Ep. 20: Jack of All Trades or Agency Star? A Real Portfolio Review with Art Director Tonichi Acenas

In this bold and honest What the Helvetica episode, Mike Janda reviews the real portfolio of Tonichi — an art director with serious agency cred and a broad creative skillset. We dive into her site, case studies, UX decisions, and brand positioning to uncover what works, what needs tweaking, and how to turn great work into even greater opportunities.

If you’ve ever wondered whether being a generalist hurts your chances or how to land your dream agency job, this episode is a goldmine.

What You’ll Learn

• Why strong work still gets overlooked — and how to fix that

• How to emotionally hook agency hiring managers in 2 clicks

• The pros and cons of being a generalist in today’s creative industry

• The anatomy of a high-converting homepage

• What agencies really look for in a portfolio

• Why showing your face might be your biggest asset in 2025

• Strategic tweaks to design hierarchy, CTAs, and UX

• How to balance agency dreams with freelance goals

• When (and how) to use personal branding vs studio branding

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🤝 Connect with Michael Janda

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Michael Janda is an award-winning creative director, designer, and agency veteran. In 2002, he founded the creative agency Riser, which provided design and development services for clients that included Disney, Google, Warner Bros., Fox, NBC, ABC, National Geographic and many other high-profile brands. Michael sold his agency in 2015 and now spends his time speaking, developing books, courses, and social media content to help creatives level-up. He is the author of “Burn Your Portfolio” and “The Psychology of Graphic Design Pricing.”

Instagram: https://instagram.com/morejanda

YouTube: https://youtube.com/morejanda

LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/morejanda

Website: https://michaeljanda.com

Courses: https://morejanda.teachable.com

Community: https://morecreativeacademy.com

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🤝 Connect with Tonichi Acenas

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Tonichi Acenas (pronounced as Toh-nee-chee A-sen-us) is a brand designer and photographer from Manila, Philippines. She has previously worked with clients like Toyota, Olay, and Tim Hortons at ad agency Ace Saatchi & Saatchi, and has also worked in-house at a local startup where she helped design retail brands and concepts.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/okaygoodstudio

Website: tonichiacenas.com