The Best $35 I Ever Spent
Once a year I Have An Idea sponsors an event called Portfolio Night. In cities all over the world, students and juniors meet with some of advertisings best creative directors to have there work critiqued. If you do it right, this event becomes a source for mentorship and networking. Do it wrong, and you can still leverage your mistakes for growth. But doing it right is by far a better option. So take a look at some insightful tips by Krystal Plomatos on surviving portfolio reviews.
I met some really interesting people. Creatives like Mike, who is eagerly shopping his book around town; Jordan, who like me, is watching her bank account diminish before her next freelance gig; Heidi who flew all the way from Art Center in Pasadena, just to get a fresh set of objective eyes on her work. Everyone I met was keyed up and excited, and really laid back and cool at the same time.
And then there were the Creative Directors. Nicest people I’ve ever talked to. It may have helped that I was in the last round of reviews, and that they all had a few rounds before I got to them, but everything they said made sense. And I realized something. Creative Directors are really good communicators. They say what they mean and say it in a direct succinct manner. That, I think, might be more important than being super creative.
All of this in just 4 hours. It was a seriously enlightening and invigorating experience. And I find myself the next day, exhausted and desirous to do it all over again. So if any of you know of a portfolio review in your area, let me know. I’ll post them up here on the page.
P.S. I was hoping to get some audio feedback on my work for the podcast, but it was just too danged loud. Between the DJ on the balcony, the 45 nervous creatives, 15+ Creative Directors, the restauraunt crew and event planners, I just wasn’t going to get any kind of usable audio. I did however get a couple of people to agree to come on the show.
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