Adiocracy

Great, great group this summer. Here’s some feedback from the latest Killer Work alums (SVA ad school). They’ve graciously agreed to answer any questions you might have. And you can always reach me at simon@adiocracy.com:

Nicole Berke

Killer Work helped me get outside of my comfort zone in terms of generating ideas and break outside the mold I felt I’d been stuck in.

My greatest takeaway from was if you’re not finding that ‘bone’, either dig deeper or move to a different spot in the yard and keep digging! What differed about this course is that it that focuses more on the actual process of generating ideas… this class really helped me to break out of the corner I had backed myself into, creatively.

nicoleberke@mac.com

Carmen Yazejian

Mark helped me to think differently about my approach to work, how to evaluate it more effectively, and how to keep going with ideas whatever they look like. No judging early on. He helped me discover what my creative process looks like and not to fight it, even if it means working at 3 am. His philosophy that every idea is worth exploring keeps the juices flowing. I learned that I need to pay big attention to my target audience and their desires. I am beginning to be able to evaluate my own work, which has always been a challenge. It was a privilege to share insights with Mark’s brilliant and keen mind. Many thanks!

www.network9.biz

David Allen

Killer Work helped me create a process of thinking I did not have before.  All I ever thought of were direct images. My greatest takeaway was identifying a new thought process.  I was able to step back and see where I got caught up at certain points in my thinking.  This course showed me how to find solutions to problems and to find a real emotional benefit, which I never thought of before in advertising.

D.B.Allen27@gmail.com

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

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

‘(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