Case studies: Art director: Paul

Paul studied visual communication at university, including graphics, time-based media and illustration.

I began to develop an interest in advertising while I was at university and I’d always had a strong interest in art. After graduating, I moved back to my home town and worked on a building site in order to save money to move to London.

When the finances were in place, I rented a flat in London with a creative friend and began working in a bar in the evenings while continuing to work on our portfolio. We set up lots of meetings with advertising agencies whose work we admired, and showed it to them. Most companies are willing to look at your portfolio or ‘book’, but you do need to be prepared for feedback - which can be very negative! Although I was technically the art director, in many creative partnerships, there’s an overlap between the artwork and the words and this was certainly the case with me and my partner.

We were successful in winning a place on a Design & Art Direction (D&AD)  workshop where we were able to work on a brief. This is a very good way of developing skills and networking.

My partner and I split after a while, which is not uncommon, and I was able to link up with someone else through an advertising ‘head hunters’ organisation in London which enables you to look at other people’s portfolios. My new partner and I merged all our best work and stepped up our pace. After working most nights in a bar, I worked most days on our book for another six months.

We selected several teams in advertising agencies that we really liked and targeted them. This proved successful as one of the teams liked an ad so much that they actually shot it! – and we were able to pick up a few placements along the way.

One of the agencies we showed our book to was Abbott Mead Vickers. Initially, a junior team looked at it and suggested we show it to a more senior team within the organisation. This proved to be a pivotal moment as we were offered a job immediately!

I’ve been working at AMV ever since, although for the past few years I’ve been working with a different partner sourced within the company. We’ve won a number of prestigious awards in the last few years, including The Creative Circle, D&AD, Cannes and The One Show and worked for a number of campaigns, including the Museum of Childhood.

I work on any brand and in any medium - only about 10% of what you produce actually gets made. I particularly like working with the press and posters and I also work as an illustrator. This involves using a computer (Adobe Illustrator) and I need to keep abreast of any software updates.

I love the fact that I can be really creative in my job and I get great satisfaction out of finding a creative solution to a brief, but there are some frustrations such as the fact that however good your product, not all of it will get taken up by the client. And deadlines can be very stressful. Research is also huge in advertising today, and it requires the wide use of focus groups. Even though it’s a creative role, I feel that it’s equally important to have a knowledge of the business side of the industry.

My advice to new entrants is to be prepared for hard work, have a thick skin, listen to the opinions of people you admire, and persevere. Everyone uses Apple Macs, but line drawings with a marker pen can be just as powerful. You do need to be willing to work in London for at least a part of your career, and consider digital ideas.