Chapter 13
A Good Book or a Crowbar
Some thoughts on getting into the business
GONE ARE THE DAYS WHEN JUNIORS were hired off the street because of a few promising scribbles on notebook paper and the fire in their eyes. The ad schools are pouring kids out onto the street, many of them with highly polished portfolios. Question is, should you go to one?
If you can afford tuition to an ad school, go.
When I got into the business, there were only a few such schools in the country. Now they’re popping up all over. There’s a list of some first-rate schools I include here, but the list will likely change by the time this book reaches your hands and will keep changing.
That said, as of this writing, the top-rated professional schools on my list are the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, the Creative Circus in Atlanta, Miami Ad School (they’ve got campuses in a bunch of cool cities), NYC’s School of Visual Arts, the University of Texas in Austin, Virginia Commonwealth University’s Brandcenter in Richmond, and the Savannah School of Art & Design. (Full disclosure: Yours truly works at this latter fine institution.)
Up in Canada, my friends Nancy Vonk and Janet Kestin say they’ve seen good students come out of Ontario College of Art and Design. And in the U.K., most people seem to like the Watford Course at West Herts College. Also well-respected there is University College Falmouth and Central St. Martins College of Art and Design. In Australia, check out the AWARD School as well ...
