In today's creative fields of photography, advertising, graphic design, web media and copyrighting, access to the best education and training may be the key to success in a long and dynamic career. As Vern McClish, Marketing Director of Hallmark Institute of Photography starts: "The need to master the technology is as important as ever, but the skills that one needs to succeed in business and the talent in imaging that one needs have become more important than ever. A formal education for the professionally bound image maker, is more necessary than ever in this technology dominated field."
Two educational institutes stand out in relation to their ability to inspire, excite and create real world professionals who will be the next leaders of our visual world. They are The Creative Circus in Atlanta, Georgia and The Hallmark Institute of Photography in Turners Falls, Massachusetts. Both centers bring the best educators, the best guest lecturers, the best course programs and the best up-to-date equipment to create the Gold & Silver winners of the future.
Bret Johnson, Executive Director of The Creative Circus, and Vern McClish, Marketing Director of Hallmark Institute profile their schools and outline some of the more outstanding assets that make them top players.
The Creative Circus
www.creativecircus.com
Please describe your educational objectives.
We are a two-year portfolio program in Art Direction, Copywriting, Design, including Web and Photography located in Atlanta Georgia. Our students are generally college graduates.
Our ongoing mission is to graduate the best-prepared, most avidly sought-after young creatives in the industry. We accomplish that by providing a personal and nurturing environment, thereby helping the student to develop him or herself into the best possible Photographer, Designer, Art Director or Copywriter that he or she can be. At the same time, we foster an atmosphere of mutual respect, fairness, generosity and concern for the individual while cultivating each student's passion for creativity.
-Profile some students who have graduated from your program and created successful career paths.
Our alumni drive some of the biggest name accounts in the industry today. Mike Byrne, Creative Director for Wieden + Kennedy in Portland, works on Nike. Paul Keister is Creative Director for Crispin Porter + Bogusky in Miami, and Don Shelford is at Wieden + Kennedy Amsterdam. We're proud to say these and many others have become leaders in the industry.
Please highlight any awards or publications of note where your students have received acclaim.
Since our inception in 1995, our students have received numerous awards:
- AAAA Foundation, Inc Scholarship winner 2003
- Athena Awards: 6 Finalists, 1 Bronze, 6 Silver
- Bates Worldwide Mother of all Portfolio Contests: 1 runner up and 1 $5,000 winner
- Bill Bernbach Scholarship winner 2005
- CMYK Magazine: Throughout the years, we've had 144 entries published. 81 in Advertising, 33 in Design and 19 in Photography.
- Creative Club Student Scholarship: First place
- D&AD: 10 finalists, 2 Silvers, 1 Gold
- Graphis: 104 entries
- Hatch Show New England Advertising: 1 Bronze, 2 Merit International Andy Awards: 6 Merit, 1 Bronze, 6 Silver Award winners. We have one finalist this year as well but we won't know what the award will be until late April.
- International Andy Glenn C. Smith Scholarship: 3 winners of the $5,000 scholarship
- Kodak / Hasselblad Student Showcase 1997
- LA Show: 6 Silvers, 5 Gold
- New York Art Directors Club: 16 Merits, 9 awards of Distinction, 2 Gold
- One Show: 32 Finalists, 2 Silver Pencils and 2 Gold Pencils
- Patrick Kelly Scholarship: 3 winners
- PDN Education Student Award 2005
- Show South: In addition to 3 years winning Best of Show, we took 138 total awards:
- 8 Gold, 29 Silvers, 16 Bronze in Advertising
- 2 Gold, 7 Silvers, 6 Bronze in Design
- 1 Silver, 4 Bronze in Photography
- Student Clio Awards: 1999 Gold
- Young Guns International Advertising Awards Scholarship winner 2005
We have 24 dual processor G4's with 17" apple studio displays, 13 Dual processor G5's with 23" Apple cinema displays with Lacie electron Blue secondary monitors. It's a digital world; we need to teach on high-end digital workstations. Our equipment is the best and our students learn digital workflow, from capture through archiving.
What affiliations do you have with industry trade organizations?
We belong to the AIGA, One Club, Creativity Atlanta, and the Society for Photographic Educators and continuously host events for the ASMP, APA, AIGA, Freelance Forum, and various national events. We feel these affiliations are important because it keeps us directly connected to the industry, which benefits our current students as well as graduates.
What is your single 'breakout' offering which is the calling card for recruiting students?
We offer real-world training by industry professionals. Our photographers work with art directors. Our designers work with copywriters. And we have a virtually 100% placement record.
Our graduates get placed in some of the biggest and best advertising agencies and design firms all over the world. Several have been pulled out of school as soon as they graduated, some even before. About 25% stay local to Atlanta. The majority goes on to various places throughout the U.S. And roughly 5% take jobs internationally. We have grads working in Amsterdam, Brazil, Guatemala, Canada, London, Sweden, India, and the list goes on.
What is your vision for the future of this industry?
As the industry evolves, so does our training. The photo industry is going digital, and we're ready with a digital photo lab that rivals any in the business. We teach art directors and copywriters to consider digital media and alternative executions on every campaign they work on. Plus, every advertising grad has a web site that demonstrates not only their work but also tech savvy that employers now consider a prerequisite for hire.
Everything is faster, especially on the production side. The industry will continue to seek more creative ways to deliver the message. The Internet will look more like television, and vice versa…
We feel our Advertising and Design students will lead the way in creative strategy and execution. And our photography students will be on the cutting edge in Digital Production.
Digital Training Part 2: Hallmark Institute
Author, Pat Hunt, is VP of Corporate Relations at Index Stock Imagery and Editorial Manager for MacTribe.com. She is a writer for various photographic publications, a consultant to the industry, and is currently working on two books. She can be reached at pat@mactribe.com
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