Valuable Real World Experience

Instructor Krista Svalbonas approached the Ad Agency Bartle Bogle Hegarty (BBH) with a proposition to team teach a class.  The agency was receptive, since the target market for many of their products are people about the age of Art Institute of New York City students.

The class worked in teams of three, each assigned the task of creating a campaign for an environmentally aware skin care product.  They were asked to craft a print ad, keeping in mind that the budget was low. BBH specializes in Conscious Advertising, so the "environmentally aware skin care product" was in the right ball park.

Students visited the agency, hearing from representatives about all aspects of the agency business, including creative, business, accounting, etc. On another occasion, a Creative Director visited the class to discuss how imaginative ideas are born, describing how his creative process worked.

On August 14, the class visited BBH, posting printouts of their ideas for an ad.  An Art Director and a Copy Writer offered extensive in-depth critiques to each of the 4 groups of students.  This event was the basis of students' mid-term grades. 

At the end of September, the class once again visited the agency, bringing their completed projects on which their final grades would be based. A different team of Art Director and Copy Writer gave the critiques this time. As instructor Svalbonas pointed out, "it's helpful to get varying views from different teams."

Bartle Bogle Hegarty, an agency with 1.5 billion total billings has offices in London, New York, Sao Paulo, Singapore, Shanghai and Tokyo.

Graphic Design student Devesh Ramdeo says, "Working with BBH is an awesome experience for any student interested in going into Advertising.  You learn how to reach different audiences with your work."

Todd Bandrowski who has one more quarter before he graduates says, "This is a great opportunity to get experience in the field so I know what to expect.  I plan to work in Advertising, so this has prepared me for what I will encounter."

According to student Evan Paul, "The critiques were great.  We got to hear from people doing this day to day.  This really clarified for me what it would be like to actually work in the industry."