ISSUE 010

I'm gonna start giving you peek inside my course, NEXT Art Director.

Mostly because the landing page doesn't do it justice, yet. The landing page is built around the live bootcamp, so the self-paced course doesn't get the spotlight it deserves...yet...

But I didn't build it as a half-baked version of the bootcamp. It's truly standalone curriculum that will teach you how to become an art director, and there are 2 really important ways it does that...

Let me explain:

There's a catch-22 at the start of every art direction career. You can't get hired without the work, and you can't get the work without getting hired. Chicken and the egg. No experience, no job. No job no experience.

So how do you get hired??

You make spec work (fake work). It's the number one way creatives get into this industry. And I say "fake" lightly because making great spec work is about making it as real as you can possibly make it. If you want to work for the biggest brands in the world, you don't fill your portfolio with the small freelance graphics you designed for your local dentist. no, you make fake campaigns for the biggest brands in the world. You show them what you can do EXACTLY how you would do it for them. And then they will hire you to do exactly that.

It's best to assume most potential recruiters & creative directors won't take a chance on you. (as hard as that is to say.) No one wants to risk the business for you. They want PROOF you can do the job! They're looking for evidence you can think conceptually, think at scale, then translate that idea into visual solutions.

So I built the course around (1) teaching you the repeatable principles. (Which im happy to give you more of a sneak peek at in future emails.)

But (2) You'll notice these assignments baked into the course: ☑️ YOUR PROJECT:_____

Every module ends with a homework assignment. These are the same assignments my bootcamp students get, (except they also get me dragging them along over Zoom, pestering them to finish their projects).

But The Course has the same goal: Learn the principles. Prove it.

Do the assignments in order, one a week, and you come out the other side with a finished 360 campaign in your portfolio in a month. That single project is often enough to pivot many graphic designer (and other creatives/creators') portfolios over to being an art direction portfolio. Or if you're a creative starting from scratch there's a whole lesson about positioning your portfolio and making a plan for the rest of your portfolio projects.

That's why i think this course is so powerful. If you have the drive, and discipline to do the work, I will show you exactly what needs to be done.

It's not easy. In fact, I'm very happy it isn't. Despite wanting to un-gatekeep the discipline of art direction, I also want to continually raise the bar. I want to make the best art directors out there.

You deserve to be valued for your creative brain, and your eye. But for that to happen, you'll need some structure & a portfolio that shows how you think.

Again, feel free to check out the full curriculum.​

Click "Learn More" on the sales page and it'll show you every module and lesson title. You can even look up the topics and learn them entirely on your own for free! I truly wouldn't mind. I also cover off on most of the basics over on my youtube channel.

And if you have any questions, hmu!

Jason 🤘

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