Don’t Forget to Take a Breath

It’s very easy to feel overwhelmed in the advertising world, and it has become very real for us at Fourth Avenue Design. We are approaching graduation in May, and for many of us this is our first “real world” experience of a real agency. When it started we all were very excited to design and work with businesses in our community. Some companies needed one or two things, while others have asked us to redo their entire website on top of a mountain of other things.

At first, we all felt really excited and we can take on all of these clients and tasks. We quickly learned that deadlines approach much faster than we anticipated. A lot of us spent hours on InDesign, re-starting designs, meeting outside of class, and staying in the library for an absurd amount of hours. The feelings were overwhelming these past two weeks, but it has taught us something important. It’s okay to step away for a day or two. This allows you to refocus and organize projects and prioritize.

Being involved and producing your best work comes with dedication. The first thing we have changed to find success is communication. Staying in contact, giving updates and meeting outside of class is the most important aspect to stay on track. The second is organization. Having an interactive schedule, that updates us when it changes, as well as having creative briefs really helps everyone stay on track. The third, is to breathe. When feeling overwhelmed take a break, go get food, etc. We create our best work when it is a relaxed and fresh environment, and that is what Fourth Avenue Design is all about this semester.

We have produced awesome work so far this semester and I can’t wait to see what is in store for us as we finish out the year!