• by Larissa Faw , July 20, 2020

The One Club is doubling down on its commitment to support the Black creative community with the launch of the One School, a free portfolio program for young Black creatives.

The school will be run by Spotify creative director Oriel Davis-Lyons, as part of The One Club’s Professional Development programming.

The group says the programs will go beyond simply teaching students how to put together a portfolio and also provide guidance on navigating the industry as a Black creative. 

“Most of the lecturers will be speaking not just about creativity but also their own personal experience as Black creatives and passing on advice that will help a new generation,” says Davis-Lyons.

The online school will run two nights a week for 16 weeks, with students getting 10 briefs over the course of the program covering subjects such as out-of-home, innovation and data-driven storytelling.

One night of the week will be devoted to guest lectures from top Black creatives, with the second night consisting of a tutorial run by Davis-Lyons in which students will do a deep dive on different channels, disciplines and the creative process. They’ll also received one-on-one reviews of their work.

“The briefs will be written by Black strategists and taught by Black tutors and lecturers, and the students will be paired with Black mentors in the industry,” explains Davis-Lyons. “This isn’t about teaching Black creatives how to ‘fit in’ to a mostly white industry.  It’s about helping them to build a portfolio that is both creatively excellent and 100% authentic to who they are.”

Later weeks of the course will be devoted to portfolio building, judging by top agency professionals, awarding of the top student portfolios and job placement.

Enrollment in the course is limited to 15 students who have not previously attended an ad school.  Applicants will be selected based on what organizers call “raw creativity,“ “passion” and “commitment” so as not to discourage those with no prior knowledge of advertising.  They will be asked to submit a brief video on why they want to be an advertising creative, provide examples of their creative work, and respond to a brief. 

Spotify serves as a principal sponsor of the program, with McCann Worldgroup, Ogilvy, R/GA and WPP also on board to underwrite 10 of the 15 students’ seats so far, with remaining sponsorship spots available.