Prospect Newsletter March 2019

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ADMISSIONS UPDATE

Application Deadline: April 1st We are less than a month from our regular decision application deadline of April 1st! Admissions decisions are being sent this week for our early decision deadline and will go out in early to mid May for regular decision.

Request the application and learn how to apply on our Admissions page.

How to apply

Frequently Asked Questions and Instagram Takeovers As our April 1st application deadline approaches, we hope you'll take a look at some frequently asked questions at the bottom of our Admissions page.

You can also check out the Brandcenter's instagram for FAQ's. We're featuring track takeovers to give you a better look at our ve tracks (this month we are featuring alumni in each track) as well as some Q&A with Isabelle Mouton, our admissions program administrator. All are featured as highlighted stories at the top of our Instagram page. Â

Info sessions and faculty workshop with Roanoke AAF We are holding an information session and faculty workshop in Roanoke, VA on Fri., March 22, hosted by the Roanoke AAF chapter. Brandcenter faculty will be conducting a strategy workshop, teaching "How to Make Ads that Don't Suck" and more.

We also have one more information session at the Brandcenter in Richmond this Wed., March 13th.

Register now >

WHAT'S NEW

World IA Day at VCU Brandcenter On February 23rd, the local user experience design community flooded the Brandcenter for World IA Day Richmond, hosted by Richmond UX, Ladies that UX Richmond, and RVA Content Strategy. It was incredible to be part of this one-day, global festival of all things Information Architecture, UX, Interaction Design, and other related disciplines. Students in our experience

design track were able to learn from and mingle with experts from Capital One, ICFNext, Genworth, and more.

Watch on Facebook Live > #WIADRVA on Twitter >

2018 Alumni Panel Our new Friday Forum spring semester tradition brought back seven alumni to share insights and advice from their rst year out. Alums from The Community, Arts & Letters, The Martin Agency, Google Creative Lab and Wieden + Kennedy talked about life after Brandcenter and how to overcome imposter syndrome in your new job. A few tips: be very critical of your own work, ask questions when you don't understand, dig deeper for solutions that aren't easily seen, and walk into every room like you deserve to be there.

See full schedule

STUDENT SPOTLIGHT

Kobby Amoako-Atta: Learning how to surf "It’s always difficult putting the Brandcenter experience into words. After a year and a half of ups and downs, this is the best metaphor I can think of to describe this crazy experience we've all signed up for: learning how to surf."

Read more of 2nd year copywriter Kobby's story.

See more stories

ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT

Droga5 Promotes Brandcenter Alums to ECD's “Casey and Karen are among our absolute best and brightest,” said Droga5 Chief Creative Officer Neil Heymann. “Their sharp minds and exceptional talents have led to some of this agency’s most powerful work. They’re strong leaders with a conscience, compelled to use their considerable powers to help causes they believe in.”

Since joining Droga5 in 2013 and 2012 respectively, Brandcenter alums and newly promoted ECD's Casey Rand (CW, 2009) and Karen Land Short (AD, 2008) have helped lead the charge for some of Droga5's most defining work, including Under Armour’s ‘I Will What I Want,' the Clinton Foundation’s ‘Not There,' and multiple campaigns for Chase, Dixie, Prudential, Newcastle, YMCA, Covergirl and more.

Read more > See more alumni news

DIRECTOR SPOTLIGHT

In the news Brandcenter executive director Vann Graves has been popping up in the news a lot lately.

On February 15th, he penned "Brands Still Have a Lot to Learn About Diversity and Creating Inclusive Work Environments," for Adweek, touching on recent racially insensitive missteps of major brands (Gucci's blackface sweater and Adidas' all-white sneakers to “Celebrate Black Culture”). Vann asserts that these lapses could become a thing of the past if there was more diversity in positions of power, making decisions and approving work. Last week Adweek again tapped Vann and others to discuss and celebrate 15 classic campaigns by black creatives that helped shape our industry, like McCann Worldgroup's "Hilltop" for Coca-cola (1971), co-written by black singer songwriter Billy Davis.

The Richmond Times-Dispatch featured Vann and his "reputation as a strong, thoughtful and effective leader," detailing his advertising career and journey back home to Richmond to lead the Brandcenter. It's a great look at what Vann believes sets the Brandcenter apart.

More News

STUDENT WORK

For her subculture documentary project, 2nd year Strategy student Mary Gray Johnson explored what it's like to be a sober jam band fan, experiencing the music substance-free. The 10-minute mini-documentary that focuses on the Phish scene has struck a chord in the the sober jam band community: it's had over 6,500 YouTube views and has been written about in JamBase and Live for Live Music.

See more >

ALUMNI WORK

Ten Brandcenter alumni worked on Super Bowl commercials this year, including Hyundai's "Elevator" and Audi's "Cashew" which made the top ten in USA Today's Ad Meter, as well as Pringles, Toyota, Simplisafe, Coca-cola, CBS Network and the Cleveland Clinic. Watch all eight spots on our Alumni Super Bowl Youtube playlist and find out what it's like to make one.

We love this fun sing-along work for Cheerios by Eric Dennis (AD, 2011), Simon Philion (CW, 2011) and their team at 72andSunny New York, deemed "Next-gen Schoolhouse Rock" by Adweek. It launched on National Friend Day. Watch the spot >

"Human meets machine" is some powerful new work for BMW from VCU Brandcenter alum Mackenzie Beer (ST, 2016) and her team at Goodby Silverstein & Partners. The spot features Italian racing legend Alex Zanardi,

who lost both of his legs in a car crash in 2001. This year he raced in 24 Hours of Daytona with help from the BMW team that built him a one-of-a-kind steering wheel so he could drive using only his upper body.

Watch the spot >

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.

Application Deadline: April 1

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