Master of Science [M.S] [Business - Branding/Art Direction] From Virginia Commonwealth University

The working environment at the Brandcenter is similar to an advertising agency: Teams of students work together to develop campaigns. After the first year, qualified students are offered internships where they experience ad agency life and foster industry relationships. In their second year, students are given the opportunity to network through a mentoring program in which they are matched with agency professionals who offer advice and assistance.

Student learning outcomes:

• Presentation skills: Students will demonstrate the ability to effectively present/sell their ideas in a clear, concise and compelling manner.

• Collaboration: Students will demonstrate their ability to work together in cross-functional teams/groups (i.e., copywriter, art director, strategist, brand manager, creative technologist) to develop viable business/marketing solutions.

• Creative and critical problem-solving: Students will demonstrate the ability to research consumer culture (via secondary research, syndicated research and qualitative/quantitative research methods) and evaluate consumer media/technology usage habits to develop media-neutral business solutions.

• Culture: Students will demonstrate an appreciation, interest in and openness for different cultures (both national and international) yielding more relevant, culturally savvy business solutions.

• Craft: Students will demonstrate the ability to execute specific skills related to their individual subconcentration. For art direction these include solid layout/typography skills and strong conceptual thinking ability.