Chris is a senior copywriter at FAME, and splits time between Minneapolis and Chicago. Don’t misses: FAME Liquor Lounge, Crowdsourcing My Condo (awesome) and Groupon (love it).
Portfolio: thechrisyocum.com
Chris is a senior copywriter at FAME, and splits time between Minneapolis and Chicago. Don’t misses: FAME Liquor Lounge, Crowdsourcing My Condo (awesome) and Groupon (love it).
Portfolio: thechrisyocum.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
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
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
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
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
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
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
Another stand-up comic. Another affiliation with the Upright Citizen’s Brigade. Another killer student book proving that: #1 Comedians make awesome copywriters and #2 VCU is one of the top copywriting schools for comedians on the planet.
Portfolio: simonphilion.com
Lane is one of the lucky VCU Brandcenter grads who’s already landed a gig. He’ll be ripping it up at AKQA in San Francisco on Audi. How fun is that? So fun. Look out SoMa. Here comes Lane.
Portfolio: lanekarczewski.com
Check out Rebecca’s cool campaigns for Foursquare, Hanes, Mini Thrill Rides, and Carfax. Love the writing of her site, too. Rebecca’s got a wicked smart, snappy voice that’s just fun to read. Almost as fun as her Visual Addendum page, featuring the above photo. Quality.
Portfolio: rebeccaullman.com
VCU is so hooked into the industry, you know that themes in VCU student books are themes agencies are asking to see. In Adam’s, one of those themes is loud and clear: crazy innovation. Or, outlandish entrepreneurial strategic grenades. Something like that. He’s got an end-of-the-world campaign for Costco, Get Gay Married human rights campaign, one for an even faster version of Ramen, and a New Balance race for seniors called The Geriathlon.
Portfolio: heckvetica.com
MC has often said that surfers make good copywriters. Surfers and drummers. Got another one to add to that list: comedians. Don’t know if she surfs or drums, but Claire is funny. Before VCU, she studied improv at Middlebury College, and at Improv Olympic and Upright Citizen’s Brigade. It shows. Smart, hilarious, fantastic writing all over her portfolio.
Portfolio: clairewyckoff.com
Craig is a copywriter/CD at CP+B. The work on his site is presented as a simple reel, or downloadable reel/book. If you’re like MC, you see copywriter/CD at CP+B and you’re like, “Oh damn. This one’s going to kill.” Guess what? It kills.
Portfolio: craigmillercreative.com
Ryan is a copywriter at CP+B. As David Roth, copywriter and friend of MC put it, “probably no person with 2.5 years of experience with more work to show for it.” (Thanks for the heads-up, David.) Wow.
Portfolio: ryanraab.virb.com
Will is a copywriter at Venables Bell in SF. Been there four years, after graduating from Circus. Check out his ComedyFetish.com campaign. Sick. In PRINT/OOH, check out his Slim Jim T-shirt. Brilliant.
Portfolio: thebookofgorman.com
Jane is a freelance copywriter in Madison, formerly at Leo Burnett. Her portfolio is classic Burnett, featuring work for Special K, Go-Tarts and Secret. Click into Broadcast and then scroll down to Go-Tarts. Casting is priceless.
Portfolio: copybyjanekoh.com
Greg is a copywriter/ACD at Firehouse in Dallas. He’s got a brand new site that’s loaded with killer work. Don’t misses: Spike TV, Full Throttle + NHRA, K-Y, and Mother Candles.
Portfolio: cargocollective.com/greghunter
Jeff is a copywriter/ACD at Cramer-Krasselt in Milwaukee. (Brand new gig, big congrats Jeff.) Check out this note to Jeff from Jason Alexander, after Jason received Jeff’s first script for his Jenny Craig Video Blog, “Jeff, I am literally blown away. Brilliant. I couldn’t have said it better. You truly got my voice down. I have no notes and anyone who knows me knows that is a first. It’s perfect. Go with it and thank you. If I ever run for office you are hired as my official speechwriter. Happy holidays. I’m telling my wife that I am blown away or in the words of George, ‘I am speechless. I am without speech’.” Nice.
Portfolio: vzcreative.com
Howard is a senior copywriter in NYC. His site features integrated work for six clients, plus a one-shots page, plus a page of outtakes. I recommend you click into DIRECTV and watch the Wayne’s World brand spot. Then go down to Outtakes and watch the Wayne stand-in just melt under the pressure of trying to say a lead-in line to Kim Basigner. Who wouldn’t?!
Portfolio: krop.com/howardhill
Thomas is a junior copywriter at BBDO Germany. How much does MC enjoy posting sites from outside the States? Lots. (Hint: Send ’em!) So cool to see what kind of opportunities junior writers get at BBDO Germany. Don’t miss: Sharpie Extra Fine. Dig it.
Portfolio: thomas-kuhn.com