I mentioned in another blog post that during my first semester in college I did really well in my Freshman English class. I got a solid A and the grad student teaching the class gave me a lot of encouragement.
My senior year in college I discovered the advertising department at my school which was a part of the Art program (rather than say, journalism, which was my major.)
I started taking all the advertising classes I could get into (mostly sophomore classes). All though the aim of these classes was to create future art directors, I was surprised by the amount of writing we participated in.
Nearly everly class for the rest of the year I participated in writing headlines. That seemed to be the number one activity. The professor (Dr. Jon Anderson) would then collect our various ideas and post them on the board and as a class we would critique them.
I did quite good at this if I do say so myself.
Then one day I realized if I take one more full load semester I can graduate with a bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism. Since that was in fact the goal of going to college I…graduated. With only one years worth of “advertising school”
I decided to pursue the technical side of broadcasting and got a low paying job at a TV station in Illinoise. A couple years later I switched careers and became a graphic designer in the marketing department of a local manufacturing company. Since we didnt have a copywriter I wrote most of my own ad and collateral copy.
After a couple years I started applying for jobs as a copywriter at agencies in the area. I got some interviews but didn’t manage to land the gig. Until…
Finally I was given an offer at a tiny Iowa agency called Results Integrated Marketing. I was hired to replace their one and only copywriter. Which was probably a blessing to her. It turned out to be a difficult job. I LEARNED A LOT! But also I dreaded going to work most days. The account manager who was also a partner and my boss was a very critical guy. He admitted that he wore his emotions on his sleeves. Again it was a very educating experience. Sometimes I had to churn out copy on a hard turn around. I brainstormed ideas and helped with marketing plans. It could be difficult when I went to my boss with a very rough draft and he would start proof reading and marking it up. Which was helpful but it usually came with some stern language and I was too thin skinned.
After about two-and-a-half months I started sending out resumes again. I was called for an interview at an agency across town at a place called Silver Oaks. I had wanted to work for them for some time and was elated to have an interview with them. Additionally I felt like the interview went quite well…except no call came.
A couple weeks later the partners called me into the conference room and informed me that the time to end our professional relationship had come because I was not working out. As the meeting was winding down my boss said “you know, my friend, who owns Silver Oaks recently told me he had a copy writer position available…you should contact him.” I hope I didn’t flinch. Looking back on it I’m guessing the owner of Silver Oaks probably called to find out more about me and my bosses decided to end things first.
Anyway, that experience kind of rocked me and I lost faith in my writing ability. I went back to design and have been there pretty much ever since. I continue to write when I have the chance even doing some short fiction stories here and there. Maybe I will post some here.
Below are some class projects from my advertising classes. I learned to hand render with markers as well.
