My First Portfolio Crit

I went to see a chap at one of London's top five agencies yesterday (I can't say who or where as I didn't ask his permission) and he ripped my portfolio to pieces. To be fair it wasn't that brutal, the guy was really nice and couldn't have been more helpful if he'd given me a packed-lunch and my bus fare home.

Not only did he give me some great advice, a couple of contacts and an invaluable insight into what potential employers are really looking for from a book; he also helped me learn the most important lesson in advertising - don't be too precious about your work.

I know it's something that I need to get used to but it was still a little difficult having someone go through the work I'd spent so much time on and pull it apart. The most annoying thing was he was right. And it seems so obvious when I think about it. I completely agree with everything he said and it was great to get some professional feedback after working in a bubble (metaphorically, of course) for so long.

He was quite complimentary about my ghd ads and liked my playdoh, although warned me it probably wasn't what an agency would be looking for in a book. And that was the second valuable lesson - agencies aren't looking for good adverts, they're looking for something special.

As I see it you need to say something new and interesting about your product. Say it in a new and interesting way. And always answer the brief!

All in all it was a really great experience and I got a lot out of it. I want to thank the guy that took time out of his busy schedule to see me and give me the benefit of his experience. He's kindly volunteered to see me again when I've got a new book together (hopefully along with an art director) and I'm definitely going to take him up on the offer.

Don't you hate that?

I've just spent a couple of hours putting this advert together but I can't seem to shift the uneasy feeling that I've seen it somewhere before. It's pretty simple so maybe that's why I get the creative deja vu from it - surely someone's thought to do this before. Or maybe it's just because urinal ads seem to be de riguer in recent times. Of course it could always be secret option number 3 - it's one of the many ideas I didn't write down as I drifted off to sleep which got stored somewhere deep within my subconscious.
Click on the image above to go to a larger version.

Let me know what you think. Oh and let me know if you've seen it somewhere before, it's going to bug me otherwise.

New Playdoh Banner Ad...Added

I couldn't think of a better title, sorry.

But at least my Playdoh "Whole World..."Campaign is starting to come together. I've added a Flash and Non-flash version of my new banner ad to the site as the Flash one repeats nicely and represents the idea better... but it's huge!

Go to the playdoh section of thebook and have a look now before I spoil the magic and tell you how it was made.

Back? Ok. I photographed my hands using the continuous shooting mode on my camera and then photoshopped the playdoh models in. Finally I animated it using flash. Simple!

:: Update ::

I've shrunk the flash animation down so it shouldn't judder at all anymore. Plus it's now safe for mere mortal screens so click away.