Prospect Newsletter January 2019

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WHAT'S NEW

First ever BCsprint Several second year students spent the end of winter break working vigorously on a brand challenge for client sponsor Casper in the Brandcenter's first ever BCsprint. The ten teams had four days to problem solve, come up with ideas and prepare presentations for the client in a real world "sprint" scenario.

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Friday Forum kicks off with alum Howard Jordan, Jr. The rst Friday Forum of 2019 featured a live Q&A with Brandcenter alum Howard Jordan, Jr. (CW, 1999). Brandcenter executive director Vann Graves sat down with the fellow Richmond native to discuss his unique journey from hopeful copywriting student to successful NYC creative director to TV writer for Net ix.

Howard shared how advertising shaped his writing and creative problem solving in Hollywood and gave a ton of actionable advice to our students -- from writing and portfolio tips, to how to give and take constructive criticism, to being "hungry, not thirsty."

See full schedule

STUDENT SPOTLIGHT

Ruthie Edwards champions accessibility in game design "I stumbled upon accessibility by accident, but now I notice it all the time. I see badly-designed doors, confusing signs, and lazy website design that keep people with disabilities from accessing information and services. My Brandcenter peers know me as 'the video game lady' because of my passion for games, and I started noticing inaccessibility there, too."

This January, 2nd year Experience Design student Ruthie Edwards led a panel at MAGFest (a gaming festival) and presented her independent study work, a guide and online toolkit she created to promote accessibility standards in video game design.

Read Ruthie's story and check out her guidelines.

See more stories

ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT

Yichi Zhang named to Forbes China 30 Under 30 Brandcenter alum and entrepreneur Yichi Zhang (CBM, 2015) was named to Forbes China 30 Under 30 in 2018. Having co-founded an LA-based advertising agency while at the Brandcenter, Yichi's latest venture is a creative consultancy based in Beijing called Flip the Script. The company focuses on personal branding for all types of clients from executives to hip-hop music producers. “The essence of our business focuses on two things: insight and story,” Zhang said. “Everyone has a story; but not everyone is able to tell their most compelling story from an insightful angle."

See more alumni news

FACULTY SPOTLIGHT

Caley Cantrell helps launch Agent of Change Scholarship Driven by the shared belief in the importance of diversity, professor Caley Cantrell and other supporters of the VCU Brandcenter came together over the summer to create the Agent of Change Scholarship Fund.

“It was easy to be in on the ground floor of this scholarship,” Cantrell recalled.

“The Brandcenter program thrives on collaboration among people with different perspectives and opinions.” Other contributors include alum Mollie Partesotti (ST, 2009), Kristen Cavallo, The Martin Agency, Facebook's Factory, and Sylvain Labs.

Read more > Meet our faculty

ALUMNI WORK

Two Brandcenter alumni spots made Adweek's list of 18 Super Bowl Ads that Inspired the Creative Industry to Step Up Their Game: Volkswagen's "The Force" by David Povill (CW, 2003) and his team at Deutsch and Google's "Parisian Love" by Tristan Smith (CW, 2009) and his team at Google Creative Lab.

Keep an eye out for several Brandcenter 2019 alumni Super Bowl commercials including this Coca-cola spot by Nate Nowinowski (AD, 2011) and his team at Wieden + Kennedy Portland during the big game on Sunday!

View more work

Want to learn more about the VCU Brandcenter master's program? Request

information about our program and ve tracks, learn how to apply, or come visit us.

Admissions questions? Contact Isabelle Mouton, Admissions Program Administrator, at moutonia@vcu.edu or 804-827-8869.

Early Decision Deadline: February 1 Regular Decision Deadline: April 1

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