Recruiting Leave-behind - Need your opinions

[Mr. Martini]

I'm putting together a leave-behind for students to take on our firm's recruiting trips this spring. I'd like to illicit any feedback you might be able to offer, not so much on the verbiage (that is all standard corporate blah blah) but the graphic design, etc. Most of our marketing materials are geared towards potential clients, not potential recruits, and while we could generate a lot of useless swag, we are trying to generate a more thoughtful brochure-like item. I've included images of the mock-up open and closed and graphics of what is on the cards. Now, you'll notice the little snapshot images are repetitive, they are just placeholders for the images/sketches/renderings etc. which will be in the final rendition (which we're collecting images for right now).

Think back to when you were students (and better yet, if you are please comment) and look at the mock-up below:

http://picasaweb.google.com/mondo.tiki.man/Pushpullbar

Would this make you want to work for us?

(BTW, our corporate website is going through a renovation, and the Whole Community Design website mentioned is not up yet, but will be before these are distributed)

[am_i_wry]

It all depends on what you are after. Or rather it depends on who you are after. This doesnt scream design-led to me so it wont get you the desgn whizzkids. Indeed i have to say that in my experience being too corporate (and producing a document like this is certainly corporate) can tend to scare folks off. Not too many set out to be cogs in a monsterous commercial wheel. I would also say that there is far too much verbiage. I wasnt up for reading it and corporate blurb is a cold dead hand on things like this. If you must do something like this then i would suggest some very short, punchy, perhaps slogany text, funky images-some of your buildings, some perhaps more abstract that talk about what your philosophy is and maybe a bit about propspects, training, money, all the good stuff that employees will want to know.

[lewisuk]

spot on there wry, you want to sus out who the smart ones are and slip them a business card on the sly. otherwise you'll just be another address on a very large and unmemorable list of cv destinations.

[Mr. Martini]

That's interesting. We were thinking the opposite. Most of the collaterals we've seen are little post cars that show one or two pretty pictures and extol a few buzz words with flashy graphics. We were hoping to give them more substance. Personally I hate bullet graphics. They scream "Power Point". Our aim is more "manifesto". Although your points are well taken. Maybe the backs of the cards just have the broader statements and we remove the rest for them to discover on the website.

BTW, why doesn't it scream "design lead" to you? The philosophy? The images? The formatting?

[lewisuk]

I think the point is that if you're showing them around the office then they will know if they want to work for you or not, the more blurb you give them after the more chance they have of spoiling that impression, unless you're doing fantastically interesting stuff (and i'm not saying you're not).

[am_i_wry]

BTW, why doesn't it scream "design lead" to you? The philosophy? The images? The formatting?

All of the above i am afraid. I didnt read the text but if you need text your visuals are failing. I dont think any of it is *badly* designed its just not on the cutting edge. I wasnt inspired by the images, some of the formatting hints at quality but is let down by the overabundance of text and i am not overly keen on the logo.

Perhaps your market is different to mine though. Where we are all the students know pretty much all the practices and the best ones know who they want to work for. You get that reputation through the work you do and getting it published not by making brochures

[Mr. Martini]

Sure. But we can't take everyone around the office. These are leave-behinds at university job fairs as each of us in the office travel to our respective alma maters'. Something to keep their interest long enough to get them to the office.

[Mr. Martini]

You get that reputation through the work you do and getting it published not by making brochures

Wow. Thanks for the lesson in egotism.

[lewisuk]

oh i see, sorry Mr. Martini, for some reason i was under the impression they were for post office visits. tricky one. i'd still keep it very simple though

[Stijn]

Why go black OR white? You can have both your long texts, and next to those some jumpy keywords/phrases in big fat letters. I see some stuff in big letters, but even that seems much to read.
Your layout seems okay, but not more. It looks avarage, every day-like. If you aim for young, "fresh" people, why not trying to make a "fresh" manifesto? Now it seems somewhat too comercialized.

[lewisuk]

Wow. Thanks for the lesson in egotism.

I think that was more honesty not egotism. Which is rare, slightly painful, but will help you get recruits if taken on board.

[Mr. Martini]

Now it seems somewhat too comercialized.

How so? The visual formatting or the writing? I mean, we can hand out rub-on tattoos of our logo or give away sketchbooks with our projects printed on the first few pages, etc. but that's all just gimmicky crap.

What would you look for? What would get you excited about a company? Just images of cool architecture?

[Mr. Martini]

I think that was more honesty not egotism. Which is rare, slightly painful, but will help you get recruits if taken on board.

I would respectfully disagree. There are 500 architecture firms in our city. Being familiar with all of them would be impossible, much less all in a region or nation. To imply that the only way to get good recruits is to be part of the .01% of projects built that are published in Metropolis [etc.] is not "honest" but unrealistic. The top .01% of students go to the top .01% of firms, and that's fine. But there are a lot of good firms and good students out there that aren't in the top .01%. The trick is finding linkages between the two.

Don't mistake me, I appreciate your feedback. But if his advice to my marketing excercise is "get published more" then I'm sorry, that's not what I'm asking help with.

[am_i_wry]

Wow. Thanks for the lesson in egotism.

Well no its not, this is a problem we have and the brochure thing is something we have considered and dismissed. The best people will walk into jobs at the best practices and they perceive what is the 'best' not on the basis of information about working conditions or benefits packages or even practice philosophies but by seeing stuff in journals. People suffer a good deal of crap to work somewhere credible.

[am_i_wry]

I would respectfully disagree. There are 500 architecture firms in our city. Being familiar with all of them would be impossible, much less all in a region or nation. To imply that the only way to get good recruits is to be part of the .01% of projects built that are published in Metropolis [etc.] is not "honest" but unrealistic. The top .01% of students go to the top .01% of firms, and that's fine. But there are a lot of good firms and good students out there that aren't in the top .01%. The trick is finding linkages between the two.

Don't mistake me, I appreciate your feedback. But if his advice to my marketing excercise is "get published more" then I'm sorry, that's not what I'm asking help with.

Listen mate you need to read more closely. I made it clear that there may be differences in market place and i can only talk about mine. If you think this sort of thing is a good idea then fine, i can only disagree based on what i know. I know i wouldnt have been impressed by such a thing so when you get beyond that its just a matter of whether the graphics are any good and i suspect you will only get offended if i go too far down that line so i wont.

[Mr. Martini]

The best people will walk into jobs at the best practices and they perceive what is the 'best' not on the basis of information about working conditions or benefits packages or even practice philosophies but by seeing stuff in journals. People suffer a good deal of crap to work somewhere credible.

Ha! Very true. Several of my university compatriots went to work for Jean Nouvel or Zaha Hadid for no pay, just to work for them. Certainly, one might die for their art, as it were, but we will never get those students so there's no need to make an attempt to compete for them. Besides, I'd rather work for a firm where my design gets built, not where I draw their vision.

I see your point though. Maybe I'm thinking too much with a "401(k) want to get home by 6:00pm" disposition, rather than the idealistic fervor that students enjoy.

[am_i_wry]

Ha! Very true. Several of my university compatriots went to work for Jean Nouvel or Zaha Hadid for no pay, just to work for them. Certainly, one might die for their art, as it were, but we will never get those students so there's no need to make an attempt to compete for them. Besides, I'd rather work for a firm where my design gets built, not where I draw their vision.


Well surely thats what you want to tell them then....

[SWANK-E]

my take on the large corporate firms (or any firm for that matter) is that there is always something to learn. what is it that you are offering that other smaller firms don't have... well, seeing how larger projects are put together, the large collection of people with enormous wealth of experience. how such a large office is managed and how are jobs managed. these are all useful stuff to learn, especially those who believe they want to work for themselves somewhere down the track.

i guess what i am trying to say is, what EXPERIENCE you are giving/exposing them to. the design is simply the vehicle.

i think your graphics is too much text and impersonal. afterall, i believe it is about moving into a new 'friendly' working environment, much like continuation from university. take the lead from university publicity materials maybe?

[imasayer]

Wow. Thanks for the lesson in egotism.

I think for the most part what he said is true. Students are well learned in who the hot firms are, and it is publication that gets you there.

I don't think there is anything egotistical about that.

[Mr. Martini]

Students are well learned in who the hot firms are, and it is publication that gets you there.

Oh I agree. The exception I take is the implication that that is the only way to get good recruits.

[Mr. Martini]

i think your graphics is too much text and impersonal. afterall, i believe it is about moving into a new 'friendly' working environment, much like continuation from university.

I agree. Thats the whole reason I posted it here, to get feedback like this. I think I'm going to remove all the text from the back. You can find it all on our websites and probably doesn't need to be here. How would you make it more personal and less corporate?

[imasayer]

Oh I agree. The exception I take is the implication that that is the only way to get good recruits.

I think its the way to get the best recruits. The best my school had to offer (not me) are working with very good published architects. (I can't say they are happy though) I don't mean to degrade you or your firm, but I think that is the reality.

[am_i_wry]

I agree. Thats the whole reason I posted it here, to get feedback like this. I think I'm going to remove all the text from the back. You can find it all on our websites and probably doesn't need to be here. How would you make it more personal and less corporate?

Think laterally. Maybe you dont need to show your designs either. A gimmick done well can be effective. If you want to tell them they will get to work through their own designs you might show a blank drawing sheet with "your design here" in the middle. Of course you might want something less cheesy than that but it illustrates a point. Tell a wee story, be a bit of a tease, dangle a nice juicy maggot in front of them and then hook them with the website.

[Mr. Martini]

I think its the way to get the best recruits. The best my school had to offer (not me) are working with very good published architects. (I can't say they are happy though) I don't mean to degrade you or your firm, but I think that is the reality.

Oh you're certainly right. Would I suggest our design product is of the same echelon as Wolf Prix or Daniel Libeskind? No. I don't take that as depredation at all. We aren't of the "designer label" caliber, but neither are 99.99% of the firms out there. That's nothing to be ashamed of. But we plebeians still need to find staff too.

[SWANK-E]

I agree. Thats the whole reason I posted it here, to get feedback like this. I think I'm going to remove all the text from the back. You can find it all on our websites and probably doesn't need to be here. How would you make it more personal and less corporate?

well, i thought the whole idea of these job-fairs that you have in USA is to sell your 'office' to them. you are bringing your office to them instead of individuals wondering through you office. so wouldn't pictures of your office environment, and people doing stuff, different stuff, your product library, presentation to clients, team work, friday night piss-ups (well maybe not that)... should be what you are showing them? afterall, you are teaching them to be professionals. students want to know what they are going to get out of their experience when working with a firm. big names get them because they know what they are getting... DESIGN or being exposed to mouth watering Designs and creative geniuses. you have something else to offer them.

i hope this helps (i literally just woke up and i am rambling away)

[Mr. Martini]

Think laterally. Maybe you dont need to show your designs either. A gimmick done well can be effective. If you want to tell them they will get to work through their own designs you might show a blank drawing sheet with "your design here" in the middle. Of course you might want something less cheesy than that but it illustrates a point. Tell a wee story, be a bit of a tease, dangle a nice juicy maggot in front of them and then hook them with the website.

Unfortunately the website isn't much of a hook just now. While we may not be getting the "A" design students, we're not looking to reel in the "D" students either. We're actually in the process of re-branding for what its worth.

I like your point though.

[am_i_wry]

Well if you are rebranding then i would suggest you do this as part of that exercise and get the design professionals that you have employed to do that to assist you with it. If your website isnt going to be helpful then you have a problem as everyone who is going to consider you is going to look at it. Unless you can put forward a convincing corporate image package then you would be as well not going down that route. You can be sure that someone out there is going to do the same thing bit slicker...

[Mr. Martini]

Thanks for all your posts guys. This helped.

[ebardhi]

As some people previously stated, there is too much text being shown. As architects, we work better visually. Although we do have to read a lot, not too many would take the time unless it's something required or enjoyed.

Why are the 6 images on the right repeated 3 times. I think they are taking a good chunk of each card without showing anything different. I know that by repeating them you make things relate to each other better, however i think it's not necessary. In an internship I want to be able to do different things, some fun some not, as long as i'm not pigeonholed in one place. If you were to express that in a graphic way somehow, or in short concise statements, it might have a stronger effect.

Or you could also have normal text and then change the size of the most important points. This way people can skim and still understand what is going on. If they are attracted to what they read, they'll go back in for a second more detailed look.

The text in the two images is not helping much either. In the top one it's difficult because of the whites and light grays on the background image. In the bottom one, it's too distracting, and one cannot see the background image. It would probably work better if you separated them, or found combinations of brightness, size, etc. where they could coexist and both work.

[archie1492]

I think the graphic layouts are ok. It's nice to see them saturated with imagery and text. Although, I agree some of the pages are a bit heavy on the verbage. (specifically the page with the orange people) My biggest comment on the booklet is it's binding. The round paperclip with the red dot seems very gimmicky. It is not functional. I can picture the pages falling out, becoming scattered on the students' floor, and winding up in the trash can. I would recommend a simple staple binding. This would keep the booklet together. Furthermore, is it your intention to have the white pages extend out from the cover? Why not slice off the protruding pages. You could fold them in I suppose. This would make the proportions of the booklet much more managable. I understand this would change your graphic layouts, but it is a necessary change.

[archie1492]

Another idea.
Extend the cover out to actually cover the sheets. Print everything on heavy weight card stock. For the cover mount the printed cardstock to a piece of white matteboard. Eliminate the red dot. On the cover at the transition between the white and brown, notch it 1/4" square top and bottom and then add a white rubberband or an elastic to hold everything together.

[drichards]

I understand that you may have difficulty attracting the A students without being one of the top firms to work for, but if you are rebranding, perhaps this gives you an opportunity to attract the type of people you want to work for you. Do you want team players or individual thinkers, doers or followers, creative or production, strong communicators or quiet comtiplative people. I think if more thought is put into who you are trying to get the attention of , your brochure will definitely reflect that.

In my honest opinion just from a visual sense it looks to me that you seem to focus alot on the concsptual images as a dominant base for your brochure. In my opinion that doesn't read very well as these are only image that are conceptual and you mentioned

Besides, I'd rather work for a firm where my design gets built, not where I draw their vision.
I see your point though. Maybe I'm thinking too much with a "401(k) want to get home by 6:00pm" disposition, rather than the idealistic fervor that students enjoy.

If that is what your business is why not attract those people. If you get the right people that best fit the team they tend to stick around and be more productive. Be as forthcoming as you can and the people you will get a response from are probalbly a reflection of that.

My impression of your publication is that you are looking for production people, unless the rebranding you are speaking about is also client driven I think your maketing stragety should be more of that creation to fruision that you spoke about. True working architects proud of their profession and their creations. If this is your market why not attract those people.

Otherwise be creative if you are looking for creativity. What you convey to others is often what you attract, this goes both for clients and employees. From a marketing stand point I would say if you can't get their attention in 7 words then that is not the right brochure for you especially if it is a creative one. Stong bold or creative statements would be the approach.

Just a note or to on content. You seem to repeat your mission statement on the same page as well as repeating every starting word after each item under the mission statement with "We". This to me seems somewhat, how can I say this..... weak. The message can be made in many different ways. For example instead of saying.

We emphasize fairness with all our dealings with other.

You could say
Our emphasis is on fairness when dealing with others.

or another example
[Freedom] We encourage people to be creative and explore all avenues for design
Not all to sure what that has to do with freedom if "We are encouraging" to me this statement doesn't reflect freedom.

Why not something like
Creative flexibility and open collaboration is one of our design approaches.

To me this sounds less restrictive especially when talking about about freedom.

Overall I would say it is a good starting point, I think it just needs to be more focused to what you are trying to do and that is attract perspective employees. Remember this is to draw them in peak their interest. Just like beautiful women, the don't show everything to everybody, just enough to get you to look.

Best of luck attracting potential emplyees and thank you for posting.

[spadestick]

look at some websites for graphic design inspiration. Especially the clean ones.

http://www.sapient.com is a nice one.

everything seems too cluttered - read this article about whitespace - http://alistapart.com/articles/whitespace

if you can't grab anybody's attention in graphic layouts, you may not grab a student's attention at all.

2ndly, I wouldn't show the works / buildings of built works - but more of the conceptual unbuilt stuff that didn't please the client.

3rdly, I would emphasize on the fun, benefits, culture, creativity, social aspects of the company.

4thly, I would highlight the learning experience and continuing architectural education your firm provides in terms of learning from the experienced principals, as well as being placed in positions to learn on site, off site, consultant coordination and areas of delegated management.

Not too wordy, but large grabbing headlines, as they do in advertising.

Since it is only going to students, you can even borrow some aspects from Apple's website - just put a disclaimer at the bottom. Why do you think iPod is selling so well?

[wizum]

:clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

Some great responces guys... I don't have a whole lot to add but ask a question...

this "leave behind" is going to be a bounded piece? Like a small book? If this is a true I think as a leave-behind that is way too much... I would think something of a quick flyer with a zoomy graphic of one of your better designs and a quick phrase or two that would attract what your looking for would do the trick... Or maybe you have several versions of these flyers and each has its own theme and communicates one facet of the firm... I think specifically to the graphic approach you have taken it has a very corporate feel to it and by approaching how the graphics are delivered would serve you better by individualizing the work.

Also, I think Swank-E's comments have been right on... and I was an A (in studio at least :)) student and I ended up at a similar type firm you seem to be promoting... There are lots of very talented people out there who don't end up at the premier firms and there is no reason to not think you can't land a few... the better talent you get the better the work can potentially become, no?

so much for just a question ;)

[Mr. Martini]

Why are the 6 images on the right repeated 3 times. I think they are taking a good chunk of each card without showing anything different.

As I stated in the intro, they are placeholders for now. We're still selecting the images. I've moved some text around and made it more concise. I'll post them again today.

[Mr. Martini]

My biggest comment on the booklet is it's binding. The round paperclip with the red dot seems very gimmicky..

The thinking behind the clip was that since we have so many people going on the recruiting trips, we needed a place to attach their card. We could put insert slots or something, but liked the clip.

[Mr. Martini]

My impression of your publication is that you are looking for production people, unless the rebranding you are speaking about is also client driven I think your maketing stragety should be more of that creation to fruision that you spoke about...I would say if you can't get their attention in 7 words then that is not the right brochure for you especially if it is a creative one. Stong bold or creative statements would be the approach.

"Re"branding is really a misnomer. We're more "updating" the brand to reflect the current quality of our projects as our marketing materials, etc. are getting a little stale. Unfortunately as that is about a 6 month process, we're not going to have the update in place for the 2007 graduation year. Thus, we're looking to have a quick one-off to fill the gap.

I do find it interesting that so many people want short, snappy verbiage - bullet points and the like. We purposefully avoided that in the mission statement for WCD because it is comes off so contrived and reads like the powerpoint presentation of a mid-level manager at a shipping company. We're about big ideas that can't be distilled down to bullet points. There is definitely a disconnect between the JH+P insert and the WCD insert. WCD is where we're going, and JH+P is where we've been. But, like I said, the updating exercise is ongoing, and is both graphic and philosophical. Until that is complete though, we've stuck using the existing text.

[Mr. Martini]

4thly, I would highlight the learning experience and continuing architectural education your firm provides in terms of learning from the experienced principals, as well as being placed in positions to learn on site, off site, consultant coordination and areas of delegated management.

Actually, the images that we are going to be putting on the JH+P brochure is more photographic, built works if you will. The WCD insert is going to be more sketchy/process graphics. Intentionally those graphics were going to be from our youngest and brightest, the design work people have been doing at our firm who are less than two years out of school. Maybe we should illustrate that somehow.

[Mr. Martini]

Some great responces guys... I don't have a whole lot to add but ask a question...Or maybe you have several versions of these flyers and each has its own theme and communicates one facet of the firm... I think specifically to the graphic approach you have taken it has a very corporate feel to it and by approaching how the graphics are delivered would serve you better by individualizing the work.

I think you're right, we'll need to individualize the work somehow. The two inserts are intended to illustrate two aspects of our company. We are JH+P, but within JH+P the WCD effort is a grassroots organization to facilitate change and make a difference. For good or ill though, we're 50+ people and are at some levels "corporate" although fortunately not as much as most firms.

I was an A student too, and have worked for boutique/high design firms, but I was more interested in getting my creations built than winning theoretical awards. We design a lot of mixed-use developments, and low income housing. Personally, I'm really proud of the fact that our designs not only win awards, but create communities and give people a home that they are proud of. There's more satisfaction in that than the "cocktail party" architecture some designers seek.

[imasayer]

I was an A student too, and have worked for boutique/high design firms, but I was more interested in getting my creations built than winning theoretical awards. We design a lot of mixed-use developments, and low income housing. Personally, I'm really proud of the fact that our designs not only win awards, but create communities and give people a home that they are proud of. There's more satisfaction in that than the "cocktail party" architecture some designers seek.

I agree. There is a lot to be said for creating architecture for everyone instead of for ones peers. I think that is an important thing for you to present to prospective employees. I don't know if it was a national trend, but students that I graduated with tended to have a social conscience.

[Mr. Martini]

I agree. There is a lot to be said for creating architecture for everyone instead of for ones peers. I think that is an important thing for you to present to prospective employees. I don't know if it was a national trend, but students that I graduated with tended to have a social conscience.

That's what we're hoping to do with WCD. It grew out of our people's grass-roots desire to have more architects consider their works as part of a community than as one-off expressions of their's or the client's ego. A social morphology and functionality if you will. We honestly see it as a place where we might make a difference, and I agree that we need to communicate that.

[ryarch]

I'm on board with the people that have suggested simplicity. These are young people, yes? A large postcar, or a sticker. I think that all you need is a short text about the work you do, and what they can expect from your work environment, some cool graphics, a web address and an e-mail address as a contact. The e-mail address could be specific to people that have come to the 'fair' (kalamazoojobfair@yourfrim.com). The brochure that I saw looks like you are spending way too much money on what could be hundreds of takers.

All you really need to do is get them interested and contact you. No one, IMHO, is going to accept a job at the event. They will need to visit the office and talk more in depth with someone to get a real sense of what they are getting into. You don't have to sell them on everything, just get them to leave contact info and get a little interested in your firm enough to call you back or visit your web site. A link on your website specific to the event will make them feel that you are already interested in who they are. A place that they can communicate with someone from the comfort of their laptop.

Good Luck. Getting and keeping young talent can be a challenge.

[am_i_wry]

I do find it interesting that so many people want short, snappy verbiage - bullet points and the like. We purposefully avoided that in the mission statement for WCD because it is comes off so contrived and reads like the powerpoint presentation of a mid-level manager at a shipping company. We're about big ideas that can't be distilled down to bullet points.

I dont think anyone said bullet points, just less text. You have heard that a picture is worth a thousand words? Well use a picture! If your ideas really are that big they should shine through in your work.

[archie1492]

just wondering who read the text...
anyone?

[am_i_wry]

I only ever read architect generated text when i want a laugh. We are utter pish at communicating in written form. To tell the truth we arent very good at communicating visually either, not with normal people anyway. Architecture == autism

[superjim]

Its all a bit commercial still, very restrained and proper, and thats not going to grab me by the nuts really. just go for it, show off, tell me why i want to work for you (every arch firm in the world will tell you that theyre an open office and design led etc) ... where are you based? some testimonials from staff who came to the company straight from college. pictures of the office, your selling me a job not a service, i'll have to spend more than half my time in your company if I accept. so being honest, those images arent going to make me want to work for you over other companies especially so i want to know that this is a great office and the place to be.

Oh and a little thing, switch the paragraphs around so that the "art of architecture" is before the "business of architecture"