Hannah Smith, Charlotte Taylor – Art Director, Copywriter – Iris Worldwide BA (Hons) Advertising, 2015 Hannah: ‘I’d always loved looking at all the adverts in magazines like Vogue when I was younger so I knew it was something I wanted to go into. l didn’t necessarily want to go to university but when I heard about the course I thought it sounded right for me – really good connections with London which is the hub of advertising in the UK, so it was perfect. I wouldn’t have known how to get in to the advertising industry if I hadn’t done the course. ‘The mentoring scheme really helped me to understand what I needed to do to progress as a creative as the industry is so competitive. Getting in is hard but once you’re there you have to do it over and over in order to thrive and progress to management. The scheme also helped us build contacts to get our books seen, which is one of the hardest aspects – as we’d email 50 different creative directors and get a response from only a handful, so having the contacts really helped.
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‘In five years, I’d like to be a senior creative and looking to become a creative director. It’s difficult to imagine wanting to leave Iris now but creatives in advertising tend
to move around the sector if they want to progress. ‘We would both consider moving abroad and it’s definitely an option as we’re working in a worldwide agency. You could go to New York, Sydney or Singapore, even if it’s for a couple of weeks’ experience to get a flavour of what it’s like.’ Charlotte: ‘We both work on accounts for loads of clients, including Shell, Samsung and Wacom – and on everything from filming and digital content, to innovation projects for charities to help them get more donations. They are long days! ‘The course taught us everything we needed to know to get into the advertising world. Learning about insight, idea generation and how to come up with something creative. It was all there in the course [but] you’re not spoon fed everything, you have to make your own destiny, learn to be independent and share your own experience. We regularly come across UCA graduates in other agencies and it sometimes feels like UCA has taken over London. ‘One of the highlights of the course was visiting Ogilvy in New York, especially as I’d never been to an agency that size before. I think within five years I’d like to be working overseas.’