School of Visual Arts (SVA), in partnership with advertising, design, and digital agency Deutsch NY, introduces Fund the Change, a new scholarship for future undergraduate students. Fund the Change will award two incoming freshmen students accepted to the BFA Design or BFA Advertising programs each a $10,000 per year renewable merit scholarship, totaling $40,000 each over the course of four years. Fund the Change is not only a scholarship, but will provide year-round mentorship opportunities and paid summer internships at Deutsch NY. Eligible students must apply by February 1, 2021, and winners will be announced March 15, 2021. Conceived by Deutsch NY to support creative undergraduate students from historically underrepresented backgrounds, and inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement, Fund the Change aims to bring more diverse talent to the advertising industry. As of September 2020, the World Advertising Research Center (WARC) reports that less than 6% of the industry identifies as Black or African American. While Deutsch NY has a long history of offering paid internships to a diverse group of candidates, Fund the Change will further that mission by supporting the winning students through their entire college careers and creating long-term post-college opportunities to grow within the industry. “Our mission is simple: to strengthen our industry by investing in future leaders who come from historically underrepresented backgrounds,” said Val DiFebo, CEO of Deutsch New York. “In the heart of our City, we knew SVA was the right partner for us. Together we will be a catalyst for our next generation of creative professionals by bridging the gap between the classroom and agency experience”…..
The One Club for Creativity has partnered with Seattle’s pioneering School of Visual Concepts (SVC) to launch 2nd Skill, a unique program to help art directors, graphic designers and copywriters retrain and upskill for their second creative career. 2nd Skill will open the door to new job opportunities for ad creatives by offering part-time programs in UX Design, UI/Visual Design, and Content Strategy/UX Writing, taught online by SVC’s highly-regarded instructors two nights per week for nine months. The initiative is unique among training programs in that the curriculum was developed specifically to take an ad professional’s existing first highly developed creative skill set and build a robust second capability on top to make creatives uniquely qualified and highly desirable in the current job market. 2nd Skill also helps address the ad industry’s ageism problem, enabling experienced creatives to retrain and upskill for new job opportunities. 2nd Skill launches at a challenging time in the ad industry. According to research from Forrester, U.S. agencies will shed 52,000 jobs in 2020-2021, with half of them not coming back. At the same time, positions in UX, UI and content strategy — generally starting at around $100,000 annually — are in high demand across the country. In addition, a recent search on LinkedIn for full-time U.S. creative industry jobs revealed fewer than 1,500 open spots for art directors and copywriters, while there were more than 33,000 current openings for UX designers, UI visual designers, and content strategists. 2nd Skill was conceived by The One Club’s Professional Development department, headed by former Saatchi & Saatchi worldwide creative director and Vanderbilt University adjunct professor Bob Isherwood. The initiative directly aligns with the nonprofit organization’s mission to support the creative community, and is a concrete, meaningful action to help the creatives navigate the changing marketplace. More than a dozen industry experts, including The One Club Board members Chloe Gottlieb, director of user experience at Google and Tiffany Rolfe, global CCO at R/GA, were consulted on development of the curriculum. 2nd Skill kicks off with spots limited to 48 qualified art directors, designers, and copywriters — 16 for each of UX Design, UI/Visual Design, and Content Strategy/UX Writing programs. Courses will be held online–two nights per week and on select Saturdays–for nine months. Enrollment is $11,500, with optional mentorship and one-on-one career coaching available at additional costs. Program curriculum consists of core topics, workshops, and optional mentoring by appointment. Topics for the UI/Visual Design track include responsive design and visual design for mobile apps, while the UX track covers areas such as information architecture, principles of interaction design, and user research. Workshops include type and icons for digital, design systems, and accessibility. Applications are currently being accepted. The One Club and SVC are hosting free one-hour information sessions where potential applicants can learn more about the job prospects and course tracks in the 2nd Skill focus areas. Interested creatives are encouraged to book and attend an info session in advance of the January 17, 2021 application deadline. Courses for UX Design start February 22, 2021, UI/Visual Design March 8, 2021 and Content Strategy/UX Writing March 29, 2021. 2nd Skill is The One Club’s second new initiative in the past three months designed to expand creative career opportunities. In August, the club launched ONE School, the groundbreaking free portfolio program for Black creatives on the East and West Coasts…..
