• Interns: $400 a week
• Entry-level: $25,000 per year
• Art directors: $50,000 to $60,000
• Creative directors: $100,000 to $125,000
• Associate creative directors: $85,000 to $100,000

• Energetic
• Talented
• Persistent
• Open-minded
• Problem-solving skills
• Love the arts & popular culture
• Love reading, observing, writing, & drawing
• Excellent interpersonal skills
• Ability to visualize & to communicate that vision to others

• High School Diploma
• Degrees can be in art, journalism, design, English, marketing, psychology, or business
• Bachelor of Fine Arts
• Master's or a PhD in art, advertising, or a related field

Advertising is a dynamic, multi-billion dollar industry that helps us decide what we buy, what places to visit, where we eat, what we drive, and how we look. Advertising ranges from the smallest classified listing in the local paper to the biggest, slickest, all-encompassing campaigns that become part of the popular culture.

Do you ever wonder who creates the ads that you see, remember, and talk about?

Someone had to think up the idea, kick it around, and manipulate design, composition, color, typefaces, and photography until an ad began to take shape.

Advertising artists - also called commercial artists - are indispensable to this creative process, whether it's designing a company logo, an annual report, a brochure, or a sign on the side of a bus. The very best advertising artists consistently impress a public innundated by thousands of advertising images every week - and the results show up on the client's bottom line profit while giving us unforgettable catch phrases and characters that make us laugh, cry, or groan.

In fact, you already know some of their most famous creations. Remember the Jolly Green Giant? Charlie the Tuna? How about Mr. Clean, Mr. Whipple, and Mrs. Butterworth? Everyone from the Hamburglar to the Taco Bell Chihuahua to the lonely Maytag repairman is a product of a creative advertising professional. Like the Energizer Bunny, they keep going and going, and they all started out as an idea in someone's head and a sketch on a drawing board.

In today's fast-paced, visually oriented society, companies want and need imaginative people to develop effective, innovative advertising art at every level in every market. Advertising artists and the art directors who supervise them are constantly striving to cut through the clutter, make the client happy, and enjoy the artistic satisfaction of producing an entertaining, enlightening, and informative image that didn't exist until they created it.

We know from artifacts found in the ruins of Babylon (about 3000 BC) that crude drawings were used by that society to "advertise" products or services. Signs outside an establishment told prospective customers what was inside (a loaf of bread for a bakery, grapes for a wine shop).

Ancient Egyptians carved pictures of items for sale into stone tablets called stelae and placed them by the side of the road for travelers to see. These were the first billboards.

Ancient Romans perused many advertisements for products on walls and buildings, and also identified numerous merchants by their outdoor signs - fish, rugs, perfume, and other products.

In 16th century England, advertising art came into its own with well-designed and colorful signs over pubs, shops, and service establishments. To this day they are preserved in folk art museums and are reproduced in towns like Mystic, Connecticut, and Williamsburg, Virginia.

The invention of movable type for printing by Johannes Gutenberg in 1440 introduced the first wave of mass advertising in the form of handbills and newspaper ads. Advertisements in British newspapers were commonplace by the 1600s.

In the American colonies, the first newspaper ad appeared in the Boston News-Letter in 1704, and readers had a wide variety of other periodicals from which to choose. Advertising found a permanent home in newspapers and magazines, frequently pushing snake-oil type products in flamboyant ads that promised "cures for whatever ails you."

A few highlights of the early days of advertising include:

• 1841 - Volney B. Palmer opens the first advertising agency in Philadelphia, acting primarily as a broker by buying ad space and reselling it to advertisers.
• 1861 - New York City has more than 20 advertising agencies.
• 1869 - N.W. Ayer and Sons became the first advertising agency to shift the focus from the interest of publishers to serving and working for advertisers, thereby giving birth to the modern advertising agency. Ayer hired writers and artists to create effective advertising, giving the industry a welcome boost in credibility.
• 1870s - Increasing numbers of advertising posters and signs are painted on rocks, buildings, and barns in cities and rural areas, causing several states to impose limitations to protect natural scenery from sign painters.
• 1884 - Coca-Cola is invented in Atlanta by Dr. John S. Pemberton, whose bookkeeper lettered the name in the flowing script that is still used today.
• 1892 - Sears, Roebuck & Co. receives more than 2,000 orders from a single direct mail campaign using 8,000 postcards that featured imitation handwriting.
• 1896 - Ivory Soap sends full-color advertising lithographic prints directly to magazine publishers to bind them into magazines.
• 1890s - For the first time, women are depicted in a non-domestic setting outside the home - in bicycle ads.
• 1904 - Advertising "branding" begins. An example is Campbell's Soup, featuring "the Campbell's Kids" artwork by Grace Weidersein. li>1906 - The First Annual Advertising Show opens in New York City. The "Age of Advertising" begins.
• 1910 - More than $600 million is spent on advertising in the US, representing 4% of the national income. Ads become more targeted to specific audiences.
• 1917 - Thousands of advertisers feature war themes in their campaigns, and publications donate space to promote sales of war bonds and stamps during World War I.
• 1917 - The American Association of Advertising Agencies is formed.
• 1930 - During the Depression, many advertising agencies close due to lack of consumer demand.
• 1945 - An economic and baby boom contribute to an upswing in advertising which lasts until the early 1990s.
• 1950s - Unprecedented growth in advertising is fueled by radio and television commercials that bring the advertiser's messages to millions. The art of advertising shifted from the printed word to ads that combine sight, sound, and motion.
• 1990 - Newspapers and magazines go online. The Internet and the increasing numbers of personal computers motivate publishers and advertisers to turn their focus toward the information superhighway.

Along with groundbreaking and continuing advances in technology and communications, advertising has also taken center stage in another highly influential arena: promoting awareness and social change through public service announcements (PSAs). The Advertising Council is responsible for some of the most memorable of these, such as "Friends Don't Let Friends Drive Drunk" and "A Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Waste."

For a fun and fascinating look at the history of advertising, famous campaigns, and modern exhibits, visit the American Advertising Museum , or if you can get there in person, in Portland, Oregon. It houses the industry's most comprehensive collection of advertising and business artifacts, assembled through contributions and loans from advertising agencies, advertisers, media, private collectors and other museums, including the Smithsonian Institution.

Advertising art is never a solo profession. Although your concept and design time may be spent alone, you will always have to work with clients and collaborators.

An advertising artist, art director, graphic designer, and creative director all make up the group known as "creatives" at an advertising agency. This team also includes the copywriter, with whom advertising artists work closely. The creatives influence the marketing plan prepared by the account service, marketing, and research teams, and then communicate the goals of the plan through the media of print ads, television commercials, and collateral materials (printed materials such as brochures, annual reports, direct mail, etc.)

An advertising artist occasionally has to wear more than one hat, working as an idea person, director, producer, and supervisor. If not, they still have to know what all the other "hats" on the team are doing.

What will you design? Basically everything that can be printed or produced:

Complete advertising campaigns Magazine ads Newspaper ads Web sites Calendars Logos Television graphics Stationery and business cards In-house publications Newsletters Charts Posters

Trade show displays Billboards Matchbooks Restaurant menus Indoor and outdoor signs Promotional materials Package design Books CD covers Graphics for software packages Movie posters

As you can see, the list is practically endless.

All of the jobs in advertising art require high levels of conceptual thinking and a keen awareness of popular culture. You also need expert computer skills in PhotoShop, Quark, and Illustrator, plus a knowledge of traditional and digital photography, typography, multimedia, and print production.

Graphic Designer
These artists differ from fine artists not in the sense of the materials they use, but in the purpose of their design. Sometimes referred to as a commercial artist, this person creates a visually pleasing or memorable image that communicates a message, sells a product, or creates a corporate identity. They are self-employed, or work for advertising agencies or other businesses.

Art Director
This person works at advertising agencies, television stations, magazines, newspapers, and retail and service industries. Art directors - together with copywriters - are responsible for setting the tone and visualizing the look of an advertisement or a campaign. The art director will create the ad, but may or may not produce the finished work, depending on the size of the staff. Generally, the smaller the company, the more responsibility there is for actually doing the work. In larger companies, the art director supervises other creatives.

At large ad agencies, there may be several levels: executive art directors, senior art directors, junior art directors, and assistant art directors. Art directors in a supervisory capacity keep the department current on typography and technology, are mindful of deadlines, and stay within client budgets. Art directors can also write headlines or campaign slogans, and draw storyboards for television commercials.

Creative Director
This is usually the highest position on the creative team, and every advertising agency has one. Creative directors are responsible for creative output with regard to entire advertising campaigns. Some larger corporations may have their own in-house creative directors, but the title is most identified with art directors (and copywriters) who have worked their way up through the ranks as part of an advertising agency's creative team. Creative directors have a proven track record of coming up with great ideas, executing them efficiently, and skillfully managing other creatives.

Illustrator
This is a person who specializes in drawings in various art media (watercolor, acrylics, charcoal and others), for print media such as advertisements, magazines, billboards, posters, and the like. In advertising, illustrators generally do not originate full concepts for a client's product. Instead they take direction from the graphic designer or art director in charge. For example, the art director for an annual report or a magazine article, decides that a specialized illustration is needed for a piece and then chooses an illustrator who is best suited for the job. Illustrators are rarely on staff at advertising agencies, and are usually freelancers or have their own firms.

Production Artist
This is a position that exists in very large advertising agencies and media companies. Once called paste-up artists, these workers are increasingly scarce, since the laborious process of cutting and pasting typeset copy has been replaced by software that offers thousands of readily available typefaces, instant editing, and other high-tech capabilities. Some entry-level jobs are still labeled production artists or production workers, but the duties are done almost exclusively on a computer instead of using the traditional T-square and X-acto knife.

I was always sketching designs. My friends would get me to sketch hot rod drawings for them. In middle school, we were required to take a half-semester of shop and a half-semester of mechanical drawing. I reached a degree of competency in drawing something, understanding how to measure and scale.

In high school I went into architectural drafting and did very well. In fact, on my letter jacket I had an embroidered T-square with three bars on top of my athletic letter.

I then attended a community college thinking I was going to be an architect, but I took a business course that really ruined my whole outlook. It wasn't fun anymore. So I quit and went off to work for a couple of years in Hollywood, at my cousin's architectural arts firm.

When I came back home I got serious about going back to college, only this time I went back to study fine art at a university. There was a class called graphic design. I didn't know what it was, but it sounded interesting so I took it just for the heck of it. I ended up in a class where they used T-squares, triangles, and all the things I had learned in middle school. So I was the best in the class. They were teaching kids how to use these tools, and they were like my arms and hands. I could do this in my sleep.

My ideas of becoming a painter started slipping. I was excelling in graphic design. At that point I found my mentor, who was my professor. That's when I moved into advertising art. He had 20 years' experience as a creative director in New York and knew all the big players. He was very aggressive and very hard on everyone. A lot of people dropped out. You couldn't be 30 seconds late to his class. He'd lock the door, your face would be in the door window, and everybody would just look at you. But he was turning out art directors and copywriters who could compete on a national level with their student portfolios.

That professor is now retired, but he was a pioneer, and now schools are doing a much better job of turning out students with those same concept skills.

In my senior year, I was a teaching assistant to both my design and illustration teachers. When I graduated, my mentor offered me a job at the small agency he owned in Austin, and I took it. I chose to be a bigger fish in a smaller pond instead of going to New York. I like a slower pace in general.

When I first entered the field, production skills were learned on the job. The system used to be based on the premise that you have an art director and production artists. So you would apprentice with the senior people who taught you the nuances of cutting and pasting. We'd get typesetting from a typesetter, and we'd have to cut between every line of type; in some cases, we'd cut between every letter and rewrap those. If we didn't like it when we got to the bottom, we'd start again at the top, until the type was perfect.

The computer has taken over that process now, with people coming out of school knowing all these programs, which is as it should be. Use the best tool available at the time. If there's any criticism now on my part, it's that kids are coming out of school with the ability to produce the whole thing from start to finish. Apprenticeships are few and far between. Students have to hit the ground running. I think there's a lot of sink or swim going on out there.

I went through a series of moves and job changes, first as a graphic designer and art director, then as a creative director. I organized and built creative teams for several advertising agencies, and we did a lot of award-winning work together.

I worked at agencies where they'd lose a big account and start laying people off. After one layoff, I started doing freelance work for that agency, and then I added a couple of staffers. I tried to turn my design studio into an ad agency, but one of my clients was already an ad agency. She asked me if I would come on board as a partner and combine our resources.

After a few years, I looked at what I had gotten myself into with the partnership and I wasn't happy with it, and suddenly a whole new opportunity presented itself to help start a publishing company.

By that time I had worked for 12 different advertising agencies and had pretty much had enough of the agency life. So I just jumped ship and went to work on the client side. And it's interesting, because I've been able to build a creative group that is not typical of in-house creative departments. I say that because advertising agency creatives have this thing that if you're not working for ad agency, you don't count. That's why at my publishing house I've tried to build a department that is positive for creative people to work in.

Publishing has been a very nice spot to land career wise. I think I was lucky. I fit my skills very well to my career. Whether that's by design, I don't know, or by fate. I was adventurous enough to go for it and make the right moves. I can't say that every job I had was wonderful, but they all added together to get me into publishing where I have a variety of skills to apply to the work.

Everybody has to find a mentor. If you don't have one, get one. Somebody has to get you excited. My university professor did that for me.

Look through award books to see what good design and typography is. With everything done so easily on computer, some of the important issues like readability have been lost along the way.

Study print graphics - magazine ads, newspaper ads, direct mail, brochures, and catalogs. These media are going to be around for a long time, so there are opportunities for someone who has a good eye for print design.

Kids who are building their own Web sites are learning part of the trade even though they don't know it.

College or art school is the way to go. It's a systematic way to build your portfolio, and you need to be constantly working on that.

If you have a dynamite portfolio, you may get a job with a big ad agency regardless of a degree. Your portfolio should be presented in a very professional, clean way. It should be perfect. It's okay to have pages of ideas to go along with it. You don't have to be a great designer to be a great art director, but in the smaller markets you will have to do both concept and final design, so work on that.

When people interview with me and show me their portfolio, they'll say, 'Well, I did this in school, but now I would do it differently.' I tell them, 'Why didn't you redo it before you came to me?' Don't make excuses. What you're showing me is the best work you could have possibly done up until five minutes ago. I'll ask, 'What were you doing?' 'I was eating.' 'Oh, so eating is more important than getting a good job?' Applicants don't even think about that. Did you stay up until midnight making your portfolio better so maybe I'd like it more? Because you only get one shot at me. One shot. That's it."

I Was a Graphic Designer at a Newspaper and Now Own My Own Graphic Design Business
"I always knew I wanted to be involved in the arts and painting. When I was a kid I originally wanted to be a cartoonist and have my own cartoon strip. I always had cartoons in the high school newspaper.

I was a painting major at the University of Iowa. I had a fine arts background although I also had a minor in journalism. I knew that in fine arts I might need to have something to fall back on, so that's why I took a lot of journalism. I worked on the campus newspaper doing cartoons. When I graduated I got a job at the city newspaper. That's how I got into advertising, laying out ads for a newspaper.

From the advertising department I eventually worked my way into editorial. The editor of the paper saw my work and wanted me to do editorial cartoons and page layouts for the editorial section. That's on the other side of the fence in newspapers. You literally have the advertising department on one floor and the editorial on the other. I wanted to be in editorial because that's the heart and soul of a newspaper.

As a graphic designer for a newspaper, I basically came up with the best display to help explain the story. I used my talents in the design field so things were laid out proportionately, using good typefaces that are pleasing to the eye. At times I had to call on my talents as an illustrator to provide a specific drawing for a story.

I also used my talents in production working with desktop publishing systems. There's a trick to that, being able to build a page, making sure all your fonts are working correctly, and knowing what you have on screen can eventually be printed to an output device without a lot of technical snafus. And on deadline.

You have very tight deadlines at newspapers. It's a daily thing. The volume of work you put out is unbelievable, one page after another, one illustration after another. You're working so fast. You learn how to work under the gun with limited resources and make the most of it. I learned to think three steps ahead in order to meet the deadline.

Around that time, USA Today was coming out. When everybody saw that, they wanted to turn their paper into a full color, very graphic intensive daily newspaper. That meant splashy layouts, factoid boxes, and informational graphics.

Jobs for graphic designers just exploded in the 1980s. You could go anywhere in the country because newspapers were looking for people right and left to add pizzazz to their paper. The newspapers began to have a fresh new look reflective of their audience. You couldn't get enough designers to fill these positions, and people were hopping from one paper to the other, taking their bag of tricks.

So I got another job at another paper, not just doing illustrations and laying out feature pages, but redesigning the whole paper and working my way up into management.

Then the 1990s happened, and two-newspaper towns were becoming one-newspaper towns. My paper closed. I had been in newspapers for about 15 years. I decided I really wanted to try things on the commercial end. Go back to my advertising roots.

So I started my own company. I had my own studio by myself. There weren't that many people who had their own high-end Mac with a big screen, so I already knew all the electronic end of it from the newspaper. I took all that deadline-savvy experience and applied it to the commercial world where I could turn things around quickly for clients.

I just took all these different experiences - fine arts, technical knowledge, laying out an ad, laying out a page, thinking compositionally how things have to fall in place - and used that part of my brain to think on my feet. Because of that I was able to hold down expenses. It was really great - I picked up one client after another.

That was 10 years ago. Now I have a staff of five and purposely keep my staff small - clerical, accounting, and a production worker. It is occasionally frustrating to have to put on the management hat and deal with employee issues, but if you get yourself surrounded by professional people who like what they're doing and you give them a good working environment, then you don't have to constantly handle everybody.

If you want to work in advertising art, you're going to have to know a little bit of everything. The thing I notice the most is that I see very few designers who can draw. They can't do a typical napkin drawing, or pencil out an idea. I've always found that kind of limiting for people.

As an employer, I want to be able to look at somebody who is a diamond in the rough, very creative. You have all this talent just spilling over, and you can go in any direction that anyone can possibly throw you in.

Most of my mentors were people whose work I studied and admired. I rarely had direct contact with them. I did learn from people in the management end. I liked the way they worked with people.

You have to be Macintosh oriented. Once you have that background, you learn Photoshop for photo manipulation, Adobe Illustrator or Freehand for drawing, and Quark or Indesign for layout. There are many other applications, but those are your main core programs. You'll usually have them all open at the same time on your computer and you just pop between them as needed.

Keep yourself thinking out of the box all the time. I still read a lot of newspapers. When you go to the mall, look at posters and displays in the stores, try to see the trends, what the new color palettes are going to be for the next few years. Just take in as much of your environment as you can.

There are a lot of great schools, but I would have to say that one of the best schools is "experience." I also think you get a well-rounded education at a university. Instead of going to a school that just gives you a focus in art and design, at a university there are different areas for you to fall back on.

I think what's happening now is the need for designers who are well rounded. It doesn't mean you have to be a Michelangelo in every single area. Once you find your area of expertise while you're in school, try using it directly. Maybe get a job with a small firm or a newspaper. Then when you graduate you have this small commercial portfolio rather than things that were just done in the classroom. You can say you designed this stationery for this doctor or you did layouts for this weekly community newspaper. When I see people's portfolios, the ones that stand out are usually the ones who did actual work."

I Am an Art Director, Graphic Designer, and Am Now Vice President, Creative Director, and Part Owner of a Design Studio
"I always knew I wanted to be some kind of artist, and fortunately my parents supported and encouraged me. I took fine art courses, and in my junior and senior year in high school I took commercial art. I worked on the yearbook and school newspaper.

After I got my associate's degree in graphic design, my first job was as a junior designer in a very small ad agency.

I started out as a production artist, basically lick 'em and stick 'em. Occasionally they'd throw me a bone: Here, do a logo, do an ad, whatever. That was really good for me because I was working with some unbelievably good designers, and one of the ways to learn how to design well is to study really good work and ask questions: Why did they do it this way? Why is this headline this big? Why did they line all this stuff up over here? If you start thinking about someone's good work, a lot of the creative process will happen through osmosis. I was amazed at how much I had learned from those guys and didn't really know it.

There were three of us when I started. We were doing about $1.5 million a year in billing. The art director was this older, seasoned guy of 28. He'd worked at all these big agencies and was awesome. He taught me how to think strategically and how to write headlines.

I did an unusual thing in my career. I would go from design studio to ad agency, then back to design studio. And every time I switched it was a conscious decision. It was like, 'I think I've learned everything I could here, and now I'm going to learn about design.' I'd learn more about design, and I'd feel like I was a better designer, but then I wanted to do advertising again.

Fortunately, job-hopping works for you in this career, especially to get a raise, and especially when you're young. My dad, who worked for the same company basically his whole life, thought I was crazy. Every three or four years I was changing jobs, and even that's a long time in this industry to stay at one job. He'd say, 'What are you doing?' And I'd say, 'Dad, I nearly doubled my salary on that last move.'

I've had jobs as an assistant art director, art director, graphic designer, and creative director. Now I'm part owner of a full-service design firm. My happiest days - and these are rare - are when I can spend two or three hours actually working on a design problem, or doing high-end conceptual stuff. Coming up with themes for an ad campaign, tag lines, things like that. I would say maybe once or twice a month that will happen. My other favorite days are photography direction. Going out on a big, big shoot and moving people around.

Most days I'm managing people, budgets, and accounts, and writing schedules, making revisions, and doing a little bit of design. It's ironic that you're in an industry where the better you get at what you do, the less you do of it.

When we do our job right, the client's happy and we're happy. If either party's not happy with the finished product, then something was wrong. We weren't listening. Something broke down somewhere.

What's weird is that many of our more sophisticated accounts, the ones that have big marketing departments, will say, 'We want to do an ad and we're going to tell you what you need to know and you can go off and do a creative work plan, but we want to see sketches first. We want to see your thought process, the raw stuff.' So they still want to see sketches.

With so many of these younger designers, even if they can draw, they can only draw internally. It's not something you want to show a client. It's really not presentable. Here's the irony of it: I look at Gen Xers and Gen Yers, look at what they can do on a computer, and I'm just in awe. But then I throw a bunch of thumbnail sketches and concepts at them and they're just in awe.

There are some designers who grew up in both worlds, the ones who can do it all. They can sketch it out, write the headlines, then jump on the computer and produce it. Those are the people who are going to do really well.

I've seen only one student book lately that impressed me. This gal was a good thinker. She had come up with some really clever yet strategic solutions to problems. Her design was nice and tidy and clean, with a lot of attention to detail. She was an all around nice person, too. I tell students you may get hired on your portfolio but that's only half of it. They're going to be looking at you as a person, asking themselves, 'Is this a person I can hang with eight hours or more a day?' The best designer in the world can walk in and throw down the best portfolio in the world, but if you're a jerk nobody is going to hire you.

Mentoring is a two way street. Usually the younger person has to be conscious of that arrangement and know that the real learning starts after school. You need to grab onto somebody who's been there and pick their brain as much as you can without driving them crazy.

I've had four mentors. They were intelligent, good communicators, and they weren't all designers. The first one taught me the importance of client relationships and how to build trust through being ethical, honest, and always delivering on time. The second taught me how to solve design problems. The third one taught me how to design, and the fourth showed me how to be more creative.

Learn to draw well. I would recommend the book Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. Just doing some of those exercises really sharpened my drawing skills. Good advertising design is paying attention and making connections.

Master the computer and as much graphic software as you can, particularly the three main programs - Quark, Photoshop, and Illustrator. If you want to do Web work, learn Dreamweaver and Flash.

Push yourself. Find design heroes and emulate their work and thought processes. Learn to write headlines that support your visuals.

Take whatever job you need to get in the door. If you have to start out as a computer production person, then do it."

I Am an Associate Professor of Advertising at a Major University
"I grew up in New Orleans. I got a degree in journalism, worked as a reporter and writer, then taught high school for three years. I went to graduate school at a major university and thought I would continue in journalism. But I realized that this creative stuff I was seeing in advertising was very cool and I liked that.

I earned a PhD in advertising, and I was hired as a professor right out of the PhD program. One of the areas I teach is portfolio development for art directors and copywriters.

Students usually pick a major in their sophomore or junior year. Those who decide on an advertising degree then decide if they want to get on a managerial track, a creative track, or a research track. So there are specialties within this field.

For the creative part, students are looking at writing or art directing. That's not creating the art as such. Rather than being an artist, it's about being a conceptual thinker. It's about being creative, strategic, ethical, all those things.

For our program, in the junior year students apply to get into a creative program. Then they take a sequential program of three or four portfolio building classes. At the end of those, they have a strong conceptual portfolio of 15 to 20 pieces. Now they've probably made 60 to 70 pieces over three or four semesters, but they've narrowed it down to the best of what they have. Some of the work was produced individually, some with a partner, and some working in teams.

The calling card for the art director is the portfolio. That is the entrée to advertising agencies, and it has to be wonderful. Creative directors and creative managers don't care what degree you have. They want people to be able to work and play well with others, but they also have to be able to do the job.

In advertising it's not so much about taking the photograph or drawing the art, as much as how to communicate a strategic message, and then finding the right artist, writer, photographer, to help you realize it. That's what we concentrate on in our portfolio classes - coming up with visual messages.

We do a little bit of campaign dissecting. I think it's wise to know what has worked and what hasn't. We study all kinds of cultural ephemera from posters to films to product labels. Recent campaigns I've liked are Polaroid, Fox Sports, Microsoft, and some wonderful stuff coming out of North Carolina tourism. And Nike's campaign is exceptional.

Technology has really changed the profession. Students are most definitely ramped up electronically and digitally, and that's different. There are more possibilities with the interactive world, and the kids are teaching both agencies and professors how to do it.

Quark, Photoshop, Illustrator - you have to know them. But the ideas have to come from someone's brain. They don't start in the computer. Some school programs have come to rely too much on technology and not enough on idea making. It's still an industry of great ideas, and, yes, those things can be taught. I believe you can open doors. You can remind, reignite, and inspire people to go out and push it further.

We have found that visual people write out their ideas as much as language people. Their sketch books are full of pictures, but they're also full of language and notes. I worry if I don't see someone with a sketchbook. It tells me that they're using the computer too much. I think those good old-fashioned skills of being able to formalize, archive, and capture thoughts in a journal are very important. I have kids using Palm Pilots, but they still have to have a sketchbook.

Where do graduates start after school? It depends where they end up working, on the size of the agency. In larger agencies there are a lot of things to be done, collateral material and print work that might be lower on the food chain. At medium size agencies, kids on their first jobs might work on a television spot in their first year.

Apprentice programs don't happen much anymore. They may happen unofficially in terms of a mentoring relationship, and we're always looking to make that kind of magic happen.

An art director will partner with a writer, and together they will come up with a concept that fits the strategy. I think it's interesting that in these partnerships now, the art director thinks in words and the writer thinks in visuals.

An art director will consider the best use of space, the layout of an ad, the typography, all those things. They go on photo shoots and direct the artistic concept. There may be a tech person who comes in to help build the vision in Quark, or art directors may just do it themselves, depending on the size of the staff. At the entry level you could be working up to 80 hours a week.

With our graduates, we've had people go on to big agencies and work on Nike and Microsoft. These students are so ambitious and so bright, and are doing great stuff. We have a large pool of graduates at wonderful agencies, who we see as extended family. We place people in jobs all over the US.

The market is very competitive at this point. Enrollment in graduate classes also goes up in bad economic times. People say, 'I'll just wait it out in graduate school.'

There is a type of student who doesn't make it. In the creative area of advertising, it's someone coming in with a mind set that says, 'This is exactly how it works, this is the formula I have to use to make a good ad.' That's the kiss of death. Someone who isn't flexible and ready to roll with the punches is going to have a hard time in this field. Someone who's very conservative - not in the political sense - but in their thinking, someone who limits what the possibilities are.

I think I'm seeing more students who are really serious about making careers out of making advertising better. We preach that again and again. Advertising is not going to go away. Let's make it better, more useful, entertaining, and ethical.

Mentoring is very important. It may not be a formal situation as much as it is looking for people who can show you what's really going on and what good work is.

Be flexible. If someone says 'It's all about PageMaker - I'm not going to use Quark.' That's not how it's done. You have to eliminate the feeling that there's only one way of doing something.

I think continuing education is going to the restaurant and watching how people read a menu, reading, and going to great movies that you might have never have gone to. Traveling. For so many creatives, they're working in advertising at the same time they're writing novels, or doing their own art, and they're feeding that creative side.

I want my students to be culturally curious, to read everything from Harry Potter to Advertising Today to the classics. I want them to be well read on a wide, wonderful level. That's what strengthens their thinking."

Above all, you have to love the arts and popular culture - television, magazines, newspapers, books, the Internet, movies, music, theater, fashion - because the work you produce will always be competing for the public's attention. Reading, observing, writing, and drawing should be part of your everyday life. You should be enthusiastic, involved, and aware of current trends in advertising while respecting the outstanding and groundbreaking work of the past. A strong sense of color, balance, proportion, and an eye for detail are important.

You need the ability to visualize in different styles and media, and to communicate that vision to others in a group setting. Presentation and speaking skills can be taught and practiced, but if you have a hard time visualizing things, you are probably in the wrong field.

Problem-solving skills are important, because your designs will not exist in a vacuum. They have to help the client solve a business dilemma, increase market visibility, bring in more money, or introduce a new product.

Other qualifications include:

• The ability to think things through logically, realistically, creatively, and ethically - and do all of that under pressure.
• The ability to think young no matter what your age.
• Are you able to handle criticism. Advertising is not for the thin-skinned.
• Staying organized and on task, managing your time, and meeting deadlines.
• An understanding of your own creative process is a must, along with the willingness to learn from and respect others.
• Flexibility, patience, a sense of humor, and a passion for doing your best work.
• Always giving more than what is expected of you. If the client wants three sketches, give them five. If they need four solutions to a problem, give seven.

You must have excellent interpersonal skills to succeed in this field. No matter how talented, if you cannot get along with co-workers and clients, and are not honest in your relationships, advertising will be an unwise choice. The advertising world is relatively small and word gets around if you are difficult to work with.

This is one industry where it's okay to job-hop. My advice is to do some of that. You'll expand your network of people, and if you're a likable and talented person, people will get to know who you are and you'll get more job offers.

It's pleasing to be able to sit in front of a computer moving things around and doing layouts. When I go and do a press check at the printer, I get into the smell of the ink, the feel of the paper, and seeing the image that I created.

Every day I get to do something I really enjoy, and not everyone is lucky enough to do that as a vocation.

Being creative and coming up with exciting work that solves the client's problem well.

There's no such thing as a typical day. Every day is different.

To help foster a new way of looking at something in the culture. I think Nike has done that well. They've branded Nike, but at the same time they've made us understand the heartfelt consideration of what it means to "just do it." That's pretty culture changing, especially when it speaks to something so positive.

My favorite clients are the ones who give you all pertinent information, turn you loose, and trust you to solve the problem. Then they pick your favorite idea, publish it, and it works. They share the results with you and congratulate you for doing such a good job. Those are the ideal clients.

All of my students volunteer in some way, using their talents for everything from breast cancer awareness to homelessness. The other good part is this vital, wonderful, fun, passionate way of making ideas every day. That is so cool. And there's money to be made.

For about a year I worked with a very arrogant account executive who was impossible to please and got great joy out of making me feel like I was stupid.

Advertising can be ugly - shilling products that are less than perfect. I've heard horror stories where people quit entirely and moved on to a job where they didn't have to sell what they didn't believe in.

Deadlines - deadlines - deadlines!

The majority of professionals in the field have an undergraduate degree or some college education. A formal education shows that you are committed to building a design portfolio and that you are willing to learn from experts in the field. Advertising is a tough and highly competitive industry, and although genuine creative talent will always shine through, a degree or other training could give you that extra edge.

Moreover, some government agencies and university systems may require all employees to have an undergraduate degree to work in their advertising creative departments. These degrees can be in art, journalism, design, English, marketing, psychology, or business.

A Bachelor of Fine Arts degree program may include courses such as principles of design, art and art history, painting, sculpture, mechanical and architectural drawing, basic engineering, fashion design, and sketching.

If you plan to teach advertising, art, or graphic design at the college or university level, you will need a postgraduate degree (a master's or a PhD) in art, advertising, or a related field.

For most jobs in the private sector, however, employers will be looking at your ability to think, create, produce, and eventually manage others - more than any specific formal educational background.

Macintosh computer proficiency in design software such as PhotoShop, Quark, and Illustrator is mandatory. Continuing education programs, online learning, or design schools (go here for a list: www.graphic-design-schools.com), can provide these specialized courses.

More than 100 colleges and art schools offer programs accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design. Before choosing a school, check to see how the courses are separated into fine art and commercial art, and choose the one that most closely suits your goals and interests.

In an undergraduate college or university, the main subjects to investigate are business, journalism, and communications majors that cover all areas of advertising from both creative and managerial standpoints. Checking out a list of colleges and universities (www.universities.com) will help you find a listing of degree programs offered by each school.

If you don't yet know your primary interest, a liberal arts education or an associate's degree at a community college is a good start. Or investigate the various art offerings at career schools Listed at the Technical Vocational Schools & Trade Schools web site.

Colleges and universities offering degree programs in advertising

• University of Texas - Austin
• Syracuse University, New York
• Iowa State University, Ames
• Northwestern University, Chicago
• Pepperdine University, Malibu, California
• Washington State University, Pullman
• University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
• University of Florida, Gainesville

Art and Design Schools

• School of Advertising Art, Ohio
• Academy of Art College, San Francisco
• School of the Art Institute of Chicago
• Art Institute of Atlanta
• Art Institute of Houston
• Art Center College of Design, Pasadena
• Art Institute of California
• Pratt Institute, New York
• School of Visual Arts, New York
• Minneapolis School of Advertising, Design, and Interactive Studies

Portfolio Development Schools

• The Portfolio Center, Atlanta
• Miami Ad School
• The Creative Circus, Atlanta
• School of Visual Concepts, Seattle

Your salary will depend on several variable factors: the size of the agency or in-house communications department, the size of the market you live in, years of experience, and whether your duties will be primarily generating ideas, creating your own designs and/or producing the work of others, and eventually your ability to manage a department.

The following ranges depend on region, with western US advertising agencies paying the highest salaries:

• Art directors: $50,000 to $60,000
• Associate creative directors: $85,000 to $100,000
• Creative directors: $100,000 to $125,000

Advertising artists who work on the client side are subject to similar variables, although some contend that you can make more working for a client than an agency. Salaries are dependent upon the size and profitability of the company, the importance they place on creative positions within the company, and fluctuating market conditions.

If you are an owner of your own advertising art and design business you will make whatever you can afford to pay yourself. Very successful freelancers or owners of small firms can make $100,000 or more.

Changing jobs is a fact of life in advertising, and careerists who are talented and in demand have been known to increase their salaries significantly by moving around.

There are about 10,000 advertising agencies in the United States. New York and Chicago dominate the global agency market, along with Los Angeles, Detroit, and San Francisco. High-profile creative work is also coming out of Minneapolis, Boston, Atlanta, Seattle, Miami, and Dallas.

The best news about advertising, however, is that it is literally everywhere. In fact, advertising agencies can be found in just about every city of any size. The larger ones have branch offices all over the world.

Internships are the best and most-sought-after way to get that first break. The American Advertising Federation's college connection program has 260 affiliated chapters throughout the United States and abroad. The program includes 6,000 undergraduate student members and more than 250 faculty advisers. AAF's programs feature more than 1,000 internship opportunities, scholarships, career guides, industry mentors, and networking with top agency and corporate recruiters.

The National Network for Artist Placement (check out their Web site at www.artistplacement.com) publishes the National Directory of Arts Internships. College or university career centers may have a copy.

A career in advertising art is not limited to jobs at advertising agencies. Many artists and other creatives choose to work client-side in an in-house communications department. Advertisers in the US spend about $200 billion a year. The top 10 advertising expenditures are in retail, automotive, food, financial services, telecommunications, entertainment, travel, transportation, restaurants, and media (television, radio, etc.). The Standard Directory of Advertising Agencies, the "Red Book," lists agencies and their clients.

To view examples of portfolios by industry professionals, go to Communication Arts Web site.

How do you build your own portfolio? Everything you do in art, design, or computer graphics class is potential material. Also anything you design for clubs, organizations, and extracurricular activities. Keep copies of all of your work, and select the best for your book, discarding and replacing as needed.

Other things you can do to get started:

• Talk to your art teachers and school counselors about your interest in advertising art.
• Work on the school newspaper and yearbook.
• Check out library books on advertising art and history, graphic design, and typography.
• Watch television commercials, study magazine ads, visit museums, go to the movies, and read as much of everything as you can.
• If your circle of family and friends includes professionals in advertising, public relations, journalism, or art, start looking for a mentor.
• Ask your school to include creative advertising professionals in their next Career Day.
• Build your own Web site if you haven't already, using free space from your Internet service provider. Learn the three main programs discussed here - Photoshop, Quark, and Illustrator - but don't stop there.

Read books on advertising: listed below are some books that may interest you.

• Advertising Today by Warren Berger
• The Art Directors Annual
• Twenty Ads That Shook the World: The Century's Most Groundbreaking Advertising and How It Changed Us All by James B. Twitchell
• Five Star Mind: Games and Exercises to Stimulate Your Creativity and Imagination by Tom Wujec
• The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards
• A Whack on the Side of the Head: How You Can Be More Creative by Roger Von Oech

• The American Association of Advertising Agencies
• American Advertising Federation
• Association of National Advertisers
• The Art Directors Club, New York
• The Advertising Council
• The Advertising Education Foundation

Listed below are some trade periodicals