interested or may be able to offer some insight into the briefs, these are the campaign thoughts I'm working on:
* "Where will your next conversation take you?"
- MPA ROSES Talk
* "Use your assets" - D&AD Breastfeeding
* "Our trust is in you" - SAATCHI & SAATCHI Slavery
* "Always prepared" - Pacamac
* "Smart thinking" - Smart Car
* "A world without milk is a mad world" - Milk
Over and out!
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18 comments:
Well I'm going to be the first to say what a load of shit, not the ideas the selection of briefs.
Where are the chocolate bars, the cars the beers the washing up liquids the cans of soup the tescos you know the actual things people buy everyday the stuff that is actually a challenge to do. No creative director will bother with a book that has charity work in it.
They want to see stuff that people buy, look into a bin on the street what you see in there is what people buy.
Now with 17 days to go this is not an apropiate thing to be saying but I hope you're scared. My honest advice would be just get your uni book out of the way then make a book for getting you a job heres some clients to do
1. Ford fiesta
2. Becks Beer
3. Buttercup cough medicine
4. Galaxy Chocolate
5. Heinz Soup
6. Palm Olive shower gel
7. The Mirror
For those 7 come up with a reason for the average joe to stop buying what the usually do and buy this.
Suprise people and think different, do what suits the brief not just press
Well as it's now 10 days til deadline, there's no time to change it, but I was already aware of the fact that creative directors don't want to see half of the stuff we think up at uni, and that's why I already have a stockpile of briefs waiting for me to work on them for my folio that will be taken around agencies.
As you both well know only having finished the course last year, a lot of the briefs set at uni are a pile of crap lol, and you both worked on them for final show. Thanks for your concern, but I'm pretty sure I know what I'm doing.
Oh, and Brain Training has now been scrapped in favour of Smart Car. A car brief - oh yes! : P
here here Hayley, Well said. lol.
Why attempt to undermine a student about to enter the final weeks of their degree?
Speaking from a position of a team that's failed to secure employment whilst following this brief selection mantra for the past 12 months hardly fills people reading it with confidence in its global suitability.Students have to satisfy a broad range of briefs throughout the year as you two well know-so why are you acting like a couple of arsey c**ts?
Talk the talk when you've walked the walk or you'll get your arse kicked from more senior EMPLOYED creatives for punching above your weight.Be scared be very scared.
Frank.
Firstly its 10 months and it's taken us 8 months to get a placement at the shops we want a job at.
That's right 8 months because that's how long it took to get those sort of products into our book. With the list of stuff Haley has in her book the SENIOR teams will say thats nice but (and I quote) 'if I put stuff like that in front of a creative director he'll chuck it back at me'
Frank, with all due respect you've not been in the placement situation for over 20 years, where as we've been in over 40 book crits so if anybody knows what needs to be done it's us. We've done what we've told haley to do and as a result we've been offered many good placements some even cancelling other teams so we can go in earlier.
And the 'Students have to satisfy a broad range of briefs throughout the year' is a load of bollocks, start as they mean to go on, we haven't done any briefs like Haley has.
And stop throwing your toys out the pram this is a comments page opinions are opinions and telling us that we're wrong only points out the lack of knowledge you have on what students go to uni for, getting a job.
We wouldn't have hired ourselves when we graduated but unlike many students we gritted our teeth took placements and some unkown agencies and re-worked our books more times than we can remember, getting a job is the fun part
oh and another thing if you are doing smart car don't do anything that is to do with smart or small otherwise you'll be picking up on it's usp and CD's will think it's too easy
Perhaps selling the Smart Car's small size is a mistake, but it's a chance I'm willing to take. All due respect and thanks for your opinions as I know how important it is to listen to everyone, but right now I'm doing what's right for me in the current situation, and that is trying not to freak out about the looming deadline.
I don't expect to be instantly employable, but I do like to think that I have something about me and I'll work the hardest I ever have to get where I want to be. I understand your concerns regarding my book, but as I say (and as you two did), I'll be completely revamping it for the sake of doing the rounds. What I don't need is people saying "I hope you're scared" at a time like this, especially coming from two recent graduates who still have a fresh memory of what it's like to be preparing your degree show.
But you know what? I'm not scared, because I love this gig. It's taken me a long time to realise that in this last year, but this really is my passion and I'll do anything I can to fulfil it.
So while I am thankful for any advice that anyone can give me to help me develop, please don't burst my bubble in process, guys!
PS- To attempt to sell the main USP of a product in the circumstance of the Smart Car where "small" has already been tackled, is in fact difficult, not "too easy". I'm not saying I can pull it off, but I'm willing to give it a try.
Ah Mike and Ade,
With all due respect LOL I'm not about to get into a squabble with an inexperienced placement team just starting out.
You are struggling at the mo and I appreciate your efforts to 'help' students with their books-fair enough but they are completing a BA-you either satisfy the course or fuck off and try to teach yourself-you know this.
The parts of your comment that undermine someone currently in a position you guys have also experienced-I remember the nerves boys..were unhelpful and out of order-those 40 kickings must still be hurting.
The wide range of briefs these guys have worked on 28 briefs this year more than cover the non-usp'd FMCG products-that some select other (or more succesfull)work for their SHOW has fuck'all to do with what they'll put together for crits/placements.
I do draw the line at the suggestion I'm talking 'bollocks' it's sad really that you learned fuck all at uni.To read your arrogant first comments it would appear you found every uni brief with a usp easy to do-sorry boys but you found them ALL difficult and challenging.
I'm well aware why students go to uni but it's not a sausage factory and a course that merely dealt with the type of products you dictate would be a very narrow course indeed, one that would fall in to the trap of clone graduates..
To even suggest you 'know' more than anyone is a disappointing act of great folly and hubris(look it up) .
Frank
Look, our wires have got crossed firstly the course is a good course with experienced teachers and we both learn't a hell of a lot which couldn't be learn't on our own, the briefs were both challenging and fun.
Also I the 'be scared' part wasn't meant to make you panic before the degree show as I said it's best to start thinking about your 'work' book now so you are prepared and wasn't meant to undermime the course.
And as for the whole 'unexperienced' part nobody knows what it takes to get a placement more than those trying to get it, it dosen't mean we know how to do it, we just know what needs to be done.
As for the course, it should be preparing for us to get a jobs therefore our book when we graduate should be good enough to get us a placement, now when one of us gets a first and the other a 2.1 and every team we showed our book to told us it wasn't good enough.
Also if you look over the past 5 years the job rate must be 4 temas who have got or getting jobs, now we understand that it's down to the students as well as the course but theres obviously something wrong, espcially when you look at courses such as buck's and csm who have a job rate of 60%+ and we've seen pleanty of their books and they all have products listed in the first comment, no charities and no usp just big ideas for big brands.
And Haley it's good you have the passion and desire to do it because thats what keeps you going at the end of the day.
We aren't saying that are comments are the gospel, just take them as advice not orders
Good luck...the hard starts after graduation:)
I like the sound of Use Your Assets for the breastfeeding brief. i looked at that brief myself. You could make some very nice work out of it.
Thanks : ) I'm trying to come up with some ambient media for it, but must admit I'm struggling lol!
Hard work is my best friend ; )
well you no wot dnt be acting like the big almighty wen u aint even landed a job. I would listen 2 advice from people who av actually made it in the industry (Frank) and you no wot u should be scared not us students, as you have got more competition coming your way in afew weeks. Have you never thought that the reason you have struggled getting a job is because you havn't got frank holding your hand and giving you constant reasurance. Now you are in the big world you are worried and are taking your bitterness out on the students... trying your best to scare us out of looking for the jobs.
P.S Let see who gets the jobs first.
40 kickings... ouch boys that must be a record, n still no job!!!!! How can you give advise when you aint even made it is beyond me. Looks like I may be seeing you at a checkout in tesco at this rate ha ha ha. You were arrogant at uni and looks like somethings havn't changed, thats your down fall not your so called 'uni book'. Oh and to dis someone who has been there and has connections with people in the industry is a very wrong move looks like you havn't learnt much to me. My advise to you students would be to take no notice ov these monkies and listen to the people who know what they are taking about. Gud luk and hope you all do ace... which you all will :)
I really can't be doing with this.
You're damaging your brand !
Making inaccurate statements regarding employment rates from our course helps you none and again if you were a bit less clueless you'd realise that 60%+ statement would mean that Bucks' worst is better than you and they must've already taken all the jobs(like how many junior creative vacancies do you think there are in any one year?)-You know that isn't the case,that competition for the few posts available is fierce-so why write crap like this?.
For the work presented your grades were fair and accurate-I can only mark what you put on the wall and select for your show-incidentally in Ades case he had 2 lots of award winning work there-or are you gonna say Aides success via the judges in One Show, D&AD,Roses etc was all irrelevant crap too?.
That you rejig your book for the specific agencies you'd like to work in is par for the course,I did it throughout my career, it goes with the territory blah blah blah-what uni does is equip you with the broad thinking skills needed to do it-why you seem unable to grasp that is beyond me so is why you think you're telling me something I don't know.
Finally yes it is 20 years since I was looking for a placement but its only 5 years since I was giving them or putting teams forward for them.
A word of advice; You don't need enemies this early in your career and would do well to rein in your attitude if you want people to remember you for the right reasons-getting hired is'nt just about the ads boys.
This is my last on this, I hope you get what or where you're after and you learn to measure you words wisely then your experiences can be of real benefit to new grads..
Frank
i hope your scared? you two are a couple of arseholes.who the fuck writes on a stressed out students blog tellin em to be scared? the briefs we have recieved this year are varied and exciting to explore and make us think of different routes to take. imagine everyones face if we got handed a tin of bloody baked beans and the likes to do every week! that shit will come when we have finished uni.all we are interested in at the moment is putting up an inventive and visually exciting show to present our efforts over the past 3 years.
now pull those sticks out your arse and piss off.
iv got work to do.
8 months in the big bad world and you think you know everything, what a shock you are going to be in for. people don't take too kindly to misplaced arrogance in the business world. arrogance is a good thing, but arrogance needs to be backed up with expenience and expertise and quite frankly 8 moths plus 3 years at university is far from the required experience.
come back in 10 years time when your opinion might actually be worth something.
Right, as this is my blog, I'm going to be the one to have the last say.
I chose not to post all of the comments as some were just taking it too far considering how this all started. The ones I have chosen to post are purely for the reason that opinions and advice are there to be respected, but not necessarily adhered to.
As I've said numerous times, I'm always thankful for any help that people are willing to give me, and I believe there was some kind intention in Mike & Ade's first post, but which possibly got mixed up with a little bit of ego-massage. I'm not saying this was intentional, but clearly this is what other people have picked up on and why this discussion has gone on for 18+ comments.
The fact is, nobody is necessarily wrong in all of this - until I find my feet out there in the world of advertising, I couldn't possibly say how true Mike and Ade's words are. But at the same time as appreciating some of their suggestions, I'm also thankful for those who have defended Frank's corner, as to suggest that he is past his advertising best was just plain disrespectful.
Hopefully this has taught us all a few lessons, namely not to take every opinion too seriously, but possibly to be a little more considerate when addressing students attempting to jump their final hurdle.
Thanks for all your comments everyone - an eye-opening read to say the least! But as of now, this discussion is closed.
Anyone who still wishes to comment on the work I'm proposing to do (although there are only 6 days til deadline) is more than welcome to.
Join us again next week for more controversy on "The Hayley Show" : )
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