Please & Thank You
These are some of the first rules of politeness that we learn, and really we don’t outgrow them. The artful thank you is a great way to distinguish yourself because it is often neglected. For this year’s trip, I designed thank-you postcards to fit my personal brand; hand-lettered font vinyl cut in monochrome (black on black and grey on grey editions).
Sometimes thank you cards go into the mailbox and disappear into the void. You never know if the person received them, or if they liked them, or if the address was wrong. Other times you get a response; 15 minutes ago I got an email from a CD I dropped a note to, he thanked me for the note, commented on its style, and suggested that I replace a certain campaign on my book when I get something stronger (aka he actually looked at my portfolio, major bonus points there). That’s how real relationships start.
Paige DePaepe 5.15.17
Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer
Today I sat for an hour and stared at a piece of art. It was a painting that I have known since I was little but only saw in pictures or replicas. Standing in front of the masterpiece felt like a dream. A strange mirage, one I felt could in no way be real. After all the years of hearing about it, there it was with every brush stroke accounted for. The sight of it alone glimmering in the lights of the museum choked me, and small tears revealed themselves. After I sat for the first 30 minutes I was interrupted in my daze by a slight sniffle. I turned and found an elderly man sitting beside me. I was so entranced with the artwork that I had not noticed him sit beside me, or noticed how close he was to me. I noticed the deep wrinkles in his face and how his tears flowed within the lines. We looked at each other’s tear-ridden faces and giggled. He said in very broken English, “Beautiful.”
That was it. One word and I knew exactly what he meant.
As a writer, it is difficult for me to admit that sometimes physical things–such as art–reaches a new level of communication. Words only have meaning if you understand them. Art, however, is not restricted by language. Well, actually, art isn’t restricted by anything. The fact that I could connect with a stranger that was not only decades older than me, but also spoke a different language, is why art is so remarkable. It is, as the stranger said, “Beautiful.”
access. access. access.
One of my biggest takeaways and something that I hold close to my heart is that the industry needs more people of color within its agencies. As I went from agency to agency some of them making my top 3, I was disheartened by the fact that only thing holding me back from wanting to be there was the lack of people who look like me. I have been to many schools and many places where I am one of the few Blacks and that has never stopped my progress. But I have been in situations, groups and environments where there were more of me and I felt more secured about my ideas and my opinions and I created more thoughtful work.
At 72andSunny, Gabby asked Glenn Cole and the team, “What does diversity look like to you?” Almost everyone scanned the room and noticed it was all white people sitting in the chairs around us. Everyone gave great thoughtful answers but Mr.Cole’s in particular stuck to me. He expressed how people of color need access to this industry, to this creative environment. And I agree, most of my black friends getting into ad are juniors so they may or may not will need an extra year to complete the major and for others it’s was too late. So I will be that access, and I will do whatever it takes to make sure that each agency I work in and my future agency searches and finds people of color with the creative, intelligent ability to make good work. I think the biggest stigma is is that they’re only in advertising, but that’s not true. Many of the people who spoke to us at agencies were anthropology majors, political science majors, English majors, so creative people aren’t just getting a B.A. in ad. So that is my 5 year mission to increase the percentage of people of color within the industry by at least 3%. Who’s with me?
Tylynn Burns.
So I’m starting to digest last week and everything I learned and what I enjoyed. I really enjoyed the fullness of the days and the challenges each day offered us. On Thursday, we were challenged to go outside of our comfort zone and produce a video that shows this. The challenge was due at 8 and we didn’t start shooting until 6. Overall, happy with the way it came out and have learned a lot about working on a time crunch.
-Matt Palma
Arturo’s
Time Travel is tough. I mean that in the simplest, most innocent way possible. To bottle an aura from another decade and uncork it for use on a nightly schedule instills a sense of magic.
A sashay through the doorway of a proud jazz club and I’m greeted by a burly man with jet-black slicked-back hair, accompanied by a single hoop earring. He offers an exuberant “Welcome!” as he escorts me to the bar. In true jazz fashion, the place was dimly lit with a magenta haze weighing down eyes to the stage. The members of the band looked like their instruments just as dogs and their owners; the drummer round and robust, pianist slender and soulful, bassist shrouded in hair-string, and saxist adorned in ‘cool.’ Brick walls covered in aged memories provided sanctuary for this little place– but had enough bravo the Rat Pack could stroll in at any moment. Soft sullen notes sounding from sax, horn, and checkered ivory followed lead of bass and drum. Conversation ebbed and flowed with tune.
It was the regular crowd tonight– an old tuxedoed man with a Johnny Walker smile sat in the corner watching two figures cloaked in black. Another man sat in a booth whose intense gaze followed a woman’s sway of sax. This was zone.
“Whaddayah have?” asked a slender man behind the bar who I could only guess to be Arturo himself.
“Pinot”
“Comin’ right up!”
A black and white photo of a young mustachioed Arturo hung from the top beam of the shelf. His intense, intentional gaze had been softened to a twinkle by Father Time. He was happy.
And so was I.
The first song ended and it was right to.
Moments like these can’t live forever– they shouldn’t.
-mac mullen
The Magic Words of Doug Melville
TBWA, or Chiat, is known as The Disruption Company. Their reel of work was funny, inspirational, and thought-provoking. When we were there, Doug Melville gave us seven tips for success.
1. Prove trust and consistency. Make a blog to show that you can be consistent.
2. Your reputation is the only thing that precedes you when you walk into a room. Google yourself in a browser without cookies to make sure that your digital reputation is in check.
3. Get comfortable with uncomfortable.
4. Be ready, and you won’t have to get ready.
5. You pay for what you don’t know. Learn skills so that you don’t have to pay someone else.
6. Focus on your strengths, not your weaknesses. Take what you’re good at and become great at it.
7. Know how to tell your story. Tell it again and again. Remember that less is more.
#OneMoreThing: Success overrides all doubt. Don’t doubt yourself because once you’re successful, people will want to be around you.
Thank you, Doug, for the words of inspiration! I will carry these with me on my path to success.
Emily Foster.
05.15.17.
Hardware
I get in these moods where I need to create.
Sleep comes second, cell on silent.
Mind on ISO like IT in the 4th.
Defense doesn’t win championships in our profession. It’s hustle that brings home the hardware.
Nate Richards | 5.15.2017
My Love for Medium-Sized Agencies
I visited 8 companies during my week in New York, and all of them were special for their own reasons. However, in terms of culture, I found that the places I felt most at home in were the medium-sized agencies I visited.
Big Spaceship, Rokkan, SS+K, and Firstborn all have varying cultures and work but they felt similar in a nice way. I could tell that the employees at these four agencies were passionate about creating good work together. They love their jobs and they often get to do work outside of the roles that they were hired to do. I love that aspect of medium and small agencies. I want to be a designer/art director but I hope to be in a place where I can give input to writing, strategy, and production as well.
Another thing that I noticed at these four agencies was the open workspace. Employees get to work in an environment where they interact with their coworkers and they aren’t always stuck in one department. At Big Spaceship, most people sit in a department based on the client they’re working on. For example, everyone who works on the YouTube account sits together. However, employees who aren’t working on YouTube can still give their input and ideas. The alumni we spoke to said that it’s common for people who aren’t on an account to get pulled into a meeting to share their insights. At medium-sized agencies, I noticed that people collaborate on many projects like this.
This week I learned that culture is the most important part of finding a place to work. I’m still not certain that I want to live in New York, but I am more certain that I want my first job to be at a place like Big Spaceship, Rokkan, SS+K, or Firstborn. I hope to spend my next year of school exploring similar places in other cities like Portland, Seattle, San Francisco, and LA.
It’s true. The learning never stops.
Emily Foster.
05.15.17
Technology
Beginning with a horrifying VR experience at the Whitney on Saturday, I’ve been thinking a lot this week about technology, and how it fits into advertising. Advertising used to be something people see- in newspapers, on the TV they would flip past it or mute it but it wasn’t something they interacted with. “Real Violence” at the Whitney is so powerful because it isn’t on a screen that you can easily walk away from or choose not to watch. With VR, you are fully involved, fully interacting. Even if you take off the Oculus after 5 seconds and walk away, you don’t feel like you watched something, you feel like you witnessed something. I think advertising is moving in the same direction. It isn’t enough to create something for your consumer to see anymore; you have to create something for them to be a part of.
Lina Rode
Being a woman in advertising
Of all the wonderful things I learned, the kindness and generosity I experienced from every single agency and person I came across in NYC, I made one observation that got me thinking about what it will be like to work in advertising (or likely any field) as a woman. More often than it should, it happens that a young woman will ask a question or make a comment to a man in advertising, and he will respond (generously and thoughtfully) to whichever MAN is standing nearest to her. Obviously this isn’t the rule, but it happened enough to make me think. Women have to fight that much harder to be taken seriously, to get their ideas heard, despite representing something like 70% of consumers. Looking around Allen and seeing all my incredibly talented, intelligent and deserving female peers, I’m hopeful that we will be able to flip who’s on top in the advertising world.
Lina Rode