Alex Fried (Art Direction, 2023)
Hello everybody. I’m grateful that you found yourself here. Let’s talk about our journeys.
I could guess who you are. You could be a prospective student interested in learning about the Brandcenter. You could be one of my other peers reading this. You could be an alum, or you could be someone working in advertising or someone who appreciates advertising. You could also be one of my friends or family who I’m forcing to read this (this is still for you guys, too). Anyway, whoever you are, somehow you got to this article. How incredible is it that curiosity led you to this page where you get to read every word that comes from my silly little brain.
No matter what it was that brought you here to read this, I want you to know this: I am proud of you. And I think you’re pretty special.
And it’s true, reader. I mean it.
I’ll set the stage: the world is big. The internet told me so. Recently, the human race broke the record for having over 8 billion people on Earth. Kinda crazy, huh? It can make you feel insignificant, which may sound contradictory for me to bring up. Why would I tell you I’m proud of you when you’re just one of 8 billion people on Earth reading this? Let me tell you, you beautiful person, I say this because I know one thing: no one else has the same story as you. No one else has the same lens that you have in every step that you’ve taken in your life. It’s an accumulation of many complicated and hard choices that you’ve had to make all along the way that brought you to this very place, here reading my silly thoughts. So yeah, sure, there may be a lot of people out there that could get the same things done that you want to get done, but no one does it quite like you do.
And I, along with my peers at the Brandcenter, respect that. We understand that your perspective is something to cherish. You need to understand that all the madness around you doesn’t matter because the core of who you are, the way you see things, can translate into amazing things for you and everyone who surrounds you.
Here at Brandcenter, we’re running around like a bunch of chickens with our heads cut off. We are also a bunch of insanely talented scholars who have made a conscious choice to put another part of our lives on pause because we are fascinated by the possibilities that our creative minds possess. This school is the definition of sacrifice, and it’s also the definition of reward. It’s a little confusing. I know. That’s okay because, luckily, everyone feels confused. But, from what I’ve learned here, if we didn’t feel confused, we wouldn’t spark our imaginations. That’s the great gift that comes when you apply your unique perspective that separates you from the 7,999,999,999 other people around you.
My advice: use your imagination and always take the challenge; that’s something I did by choosing to come to the Brandcenter after departing from the Creative Circus. I’ve since become a creative sponge. I soak up all the things I perceive in life, and I squeeze it all out in my Brandcenter classes. Once it’s all squeezed out, I go back to the beginning and soak up the juices until I’m one swollen sponge all over again from this unique one-of-a-kind perspective. Getting wrung out for the first time is tough, but the more you practice, the more you soak in every time. I encourage you to do the same. Soak. It. In.
If you’re one of the 8 billion that have read this far, you’re actually the person I’m most proud of. Just kidding, but not really. If you feel the same confusion and want to channel it into imagination and confidence, come talk to me! The things you really want may not be easy to get, but as you understand your pride and start soaking up the things around you, you will start to do great things.
Cheers.