Think outside the agency

2574924 — Wed, 13 May 2009 11:20:00 GMT

If you, like me, are one of the many recent redundant casualties of the advertising industry downturn, you may be finding yourself running out of things to do to find work. Although there is never an end to the amount of spec work you can produce or the number of times you can hassle your recruitment consultants with persistent and unrelenting phone calls, there comes a point when you feel you just can’t do any more.

For me at this precise moment, there are a number of unrealistic options to consider. I have thought about giving up everything I own and opting for a simpler but hopefully more fulfilled life as a farmer. Having been born and brought up in the city, I’m not sure that would entirely work for me. So what are you supposed to do next?

When I was made redundant in December, my world was suddenly yet irrevocably altered. How would I pay my mortgage, my credit card bills, take care of my sick mother, etc. I was suddenly living to a deadline – before my redundancy payment ran out. I was desperate and I didn’t like it.

It wasn’t until a couple of months later that all my hard work looking for work actually paid off. I hadn’t found a job at an agency, but I was approached to work on a brief directly with a client. For this brief, I was the agency. All of a sudden there was passion again, the opportunity and responsibility to produce some great work, all of my own.

In the current ecomonic climate I have found there are a lot of clients out there who simply don’t want the expense of dealing with big or small agencies. They have a brief and they want it produced in the most cost-effective way possible. And for us out-of-work creatives out there, it’s not only a way to keep working – I would even go so far to suggest that with the state of the industry right now, it’s the only way forward.

I recently uploaded this viral to Youtube. It was a labour of love for a few weeks and both the client and I are very happy with it. It was produced with pulled-in favours from across the industry and on a shoestring budget. In my opinion it’s a testament to the opportunities that are still out there, despite the doom and gloom of the credit crunch hanging over our heads.

It’s easy to lose heart right now but for all the other redundant creatives or even suits out there, there is work to be found, especially if you are creative in finding it. You never know, you might even tap in to your inner megalomaniac and decide you enjoy it more than working at an agency.

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Think outside the agency