Asia Irvin

It was at One School that Asia Irvin began to develop her skills in art direction. Since then, she’s worked on campaigns for the likes of Nike, Merrell and Microsoft, winning gold at the One Show and a yellow pencil at the D&AD awards for her DIY skate video with EA Skate. From building connections with recruiters to learning through her mentors, this is how Asia climbed the ladder and got past the ‘junior hump’ in the advertising world.

About my work

My creative practice
I lead creative vision and conceptual executions for Microsoft’s AI business products and their partnerships, including Premier League, F1 and NFL, from social content to campaigns and experiences. This looks like turning tech stories into ideas people actually care about, whether that’s Copilot helping Premier League fans know more about their favorite teams or acknowledging the role Excel plays in finance culture. I develop campaign concepts, direct visual identity and shape the stories that we tell.

Influences and inspiration
My influences change day by day, month by month. I'd say I'm influenced by great work and the people who worked on those projects. Some cool things I've seen recently include this dope photography from Soccer Bible x Snipes and this Nike video.

Clip from a global campaign for Merrell, art directed by Asia

My training
After graduating, I attended an online portfolio school called The One School. It gave me a clear understanding of what advertising was and led me to learn about art direction and how to develop my skills to become an art director. I’ve had a couple of mentors along the way who gave me tips on how to up my craft and build a portfolio that would land me respectable roles.

Favourite recent project
My favorite recent project is my EA Skate work that I did with Uncommon. It recently won gold at the One Show and a yellow pencil at the D&AD awards! I loved it because it wasn't an ad, but a three-minute DIY skate video with real skaters. It was totally a vibe.

A clip from EA Skate

A day in the life
A normal day looks like hitting the gym at 5 am and coming back home to journal and reset my mind before logging into work. Then, I’ll be briefed on a new workstream or continue world-building for an ongoing project. Some days are heftier on computer work, some days I’ll be on set getting the work produced, which is my favorite.

A starter pack for my job:

How I got here

Starting my creative journey
It was a rough start after graduating college during the pandemic in 2020. Luckily, after exhausting my resources, I was pointed to One School. I applied, got in and won Top Student! After a couple of months of rocky interviews, I got scouted and landed a role with Translation LLC in 2021. It was a period of applying, researching, learning and trying again that ultimately landed me in a better spot than before.

Landing my first few jobs, clients and/or commissions
Translation found me via a recommendation from a copywriter from One School who needed an art director partner. My next gig was with The SpringHill Company, LeBron James’ agency, after a recruiter reached out to me – I didn't even know what agency it was and totally thought it was a scam. Turns out it was legit. I attribute getting scouted by both companies to being active on LinkedIn!

Biggest challenges along the way
My biggest challenge was getting past the junior hump. As a junior, you're expected to know everything with very little experience and almost no guidance. Being thrown in at the deep end of projects without a helping hand and being fully online (it was the Covid era) was a lot to adjust to. I attribute a lot of my growth to my mentors who helped along the way: shoutout Tatchie, Justin, Katelyn and Jordan.

Everyday skills I’ve found helpful for my creative work:
Taste. Researching why things look so good, revisiting directors’ reels and Instagrams to consume more and more things that pique my taste levels was and is so important. From building out moodboards, creating AI imagery to sell at ideas stage, to even producing a simple social asset, taste is essential. Taste in design, music, sound design, motion design, cinematography, styling, etc.

My social media and self-promotion vibe is…
My social media and self-promotion vibe is still being worked on. I just started bringing some of my portfolio work onto my IG grid. Not just because it's a flex, but because I like to add and tag everyone who made it so we can keep in touch more authentically.

LinkedIn is important, but it can be a bit disconnected from real connections. My advice is to put your work on IG and connect and create community there – that's where real conversations are had. At the same time, don't sleep on LinkedIn because that's where the recruiters are.

Three things I've found useful in my career:

My greatest learnings when it comes to making money and supporting myself as a creative:
Closed mouths don't get fed. Promote yourself and your abilities to secure that raise. Get a counteroffer to raise your proposed salary. Or ask for an extra 10k if the budget allows. I haven't freelanced formally yet, but when it comes to salaries, I always try to negotiate and never accept the first offer.

Advice

My most useful career tips
Be yourself - that's the most valuable thing you can offer. Leading with your niche interests, your lived experiences, and lingo can make you more interesting than you know.

Where I go to feel connected as a creative
Museums, CultureCon and industry events that make me feel connected to the now. Trending topics, areas of discussion, and hot takes are all best experienced in person.

What I'd say to someone looking to get into a similar role
Get some sick work done (whether that's mock-work or scrappy video concepts you do for your friend’s brand), brand yourself, promote yourself, and the opportunities will come to you.