Miami Ad School's Twitter Commercial

Miami Ad School of San Francisco (that's a little confusing) made a commercial for Twitter. I can't decide whether I like it or not. What do you think?

Students! Talk to the Denver Egotist!

The Denver Egotist just got done telling Colorado ad schools and students they suck. Now they want to be a part of the solution and are encouraging ad students to comment on what can be done to improve student work in Colorado. Thoughts?

The Denver Egotist Thinks Denver Ad Schools Suck. Meanwhile CU Students Win Some One Show Pencils

Irony strikes again! Recently the Denver Egotist was busy bashing Colorado schools for not pumping out incredible students filled with natural talent (they don't believe talent can be taught, but would like schools to try harder at teaching students how to... wait I feel a headache coming on). At the same time CU students Eliot Nordstrom and Phil Van Buren were busy accepting their gold One Show Pencil for their Doritos work. CU's Austin O'Connor probably didn't get a chance to read the Egotist story either, he was busy getting the Patrick Kelly Scholarship from the One Show. (to it's credit, the Egotist did name CU's program the best in the area)

Actually, speaking of students, I'd bet a lot of them missed the Egotist story since the New Denver Ad Club was holding it's "Connect 2008" job fair on Friday. I made the trip down to the event and found a lot of agencies eager to help develop Denver's talent. I may have even landed myself a fall internship. Strangely enough I didn't see The Egotist at the job fair even though they claim to have "seen almost all the portfolios" of all of Denver's ad students (granted, I don't know who is behind the curtain at the Egotist, so maybe they were there, anyone care to share some insight?).

Here's my take on this: I think the Egotist might be getting at something, but they're a bit off target. Schools can only take you so far, the rest if up to the student. If you want to succeed and go the extra mile you will, regardless of what school you attend. Schools can only augment and support the effort (and talent) provided by the student. For example, UNC's marketing program is almost devoid of any advertising classes / support (two classes are offered specifically on advertising). That doesn't stop me from pushing for more and getting my hands on all the ad books I can, reading CA, CMYK, countless blogs, and attending creative workshops. I want it, and if UNC won't give it to me I'll get it elsewhere.

So maybe the problem isn't with schools so much as it is with students? What do you guys think? Let's hear it in the comments.

One Show Student Work 2008

Check out the latest round of student work from One Show 2008. (via Adrants)

AAF NSAC AIM Competition: University of Northern Colorado

As previously promised, here's some of the ads my team from the University of Northern Colorado came up with for the AAF's National Student Advertising Competition (NSAC). The client this year was AIM (AOL Instant Messenger). Enough acronyms for ya?

Quick background:
The client brief stated that our goal was to increase awareness and usage of AIM (the IM / communications part) while integrating and promoting AIM Profiles (the "new" social media part). That target is 18-24 year olds in the US. The budget was $25 million over a one year period. What you see below are some of our print ads along with a billboard. There's a lot more to our campaign of course, but this is all I'm putting up for now. Let's hear some opinions in the comments!

Billboard at beginning.Billboard two months later as silhouettes are slowly added.

"Galaxy" (click to enlarge).
Headline: A whole new frontier. Body: Welcome to a whole new experience, based on clean space and user interface. Where you are treated as a beloved friend, not as a recipient for the highest powered advertising for the latest movie Hollywood says you should love. This is your galaxy, enjoy.

"Clean" (click to enlarge).
Headline: The Clarity is Undeniable. Body: Welcome to a place free of ad clutter, of two dozen application requests, and twice as many friend requests from people who seem to have lots of free time and a well used webcam. Welcome to the new AIM Profiles. (for some reason the bubble text and AIM logo appear blue, they're actually red)

"Swiss Army Knife" (click to enlarge).
Headline: Tweezers not included. Body: (labels each of the "tools") Use it. Frolic. Build a campsite. Whatever you do, do it with premier instant networking.

Our tagline was "Join the Conversation". The copywriters for these ads were Logan Williams and Justin McCammon (mainly Logan). The art directors were Bo Smith and Mike Arestad. All are students at UNC.

Post comments on what you think. I'm interested to get some opinions from people in the industry. If you want to get in touch with anyone on our team please email Justin at: justinmccammonblog@gmail.com

Student work for Powerhouse Gym is no lightweight

This is some tremendous student work for Powerhouse Gym. (via Denver Egotist)