Set Designers

Have you spent more time during a play analyzing the sets rather than the action? When you go shopping, do you pay more attention to the different props in the store than the actual clothes? If so, you may have an eye for set design.

Set designers create the physical worlds within films, TV shows, plays, exhibitions, and photo shoots. They often work with theater, film, or television directors, and photographers. They must design the set, assess the money, resources, and time needed, and then oversee its construction in a way that will satisfy the client.

In terms of education, a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in fields like architecture, design and performing arts. It is important to use your college years to gather experience, by working with school film shoots and theater.

Experience in this field is a must, and it may be hard to come by. While you try to land your first jobs out of college, you may find yourself working for very little, or nothing, to get entry level design work. You might also start by being a volunteer, working with local and community theaters. This work will not provide much money, but it will give your a start to your portfolio and networking.

Set designers may be employed by a single theater company of design firm. However, set design is a career filled with freelancers – nearly a third of set designers are self employed.

The actual job of set design covers several different processes, and requires many skills. The designer must first plan out the set, making graphs, blueprints, and often scale models. The client than reviews these plans, and the set designer makes changes. Once the plans have been completed, the designer must look into the logistics, finding figures for labor time, resource demand, and cost. In this way, it pays not only to be creative, but also to know how to work with numbers and make wise choices with money and materials. Finally, set designers often over view the process of set construction to its conclusion. In Europe and Australia, set designers often have even more responsibilities, like costumes, lighting, and sound. Whether it is a grand broadway stage or a single room for a TV commercial, it will be a lot of hard work.

And does the work pay off? According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor, the average salary for a set designer was $48,660 in 2008. However they vary across the different specializations:

• Performing arts companies: $40,520
• Motion picture and video industry: $62,070
• Museums, historical sites, and similar institutions: $43,890
• Promoters of performing arts, sports, and similar events: $30,210
• Other support services: $45,330

The Bureau of Labor also predicts that set design jobs will grow at a rate higher than the average for all careers through 2012. However, it is a small occupation where competition is very fierce.

The road to becoming a set designer is not an easy one, but most roads worth taking never are. It is a career that will engage every skill and talent you have, and in that way can satisfy your whole self like few others can.

Links:

Collegeboard profile: http://bit.ly/cZ6FY2

Blog on set design inspiration: http://bit.ly/dBMPXL

Helpful blog post about set design

Backstagejobs.com: Website that searches for behind the curtain jobs in performing arts and music. Includes set design listings: http://bit.ly/9fkApy

Online job recruiting site, just launched in June, Mywebume.com http://bit.ly/bCtK4s 

Copywriters

Paul Kinsey, copywriter extraordinaire. Notice the pipe and general nonchalance.

For my first post, I’m going to be selfish. I’ll be profiling a career that stems from my own major, creative writing. That career would be copywriting,  a creative position for writers at an ad agency. This choice also probably has something to do with my  current obsession over Mad Men, which I’ve been consuming at a rate of about a season a week this summer. All I can say is, Don Draper is unstoppable.

Copywriters are writers who apply their creativity across the different mediums of advertising, from writing radio jingles to product slogans. Every time you hear the phrase “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas”, or “Choosy moms choose Jiff.”, you are hearing the work of a copywriter. Copywriters are also employed writing scripts for TV commercials, and press releases for public relations firms.

Copywriters sometimes work by themselves as freelancers, but are most typically employed at an advertising agency. They often work as part of a team, and have close connections with the media and art  departments. You will be answering to a creative director as your boss. You will also be pitching your slogans and taglines to clients, so it works to have people and presentation skills.

To obtain a job as a copywriter, a college degree is be a great place to start. Creative writing, English, and Journalism are all relevant, but the real skill is your sense of word play and wit to make catchy and memorable ads and slogans. Interning for an advertising agency is, of course, a great way to get your foot in the door. Copywriters going to job interviews often bring portfolios and reels to highlight their work. The portfolio includes their best work in print advertising, while the reels demonstrate their prime work in TV and radio advertising. As the internet becomes increasingly relevant in the marketing world, CD’s are often brought to showcase online work.

The internet has greatly expanded the range of copywriting work in the last few years, as advertising agencies scramble to take advantage of Web 2.0. New tasks include writing emails, web content, online ads, and even copywriting over twitter (http://bit.ly/cgJDgW). This internet boom has also made freelance copywriting a more viable option.

Government economists expect copywriting jobs to increase at a rate higher than the industry average through 2018, thanks to the popularity of digital media. However, copywriting is a competitive field and will continue to be so.

Some stats from the US Bureau of Labor on copywriters:

average hourly wage: $34.44

average annual income: $71,640

(Both figures from 2008)

And you don’t need to sell your creative soul to be a copywriter. Some famous creatives that have spent time in the copywriting field include Terry Gilliam, Don DeLillo, Catch 22 author Joseph Heller and William S. Burroughs.

I can't even imagine what kind of taglines the man responsible for Naked Lunch would come up with

Some links with helpful info on copywriting:

Collegeboard profile:

http://www.collegeboard.com/csearch/majors_careers/profiles/careers/106376.html

Freelance copywriter’s website, with great personal advice:

http://www.kuraoka.com/how-to-become-an-advertising-copywriter.html#education

Some good blogs on copywriting:

http://www.copywriting.com/blog/

Coming soon

http://americancopywriter.typepad.com/

http://thecopywritingblog.blogspot.com/

Good place to begin your jobsearch online

http://mywebume.com