Syllabus for CM 423: Portfolio Development
“GOOD ENOUGH IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH”
Jay Chiat, Founder Chiat Day
You are bright, creative, determined, curious, courageous and passionate. You love advertising, ideas, digital experiments and social media. You will be incredibly successful.
But you’ll have to work your ass off first. Starting now.
Because the truth is that talent isn’t enough. Commitment isn’t enough. If you really want it, you have to go all the way to sacrifice.
Course Objectives
- Learn to generate creative concepts that solve marketing problems
- Become adept at generating ideas that are on strategy, on time and on budget
- Understand how to create across multiple platforms and media channels
- Learn how you think creatively as an individual, trying different ways of creative problem solving (word play, mind mapping, asking what if, thinking visually, etc.)
- Develop and elevate personal standards for creative excellence
- Sharpen copywriting and/or art direction skills as appropriate
- Identify ways to stay up on emerging trends and platforms that create new challenges and opportunities
- Begin to develop personal portfolio of speculative work and ideas to show prospective employers.
A Note on Skills
Note: This is a conceptual thinking course and focuses on idea generation and concepts.
It is not a skills development course, meaning we will not learn Illustrator, Photoshop, In-Design or Final Cut Pro.
I strongly advise you to become proficient in all of these programs in order to create finished looking portfolio by the time you graduate. If you need help or advice on doing that, let me know.
It’s OK if you don’t have technical skills, but ideally you should have taken or should plan to take Design and New Media I (CM323) and better if you also have taken or plan to take Design and New Media II.
If not, start teaching yourself — as appropriate to your needs — Adobe Photoshop, InDesign and perhaps HTML5 and CSS. You need to learn these programs even if you plan to be a copywriter. Get on Lynda.com or find other online courses if you don’t take at BU.
If you do not have some of these software skills, you may end up with some good “ideas” from this class, but they will not show well in your portfolio when it comes to job searching.
It means you will have to finish and polish your concepts after you do master some of the skills.
Books you should have (or have access to)
Communication Arts Annuals
One Show Annual (or other award show annuals; NY Art Directors, D&AD, etc.)
Advertising Concept and Copy, George Felton (third edition)
Books you should have read already.
Advertising Concept and Copy
By George Fenton
Hey Whipple, Squeeze This! (The Classic Guide to Creating Great Ads)
By Luke Sullivan (make sure it’s the Fourth Edition)
Insanely Simple: The Obsession That Drives Apple’s Success
By Ken Segall
Other texts
There are additional sources of inspiration that range from award show annuals to how-to books. Lots of stuff is on the web, so don’t waste a lot of money. If you want suggestions or ideas or additional sources, see me.
Inspiration
Use folders in Dropbox (provided in class) as sources of inspiration.
Course Requirements
Syllabus, schedule, assignments and submissions will be on Blackboard Learn.
Grades (and some content) will be on Blackboard Learn.
Overview
In the advertising industry it is standard procedure for a creative (writer, art director, designer) to be hired based on a portfolio of work that shows you
• have good taste and judgment
• can conceive and execute great creative
• can work across a range of media and brands
• can come up with ideas that make creative directors envious
• think originally
• have executional skills to make ideas come to life
Aspiring creatives often work on their books for at least a year and maybe two or three before they are truly hire-able. It is not necessarily about quantity — 12 to 15 great, stand out, memorable ideas can be enough — but about quality.
But getting a job is not the only reason to work on and develop a portfolio and to work on it constantly. There are lots of reasons.
• Exercise your creative muscles
• Replicate the challenges of real world assignments
• Develop tactics, tricks and approaches that work for you
• Create benchmarks to exceed
• Elevate your personal standards
• Get feedback from those who critique your work
• Master your craft (of art direction, design or copywriting)
• Get used to rejection
• Learn to overcome failure
• Realize that it’s OK not be great right away
Portfolio Development: How it works
This course is intended to get you started on a portfolio, both with assignments that invite you to create original, compelling creative, but with a workshop-like environment in which students critique and discuss work, learning from each other and helping each other get better.
Over the course of the semester, students will complete a minimum of four creative assignments and have a finished portfolio (somewhat finished, anyway) online. Each assignment is designed to guide you through thinking strategically, and then solving a problem or challenge with creative ideas that leverage different kinds of media and that (hopefully) will enable students to show their creative thinking without being dependent on executional software. Keep in mind that even after the class is over, you will want to polish and fine-tune the work you create in this course. You are never done making an idea great.
Each assignment will allow us to discuss different approaches and executions, techniques for idea generation, best of breed work in the category, and how to constantly improve your work.
Assignments have been conceived to create an opportunity for work that will be quick and telegraphic and demonstrate creative thinking beyond just the obvious.
Similar to Cm 417, you will work in teams, develop strategy (and source inspiration), generate a wide range of options for final development, produce finished campaign.
Assignments on BlackBoard Learn. Due dates, plan your semester accordingly.
Your Portfolio: Get it online asap
Get your site up and online if you don’t have one.
Assignment details, i.e. number of pieces, media, mandates, etc.
(also at end of this document)
Grades
Each of the five assignments is worth 18 percent of total grade. Four possible points for each assignment, similar to how GPA works. Class participation, feedback to peers, collaborative efforts make up the remaining 10 percent.
Grades
A: 4.0 Close to perfect. Outstanding work. Good enough for a finished portfolio
A- 3.7 Excellent. Fulfills the assignment at a very high level of proficiency and understanding. Shows original, creative thinking and attention to detail.
B+ 3.3 Some aspect of assignment is very good. All of assignment is better than average. But not as thorough as it should be. A third best in your portfolio.
B: 3.0 Good better than average but can be improved both conceptually and made more complete. Still needs sharper thinking and more inventive creative.
B- 2.7 One execution or some of work is there, but overall not at a high enough level of strategic, conceptual thinking, or creative execution.
C+ 2.3 The work shows some promise but isn’t there yet even for this level of expectation. Needs further improvement.
C: 2.0 A notch or two above acceptable to fulfill the assignment. Long way to go.
C- 1.7 Barely acceptable for assignment. You essentially mailed it in.
D: 1.0 Not making enough effort or contribution to the process.
F: 0 See me and we can talk.
50/F little or no effort
0/0 did nothing whatsoever or plagiarized idea or content
Keep in mind that there are no creative standards that are universal. You will show work to different creative directors and often get very different reactions. Some will hate a piece; others will love the same work. Yes, it’s a crazy business. And this is creativity. It’s not math. There are no right and wrong answers.
NOTE: Expectations are that students in this class want a creative career. Or at least want to develop a professional portfolio.
Grading and evaluation will be more critical than in CM417.
Expectations are higher, workload is greater, and the time commitment is double.
CM417 was about learning the process and basic elements of the creative side of advertising. This is about making and creating. That is something that you have to do. While I can guide, inspire and offer constructive criticism and suggestions, creative cannot be taught. It has to be practiced and learned.
If you have taken the pre-reqs you are entitled to take this class. But plan on being serious and willing to put in the time and effort.
Important: On Your Own
Plan on learning more about your craft. Writers should study and analyze examples of great work: headlines, scripts, narratives, brand storytelling. Art directors should learn about type, photography, illustration, layouts and the digital tools that are used in the industry (In-Design, et. al.)
All creatives should explore concepts across all media, platform and technology and become familiar with UX (user experience.)
Keep a notebook/journal in which you capture and save great ideas you come across, and also in which you create ideas that will someday have a problem to solve.
You never know when you can use something you find/create/discover today that has not immediate application.
!!!! IMPORTANT IMPORTANT IMPORTANT !!!!
Submissions: Important PLEASE READ THIS
Briefs: Submitted in class AND on Blackboard Learn. All briefs are to be submitted typed: single spaced for each paragraph and double-spaced between graphs and below headings. Ideally they should be no more than two pages and submitted as a Word Doc on Lore under submissions. Spelling, grammar, writing, active verbs, style, etc. all count. Pay attention to details. See brief templates on Lore. New, simpler versions to be developed as well. These are really just to evaluate your work, not for grading.
Range of Work: Submitted in class on paper. You may use plain old 8 ½ by 11 paper, or Bienfang (or similar) art paper. Whatever is cheaper. Concepts can be sketches — rough ideas that are clear enough to convey concept. BUT, any copy or headlines need to be attached type-written. I will not read any hand-written copy.
Final Presentations: Submitted on Blackboard Learn and in class. All final presentations should be submitted as Keynote or Powerpoint decks converted to PDFs on Learn.
Or as pages in your portfolio.
Work should be shown in finished form, but if you or your partner do not know any of the Adobe programs you may include hand drawn concepts, particularly for TV spots
You might think the following goes without saying, but you’d be surprised:
YOU MUST HAVE YOUR NAME AND YOUR PARTNERS NAME ON EVERY SINGLE SUBMISSION.
RANGE OF WORK SUBMITTED IN CLASS MUST BE STAPLED TOGETHER, CLIPPED OR IN A FOLDER THAT ALSO HAS YOUR NAMES ON IT.
Code of Conduct:
All students entering Boston University are expected to maintain high standards of academic honesty and integrity. It is the responsibility of every undergraduate student to be aware of the Academic Conduct Code’s contents and to abide by its provisions. You can read it in all of its glorious detail here:
http://www.bu.edu/academics/resources/academic-conduct-code/
It is OK to find inspiration in pop culture, art, theatre, music, even old advertising, BUT….DO NOT EVER COPY ANYTHING, RIP OFF ANYTHING, OR SIMPLY REPLICATE SOMEONE ELSE’S IDEA AND TRY TO TAKE CREDIT FOR IT.
Students get caught doing this every semester and it is not pretty. Please remember that in the spirit of this class and being creative, we are also trying to be original.
Recording of Classes Statement:
“Please note that classroom proceedings for this course might be recorded for purposes including, but not limited to, student illness, religious holidays, disability accommodations, or student course review. Note also that recording devices are prohibited in the classroom except with the instructor’s permission.”
Congratulations:
If you got this far, I am really impressed.
But wait, there’s more.
ASSIGNMENTS
A1: Food Ingredient, Cleaning Product or Product that Transforms
Note: the product should have a clear benefit, or impact and change something: i.e. seasonings change the flavor of food; cleaning products eliminate dirt or add shine; paint or wallpaper transforms a room;
- Find a product that has a clear benefit (maybe based on a particular feature)
- Make sure it is a product that can induce change of some kind
- Explore the benefit from multiple angles: find an enemy, dramatize benefit, explore problem it solves, see examples.
- Settle on a core creative approach, idea and campaign
- Bring to life creatively
Deliverables (modify as needed)
- posters (or any ad-like object, could be iPad magazine ad, etc.)
- social media small space ads
- participatory idea
- social media concept (what makes sense on particular platform)
- in-store
- environmental or hacked mediA
Week One:
Brief and inspiration (images, lines, headlines, music, thought starters and why you think they represent the right direction for where you want to go.)
Week Two:
Range of work that shows different ways to come at: should be ad like-looking objects that are complete concepts. No hand-written copy except for perfectly lettered headlines. Needs to be legible to reader/reviewer without you there to explain.
Minimum of three approaches
Represent more than one medium
12–15 pieces of creative that are not your first brain farts
Week Three:
Completed campaign that you have online and in your portfolio (even if it’s not ready for prime time).
Stand up presentation to class that sells your idea and the creative approach.
Self assessment of the work: what works, what needs work, where you will take it.
What you need help with
A2: A Passion Brand
- Find a passion brand (activity that has passionate users) that has not been overdone.
- Can be a brand in any of the following industries — music, gaming, sports, travel, creative, parenting, fitness, decorating, outdoors, or one of your choosing.
- Find a powerful way to express either the voice of the brand you select, or its user
- Come up with a core creative idea (I will what I want; Let’s motor, etc.)
- Bring to life creatively
Deliverables (modify as needed)
- core creative idea that is not media specific
- posters or ad-like object: take liberty in the name of creative
- digital/web (site or microsite — a few pages are fine)
- video (script or produced)
- environmental
- social media
- in-store or promotional (modify as you see fit; but campaign needs to be integrated and comprehensive)
Week One:
Brief and inspiration (images, lines, headlines, music, thought starters and why you think they represent the right direction for where you want to go.)
Week Two:
Range of work that shows different ways to come at: should be ad like-looking objects that are complete concepts. No hand-written copy except for perfectly lettered headlines. Needs to be legible to reader/reviewer without you there to explain.
Minimum of three approaches
Represent more than one medium
12–15 pieces of creative that are not your first brain farts
Week Three:
Completed campaign that you have online and in your portfolio (even if it’s not ready for prime time).
Stand up presentation to class that sells your idea and the creative approach.
Self assessment of the work: what works, what needs work, where you will take it.
What you need help with
A3: Digital or Analog Service
Find a service. It can be an online service or analog service. This is a brand or company that does not sell a product, but sells a service. (UPS, FedX are examples, but don’t do them as they are over advertised. For online, think ad-blocking (that would be an interesting one to advertise), Task Rabbit, online tax services (Turbo Tax), etc. For analog, think exterminators, lawn care, branded auto repair, cleaning services, etc. Please avoid Mom and Pop companies. Regional is OK, but nothing too small.
Deliverables
- Core creative idea (think of a twist on the problem you solve)
- Brand ID: trucks, uniforms, business cards, website, search ads
- Online ads and or posters.
- Concept for event and creative materials
- Digital: online advertising contextual, or experience
- Social content or inventive use of medium
Week One:
Brief and inspiration (images, lines, headlines, music, thought starters and why you think they represent the right direction for where you want to go.)
Week Two:
Range of work that shows different ways to come at: should be ad like-looking objects that are complete concepts. No hand-written copy except for perfectly lettered headlines. Needs to be legible to reader/reviewer without you there to explain.
Minimum of three approaches
Represent more than one medium
12–15 pieces of creative that are not your first brain farts
Week Three:
Completed campaign that you have online and in your portfolio (even if it’s not ready for prime time).
Stand up presentation to class that sells your idea and the creative approach.
Self assessment of the work: what works, what needs work, where you will take it.
What you need help with
A4: Solve a Problem/Address a Social Issue
This assignment gives you the chance to take on a cause, issue, or topic that means something to you personally, or that society could benefit from. It can be for a brand, it can be for an organization, or it can be for you. Keep in mind that the opportunity is for you to demonstrate your creative chops.
Here is a great example from a BU student last year. Optimism tickets.
Identify a problem you want to solve. It can be social (shovel out a neighbor); environmental (compost your food); health oriented (do 10 squats and get a free subway pass); even a simple behavior like be polite on the subway.
Come up with something that you can actually do and put out into the world.
Deliverables
- Idea and name of program; identity materials, branding
- Do something
- Invite participation
- Document it
- Distribute it
- Generate attention, visibility, press or blog/media coverage
Examples
Week One:
Idea, name, game plan for content.
Week Two:
Progress on execution
Week Three:
Something is in the real world.
A5: Finished Portfolio Online
In addition to the work that you are doing in class, you should also be developing your portfolio. Chances are that if this is your first semester starting a portfolio you won’t be anywhere near finished when this class ends, but you’ll be on your way.
If you don’t know how to write code and build your own site, use Squarespace, Wix, Weebly or one of the other open source platforms.
You might also want to put your work on Shocase and use this new platform for connecting with the creative community, BUT, this can not be your only portfolio site. You want your own site as these new platforms don’t always survive.
Over the course of the semester you should be working on your portfolio.
Deliverables
- Get your URL and a name: ideally have consistent across the web (Twitter, Instagram, etc.) as this is your brand.
- Design your landing page
- Write your about section
- Organize your work including brief descriptions and credits
- Resume and social profile links
- Your four campaigns from this class (at a minimum)
Tips
- Do not wait until the end of the semester
- Start this right away
- Play with the platforms for a day and see what you like
- Don’t be afraid if you’re work isn’t great (it won’t be)
- Make a plan and a timetable and stick to it
