Octavia Hansen

Interviews Pt 2 . . . Young Artists, Other People



Posted: Tuesday, January 10, 2012

by Octavia Hansen
Octavia Hansen

Many times and for the many companies where I worked, I co-hosted the interview process with an art director or owner. This was always a circus and I wished now I had a video tape of these interviews. The comedy never stopped.

I have always worked in art. With more experience behind me than I will admit to here, I know what looks good -- a great advertisement costs the same as a crappy advertisement -- and I can tell if someone is suited for the job. It's also glaringly obvious who should NOT work in the art field. It's cut throat . . . when an advertising campaign is finished, most of the staff is dismissed. That's the way it is. Longevity usually means not creative, only repetition. Some people like that. Unlike other businesses, the move you move around in the art field, the more you learn, the more interesting you are. In Banking and Business, changing jobs means you are undependable. In art, changing jobs is better than going to school -- real work experience always tops insulated school time.

Most people think of art as playtime. Sometimes it is but only to those gifted enough to make it look easy. In the advertising world, an artist must deal with a non-artist client and come up with acceptable work that advertises the business or idea. Sound easy? Most people don't know how to ask. Most people don't know what they are looking for . . . but they will know it when they see it. Great, they have the entire world to look at and you have to guess what they like, what's on their mind and what they want to pay for. Great advertising is not cheap. Proctor & Gamble has the largest advertising budget in the world -- in the billions. One minute of commercial air time during the Super Bowl Game costs millions. There are time slots for fifteen seconds that cost more than an office building. Coca-Cola has one of the most innovative advertising departments in the Western World, they have developed film and animation techniques just to promote their soft drink.

Everyone thinks they are an artist. A sketch on a cocktail napkin makes them Picasso. Some clients swear their kids are artistically gifted and want to include that in their ads -- anything from a pencil scratch to a crayon scribble where it looks like they sat on it to draw. I smile. What can I do -- they ask? I can do ANYTHING . . . how much do you want to spend? Andy Warhol worked in advertising and found it artistically strangling. Produce something gorgeous for a client meeting, then everything that made it beautiful is cut. That's art. I get paid no matter what the final outcome, I just wish they would leave art in the hands of the artist. They pay me to produce, then don't let me. Oh, well.

Back to the interviews. Every kid who ever sat through an art class . . . EVER . . . thinks they will find employment as an artist. Teens who actually signed up for art classes in high school think they are ready for the working world. College students who took all semester, or the better part of a year, to finish a painting or sculpture think they are ready for a nine to five job. WRONG! It's not what you do . . . it's -- What do they want? What will they pay for? When do they want it? There were times I was finishing Christmas art on December 24th, and I knew there were no printers open on Christmas and no mail delivery -- what were they going to do with this art? There were a lot of afternoons when a job was received . . . and due out the next morning. If the art was not ready, there would be a blank square in a newspaper, magazine or other publication that would still cost them money. A deadline is just that . . . DEAD if you don't make it. And try collecting money when that happens. No matter what it took you in time and effort.

Ahhhhhh, the interviews . . .

A young woman who wasn't very bright, brought in a portfolio full of printed pieces, very nice pages. When we asked questions, she did not know details -- spot colors, printing, display, original dimensions or final cut. She also was not familiar with general art or the psychology of colors, balance or type. After a quiet conference in the hall between the art director and myself, we concluded it was not her portfolio. Either she had a friend who was good, trying to get her what they thought was easy work as an artist, or she was clever enough to "borrow" someone's portfolio thinking she could pass this off as hers and into a cushy job. No, she couldn't.

I remember a young artist newly out of college with an impressive portfolio, nice smile and willing to start at the bottom of the advertising business. He was hired. He was going to start next week. It was set. And then . . . later that same evening . . . he was killed at a convenience store during a robbery. He had an unusual name. On the news that night, it was that name. Quietly, we went back through the resumes to find someone else . . .

A young lady artist was hired. She had her own desk. She was told the office procedure, shown how the work was produced and she would be required to do the same. She had coffee, talked to a few people, even sat at her desk once or twice. Then she went to lunch . . . and never came back. It wasn't the fun she. Ahhhh, poor baby!

Stay tuned, boys and girls, for Part 3, and I will recount a few personal experiences I had with interviews. I was always told by my dad that adversity builds character. Yea, thanks, Dad! Like I need more character!
Octavia (Yes, that's her real name!) is a busy gal in Las Vegas, NV. From New York City parents and Texas birth, she began in the best of both worlds, literate and comical. Extensive US family travel in her younger years, now she's on her third passport and numerous cars driven to pieces in the name of wanderlust. The Big O settled in Las Vegas, which she compares to running away to join the circus - IT'S FUN! Comedy and alternative thinking come easily. When she's not writing, she sings, she writes songs, produces her own CDs, attracted to shiny objects, looks stunning at renaissance festivals across the country and is only stopped by lack of time for all the projects she has in mind. What a woman!
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