Masters program prepares next generation of Mad Men
By Travis Walters
Last fall SCAD introduced a new component to their master program in advertising. The previous MA program focused solely on art direction. The new program, which is available at the Savannah and Atlanta campuses, allows students to take an initial set of courses, then concentrate in either design or copywriting.
“The program is for people with undergraduate degrees in journalism, creative writing, literature and philosophy. [It’s for] people who are already skilled writers. This is a one-year program to help them think like an advertising writer,” said Advertising professor Sean Trapani.
Trapani is teaching a course now called the Great Copywriters. “These were the people who were the original Mad Men,” Trapani said.
The new program is set up to mimic the way an advertising agency any SCAD graduate would enter. “In the advertising business, people work in teams. Since the 1960’s, art directors and copywriters have worked together as creative teams,” said Stephen Hall, chair of advertising.
The program is set up in a way that allows for students in either concentration to work together as a team, like they would in an agency.
“The copywriting program is an experiment. What we learn from it will influence the future offering of additional advertising copywriting programs at the undergraduate level,” said Hall.
Fifth-year advertising major Burton Runyan said, “working with art directors is one of my favorite experiences I have had at SCAD. Advertising is naturally a collaborative process. Working in teams lets us discover ideas that we can’t see because of our own perspectives and life experiences clouding us. Partners help push ideas further. When we collaborate in class, it makes for concepting sessions that develop incredible strategies, and the final work is always impacted because each partner can focus on their strengths to make a sharp communication rather than worrying about being a designer trying to correctly format copy or being a writer learning complicated design software.”
Runyan completed his undergraduate degree at SCAD before entering the masters program. “I wanted to go into copywriting since my first ad class at SCAD, which was Advertising Copywriting 204. I think that I was always a writer and advertising appealed to my nature as a problem-solver. I love finding the solution after working so hard to dig up what consumers will find relevant. That ‘Aha!’ moment is what I live for,” Runyan
said.
“I would like all of our Advertising majors to work in teams while they are at SCAD, and enter their professional careers with superior experience and portfolios as a result. That’s the goal,” said Hall.
