St. Lunatics.

AIGA went to St. Louis this past weekend to visit some advertising agencies. I’m still undecided about how I feel about advertising agencies, and a lot of the places we visited contradicted each other as to what they were looking for in a designer. Some places talked about how they would prefer someone who could also be a good writer, and others (ones I was not a fan of) said that being a good copy writer and a good designer was impossible to find. I disagree. One thing that was constantly beaten over our heads was that concepts were what was important. And I totally agree, the thing is, some places said that the design and making it look pretty should take a back burner. What? I don’t think so! Why can’t both be of equal importance? I can have a pretty kickass concept and still make a design look beautiful. 

Anyway, the cool thing about most of the agencies was that their offices were pretty slick. I got a good vibe from one of them, Waylon. Patrick’s cousin works there and it was just a great environment. The employees seemed well-energized and happy and the examples of work they showed were definitely the best of the ones I saw the past few days. Also, they didn't treat our party like a bunch of lame college students wanting a tour of the office. They genuinely seemed psyched to have us there. I didn't get a chance to take many pictures there, though. I took some pictures at Hughes (I couldn’t find their website to link you). A lot of the places we saw were about the same environment --very open and very casual. 

All the places were nice, but I’m just not sure if it’s what I’m looking for in a career. I am glad that I went on the trip so that I could gain some perspective. I’m currently taking Advertising and since I’ve taken the class, I’ve just been on the fence about the whole business. Most people associate graphic design or visual communications with just advertising but there is SO MUCH MORE than that.