Adiocracy

Summer 2010:

Carly Schott

How To Do Killer Work helped me to begin thinking big picture creative.  It helped me tap into the part of my brain that makes me think about concepts from different angles. I learned a lot about strategic delivery, and discovered the importance of creating work that is relevant, fresh, and insightful… This course forced me to create and think every single week, and I have begun to develop a creative thought process that I didn’t really tap into before.

schott.carly@gmail.com

Rocky Ito

Killer Work helped me understand the full process of how to concept from start to finish, and how to strengthen my thinking in the parts of the process I needed most. It showed me how to expand my ideas and how to approach things from many different angles.

hito@g2.com

Touseef Mirza

I learned a lot from Killer Work. The class really challenged me to think outside the box.

(How To Do) Killer Work helped me understand how far one has to dig in order to come up with “insights”. It takes time. This class made me realize that I need to go through all the “gunk” in order to get to nuggets that are good ideas to develop.

My single greatest takeaway from the class was to present ideas with a specific point of view. I have a tendency to be general and give too much information “everything but the kitchen sink” syndrome. I also have a tendency to be literal with my ideas. Killer Work helped me come up with a specific point of view, taught me how to see a product/service from different perspectives, and generate new ideas that way.

I definitely recommend “How To Do Killer Work”.

You can contact me at tmirzanyc@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

Here’s some student feedback from Mark Burk’s spring Killer Work class:

nicholas.troop@gmail.com

What seperates good teachers from bad ones?

I dont think it has to do with intelligence in the traditional sense of the word.  The best teachers posess an intuitive emotional intelligence that allows them to connect on some level with all the different personalities in the room; to understand their thought process and know what to say and do to bring out their best work.

After learning the characteristics of good advertising, the majority of this course is an exersize in self exploration.  The most important things you can take from this is an understanding of the way you think and the beginnings of a creative process that will produce work you can be proud of, and the confidence explore and ”keep going without knowing where youre headed.”

Nick

Robert.Ross@draftfcb.com

Mark Simon Burk has a fantastic ear for dead-on headlines and a keen sensitivity for what makes great advertising work. Whether you are a student looking to break into the industry or an advertising professional seeking to hone your skills, Mr. Burk’s class is a must-take. That’s not because you might not be good at what you do. It’s because you can be better. Even great. But you’ll first need to put in a lot of hard work and learn the fundamentals of how to do killer work!

Developing great noteworthy creative just doesn’t happen over night. It relies on the skills to competently evaluate advertising and sift through what makes bad advertising bad and great advertising superb. It requires that you develop a process in which you can delve deep into the details and come up with the insights and big ideas from which excellent creative can be developed. And, of course, it demands feedback from an advertising wiz like Mr. Burk who has the refined experience to help make your conceptual ideas sizzle and your tarnished ideas shine.

Robert Ross
Group Copy Supervisor
DraftFCB

‘(How to do) Killer Work’ class presentation to Museum of the City of New York:

Assignment: Promote the exhibit ‘Growing and Greening New York’

Main challenge: Budget = (almost) Zero

Solution: Two guerilla campaigns. One using stickers to turn New Yorkers’ garbage into sculpture-like billboards — here today, hauled off tomorrow. And one that worked out a cross promotion with the city’s pedicab company to promote the exhibit and cycle people from mid-town Manhattan up to the museum on 104th.

Here are a few bits of feedback on Mark Burk’s (How to do) Killer Work class:

zannettis.michael@gmail.com
For anyone serious about a career in advertising, ‘How To Do Killer Work’ with Mark Burk will provide great practice at being a ‘creative creative, creating creative creative’. Feedback from both the guru and the students will hone your ability to create sharp-hitting, deep-thinking concepts.

Present your work and hope you nailed the brief. If you do, there will be praise from Mark. If not, well… get back on your feet, wipe the egg off and keep going.

Of course, advertising isn’t done in a vacuum. Through Mark’s contacts, the class was invited to present ad campaigns to the City of the Museum of New York’s marketing department. This real-life experience, with all the demands of real deadlines and budgets, proved an invaluable experience for a young creative honing not only his ability to come up with an idea, but to present persuasively to a client.”

Michael

bradenglew@gmail.com
‘How To Do Killer Work’ was, well, killer.  When I felt my work was getting stale, Mark helped me clear my mental slate to approach each assignment with fresh thinking. It’s a lot of fun to get away from the computer and find your next great idea with nothing but a pencil, paper and your brain. And we put our new thinking to the test with an actual client (the Museum of the City of New York), which really allowed us stretch our thinking, presentation and collaboration muscles — the closest experience you’ll get to being in a real agency!

Brad

rciuchta@gmail.com
“It’s hard to just sit down, cold, and do any work, let alone killer work.  Being a relative novice to the world of copywriting, “How to Do Killer Work” gave me the structure and forum I needed to advance my writing skills from an ad man’s perspective. This course approaches advertising from the bottom, up. Work was assigned to challenge our creative process. Killer Work gave me a strong understanding of how to use constraints to my advantage, whether creating for flashlights, drain cleaner, or plastic storage bags. Mark’s class structure facilitated open discussions and peer feedback that allowed me to learn not just from Mark’s feedback, but from the different perspectives of my classmates. Mark pushed me to look past the obvious, challenge my own initial thinking, and to be open to the ideas of others from the class.

For our final project, we created work for, and presented to, the Museum of the City of New York. We were challenged to create non-traditional campaigns for two exhibits, as well as develop fresh branding ideas for tag lines. This assignment proved to be an invaluable exercise. As a writer, I went through the complete creative process. Then, functioning as our own mini agency, we went through the process of preparing for and pitching our ideas. This killer experience provided us with a chance to present and receive feedback from an actual client.”

Ryan Ciuchta