Charlotte is a new copywriter and a recent grad of the University of Texas at Austin’s Texas Creative program. The first two campaigns in her portfolio (at the time of this post) are exactly what you want from a student book: a stupid simple strategic hook and outrageous execution. “Families That Murder Together, Stay Together” for Clue, and “Premium Nip for Premium Pets” for Yeowww! Catnip. Ridiculous.
Portfolio: charlottelichtenheld.com
Angela is a new art director and a recent graduate of the University of Texas at Austin’s Texas Creative program. Sometimes you click through a portfolio and you can just tell—this person had so much fun making this creative. Amazing energy in all of Angela’s work. Be sure to check out her Illustration and Future pages. Awesome.
Portfolio: angeladai.com
Chelsea is a new art director/designer and a recent grad of the University of Texas at Austin Texas Creative program. Her site’s URL is “Chelsea’s Headspace” and that’s exactly what you get—to see in her head, with brilliant campaign ideas for brands like A Pea In The Pod, BBC, Arizona Tourism, Rosetta Stone, and Twitch, in addition to other pages (click “Art”) of super smart design, sketches & illustration, and 3-D design. Love it.
Portfolio: chelseasheadspace.com
Brennen is a new copywriter and a recent graduate of the University of Texas at Austin’s Texas Creative program. Bunch of super smart campaigns in his book for Yoplait GoGurt (hilarious), Yahoo!, Aeropress (above), and others. Don’t miss his Grammarly project—which the Internet desperately needs.
Portfolio: brennencooke.com
Leonard is a copywriter at Sanders/Wingo in Austin. So many hilarious videos in his portfolio, including “Actually Doing Something” for Volunteer March (above). Almost painful it’s 2018 truthiness. Fun dialogue all over his site, which isn’t always the easiest to pull off in Adland. Dig it.
Portfolio: leonardrader.com
Joy is a copywriter in Austin, previously at Sanders/Wingo. The first two pages on her site are for Stubbs Bar-B-Q Sauce and include a huge variety of projects, from an Alexa integration with the voice of Stubbs Bar-B-Q Sauce’s founder to the vintage vending machine (above). Delish.
Portfolio: joybarnett.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
Shevek is junior copywriter at McCann in NYC and a graduate of Creative Circus. All kinds of killer projects in his portfolio and lots of great writing throughout. At the top of his site’s homepage is the line, “Here’s the work, and here’s the pudding if you’re short on time and just want the proof.” Click “here’s the pudding” and you go to another page that breaks out his work into Headlines, Commercials, Case Studies, Integrated Campaigns. Click on Headlines and you’re greeted with (in addition to some great lines), “Currently at a 200:1 embarrassing-scribble to solid-line ratio, but every 1 feels so damn good.” Amen.
Portfolio: shevekanandan.com
Spencer is a copywriter in Portland, Oregon who recently graduated from Brainco’s online program. His portfolio is a mix of spec and produced work that is both national and so very Portland (in such a good way). Clients (real and spec) include The Washington Post, Tetra Cannabis, Liquid Plumbr, Lipton Tea, 12oz Prophet, and the Portland Trimet (above). Looking forward to seeing what Spencer adds next!
Portfolio: spencerwknowles.com
Greg is a senior copywriter at Ogilvy NY. Since his last post on MC (back on 08.04.14, when he was a jr copywriter at Merkley+Partners), he’s been busy. All kinds of awesome projects for IBM on his site, including IBM Mobile, IBM Cloud (above), IBM Watson, and IBM Marketing. Plus a couple of projects for Mercedes-Benz. Plus some killer photography. Dig it.
Portfolio: gkissler.com
Carter is a copywriter/director/CD at Sanders/Wingo in Austin. At the time of this post, he’s got 14 killer projects up on his site for clients like DirecTV, Bud Light, Burger King, State Farm, Intel, and AT&T (above). Don’t miss his Passion Projects page, which include a couple of unbelievable agency holiday cards. So true they’re terrifying.
Portfolio: carterpagel.com
Zach is a copywriter at R/GA in NYC. (Also a fellow University of Oregon grad, go Ducks!) He’s got a bunch of cool projects for Verizon up on his site, including Find The 8 (above), an AR game that somehow got over 360,000 people to use SnapChat for an average of 31 minutes each. Love the project video they put together for it, too.
Portfolio: imakegood.work
Unnati is an art director at Leo Burnett in Mumbai, India, previously at Fuseideas in Boston, and a graduate of Miami Ad School. Her book is a mix of visual design, UX, product innovation, and digital goodness. It’s also a mix of produced work (like the gif above for Subway) and student work from her time at MAD, which is so cool to see. Dig it.
Portfolio: unnatimarda.work
Dominique is a senior copywriter at R/GA in Austin. Since her last post on MC back on 09.29.16, Dominique has made her awesome (and hilarious) site even more awesome (and hilarious). Don’t miss her musical featuring Drew Barrymore for Crocs, “Come As You Are.” Seriously, Crocs. Also, be sure to check out Nyan Cat Man on her Personal Projects page. So dumb. So genius!
Portfolio: dominiquecreates.com
Nechama is a copywriter in NYC. All kinds of super smart ideas on her site including Unsick Day for America’s Health (above), Find Your Formula for Streeteasy, Before It’s Normal It’s Art for MoMA (MC’s daughter is getting those socks), and a genius idea that’s going to make 99% of copywriters seeing it think to themselves, “How did I not think of that???” Biters by Oral-B, pens that improve your oral hygiene while you chew ’em. Brilliant.
Portfolio: nmuchnik.com
Clancy is a freelance senior copywriter/ACD in NYC, previously at Nickelodeon. All kinds of fun work on her site for clients like Nickelodeon, Marshall’s, Milk, AT&T, Honey Nut Cheerios, Cover Girl, plus two adorable spots for Toyota (above). Good times.
Portfolio: clancyfink.com
Anna is a copywriter moving to Chicago in April, looking for her next thing. Since her last post on MC (09.24.16, after graduating from Creative Circus), she spent a year at New Honor Society in St. Louis before deciding to make the move. Her portfolio is a mix of produced and student work—which is so fun to see. Where’s she going to land? Stay tuned!
Portfolio: annacrane.co
Chase is a copywriter at Firehouse in Dallas. Bunch of killer projects up on his site for clients like Interstate Batteries (OMG the van), National Cheerleaders Association, and Nothing Bundt Cakes. But what’s featured above is not on his site. It’s a video cover letter Chase made back in the day to try to land a gig at Wieden on Sprite. It’s a rap video, which, I know, if you’re like MC you’re like “Oh no,” but oh yes. It’s really good. And it’s all Chase. Tip o’ the Hat, sir.
Portfolio: chasezreet.com
Ralph is a freelance copywriter/screenwriter/CD in Berlin, previously at Vice, BBDO, and Y&R. All kinds of cool projects on his site for clients like ASICS, Levi’s, Land Rover, and a beautiful little film for Johnnie Walker’s “The Journey” campaign (above). Dig it.
Portfolio: behance.net/ralphstieber
Jeff is a creative at The Walt Disney Company in Orlando, serving the Disney Parks & Resorts division. At the time of this post he’s been there two months, so most of his portfolio is from his previous gigs at Zimmerman and Republica. Don’t miss his overnight social prank for Jamba Juice, “Swishy Chug,” featuring Adele and Ellen. Well, reacting to Adele and Ellen’s prank, and then getting a little love from Ellen. That’s how you do it.
Portfolio: JeffSchermer.com
Diana is an account director-turned-junior art director/recent Miami Ad School grad in NYC on the hunt for full-time good times. Don’t miss her first project, The Midterm Selections, for Ben & Jerry’s (created with copywriter Austin White) that’s just too perfect for 2018. Can’t wait to see where she lands!
Portfolio: dianapfriedman.com
Thanh is a new copywriter in NYC after graduating from Miami Ad School. His site is titled “Adsventures” and it is an adventure—starting with a beautiful video intro and then a long scroll down through “trips” (projects). Very cool.
Portfolio: adsventures.life
Brittany is a junior copywriter at Walrus in NYC after graduating from Creative Circus in Atlanta. At the time of this post her portfolio is still 100% student spec and 1000% hilarious. If you’ve got a smartphone, don’t miss her “Chicken Cooker” app (a holiday must-have). And be sure to follow her @thisoldshirt Instagram account. So good.
Portfolio: brittanykittredge.com
Justin is a freelance art director in Virginia on the hunt for his next thing. As always, MC loves to see how an art director/designer brings words to life and Justin’s got some nice typography in his book (check out his Athleta project and separate “Fun” page). Also, don’t miss his Photography page. (NOTE: Password for HP project is “Justin”.) Good times.
Portfolio: j-griggs.com