Creative Circle "Our Notebook" Blog
Creative Circle is basically the Porsche of creative staffing agencies, so when they asked me if I'd be willing to blog about my experiences working in advertising, how could I say no? (Plus, I can't tell you how many times in this industry I've felt like my experience and my ability to actually write—like really write something beyond CLICK HERE—goes underappreciated, LOLOLOL.)
Creative Circle's Our Notebook blog supports the company's efforts to recruit high-quality talent, which, in turn, is a tremendous asset to their clients. Below are just a few of my favorite posts.
Big Agency vs. Small Agency?
Even though most people dream of working at a huge agency with high-tech gadgets, themed offices, and a coffee bar on every floor, there's a lot of joy (and good experience) to be had working at one of those small, nondescript office park agencies. (Truth: I started my career at a shop that shared its parking lot with a mattress outlet, but I got to do radio for Nissan and work on an award-winning direct mail campaign for Hyundai.) This post explores the pros and cons of working in both environments.
The 7 Stages of Surviving a Terrible Creative Review
Another true story: the most embarrassing moment of my career was when I went for a job interview back in the days when you had to schlep an actual portfolio with you, and I was sitting across from a creative director and my book was open and a spider skittered out of the spine, onto the page, and then across her desk. Second-most embarrassing moment: presenting work to the client and their initial reaction, was, NO LIE, THIS IS VERBATIM: "Is this a joke?" Bad creative reviews happen, and here is how to not let it derail you.
How Writers Can Think Visually to Create Better Work
Copywriters who can only use words to solve creative problems won't get very far: being able to think visually, produce concepts that only use images, and understand the relationship between blocks of text, images, and graphic elements on a page are all essential to being a well-rounded writer. These skills don't always come naturally -- and if you work in a siloed environment, you may not get the chance to practice them, but they're definitely worth having.