By Zoe Slatter

Advertising, that print stick I couldn’t find

So, decisions. Not something I am great at, but is anyone great at them anyway, ironically I can’t decide. Thats perhaps why my portfolio is a bit of a mishmash. A bit of everything, a jumble sale I like to call it where theres good bits in everything. Dabbling in and out of disciplines, do I do illustration, a bit of branding? Do I do graphic design? I can’t decide. Maybe it’s advertising, WHO KNOWS!?

Well it all came clear during an interview for a scholarship at SCA when I was talking through my portfolio. The question that sparked the realisation was…. so why advertising? As I stumbled through my words and had a quick mental flash through my last 4 years of education I thought about everything I was interested in. And it hit. The idea, the cause and the impact. Yes thats right it took me four years of higher education to figure it out, you would of thought a normal person would of figured it out in their first couple of months right?

Well, yes it’s taken me four. And the four year joinery goes as followed, I started of with an art foundation to help me decide what I wanted to do, and this led me to deciding for a year that I wanted to do illustration. Well that decision didn’t last long as half way through my illustration degree I decided I wanted to know more, I wanted more skills so I moved courses to Visual Communication (this one was a good decision). Here my decisions skills were put to the test, a course where you can do everything! Illustration, graphic design, editorial, branding the list goes on and on. However a little D&AD brief which no one else opted for took me and my friend down a route I hadn’t taken before, advertising. To cut things sort, late nights, laughs, crying, a pencil and a lot of hard work got me here today my decision to enter the advertising world.

So in In my previous years as a ‘multidisciplinary designer’ AKA ‘floater’ as I like to call my self that breezes in-between disciplines, I feel I can finally put my feet on the ground and start running (more like sprinting) to catching up with the advertising world. One which I find interesting and exciting to take on the challenge. I plan to draw from all the disciplines I have dabbled in before to pull of some sweet designs and ads. However I know my ideas will have to adapt towards advertising but I can’t wait! I can’t wait to have a solid portfolio (or book as the ad world calls it), but first I need a good few ideas to fill this.

But before that I’ll sign off my first scab with a little solid decision made.

I have made the decision to enter the advertising world, and I am determined to take it by storm.