With less than the three years of experience and barely two years of financial comfort under my belt, I was laid off in May.  Like a lot of folks here on PFTA, the time off allowed me to have some fun this summer.  But unlike a few of the contributers, I want back in.

I still want to work on something big, win some awards, and learn more.  I want to contribute to my 401k and buy a bunch of expensive things. I’m young, and I’m not over it yet.

As I scour for freelance, I have noticed an overabundance of web design, developer, programming, and flash gigs.  Even most art director jobs these days require interactive experience with a knowledge of flash and html.  To boot, the great interactive agencies are few, and in the long term I want to work on campaigns, not just websites.

The few site and banner designs I have done are below my own standards, so they don’t go in my book. Is it time to find a place for it on my website? Is this the part where I sell out?  Are conceptual art directors still going to get hired?  Are non-html/flash thinkers obsolete?

I have strategic, well thought out, way out there ideas, and I don’t want to make banners that animate just because they can.  I can make things look cool.  I have a ton of energy and I am hilarious.  I was the social queen of my last office.

When New York’s summer ends, there won’t be as many fun things to distract me from the reality of unemployment.  And when the industry kicks back in, I need to be ready. So do I change?  In the future, will creatives be replaced by robots? When this industry bounces back, will I still fit in?

___________

Cristin Burton is a New York based Art Director.  You can view her work at http://www.cristinburton.com

The first time I went through the unemployment process was after 9/11. I was let go in the 13th round of layoffs at my agency (read Joshua Ferris’s book: “Then We Came To The End” and you’ll know exactly what it was like). But I consider myself one of the lucky ones. Before my team was escorted out of the building, I lined up a long term freelance gig. I wasn’t scared. I thought for sure I would come out unscathed.

The long-term gig was good. I was able to pay my bills and have some fun. But the small agency I worked for couldn’t keep itself together. Internal fighting brought it down and everyone ended up on the street, including the owners.

After that, I freelanced here and there, but the gaps between grew larger and larger. By August 2003, there still weren’t any ad jobs available. So I had to get another job. ANY job. I needed food money, but no one would hire me. Not even the corner video store. Finally it came to the only job I knew I could get: bicycle messenger.

I was one of four females on the streets of downtown Chicago and the only one who was 40. It was really hard and scary . . . so scary. I cheated death 3 times a day. But something cool happened. Not only did I get in shape, but I realized that instead of choosing a job that garnered no respect, I actually gained respect from my peers. I even had a total stranger approach me on my bike and tell me how brave I was.

I’m not saying you should go out and be a bike messenger (unless you love fear and confronting your mortality continually throughout the day). I’m saying do the best you can for yourself and you won’t be disappointed. Something wonderful will come out of it like the lotus that flourishes in the mud.

My messenger career ended when I got hit by a car and “only” broke my leg. Part of me is thankful because it took me out of that game relatively unharmed – a broken leg heals in a short period of time. Karma must have been paying attention because I picked up another long-term assignment a week after that happened and then got a full-time job until last year.

Now I’m going through it all over again, but this time I won’t be a messenger. I had health insurance then and I don’t have it now. I’m living from gig to gig with gaps in between. I’ve managed to stay afloat. I believe that I’ll get through this and that I will come out better, stronger and more creative.

Actually, I’m already better, stronger and definitely more creative. It’s as if the great muse has camped out on my shoulder to whisper sweet ideas into my head and has decided to settle in. With every project I work on, the client seems to love my first concept with minor changes. I’ve never tasted such continual success, except that there isn’t a constant flow of projects and I don’t always work for money.

Hope remains in my heart, though. Nature abhors a vacuum and an end will come to these dark days. Staying positive and counting my blessings help me through the tougher times. Looking at my future in small measure is less stressful than questioning the big picture. I stay on top of my responsibilities, so I won’t have any undue surprises later.

In other words, we do the best we can with what we’ve got. And I know one thing… when I look back I won’t be disappointed.

————–

Junior Art Director – $40k – Moroch – Dallas, TX

“We’ve got an opening at our shop here in Dallas for a kick ass Jr Art Director. Some experience

Because they are a fairly small shop, they are unable to relocate.

Send websites to: creativecareers@moroch.com

Send hard copies to:
Moroch
c/o Heather Mills
3625 N Hall
Suite 1100
Dallas, TX  75219

Copywriters, Mid-Western City, $35-50K + Relocation

Well known national shop with strong creative reputation and well great national clients are looking for a couple of young copywriters.  This is a great opportunity to build a book of produced work.  The creative leadership gives an opportunity to anybody, no matter how junior, a chance to work on big production; here the idea leads.

To submit your resume, please email it to:
INeedANewGig@CreativeMovers.Com

Writer/Art Director Team – Freelance to FT – Ogilvy (Hong Kong)

Need an experienced, intelligent, adaptable, highly energetic, adventurous team with a Navy Seal-like approach to ideas and details – both writer and art director must excel but as a team it will be your ideas that must blow people away. You must be able to handle client meetings big and small. Though we’re as 360 as any other agency in the world, TV is still a massive part of what we do, so you must have extensive experience in this area. You must also have  an extremely healthy awards list for real clients. In fact, having awards lust would not be a bad thing. However, we know the perception of Asian scamming – that ain’t us. We want to win but it has to be for real brands. The Creative Department is king here, and it is comprise with people from Canada, America, Singapore, Holland, London, Paris, Sydney, Athens, Malaysia, Atlanta, Hong Kong and one dude from Korea. (Yup, they all speak and write in English.) They were hand-picked for their brains and they’re a bunch of really nice people. Therefore, the candidates must also be of the same stock.

The job is based in Hong Kong, one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the world. It is a healthy mix of east and west. It is fast paced and ultra modern. Though the base of operations is in Hong Kong, due to television shoots/meetings, there will often be travel involved to neighbouring countries such as Thailand, Singapore, Shanghai and Australia.

CONTACT: Send your work, CV (that’s a resume) and accompanying awards list to andrew.reznik@ogilvy.com and marie.jenkins@ogilvy.com

Creatives, Developers, Project Managers – AKQA – San Francisco

AKQA is looking for: Interaction Designers (all levels) Senior Creative Developer Creative Developer (with silverlight experience) Art Director (with extensive experience with large-scale websites) CD (advertising) ACD & CD (digital product/application design) Copywriter (content strategy) Project Managers (Mid & Senior).

CONTACT: Send work to sfjobs@akqa.com

Account Manager, Senior Engineer, Interactive Producer – Digital Influence Group – Waltham, MA

DIG Website: http://www.digitalinfluencegroup.com

Contact: Kelly Gagnon, HR Manager, kgagnon@digitalinfluencegroup.com, 781-895-7720

Go get ‘em.

________________

Fuseideas is a full service advertising and interactive agency located in Davis Square, Somerville, MA. Looking for a full time interactive designer to work on flagship accounts. Need a designer with a good eye, who can layout a good looking website and who has ideas on how to make existing sites better. The candidate should know CSS, HTML, and Flash.

Candidates will have 3+ years of experience in graphic or multimedia design, CSS and Flash. You must have an established portfolio. This is not an entry level position.

Requirements and Qualifications
- Expert level in Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator
- Expert level in CSS, CSS2, and w3c standards
- Intermediate level Flash 8+ and ActionScript 2.0+
- Possess good writing and communications skills
- Must have a portfolio of work
- Must be outgoing and able to speak to clients
- Strong attention to detail

CONTACT: Please send resumes, URLs and creative samples to mledoux@fuseideas.com

No phone calls or recruiters please.

Thanks all!