Are you looking to gain experience in the real world and have the time of your life? Are you trying to find an internship that’s just a little different than all the others? Apply for the Marketing Internship at the Roanoke Civic Center. While here you will help the Marketing Department plan, promote and sell shows that come to the Roanoke Civic Center Coliseum, Roanoke Performing Arts Theatre and the Special Events Center! Learn about developing marketing plans, placing advertising, PR, online campaigns, grassroots marketing, and everything else we do to promote a show! Send your resume and a brief cover letter on what would make you stand out as a big fish in the intern pool to jobs@ad2roanoke.org! Currently looking for interns for the fall concert season to start in Aug/early Sept. through March. This is an unpaid internship but the experience is priceless!

AD2 Roanoke is your premier source for all internship and job leads!

No truer statement will you hear today.

Taken from Hyperactivitypography From A to Z, “an activity book for typographers illustrated in a nostalgic vintage style to give it a sweet and childlike look”, it’s the mantra they recommend cutting out and tacking up someplace you’ll see everyday. I’d suggest nothing less.

Click here to flip through the rest of the book, and don’t forget to visit it’s creators, Norway’s Studio 3.

[via Neatorama]

Ad2 Roanoke is excited to offer this year’s first social at 202 Market in downtown Roanoke. This is a great networking opportunity for all people interested in advertising and learning more about the industry!

www.202market.net
202 Market Square, SE
Roanoke, VA 24011

Tomorrow 3 of the current AD2 Roanoke board members along with several incoming board members for our senior club, AAF Roanoke, will fly down to Sunny Orlando, FL for the American Advertising Federation’s National Conference.  This will be my 4th conference and I couldn’t be more excited!  It is a time to grow professionally and network with people from all across the country both experienced and a little green like me.  At the professional level we have the opportunity to attend seminars by top industry executives on topics such as “Truth in Advertising, Can you Handle It?” and “Around the Water Cooler, What’s Your Professional Reputation?”  At the club level there will be several round tables with opportunities to hear from members across the country on their programs, public service initiatives, and communication strategies.  There are also planned social outings during the long weekend allowing for time to relax and hang out with other like-minded individuals.  The conference concludes with the National Addy Awards Gala, which always leaves me awe-struck at the sheer creativity that exists within the advertising industry.  I never leave this conference without feeling rejuvenated and inspired to be the best advertising professional and club leader possible.  I can’t wait to come back this year and share all this new knowledge with Roanoke!

“Creativity can solve anything.”

We’re excited to present Art & Copy for a limited engagement to the area. You’ll be able to see it April 6th at the Grandin Theatre in Roanoke or April 7th at The Lyric in Blacksburg.

Seating is limited, contact ad2@ad2roanoke.org for advanced ticket sales.

Film Trailer after the jump.

Welcome to Ad2Roanoke’s first installment of “Career ADvice from…” a series of enlightening interviews with local (and not-so-local) creative professionals.

Our questionnaire was written in order to get helpful information for the big questions we all have as students and young professionals in the advertising industry. Hopefully, you’ll learn a bit more about what to do after graduating, what you can expect from your first job and get a personal look into the minds of some seasoned professionals. You’ll definitely want to come back and check out advice installments from art directors, interactive designers, copywriters, photographers, more creative directors and even a celebrity or two!

With that said, we’re kicking off the first edition with the big wigs, the masterminds behind most of the work that gets out of the door and, you’ll read, the people you’ll be getting coffee for your first six months: the Creative Directors.

In this article:

Tony PearmanJohn GreissmayerChris Henson

Tony Pearman
Chief Creative Officer
Access Advertising & PR

Credentials: BFA from Virginia Commonwealth University with an emphasis in Graphic Design.

How did you get your start in advertising?
Had a wonderful high school art teacher that directed and guided me toward VCU and what she called “commercial art”. She was a blessing.

What are the best and worst parts about your job?
Best? Clients. They inspire me, give me opportunity, pay me, trust me to represent them. Without clients none of it is possible or matters.
Worst? Clients. They hinder, inhibit and at times prevent the realization of great ideas. But, in their defense, it is their money.

What inspires you?
My local competitors. The other agencies (large and small) that I read about online and in publications. ADDYs. My peers at work. Movies, books, graffiti artists, furniture designers.

Who would you work with on your dream collaboration?
Banksy or Quentin Tarantino. Or both.

Name an advertising trend that drives you crazy.
The belief that every client should be on facebook. iStock.

Best ad campaign you’ve seen recently?
1. Obama’s Presidential Campaign 2. CumminsNitro Brisbane for ‘The Best Job in the World’ 3. BooneOakley’s website.

You’ve just completed school with an advertising degree. What is your next move?
1. Research your butt off about a city you either want or need to live in. Go there, what ever it takes. 2. Find the best firm in that town that fits your idea of what a great ad agency or design firm is supposed to be. 3. Work for them, at any cost, for free, as an intern, do whatever it takes. Get a job that sucks to pay the bills and keep trying till you get in that agency. The struggle and the heartache will be worth the lessons and the opportunities and growth a good agency offers a young designer. In twenty years you won’t remember that they didn’t pay you enough. Or that the hours sucked. Or if our apartment had roaches the size of Volkswagens. Or you missed your Mom or that guy or girl you ended up breaking up with anyway after they cheated on you. All you will remember is what you learned and how you grew.

What kinds of experience do you look for from college graduates?
In what ways can they give themselves the edge? 1. Conceptual thinking and problem solving. 2. Perfect craft. 3. Experience (as an intern ideally).

Similarly, what skill sets/experiences are necessary in an entry-level creative?
Basic software and Mac skill sets, including InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, etc. Any web capability. Again, great craft.

Briefly describe the content and size of the ideal portfolio for a designer?
No larger than 16×20. Ideally more like 11×14. 8-12 great pieces.

What kinds of starting salaries can one expect as a designer?
Depends on the firm and the town. In Roanoke? $25,000 to $35,000 depending upon talent.

Who would win in a fight: Lee Clow or Don Draper?
Lee Clow is arguably one of the greatest advertising minds in history. Draper could not carry Clow’s jock strap.

Please number from 1-6 the following, in order of least sexy to sexiest advertising profession (1 = you’d rather clean toilets, 6 = living the dream):
Creative Director – 6
Designer – 5
Photographer – 4
Web Designer – 3
Copywriter – 4
Account Executive – 1 (no offense, it’s just not what I aspire to be)

More from:

John GreissmayerChris Henson

]]> http://ad2roanoke.org/career-advice-from-creative-directors-pt-1/feed/ 3 http://ad2roanoke.org/looking-for-a-professional-mentor-ad2roanokes-got-you-covered/ http://ad2roanoke.org/looking-for-a-professional-mentor-ad2roanokes-got-you-covered/#comments Mon, 25 Jan 2010 18:15:35 +0000 Ariel Clark http://ad2roanoke.org/?p=494

"Telemachus, your margins are spot on, but you need to watch your kerning."

In February, Ad2Roanoke is kicking off the first year of its mentorship program, and we’re looking for students and fresh graduates who are interested in getting a head start in the advertising industry. We’ve hand-selected a talented group of local advertising veterans who are happy to serve as professional resources and cheerleaders. The participating experts range from the creative to the strategic, so regardless of whether you want to be a creative director or an account supervisor, we’ve got someone ready to give you some one-on-one career advice.

Eligible participants must be:

• Current or recently-graduated students in the advertising industry
• Available the evening of February 16th for the pairing event in Roanoke
• Accessible by email
• A current member of Ad2Roanoke

This is a great opportunity for those looking to get a leg up in the field, but seats are limited! If you’d like to attend, please send an email with your name, the name of your school, your (estimated) graduation year and where you’d like your career to take you, to ad2@ad2roanoke.org. We’ll be selecting participants first-come, first-served based on eligibility and professional goals, in order to find the best match, so feel free to elaborate on your professional plans. Event details to follow.

If you are not a member of Ad2Roanoke but wish to participate, you may join the club at http://ad2roanoke.org/membership/join/

Canabalt

Play online | Put it on your iPhone for $3

Canabalt really just needs to be experienced, but I’ll try and describe it anyway. Your city is being decimated, and you have to escape. See how far you can get as you bound your way to freedom in the parkour platformer. For a game that takes only one finger to play, I almost hate to admit how much time I’ve spent jumping from rooftop to rooftop, crashing through plate glass and scrambling to avoid the falling engines. Play this one with speakers up or headphones on.

Play more games by Adam Saltsman

More games after the jump.

Dino Run

Play online

Speaking of avoiding the doom in a panic, check out this slightly more colorful sidescroller. The guys from PixelJam know how to have fun with their games. Keep your raptor out of the wake of the death-bringing meteor impact. Keep your pace up by avoiding your fellow dinos and collect mysterious power-ups to help you along your way. Pick up lost eggs and be rewarded with point you can put towards performance upgrades. I give this one big points the drama in a very serene environment.

Play more games by PixelJam

Understanding Games / Black Forrest

Play Understanding Games online

As a theme for these Lunch Break Gaming articles, I hope I’ve encouraged you to take inspiration from your downtime. I’m a fan of how games, as a whole, work. Not so much the nuts and bolts, but what draws us to them, why we consider them “fun” and what makes them worth playing again and again. The episodic series of Understanding Games ask questions about learning in games and how we identify with computer generated characters while you interact with them. Join Bob and Bub as they break down the forth-wall and pull you into what makes a game successful.

Play The Black Forrest online

Also from Pixlate, a series of experimental mini-games presented with limited explanation and varying mechanics between them. Pilot your little ghost friend around these worlds and notice how your experience changes as the way the games are played changes.

Small Worlds

Play Small Worlds online

Lastly, and in the vein of experimental “art games”, try out Small Worlds. This entry into the Casual Gameplay Design Competition #6 by David Shute has become very popular with its simplistic style and worlds that make you want to explore every pixel in them, literally. Not bad for a game whose protagonist is only 3 points tall. This game adds a little extra texture, but that, along with the soundtrack, just helps you get wrapped up in poking around these little alternate dimensions.

For more pixel art games, try Nitrome, it’s their specialty. Share your own favorites in the comments.