Adiocracy

Here are a few more student reviews from this Fall’s Killer Work class at SVA. They’ve graciously agreed to respond if you have any questions. Emails are below their comments: 

Kristian Cruz

‘Killer Work’ was like getting an advertising degree in 3 months (without the boring textbooks).

I dove into this with no background in advertising. I took the class with the intention of learning what makes a more compelling powerful ad, and to relate it to the new company I’m starting next year, a men’s fashion line. With that objective in mind, I found the class directly and concretely useful in the following ways:

My thought process was revised and ultimately enriched. Instead of waiting for the Muse of Inspiration to slap me and hope for the best, I can now initiate the process immediately, confident that it too will lead to a Muse (a different one but better-looking). I have several businesses I plan to start down the road. I will use Killer Work’s brainstorming/conceptualizing method to create advertising for every one of them.

The single greatest takeaway is understanding the concept of ‘a true ‘Idea’. Applied, it means an ad that truly has ‘something to say’. I know that sounds elementary but like many others in the class, I initially focused on the visuals without backing it up with a message (be it a product benefit, a market position or an aspiration).

The beauty of this class is that I learned this great takeaway experientially. I am not sure I would have gotten it if I read it in a book. Much of my learning came from:

1)   Learning from my own mistakes in class
2)   Learning from the mistakes of others in the class

A suggestion is for a final assignment where students get to choose their own product to work on, maybe for their own business or something they are working on at their job. (Although, I see the point of revisiting a previous project for the finals and see how much growth was achieved at the end of the class.)

iam.kristian.cruz@gmail.com

Stacy, Marianne, Cristina and Kristian at the wall

Here’s some more feedback from the fabulous alums of this summer’s Killer Work advertising class:

B Best
brb5504@gmail.com

Killer Work was just that, “killer.” Be prepared for very honest critiques that force you to look introspectively at why your work hasn’t reached that next level.

With that, you’ll learn how to sidestep creative bad habits many of us have formed over the years by employing new and effective techniques that can be applied to several aspects of your professional persona.

C Marks
cmarks@stanford.edu

Killer Work was a 10 out of 10! I enjoyed coming to every class. I enjoyed the atmosphere of the class with its free flow of conversation, the diversity of opinions, and how I slowly developed a learning mechanism for advertising (which has made me hyper-aware of the systematic thinking behind every ad I’ve seen since).

I learned that, as easy as it seems, putting your personal interests and witty puns aside and becoming the customer to whom you are trying to sell your product is not. There is so much real work behind the creation of an idea, but there is no way around it. You have to just DO it.

For those deciding on a new advertising class at SVA, below is some of the lastest feedback on Mark Burk’s How To Do Killer Work class:

Tegan Mahford:

On a scale of 1-10, this class was an 11!

By listening to Mark’s insights on my classmates’ presentations and my own, it became possible to step back and observe my style of thinking from an objective standpoint.

Mark is adept at routing class conversations in a direction that forces students to open their eyes and evaluate the reasoning behind their problem-solving methods. As he made abundantly clear every class, there are a million and one ways to solve a problem. The first idea you stumble upon is most likely not a polished, mature idea.

The greatest thing I’m taking away from ‘Killer Work’ is that when you’re generating ideas and a light goes on, you should never stop there. What you hit was one light switch to one light bulb in a whole castle. There could be hundreds of others lights, twelve-tiered chandeliers. It’s possible you hit the light switch to the dimmest lamp. You won’t know unless you keep groping around the castle walls.

Another thing that sounds obvious but was extremely useful was when Mark gave us a perspective on the amount of time we need to put in on assignments. It’s comforting to find out you’re not a total idiot if brilliant ideas don’t hit you every minute of the day. Walking out of this class, I’m aware that if the creative process is a mountain, I’m facing it with the appropriate tools to climb it.

‘How To Do Killer Work’ did exactly what it promised in the course description.

Tegan has kindly agreed to answer questions if you’ve got them. You can contact her at tegan.mahford@gmail.com

Bill Hogan:

Prior to taking this class I focused too much on the execution aspect of creating an ad or ad campaign. My thought process was dominated by taglines, visuals, and execution based ideas. This class taught me how to start with an insight or an idea that relates the product/service to the audience in an original way.

I really enjoyed the class discussions. It’s great to work with others on an assignment and get the opinions of those around you, and often a great new idea is spurned by those types of discussions. In addition, Mark’s ‘bone analogy’ is something that resonated with me and I will remember for some time.

The last course I took at SVA did not explore the thought process behind the execution. It was primarily execution based.

I offer one suggestion.  I think it would be helpful to explain in further detail or by example in the first class what is expected in your presentation.

Bill has kindly agreed to answer any questions. You can contact him at william.thomas.hogan@gmail.com

Joseph Bianco

The hardest part of creativity is discriminating between what’s a sinking rock and what’s worth polishing into gold. That’s where ‘Killer Work’ comes in. The class provided me an opportunity to really ‘trial and error’ my way through my own creative process to find what worked. The class really helped me realize that you have to use TNT and let the ideas explode out of your mind before those few nuggets of gold will strike you over the head. From there – you polish.

The first day of class, Mark laid out the 3 key elements that make an ad work. I haven’t looked back since. These three criteria have become my mantra when evaluating my work. I’ll leave it to the guru to teach what these three keys are.

I highly recommend ‘How To Do Killer Work’ to anyone interested in not just creating a great book, but in developing their thinking.

You can contact me at Bianco.ja2@gmail.com

Amgad Fawzy

While most other courses are concerned with the DOs and DON’Ts of what makes good advertising — something you could read in Hey Whipple — this course helped me think consciously and honestly about the creative process and the behaviors unique to me that help me get into the mindset of generating great ideas. The course also encouraged me to not stop after I’ve come up with a good idea, but to keep pushing myself to in search of a great idea.

The process I’ve developed here will not only help me in developing my portfolio and throughout my advertising career, but it will have a positive impact on my writing in general. My greatest take-away from Killer Work is that truly great ideas aren’t simply clever or funny, they must be insightful and tell an inherent truth about the product or about life.

While the format of the course – students take turns presenting their work, which is then critiqued by the instructor and the other students – was identical to that of other portfolio course, the element that differentiates Killer Work from other classes is that Mark takes the time to discuss the creative process with students, drawing on his personal experience, while always emphasizing that each person’s creative triggers are unique.

You can contact me at fawzy.amgad@gmail.com

Jerry Oulds

How To Do Killer Work was an ABSOLUTE TEN out of 10!
Questions? Contact me at Jerry.Oulds@gmail.com