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Probably the coolest job in the world – By @josieaefinlay

By Josie Finlay

 

Probably the coolest job in the world

When I was little I wanted to be an author, an illustrator, a fairy, a fashion designer and an explorer. But I think if I’d known there were people that made adverts I’d have wanted to be one of those. I know that sounds quite lame, like I’m writing a really cheesy cover letter.

Well guess what? I am lame. And it’s true. My sister and I used to act out our own ads all the time, and loads of the birthday cards I made for my family were ads. My granny got posters for her own home-made biscuits and my dad got jingles for DIY help services because he was terrible at it. When we watched films recorded from TV I’d get really angry if anyone tried to fast forward through the ad breaks. And if you made me miss the ads at the cinema…? Let’s just not even go there.

I only properly clocked that there are actual people that made those ads when I was in my mid-teens. Then I spent loads of years thinking ‘those people must be so cool, I would love to do that job’ while doing lots of other different jobs but definitely not that one because I was absolutely sure I could never do it. How can they think of ideas, on demand, all the time? How can they be so wacky and zany and fast? How can they just make stuff that looks good?? They all have a particular kind of glasses, and I don’t even wear glasses!

It’s not like I’ve silenced those voices. Obviously I still worry I’m not as fast and zany and make-stuff-that-looks-good-able as a real creative should be, something about imposter syndrome, blah blah blah. But I managed to muffle the voices at least, and now look, here I am. On the cusp of becoming One of the People That Makes the Ads, if all goes to plan.

And if I ever had any doubts about becoming one of those people, this week has definitely laid them to rest. We had two insane masterclasses: Josef from Blinkink Animation studios on Tuesday and Rosie Arnold, queen of ads (think that’s the official title), on Wednesday. Josef took us through some of the unbelievable work Blinkink do – it was really inspiring how passionate he and his studio are about their craft. They clearly give so much attention and love to every single tiny 0.0001 second of film. I can’t wait to have the opportunity to work with talent like that when I’m out in the world – people that have strong opinions on the exact angle of a stitch or shade of colour of a millimetre of clay. I think that sort of thing will probably send me round the twist in the end but you know what? I’m up for it.

Rosie was so full of fun and light, which you might find surprising given her intimidating portfolio. But that’s probably what makes her work so intimidatingly great: the ability to take it seriously while not being too serious. She seemed to have conviction and pride in every choice she’s made in her work: as with Blinkink, it’s the attention to detail that makes the work so wowwwww.

Both of the masterclasses left me practically drooling. What an extremely cool world I’m going into. Eeeeek.

 

probably the coolest job in the world

 

When I was little I wanted to be an author, an illustrator, a fairy, a fashion designer and an explorer. But I think if I’d known there were people that made adverts I’d have wanted to be one of those. I know that sounds quite lame, like I’m writing a really cheesy cover letter.

Well guess what? I am lame. And it’s true. My sister and I used to act out our own ads all the time, and loads of the birthday cards I made for my family were ads. My granny got posters for her own home-made biscuits and my dad got jingles for DIY help services because he was terrible at it. When we watched films recorded from TV I’d get really angry if anyone tried to fast forward through the ad breaks. And if you made me miss the ads at the cinema…? Let’s just not even go there.

I only properly clocked that there are actual people that made those ads when I was in my mid-teens. Then I spent loads of years thinking ‘those people must be so cool, I would love to do that job’ while doing lots of other different jobs but definitely not that one because I was absolutely sure I could never do it. How can they think of ideas, on demand, all the time? How can they be so wacky and zany and fast? How can they just make stuff that looks good?? They all have a particular kind of glasses, and I don’t even wear glasses!

It’s not like I’ve silenced those voices. Obviously I still worry I’m not as fast and zany and make-stuff-that-looks-good-able as a real creative should be, something about imposter syndrome, blah blah blah. But I managed to muffle the voices at least, and now look, here I am. On the cusp of becoming One of the People That Makes the Ads, if all goes to plan.

And if I ever had any doubts about becoming one of those people, this week has definitely laid them to rest. We had two insane masterclasses: Josef from Blinkink Animation studios on Tuesday and Rosie Arnold, queen of ads (think that’s the official title), on Wednesday. Josef took us through some of the unbelievable work Blinkink do – it was really inspiring how passionate he and his studio are about their craft. They clearly give so much attention and love to every single tiny 0.0001 second of film. I can’t wait to have the opportunity to work with talent like that when I’m out in the world – people that have strong opinions on the exact angle of a stitch or shade of colour of a millimetre of clay. I think that sort of thing will probably send me round the twist in the end but you know what? I’m up for it.

Rosie was so full of fun and light, which you might find surprising given her intimidating portfolio. But that’s probably what makes her work so intimidatingly great: the ability to take it seriously while not being too serious. She seemed to have conviction and pride in every choice she’s made in her work: as with Blinkink, it’s the attention to detail that makes the work so wowwwww.

Both of the masterclasses left me practically drooling. What an extremely cool world I’m going into. Eeeeek.

 

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