Working world

Creative eye

Visualisers take ideas and put them into action

Story by Kelly May
Pictures from J. Watler Thompson

Santi's favourite print advertisement for Converse All Star.

Advertising agencies have many people to please. When companies approach agencies to design a marketing strategy for its product, the company expects results in the form of increased sales once the campaign has started.

After receiving a brief from its client, an agency will need to come up with several ideas for an effective marketing campaign. Campaigns could involve using television commercials and magazine advertisements or any other medium that will gain the attention of consumers.

An advertising agency�s creative team will use the client�s brief to design several advertisements. The agency will then need to present its ideas to its client. To help the creative team communicate the ideas to the client, a visualiser will draw a picture or several pictures on a storyboard.

Picture perfect

Santi Hongmaneer is a visualiser at Thailand�s largest advertising agency, J. Watler Thompson. It�s Santi�s job to talk to the art director and understand the creative team�s ideas so that he can draw a storyboard to be used during the client presentation.

�It�s my job to put into pictures what the creative team is saying. I �visualise� other people�s ideas. I draw all the pictures needed in a campaign. Depending on the size and nature of the campaign, I can be drawing pictures for a magazine advert or a series of pictures for a television commercial,� Santi explained.

Visualisers work inside the company and have no contact with the client. They work closely with the art director and creative team. �You have to be an excellent listener and be able to visually communicate other people�s ideas. Someone may have an excellent idea for a television advert, but if the client doesn�t fully understand it or can�t picture the final product, it won�t be used.�

Getting started

One of Santi's drawings for Hall's candy.

When sitting down with a brief, Santi imagines himself as the consumer and thinks about what they would like to see. �Marketing is all about increasing sales so it�s vital for me to draw from the point of view of the consumer. I�m always looking through magazines and watching television to see what kind of advertising is being used and the results it�s achieving,� Santi explained.

In his brief, Santi will also have information regarding competitors and any other information regarding the product. Santi uses his own experience as a consumer and his creativity to draw his storyboards. His pictures are presented to the creative team for the team's input. Necessary changes are made before the storyboard is taken to the client for final approval.       

Santi�s favourite campaign was a magazine advertisement for Converse All Star trainers. �When drawing for print media you have to say everything you want to say in one frame only. It�s a real challenge to communicate a thousand words in one picture.�

After receiving his brief, it takes Santi about a day to create a storyboard. To draw the 12 frames needed for a television commercial takes a few days longer.

Imagination and a passion for drawing are the only things that a visualiser needs, according to Santi, a visual arts graduate from Bangkok University. �You don�t need to be excellent at drawing to be a good visualiser. You need to be good at communicating other people�s ideas on paper. Make a portfolio of your work and talk to people in the advertising industry. It�s a great job if you love drawing and there�s never any time to be bored.�

a. Santi's favourite print advertisement for Converse All Star.
b. Some of Santi's drawings for Hall's candy.

Vocabulary

strategy (n): plan that is intended to achieve a particular purpose
campaign (n): series of planned activities that are intended to achieve a particular social, commercial or political aim
brief (n): set of instructions that a person is given explaining what their job is and what their duties are
storyboard (n): series of drawings or pictures that show the outline of the story of a film/movie, etc.
competitor (n): person or an organisation that competes against others, especially in business
imagination (n): ability to create pictures in your mind; the part of your mind that does this