How Donald Trump can help you become a better Art Director The 2017 updated version of the ADMA Creative School Art Direction lecture designed to help and inspire all young creatives hoping to get a job in an agency creative department.

1. DONALDTRUMP CAN
HELPYOU BECOMEA
BETTERARTDIRECTOR

2. #DAVID BELL - EXECUTIVE CREATIVE DIRECTOR #MERCERBELL
7 STEPS TO BECOMING
A GREAT ART DIRECTOR
2017 ADMA CREATIVE SCHOOL

3. 7 STEPS TO BECOMING
A GREAT ART DIRECTOR
2017 ADMA CREATIVE SCHOOL
COPYRIGHT NOTICE: This material and the work produced from this marketing brief (including, without limitation, all intellectual property, artistic and literary works therein) is copyright. Subject to the conditions prescribed under the Copyright Act, no part of this
material may be reproduced without written authorisation of MercerBell Pty Limited ABN 57 435 510 529. All enquiries should be addressed to MercerBell 4/70 George Street The Rocks Sydney NSW 2000 AUSTRALIA (02) 9299 0802.

7. Jorn Utzon

20. Look beyond your screens
for inspiration

21. Look up for
inspiration
Simpson House since the 1950s - 249-251 Pitt Street Sydney

22. Look down for
inspiration

23. Visit for
inspiration
Margaret Preston – Australian Gum Blossoms (c. 1928)

24. Wassily Kandinsky – Russian Artist

25. Margaret Preston – Wheelflower (c. 1929)

26. Look
inside for
inspiration

27. Look
inside for
inspiration

28. www.spd.org/
Society of Publication Designers

30. Inspiration
is all around us.
Write down all
your ideas.
Sketch, snap
& scan them.

31. Jot down
your ideas.
Sketch, snap
& scan them.

32. “Always have
the product on
your desk”

33. Taste
Touch
Smell
Sight
Sound

34. Crewe's Rolls-Royce Factory By Peter Ollerhead 1950s

36. Ever wondered why
artists use so
many different
brushes?

37. Free your thinking.
If you get stuck,,
swap pens and the
ideas will flow.
JARED CLARK

38. ‘Cut-Up’ William S. Burroughs by Brion Gysin

39. www.adsoftheworld.com/
www.directnewideas.com
www.
creativity-online.com

40. Thisisawesome
Thisistricky
Thisisshit
I’mshit
Thismightbeokay
I’mawesome

41. 7 STEPS TO BECOMING
A GREAT ART DIRECTOR
2017 ADMA CREATIVE SCHOOL

42. T h e b e s t t h i n g I k n o w a b o u t v i s u a l t e c h n i q u e s

43. S i m p l e i s a l w a y s b e s t

44. S i m p l e i s a l w a y s b e s t

45. S i m p l e i s a l w a y s b e s t

60. “A designer knows he/she has
achieved perfection not when
there is nothing left to add,
but when there is nothing left
to take away.”
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

65. N e v e r f e a r w h i t e s p a c e

71. https://boagworld.com/design/why-whitespace-matters/

73. If the idea has
an unreal twist,
use illustration
to help bring it
to life

78. Reflect
your ideas

82. Is there
an idea in
the logo?

90. Is there
an idea on
the bottle?

94. Visualise
the benefit

95. toughness

96. sharpness

97. strength

98. A quick and easy
way to grab attention

104. Maintain
eye contact

106. Sharbat Gula was the subject of Steve McCurry's ‘Afghan Girl”’

108. Select your shots carefully
Alberto Korda’s ‘Che’ 5 March 1960

109. Alberto Korda
Havana 5 March 1960

110. And crop
with care

111. Alberto Korda - Havana

113. Avoid
visual
cliches

115. The exception

120. The exception

124. The exception

126. Opposites always
attract attention

127. Helvetica

128. Times

131. Take
the time
to learn
origami

135. www.adsoftheworld.com/media/dm/cocacola_fm_magazine_amplifier

137. Become a
creative
sponge
and never stop
feeding your mind

138. 2017 ADMA CREATIVE SCHOOL

139. 7 STEPS TO BECOMING
A GREAT ART DIRECTOR
2017 ADMA CREATIVE SCHOOL

140. Golden Ratio.
Section, Mean
or Proportion.

141. The Fibonacci
Sequence
1.618

142. The Golden
Spiral

143. Parthenon – 432 BC

145. 1503

146. 2017

149. Grids
are good
Vitruvian Man

150. Designing by the
rule of thirds

151. 41% 20%
14%25%
POA
Primary Optical Area

152. Alberto Korda’s original 35mm negative

153. Alberto Korda’s ‘Che’ 5 March 1960

155. www.motocms.com/blog/en/rule-of-thirds-use-website-design/

156. https://petapixel.com/2016/01/30/10-myths-
about-the-rule-of-thirds/

157. Know when to stop
Mr. Robert Waters
High School Art Teacher
“David.
If it looks right.
It is right.”

158. “Try another view”
Mr. Robert Waters
High School Art Teacher

159. Grids are good

161. 7 STEPS TO BECOMING
A GREAT ART DIRECTOR
2017 ADMA CREATIVE SCHOOL

163. Let type
into your
life

164. Let type
into your
life

166. Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country.
Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand
calligraphed. Because I had dropped out and didn’t have to take the normal classes, I
decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned about serif and
sans serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter
combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical,
artistically subtle in a way that science can’t capture, and I found it fascinating.
None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But 10 years later,
when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we
designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had
never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had
multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the
Mac, it’s likely that no personal computer would have them. If I had never dropped out, I
would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might
not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect
the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking
backward 10 years later.

168. 1976
2017

169. Love, and
understand
type

170. UPPER CASE
lower case
Love, and
understand
type

171. Study type

173. Ideas in visual type

178. Don’t annoy
your Copywriter
(or your reader)

179. If your poor design
reduces readability,
then expect the
worst to happen.
If your poor design
reduces readability,
then expect the
worst to happen.

182. Type is one of the main
tools of your trade

187. www.smashingmagazine.com/2009/04/8-simple-ways-to-
improve-typography-in-your-designs/

188. psfk.com/2016/03/mobile-typography-techniques-
design-for-smartphones.html

189. When to let
the headline
do the talking

193. slideshare.net/Reosurfer

194. 7 STEPS TO BECOMING
A GREAT ART DIRECTOR
2017 ADMA CREATIVE SCHOOL

195. desire

197. search

199. delivery

203. luxury

207. Art Directing ideas
in living colour

222. vibrant

223. vibrant

225. Colour is your
secret weapon

226. 7 STEPSTO BECOMING
AGREATARTDIRECTOR
2017 ADMA CREATIVE SCHOOL

245. How art direction
can be the idea

249. Bedroom in Arles - First version, October 1888. Oil on canvas, 72 x 90 cm, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam

252. 7 STEPS TO BECOMING
A GREAT ART DIRECTOR
2017 ADMA CREATIVE SCHOOL

253. GETTINGINTOTHE
CREATIVEDEPARTMENT

254. 1. THE INTERVIEW
FIRST IMPRESSIONS

255. 1. YOU’VE FINALLY GOT AN INTERVEIW.
LEAVE A LASTING IMPRESSION.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
Begin your book with a great idea.
And end with an even better one.

256. 2. WHAT FORMAT SHOULD MY BOOK BE?
THE PRESENTATION

257. 2. SITE, eMAIL A PDF, LAPTOP OR iPAD?
TRY THE PERSONAL TOUCH OF YOUR BOOK.
THE PRESENTATION
Think carefully about how you present your book.
You are selling your work , your talents and yourself.

258. 3. HOW MUCH WORK DO I NEED TO SHOW?
EDIT

259. EDIT
3. BE BRUTAL & EDIT YOUR BOOK
Three great ideas, always beats
thirty three average ones.

260. 4. WHAT TYPE OF WORK SHOULD I SHOW?
VARIETY

261. 4. MIX IT UP
VARIETY
Show a broad range of creative work
across multiple channels, products and brands.

262. 5. HOW FINISHED SHOULD MY IDEAS BE?
SHOW YOUR CRAFT

263. 5. BE JOB READY
SHOW YOUR CRAFT
Rough visuals ‘scamps’ are fine, but have at
least one fully written or art directed campaign.

264. 6. WHAT IF I DON’T HAVE ENOUGH GOOD WORK?
BUILD ON YOUR BEST
Peggy’s
presenta-on
h0ps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYxl-­‐DJ9CEs

265. 6. TAKE YOUR BEST IDEA AND PUSH IT THROUGH SOCIAL CHANNELS
BUILD ON YOUR BEST
Turn a good ideas, into great campaigns.

266. BE FLEXIBLE
7. HOW CAN I STAND OUT?

267. 7. BE ORIGINAL AND FRESH
BE FLEXIBLE
There are many different types of agency.
Adapt your book for each individual agency.

268. 8. SHOULD I TALK ABOUT MY BLOG?
CREATIVITY

269. 8. SHOW YOUR DEPTH
CREATIVITY
Show your creative pursuits outside of advertising.

270. 9. DIFFERENT CDs LIKE DIFFERENT WORK?
LISTEN

271. 9. TAKE ADVICE
LISTEN
Listen carefully to all the feedback
and act on the consistent advice.

272. 10. I’M TOO NERVIOUS
CDs ARE VERY
BUSY PEOPLE
Don
in
ac-on.
h0ps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbr3bkny0OQ

273. 10. TALK ABOUT WHAT YOU CAN BRING TO THE DEPATMENT
CDs ARE VERY
BUSY PEOPLE
Be prepared, be enthusiastic, be positive and be yourself.
Don’t be a pest, but do follow-up.

274. GETTING A JOB
CREATIVITY
CRAFT THE
ART DIRECTION
BOOK

275. A PARTING THOUGHT
1979 - 2017

276. “Beware of looking for goals:
look for a way of life.
A PARTING THOUGHT
Decide how you want to live and
then see what you can do to make
a living within that way of life.”
Hunter S Thompson

277. 168.013 views on SlideShare
www.slideshare.net/Reosurfer
2017 ADMA CREATIVE SCHOOL2017 ADMA CREATIVE SCHOOL

278. DAVID BELL EXECUTIVE CREATIVE DIRECTOR - MERCERBELL
GOOD LUCK
2017 ADMA CREATIVE SCHOOL
COPYRIGHT NOTICE: This material and the work produced from this marketing brief (including, without limitation, all intellectual property, artistic and literary works therein) is copyright. Subject to the conditions prescribed under the Copyright Act, no part of this
material may be reproduced without written authorisation of MercerBell Pty Limited ABN 57 435 510 529. All enquiries should be addressed to MercerBell 4/70 George Street The Rocks Sydney NSW 2000 AUSTRALIA (02) 9299 0802.