Creative Advertising Careers

Matthias May

Art Director, DDB New Zealand, Auckland
Country: Germany
MDS Diploma of Creative Avertising (Axis Adschool at MDS) graduate

Matthias May wanted to travel from Germany to do a course (that would lead to a career in the creative advertising industry) in English, live in an English speaking country and to not limit himself to working in one country for the rest of his career.

“What better place to do this than beautiful New Zealand? The awesome location coupled with Axis Adschool's reputation and approach convinced me. The whole course is built to be as close to real industry experience as possible. This involves real briefs from NZ's top agencies, mentoring by the country's top CDs, and hands-on tutors with long-term industry experience.”

The short duration of the Creative Advertising course was also a major factor in Matthias' decision to travel to Media Design School from Germany. Having done a Bachelor of Arts (in Germany) beforehand, he wanted to get himself ready for a job in Creative Advertising as quickly as possible, without compromising on the quality of the qualification.

“Axis Adschool does that. It's only nine months, but believe you me, you probably won't be working as hard again in your career until you run your own creative department.”

The Diploma of Creative Advertising (Axis Adschool at MDS) was very successful in preparing Matthias for what he was about to encounter in his Creative Advertising career.

“I don't think there can ever be a course that perfectly teaches you what working in an ad agency is like, but it can teach you the basics you'll need to survive. The Diploma teaches you about understanding the game and playing it successfully. You learn that 'ideas' is not only an airy-fairy term thrown around by creatives, but that there are actually good and bad ones, and how to spot them.”

"The live agency briefs teach you how the industry works and behaves, and what you have to do to stand out. Altogether the course doesn't turn you from an un-creative person into a creative one, but what it does is create the necessary excitement you need to do great work in such a competitive environment.”

Matthias credits the Diploma of Creative Advertising as playing a big role in getting him to where he is now inhis career.

“It (Diploma of Creative Advertising) got me to the other side of the world. It got me from being another BA graduate to being someone who can call himself an Advertising creative, and it made me understand how to play the game. All I brought was my head and passion, and Axis helps you to direct it towards what you want. If a career in ad-land is what you want …”