SCABs

101 things I have learned before starting the last term. By @dennis_engel87

Dennis Engel

By Dennis Engel

 

101 things I have learned before starting the last term. 

  1. Never ever be late. 
  2. Time is the most precious thing you have. Plan your days, weeks, month!
  3. Be interesting. Surround yourself with interesting stuff. 
  4. Ask your classmates for feedback. You will learn more from them than from Marc. 
  5. Start early enough to learn After Effects. It will be rewarded at D&AD time. 
  6. There is always a better idea. Never stop exploring. 
  7. You don’t own ideas. So share them constantly. 
  8. Kill your babies. Don’t get attached to your ideas. 
  9. “Made to stick” is one of the best books on the reading list. 
  10. 6-hat your ideas to push them further. 
  11. Say thank you! Write thank you cards to your mentors. 
  12. Skype more often with your friends and families. It’s easy to forget your social life. 
  13. Meditate. It helps you to keep balanced. 
  14. Go to bed before midnight. 
  15. Eat healthy! Fuck meal deals! They just make you tired. 
  16. Don’t trust Marc. Ever! 
  17. There is only one god in the studio. That’s Marc. 
  18. Don’t ask Pete for feedback hours before deadline. 
  19. Respect your working environment. 
  20. Be friendly. 
  21. Start early to boost your twitter account. 
  22. Think of topical ads. 
  23. Don’t judge ideas during brainstorm sessions. 
  24. Get out of the studio as much as you could. 
  25. Don’t trust Western Union. 
  26. Keep your Mac clean. 
  27. If you don’t have time. Make yourself time. 
  28. Money is not as important as you think. 
  29. You can asked Honor and Claire everything. 
  30. There is no such thing as a bad brief. Always challenge the brief. 
  31. Plan weekly feedback session with your partner to improve yourself
  32. Listen to interesting podcasts while working.
  33. Do more sports. 
  34. Travel to get new inspirations. 
  35. There is a whole creative world outside from advertising. 
  36. Constantly try to push your own boundaries.
  37. Always ask why? 
  38. Ask Ian for feedback to improve your skills.
  39. Burn your book at least three times to win cream. 
  40. Remember yourself why you entered the school!
  41. Make a list of advertising, agencies, directors, CDs, ECDs you like. 
  42. Know your industry. Know your competitors. 
  43. Have fun with your ideas. 
  44. Go shop lifting to get some good SMPs. 
  45. Don’t waste your energy on airline brands. 
  46. Don’t put market leaders into your book (Nike, Heinz, Redbull etc.)
  47. Put every week a new campaign into your book. 
  48. Winsor & Newton brush markers are awesome for scamping. 
  49. Use news feeds like RSS or feedly. 
  50. Follow Vicent Dignan for growth hacking techniques. 
  51. Steal good ideas. 
  52. Go out more often. 
  53. Visit the Brixton market for inspiration. 
  54. Don’t use headphones while exploring the world outdoors. 
  55. Always start with a problem and an interesting inside. 
  56. Start a kitchen plan or buy a dish washer. 
  57. Get some extra work from Marc or start your own portfolio briefs. 
  58. You will fail more often than you will succeed. 
  59. Don’t follow money. Follow interesting creatives and agencies and the money will come with it. 
  60. Enjoy a lentil soup in the Moroccan cafe for lunch. 
  61. Set yourself goals outside of the advertising industry. 
  62. Surround yourself with mentors who like your work. They’ll push you further. 
  63. A poster campaign doesn’t mean you have the same layout with different content. 
  64. Read more books. Use the time on your journey to school and back. 
  65. Start a beginner course to learn the basics of Adobe programs. 
  66. It’s good to have great ideas. It’s better to make them happen. 
  67. Get famous. Tell the world that you exist. 
  68. Always act professional. 
  69. Everything is a process. 
  70. Take every brief as a new chance. 
  71. If you work for assholes… it means you are an asshole.  
  72. Awards are a nice excuse to get wasted and to be famous for 2 minutes. 
  73. Bring your own booze to Friday reflections. 
  74. Always have an opinion. It’s better to be wrong than having no opinion at all. 
  75. If you want to be the best you fucking have to take the stairs – not the elevator. Again and again. 
  76. Try to make new habits. 
  77. Use Trello with your partner to manage your projects. 
  78. Nobody likes Marc’s ranking system. But it’s worth it. 
  79. Cream is the most important award for SCA students. 
  80. Irrationality beats rationality. 
  81. Always investigate rational and irrational roots. 
  82. Write scripts! It will make your case study crafting process so much easier. 
  83. Take breaks. You will work much faster after taking a proper break. 
  84. Work smart not hard. 
  85. Always take notes. Always have a note pad in your pocket. 
  86. Get fresh air. The air in the studio sucks. 
  87. Plan your hours and try to stick to the plan. You will work so much more efficiently. 
  88. Join the masterclass of Alexandra Taylor. It’s awesome.    
  89. Ask questions. Mentors love when you ask a lot of interesting questions. You are more likely to get remembered. 
  90. Brand yourself. It helps you with thank you cards, book crits and networking. 
  91. Only use tech to support and idea and not the other way around. 
  92. D&AD is the time when good work starts. Don’t stop after D&AD. 
  93. Don’t ask to many mentors for a feedback. It will confuse you. 
  94. Rory Sutherland is pretty smart. He is too smart for our industry. He could run countries. Probably pretty well…
  95. Don’t throw away your ideas. They might be useful later on. 
  96. Learn more about typography. It’s really useful. 
  97. Get enough sleep. 
  98. Watch the documentary about John Webster.  
  99. Give the most to your audience and expect the least back. 
  100. Nobody likes to engage with branded content. 
  101. Try to do the opposite. 

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