The Chicago Portfolio School

The importance of being an Amateur

What do a fiddle player, an artist, and a man who builds bugs out of car parts have in common? They’re all in advertising, of course!

WOAH!

Last week, Greg Christensen stopped by CPS for a bedazzling discussion about amateur creativity, and the importance of having something else you love doing in life besides advertising (because we already know you love advertising). 

He explained that the most important thing about having a ‘side project,’ (even more important than actually being great at whatever you choose) is focusing on it. We all get distracted easily and a lot of us have a ‘side project graveyard’ full of ideas we simply lost interest, or steam with. This is why it’s important to choose one, and go.

Greg also pointed out that the next generation of advertisers (us!) has the ability to touch people and spread a message in ways never before seen in history. And two people, with a great idea, can become famous in a matter of hours.

So focus my friends, and don’t worry about wondering if you’re the best at something, that’s part of the fun!

Tsunami Relief? We’ll Drink To That

CPS alum Kota Kobayashi knows a good cause when he sees one. He also knows how to get others interested:

BEER.

But not just any beer, his own beer. Ippon Matsu, named after an old Japanese fable, is Kota’s own brew and all proceeds go to the reconstruction effort in Japan. 

Kota also recently began work at HUGE, a digital design agency located In Brooklyn. Talk about being on a roll!

As you can see, CPS alumni are up to BIG things both in and out of the agency. What will you be doing in a year?

Webby War Waged and Won!

The digital war is over and it’s official, the Chicago Portfolio School has come out on top. We stand victorious over the Webby Award battlefield and no one can touch us (at least in the category of ‘Best School/University Website’).

If you don’t know what I’m talking about, CPS was nominated for a Webby Award and took home first place in the School/University Website category. This is a huge achievement, as we are pitted against some of the most prestigious art and design schools in the country.

So, if you’re reading this article then let me say, “Congratulations!” You are already browsing the interweb in elite fashion and loading your cache with beautiful data. So stay a little longer and take a look around. It’s not like we’re the best in the country or anything.

And in case you don’t a believe a word you’re reading, you can check out all the winners for yourself on the Webby Awards’ website.

Jason Fried Stops By To Talk About Starting Over

Recently, Jason Fried from 37Signals stopped by CPS for an evening of laughter, tears, and insight. (Okay, nobody actually cried. At least I hope not… that would’ve been pretty awkward)

Jason and 37Signals are responsible for Base Camp, the world’s most popular cloud-based project management and collaboration app. Recently however, they did something a little funny: they took their extremely successful product, tore it apart, and rebuilt it from the ground up. An experience that ended up being an extremely “freeing” one.

As portfolio school students, we get very used to the concept of ‘starting over.’ In fact, sometimes we have to start over before we’ve even started. Seriously. So it was great to hear that such a successful and creatively attuned person also starts over. (Insert deep philosophical discussion about what it truly means to ‘start over’ here)

After a discussion about his work and recent projects, Jason opened up the floor to the audience (a sizable one at that) for an extremely insightful Q&A session, which ranged from topics of hardcore programming minutia, to how to think about billing and representing yourself in the world of creativity.

Once again, a CPS guest speaker has made an hour on a Friday afternoon worth well more in the long run for anyone that attended. We thank Mr. Fried for talking with us, and hope you can make it out to our next speaker, Mr. Greg Christensen (author of Makin’ Ads) on Friday, May 11th, at 5:30pm.

CPS Wages Webby War

It’s that time of the year when all the creative masterminds the world over put in the extra hours and polish off their final projects for competition. Competitions such as Future Lyons and CMYK Magazine are open to showcase the brightest talent of the year, and you can bet CPS students are working their butt off to get all the details just right. But it’s not just students who are looking for those coveted Best In Show awards, The Chicago Portfolio School is fighting for it’s top spot this year as well.

Our beloved CPS won’t go unrecognized this year as the implementation of our new website has brought with it some nominations for the highly prized Webby Awards. What is a Webby Award you ask? Good question. The Webby People’s Voice Awards honors the year’s best work in Websites, Interactive Advertising, Online Film & Video and Mobile. And it is all decided by you, the public! This year, CPS has been nominated in two categories: Best School/University Website and Best Use of Video or Moving Image on a Website.

Right now, CPS is inches behind in the polls and voting ends April 26th. So what are you waiting for? Head over to the Webby Awards and vote for your favorite portfolio school. We’ll even make it easy for you to vote for us with the links below. You do want us to win, don’t you?

To vote for The Chicago Portfolio School for School/University Website Design, click here.

To vote for The Chicago Portfolio School for Best Use of Video or Moving Image on a Website, click here.

Parties, Crashers, and Sharpies

As another quarter begins, another Freshman Mixer is thrown, and another bar is shut down. Not shut down in the “closed by the health department” kind of way, but in the “you guys gotta leave, we’re closing” kind of way… from what I remember.

This party was one of the wildest in recent memory. First off, our new crop of CPS’ers is REALLY BIG. We may even need to rent a bigger room next time. Secondly, we had a CRASHER!!! This guy (above left) apparently ripped off his dress shirt and joined the party for a few drinks before anyone realized who he was (or wasn’t). Props to him, but we’ll be ready next time!

And lastly, many many words of wisdom (and a few not so wise) were shared with our new CPU errr, I mean CPS brethren, in a manner they soon will be very familiar with: a Sharpie.

Does Somebody Have A Case Of The Mondays?

Mondays suck. We all know it. The adrenaline from the heart pounding thrills of the weekend has all but wore off and the drag of the oncoming week has begun to sink in. And to make matters worse, there’s always one chipper little bird who can’t stop diagnosing you with a case of the Mondays.

But fear no more, weekend warriors! Mondays don’t have to be such a downer anymore, because Carolyn Tubekis has taken on the daunting task of taking the suck out of Mondays. A blog dedicated to bringing you a conglomeration of witty dialogue, tongue-in-cheek humor, and all the emotional support that fun design can bring you when it’s still dark out on Monday morning and you can’t find a pair of matching socks. Need some stimulation immediately? Check out the goods here.

So here’s to you dreamers! This blog is for all you who just got woken up by your alarm clocks and are now some mild form of miserable. Happy Mondays!

And We’re Back!

CPS students (most of us anyway) have successfully navigated our separate (but equal) & respective ways back to the hallowed halls of 25 W. Hubbard Street, for what appears to be another exciting quarter of marker comps, printer fun, and lots & lots of ideas. Now that we’ve all had some time to dust of our sharpies, let’s review a few of the really exciting events in store for us, shall we?

First off, Royal Rumble is in full effect as teams of CPS students are currently pitching ideas to the Illinois Lottery, with hopes of one day seeing their ideas actually produced on a game.

Second, we have some great guest speakers coming to share their infinite wisdom, including Jason Fried (April 20th, 5:30 pm) from 37signals, & Greg Christensen (May 9th, 5:30 pm) from a little ol’ agency called The Richards Group.

Ever heard of ‘em?

And if that weren’t enough (you sure are hard to please!), we’ll have our usual steady stream of parties (Freshman mixer, End of Quarter/4th-Quarter Stand-Up Night), portfolio reviews and debutes, and overall borderline-madness that goes into every quarter here at CPS University.

(Okay, we’re not a “university,” but I thought it sounded cool)

Feel free to stop by and see what’s going on for yourself!

Are You In the #Cho?

Normally, I don’t like to toot my own horn. Normally…

Last month partners Kelly Pratt, Courtney Long, and I made an entry into the Young Glory competition. The brief involved the brand release of the Thompson Punke ping pong apparel clothing line, and asked how would you launch a new brand, in a new category, with only $10,000?

When the dust cleared, we took home the bronze, and couldn’t be happier! Congrats to my partners for all their hard work.

View our entry here!

Royal Rumble Is Cashing In Big With The Illinois Lottery

It’s that time of the quarter again. The time when all the students are hurrying to finish their works-in-progress for their portfolio and make sure everything is in tip top shape. But it’s also the time when things start to get real. Like real client real.

In case you haven’t heard, Chicago Portfolio School brings in a big time client every quarter break with a real world challenge for the students to team up and tackle. Winner takes all here, as the 1st place team will bring home a cash prize and have their campaign used by the client.

This quarter break, just as warm weather hits Chicago, the competition will be heating up as The Illinois Lottery has challenged The Chicago Portfolio School to revamp their Instant Games. It’s time to scratch beyond the surface of these games and come up with something truly original for the cash handout kings.

Will it be some crazy new social game or the prize package of a lifetime that hits the jackpot? It’s hard to say as I sit here in the brief, but you can feel the excitement in the air as people gear up to win big this break. Game on.