Onward and Upward

So last night I met with my buddy and advertising guide, Mike, and we had a good conversation about what I need to do to land the art directing job that I want to get. (You might have heard Mike's "Turtle Song"...he's kind of a celeb within the Portland ad community.) We looked at everything I already had in my portfolio, decided what worked and didn't work, what needed revising, and what needed to be removed. I really respect what Mike has to say, because he went through this whole process a year or two ago.

What it seems like I need to do is totally immerse myself in improving my book by reading layout and typography books, cutting out cool illustrations in magazines and pinning them up on a wall, thumbing through the advertising annuals, people watching, and just overtime-working the creative parts of my mind.

You may be asking, "But Matt, how will you be able to make car payments, college loans, and rent without having a job?" Well, starting in a week, I will be collecting unimployment checks. This last for up to six months until I find work. The checks are not quite, but almost enough to cover most of my monthly bills, so while looking for work, I'll use the next few months to remake my portfolio. I also might be able make a couple bucks from my parents by rebuilding their deck. And then there's always online poker. So we'll see how the next few months go.