<p>Another thing to consider: Brand / image advertising may look like a glamorous field, but it is going the way of the dinosaur. (I say this as someone who has worked at brand / image ad agencies. I have ZERO desire to go back to that.)</p>
<p>What’s the proverbial wave of the future? E-commerce and mobile marketing / advertising. E-commerce is, essentially, electronic direct response. The brand / image folks have long looked down on us direct-to-consumer folks – but, in an increasingly crunched economy, measurable results are the name of the game, and that’s what DTC delivers. That’s why e-commerce and mobile marketing are growing exponentially, while image advertising agencies are having layoffs.</p>
<p>You say you want to do something creative, either copywriting or design. The two are complementary but different. you have to choose. That’s the advice a very wise old instructor gave me years ago, when I was taking his life drawing class. I couldn’t decide between art and writing. He said I could never be equally good in both; I’d have to choose. Each one requires your heart’s blood–you have to give yourself, and it’s hard to give yourself to both. I chose writing, and, in retrospect, I’m glad I did.</p>
<p>Which one you choose will determine so many things. If you go into design, you will have to master the latest Internet-marketing technologies – e.g., Flash (which I personally hate, loathe, and despise) and the successors (thank God!!)to Flash, like HTML5. You will have to keep up with this stuff–and it changes by the minute. You will have to learn web usability and information architecture. If you go into copywriting, you will have to be more strategic, but you won’t have to be as technical! (Flash designers are almost as much programmers as they are designers.) If you go into marketing management – well, why not wait till after college and then get your MBA with a focus on marketing?</p>
<p>If you want to start learning graphic design while you are still in college, you might try a cutting-edge program like Rochester Institute of Technology. If you lean more toward copywriting, just take plenty of English and writing courses, no matter where you go. Advertising copywriting (including e-commerce writing) is not rocket science. If you can write, you can write. You can learn the adspeak stuff on the job. I’ve been in the field for over 30 years, and I am still learning on the job. (That’s another cool thing about e-commerce: I was starting to get bored with traditional advertising when I stumbled into an e-commerce job. Right now, e-commerce is exploding, and, as I mentioned, it’s constantly changing. If you like to learn, you will love it, because there is <em>always</em> something new to learn. Like all new, growing fields, it is inexhaustible.)</p>
<p>Sorry for length of this post. (I am waiting for Thanksgiving turkey to roast, LOL.) As you can tell, I’m kind of keen on this subject – when you’ve been doing something for 30 years, it kind of grows on you. :-)</p>
<p>Oh, forgot to mention: Many ad agencies will eat you alive. That’s another reason I’m glad that I got out of brand / image and into direct-to-consumer. Agencies are revolving doors, and they are full of prima donnas and insane people. (The insane people are the ones who run the joint, LOL.) You might not want to prepare for a career among prima donnas and insane people. Direct-to-consumer tends to be more in-house (e.g., working in the e-commerce /catalog dep’t at Lands’ End, say). Less glamorous but also a LOT less insane!</p>
<p>Of course, when you’re young, you may not mind the craziness so much…I dunno…it can certainly be heady and exciting, but is it worth the torture? </p>
<p>OK, sorry for rambling…</p>
<p>Diane</p>