"I just had to post here.

Alex, if you want to be an art director then you have to first and foremost have good design skill. You've got to strive for perfection, this shows your KEEN EYE FOR DETAIL. This shows that you will DO WHAT IT TAKES TO SELL AN IDEA. Execution my friend sometimes is what makes an ad. If you cannot spot what's weak in your own work, then how would a CD trust you to art direct a designers work or conduct a photo shoot.

You have to know what it's like to go through the process of tightening a comp, painstakingly if need be.

Art direction is not only about the ideas, it's being competent enough to execute those ideas.

As a junior AD it's likely you will be working on small budget jobs that may not have much studio time alotted to them. Don't assume that there's always going to be someone there to finish your work.

Believe me, even when you do work with a designer, you don't always get what you want and end up having to do it yourself.

I could go on and on. Don't insult the amazingly gifted art directors who got to where they are through their own skills in production.

Mitch...ditto"
Posted by Pedro on March 31/2003

"Alright boyz, enough with the
catty-claws.
Submit both of your books to showcase on this site.
Anybody can be a critic!

Oh and Mitch, how about those two contacts (pushbeyond@sympatico.ca). It might help a little. That would be great. Thanx."
Posted by alek on March 29/2003

"So here's my qualitative insight.

Alek, I've run into the same problem where I've had to skew an idea because I couldn't find the correct image or resources. But it's best to polish as much as possible and have as few opportunities to make excuses for the quality of your book."
Posted by Justin on March 29/2003

"I'm about to say something that I'll probably get a lot of flak for.

I'm pretty tired of this "I'm right because I work. I'm right because I got job offers. I'm right because of..." whatever. If you want to prove your point, explain using a qualitative insight because as far as I'm concerned, neither of your are acting representative of the industry that I hope to get into."
Posted by Justin on March 29/2003

"It's nice to see that this has elevated into a helpful, insightful commentary on how to get a job in the industry."
Posted by Justin on March 29/2003

"i got offer from places you could never work at, 2 from the biggest shop in Toronto and one from a smaller one but no retail, i leave the crappy retail for you ah ha, you seem like you would be good for it by giving reply like that, it's funny cause you must be one of these typical loser from Toronto."
Posted by Mitch on March 29/2003

"Mitch, maybe you could help out Alek by recommending him to those three shops that offered you jobs (since you took a different position). Or at least pass on the contact info. I know I'd appreciate that :)"
Posted by Justin on March 29/2003

"I got 3 job offers and i already work in one of the best agency in Toronto and i'm not even finish school. So i know what i'm doing and i don't think theres alot of competition cause 80% of the book out there sucks."
Posted by Mitch on March 29/2003

"dude, do what you want. but remember that your competition (which there is a lot of) is going to be doing their best to make their book polished and "art directed". if you want to make excuses and tell us that the look of an ad is someone else's job, go ahead. we'll see who gets the job."
Posted by downer on March 29/2003

"Who's mister reality, hmmm, an idiot, the important thing is "THE IDEA", the whole execution is not that important(still is but you have other people for that) , there's graphic designer for that, Zak from taxi would hire a guy with a pad of paper with drawing of amazing ideas than a nice clean book with no interesting ideas. The most amazing idea will look good as a thumbnail."
Posted by Mitch on March 29/2003

"Mr.Reality.
I am an Art Director.
Whatever ideas come, I go out and shoot them myself, if I have to. I did put some polishing work into all my pieces; the "roses, mountain, bar of soap, and climbing". I had a lot of compliments from Senior guys about my art direction ability.
Since, we have limited resources, we have to work with what we have.
If the message is clearly brought across, then that's all that matters. I want my book to look good! There are a lot of good ideas out there, but if don't have the right photography for it, those are shot."
Posted by alek on March 29/2003

"You want to be an art director so you have to show that you can be an art director. That means showing art direction. You don't seem to understand how finished your ads should be in your portfolio. I think you'd better figure that out pretty quick."
Posted by Mr.Reality on March 29/2003

"As a writer, I would LOVE to agree with you. But I can't, although ideas are the important thing that CDs are looking at. Sometimes a strong idea can be made weaker by poor photography/illustration, etc. An average idea can be polished with good art direction as well. Some people that I've shown my book to say that if you can show them something that looks like it was taken from the pages of a magazine, it wins you points.

Although, no matter how good your production values are, it won't save a bad idea. "You can't polish a turd""
Posted by Justin on March 28/2003

"I don't think it matters how proficient an AD is in photoshop. Execution is the studio's job, isn't it?"
Posted by Jeremy on March 28/2003