Captains Log: 1 Week Down

Week 1 has come to a close, and I found all the work everyone has been talking about. So far my assignments for the week are as follows:

• Strategy 1
• Pull 21 Ads for discussion in class
• Intro to Copywriting
• Start a new blog and write for at least an hour a day
• 1 Page of body copy for each of the following using copy sins:  Triscuits, Rollerball pens, Gordon’s Fish Filets, GAIAM Yogurt
• Pick 2 ads from CA or Archive and decide to whom is the ad targeted and what is the message
• Pick 5 ads that are headline driven and write body copy for them
• Pick 5 ads that are visual solutions and add a headline
• Pick 2 adds that are visual solutions and add headline and body copy
• Art Direction for Copywriters
• Trace an ad with a sharpie (preferably home design, or something with heavy shape and texture elements)
• Draw 5 versions with serious distortion to one of the elements
• Draw 5 versions that evoke an emotional resonse
• Draw 5 versions with unequal parts with three differnt values
• Draw 5 versions that are heavy on pattern and texture
• Draw 5 versions that use Point Force to an Area of Focus
• Draw 5 versions that use Swelling Force to an Area of Focus
• Draw 5 versions that use Rule of Thirds to an Area of Focus
• Draw 5 versions with heavy contrast using light and dark values

As of 5:30 on Friday I still have 25 sketches and all the headline and body copy assignments to complete. Nothing worth having comes easy so I'm digging my heals in and preparing to get this knocked out.

The first week was great. Met a bunch of new people, enjoyed all my classes, and had a great Forum speaker come discuss the relationship between Developers and Creatives in the changing advertising landscape. Very interesting stuff.

Also, my schedule got a little tweak and now I only have class Monday from 9:30 - 12:30 and Tuesday from 9:30 - 9:30. It's been interesting getting myself to do work at home by myself, but so far so good.

Sorry the content wasn't perfect this week. I'll step it up a notch next time.

LETS GET READY TO RUMBLE!

Well, the day has finally come. Today I started classes at Creative Circus. This morning I was nervous, but ready when I rolled into the parking lot.

I picked up my student ID at the front desk, chatted with some other students, and headed down to my first class, Strategy 1. My instructor, Jim McDonald, was awesome. He had some amazing stories about working with Jay Chiat at the beginning of Chiat-Day, and is a wise man with a young heart. Obviously its hard to judge a class based on the first day alone, but Strategy seems like its going to be a little bit of a review since I have a Marketing degree. Jim, described the class as "how to think like a client" so hopefully my experience on the dark side will serve me well.

I can't even get it in words how great it is to finally be at Creative Circus. I left school and tore in to my assignments as soon as I got home. Strategy is supposed to be one of the easier classes, but there is a lot of "suggested" work/reading for the class and I loved it all. Any qualms I had about quitting my 9-5 and going for it were completely erased today. This place is awesome!

Tomorrow I have Art Directing for Copywriters and Intro to Copywriting. I'm pretty worried about Art Directing since my last great work of visual art was in 2nd grade, but I'm here to get better so I'm going to go for it.

Sorry for the short post. I'll try to get more down as the week progresses.

One day down. Two years to go.

No, I'm not Going to Clown School

The past week has been full of excitement and change for me. I put in my two weeks notice to my current employer, and I've finally been able to tell family and friends that I'm going back to school in October. The first question everyone asks is "Where are you going to school?" The answer should be simple, "I'm going to Creative Circus to study Copywriting and whatever else I can jam in to my schedule while I'm there". Unfortunately, most people outside of advertising - and some in advertising - hear that name and assume I'm learning to juggle for the next two years. So today for my first post I'm going to lay out for everyone where I'm going, and what I'm doing because there seems to be a little confusion.

For a little background lets start with the Creative Circus (If you want their version of the facts go here).  The Circus isn't your traditional grad school. There is no MBA or MA at the end of two years. Instead, you spend two years working on a portfolio of your creative work to help land a job as a creative professional. Each class is taught by a current working professional so you don't just get ideas from someone who was great five years ago; you get feedback from someone who runs shop now. Plus the school is run like an agency so you are gaining practical work experience, too. All your projects are assigned to you in creative briefs, and your work competes directly with other students at the end of each quarter in The Student Show. At the end of your time there you should have a killer portfolio full of great ideas, and the benefit of two years experience in an "almost agency" environment.



Sounds killer, right?

While I'm there I'm going to be studying Copywriting. Behind the scenes of most ads there is a basic two person team, an Art Director and a Copywriter. An Art Director is the kid that photochopped your face to make you look like a withered 60 year old who smokes to much just because she could. They are gifted in the visual arts and come up with the images that drive an ad.  As a copywriter you're expected to be an idea person. To come up with the idea that is going to make people relate with a brand and then translate that idea in to words ("copy"). So basically, I'm going to spend two years honing my creative thinking, and turning my writing skills from moderate to super pro.

If you made it this far I applaud you for your dedication. It's been a while since I wrote anything and I'm sure its been an interesting read for you.

I'm heading back to school at the beginning of October and I'm going to do my best to chronicle my experience. I know when I was struggling with the decision I looked all over the intarwebz trying to find a review or a summary and found zilch so hopefully this will help someone else ditch their crappy job and go for their dreams.

If you have a request or a critique leave it in the comments and I'll take it in to consideration. Thanks!