The Strange Bedfellows of Fine Arts and Advertising

Because in advertising, disruption isn’t just welcome - it’s essential. The most powerful creative work often comes from the tension between opposing ideas. And no pairing is more delightfully tense than artists entering the world of ad agencies.

The Uncomfortable Truth

Banksy once said, "The thing I hate most about advertising is that it attracts all the bright, creative and ambitious young people, leaving us mainly with the slow and self-obsessed to become our artists.”

He didn’t mean it as a compliment. And as a Fine Arts student, the idea of joining the corporate world of advertising can feel almost sacrilegious - like selling out. But for those brave enough to cross that line, the results can be game-changing.

Visit a Fine Arts grad show, like Elam’s, and you’ll feel it - that simmering disdain for advertising. But look closer, and you’ll also see a goldmine of potential. These students are visual storytellers, critical thinkers, and boundary-pushers. Sound familiar?

It should. It sounds like the job description of a great creative.

From Canvas to Campaigns

Fine Arts students bring a set of skills uniquely suited to creative advertising:

• Visual mastery: They’ve spent years honing their ability to convey complex ideas through a single image.
• Conceptual thinking: Their work often begins with an idea - not execution. That’s 90% of advertising.
• Critique resilience: Weekly critiques with 20 classmates? That’s the kind of ego-bruising prep that turns out client-ready creatives.
• Collaboration: Despite the stereotype, Fine Arts grads often thrive in collaborative environments, thanks to group critiques and shared studio culture.
• Emotional storytelling: Artists understand how to hit people in the gut. Advertising needs that.

Real-World Proof

Take Beth O’Brien, who graduated with an MFA in Sculpture from Elam. She jumped into advertising at TBWA under Andy Blood, later won New Zealand’s first-ever D&AD Black Pencil at Colenso BBDO, worked at RGA and Droga 5 in New York, Before being headhunted back to Auckland to be a Creative Director at Colenso became Head of Innovation at Droga5 Sydney. She even played a key role in the Cannes Titanium Grand Prix-winning Digital Nation campaign for the Government of Tuvalu.

Or Willow and Stasia, who last year landed a Yellow Pencil with their very first project out of AdSchool. Willow’s background at Elam gave her a visual-first approach to ideation: “My BFA really honed in on my ability to pull something apart into its many contexts and look at it with different lenses - which is the cornerstone of finding those human truths that birth great ideas.”

Then there’s Milla, another Elam grad, who said:

Fine Arts makes you consider the meaning behind every move you make - which is so valuable in advertising. Every placement, every word, every colour has to mean something.”

And it’s not just the visual thinkers. Milla adds, “Apart from my copywriter, I personally believe some of the other best copywriters in the course were the four Fine Arts students we had.” Turns out, the ability to deconstruct, reflect, and write with purpose makes for pretty sharp copy too.

Why It Works

Advertising is often misunderstood as just selling things. But it’s really about finding cultural insight, crafting compelling narratives, and creating experiences that connect. Sounds a lot like art, doesn’t it?

• Artists hold a mirror up to culture - just like the best ads.
• They’re used to open-ended briefs - ads just come with a few more constraints.
• They understand branding - after all, being an artist is building a personal brand.
• They’re obsessed with ideas - the lifeblood of any campaign.
• And perhaps most importantly, they’ve already had to reconcile creativity with reality - trying to make a living as an artist is excellent preparation for navigating clients, deadlines, and the occasional soul-sucking brief.

From Gag Reflex to Grand Prix

Fine Arts students might gag at the thought of working in advertising—at first. But those who push past the initial discomfort often discover a creative playground where their skills are not only valued but vital.

In a world where sounding like an ad means being ignored like one, agencies need thinkers who zag when others zig. And that’s what Fine Arts students do best.

So maybe they’re not such strange bedfellows after all. Maybe, just maybe, they’re the perfect match.

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