Bum'pkin carving

Halloween wouldn't be Halloween without a few creatively carved pumpkins, so today Leo's held a pumpkin carving competition! We were given our pumpkins this afternoon and we had half an hour to get our carve on before they were judged and went on display! 

That's our beautiful creation in the 'bottom' right hand corner otherwise known as our bum'pkin.

It was a messy process, especially as we were carving next to the team who decided to bash and batter their pumpkin up but once they were all on display, they looked pretty spooky!

McDonald's Iced Fruit Smoothies

McDonald's are launching their new Iced Fruit Smoothies for those lucky people in Wales. If the Welsh like them (which we hope they will) it will go nationwide. So here are our print ads, photography by David Gill.

Proud members of the Leo Burnett family

So the 24th May was the anniversary of our website going live.

The next day, Friday 25th May 2012 we were delighted to become a permanent creative team at Leo Burnett. After a fair few months of working our socksies off, all the hard work paid off and now we can actually afford some new socks and Anna can finally buy herself a laptop battery. Phew. In the mean time we will continue to work our socksies off to ensure Justin doesn't reconsider.

A TV Ad that we did... and some press too

Our first integrated campaign to go live! Go to McDonald's and try a delicious cup of Fruitizz, it's one of your five a day! Hope you like the work.

Learning curves of the advertising industry

So it only recently dawned on me that we have been out of University and in the industry of advertising for nearly a year now and I can't help thinking we've learnt a hell of a lot in that time.
I thought it would hopefully be useful to people now approaching the end of their university courses for a few insights into the industry from a fellow graduate.

As soon as you are in an agency, prepare to learn and prepare yourself to learn pretty damn fast, there's so much more to learn now you're out in the real world.

Clients.
Yes they can be fickle, awkward and sometimes not even 'get' your ideas but they have every right to be cautious, they are spending a lot of money on your ideas and whatever they choose to go with has the potential to really influence how people perceive their brand, that is why everything seems to take so much longer than you could imagine.

Creative Directors.
Not as scary as you'd think. They are just everyday people with admirable backgrounds, if you treat them with the respect they deserve and show your commitment to advertising you should do just fine. Work super hard and you should impress.

Colleagues.
Wherever you go, make sure you socialise, yes you need to work your arse off but you'll easily blend into the background and go unnoticed it you don't get to know your colleagues, it's also worth baring in mind, placements are temporary - if you make a handful of friends, chances are they will all know others in the business and you're going to be considered all the more from a recommendation.

Budgets.
Sadly some TV budgets are quite restrictive, we had an idea that our CD's and client loved but it wasn't affordable, by the time we'd almost made it affordable it just wasn't the same idea, try not to let budgets restrict you but always keep a logical mindset on what's possible for the money.

Work hard.
Just in case you hadn't got this message yet, work hard. If possible don't get a part time job because simply put, that time and effort will pay off more if you invest it into your chosen career. Plus it will naturally make you even more determined to succeed.

That's my words of wisdom currently, hope some of it helps.

Another blog to follow

I've just started up a new project which I thought I would devote a whole blog to, but I will post a few of my favourite stories here. I am basically writing short stories based around 5 song titles to test my creative writing skills, so far I have had a few challenges and been reintroduced to some great songs. If you want to have a look at the stories or get involved, have a look at http://storiesfromyourmusic.blogspot.com/

Thanks
B

It's been a busy year...

Well, what a year it has been so far. I am finally settled in my little flat and I am loving being in the big smoke! We have had the pleasure of working at some great agencies over the past 5 months including Brothers and Sisters, where we worked primarily on Sky and we got very comfy in our huge bean bags! Whilst we were on placement at Leo Burnett we produced our first radio ad for McDonald's which is live throughout the festive season on a number of stations including Heart and Capital FM. It still feels so strange to hear it on the radio! I was in a taxi a few evenings ago and it came on, I had to hold myself back from singing along!

I thought I would just do a little post and keep it short and sweet. It has been a very busy year for the two of us but we have loved every minute! It has literally been non-stop since we left uni back in June! We have had the pleasure of meeting so many fantastic and inspiring people and we cannot wait to see what 2012 has in store for us! So for me...it's off to spread my wings and continue being a visual magpie!

A