Michael is an American copywriter, raised in Minnesota, schooled in Reno, now freelancing in Portugal, but most of the work on his site was done in Warsaw in a language Michael can barely speak. What does that look like? Here’s your chance to find out.
Portfolio: cargocollective.com/mlarswhite
Larry is a copywriter/CD at BBDO NY, after four years at GS&P and three years at CP+B. Every once in a while, MC posts a site that just flat-out makes us jealous. This would be one of those.
Portfolio: cargocollective.com/larrycorwin
Shawn is a copywriter/CD at Grey in NYC. His site features an animated Shawn pulling portfolio categories out of his head, snoozing and falling out of his chair. Even though MC is a big fan of Cargo, it’s refreshing to see a site made for the writer whose name’s on the door. (Or URL.) Dig it.
Portfolio: shawncouzens.com
Geoff is a copywriter/CD/VP at DDB in Chicago. His portfolio is sick, especially the writing. And that includes work for clients one might not consider “sick” creative opportunities. Just goes to show. Tip ‘o the hat, Mr. McCartney.
Portfolio: geoffmccartney.com
Ladies and gentlemen, MC is honored to present the portfolio sites of the 2011 Creative Circus graduating copywriters (in alphabetical order):
Sarah Chase – ChaseSarahChase.com
Johnny Dantonio – johnnydantonio.com
Mike Gallucci – cargocollective.com/mikegallucci
Mike Haftel – mikehaftel.com
Dan Ahern – cargocollective.com/danahern
Matt Kapler – cargocollective.com/mkcw
Melissa Langston-Wood – melissalangstonwood.com
Neil Ramanan – topramanan.com
Blake Solomon – blakesolomon.com
Kevin Steele – cargocollective.com/kevinsteele
Matt Vitou – cargocollective.com/mattvitou
Eric Webster – eggwebster.com
Whitney Yando – whitneyyando.com
What does it take to graduate from Circus and immediately land an awesome gig at Wexley School for Girls? Check it out.
Portfolio: cargocollective.com/mkcw
Going through the Circus CW grad books, you notice a couple of things. One, they were a tight group. Lots of references to each other in bios and photos of each other in their work. Lots of collaboration. Two, it seems like half of them were in rock bands or pseudo rock bands. Mike Gallucci was 1/2 of Soft Serve, one-hit wonder band (with fellow Circus CW grad Matt Vitou). Make sure you check that out. Also, don’t miss his crazy video for Hamilton Beach Blenders, and his Yelp reviews for himself.
Portfolio: cargocollective.com/mikegallucci
Mike is an intern at Strawberry Frog in NYC. Not only is he a talented writer, but check out his photo section. Lots of portfolios out there with photography as bonus sections, but Mike’s is great. Also check out Amplify: The Project. Awesome.
Portfolio: mikehaftel.com
The first thing you’ll notice about Blake’s portfolio site is Blake. Lots of Blake. Funny. Make sure you check out his campaign for McDonald’s, in which Ronald McDonald takes off the face paint and reveals himself as just Ron. A guy like you and me, but with a clown wig.
Portfolio: blakesolomon.com
Daniel is a Peruvian copywriter at Y&R Paris. For those of us who came up in the industry when the TV commercial was God, the past 10 years have been painful. Graphic design and Flash banners. Blah. But now, finally, we’re coming full circle. Video has caught up to the Internet, and visa versa, and we’re shooting again. So, when you see a portfolio like Daniel’s with a Short Films section, you don’t think of it as extra – you think great! The kid knows how to make a video. Now go tell Craft Services that we want those little smoothies with the vitamin C booster. Pronto.
Portfolio: daniellobaton.com
Alexandre is a copywriter/CD at Grey Brasil. He’s got a brand new site on Wix (new to MC, far as we know) that’s beautiful. Some awesome new work, too.
Portfolio: wix.com/scaff21/work
Tom is a copywriter/CD in Chicago. His portfolio is just awesome, but his print section (“READ”) is especially sick: Altoids, Porsche, Gatorade, Bahamas. Yes, please.
Portfolio: hiretomwilson.com
Yama is a copywriter at DGWB in Los Angeles. Don’t misses: Words of Wetzel’s, 12 Days of In-N-Out, and Banks Hate You.
Portfolio: behance.net/yamarahyar
David is a copywriter/EVP/GCD at Arnold Worldwide in Boston. His site is more than advertising. It’s the creative output of one David Register, including photos, a kids book, and a collage he made for his son. Love it.
Portfolio: cargocollective.com/dregister
Carlos is a senior copywriter at Lápiz Leo Burnett in Chicago. Originally from Perú, he began his career in Lima, and there’s a good mix of work from both countries on his site. Check out his work for Gain. Print is amazing. Radio is funny. TV is just crazy.
Portfolio: cargocollective.com/bretel
Louis is a junior copywriter at iNDELIBLE in NYC. His portfolio features a campaign for the American Heart Association that uses the nastiness of pizza grease to deliver its message in an ingenious way (above). His portfolio also features an app for Little Caesars pizza. And there, my friends, is the copywriter conundrum. We saveth from heart attack. We selleth the heart attack.
Portfolio: louiswittig.com
Greg is a copywriter/ACD at Ogilvy NYC. Love how his site is written. Nothing on the home page, just clean. History and Honors is thorough but minimal. For each campaign, there’s just the right amount of set-up (when set-up is needed). And credits are fully blown-out, awards show-style.
Portfolio: greggerstner.com
John is a senior copywriter in Chicago. One of the benefits of working at big shops in Chicago is that you get to produce work that everyone sees. Click on John’s TV section, and you’ll probably recognize half of the spots just by looking at their thumbnails.
Portfolio: johnkastanes.com
Chris is a senior copywriter at Gardner Nelson in NYC. There’s a great mix of work on his site, from Trident White (above), to a guerilla idea for ambulance chasing lawyers, to content for several hilarious blogs, including “Posing With Potholes.” Thank God for the Internet.
Portfolio: chris-baier.com
Gino is a copywriter in San Francisco, previously a Social Media Copywriter at Mekanism. If you’re like MC, you found that title interesting. Social Media Copywriter is awesome on your rez, for sure. And there are killer examples of it on Gino’s site. But does that mean no writing traditional or digital while in that position? Does it mean no social media for the rest of us? Hmm.
Portfolio: ginoclick.com
Matt is a senior copywriter at Barkley in Kansas City. Bunch of fun work on his site, including Sonic Drive-in, Blue Bunny Ice Cream, Krispy Kreme, Mr. Coffee and plenty more. The caption above his Sonic TV spots simply says, “These commercials increased sales by 1000%. I’m sure of it.” How many times have I wanted to write that? Also, be sure to click on Bio for one of the most awesome family photos ever.
Portfolio: mattbowneexperiment.com
Jerry is a copywriter in the UK. He’s been “oozing creative juices from every orifice” and “spewing concepts across media” for 20 years. His words, not mine.
Portfolio: jerrygross.co.uk
Keith is a senior copywriter at The Kaplan Thaler Group in NYC. This is what you get when you’re an interactive copywriter working at AKQA or Kaplan Thaler or one of those. You get yourself a custom portfolio site. Really like how simple it is to nav. You can jump around and see the whole thing in just a few minutes, which is rare for a portfolio full of interactive work. Nice.
Portfolio: keithzang.com
Matty is a copywriter at Barton F. Graf9000, the new Gerry Graf shop that just nabbed Eric Kallman from W+K. Is there a cooler place to be? No. So, how did Matty get the gig? Well, he’s got a Master’s Degree from VCU Brandcenter AND he was an Eagle Scout. Once again proving MC’s theory that drummers, comedians, surfers and scouts make good copywriters. Of course, Gerry already knew this.
Portfolio: mattysmith.com
Craig is a copywriter/CD in Chicago. (Not to be confused with Craig Miller at CP+B.) On his home page, you’ll find a personal manifesto of sorts – Craig’s likes, dislikes and beliefs. Including this: “Ellipses in headlines are my kryptonite.” Couldn’t agree more, sir.
Portfolio: web.mac.com/miller_craig
Dov is a copywriter/ACD at Ogilvy in NYC. Over the past ten years, he’s also done time at R/GA, FCB, TBWA, and JWT Melbourne. His site is loaded with awesome work, and a ton of it. Lots of which MC hadn’t seen before, like the above campaign for Maxwell House. Yawning IS ugly.
Portfolio: dovzmood.net
Matt is a new copywriter/co-lead singer at W+K Shanghai after graduating from Creative Circus. (MC’s first China entry. Love it.) What kind of portfolio are they looking for at the W+K on the other side of the world? Here’s your chance to find out.
Portfolio: cargocollective.com/mattvitou
Spencer is a marketing/technical copywriter in Florida. Because of the nature of his work, his book doesn’t look like the other books on MC. (Doesn’t make it any better or worse, just different.) About a month ago, I sent out an emergency tweet asking if there was a technical writer willing to help my sister, who’s getting her masters in technical writing, with her final project. Spencer was on it in a flash. That’s good peeps. Thanks again, Mr. Fleury. Very much.
Portfolio: spencerfleury.com
Jamie is a copywriter in NYC. First, check out his work. Then, check out his rez. Since graduating from Miami Ad School in 2005, he’s worked at a couple of shops, freelanced at a bunch, and is now about to launch an eco-denim company. Which, to MC, seems to perfectly align with the CWs coming out of Miami Ad School (influenced by CP+B), which Jamie attended. Entrepreneurs, idea factories, world tours.
Portfolio: jaimeschwarz.com
Ladies and gentlemen, MC is honored to present the portfolio sites of the 2011 VCU Brandcenter graduating copywriters (in alphabetical order):
Adam Aceino – aceino.com
Bill Carlson – wrcarlson.com
Scott Cleveland – scottrcleveland.com
Ryan Contillo – ryancontillo.com
Sam Dolphin – samdolph.in
Jeff Hornung – jeffreyhornung.com
Lane Karczewski – lanekarczewski.com
Richard Langhorne – richardlanghorne.com
Brian Naujelis – briannaujelis.com
Simon Philion – simonphilion.com
Samantha Ridgway – samridgway.com
Lauren Simon – llsimon.com
David Sloan – meamdavid.com
Jennifer Stopka – jenniferstopka.com
Julian Tippins – juliantippins.com
Rebecca Ullman – rebeccaullman.com
Adam Wolinsky – heckvetica.com
Claire Wyckoff – clairewyckoff.com