QUARTER AWAY
Amsterdam
As soon as I graduated college, I knew I had to go back to school. I had just spent 4 years learning the basics of PR and advertising, when really, all I wanted to do was draw things. Whoops. Thus, I packed up my stuff and flew as far away from Minnesota as possible, Miami Ad School. Chosen not for the beaches but because it was the furthest away from home I could get without having to learn another language.
That, and they had a graphic design program.
Finally, I was making things I had always wanted to try. Posters, CD booklets, photography, even the occasional ad or two. And after a blur of a first year that involved way too much time indoors, I packed up and left for a quarter in Amsterdam.
Amsterdam is amazing. It is a city that celebrates creativity in all forms; as a designer, you have to go. If not for the actual classes, at least for the museums. And, of course, the stroopwafels. The city is out of a story book, and the teachers we had helped us approach and see design in a whole new light. The agency we were at - Pindakaas- gave us the top floor to spread out and that's where we held classes. The designers and I had classes with Victor from Pindakaas, Wim from Boomerang (an agency that does publication design), Martin from 180, and, of course, with the ever-amazing Clare McNally. We did everything from the most abstract art projects and books you can imagine to working on a new campaigns for brands such as BMW and Adidas. At the end, we even planned a city-wide agency party with Pindakaas at which we each presented our own art installations. Good stuff. We even had time to travel around for a bit after the quarter.
From there I went back to the States to intern in San Francisco at Hal Riney. I fell in love with the city immediately; the internship was pretty great as well. Here, I did everything from story-boarding, comping and concepting, and learned a lot about agency life and how things work. I also learned a lot about designing for online spaces, something that we all will have to do wherever we go.
After a brief stint back in Miami to take "A Brand Called You "with Ron Seichrist, (which was a fantastic class), I'm back in San Francisco, looking for work ,and taking Portfolio class with Ron via face-to-face video and I couldn't be happier!
My advice for GD's is this: Go to QA Amsterdam. Make friends with Peggy, the owner of Pindakaas; she knows everyone and is incredibly helpful. Do an internship; if nothing else, you'll find out if you really want to be a designer at an advertising agency or not. Take all the classes with the 'hard' teachers, and take what they say seriously. They were the ones who pushed me to do the best work. Don't rely on Photoshop; try and make as much as possible by hand. Know your way around Flash. Last, but not least, enter the awards shows, as much as you don't want to. It really helps with the ol' resume.
Thanks! Good luck!
(credits to Evan Benedetto, Daniel Joseph and Brian Eilbott for the Adidas that we did in Amsterdam).
Atomicola can I did in Visual Influences, and the Horror Poster I did in Drawing and Illustration class and Las Barbas I did in Poster Design
