Jason Nitti

Let’s start the fall by congratulating all of our 2014 award winners. We had a stated mission to win in the major award shows this year, and we did.  Most importantly, we’re beginning to do better work overall. And that, in the long run, will only lead to more awards, better internships, first jobs and more successful careers.

Below is a link to a full list of all of our winners and the awards they’ve won. And again congratulations. It’s a great start. But I’m a greedy guy. And I won’t be happy until we run the table.  That will require more and better entries in more shows, which will lead to more finalists and, ultimately, more hardware.

Here’s to next year.

To that end, we’re adding even more new instructors. They have not only been there and done that; but they’re still doing it every day. They’ve all done plenty of award-winning work at great agencies, and for the clients we admire most: Apple, Nike, Converse, Pepsi, Lexus, Target, Levi’s and more.

Combined with the strong group of teachers we already have, I think it’s safe to say that we have the finest staff the department has ever had, and one that is unmatched at the schools with which we compete.

Jason Nitti, Ad Lab 1
Jason is a creative director at 72andSunny. I’ve known Jason for a long time. As a matter of fact, I hired Jason for his first job out of school. Jason is one of the most talented people I’ve ever worked with. He’s one of the smartest and one of the nicest as well. He did some great work for Converse and many other clients at Anomaly in New York. And now he’s out here working on some very interesting things at 72. He’s won a lot of awards, and done a lot of very talked about work. Just what we like. Jason is also big into music and is one of the founders of a band called Koolhead. Check the music out on his site – it’s really good. I know Jason will bring a fresh, counter-intuitive perspective to his class, and will have a very powerful impact on our program.

Ryan Gerber, Ad Lab 2
As a creative director at Wieden + Kennedy Shanghai, Ryan worked on Levi’s, Fiat, Nike Sportswear and Jeep. As a creative director at RGA New York, he worked on Nike, Pepsi, Amp Energy, ChapStick and Mountain Dew. Suffice it to say Ryan has worked at the best current places in our business, for some of the most progressive clients, and has the great, iconic work to prove it. Ryan has high standards, a streak of irreverence and an infectious enthusiasm about the work that I think will be a real positive for all of you who will be fortunate enough to have him this term. He’ll be teaching with Rob Palmer, featured below.

Rob Palmer, Ad Lab 2 
Rob has done some wonderful and famous work during his career. Work that any of us would love to have on our sites. But that’s about what you’d expect for a guy who’s been a creative director at Wieden, Goodby, Chiat, BBDO and Razorfish. He’s won all of the Industry awards. His work has been recognized as ‘Best of the Decade.’ He’s won MTV Video of the Year. He has an Emmy. And Details magazine even named him the 30th Most Influential Man in the World. (Not sure how they figured that one out.) Rob is currently the creative director at Doner LA, and he’s been charged with turning it into a hot place. If anyone can, he will. And btw, Rob is also an Art Center grad. So not only can he feel your pain, he’ll be more than happy to cause you more of it.

Ben Bliss, Integrated Ad
Ben Bliss is a writer at 180 LA. He’s done some really nice work for Sony, Boost Mobile, Mitsubishi, Expedia, and Pepsi. Ben’s work feels fresh and fun, something we talk about infusing our work with often. Smart, yes. Rational, yes. But the best work has an element of fun that makes it look easy. And speaking of fun, before 180, Ben worked at The Wexley School For Girls on Microsoft, Product (Red), Amp Energy Drink, Nau, Copper Mountain, People for Puget Sound. If you haven’t seen some of their work, you should check it out. Ben has also done a lot of work that falls outside the bounds of traditional advertising, and involves people in new ways. Which will be perfect for the class he’s teaching, Integrated Advertising.

Drew Stalker, Ad Lab 3
Drew Stalker graduated from the Art Center Ad program in the fall of 2003 and after a short gig as a designer, started working at Chiat\Day in 2005 on brands like Apple, Nissan, Sony Playstation, Pedigree and Harmon International. In 2006, he moved with the rest of the Apple group across the parking lot to the newly formed Media Arts Lab. With MAL, he’s worked on iconic Apple campaigns such as iPod silhouettes, iPhone and iPad. In 2009, he moved across the pond to London to help run the MAL office and grow it from 40 to 150 people. Since his return to LA in 2013, he’s been involved in some really cool stuff. He recently won 3 Lions at Cannes including one gold and last month took home an Emmy for Most Outstanding Commercial of the Year. This is his second teaching stint at Art Center. I couldn’t be happier that he’s back, and I know all of you will be too.

Jamie Reilly, Ad Lab 3
Hired at Chiat\Day in 2003 as the first digital creative on Apple, Jamie worked almost exclusively on that brand for close to nine years, at one time or another running each part of the business. During that time he helped introduce the world to things like iPhone, iPad, AppleTV, MacBook Air, countless iPods, Pixar’s “WALL-E,” the reboot of the iPod silhouettes and Mac vs. PC, Adweek’s “Campaign of the Decade.” He then spent a couple years at 72&Sunny working on Target, Google, and Samsung. Along the way he brought home Cannes Lions, One Show Pencils, and various other shiny goodies to which you all aspire. He joined Kastner & Partners as the Chief Creative Officer in July of 2014. Jamie’s work is smart, fun and contemporary; and I think he and Drew will be perfect to help you get those final killer pieces for your book.

Tom Cordner, Ad Con 3
Last but certainly not least is Tom Cordner. Another Art Center grad, Tom actually joined us two terms ago, but his start fell between our new-teacher emails. I’ve known Tom for a long time, and he’s accomplished a tremendous amount in our business. While he began his career at Chiat and did some great work there, Tom is most well-known for his award-winning work on Lexus. He literally built Team One from scratch for the Saatchi network, and was the writer of the longtime Lexus line, ‘The Relentless Pursuit of Perfection’. Tom is a very strong strategic thinker and one of a very small group of creative directors who can inspire teams to distill an idea down to its essence, and then build a great campaign around it (which is probably why a lot of the work from his class ends up in the gallery).