Thinking About Art Direction? 9 Things I Learned at Miami Ad School
Several years ago, when I was contemplating quitting my job and moving 2,000 miles away, I couldn’t find any blog posts for people like me. I’d worked in graphic design for 5+ years, and I was feeling stuck. I wanted to do advertising, and ad school seemed like the way to reach my goal.
Unfortunately, there wasn’t much advice out there about building my portfolio or going to portfolio school. So, I took a blind leap of faith, moved to San Francisco, and attended Miami Ad School. It ended up changing everything for me, and I got the experience of a lifetime.
Since there were no articles telling me what to expect, I wanted to tell you about the things I learned. If you’re thinking about ad school, hopefully this post can help you see behind the curtain a bit and get an idea of what to expect!
9 Lessons I learned at Miami Ad School
You’ll get better
Brainstorming is key
Your work soulmate may not be there
The bonding is real
Be nice to everyone
Ad school is cooler than the real world
Keep on keeping on
Your definition of success will change
Don’t compare yourself to anyone else
You’ll get better
As with anything in life, it’s okay to be bad at first. Terrible even! You go to school to learn and grow. This was difficult for me at the beginning because I wanted to get started and be amazing with minimal effort. Who doesn’t?
Surprise, surprise, it doesn’t typically work that way. You’re going to have some real duds when it comes to writing, design, and campaign ideas. But those duds typically pave the way to a really great line of copy, a thought-provoking image, and a campaign you never would have stumbled upon had you not brushed out those cobwebs first.
Brainstorming is key
Getting better actually segues well into my next point. One of the best things ad school taught me was how to brainstorm. Brainstorming probably doesn’t seem like rocket science, but with tight deadlines, high-pressure situations, and minimal sleep, that creative block can hit you fast.
In ad school, you’ll experience multiple life events, usually at the same time. I learned methods that are still incredibly useful to me today as an art director. Sometimes you’ll need to write down 100 different taglines, throw 20 random words on a Post-It, or simply change your environment.
To this day, one of the best techniques for eradicating creative block for me is walking. Just a simple walk can clear my mind. Whatever brainstorming technique works best for you, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to flex it in the wonderful world of ad school.
Your work soulmate may not be there
Bad news. You may not find your forever copywriter/art director partner in ad school. (I know you don’t want to hear that.) And who knows, maybe you will! But it’s good to be prepared for anything.
I met a lot of wonderful CWs in ad school, but I never came out of it with my one true CW partner. Instead, I had lots of experiences with lots of different copywriters along the way, which helped me to appreciate each person’s unique set of skills and specialties.
I’ve experienced and gotten to be part of a broad range of voices on projects, which has helped me so much. And now my sister is my CW partner. Go figure.
The bonding is real
If you’re doing it right, you’ll make friends for life. Being in an environment with advertising weirdos who are just as silly, creative, and neurotic as you—it’s a dream and a nightmare all in one. Together you’ll fight, laugh, cry, create some of the best ideas, and some of the worst. My friends from ad school saw me at some of my highest highs and my lowest lows.
Friendsgivings never disappointed with a group of creatives
There were times when I questioned so much about what I was doing there, and other times where I knew that I wasn’t meant to be anywhere else in that exact moment. This chaotic environment with people from so many walks of life will change you for the better.
Be nice to everyone
The world is small. The advertising world is smaller. Be nice to everyone, even if they don’t deserve it. You will see them again!
Ad school is cooler than the real world
The real world doesn’t look like ad school. (Okay, so technically I learned this after ad school, but I think it’s worth mentioning.) This lesson was honestly a great big bummer.
There weren’t a ton of women in creative roles at ad agencies once I began my career. Also, very noticeably, most ad agencies were predominately white. I went from working with a close-knit group of creatives that looked and sounded nothing like me, to an ad agency that more closely resembled the diversity of a Mad Men set.
Being a woman, even a white woman, I often had to work twice as hard to be heard. (It’s even worse for women of color, who make up a small portion of the industry.)
I grew comfortable in the little world we created in school, and forgot that it’s not really like that outside. No matter how much you hear about the lack of diversity in advertising, experiencing it firsthand will shock you.
Keep on keeping on
Even though the real world didn’t always live up to ad school, my education taught me an important lesson: keep going. In life, in creativity, in struggles, and in happy moments, just keep going.
There are times where it will seem really hard. The projects get overwhelming; the outside world problems can feel like they’re too much to bear; the idea you’re chasing can feel impossible to achieve. But one of my biggest takeaways from school was that things can change overnight as long as you’re persevering. You never know when the next idea, opportunity, or plain old stroke of luck will be there waiting for you.
Your definition of success will change
What success looks like to you will change and evolve. And that’s okay.
In my mind, becoming an art director was the be-all, end-all goal. However, there were some months in which making rent in San Francisco as a woman in advertising was success for me.
Other months, getting to wine and dine my best friends who were struggling was success for me. And when I got to do photo shoots, rebrands, and campaigns, it was amazing to feel like I was bringing ideas to life. All these things were different, but they all looked like success.
photo by Jen Garcia
Don’t compare yourself to anyone else
All of this brings me to my final point. Don’t compare yourself to your peers. We’ve all heard that comparison is the thief of joy. It’s true. Healthy competition, especially in creativity, can be a wonderful tool for motivation. But always try to check in with yourself and make sure you’re not comparing yourself to another.
Some of your friends will climb the ladder incredibly quickly and get the dream title at a top agency. Some of your friends will decide not to go into advertising at all. Both journeys can look like success. Your journey is unique to you. My path has been anything but linear, and I’m really happy with that. All my experiences have led me to starting my own agency with my sister!
And while you’re avoiding those unhelpful comparisons, be sure to make weird stuff you like. If you like it, someone else will too. One of the weirdest things I’ve made has always been the thing people love to bring up to me in job interviews. If you have an idea, execute it, and whether it’s advertising or not, someone out there will “get it” and likely “get you”.
Conclusion
Only you can decide if portfolio school is right for you. Going to Miami Ad School was the right choice for me, even though it didn’t necessarily make my path more linear. It did change me for the better, though, and I’m always grateful that it was so hard and weird and fun. And what more can you really ask for from a life-changing experience?
Best of luck! I’m rooting for you.
-Hollye
