live online course

BECOME AN ART DIRECTOR

JOEL ARZU
ASSOCIATE CREATIVE DIRECTOR
OGILVY

FEBRUARY 15
– MARCH 24

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Learn how to create campaigns strong enough to stand on their own.

Viral advertising creative Joel Arzu of Ogilvy and Wieden + Kennedy shows you how in 6 weeks, live online.

THIS COURSE IS FOR

YOU'RE MAKING THE LEAP TO ADVERTISING

If you struggle to get actual value from creative and design briefs, you're in the right place.

Or this: you have endless creative ideas, but your base knowledge of color, typography, and composition isn't, well, stellar.

You'll learn the method behind creative big ideas and expand your portfolio with a complete, integrated campaign.
YOU'RE PROVING YOUR CREATIVE POTENTIAL

You already did school, so why do you still feel like a freshman? Crank up your creative power with the same creative strategies used by Ogilvy's Joel Arzu to make magic happen.

Go inside the process of visual and video production step-by-step. Learn how to get your ideas heard. Think of this course as the brief for your first serious advertising job.
YOU'RE A FIRST-TIME CREATIVE LEAD

Developing your own creative ideas was definitely your vibe, but now that you're in a management position, you've found that bringing together a whole team's creative ideas is actually hard.

In this course, Joel breaks down production of creative assets step-by-step. You will also work in teams to create creative materials, enhance presentation skills, and practice giving constructive feedback.

YOUR ASCENT STARTS HERE

You heard "inspiration" is the secret to successful campaigns?

That's fake news. Learn how to do the work behind the campaigns that everybody's talking about: briefing, ideation, technique, and collaboration.

Let's get real about how a lot of online courses leave you hanging.

This course keeps it practical and includes a professional review of all your coursework.

Since you're learning live, you'll build connections in the industry, including with an acclaimed art director. So there's that.

TELL A STORY

How do you get from a brief to a big idea? Or from a big idea to the campaign you've imagined? Learn the creative problem solving strategies that Joel Arzu uses every day for the likes of Nike, Allstate, Delta Airlines.

GO VIRAL

Learn the new rules for advertising and start winning earned media for every campaign. Find out Ogilvy's secrets for helping their clients go viral, then make creative assets for your own campaign.

GET HIRED

Make your online portfolio stand out with fresh creative assets and professional guidance. Joel will also teach you how to maintain consistency in your personal brand and seek out agencies that best fit your style of work.

JOEL
ARZU LinkedIn Profile

Associate Creative Director at Ogilvy, the bedrock agency of modern advertising and 2021's Agency Network of the Year
Leads viral, value-adding campaigns for world-famous clients and agencies including ESPN, Nike, Delta Airlines, McDonald’s, Allstate, and Leo Burnett Group
Launched his career as an art director at Wieden + Kennedy, one of the most awarded creative agencies in the world
Won early recognition in AdAge's Top 30 Under 30 while still a design school student
Co-founder of CoVoice, the “Uber of translation services”

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WALGREENS / COVID-19

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ALLSTATE / MAYHEM

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RICE KRISPIES TREATS / SHARE THE LOVE

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DELTA AIRLINES

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View Joel's full portfolio

TUE (2/15), 5 PM PST/8 PM EST

Art Direction: The Basics

Joel will discuss the habits of well-rounded art directors and introduce award-winning advertising campaigns from the past and today.

Designer vs. art director vs. creative director
Essential skill sets
How to work: Collaboration vs. solo
Case study: How to recognize a good creative

Assignment #1: Pick one creative you like from Joel's Resources page or your own references folder and briefly answer:

What do you like about the creative piece of work you picked?
What audience is the creative piece targeted towards?
Do you think the work was effective? Why/why not?
Is there anything you would change about it? If yes, what? And why?

THU (2/17), 5 PM PST/8 PM EST

Decoding Briefs

What separates a good brief from a bad one? Learn how to interpret and write briefs for two types of projects: design-based and creative-based.

What is a brief? (Examples of briefs)
Creative briefs: Essential elements
- Brand, Challenge, Considerations, Deliverables/Mandatories, SMIT, Timing, Budget
Design briefs: Essential elements
- Logo and stationery design
What does a bad brief look like?

Assignment #2: Solve for a creative brief for 4Ocean, the first of two companies you'll be focused on during the course. Propose a few ideas that answer the company's needs (writeup only).

TUE (2/22), 5 PM PST/8 PM EST

Workshop #1: Creative Problem Solving

Get armed with the tools to build and grow your creative thinking as you tackle the first job of art direction: solving for the brief.

Problem solving principles and techniques
Ads that nail the right idea
Workshop: In groups, apply the principles you've learned to conceptualize a few ideas across any medium to answer the 4Ocean brief. Build on your assignment from the previous class or use new insights to come up with freshideas.

Assignment #3 (Group work option): The Chicago Public Library (CPL) wants to increase its membership. Come up with a few ideas using the insight-driven techniques taught in class to solve for the brief. Before the next class, watch the quick guides on color from Joel.

THU (2/24), 5 PM PST/8 PM EST

Psychology of Color & Shape

Learn how to enhance the effectiveness of your creatives and create moods through astute use of color and shape.

Quick guide to color
Quick guide to shape
Case study: Logos, posters, websites, and packaging design
Demo: Intro to Adobe Illustrator

Assignment #4: Design a poster (Adobe Illustrator is recommended) for 4Ocean or CPL without words. Only use color and shapes to elicit a feeling (i.e. scary, happy, sad, hunger, dependable, etc.) Before the next class, watch the quick guide on typography from Joel.

TUE (3/1), 5 PM PST/8 PM EST

Typography

Guiding your viewers' eyes and emotions can be as simple as knowing which typography to use and where. This class teaches you how to do it.

Quick guide to type
What voices do we hear when we look at a certain typeface?
Case study: Logos, posters, websites, and packaging design
Demo: Intro to type in Adobe Illustrator

Assignment #5: Use letter and color theory to redesign either the 4Ocean or Chicago Public Library logo (Adobe Illustrator is recommended). Before the next class, watch the quick guide to imagery from Joel.

THU (3/3), 5 PM PST/8 PM EST

Photography Styles & Treatments

Explore photography styles and treatments so that you can implement these as references in your own work.

Quick guide to imagery
Great photographers of advertising
Case studies: Photography in OOH, poster, and print ads
Demo: Intro to images in Adobe Photoshop

Assignment #6: Create an image-driven ad for either 4Ocean or Chicago Public Library (Adobe Photoshop is recommended). Before the next class, watch the guide to layout and composition from Joel.

TUE (3/8), 5 PM PST/8 PM EST

Layout & Composition

Joel teaches you how to add layout and composition on top of color, shape, and typography to give your work structure and make it easier to navigate.

Quick guide to layout and composition
Layout across platforms and websites
Case studies: Logos, posters, and websites
Demo: Using Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator together

Assignment #7: Bringing together everything we’ve learned on photography, layout and composition, color, and type, design a poster for Chicago Public Library or 4Ocean (Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator are recommended).

THU (3/10), 5 PM PST/8 PM EST

Video Production & Collaboration

Learn the step-by-step process for getting a video idea produced, from initial concept to final spot. Joel will teach you what collaboration between functions and creatives looks like at Wieden + Kennedy, Leo Burnett, and Ogilvy.

Storyboards
Picking (and managing) the right director
Director’s treatment, casting, wardrobe, location
Post-production: Color correcting and editing
Other types of creative collaboration

Assignment #8 (Group work): Work in teams to storyboard a video idea for Chicago Public Library or 4Ocean.

TUE (3/15), 5 PM PST/8 PM EST

Workshop #2: Pitching Creative Work

In this lesson, Joel teaches you client presentation structure and how to handle feedback.

Presentation structure
How to handle questions and objections
Constructive criticism
Workshop: In breakout rooms, practice pitching your storyboard assignment to each other. Next, try out Joel's tips for receiving and responding to feedback as you critique the storyboards.

Assignment #9: Use Joel's constructive feedback and input from your peers to revise and improve on your group's storyboard.

THU (3/17), 5 PM PST/8 PM EST

Workshop #3: Going Viral: Earned Media & Non-traditional Advertising

You’ll learn non-traditional ways to generate creative ideas that have high potential to get earned media.

What does a viral idea look like?
- Working with small budgets
- Case studies: Earned media concept
Non-traditional advertising
- Case studies: Advertising in the world
Workshop: In breakout rooms, come up with ways to get earned media for your Chicago Public Library or 4Ocean project.

Assignment #10: Elaborate on your thinking based on the workshop ideas. Design your own Earned Media Strategy for Chicago Public Library or 4Ocean project.

TUE (3/22), 5 PM PST/8 PM EST

Creating Ad Campaigns with Big Ideas

Joel breaks down award-winning campaigns with strong “big ideas” behind them. You’ll also learn how to come up with “big ideas” for your own projects to build integrated campaigns.

Building an integrated campaign with legs
Understand how a big idea lives across all platforms
Case studies: Big ideas across industries

+ Course Project: Your Integrated Campaign

Assignment #11: Build on your existing project ideas to generate a campaign with a “big idea” at the center. Present your concept in Google Slides or Keynote, including TV, billboard, and social media executions for them.

THU (3/24), 5 PM PST/8 PM EST

Portfolio and Self-Promotion: Getting Hired as an Art Director

What are advertising agencies and design shops looking for when they hire entry-level creatives? Get your portfolio in shape with tips from Joel's 15 years in art and creative directions.

Self-branding
Case studies: Good and bad portfolios
Top advertising agencies and design shops
- In-house vs. agency work
- How to know your right fit
Demo: Building a portfolio on Wix

Assignment #12: Build your online portfolio using Wix or the website builder of your choice. Upload your finished projects and submit to Joel for feedback.

BECOME AN ART DIRECTOR

THIS COURSE IS FOR

YOU'RE MAKING THE LEAP TO ADVERTISING

YOU'RE PROVING YOUR CREATIVE POTENTIAL

YOU'RE A FIRST-TIME CREATIVE LEAD

You heard "inspiration" is the secret to successful campaigns?

Let's get real about how a lot of online courses leave you hanging.