Course description:
Our Diploma of Creative Advertising (The AdSchool) is a 40-week creative problem solving course whose subject is advertising: advertising that breaks through the clutter, advertising that people notice, remark on, pass around and co-create with. It covers all mediums from traditional print through to social media. Get ready for a crazy ride!
Our Creative Advertising course will not only prepare you for the creative departments of advertising agencies, it will also arm you with lifelong core skills which are infinitely transferable across any number of disciplines – the skills of creative problem solving and of presenting information in a precise, concise and compelling manner.
The AdSchool (formerly Axis AdSchool) has enjoyed sustained success, with most students rapidly scoring placements in ad agencies. Our students often also win both NZ and global student awards, and go on to continue winning awards in the competitive world of creative advertising.
One of the strongest assets of The AdSchool is its ties to the ad industry and the involvement with its senior creative people, which means it operates very closely to ‘real world’ standards. So close that we’ve appeared in their ads, and we’ve even made ads for them. We have many people coming in all the time, including guest speakers, advertising industry panelists, and mentors.
As an AdSchool student you’ll be immersed in learning about ideation, art direction, and copy writing for all mediums including print, radio, outdoor, television, interactive, and web. The intense pace will crescendo with your final portfolio, which will demonstrate your ability to create and craft impactful, innovative ideas.
Career path:
Graduates from The AdSchool could expect to find employment opportunities primarily in the following areas:
- Ad agency creative department – art director or copywriter
• Direct marketing/promotional companies
• Freelance practice (usually after a few years of establishment in the agency scene)
They might also fit in at: TV/radio stations, creative/promo departments, corporate in-house promotions/marketing dept, design consultancies/studios, public relations companies, publishers.
Course breakdown:
Creative Advertising Design
Developmental weeks 3-14 and then ongoing throughout the course. Includes: drawing skills, thumbnails, design principles, visual elements, typography principles, layout principles, art direction skills, referencing and mood boards
Creative Thinking and Idea Generation
Foundation skills weeks 1–8 and then ongoing throughout the course. Includes: idea generation techniques, the advertising idea, evaluating advertising and creative strategy.
Creative Development for Print, Broadcasting and Emerging Media
Developmental weeks 7-24 and then ongoing throughout the course. Includes: generating Mac layouts, individual media such as outdoor, press, mags, direct, TV, radio, blogs, virals, podcasts, websites (basic principles, strengths and weaknesses of each medium), emerging media and interactivity/consumer involvement and storyboarding, production processes and skills. You’ll also cover basic filmmaking techniques, definition and principles (campaigns and integration), campaign development, portfolio development.
Integrated Campaigns
A deadline project involving the ongoing development of briefing and presentation skills, and a demonstration of your ability ability to create well integrated campaigns.
Copywriting for Integrated Advertising
Development weeks 7-21 and then ongoing throughout the course. Includes: effective copywriting in headlines, end lines, body copy and scriptwriting, styles and genres, tone and voice and writing for individual media
Master Craft Weeks
Through weeks 25-30 you will be working on a selection of briefs delivered by guests from Advertising Agencies, undertaking a boot camp on using Adobe InDesign and preparing your social media project for your portfolio and The AdSchool end-of-year show.
Creative Advertising Solutions graded project
Through weeks 31-37 we test your whole year’s learning thus far, you’ll be developing a number of creative advertising solutions in a variety of mixed mediums to a number of briefs
Awards and Prep for The Big One
The last three weeks of the course are spend preparing you portfolio for the ‘big one’ – The AdSchool end-of-year show. You will also prepare and submit entries to the Young Guns Advertising awards competition.
Entry requirements:
Age:
Minimum 18 years
Prerequisites:
An ability to demonstrate a unique and insightful view of the world that will translate into the ability to make great ads. We consider people with backgrounds in art, design and/or writing, humanities and social sciences and are looking for proof of determination, problem solving, lateral thought, motivation and most importantly, creativity.
Portfolio Requirements:
You need to complete a pre-interview creative writing task-sheet as part of the application. In addition, applicants are required to provide other relevant visual and/or written work as part of their portfolio.
