The Creative Group Reports Hiring Trends for First Half of 2016

According to new research on 2016 hiring trends by The Creative Group, 11 percent of advertising and marketing executives surveyed planned to expand their teams in the first half of 2016. The majority of respondents (76 percent) said they expect to maintain staff levels and hire primarily to fill vacated roles in the next six months.

hiring trends 2016Fifty-eight percent of executives said it is challenging to find creative professionals today. “Companies have specific staffing needs, particularly in digital marketing, and seek professionals with precise skills and experience to support these initiatives. Low unemployment coupled with high demand is creating a competitive hiring environment,” said Diane Domemeyer, executive director of The Creative Group.

“Employers are also placing greater emphasis on finding job candidates who will fit well with their workplace culture, which is making the recruiting process even more challenging.”

Hiring Trends for Marketing and Advertising Specialties

Executives reported a range of specialties when asked in which areas they planned to add staff in the first half of 2016. Content marketing and creative/art direction topped the list (27 percent each), followed by brand/product management and print design/production (26 percent each).

Advertising and marketing executives were asked: “In which of the following areas do you expect to hire in the first half of 2016?” Their responses

27% – Content marketing
27% – Creative/art direction
26% – Brand/product management
26% – Print design/production
25% – Interactive media
23% – Account services
22% – Media services
20% – Web design/production
17% – Market research
16% – Digital marketing
15% – Public relations
15% – Customer experience
15% – Copywriting
15% – Social media
10% – Mobile design/development

Challenges Recruiting Creative Professionals

Hiring is getting harder for companies: Fifty-eight percent of advertising and marketing executives said it is challenging to find skilled creative professionals today. This figure is up 16 percent from six months ago, and the highest it has been since The Creative Group started tracking the figure in 2010.

Hiring managers at small marketing departments (100-249 employees) expect the greatest difficulty, with 62 percent of respondents reporting it is somewhat or very challenging to find the talent they seek.

When asked which areas are most difficult to fill, the top responses were brand/product management and customer experience.

The Creative Group Hiring Trends Report

About the Research

The national study on hiring trends was developed by The Creative Group and conducted by an independent research firm. It is based on more than 400 telephone interviews with approximately 200 marketing executives randomly selected from companies with 100 or more employees and 200 advertising executives randomly selected from agencies with 20 or more employees.

The Creative Group (TCG) specializes in placing a range of highly skilled interactive, design, marketing, advertising, and public relations professionals with a variety of firms on a project, contract-to-hire, and full-time basis.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

The Creative Group

The Creative Group Blog

Update Your Photography and Business Skills at PDN PhotoPlus Expo

Whether you are in the professional photography business or are serious about updating your skills, check out what’s happening at the PDN PhotoPlus Conference and Expo in October.

The PDN PhotoPlus International Conference + Expo is the largest photography and imaging show in North America. The 2015 Conference runs from October 21-24 at the Javits Center in New York. The Expo runs from October 22-24.

PhotoPlus_220x145Last year, PDN PhotoPlus Expo attracted more than 21,000 professional photographers, photography enthusiasts, filmmakers, students, and educators from around the world.

“Our vast schedule of photo walks, master classes, conference seminars, keynotes, and portfolio reviews, combined with our large expo hall filled with hundreds of exhibitors demonstrating the latest imaging technologies, has created a wonderful playground for anyone who loves the visual arts.” explains Jason Groupp, Director of Education and Membership of the PHOTO+ Group

PPEThe expo features 220 exhibitors and thousands of new products. The educational programming includes over 80 seminars, keynote presentations, and special events. Whether you need to learn basics such as posing, lighting, retouching, editing, and printing or explore niches such as portraiture, commercial, or travel photography, the program has sessions that can help.

Business development programs at PhotoPlus Expo can help you find ways to expand your range of products and services and update your skills.

Sample Courses

For example, here are a few of the courses that will be presented during the 2015 Conference.

The Headshot Game and How to Play it!
Peter Hurley will explain how to forge a career in a hot genre that helps professionals of all ages improve their digital identities and establish personal brands. Hurley offers valuable insights about how he developed one of the most successful headshot businesses in the country.

Learning to Thrive as an Artist: Business, Marketing and Style for Photographers Commercial photographer and director John Keatley discusses one of his biggest passions—business! He will explain why photographers need to develop both an artists’ mindset and an understanding of the skills needed to market your work.

An Artist’s Journey: Surviving the Evolving Photo Industry
Jeremy Cowart, one of the most influential photographers on the Internet, will explain how to stay relevant in an industry in which new apps, new cameras, new tools and new technologies are released every day.

Focus on Filmmaking

It’s Moving! Tips for Photographers Who Start Shooting Video
European cinematographer and filmmaker Nino Leitner will share tips for photographers who are starting to shoot video. Where are the similarities in shooting practices and workflows? Where are the differences? Learn to avoid the typical caveats and get inspired to think about your images in constant motion.

Creative Concepts for Event Filmmakers
From single-day creative shoots to high-end, multi-day scripted productions, cinematic storytelling can reach far beyond a live event and command high value. Learn how Los Angeles–based Pacific Pictures has become one of the world’s most sought after studios by creating and selling some of the industry’s most prolific live event concept films. Award-winning filmmaker Kevin Shahinian explores creative storytelling techniques and cutting-edge, conceptual film productions that can take your documentary filmmaking skills and business to a higher level.

One-Man-Band Filmmaking
Do you shoot by yourself, handling all the lighting, audio, directing and carrying around all your gear? With the right approach and tools, the New Age filmmaker can accomplish anything independently. Joe Switzer will discuss topics such as project management, outsourcing and the corporate project workflow.

Filmmaking Essentials For Photographers
In this class for emerging photographers and professionals pursuing new markets, Eduardo Angel will demystify the most common filmmaking terms and shooting techniques. He will also cover the most essential selection of gear to increase the production value of your video projects and provide an overview of the business of motion. After this class, you will have a better understanding of the similarities and differences between the disciplines of stills and motion.

Printing Skills and Innovations

Another way photography pros can distinguish themselves is through skills in fine-art printing and conservation framing or by offering high-quality imagery on durable, ready-to-hang aluminum or wood panels or as brilliant, extra-large backlits. Four PhotoPlus Expo sessions can bring you up to speed on the latest workflows and options for in-studio and lab printing.

The Craft and Passion and Fine-Art Digital Printing
According to Stephen Johnson, making a photographic print has always been a challenging process. It could involve days in the darkroom, and deep consideration of the results and possibilities. He contends that the time, craft, and care needed to make a fine print in this digital age is not dissimilar. The processes are very different, but the attention to the craft and need for passionate concentration on the potential beauty of the photographic print remain. Focusing on pigment-ink photo printers, he will discuss workflow issues, color management, adjustment layers, color-cast corrections, custom profile generation, editing, and inspection. He will also explore print aesthetics in the digital age: What makes for a beautiful print? Do new possibilities enhance our notion of what photography can be? Or are we merely trying imitate traditional photographic processes?

The Basics of Fine Art Printing
Rocco Ancora will encourage photographers to take control of their own printing. He will explain how to choose the right printer for your business and how to determine the right media for the print. As he demonstrates how the digital capture-to-print process comes together, he will explore a world of new possibilities and digital imaging practices.

The Basics of Custom Framing: An Overview for the Photo Industry
Framing industry expert John Ranes will explain the essential elements and equipment photographers need to expand into custom framing. Topics to be covered include: conservation framing, sourcing options, and revenue-enhancement offerings. John will review pricing, costs, margins, and volumes to help you determine whether custom framing is right for your photography business.

The Latest Technologies for Large- and Very-Large-Format Printing and Production of Brilliant Backlits
Renowned image permanence expert Henry Wilhelm and several of the world’s most accomplished printmakers will show how new printing processes are expanding the definition of photographic prints. For example, new flatbed printers can use very long-lasting UV-curable pigment inks to produce visually stunning prints up to 10 x 20 ft. on a wide variety of substrates including acrylic, sheet aluminum, Dibond, glass, plywood, uncoated artists papers, and traditional gesso-coated artist canvas. When UV-curable inks are back-printed on acrylic or glass, you can produce brilliant LED-illuminated backlit images at a wide range of sizes. With the dye-sublimation process used to make ChromaLuxe prints, images are infused directly onto specially coated sheets of metal or wood, and table tops. Photo labs can ChromaLuxe prints in sizes up to 4 x 8 ft. The ChromaLuxe prints are extremely resistant to scratches and abrasion and require no additional mounting or framing for display.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

PDN PhotoPlus International Conference and Expo

 

SIGGRAPH Showcases Hybrid Crafts, Virtual Reality, Immersive Environments

SIGGRAPHThe annual SIGGRAPH conference is a five-day interdisciplinary education experience and conference on the latest computer graphics and interactive techniques. The 42nd annual SIGGRAPH takes place August 9-13, 2015 at the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles.  Highlights include: an art gallery of hybrid crafts; a VR (Virtual Reality Village; and demonstrations of how emerging technologies will affect how we work and live.

Art Gallery: Hybrid Crafts

In the display of “Hybrid Crafts” in the SIGGRAPH Art Gallery, visitors will see how skilled artists are using computational design tools in conjunction with traditional crafts. The show will emphasize the importance of craft heritage in contemporary digital design.  Gallery visitors will see how beautiful and meaningful artifacts are being produced by a machine and craftsperson working together, not by a machine or craftsperson alone.

The featured creations come from skilled makers who use computational design tools in conjunction with traditional crafts such as jewelry, bowl-making, wallpapers, and instruments.

 

The Hunt for Butterflies
“The Hunt for Butterflies,” by Peter Schmitt

For artworks included in the display entitled “The Hunt for Butterflies,” independent artist Peter Schmitt uses CAD, CNC machine tools, wood, plastic, metal, electronics, and mechanics “to explore the questions of how computational methods, machine tools, and fabrication resources can be used outside the paradigm of application, function, purpose and profit.”

In another display, independent artist Yael Friedman displays 3D-printed puzzle rings that are not only meant to be seen, but also be touched and played with.

VR Village

In the 2015 VR Village, attendees can explore the fascinating potential of virutal reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and immersive environments for telling stories, engaging audiences, and powering real-world applications in health, education, design, and gaming.

The 2015 VR Village at SIGGRAPH 2015 will feature real-time immersion in the latest virutal and augmented realities, including Nomadic Virtual Reality (VR), Tabletop Augmented Reality (AR), Full-Dome Cinema, and live performances and demonstrations in a 360-degree immersion dome.  The VR Village is a screening room for cutting -edge VR, AR, and Immersive Media programming.

For example, in the walk-about space of the Nomadic VR Arena, participants will use untethered headsets to freely explore immersive virtual environments. During the Immersive Explorers program, multiple visitors can explore the recreated interior of a pharoah’s tomb while interacting with 3D objects and other users.

In the “Holojam” program visitors will share a virtual space and see each other as stylized avatars, draw shapes in the air with a magic wand, and contribute to 3D sculptural artwork.

At the sit-down or stand-up Head-Mounted Display Stations, attendees can experience the latest in VR and AR programming. “Neuro” provides a VR journey through the brain of world-renowned musician Reuben Wu. “LovR” is a story of love told through neural activity captured over four seconds. Experience what happens when two lovers see each other for the first time.

Occulus Rift in Virtual Reality: Immersive Explorers
Real Virtuality: Immersive Explorers. Copyright: 2015 Artanim Foundation, Kenzan Technologies. (Photo: Business Wire)

In the Immersion Dome, visitors can follow energy from the sun to the Earth and explore the atmosphere and oceans. Immersive visualizations from the California Academy of Sciences will enable visitors to experience the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and explore the Earth’s ecosystems over the millennia.

Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, and Immersive Environments are pat of a fast-growing, emerging market,” said Ed Lantz, SIGGRAPH 2015 VR Village Program Co-Chair. “As it grows, there will be room for alternative and independent producers, developers, distributors, and manufacturers to make important and original contributions to consumer products and programming. For the debut of SIGGRAPH’S VR Village, my co-chair Denise Quensel and I wanted to ensure that attendees have the chance to see amazing applications that have been developed by the world’s best programmers, cinematographers, artists, and game developers that are currently out there. We also hope to inspire and bring together the larger VR community.”

Speakers who will participate in moderated talks about “VR: Creating at the Edge” include executives from Walt Disney Imagineering R&D, Sony’s PlayStation Magic Lab, Emblematic Group, and Jaunt Studios.

Emerging Technologies

The Emerging Technologies program will feature projects from various industries that demonstrate how evolving technologies and techniques impact the way we live and work. Each project and installation exhibits how innovation can improve work environments, make everyday tasks easier, or help make leisure time more enjoyable.

“As technology builds upon itself and becomes cheaper and wider spread, it’s important to see the beginnings of how see the beginnings of how it it was developed,” said Kristy Pron, SIGGRAPH 2015 Emerging Technologies Program Chair. “For this year’s conference, we wanted to find technologies that can be applied to daily life, whether it will be tomorrow or in a few
to daily life,  It’s exciting to see firsthand a technology that you can follow the development of and know that it will be relevant to you in the near future. Also, we wanted to uncover practical applications of emerging technology from various industries, such as automotive or assistive. I believe we’ve done that with the wide range of interactive installations that will be showcased.”

SIGGRAPH 2015 Emerging Technologies demonstration highlights include:

An Auto-Multiscopic Projector Array for Interactive Digital Humans
Presented by Linkoping University and the University of Southern California

With this installation, users interact with life-size 3D digital human subjects displayed via a dense array of 216 video projectors to generate images with high angular density over a wide field of view. As users move around the display, their eyes transition from one view to the next, making it ideal for displaying life-size subjects and it allows for natural personal interactions with 3D cues, such as eye-gaze and spatial hand gestures. Automultiscopic 3D displays allow a large number of people to experience 3D content simultaneously without the need for special glasses or headgear.

Ford Immersive Vehicle Environment
Presented by the Ford Motor Company

The Ford Immersive Vehicle Environment (FiVE) is a highly realistic immersive virtual reality system that addresses the unique challenges of automotive  design, engineering and ergonomics. FiVE enables a collaborative approach that allows its program teams to see and understand complex engineering issues from any customer’s perspective; while, considering aesthetic design, fit and finish, manufacturability and maintenance of a vehicle’s system.

Christie Digital Sandbox
Presented by Christie Digital

Christie Digital’s latest technology expands the capabilities of today’s automatic projection-calibration systems. This demonstration uses this technology  application to seamlessly calibrate projection-mapped displays automatically on any surface, smooth or complex, and even 3D. Christie Digital’s Sandbox presents an automatic alignment of a projection display in less than 30 seconds, even after the projector and/or surface is moved.

Semantic Paint: Interactive Segmentation and Learning of 3D Worlds
Presented by Stanford University, Nankai University, University of Oxford and Microsoft Research

This installation is a real-time system, interactive system for geometric reconstruction and object class segmentation of 3D worlds. With this system, a user can walk into a room wearing a consumer-depth camera and a virtual reality headset, and reconstruct the 3D scene and interactively segment it into object classes. The user physically interacts with the scene in the real world, touching objects and using voice commands to assign appropriate labels to
these objects.

MidAir Touch Display
Presented by Keio University and the University of Tokyo

The MidAir Touch Display integrates technology for tactile feedback, acoustic energy distribution, planer phased arrays, ultrasonic fields and aerial images through the Aerial Imaging Plate to provide visuo-tactile interaction with bare hands. This project enables users to see and touch virtually floating objects with the naked eye and their hands for true interaction. This presentation is a SIGGRAPH pick from the DC Expo in Japan.

LINKS

SIGGRAPH 2015

 

Adobe Expands Support for Easier 3D Printing Workflows

DESIGNERS. Last year, Adobe introduced new features in Photoshop CC to help simplify 3D compositing and printing. This year, Adobe is continuing to help you unlock the power of 3D printing by closing the gap between power and usability.

Adobe has added some important new 3D printing capabilities in their 2015 release of Creative Cloud and acquired Mixamo, a San Francisco-based company that enables you to create and customize 3D characters and animations.

In a blog post announcing the Mixamo acquisition, Adobe VP Winston Hendrickson noted that “3D tools have come a long way in the past few years, but are still generally inaccessible to most designers due to the great expense and extensive training required to learn the complicated techniques. However, using 3D in 2D workflows adds flexibility to the design work you’re already doing and delivers better output options for interactive websites, game content, video, and 3D printing. Our research tells us that one of the most in-demand skills for designers is 3D, but using it is just too hard with the current tools and technology.”

Support for PDF and SVX Formats

Adobe Photoshop CC _3D-printing-PDF-SVXThe latest release of Photoshop CC enables users, 3D printer manufacturers, and 3D printing service providers to use the ISO-standard 3D PDF file format to enable 3D printing job submissions and workflows. This can streamline processes and reduce costs, because the files are automatically checked and repaired prior to creating the 3D PDF file.

Photoshop CC users can also now use the SVX format to produce high quality, full color, sliced 3D models on color 3D printers. The 3D printing pipeline in Photoshop CC verifies and updates the file when converting to SVX.

Support for 3D Hubs 

Another new feature in the latest release of Photoshop CC is support for 3D printing through the 3D Hubs service. This enables Photoshop CC users to submit print jobs to local 3D-printing service providers who are members of the 3D Hubs worldwide network.

Currently more than 19,000 owners of 3D printers worldwide are part of the 3D Hubs service. Each listing for a 3D-printing service tells what type of equipment the service has, what types of materials they offer, and how quickly they can turn around the job. One of the goals of 3D Hubs is to accelerate a future of local and on-demand production. According to the company, the 3D Hubs network provides over one billion people access to a 3D printer within 10 miles of their home.

Support for Tinkerine Ditto Pro

The Tinkerine Ditto Pro is a prosumer-grade 3D printer that fits nicely in a classroom or design studio. Its elegant, open-C frame design makes it possible to build products that are taller and deeper than other 3D printers.

According to Eugene Suyu, president and CEO of Tinkerine Studios, “The prosumer market is demanding a 3D printer that features quiet operation along with high speed, high resolution, and massive build volume.”

Designers who want to print their work on a Tinkerine Ditto Pro can now download and install a printer profile from Photoshop CC. The installed profile will enable you to send a file directly from Photoshop CC.

“The integration of Tinkerine support within Photoshop CC makes it even easier for customers to access top-of-the-line 3D printers and training resources that will enable them to create compelling 3D objects,” said Maria Yap, Adobe senior director of production management, Photoshop.

Adobe Acquires Mixamo

Adobe believes the Mixamo acquisition will give creatives a platform for more 3D innovation in the future. Integrating Mixamo’s technology into Photoshop will let you create, customize, manipulate, rig and animate 3D content, as well as take advantage of stock characters that can be easily pulled into projects.

As Hendrickson explains in this blog post, designers will be able to generate more realistic scenes in lighting, reflections, and shadows.

“Designers are increasingly being asked to create photorealistic scenes that don’t exist in the real world,” said Hendrickson. “And while this is already being done in Photoshop CC today, we can push the envelope further to enable a level of precision like never before and to make it easier for everyone to use.”

LINKS

Adobe Creative Cloud 2015

Blog Post: Unlocking the Power of 3D for the Creative Community

New 3D Printing Features in Adobe Photoshop CC

 

New Website Helps You Produce and Ship Small Runs of Custom Designed Apparel

DESIGNERS. ARTISTS. The vPersonalize.com website enables designers to visualize, produce, and deliver small batches of their exclusive designs of apparel and accessories. Or, artists can promote and/or monetize some of their works by converting them into merchandise. You can preview your creations in 3D in the chosen style and size before approving it for manufacturing.

Right now, you can decorate more than 30 products including T-shirts, tunics, shorts, backpacks, dresses, scarves, trousers, and messenger bags. Sell the items through Etsy or on your own website.

“One of the barriers for emerging designers has been access to an easy and affordable manufacturing platform,” says Lee Hagelshaw, co-founder and CFO for vPersonalize.com. With vPersonalize.com, you can produce designs under your own label and have them shipped direct to customers, without having to pay for a larger run from a manufacturer and being stuck with excess inventory.” And like e-books, no design ever goes ‘out of print’ because all products are made on-demand.

vPersonalize

“We have continually improved our platform. Features such as advanced error checking point out any problems in visual design. Auto-fit, mirror and clone functions make it much easier for any creative individual to design professional looking products,” says Bala Selvarajan, Co-Founder and Chief Technologist for vPersonalize.com. “We have also added a much requested feature from designers – the ability to select and reorder their older designs.”

As a pioneer in full custom, design-your-own apparel and accessories, vPersonalize’s 3D visualization and automated pattern-generation technologies support custom sizes, full-bleed, all-overprints, custom styles and choice of fabrics.

LINKS

vPersonalize.com

Ello Teams Up with Threadless to Highlight Work of Established and Up-and-Coming Artists

Ello.co is a simple, ad-free social network created by a small group of artists and designers. It was originally conceived as a private social network where people could be who they want to be and connect with people they love without getting bombarded by boosted posts, data mining, and ad salesmen. But a public version of Ello has recently been built for everyone to use. As a Public Benefit Corporation, Ello has vowed to never serve ads or sell user data to make money. (A Benefit Corporation is a new kind of for-profit company in the USA that exists to produce a benefit for society as a whole — not just to make money for its investors.)

Ello recently teamed up with the Threadless design community and e-commerce site to sell t-shirts featuring the Ello logo reimagined by independent artists.

ThreadlessElloDesignThe first T-shirt in the collection was created by Chicago-based artist Chuck Anderson (aka NoPattern), a fine artist, illustrator and photographer, also well known for his commercial work. He reimagined the Ello logo with a multi-color, drip-like background. The Ello x Threadless store will also offer black-and-white T-shirts with the original Ello logo for $25.

Anderson will curate the entire Ello x Threadless collection and work with established as well as up-and-coming artists to highlight their unique work.

“What’s truly special about us teaming up with Ello is the incredible commitment to supporting the arts,” noted Jake Nickell, founder and CEO of Threadless. “Both of our companies are rooted in creativity, and together we’re making art accessible to a wider audience.”

The Ello x Threadless online store will release a new limited-edition artist-designed Ello t-shirt bimonthly. An online timer will countdown to the next available design which will appear on the first and fifteenth day of each month. Once a design has been replaced, it will not be available again.

“Ello is about freedom − freedom from advertising, freedom to be who you want to be, and freedom to create. Working with brilliant artists like Chuck is a way we support Ello’s creative community,” said Paul Budnitz, co-founder and CEO of Ello.

“When Ello and Threadless approached me about curating their t-shirt collection, I couldn’t wait to begin our collaboration,” said Anderson. “This project stands out as it allows me to engage with new and established artists and be part of their creative journey.”ThreadlessLOGO

Threadless is a creative community that makes, supports, and buys art. Thousands of people worldwide submit their designs online. Then, the community picks their favorites, which get made into t-shirts, bags, wall art, and more. When you buy from Threadless, you directly support the artist who created the design.

LINKS

Ello Threadless Store

Threadless Page on Ello

Ello: A Public Benefit Corporation

 

NOOK Media Launches NOOK Press Print Service for Independent Authors

WRITERS. The NOOK Media subsidiary of Barnes & Noble has launched the NOOK Press print service. The fast, easy-to-use service allows you to print your own customized professional-quality hardcover or paperback books. The new service is designed to be easy enough for everyone from established self-published authors to first-time bookmakers. Authors and aspiring writers can use the new print service to create books for personalized gifting and keepsakes. Self-published authors can create promotional, review and personal resale copies.

NookPrintService

The service offers black and white or color printing, high-quality paper choices, and multiple trim sizes and cover treatments. After you upload properly formatted, print-ready PDFs of your pages and cover, your customized, high-quality print book will be delivered in about a week.

If you want professional support with design, illustration and editing, you can get help through NOOK Press Author Services.

“With the introduction of the NOOK Press print service, we’re providing authors, creators, crafters and more with a powerful new tool to bring their writing to print,” said Theresa Horner, General Manager of NOOK Press & Vice President of Content Acquisition at NOOK Media. “It is very exciting to have the NOOK Press platform supporting authors in multiple formats.”

“NOOK Press is proud to add print books to its portfolio of services. As the world of self-publishing grows, NOOK Press will continue to expand its easy-to-use content creation services in support of all authors, writers and creators,” said Doug Carlson, executive vice president of digital content and chief marketing officer at NOOK Media LLC. “The NOOK Press team has created another outstanding experience for authors to showcase their content.”

To begin making your book, visit the NOOK Press website, and click on “Get Started.” A free formatting guide is available to help you set up the print-ready PDFs.

You can also take advantage of the free writing, editing, collaborating and self-publishing tools on the NOOK Press self-publishing platform for e-books.

LINKS

NOOK Press