Anything I can do, I can do better

I've been packing my belongings for days, setting aside books to read in the coming weeks as I gaze longingly at my bed. Just a few more nights and I'll be able to slip into a blissful, albeit short, coma. This year has finally come to a close and I can safely say that I have never worked harder in my life.

I'll be starting my internship at Hallmark in three weeks as a Copywriter in the Marketing Studio. Acquiring an internship was a tough journey that I prepared for extensively. At the beginning of my Junior year, however, it would have been nice to receive more guidance in my preparation. I used the Career Services department and my peers for guidance in crafting my resume and portfolio, but I would have benefited greatly from practice interviews. Although my portfolio was not as developed at the time, it would have been good to sit down with members of the Advertising Design faculty to establish my strengths and weaknesses prior to the start of such a pivotal year. We were well aware of what content was necessary for presentation in our Junior Reviews, but the results of the review could have been bench-marked prior to the start of the semester.

I learned more this year about Copywriting than all my years at Ringling combined. My father constantly challenged me to be the wordsmith that I am today, but the commercial art of copywriting involves so much more than a snappy headline. The most important thing I learned is to always maintain a holistic view of the work so that each individual piece works together with alternative campaign elements and the original creative brief. Keeping the big picture in mind helps to ground a piece of work so that it's bulletproof against client and consumer scrutiny.

Art Direction follows suit: I went through years of visual preparation in Fine Arts, but the advertising courses at Ringling have taught me that individual elements all need to tie into the main campaign idea. Brilliant one-offs are more common than complete campaigns with equal merit, so it's important that I prove my value as an artist capable of holding my own in more significant bodies of work.

Because I have harnessed skills in both copywriting and art direction over the past three years, this summer I am going to focus on more illustrative explorations. I believe that I can produce illustrations in my work that will round out my campaigns significantly. This year, for the first time since high school, I was able to keep up with a sketchbook on a regular basis. I plan on maintaining a sketchbook daily over the summer and completing a number of larger pieces in order to develop my rendering abilities.

Senior year, I look forward to bringing together all of these elements in order to promote myself as the total package to potential employers. The NSAC course at Ringling will allow me to continue to develop my leadership skills, which our Global Branding course will let me develop as an individual.