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WHAT'S NEW This fall, we welcomed a new executive director and a new class! After an intensive, year-long search, we were thrilled to nd the perfect person for the next generation of leadership at the Brandcenter: Vann Graves. Vann has 20+ years of experience as an art director/creative director working for great agencies like BBDO and McCann. He was most recently the Chief Creative O cer at JWT in Atlanta. Read more about Vann in Adweek, check out this Creative Q&A with him in Richmond BizSense, and listen to a podcast interview with him on We Are Next. We also welcomed 106 new students to the Class of 2020 at Orientation. Our incoming class represents 23 states and a variety of backgrounds and life experiences (everything from communications and studio art majors to business and geography majors). Their average age is 25, and 73% of them had prior work experience. They are 25% minority and 61% female.
Now that our rst years are settled in, we're looking forward to our next crop of students. The Fall 2019 application is now available for request. We will take applications on Feb. 1st (early decision) and April 1st (regular decision). Request 2019 application
STUDENT SPOTLIGHT
When first year art director Salome Guruli finished her undergrad degree in fashion design, she wanted to focus on design and execution. She had no interest in leading a team and saw creation and leadership as two separate functions. After 7 years of working for a number of design firms, seeing firsthand the importance of leadership in creative work, she changed her mind. Becoming a stronger creative leader is what led her to the Brandcenter. See more stories
ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT
Congrats to Raunak Munot (CBM, 2010). Colgate-Palmolive recently purchased a 14% stake in the subscription based men's grooming company he founded in New Delhi in 2016. Bombay Shaving Company started with six products and has expanded to 32 products including razors, blades, facial scrub, shaving cream, post-shave balms, shaving brushes, towels and travel kits. The investment will help the company with product development, scaling distribution, and building the brand. See more alumni news
FACULTY SPOTLIGHT
Inspired by the senseless repeat cycle of gun violence in our country, Professor Scott Witthaus invented DropLock, a simple, fast barricade system that a xes to a classroom door. Serving as a deterrent, it keeps an active shooter at bay buying precious time for law enforcement to arrive. Â Scott has worked with teachers, administrators, sheriffs, Navy SEALs, and security experts to re ne the product design, and he collaborated with The Martin Agency on the brand identity. Now, Scott is in the process of nalizing materials and design, and he's hoping to get test products to schools and teachers soon. Read more > See more news
ALUMNI WORK
Raj Kuppusamy (XD, 2012) and his team at Google Creative Lab recently created a new augmented reality experiment called Notable Women that lets anyone see 100 historic American women where they've historically been left out: US currency. Notable Women features women selected from the former Treasurer of the U.S. Rosie Rios' "Teachers Righting History" database, a collection of women that the American people nominated to appear on actual US currency in 2016. See more >
Land O'Lakes and The Martin Agency celebrate the women who are rewriting the rules of farming in their new "All Together Better" campaign. They partnered
with country artist Maggie Rose to raise awareness and celebrate female farmers ahead of Women's Equality Day. Alumni: Jerry Hoak (AD, 2005), Tara Gorman (AD, 2000), Sara Grunden Kuhs (CW, 2004), Chris Martin (CW, 2013), John McClaire (XD, 2011), Christie Chaffee (ST, 2005), Lauren Tresco (ST, 2017) and Stuart Good (ST, 2017) Watch the spot > View more work
Want to learn more about the VCU Brandcenter master's program? Request information about our program and ve tracks, learn how to apply, or come visit us. Admissions questions? Contact Isabelle Mouton, Admissions Program Administrator, at moutonia@vcu.edu or 804-827-8869.
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