My final thoughts on advertising and design contests (at least for a right now):

Do I think they are good for exposure? Yes.
Hey, every win gets you another 15 minutes of fame. Whether you're a student or professional, I find it hard to fault anyone using every opportunity to stand out from the pack, especially if they are looking for work.

Do I think they're exploitative? Yes.
People know you're out there and hungry for opportunity. I ran across a blog (sorry, can't find the link now), where the writer encouraged people to create contests to get people to design logos and other materials in order to help them launch their businesses. The blogger admits it's a great way to see a huge variety of samples without hiring people to do exploratory work. Then you only have to pay for the work you like with your cash prize. (Talk about taking advantage of the workforce.)

Would I enter a contest? Yes.
It helps to have a healthy attitude about it. I see it as a fun, creative outlet. Since college, I think I've won a small handful of creative awards. As a student, they were great conversation starters during interviews. Once I was 2nd runner-up in a screenwriting competition and one of the judges optioned my script. Optioning is when they pay for the rights for a period of time for the "option" of producing it later (which never happened). So even when I lost, I came out a winner. Hey, I'm no hypocrite, I've solicited your votes for blog contests in the past. (Speaking of, this blog is entered in the Hive Awards. Winners will be announced Friday, March 12.)

Is it fair for professionals to enter contests? Yes.
Unless there is something in the fine print that states you have to be the contest's definition of an "amateur," it's all fair game. It's just like competing for work in the real world. If you're going to play, play to win and not whine about it if you lose.

For students and those starting out, I think design contests can help you build your book. I would not recommend it as the only method. If it gets you to create work you feel is good enough to be judged, it may be work good enough to help you get a job. When it comes to filling your book with class assignments, it's not always our best work. Admit it. Sometimes we did enough to just get by. If you have any "C" work in your portfolio, take it out now.

I ran across a thought-provoking post on Freelance Switch about professionals entering design contests. Read it and decide what is best for you.

Image courtesy of Stock.xchng.

        

I saw this logo design contest in a local paper over the weekend. Lately, it seems like a lot of illustrator and art director jobs are almost trivialized into contests. Design a logo or something for a cash prize that is often smaller than the fee you would charge if they hired you professionally. Sadly, it's the way of the world these days. Would I enter? Probably so. (See Games That Help You Stay On Your Game.)

If you win, it gets you exposure. If you don't, you may end up creating something that still may be nice enough to put in your portfolio. When I think about it, it's no different than being on the job. Sometimes you go up against several creative teams in your department, submitting ideas and hope yours is the one picked. It feels like winning a contest sometimes. You're not going up against as many entries, but the odds can feel just as great.

With all of that in mind, this is how I would break the job down for young students: Your job is a never-ending contest. You submit ideas. Sometimes you win. More often, you lose. So ask yourself if you are willing to consistantly play? If you don't think your work is good enough for a simple contest, is it good enough to get you into an agency? And if you don't like contest committees owning your work, regardless if you win, agency life may not be for you. Agencies own everything you create for them, even if it is not chosen to be produced. Contest entries are like being hired to do a job, but you only get paid if they like the idea. If you don't like it, then start thinking about other lines of work you may enjoy better.

Oh, and that contest I mentioned is for the 11th Annual Cruisin' Gratiot event. Detroiters love their cars and this is one of two events where people parade their classic cars down a major roadway.

        

I thought I'd wrap up my "education" posts this week with a review of a text I initially thought would be useful to students and recent grads.



Portfolio Class With Clare by Clare McNally is a book I would have found useful when I was college student (in the early 90's). Unfortunately, when McNally says "portfolio," she means old school style, as in the physical cases with sleeves to showcase your work. Don't get me wrong. There is a need for a physical book, but you must have an online portfolio up and running before you even entertain the thought of looking for an internship or a full-time job. I found the "Internet smiley face" on the book cover to be a bit deceptive, especially since the book never really addresses developing an online portfolio. Remember, if anyone wants to see your work, they expect you to respond with a web address, not you requesting a mailing address to ship your physical portfolio. (Man, that brings back nightmares from the ancient days of advertising. Some agencies made this poor college student pay for his own shipping.)

Defenders of Portfolio Class may respond with, "The book was written in 2008." That's a little less than two years ago. Online portfolios were hardly new concepts then. (And I'm willing to bet that people with online portfolios in 2008 got hired much faster than people who didn't.)

In the opening pages, McNally says, "My focus in much of this book is on classic print advertising."  "Classic" can also translate into "dated" and I've stated in previous posts that my creative director survey revealed that many CDs are looking for some new age  thinking — ideas that translate well into multiple mediums.

But this is where I come to McNally's defense. Print campaigns provide better examples of what she is trying to teach.

"...I can show you how to generate ideas more consistently, how to judge work more objectively and how to keep pushing until you find something better," she claims.

Starting with how to read the creative brief, McNally offers creative exercises that a young professional may find helpful when creating his/her work. McNally's purpose is to help you create work samples if you lack experience. She currently teaches at the Miami Ad School in Amsterdam and she comes across as a pretty engaging instructor in her writing. For that, I can't give Portfolio Class With Clare a failing grade, but a young creative needs to know more than what this book offers to create a portfolio that will pass any ad agency's test.

Grade: C

To help you better your portfolio, read these posts in my Category Archives:

• A Better Book
• A Better Portfolio
• Interview Tips

        

Former ad students Eric Stiles and Nick Larson have taken online education to a new level. They say ad school is too expensive, so the pair have set out to complete their books outside of portfolio school with your help. They've started a project where they are paying people to provide the best creative direction to help them develop their campaign. They have $600 to spend for a "quality" education and they are paying rewards of $200 per level of the assignment. Level 1 is completed. If you want to pass on your knowledge to help them with revisions for level 2, you have until March 11. Eric and Nick have also recruited help from a creative at Crispin Porter+Bogusky to sort through the feedback to find creative genius among the garbage.

For the full story, check out: My Crowd School.

The two definitely aren't short on creativity. I'd be surprised if people didn't call them in for interviews just to see how the project turned out. And don't let this turn into an ad school uprising. Education and expense have gone hand-in-hand since early man first uttered the word, "college." I give them credit for being inventive, but I would hate to see more students apply their creativity toward getting out of a higher education. Street smarts will only get you so far. Still I'm interested to see what a $600 education will buy.

As promised, here's some scholarship info I've recently received.

In the US:
Robert F. Lauterborn Scholarship. (AAF Raleigh-Durham area. The link is an application download.) Deadline: April 2, 2010.
F. Andrew Warden Advertising Scholarship  (Univ. of Florida). Deadline: March 15, 2010.

In Canada:
The Society of Graphic Designers Canada (GDC) announced its GDC National Scholarship Awards 2010. Deadline: April 16.

Image courtesy of stock.xchng.

        

College students have a strange relationship with money.

We'll apply for a credit card to get a "free" t-shirt in the student union.

We'll fill out those student loans applications and spend our entire careers paying it back.

But when you tell a student you're giving away scholarship money — free money — getting people to apply is like pulling teeth.

I applied for every scholarship I could find. I won one particular journalism scholarship three consecutive semesters, because no one else applied for it. That following term, I got a funny letter from the committee apologizing because they got three more applicants and they wanted to give them an opportunity to get some cash.

Sadly, in today's economy, you have to look a little harder to find the free money. A lot of those funds are gone now. When money goes unused, it goes away. I've worked on scholarship committees for various organizations and sometimes we couldn't give the money away.

With that in mind, please note:

March 5 is the deadline for the 2010 Adcraft Scholarship. Sorry, it is a local Michigan posting, but I will start making a point of notifying you of free money for school whenever I get the information. If you know a Michigan advertising student, please forward the info.

Junior ad jobs don't pay that well when you graduate. It's hard enough just finding the job, so why not start your career with as little debt as possible?

Remember that "free" t-shirt can end up costing you thousands in credit card fees.


Image courtesy of stock.xchng.

        

Anyone can be a gatekeeper between you and a job opportunity.

Someone came to me asking for referrals for a creative position. I had four names. Two people I knew personally. I've never met the other two. And if it weren't for LinkedIn, I'd never know what they looked like.

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In last Sunday's Detroit Free Press newspaper, I read how the movie tax break in Michigan was actually enticing some filmmakers, video game creators, and other production companies to relocate from LA and launch businesses here. Detroit is not about to become Hollywood Midwest anytime soon and this will not be the answer to our 30 percent unemployment. Hell, it's not even steady ... << MORE >>

Last week's post, A Networking Site Is A Terrible Thing To Waste, emphasized the importance of networking to find the ad jobs out there. I thought I'd follow up with a few rules of engagement:

• Reconnect with people you know first. Your best contacts are the people who already know you. Old classmates. ...

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I can't let Black History Month go by without acknowledging some major players in advertising who have inspired me directly and indirectly.

Vincent Cullers

A former art director with EBONY Magazine, Vincent Cullers was founder of the nation's first Black-owned, full-service advertising agency, Vince Cullers Advertising Inc. in Chicago, a business he started with his wife, Marian in 1956. His company created some of ... << MORE >>

If you're looking for a job or business contacts, networking works, but it's not for impatient people. Once you join a group, people do not flood your email boxes with contacts and job referrals. How you present yourself determines if you'll make the right connections. Things were quiet during the holidays for obvious reasons. Now I'm hearing about interviews — real interviews again. More companies and agencies are starting to look ... << MORE >>