A 2005 graduate of the School of Visual Arts was selected by ADC to photograph this year's jury members for the 88th Awards Annual. Aaron Taylor, a native Arizonan and ADC member, epitomizes the young professional artist, is finding his way through the first few years after college, networking constantly and keeping focus. The demands and challenges that await today's college graduates can be very daunting - Aaron shares the ups, the downs, and lots of optimism. Interview by Regan Murphy.

AT: I was exposed to the arts at a very young age. My mother taught dance, and is a writer and a painter. My uncle Collis was a very well known and talented raku potter as well. I explored various aspects of the creative arts beginning with tie-dying, piano and drama. I discovered photography as a sophomore in high school and after the first few weeks I was hooked! Being able to freeze life, develop my own film, and watch images appear on a blank piece of paper seemed magical. My first photography teacher gave me an enlarger and encouraged me to keep shooting during the summer. My mom bought me a camera and I set up a darkroom in the bathroom of our apartment. Nothing else mattered after that.

AT: Before I graduated, I began shooting for modeling agencies, meeting celebrities, and shooting editorials. I signed with an agent a few days after graduation. I honestly thought I was hotter than a glow in the dark cereal box! But with the pride comes the fall. My agent did a poor job of representing me, the work slowed down, and the bills pilled up. School loans hit and I was forced to find other means of income outside of photography. It was very humbling. Everyday I'm thankful it happened.

AT: Pray! Set clear goals and steps for your career, and intern and/or assist. School is great, but nothing beats real-life experience. You have to love what you do. If you don't, then try and find something that you do love. Finally, work hard and commit to your craft. Commitment is the thing!

AT: I'm attracted to natural light, simplicity, shape, design, abstractions, and emotions. Therefore, I'm constantly shooting and re-evaluating my work to make sure I'm staying true to who I am - not only as an artist, but as a person as well.

AT: "I am??" Most importantly, be who you are. Most of us can spot a fake person a mile away. We're all different and unique. That's what makes us special. Why try to be something you're not? Also, don't fear rejection! What's the worst that can happen? You might have to hear a lot of "no's" before you hear the right "yes."

AT: Dealing with egos. I've been very fortunate to not have to deal with too many self-exalted people. But when I do, I just smile and keep on shooting.

AT: I love to travel (and shoot while traveling!) but I think New York will always be home base for me. Who knows what a day will bring? Just trying to take it one day at a time.

Places you have been:
- Mallorca, Spain
- Jamaica
- White Sands, New Mexico

Places you want to go:
- Paris
- Israel
- Egypt

Foods to eat while working late:
- Golden Grahams
- Ihop
- Chinese

Photographers you admire:
- Herb Ritts
- Richard Avedon
- Patrick Demarchelier

Movies:
- Braveheart
- Fireproof
- Ratatouille

Websites:
- iamsecond.com
- tgoodman.com
- espn.go.com

ADC Young Guns is a global, cross-disciplinary competition that identifies today's vanguard of young creative professionals. Enter your portfolio. Get recognized.

Entry deadline: Wednesday, May 13, 2009, 11:59 PM EST.

This is your chance to: Receive the ADC Young Guns Cube // Get showcased in a traveling gallery exhibition //
Get published in a custom edition Moleskine® // and more!
NEW THIS YEAR: $1,500 USD in grants for three top winners

As past winner Stefan Bucher put it, "it's the award I'm proudest of, because it honors a body of work rather than an isolated piece or two."

For more information on who can enter, what to submit, and what you can win, start here: www.adcyoungguns.org/enter

They represent the leading edge and the cutting edge - the anointed and the soon-to-be anointed - the established and the new kid on the block. See and hear the digi-tales behind the work of past ADC Young Guns Rei Inamoto, Chief Creative Officer at AKQA, and Justin Meredith, Creative Director at Thornberg & Forester.

Inamoto, one of the most award-winning creatives in the interactive marketing industry, was named to Creativity Magazine's annual Creativity 50 and has won multiple grand prix and golds at industry shows. He works, globally, for AKQA clients Nike, Xbox, Coca-Cola and McDonald's.

Since graduating in 2005, Thornberg has completed spots for Target, Microsoft Zune, the network launch of Discovery Channel's Planet Green, branding materials for the Playstation 3 Network, and the opening title sequence of the 2008 AICP Awards Show. Justin's work has appeared in the Museum of Modern Art, Whitney Museum of Art, and the Tokyo Auto Show.

Join us to see how these two innovators have used their head, their heart, their hands and the Adobe Creative Suite to create memorable, award-winning work.

Digi-tales
Thursday, May 14, 2009
@ ADC Gallery
6:30 pm Drinks
7:00 pm Presentation

ADC Members Free
Non-Members $15 online, $20 at the door

This evening is brought to you by Adobe.

RSVP/Buy Tickets here.

Next Backstory | ADC Young Guns Live
June 11, featuring Chris Hutchinson & Driscoll Reid, Art Directors/Writers at Wieden+Kennedy Portland and Menno Kluin, Art Director at Y&R.

Join us for a Friday afternoon networking event geared for people working in all aspects of today's creative industry. Attendees will have an opportunity to share insights, connections and successes with leading creative and technical professionals and meet with hiring representatives from companies looking for this type of talent.

Featuring a panel discussion with Liz Danzico (SVA), Michael Lebowitz (Big Spaceship), Johhny Vulcan (Anomaly), and Judy Wert (Wertco) focused on the near-term future of creative employment. A cocktail reception immediately follows the discussion.

May 15, 2009
2 - 5 PM
@ ADC Gallery
106 West 29th Street, NYC

Tickets: $75

Learn more and register now: www.coroflot.com/creativeconfab.

This exhibition will feature the work of ADC’s Gold, Silver and Bronze winners in 5 key categories: Design, Advertising, Interactive, ADC Hybrid and ADC Design Sphere. The exhibition will be on view at the ADC Gallery from June 4 through June 26 before it embarks on a global tour.

Opening Reception:
June 4, 2009
6:30 - 8:30 PM
@ ADC Gallery
106 West 29th Street, NYC

View the Cube-winning work of the ADC 88th Annual Awards winners and celebrate the opening of the Annual Awards Exhibition at ADC Gallery with cocktails, snacks, and mingling.

RSVP here.

They work for top agencies. They create award-winning campaigns. They've made it in the advertising world and keep pushing themselves every day. Join us as Wieden+Kennedy and Y&R creatives Chris Hutchinson, Driscoll Reid and Menno Kluin share their ideas, ideals and industry secrets.

Driscoll Reid and Chris Hutchinson are a creative team at Wieden+Kennedy Portland. Driscoll grew up in Vermont and graduated from Skidmore College. Chris grew up in California and graduated from the University of Oregon. They met in 2004 in the first group of W+K's school/experiment, 12, where they decided to team up and were subsequently hired by Wieden+Kennedy. They recently returned to the Portland office after a two-year stint in the agency's Tokyo office working on Nike Asia.

Menno Kluin is an art director at Y&R NY. He started at Saatchi & Saatchi three years ago and within two years in the business he was ranked by Creativity magazine as the "Most Awarded Art Director" in the world. He is currently working at Y&R NY for clients like Bacardi, LG, Colgate, VH1 and Land Rover.

Join us to see how these three innovators have used their head, their heart, their hands and the Adobe Creative Suite to create memorable, award-winning work.

+&
Thursday June 11, 2009
@ ADC Gallery
6:30 pm Drinks
7:00 pm Presentation

ADC Members Free
Non-Members $15 online, $20 at the door

This evening is brought to you by Adobe.

RSVP/Buy Tickets here.

The first in a two-part series, this session will help attendees learn how to present themselves as the multi-platform communicators that today's agencies and advertisers are looking to hire. Topics addressed will include the digital tools needed to present yourself as technically-savvy, as well as what career experiences to play up when putting together the 21st century resume and portfolio, and how to get pertinent experience in newer marketing platforms if you feel you don't have it.

ReBoot Advertising
June 17, 2009
5:00-8:00 pm

@ADC Gallery
106 West 29th Street, NYC

Members: Free
Non Members: $30
At the door: $35
Pink Slip Price: (you must bring an Unemployment Check stub): $15

RSVP/Buy Tickets Now! Click here.

Six intensive days with Paul Sahre, James Victore and Jan Wilker at the ADC. Participants from around the world collaborate to reconsider their working processes and to push their ideas. Join us for hands-on design challenges, guest speakers, critiques, surprise trips, micro-exhibitions, and anything else.

@ ADC Gallery
106 West 29th Street, NYC

More information can be found here: www.sahrevictorewilker.com.
Apply by May 15, 2009 – a few spots are left, so hurry!

This new book is written by lifelong activist Joel Berg, the Executive Director of the NYC Coalition Against Hunger, and a leading authority on the hunger challenges over 1.3 million New Yorkers face every day. This book reveals that hunger is as American as apple pie, and that, more and more, America is becoming a country where people not only have a hard time advancing, but often find themselves in quicksand, working inexhaustibly and still not meeting the expenses of everyday living. Berg takes to task politicians who remain inactive; the media, which ignores hunger except during holidays and hurricanes; the food industry, which makes fattening, artery-clogging fast food more accessible to the nation's poor than healthy fare; and ordinary citizens for thinking that food pantries alone can fix the problem. A spirited call to action, All You Can Eat shows how practical solutions for hungry Americans will ultimately benefit America's economy and all of its citizens.

Last month AIA launched wild posting campaign for NYC Coalition Against Hunger

Berg is currently coordinating between advertising agencies and soup kitchens to arrange logistics (dates, times, locations) for Agencies In Action, a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to coalesce the New York City advertising community behind the cause of alleviating poverty throughout the city. AIA is comprised of agencies and individuals who believe that poverty can be fought in our neighborhoods through acts of compassion both big and small. The advertising industry is full of people who thrive on dreaming up solutions to difficult business problems. AIA wants to apply these skills and talents to seemingly intractable social problems and desires to use the wealth and creative energy inherent in the advertising industry to help less fortunate New Yorkers get back on their feet.

You can show your support for Agencies in Action by simply going to www.adagenciesinaction.org and clicking on the "HOW" tab to sign up to help your local soup kitchen. All You Can Eat is published by Seven Stories Press and is available on Amazon.

Olympus has generously donated 15 EVOLT E-410 SLR cameras to the Henry Wolf Summer Photography Workshop, which benefits 25 New York City high school students. This donation means that addition to taking home a point and shoot camera, the students will have the opportunity to learn about SLR cameras and shoot some of their work on these professional-grade cameras. These cameras will greatly enhance the program and hopefully round out the students' experience.

Once again ADC will be hosting a week of portfolio reviews. Last year 620 reviewers attended Portfolio Week and reviewed the work of over 550 students. Students and Reviewers came from as far as California to meet at the ADC Gallery. This year, with the addition of the ADC Interactive Review, Portfolio Week promises to be even bigger!



RSVP today to review the best students in Graphic Design, Advertising and Interactive.

Paul Sahre, James Victore and Jan Wilker will conduct an intensive six-day (and night) graphic design workshop this upcoming July for graphic design students and professionals from around the world who are 21 or older and proficient in English.

This workshop will be held at the spacious ADC Gallery. Bring your laptop, sketch book, and head. Information and application available at www.SahreVictoreWilker.com.

Application deadline is May 15, 2009.

The New York Photo Awards 2009 honors talented photographers from all over the world whose exceptional work breaks new ground visually, intellectually, and aesthetically. The Awards will give these visual artists the opportunity to reach key decision makers in the photographic community and the editorial, fine art, and commercial worlds. Submissions will be accepted March 2 - May 1, 2009. The Award winners will be announced in May during the second edition of the New York Photo Festival, May 13-17. Please visit www.newyorkphotoawards.com for more information on how to submit.

Would you like to give a little of your time and volunteer for ADC? ADC is looking for members to volunteer to help out with event set-up and to assist during ADC events. If you would like receive e-mail updates about volunteering opportunities please e-mail Regan Murphy at regan@adcglobal.org to be placed on ADC's Volunteer List.

Chris Romano, eldest son of ADC Life Member Andy Romano,
has been named "Cool Animator of the Week" last month by Duck Studios, an animation/design studio that produces commercials, live action, film/tv titles, music videos, and short films.

Mint is a daily design blog that was started in Feb. 2008 as a creative outlet for graphic designer Ellie Snow from Durham, NC. Topics range from fine art to weddings to Ellie's personal design and craft projects. Check it out at mintdesignblog.com.

Check out photos of SCORE! - the ADC Young Guns 7 Call for Entries Launch Party and Ping Pong Tournament - held at the ADC Gallery last month.

Franck Raharinosy took first place in the singles tournament, Andrew Gordon and Bill Mack won doubles. The winners scored cash + copies of Adobe Creative Suite 4! Runner-up in singles was Timmy Cai, while Manav Thaker and Russell Daiber (pictured left) snatched second place in doubles - all went home with a pair of Behance Action Runners.

Congrats to Véronique Krieger, who won a one-night stay at Ace Hotel's New York location. We also handed out ADC Young Guns 6 + The Undiscovered Letter books to five lucky guests.

Thanks to ADC Young Guns news writers Kaile Smith and Ian Crombie, the ADC Young Guns "Latest News" section now features a new story every weekday. Go to adcyoungguns.org/news and subscribe to the RSS Feed to stay up-to-date with the latest news from past ADC Young Guns winners, including exhibition updates, fresh work and more.

ADC members - this is your place to share. The newsletter is published monthly. The deadline for submissions for the May newsletter is April 28. Send news or inquiries to regan@adcglobal.org with the subject line Newsletter.

The ADC Gallery can accommodate up to 430 guests and is handicap accessible.

Location: 106 West 29th Street
(Just West of 6th Avenue)
Closest subway stops are 1/9 or R/W to 28th St.

To view event photos visit ADC's online photo albums.

For more information click here.
For further questions or to make an appointment, please contact Olga Grisaitis at olga@adcglobal.org.

The Art Directors Club is the premier organization for integrated media and the first international creative collective of its kind. Founded in New York in 1920, ADC is a not-for-profit membership organization whose mission is to Connect, Provoke and Elevate world changing ideas. It focuses on the highest standards of excellence and integrity in visual communications for the industry, and encourages students and young professionals entering the field. ADC provides a forum for creatives in Advertising, Design, Interactive Media and Communications to explore the direction of these rapidly converging industries.

Not Yet A Member? Join Now.
The Art Directors Club 106 West 29th Street New York, NY 10001 212.643.1440 www.adcglobal.org