Adia is a copywriter at TPN. Since her last post on MC (back on 12.06.2020), she’s been busy. After graduating from Savannah College of Art & Design, she landed at The Integer Group—now TPN. Her site features projects for the North Texas Toll Authority, Loctite, Frito-Lay, plus some radio, plus four projects from her school portfolio. If you like puppets (and who doesn’t), you’re in luck. There are puppets all over her site reminding people in Texas to get their toll tags. The world needs more puppets!
It’s that time again! Time to meet the new book180 graduates. From book180: “These 18 creatives have spent the last 180 days of their life in portfolio school. For 6 months, they’ve worked together from all over the world, fine-tuned their design and writing skills, created so many book-worthy pieces, killed so many babies, panicked, had a lot of fun, and now, we’re so proud to watch them graduate! As you can see in their portfolios, they’re all winners. The work this semester was so insightful, for brands like Raid, Chiquita Bananas, Carvel, Coppertone, Applebees, SPAM, and Guinness Open Gate Brewery created in partnership with Jack Morton Worldwide. Call them, beep them, scoop them up before another agency does!” Do it!
David is a senior copywriter (and fellow Oregon Duck alum) who is on the hunt for his next big thing. Previously, he was at Media.Monks where he “conceptualized, wrote and pitched work that showcases the possibilities and potential of emerging technologies across a variety of channels, working with global innovators at PayPal and Meta — specifically within Reality Labs and WhatsApp.” In addition to tech brands, David’s site also features work for Lululemon, Nike and Jordan from his time at AKQA and Nike. (So many killer brands, sheesh.) Can’t wait to see where David lands!
Ashley Sommardahl, Associate Director at VCU Brandcenter in Richmond, VA, was nice enough to send MC their 2024 graduating class portfolios—which are broken out by concentration: Copywriting, Art Direction, Strategy, Experience Design, and Account/Brand Management. Can’t say enough good things about Brandcenter and the books coming out of it. Consistently stellar, strategic work that shines. Get ’em while they’re hot!
On the hunt for some new creative talent? Today is your day. A new crop of DAD grad portfolios dropped recently and they’re ready for your eyeballs. From DAD, “This group really pushed themselves to make the biggest, boldest work they could and boy did they deliver. There’s a TON of talent here and they’re open to opportunities on the east coast, west coast, and everything in between.” Love it.
Sarah Latz, Founder/Director of book180 online portfolio school, was nice enough to send MC their 2023 Fall grad portfolios. (View at the link below.) What’s more fun than clicking through student portfolios, checking out fresh new work, and trying to guess where they’re going to land for their first gigs? Nothing. Nothing is more fun. Congrats to all of the new book180 grads—go get ’em!
These students hail from all over the country. After 180 days of hard work, they’ve created campaigns that we’re SO proud of: digital activations for brands like Kraft, Coinbase, Coke, and Dove; stellar partnerships for brands like Dungeons & Dragons and Monster Jam; cool experiential work for brands like Polly Pocket; and amazing social good work including a campaign for Oreo.
We can’t wait to see them go out and take the industry by storm!
book180 is the only 6-month, fully online,100% female-owned portfolio school in the world. Because we’re online, we have students and instructors from all over the world, giving students a truly global perspective on their work. For the Spring 2024 semester, we have instructors lined up from LA, NYC, Chicago, Miami, Durham and Buenos Aires, and students enrolled from across the country, including Hawaii, and even an international student in Seoul. We’re out to continue giving more people access to the portfolio school and creative advertising world.
Tucker is a new copywriter in Nashville on the hunt for a FT gig. Lots of hilarity all over his site, including a Gen Z campaign for Candy Crush that’s all about thumbs, a lazy campaign for DoorDash, and a whole bunch of social work for KFC. From his About page: “I don’t know where you live yet so I made this site to show you all this work. I recognize that it’s rough around the edges, but then, so am I. Think of how smooth I might be with your help.” Can’t wait to see where Tucker lands.
Diana is a new copywriter in NYC searching for her first junior copywriter position after studying at Adhouse and interning at Gus. In her past lives, she’s been a data analyst in corporate, non-profit, and political campaign environments, and briefly a mushroom farmer. Can’t wait to see where she lands!
Shelley is a senior copywriter/CD in Los Angeles on the hunt for her next gig, previously at Saatchi in Seattle. Since her last post on MC (back on 02.03.17), she’s been busy. All kinds of cool projects on her site for clients like Hardee’s, Hot Wheels (above), T-Mobile, Microsoft, Toyota, and more. Can’t wait to see where she lands!
Nick is a freelance copywriter/CD in Minneapolis. Lots of inspiring lifestyle and outdoor projects on his site for brands like Supra Boats, Jack Link’s, CLIF Bar, Moomba Boats, Polaris, Catch Co., and Bauer Hockey (above). Makes MC want to get out there this weekend and do something active. Or, write a campaign about other people getting out there and doing something active. (Hmm.) Dig it!
Sam is a brand new copywriter after graduating from Denver Ad School. (Congrats, Sam!) What’s more fun than seeing a student portfolio right after graduation? Nothing. Nothing is more fun. Don’t miss Sam’s terrifying “Killer” campaign for Listerine (above). Perfect for fans of true crime. And fresh breath!
Brian is a senior copywriter at Cactus in Denver. His campaign “Thank a Vaccine,” which he did at Sukle before joining Cactus, got into AdAge, CA, and Graphis (nice). Bunch of other fun stuff on his site, too. This month, Brian is also teaching a “Writing for Tone” class at Denver Ad School. Dig it.
Chris is a freelance writer/CD in Austin, previously at McGarrah Jessee on YETI, Shiner, GameStop and Deep Eddy Vodka. Be sure to check out his first project for Deep Eddy, “V.O.D.K.A. Conference.” As in, “Virtually Optimized Developmental Knowledge Assembly.” Not a real conference, but it should be!
Rick is a freelance copywriter/CD in Denver. Since his last post on MC back on 12.23.17 (almost six years ago, how is that possible), he’s been busy. All kinds of killer new projects in his portfolio including three for Voodoo Ranger beer that are not to be missed. Time for an update!
Aaron is a copywriter at Atlantic New York. He’s part of the team responsible for last year’s Super Bowl smash “Until the Bitter End” commercial for the last Blockbuster store in Bend, Oregon. (Be sure to check out the case study video, which Aaron narrates himself.) Love it.
Patrick is an in-house copywriter at American Express in Atlanta, Georgia, previously at FKA, and before that a graduate Creative Circus (2021). His portfolio is a mix of student work and post-grad projects for brands like Jeep, Delta Dental, Budweiser, Advil, and Tile. It’s so interesting to see how the walls between in-house and agency have broken down over the past 10+ years—allowing portfolio school creatives like Patrick to go back and forth in a way we couldn’t 20 years ago. Dig it.
Hannah is a new copywriter in NYC. She recently graduated from Creative Circus and finished an internship at Terri & Sandy—and is on the hunt for her first full-time gig. Her site features seven super fun projects for Party City, DXL, Doordash, Welly, Ace Handyman, Rubbermaid, and Hipcamp. Can’t wait to see where she lands!
Marley is a new copywriter and a recent graduate from The Savannah College of Art and Design. (Big congrats, Marley!) Always so cool to see graduating student books. Don’t miss her video campaign “Small But Sensational” for Little Bites Muffins. So weird. So fun. Dig it!
Jon is a senior copywriter in NYC. Since his last post on MC just about exactly two years ago (10.11.20), he’s added all kinds of new work to his portfolio—including a bunch of projects for Google via Cashmere Agency. Update, please!
Juan is a copywriter at Droga5 in NYC. Since his last post on MC (back on 09.21.19), he’s added some killer work to his portfolio including the above “Junk Sleep” campaign featuring the one and only Liev Schreiber (aka Ray Donovan) for Mattress Firm. Time for an update!
Cole is a copywriter/GCD at Flint Group of Agencies in Minneapolis. (He was also a student of MC’s back in the day. MC takes full credit for all of Cole’s success since. Kidding!) He’s got a new site up with a bunch of cool work including projects for Bobcat, Flint, Mortarr, Pioneer, some old ad school stuff (fun to see again), and a special “headlines only” page. Dig it.
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!
Jeff is a senior copywriter at INNOCEAN in Huntington Beach, CA (previously a professional rapper, niiice). Five years out of VCU Brandcenter and his portfolio features awesome projects for clients like Yahoo Fantasy Football, Hyundai PHEV, Oakland Athletics, and the TOTO Washlet (above). Don’t miss his video for the TOTO Washlet which includes what must be the longest hose ever. Hilarious.
Heather Vanisko, co-founder/education director at Denver Ad School, checks in with the portfolio links of a whole bunch of new copywriter, art director, designer/illustrator, and strategist grads. Check ’em out at the links below and, in Heather’s words, “HIRE THEM.” Ha!
Dave is a freelance copywriter/ACD in Portsmouth, NH. Since his last post on MC (way back on 03.05.14), he’s been on quite a journey—including starting his own boutique agency, Love & The Machine, and a 3-year stint as an in-house ACD at Bauer Hockey. (Don’t miss his “Mayor of Boomtown” and “The Women’s Movement Never Stops” campaigns for Bauer.) Definitely time for an update.
Quynh is a junior copywriter at INNOCEAN Berlin. (Love seeing junior portfolios. Love seeing portfolios from outside the States. Keep ’em coming!) Quynh’s site features a landing page that’s all copy—a note from him to us, with links to work, CV, etc.—that helps a visitor get to know him in two minutes or less. It takes a little exploring to find your way around, but that’s part of the fun. Don’t miss the link, “I f*cked with Cannes Lions” which got a shout-out from Luke Sullivan. Dig it.
Shea is a copywriter/creative director at Cactus in Denver. Since his last post on MC (back on 02.04.19), he’s been busy—including making the jump to CD at Cactus. Lots of new work up on his site for Colorado Lottery (ton of fun spots), Odell Brewing, 7-Eleven, and Camp Colorado. Definitely time for an update.
Always so great to see the new VCU Brandcenter graduate portfolios. This year, there are a lot of ’em (over 100). From Ashley Sommardahl, Associate Director at VCU Brandcenter:
“We are thrilled to debut the Brandcenter Class of 2021. They are a talented group of just over 100 students with concentrations in Copywriting, Art Direction, Strategy, Experience Design, and Account/Brand Management.
If you haven’t had a chance to review their work yet, we hope you’ll take some time to browse our microsite. You can get to know them by their concentration or skills, view their portfolios, and schedule time to meet with any soon-to-be graduates who might be a good fit for your agency/company.
This is so cool. Sarah Latz, Director of Education for Chicago Portfolio School, reached out to MC to help spread the word about their new scholarship for Black creatives. From CPS:
“Everyone knows that the advertising industry is severely lacking in diversity. Only 2% of creative departments identity as Black. We think the path to a more inclusive advertising and design industry starts with more talented Black creatives considering portfolio school as an option.
That’s we created The Pipeline Fund, a full-tuition scholarship to help more talented Black creatives to attend Chicago Portfolio School.
We’re matching every donation made to the Pipeline Fund, dollar for dollar. To donate to The Pipeline Fund and invest in a more inclusive advertising industry, visit the scholarship GoFundMePage.
Ready for some fresh student portfoios? The latest Denver Ad School grads are ready for you. From DAD: “These were the last creatives standing out of our second-ever finishing quarter, Winter 2021. They rose to the challenge and displayed the kind of resiliency that will make them all contributors on day-one in whatever agency is lucky enough to land them.” Can’t wait to see where they go!
