Books are printed, tactile things. They come in hard cover and soft cover. Dozens, hundreds, even thousands of pages. Some with pictures, some not. Dust jackets. Spines. Paper. Words. They are things to be read.
In ad school, we started calling our portfolios “books.” And why not? They were also printed and tactile. They came in all shapes and sizes and bindings and paper stocks. They had words and pictures. Even when “visual solution” became code for “lazy copywriter,” there were still pages to turn. Book was apt.
But today, our self-presentation is much, much more than what can be printed on a page. A web site is obligatory. Twitter connects. LinkedIn links. Facebook shares. The resume, should we choose to have one, must be downloadable.
I don’t remember the last time anyone looked at my printed portfolio. I always bring it with me to appointments and interviews, carrying it around like some vestigial limb. But by that point, my meticulously and expensively printed book is redundant. They’ve already seen the work online, Googled, Tweeted and Friended me. The face-to-face meeting is a chemistry check, and books only interrupt the flow.
In your own (or former) agency, who’s busier…the studio, or the web developers? Is the buzz around a great print ad, or a great social media campaign? I suppose we could print a book of our Tweets, or bind together our LinkedIn and Plaxo pages. But the brands we brand now include us. We must be the change we seek, starting with our books. And, perhaps, what we call them.
19 Comments
‘MOJO’
Defined by dictionary.com as ‘the art or practice of casting magic spells’, this would be a great term to describe all that we in the industry ultimately do. After all, do we not weave our mental magic to charm the public and drive them to action?
So instead of someone asking, ‘Show me your book,’ they ask:
‘Show me your mojo.’
I’m struggling with this right now, too, because i’m trying to figure out what the right balance is between print and interactive campaigns and the art book i wrote.
Great post, Erik, and a terrific reminder to everyone schlepping — er, Twittering — their “books” these days.
I remember back in ‘02 or something, I still had that massive, archaic, Men in Black-esque portfolio case-slash-folding card table filled with laminated, cloth-backed print ads that I’d haul into interviews on a forklift along with my 3/4″ broadcast reel. (3/4″ may sound small, but it was thicker than your average Ayn Rand novel.)
Now? Like you, I haven’t shown an actual, physical portfolio in years. Come to think of it, I don’t even have a print-ready Word resume on my site (probably should, but…). And my last interview was, as most are these days (like you said), more of a chemistry check: a face-to-face chat to make sure the candidate behind all that work in his/her online portfolio wasn’t a sociopath/white supremacist/chronic halitosis-sufferer/Clark Rockefeller-level fraud.
All that said, I don’t know what the *new* name should be; I always just find myself saying, “I sent (agency X) my link.” Link to web site, Twitter page, what have you. Sexy, no. Utilitarian, perhaps.
Interesting question, Erik.
I’d like to continue to call it “book”. There is a quaintness in keeping the name. And a historic reminder of how our portfolios were originally viewed.
I haven’t even shown up at a meeting with a tactile book in 4 years. I bring my laptop and just assume they’ll have one, or that they can get me on wireless in an instant.
Honestly, if they can’t, who wants to work there??
The creative’s “book” is dead: http://bit.ly/GAG6D (via @MRVREEKEN)
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
I was talking to someone yesterday and asked if they were working on their book and they stared at me blankly. Perhaps it has become an antiquated term.
I find that having printed portfolio to show becomes the reason, or the excuse to have the face to face meeting. The portfolios are also designed by a book artist and there is discussion about the presentation and craftsmanship that goes beyond the photos on the page. The laptop and iPhone are also handy to share images outside the portfolio, but the meeting is about the book.
I switched my whole portfolio over to a website all the way back in 2001! I also had the same info on a leave-behind interactive CD the size of a business card (worked because most computers had ejectible CD trays back then)… totally cool and waaaay ahead of the trend. 90% of headhunters and CDs wouldn’t even look at them!! I have two points here… 1) Most agencies aren’t setting trends, they’re scrambling to follow them… so even though they say they want new ideas, they won’t recognize them until they see someone else do it. 2) In the end, doesn’t matter what medium you show it in, it’s all about the work.
I decided to go all digi. save trees, no
had a gal I was interviewing with scold me on not bringing a hard copy. I thought it said more about her than me.
for the record, I’m with Dee, we should keep calling it a book. isn’t kindle already redefining what a book could/should be?
The mantra at the agency I resided at (literally) until they let me go was “The Work, The Work, The Work.” I have that motto so imbedded in my brain that I use it to reference my website…as in “Would you like to see my work?”
Both traditional and digital “books” have their benefits and drawbacks.
As a writer, I find people don’t really want to have to enlarge an ad on my website in order to read the copy. And when they do, they can’t take in the whole ad at the same time.
There’s also the problem of how to display any folding pieces, anything dimensional or anything where the production matters (special varnishes, etc.)
And trying to reach over an ECD’s desk to point out something on his monitor is pretty awkward.
Then again, in a physical book, showing online work is tough. The storyboard-a-banner-ad thing doesn’t really work.
Personally, I use my website as the initial touch – when I email people, or if they need to see my work right away. When I go to an in-person interview, I try to bring my physical book. (Although if it’s a digital agency, sometimes I’ll just bring my laptop.)
“We must be the change we seek, starting with our books. And, perhaps, what we call them.” http://bit.ly/4mZjd
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
O.K. I’ll bite!
How about “BRAGUETTE”
If you stroll around Paris, you can’t miss
seeing Parisians carting around that most famous staple of their society: The Baguette.
It is baked fresh daily. and served with just about everything.
In fact my favorite is BANH MI, which roughly translated, is a Vietnamese sandwich born
from the colonial days when the French ruled
that part of the world.
French law bans walking past a boulangerie
without at least pinching or tasting,
the freshly made offerings (baguettes)
from the local artisans, ‘er bakers.
I just double-checked BRAGUETTE in my French dictionary. Apparently it means (FLY) the kind
with a zipper on a man’s pants.
Talk about your double entendre?
Maybe not so good, or maybe…?
Talk about your sexual harassment suit?
I’ll show you mine, if you’ll show me yours?
Excusez-moi!
mon Dieu!
STAN GNOMOR, “switched my whole portfolio over to a website all the way back in 2001″ who hoo cutting edge, aren’t you?
DEE NILE, you must be a headhunter or a CD who’s fallen behind the times. Congrats on typing out your first blog… you’re making progress grasshopper!
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