Todd is a senior copywriter moving from Chicago to San Jose this month. The first project on his site is for Ziploc: “Will you prevail in a zombie apocalypse?” Um. Guess what. MC is going to survive a zombie apocalypse. Know why? Because sandwich baggies. Thanks to you, SC Johnson, A Family Company. And thanks to you, Mr. Shikora.
Portfolio: toddshikora.com
Dan is a copywriter/ACD at Calvary in Chicago. (Second City alert! Once again proving MC’s theory that comedians, drummers and surfers make great copywriters.) Fun stuff up and down his portfolio. One of MC’s faves is Chili’s “Open Letter” (above) reaction to Steve Carell and Paul Rudd’s spoof of LeBron’s famous “I’m going to Miami” ESPN interview. Steve and Paul end up describing/laughing about the letter on Charlie Rose. Genius.
Portfolio: cargocollective.com/cawpywriter
Carrie is a new copywriter (just graduated from Chicago Portfolio School) at The Food Group in Chicago, former comedian, and excellent casserole maker. Plenty of hilarity all over her site, like her Hungry Man campaign (love the Vine), but don’t leave without watching her video resume. Disappointed!
Portfolio: carriebain.com
Dave is a senior writer at ViTRO in San Diego, previously at Arnold, Leo Burnett, SapientNitro, and MMB. All kinds of killer work up and down his site for a crazy variety of clients, including Asics (the marathon treadmill is genius), Dodge Ram, Truth, Jack Daniel’s, Bahamas, Alaska Communications, Red Sox, and Radio Shack. Love it.
Portfolio: davekuhl.com
Will is a copywriter/CD in NYC. Since his last post on MC (05.24.2012), he’s got a ton of new work up on his site, including the above spot for the new BMWi launch that’s running during the Olympics—which kicked off this weekend in Sochi. In fact, MC just saw it while watching Luge. Dig it.
Portfolio: bloodsweatideas.com
Landon is a recent CW grad from Chicago Portfolio School. Lots of smart writing-based campaigns in his portfolio—which of course MC digs the most. Good times.
Portfolio: ohnohedinnin.com
Ladies and gents, MC proudly presents the portfolio sites of 10 Chicago Portfolio School copywriter grads (in alphabetical order):
Adam Repp – adamrepp.com
Andy Hunt – andy-hunt.squarespace.
Audrey Hansen – audrey-hansen.
Bridget Natale – bridgetnatale.com
Caroline Ganson – carolineganson.com
Justin Lake – justinthewords.com
Lyndsey Tonyan – lyndseytonyan.com
Sam Bordignon – samantha-bordignon.
Sarah Kennedy – sarahwritescopy.com
Sean Collander – seancollander.com
Chicago Portfolio School Week Wednesday features the one and only Justin Lake. Don’t miss Justin’s D&AD-winning campaign Be Average to combat obesity in the UK. “Since half the population is currently performing below average when it comes to physical activity, we decided to encourage the people of the UK to forget about overachieving and just Be Average!” Good times.
Portfolio: justinthewords.com
CPS Week on MC continues with Sarah Kennedy. Check out her campaign for Crushers Club in Chicago—so nice to see an integrated campaign, including video, for a great cause in a student portfolio. Perfect tagline on her Sur La Table campaign, too: where taste meets taste. Yup.
Portfolio: sarahwritescopy.com
Chicago Portfolio School Week kicks off with Audrey Hansen, who was nice enough to gather her class’s links and share ’em with MC. (Thanks, Audrey!) Her first campaign is “Print is dead” for SPIN Magazine. But it’s a print campaign, so maybe print is only half-dead. Whew!
Portfolio: audrey-hansen.squarespace.com
Garrett is a junior copywriter (slash gentleman slash pizza enthusiast) at Energy BBDO in Chicago. He’s got five campaigns up on his site, including one for Ted Baker (above). Seeing Garrett’s photo on his About page, it looks like he actually wears Ted Baker. Sharp!
Portfolio: garrettvernon.com
Prashant is a freelance sr copywriter in Chicago. You know, when MC used to think of Supercuts, MC thought $8. Or, now it’s probably like $20. (Who is MC kidding? It’s exactly $20 at the Supercuts in Corte Madera, CA.) So, it’s refreshing to see a Supercuts campaign featuring up-and-coming rock stars/DJs that doesn’t mention price. Probably pretty awesome for Supercutters out there, too. Nice.
Portfolio: prashantnashi.com
Ladies and gentlemen, MC proudly presents the portfolio sites of nine Chicago Portfolio School copywriter grads (in alphabetical order):
Alf Zapata – alfzap.com
Alicia Cressey – aliciacressey.com
Brett Williams – gbrettwilliams.com
John O’Toole – cargocollective.com/TheJohnOTooleExperience
Kerry Keady – kerrykeady.com
Kylie Hudgens – kylie-hudgens-02ye.squarespace.com
Megha Kumar – megkumar.com
Pete Kulak – petekulak.com
Rick Hickey – rickhickey.com
Charlie is a freelance copywriter/CD in Los Angeles. As a full-time freelancer, he’s added a couple of little extras to his site that are pretty key. Check out this Testimonials link. He’s got 10+ quotes, not too long, super easy to nav, that say a lot about him. His contact info (phone and email) are right up top, in a universal header. And his About Us page is no-nonsense, just the facts. A very clean, well-organized, hard-working site. Nice.
Portfolio: charlienoback.com
Ladies and gentlemen, MC proudly presents the portfolio sites of 17 Chicago Portfolio School 2013 copywriter grads (in alphabetical order):
Amy Bauer – amybauer.com
Brittany Hughes – britthughes.com
Chelsea Berger – chelseaberger.com
Garrett Vernon – garrettvernon.com
Hassan S. Ali – cargocollective.com/hassansali
Jackie Suerth – jackiesuerth.com
Jennifer Smith – jenmadeabook.com
John Olson – sonofol.com
Julia Weeman – juliaweeman.com
Kat Ponting – katponting.com
Kelsey Alfredson – cargocollective.com/KelseyAlfredson
Lauren Fodero – laurenfodero.com
Leighanne Steckbeck – leighanimal.com
Matt Bush – stoutredbeard.com
Michelle Grano – michellegrano.com
Pat Whalen – patwhalen.com
Tom Katers – tomkaters.com
From Leighanne’s What’s A Leighanimal? page, under the heading What I Learned At Portfolio School: “Big ideas are king. Which means puns are either peasants or serfs. How to explain to outsiders that copywriting has nothing to do with being a lawyer. The stranger your idea the better; your partner is always there to reel you back in. Or to tell you to stop talking. I can’t help but play devil’s advocate while brainstorming, which is a blessing but often feels like a curse. Celebrity endorsed ads are mostly crap (with the exception of Nicolas Cage).” Amen.
Portfolio: leighanimal.com
Sometimes you see a big-ass banner in some kid’s portfolio and you’re just like, “Yes. I want to see you knock that sucker down, cable channel for men in their 20s. Hells yeah.” And there’s no reason to be embarrassed about that. Because who wouldn’t?
Portfolio: sonofol.com
CPS Week 2013 kicks off with Ms. Amy Bauer. MC digs: destroyed Barbie® for roller derby, Parker Pens “Your hair shines like those halogen lights that some cars have” (funny), French’s mustard foul pole line, and Roomba Zamboni. Good times.
Portfolio: amybauer.com
Alex is a copywriter in San Francisco. In an age of conceptual CWs, its such a pleasure to click through a writer’s site and find a bunch of fun headlines. Yahoo! Grudge Judge, Twisted Root, 7-Eleven Las Vegas Billboards, dig ’em.
Portfolio: alexharv.com
Ladies and gentlemen, MC presents the portfolio sites of nine Chicago Portfolio School October 2012 copywriter grads (in alphabetical order):
Alex Gavin – alextgavin.com
Bettina Kozlowski – cargocollective.com/bettinakozlowski
Courtney McCormack – courtneymccormack.com
David Drake – cargocollective.com/daviDDrakePortfolio
Eddie Rybarski – eddierybarski.squarespace.com
Jared Perkins – jaredperkins.com
Larry Scott – larry-scott.com
Molly Lartz – cargocollective.com/TheMolltron
Paul Thelen – paulthelen.org
Alex is a new copywriter and currently interning at AKQA in San Francisco. (Fun.) Which is a perfect fit, as all six of the campaigns on his site are heavy digital/social. MC also noticed that almost all have a good-for-the-world POV, which is good to see.
Portfolio: alextgavin.com
MC’s said it before and we’ll say it again. Surfers, drummers and comedians make the best copywriters. David is a new copywriter fresh out of CPS and a stand-up comedian, and we’re talking real-deal. As in, named the “Best of the Midwest” by the Iowa Comedy Festival. What agency doesn’t need more funny?
Portfolio: cargocollective.com/daviDDrakePortfolio
Molly is a new copywriter from CPS, freelance hairstylist, and she does some work for Bye Bye Liver: The Chicago Drinking Play. That’s like the three best jobs, all in one person. MC really, really wants to see that play.
Portfolio: cargocollective.com/TheMolltron
Ladies and gentlemen, MC presents the portfolio sites of eight Chicago Portfolio School 2012 Fall copywriter grads (in alphabetical order):
McCamie Cole – cargocollective.com/mccamiecole
Steve Horak – cargocollective.com/stevehorak
Eleanor Koh – eleanorkoh.com
Sara Kristen – sarakirsten.com
Laura Madary – cargocollective.com/lauramadary
Johnny Michael – cargocollective.com/johnnymichael
Mark Sandy – markpsandy.com
Will Sharpe – cargocollective.com/willsharpe
Even though MC is a huge fan of Cargo Collective, it’s nice to see someone try something different. Sara’s site is beautiful, and changes color like the bar at XYZ in the W San Francisco. Can’t … stop … looking … pretty … colors …
Portfolio: sarakirsten.com
You can do things in a student book that you can’t do in real life. That’s part of the fun of making them, and part of the fun of looking at them. Looks like Will had a lot of fun making his.
Portfolio: cargocollective.com/willsharpe
Big-ups to McCamie Cole for helping organize this year’s Chicago Portfolio School Week on MC. Much appreciated. You know, there’s nothing better than finding the perfect line for a campaign. Once that’s nailed, everything gets easier, from executing to selling. McCamie’s got a couple of gems in his book. “A thousand pictures for every word” for Flickr, and “Get out what you put into it” for Public Storage.
Portfolio: cargocollective.com/mccamiecole
Will is a copywriter/CD at Kirshenbaum in New York. So much killer work in his book, including a ton of stuff for BMW. His site is Cargo, and is broken out into six categories: Latest Work, Branded Content, Web, TV, Print/OOH, and Case Studies. Interesting, because you can view the work by media (old school) or by case study/campaign (new school) or just check out the latest. All in six links. Very cool.
Portfolio: bloodsweatideas.com
Tyler is a senior writer at JacobsonRost in Chicago. First campaign on his site, for Mercury Marine Edge, is a real deal long copy print campaign. (They still make ’em!) Add a QR code in the lower right corner and you just made an interactive long copy print campaign. New old school. How’s about that?
Portfolio: tylerbkirk.com
Andrei is a senior copywriter at Energy BBDO in Chicago. As MC regulars know, I sometimes get a little jealous of Chicago CWs. Of their accounts, specifically. Like Altoids, Orbit and Corona in Andrei’s book. Two Corona beach shoots. Plus a Corona beach microsite (a classic). Arrrrg.
Portfolio: andreichahine.com