A Day in the Life of Darren OBeirne

Name: Darren O’Beirne
Company: rmg:connect
Job title: Art Director

What keeps you busy all day?
My project manager.

What keeps you awake at night?
If I haven’t cracked an idea, like most other creatives I would imagine, I’ll be up most of the night waiting for the bolt of lightning to strike. When those days come along, it’s normally a combination of coffee and pro-plus that’s keeping me up all night.

Describe your working day:
After getting up and frantically running to the tram stop in Mitcham where I live with only one leg in my trousers, I take a tram and a couple of tubes up to Knightsbridge. This will probably involve reading someone else’s newspaper over their shoulder, scrawling various scribbles down onto my arm so I don’t forget them and doing a fair bit of people watching. It’s not THAT creepy, I wouldn’t do it if there weren’t so many crazy people that get onto my trains.

I’ll normally get into work and depending on my condition:
Mild hangover: Toast
Severe hangover: Full English

Then there’s the usual e-mail checking, both work and private, a quick check on Chelsea FC and I’m off and ready to go come 9.30am. Jon (my copywriter) and I will normally be corralled by our project manager and given a reminder of the things to do that day, at which point I whip out a giant marker pad and try and organize myself so I hit all of those deadlines and go home a happy creative.

The day normally pans out with meetings, followed by drawing and the occasional Mac work, all separated by the odd coffee. A good day is one of those days where Jon and I get to find a quiet little hiding place and brainstorm until our brains hurt. Then it’s all about looking forward to getting them in front of our Creative Director and hoping he loves them as much as we do.

Come lunchtime, I’m normally sat in the Canteen with a pad going over and over an idea that isn’t quite right yet and hopefully having cracked it by the time I wander back to my desk. Pen and paper, and off I go again.

As everyone in the industry knows, there is no typical going home time but when it comes, it’s back on the tube and a hop back onto the tram before a dive into the kitchen to rustle up something I’ve been looking forward to since Earl’s Court.

After getting a few odd jobs out of the way I’ll lay my head down and think myself off to sleep…..then wake up at 4 in the morning and move from the couch to the bed.

What’s your busiest time of day?
7.30am. I’ve got to wake up, get in the shower, throw on some clothes, catch the toast as it pops out of the toaster, grab a bag and be out the door in all of 10 minutes.

What brands/accounts have you worked on?
Sky, Vodafone, HSBC, Phizer, Deloitte, Shell, Tommy’s baby charity…..

Best day at work:
The day we were told we were off to Cannes. Still the most inspiring thing I’ve ever done. Not to mention the most tantastic.

Worst day at work:
The day we worked through until the early hours only to find out that the client had intended to change the layout all along. I’m not naming any names but you know who you are.

Name one thing you’ve achieved that has made your bosses sit up and take
notice:
A Bronze Cannes Lion. Closely followed by the time we hired a friend of a friend for £20 to stand outside work at lunch time with a placard demanding that our boss give us a contract.

Ambitions:
Becoming Group Head, CD, and then who knows. Everyone has ideas they’ve picked up over time of how their own agency would look and run and I’m no different.

Advice to other rising stars:
Get your book in front of anyone and everyone with a job title in the industry. Oh yeah, and make sure you use any means possible and some of those that you don’t think are. There aren’t any rules as to what you can’t do to get attention.

Quote from the boss:
‘Darren has an amazing amount of passion for all things advertising.’