Oliver is a copywriter—and Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging Talent Marketing Manager at Capital One. Since his last post (way back on 10.28.13), he’s been super ultra busy. He currently has more than 20 projects on his site, including a bunch for Allianz (above) and BFGoodrich. Time for an update!
Portfolio: enterhouseofo.com
Big ups to VCU Brandcenter Director of Student Affairs and Industry Outreach, Ashley Sommardahl, for once again helping MC host VCU Brandcenter Week. And big, big ups to all of the VCU grads who will be running the ad biz soon enough. Do great work. Be kind to each other. Make the world a better place.
You can check out the portfolios of the entire VCU Brandcenter 2018 class, including copywriters, art directors, creative brand management, experience design, and strategy, on the VCU Brandcenter site here. Can’t wait to see where they land!
Brianna is a new copywriter and a recent VCU grad. One of the great things about student campaigns is that you get to take an idea and run with it. And run and run and run and run with it. Who’s going to stop you? Nobody. In the case of Brianna’s “Pull This” campaign for Kraft String Cheese, she went from print to OOH to digital to in-store to vending machine to a String Cheese Festival in Pullman, WA, headlined by the String Cheese Incident. Because why the heck not.
Portfolio: briannagross.com
Allison is a new art director and a recent VCU grad. At the time of this post, she’s got six spec projects and two produced projects on her site (don’t be fooled just because the produced ones are last, they’re just as good as the spec). Dig her creepy eye “Get Impossibly Close” campaign for Bushnell, and her “Sick Burns Candles” product development idea (so mean), which both have just the right amount of edge. Also dig her Unite by Kotex App. How have they not made that yet?
Portfolio: allisonrinaldi.com
Lynn is a new art director and a recent VCU grad. She’s got so many different looks in her portfolio, but all of them have the coolest vibe: Venmo (above), Mütter Museum, Sector 9, That’s What She Said, Little Tikes, Wonder Bread, and Olympics. Also, don’t miss her magazine “Skinny Dipper” in Not Work. So cool.
Portfolio: lynnlnakamura.com
Mike is a new art director and recent VCU grad. The typography throughout his portfolio is subtle and beautiful (great use of white space), which makes the lines sing. Love seeing an AD start off his book with a campaign for Merriam-Webster. High-five, Mr. Lee.
Portfolio: bookofmikelee.com
Thea is a new copywriter and recent VCU grad. So many smart projects on her site, from Hi-Liter “choose what to remember” to Greyhound “Took me there” to Daily Warmups for Chicks (above). Genius.
Portfolio: thea-ryan.com
Allie is a new copywriter and graduate of VCU. All kinds of hilarity in her portfolio including her very “real” campaign for Boy Scouts (above). Don’t miss her completely inappropriate children’s book (ahem) “Are You My Daddy?” So wrong. So right.
Portfolio: alliercarr.com
James is a copywriter/content strategist at Release The Hounds, and he teaches at VCU’s Robertson School of Media and Culture. Since his last post on MC (12.16.15), he’s got the new gig at RTH and posted a bunch of killer new projects to his site, including PatiYogi for Eagle Bay Pavers (above) and The SoundView Project, which aims to create awareness about the importance of music education in schools. Time for an update!
Portfolio: jamesmoffitt.carbonmade.com
For everyone not able to attend VCU’s recruiter sessions this week (over 200 attending), MC is honored to present the portfolio sites of 26 graduating art directors and 25 copywriters (in alphabetical order). Congrats to all!
COPYWRITERS
Maddy Baldwin (copywriter) – maddybaldwin.com
Will Bareford (copywriter) – willbareford.com
Elizabeth Bassett (copywriter) – elizabethbassett.com
Kelly Cabaniss (copywriter) – kellycab.com
Mike Cardamone (copywriter) – mecardamone.com
Samuel Case (copywriter) – samcase.net
Dennis Chen (copywriter) – denniskchen.com
Tom Daley (copywriter) – tomdaleyhere.com
Kevin David (copywriter) – kmdavid.com
Kaitlin DeMayo (copywriter) – kaitlindemayo.com
Jeff Dunn (copywriter) – jeffdunncw.com
Caroline Gallalee (copywriter) – carolinegallalee.com
James Gross (copywriter) – jamesisgross.com
Lizzy Hopkinson (copywriter) – lizzyhopkinson.com
Chris Kessler (copywriter) – iamchriskessler.com
Matt Klugman (copywriter) – mattklugman.com
Conor McFarland (copywriter) – conormcfarland.com
Jessica New (copywriter) – jessicanew.com
Matt Neylon (copywriter) – matt-neylon.com
Tim Shumar (copywriter) – timshumar.com
Jeff B. Tune (copywriter) – jeffbtune.com
Matthew Waronker (copywriter) – mattwaronker.com
Dean Weber (copywriter) – dean-weber.com
Rich Whelchel (copywriter) – richwhelchel.com
Jenny Yoon (copywriter) – jennifermiayoon.com
ART DIRECTORS
Majic Aubert (art director) – majicaubert.com
Tony Avila (art director) – amavila.com
Jake Broglio (art director) – jake-broglio.com
Gianna D’Amico (art director) – giannadamico.com
Raven Delisle (art director) – raivenad.com
Elliot Eliash (art director) – ellioteliash.com
Frank Garguilo (art director) – frankgarguilo.com
Josh Gherghel (art director) – joshgg.com
Jason Goldberg (art director) – jasongoldberg.co
Beth Hughes (art director) – jelizabethhughes.com
Samantha Jolley (art director) – samanthajolley.com
Andrew Jones (art director) – andrewcj.com
Jessica Kemmerling (art director) – jessiekemmerling.com
Maria Kouninski (art director) – mariakouninski.com
Steph Langan (art director) – stephlangan.com
Chris Lumain (art director) – chrislumain.com
Alex McClelland (art director) – alexgmcclelland.com
Jasmine McCrae (art director) – jasminelmccrae.com
Héctor Rivas (art director) – hector.works
Wesley Ruff (art director) – wesleyruff.cool
Jessica Sugerman (art director) – jessicasugerman.com
Ken Tsuchiya (art director) – kentsuchiya.com
John Worthington (art director) – jkworthington.com
Liwen Xu (art director) – liwenxu.com
Jansen Yoder (art director) – jansenyoder.com
Holly Younce (art director) – hollyyounce.com
Alex is a brand new art director fresh out of VCU. When a CD hires a new creative, one of the first things they often say is some version of: “Scare me! Don’t hold back. We can always reel you back in—but out of the gate, just go for it.” Ok, so Alex’s Peeps project is just flat-out scary (above). So is her creepy eyeball homepage. And Gollum Girl illustrations. (PS, don’t miss her Illustrations page. So cool.) Love it all.
Portfolio: alexgmcclelland.com
Sometimes the best ideas are the simplest ideas. And the stupidest ideas (in a good way). Will’s project for Arby’s at the Super Bowl is both—it literally puts Arby’s at the Super Bowl, a sandwich in a seat. #WeHaveTheSeats. So dumb. So genius. Plus, it’s Arby’s. Possibly the perfect student campaign.
Portfolio: willbareford.com
VCU Brandcenter Week on MC (yay!) kicks off with copywriter Caroline Gallalee. Being a copywriter is all about ideas and prose and collaboration and humor and fearlessness—but it’s also about enthusiasm and optimism and putting yourself the heck out there. Clicking through Caroline’s portfolio, she’s everywhere: rapping for MadMoms (awesome project), narrating a manifesto video for Tetra “Aquaverse,” and interviewing Kim Kardashian (awkward). Love it all.
Portfolio: carolinegallalee.com
Bob is a freelance copywriter/CD in Richmond, VA, previously at the Martin Agency (for 28 years). Honored to have him up on MC! So many amazing projects on his site. Few things not to miss: the buzz clips reel at the end of the Geico “Good News” project page, Peter Frampton introducing Bob’s reel on his About page, and Kozy Shack Pudding “World’s Worst Jingle” on his radio page. So bad. So good.
Portfolio: bobmeagher.com
Ryan is a freelance copywriter/ACD in Richmond, VA (and ready to travel). Since his last post on MC, way back on 05.07.12, he moved from Pereira & O’Dell to Innocean to Martin to freelance—and added a bunch of killer work to his portfolio along the way. Like selling lemonade with Ice-T for Geico (above). Definitely time for an update.
Portfolio: durrtywords.com
For everyone not able to attend VCU’s recruiter sessions this week, MC is honored to present the portfolio sites of 20 VCU Brandcenter graduating copywriters (in alphabetical order):
Devin Altman – devin-altman.com
Larissa Cole – larissacole.com
Charlie Curnow – charliecurnow.com
Scott Dobbin – scottdobbin.com
Kevin Fitz – kevinbfitz.com
Emily Hovis – emilyhovis.com
Scott Lucien – scottlucien.com
Scott Minniear – scottminniear.com
Patrick Newman – patrickhnewman.com
Jon Northrop – jonnorthrop.com
Sean O’Connor – seanboconnor.com
Jacob Pankey – pankeydotgov.com
Prit Patel – pritpatelfanclub.com
Stephen Shocket – stephenshocket.com
Michelle Smith – michellelottsmith.com
Mike Stango – mikestango.com
Katie Tiambeng – katietiambeng.com
Ray Tolbert – raytolbert.com
Sarah Westerfield – sarahwesterfield.com
Grace Xie – gracexie.com
VCU Brandcenter Week on MC Thursday is Larissa Cole. So much to like in her portfolio. So many different voices—from the zaniness of Just Wink to the truthiness of Adultish Awardies to the beautifulness of Cincinnati Ballet. Also, don’t miss her About Me page In Pictures (have to click to it from About Me In Words). So fun.
Portfolio: larissacole.com
VCU Brandcenter Week on MC continues with Patrick Newman. Lots of headline campaigns in Patrick’s book, including Spanx for Men, Merry Maids, Gränsfors Bruk, Milk Duds, and Scotchgard. Like it. Really fresh art direction throughout as well. Don’t miss Inflated Egos, which MC must have for the next MC Writer’s Ball.
Portfolio: patrickhnewman.com
VCU Brandcenter Week on MC continues with Michelle Smith. Every once in a while, you see something so brilliant in a portfolio that it stops you in your tracks. Michelle’s Slim Jim car visor meat clips are in that category. They’re the perfect combination of cheap tchotchke, useful everyday tool, in-your-face branding—and they’re just so Slim Jim. Delish.
Portfolio: michellelottsmith.com
VCU Brandcenter Week on MC kicks off with Stephen Socket. As usual, MC is blown away by the CW books coming out of VCU—and Stephen’s is a great example of why. He’s got four ad campaigns for Megabus, Timex, Michaels, and Playstation VR. He’s also got a digital magazine and video about ham (above, Ham Manual), an animated short film (that he animated), a product (bottled coffee), and a kids book “Why Is Everyone Murdering Me?” And that doesn’t include his Other Projects page. How do you get better? You make stuff make stuff make stuff.
Portfolio: stephenshocket.com
James is a copywriter at Capital One in Richmond, VA, and a graduate of VCU. While he’s new to copywriting, he’s not new to writing and has an interesting portfolio to show for it. Biking to messenger bags, outdoor gear to Sink/Swim Press, there’s a super cool/alternative POV that runs through his site and his projects. Love to see someone doing it different.
Portfolio: jamesmoffitt.carbonmade.com
For everyone not able to attend VCU’s recruiter sessions this week, MC is honored to present the portfolio sites of 24 VCU Brandcenter copywriters graduating May 9th, 2015 (in alphabetical order):
Sue Attalah – sueattalah.com
Richard Beahm – richardbeahm.com
Curt Chapkowski – curtchapkowski.com
Andrew Couch – johnandrewcouch.com
Elizabeth Daniel – elizabethdaniel.info
Emma Dou – emmadou.com
Patrick Farrell – patrickbfarrell.com
James Feess – jamesfeess.com
Nick Gelbard – nickgelbard.com
Patrick Girts – patrickgirts.com
Joe Hartley – joehartley.pizza
Andy Holdeman – andymightsave.us
Sarah Johnston – sarahejohnston.com
Melanie Matlock – melaniematlock.com
Conor McCann – conordrummmccann.com
Mike McGuire – michaelkmcguire.com
Alison Murphy – amurph.com
Ryan Niland – ryanniland.com
Dorado Quick – doradoquickwrites.com
Nick Roberston – bnrobertson.com
Neeruj Sethi – neerujsethi.com
Ryan Snyder – rysny.com
Jesse Stanton – jessestanton.com
Madeleine Trebenski – madeleinetrebenski.com
What’s better than clicking through a portfolio and laughing out loud? Above is a photo of Patrick that, according to his About Girts page, he hates. (Now immortalized on MC, you’re welcome!) Loving all of the VCU portfolio site About Us pages, BTW. Good stuff. Also, don’t miss Patrick’s campaign for Black Flag Bug Zappers (“The last thing that went through his head … was one of his legs.”). And his Character Demo Reel in Voice Work. Awesome.
Portfolio: patrickgirts.com
One of the great things about clicking through VCU student books is that you never know what you’re gonna find. Joe’s got under-label fold-out stories for Hellmann’s (above), taxi tops for Greyhound, funky video for Airwick, and the Patbenetaur—you’ll just have to find that one for yourself. Can’t wait to see where Joe lands after graduation.
Portfolio: joehartley.pizza
No two copywriters become copywriters the same way. Check out Emma’s “Life Highlights” page and you’ll learn that she started in Nanjing, China, moved to Vancouver, Canada, undergrad at University of British Columbia, summer dishwasher in Osaka, Japan, then three novels, The Great Wall, Popeye’s Chicken, Empire State Building, VCU Brandcenter, and here we are today. Ta-da!
Portfolio: emmadou.com
VCU Brandcenter Week 2015 kicks off with Maddy Trebenski. The awesome thing about student portfolios is that they’re, well, student portfolios. You can do anything, for any client. Maddy’s got stop-motion videos for Tim Hortons, a game for Twirl-A-Squirrel (OMG buying one immediately), packaging for Happy Socks, creepy ear love for Sennheiser, and other weird stuff including a seance with a Pretty Pony from Dollar Tree (above). As it should be.
Portfolio: madeleinetrebenski.com
Ladies and gentlemen, MC is honored to present the portfolio sites of the 2014 VCU Brandcenter graduating copywriters (in alphabetical order):
Sam Bauer – sambauercw.com
Karen Bolipata – karenbolipata.com
Jimmy Burton – jimmyburton.com
Ally Farrish – allyfarrish.com
Peter Henningsen – peterhenningsen.com
Katie Johnston – katierjohnston.com
Blakeley Jones – blakeleyjones.com
Demian Kendall – demiankendall.com
Chase Kimball – clkimball.com
Nicole Lague – nicolelague.com
Liz Loudy – lizloudy.com
Samson Madella – samsonmadella.com
Steve Nass – stevenjnass.com
Trong Nguyen – tronghnguyen.com
Hunter Pinnell – hpinnell.com
Erin Ridgeway – erinridgeway.com
Garrick Sheldon – garricksheldon.com
Gabe Sherman – meetgabesherman.com
Colleen Trachy – colleentrachy.com
Jimmy’s Divorce-A-Ments project begins with this simple introduction: “A lot of things change after your parents get divorced. One of those things is Christmas.” Amen, brother. MC is guessing we’ll see some form of these in Urban Outfitters around November/December.
Portfolio: jimmyburton.com
Samson is from South India, where from 2002 through 2012 he was a professional bass player, church elder, missionary, guitar player, songwriter, clinician, proofreader, gofer, report writer, activist, publicist, singer, change agent, band manager, hotel lobby musician, content writer, and social justice advocate. Today, he is a new copywriter grad from VCU Brandcenter, and his site features projects represented by electric guitar pedals. Excellent.
Portfolio: samsonmadella.com
You know what’s funny? Listening to people annunciate when they’ve got a cold. It’s just stupid funny. Ally’s campaign for Afrin features a Google Translate language setting for Congested (sponsored) that turns ordinary sentences into their stuffed-up equivalent. Afrin needs to do that.
Portfolio: allyfarrish.com