I been to many classroom and guest speaker Q&A where I was embarrassed by the questions being asked. The answers you’ll be given get depend on the politeness, honesty, and age of the person asked. Here are some old stand-bys that always come up, and the real answers.

Q: How much money will I make when I get out of school?

A: It depends. Somewhere between $12K and $70K depending on your location, your awesomeness, how likable you are, how much they need you, and a million other factors. On average, you can expect to make ~$35K in your first job. A wise advertising guy once told me:

For the first half of your career, you will be grossly underpaid. For the second half, you’ll be grossly overpaid.

Q: What if I’m offered an amount of money that I cannot live on?
(not to be confused with being underpaid, see above.)

A: It’s up to you. No one else can make this decision for you, but my advice is to find another job. It’s an ethical issue. To perform in a job, you need to be able to eat. Anywhere that does not support that is not someplace you, or anyone, should be working.

Q: How many pieces should I put in my portfolio?

A: This is usually asked by two types of people: the green, and the graduating.

For the newbies, it doesn’t matter at this point, focus on getting great work done, then read the below.

For grads, the questions is only valid if you are interviewing with the actual person you are asking the question. If you ask 10 creative directors (and I’ve seen it) they will vacillate and give you 3 answers a piece. I’ve heard of people getting hired with with riveting 600 (and 10) page portfolios.

They don’t really care, it just has to be awesome.

Q: What kind of stuff should I put in my portfolio?

A: A follow-up to the previous question. Again, it depends. If you are going to a shop that specializes in print, you want to have alot of print. At an online agency you’ll have to have banner ads and microsites. You will want to tailor your book for each interview, if possible.

A Few Points:

• You sure as hell better have a website.
  Don’t plan on getting hired without one. Doesn’t have to be fancy.
• The more interactive the better.
  It’s still rare in student books. More advertising is moving there, and agencies need people who can think that way.
• No one reads radio.
  Produce it and put it on a CD and on your website.
• Television storyboards never read very well.
  Produce it and put it on a CD and on your website.

Q: Is there more I need to know?

A: Yep, but this is a good start. Take control of your career. Be a student of the industry and how it works, not just what it makes, and you’ll be fine.

I am currently a 5th Quarter Art Director at Miami Ad School (I also spent some time at Academy of Art University). My first 4 quarters were in San Francisco, and now that I’m in Minneapolis with a 1st Quarter roommate, I find my experiences catalyzing into advice I wish I’d had in the beginning.

Some of this advice is specific to Miami Ad School, but most of it applies more generally, whether you are attending VCU AdCenter, Academy of Art, Texas Creative, Creative Circus, et al.

I know from experience that information about what ad school is hard to come by. Hopefully these posts will help you decide if it’s for you, and help you make better use of your time as a student. The better your information, and the more complete your picture, the better decisions you can make.

Wow. What a name. The Mall of America.

I’d heard about it. I’d heard that it was enormous, that it had an amusement park and a water park and a Ritz-Carlton, and a subway system, and a 10-story roller coaster, and that you could get lost for days in there.

The truth is, I was expecting to be awed. I expected a jaw-dropping display of American conspicuous construction. In reality, MOA doesn’t look like much from the outside, but once inside, I found a large and extremely well design shopping mall. Its genius is both in not being too big, and in not feeling as big as it is.

MOA is basically 4 normal malls arranged with an amusement park in the center.

Keys to Success:

1. You never, ever feel overwhelmed.
   Your vision is always limited. There are always walls in your peripheral vision. The entire experience is paced, logical. You don’t need to think about where to go, you just keep going. You never realize how far you are walking, and because you don’t really care how much is ahead, you don’t feel the need to “save” your spending.
2. Natural light penetrates almost everywhere.
   Sunlight makes people happy. It also makes them comfortable and don’t feel like they “need to go outside” for some air.
3. Stores are billboards for other stores.
   Because MOA is so large, brands can sub-divide their across multiple stores, or have multiple locations, creating brand impressions, and awareness of other lines. Fossil has three stores in MOA. I never knew they made clothes, but there was a whole store of only women’s clothing and accessories. Likewise, I counted three Auntie Anne’s Pretzels (although the directory only lists two…)

I have to say, MOA knows what it is doing.
MOA made me want to spend money.

“The quickest way to take the pulse of a town is in the asphalt arteries of its roads.”

Whenever I’m in a new city, I like to go for a run as soon as possible. I feel like it grounds me in the place and teaches me something new. I think I’ve learned alot about this town so far.

Minneapolis cares about aesthetics.
It is so apparent that art, design, and architecture are appreciated in this town. I will have another post on just this subject (probably many). In short, Minneapolis realizes that people that are surrounded by beauty and inspiration will work better and live happier lives. Whenever there is something to do, they don’t ask how they can do it cheaper, they ask how they can do it better. They invest in people with every brick they lay, and every poster they print.

People here are genuinely friendly.
On the street, a car will always slow down for you, and not in that San Francisco/Los Angeles “how-close-can-I-skid-to-the-pedestrian” kind of way. While it causes traffic to be unpredictable at times, and cross-walks appear to operate merely as suggestions, no on really seems to mind.

In the shops, not only were the sales-people cheerful, when I told them I was new to town they all went out of their way to make sure I knew where to go for everything I needed. While retail folks generally have at least an easily scratched veneer of civility, every single person I’ve met has been genuinely friendly and seemingly happy. I suspect its a combination of Midwestern hospitality and the universal enjoyment I see of the wonderful weather here so far.

Credit to Peet’s Coffee & Tea for this a-ha moment.

Many documents have a long lifespan. How do you know if you have the correct version of something? The answer can be especially tricky if you are in a large organization that has several “current” versions depending on factors such as geography, season, store size, etc.

Document version numbers immediately answers the question “which version am I looking at?”

While “invisible” to customers, an unobtrusive but clearly readable version code integrated into the overall design of the document provides employees with meaningful information.

Imagine two versions of the same task, in this case determining if my local Peet’s is using the correct brochure versions.

Scenario 1: No Document Version Numbers

Scenario 2: With Document Version Numbers

Pro Lesson: Versioning work will make your life easier, and if you point it out to your client and explain why you’re using it, you’ll look smart and savvy to their business, potentially saving them headaches they hadn’t thought to solve.

Student Lesson: Incorporating a document version into a spec collateral design signals you really know how your designs will be used in practice.

So I was all ready for a frosty slap in the face from Father Winter, but when I got off the plane, my sweatshirt and sneakers were a little hot for the 80-degree plus weather.

My new roommate Martin, from Miami via Argentina, and I changed into flip-flops and shorts and went exploring. We had lunch outside at The Local, got groceries, crossed the Mississippi River, and discovered that pretty much every kitchen in town closes after 9pm. Luckily The Loon Cafe, an oddly named sportsbar and grill done up in darkwood and plasma, still had their kitchen fires burning to warm us up some of the best chili and wild rice soup I’ve ever had.

Miami Ad School has a full-time campus in Minneapolis, Minnesota. I will be doing my first “Quarter Away” there, and after a bit of calendar counting I realized I will be there almost exactly 75 days. I plan to make the most of them.

I take off Thursday at 6:30am. The living room is a mess with all of my worldly possessions as I organize, pack, and put away. My dad looks doubtful that it will get done, I know that it will, but I also know that sleep is optional.

Observation: It seems like everyone has a Minneapolis connection, a brother, cousin, past job, or old friend. I met a few of my own connections while filming in LA, so maybe I’ll drop them a line when I get into town.

Expectations: Friendly people. Lots of work. Cold weather.

(note: this post is backdated to preserve chronology)