Diary of the Unemployed, part XXVII

Well, at least I can say I'm making some progress, but it's so slow. Which makes me feel like I'm slacking off, but really, what can I do? Dropped off my ad samples today to be laminated. Of course they won't be ready until tomorrow, so that's another day I'm here. Hopefully I can get them in the morning and be on my way. In the meantime I've got an interview today at two. It'll be my first time showing my book, so I'm kinda excited, but not nervous yet, 'cause I don't really wanna work at KPS3, but I DO want their business, and if they made me some nice offer...

But let me back up for a minute and explain what I mean by "book". In advertising, image is king. Or queen. Regent. Whatever. All the fancy edumacatin' you got really doesn't mean anything. In fact, I think your whole resume takes a back seat to your portfolio. So, your book is like your final project in AP English, and sure, the content has got to be there, but putting those double-spaced beauties in a clear binder with a nice cover page doesn't hurt either. In fact, in advertising, the binder might be more important than all the time you spent squinting at microfiche in the school library. It's a shallow business.

Let me clarify that, so I don't sound too bitter. Advertising can be shallow. Design should be deep. What's the difference? Advertising is promotion; sales. The acquisition by any means necessary of the target's mental real-estate. Design is problem solving. The creation of smart deliverables that fit nicely in the hand, or on the screen, or in the head, and make things better. Like a corkscrew, or a paper clip, or a web site that's clear and easy to find information on.

So, the catch is to get work allowing me to do good DESIGN in/at/for an ADVERTISING agency. To do so I must be slick and wily. A greased ferret. Yes, I must be a greased ferret!