The Chicago Portfolio School

CPS Grad You Should Know: Rick Hickey

Rick Hickey, Copywriter brings a lot to the party. Last summer, he led his team to 1st Place in the Royal Rumble competition (CPS’ highest prize); he’s successfully completed internships at several agencies and he has a portfolio full of varied, interesting work. Rick’s as adept at the headline-driven campaign (the Ace piece above was featured on The Creative Ham) as he is at the longer stuff (Jetsetter) and he’s the rare CW with AD skills (preferred mediums: pencil and charcoal).

For bonus points, ask him about his stint freelancing for the Spanish Ministry of Health. Like I said - he brings a lot to the party.

For your consideration: Rick Hickey!

They Need A Job

Neapolitan Dream rages against the months of (possible? probable? don’t think about it…) unemployment that juniors face.

Creative Directors! Help these young men get paid/laid (their words, not mine).

Neapolitan Dream is: Jason LaFlore, Art Director; Sean Collander, Copywriter; Adam Repp, Copywriter. Pablo Escobar T-Shirt has no web presence significant enough to link to at this time.

Ram The Hamm’s

The low-rent beer of your Midwestern youth has finally gotten the seriocomic music video treatment that it always deserved.

Written, directed & scored by 4th Quarter Copywriters Lyndsey Tonyan & Adam Repp.

CPS Grad You Should Know: G. Brett Williams

(This is the first entry in an ongoing series introducing you to people that you should hire)

Southern gentleman G. Brett Williams is a freshly-minted Copywriter with a shiny new portfolio site. He’s an Addy winner (check out his Spotify spot) and a long-copy maven (check out the spot above).

Brett’s also an accomplished comic book writer who comes with years of experience working alongside Art Director-types. Oh, and last summer he got tattooed for a class assignment, so you can only imagine the level of dedication that he’ll bring to your agency. Browse this charming man’s work here!

Multitalented Alum Recognized For Design (& His Beer’s Good Too)

We’ve been big fans of Design alum Kota Kobayashi’s work for a while, and now he’s getting national recognition - Kota’s design for his beer, Ippon Matsu, just won Best of Show in the Under Consideration Brand New awards!

Kota is a dedicated home brewer in addition to being a gifted Designer, and he puts both skills to use with Ippon Matsu, which he launched in response to the 2011 Japanese tsunami. The design for the beer - whose name means “One Pine Tree” - was inspired by a single tree that remained standing after the tsunami destroyed a famous forest in Rikuzentakata, Japan; all proceeds from the beer’s sale go towards reconstruction efforts in that city.

Congratulations, Kota!

How The Hamilton Spent Its Spring Break

The Hamilton Wood Type & Printing Museum of Two Rivers, Wisconsin has long been a favorite destination for type and design enthusiasts. The only museum in the U.S. dedicated to the study, preservation and production of wood type, it features a huge collection of wood type and all of the crazy old tools necessary to produce it. It’s enough to make a designer sigh with relief at how (relatively) easy his or her job is now.

This spring, the Hamilton’s relocating - within the same town, but the Museum’s huge collection still makes the job a serious undertaking - and is looking for volunteers to help complete the move. If you love design and impromptu travel, this could be the road trip for you - learn about Hamilton Volunteer Move Events.

Make Art, Make Friends, Make Fun

CPS was recently visited by Quite Strong, an all-female art and design collective. They shared their thoughts on after-hours creative projects (pro), artistic allies (pro, obviously) and making work that engages with social issues (pro). The ladies also presented a slideshow on what’s really important - remembering that our industry and our work is supposed to be fun and, if it isn’t, we have no excuse not to make it fun; we’re creatives!

In closing, they offered my favorite bit of Guest Speaker advice so far: “Don’t settle, it’s okay to hate everything.”

Prolific Winner Keeps Winning

Gabby Nguyen - she of the varied body of design work and the two consecutive Best of Quarter wins - has cleaned up once again!

Gabby’s poster design has won the Society of Typographic Arts’ ‘Student Scholarship 12’ competition. Check out the winning work at the contest site, congratulate her and eye her enviously in the elevator.

CPS Makes (And Directs) A Scene

We keep on top of these things.

3rd Quarter Students Boast Superior Work Ethic, Fashion Sense

(Disclaimer: this blogger is a 3rd quarter student)

The break between 2nd and 3rd quarters is a scary demarcation point - you’re halfway through school and probably still pretty bad at Photoshop.

With this in mind, Copywriter Adam Repp and Art Director Brittany Rubin created Best of Break (BOB), a competition designed to fight against nerves/inertia/nerves-based inertia and keep us working hard over the long vacation. Upon return, each 3rd quarter student submitted a piece he or she perfected during break to a panel of older students and a few teachers. Results were tallied and announced at a fancy dinner organized by Brittany and Adam that was followed by the kind of boffo party our quarter’s known for. The winners were given a pawprint trophy (it’s a 3rd quarter thing, just go with it) and a seat at the head of the Maggiano’s table.

There’s no other ad party where the competition is this friendly, so now we’re all spoiled for life. View all BOB entries here.

BOB WINNERS & ORGANIZERS:

Adam Lieberman (winner, far left), Adam Repp (brains behind BOB, second from left), Candace Carson (winner, middle), Brittany Rubin (brains behind BOB, second from right), Sarah Kennedy (winner, far right)