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WHAT'S NEW
First ever BCsprint Several second year students spent the last four days of winter break working vigorously on a brand challenge for client sponsor Casper in the Brandcenter's first ever BCsprint. We were so grateful to have Alum Sloane Hastings (ST, 2013), Design Strategy Lead at Casper, representing the client, briefing the students and reviewing their presentations, as well as several local alumni who served as mentors for the ten participating teams. Mentors and guest reviewers alike were blown away by the students' creative ideas and presentations.
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Friday Forum kicks off with alum Howard Jordan, Jr. The rst Friday Forum of 2019 featured a live Q&A with Brandcenter alum Howard Jordan, Jr. (CW, 1999). Brandcenter executive director Vann Graves sat down with the fellow Richmond native to discuss his unique journey from hopeful copywriting student to successful NYC creative director to TV writer for Net ix. Howard shared how advertising shaped his writing and creative problem solving in Hollywood and gave a ton of actionable advice to our students -- from writing and portfolio tips, to how to give and take constructive criticism, to being "hungry, not thirsty." See full schedule
STUDENT SPOTLIGHT
Ruthie Edwards champions accessibility in game design "I stumbled upon accessibility by accident, but now I notice it all the time. I see badly-designed doors, confusing signs, and lazy website design that keep people with disabilities from accessing information and services. My Brandcenter peers know me as 'the video game lady' because of my passion for games, and I started noticing inaccessibility there, too." This January, 2nd year Experience Design student Ruthie Edwards led a panel at MAGFest (a gaming festival) and presented her independent study work, a guide and online toolkit she created to promote accessibility standards in video game design. Read Ruthie's story and check out her guidelines. See more stories
ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT
Yichi Zhang named to Forbes China 30 Under 30 Brandcenter alum and entrepreneur Yichi Zhang (CBM, 2015) was named to Forbes China 30 Under 30 in 2018. Having co-founded an LA-based advertising agency while at the Brandcenter, Yichi's latest venture is a creative consultancy based in Beijing called Flip the Script. The company focuses on personal branding for all types of clients from executives to hip-hop music producers. “The essence of our business focuses on two things: insight and story,” Zhang said. “Everyone has a story; but not everyone is able to tell their most compelling story from an insightful angle." See more alumni news
Caley Cantrell helps launch Agent of Change Scholarship Driven by the shared belief in the importance of diversity, professor Caley Cantrell and other supporters of the VCU Brandcenter came together over the summer to create the Agent of Change Scholarship Fund. “It was easy to be in on the ground floor of this scholarship,” Cantrell recalled. “The Brandcenter program thrives on collaboration among people with different perspectives and opinions.” Other contributors include alum Mollie Partesotti (ST, 2009), Kristen Cavallo, The Martin Agency, Facebook's Factory, and Sylvain Labs. Read more >
SAVE THE DATE
Recruiter Session and Preview Night The Brandcenter Recruiter Session is April 24 - 25, and we'd like to invite you to another Alumni-Only Preview Night on Tuesday, April 23. Come meet the Class of 2019 and see their work beforef the recruiters arrive. Register for Recruiter Session > Register for Preview Night > We are also looking for a sponsor for Preview Night. Please let us know if any of your companies want to get their name out among our talented students and alums by sponsoring a food truck or treat for the evening. Contact Katherine Keogh if interested: kakeogh@vcu.edu. Â Learn more
ALUMNI WORK
Two Brandcenter alumni spots made Adweek's list of 18 Super Bowl Ads that Inspired the Creative Industry to Step Up Their Game: Volkswagen's "The Force" by David Povill (CW, 2003) and his team at Deutsch and Google's "Parisian Love" by Tristan Smith (CW, 2009) and his team at Google Creative Lab.
Keep an eye out for several Brandcenter 2019 alumni Super Bowl commercials including this Coca-cola spot by Nate Nowinowski (AD, 2011) and his team at Wieden + Kennedy Portland during the big game on Sunday! View more work
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News to share? Email Ashley Sommardahl at asommardahl@vcu.edu. You are receiving this email because you are a VCU Brandcenter alum. You can update your contact info or unsubscribe below.
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