Each quarter our graphic design students are given a handbook detailing what it is they’ll be learning at The Circus. These handbooks are full of useful information, from what each class will entail to helpful advice on the graphic design discipline.

With each new quarter also comes a new handbook cover, and they’re created by none other than our Design Department Head, Ron Moore. Ron has been in charge of creating these covers for almost 10 years now, and the Spring 2013 cover (pictured right) has just debuted.

To celebrate the release of the latest cover, we’ve created a gallery of many of the covers Ron has created in the past. Take a look through the photos, and be sure to congratulate Ron Moore on another job well designed.

Dustin Duke graduated from The Creative Circus back when it was located in a dumpy office park. He got hired as an Art Director and moved to NYC where he has spent the last 15 years.

Dustin is currently a Group Creative Director at Ogilvy and has worked on brands such as American Express, Tribeca Film Festival, Amstel Light, Time Warner Cable, Coca-Cola, and the Environmental Defense Fund.

His work has earned him an Emmy Award for best commercial of the year, as well as two other Emmy nominations. He’s won trophies at Cannes, The One Show, Art Directors Club, London International, and his work is showcased in the permanent collection at the Museum of Modern Art.

Dustin Duke of Ogilvy will take the stage in the Carol Vick Bynum Theatre this Friday, May 17th at 1:30PM. 

The future is in your hands. Give these kids a chance to make you proud.

Our seventh quarter students have taken charge of their future careers with Creative Hearts, a website displaying each of these “in need” creatives that will be graduating in September of this year.

Creative Circus art directors, designers, copywriters, photographers and developers are in need of a good agency home. Have a heart and give them a place to flex their creative muscles, won’t you?

RSVP and see what we’re all about at our Open House on Saturday, June 1st starting at 10:00 am.  Our graduates are the ones who come up with the ideas behind the commercials, the print, the radio spots, the photographs, and the digital experiences you see every day.

Visit us at our lovable warehouse of a school located at 812 Lambert Drive, Atlanta, Georgia.  You’re sure to be blown away by the student work and the energy of our school. Only, we aren’t really like a school. We are more like an advertising agency, an interactive shop or a design firm than anything you might have experienced before.

We’ll load you up with information on our programs of study, how financial aid works, and answer all your burning questions. Plus, it wouldn’t be a visit to The Circus if we didn’t show off what our amazing alumni have done since graduating. Be sure to bring family and friends so they can get to know what a place called The Creative Circus is all about.

Hotel accommodations are included on the RSVP page if needed.

RSVP on Eventbrite now!

Due to circumstances beyond his control, Rob Strasberg will not be able to make it to Circus Forum this Friday. However, we are happy to report that the show will go on! Rob will be sending one of his top creative directors, Prentice Howe, to be our guest speaker at Circus Forum. Get to know a little more about Prentice below:

Prentice came to Doner by way of Austin, Texas where he was SVP and Executive Creative Director of independent ad agency Door Number 3. Prior to Austin he worked in Los Angeles and Dallas, with childhood stints in San Antonio and Massachusetts. He’s a Red Sox fan, a Mexican food enthusiast, a craft beer sponge and the former lead guitarist of a crappy country band you’ve never heard of before. Prentice has a BA in Advertising from Southern Methodist University but would much rather cheer for the Texas Longhorns. While in Austin, he covered SXSW Interactive for Entrepreneur magazine and was a contributing writer for Sports Business Journal on the topic of pro sports marketing. He and his wife, Natalie, have two daughters, Cameron, 4, and Mars, 3. They’re happy to be in Michigan but quite sad about the lack of breakfast tacos.

Circus Forum with Prentice Howe of Doner Agency takes place at 1:30PM in the Carol Vick Bynum Theatre this Friday, May 3. As always, you can follow our live-tweeting of the event starting just before our speaker takes the stage.

Named #3 best place to work by AdAge, TRIS3CT is one of the fastest growing agencies in the U.S. Not to mention, they happen to be big fans of The Creative Circus (and our grads).

Paul Kuzma and Michelle Burgess of TRIS3CT will take the stage in the Carol Vick Bynum Theatre this Friday, April 26^th, at 1:30PM. 

The call for entries for the second annual A+: Student Idea for a Better Atlanta is out, and iris Worldwide has chosen Blondie, an Atlanta legend, as the face of this year’s awards.

In 2012, Elliott Graham, Alex Behles, and Chris Baker were declared the winners of the inaugural A+ awards. The winning concept partnered The Atlanta BeltLine with SweetWater Brewing Company to create the Atlanta BeltLine Brew. The idea was to create a beer connected with two staples of the city, and have portions of each purchase go towards funding for The BeltLine.

Now it’s your turn. The briefs for the 2^nd annual A+ student awards, presented by iris Worldwide,  will be dropped off Friday, April 19^th. Swing by to get one before you head to the theatre for Circus Forum.

Do it for Atlanta. Do it for The Circus. But, most importantly – do it for Blondie.

As another quarter begins, so do the weekly events we call our Circus Forums. Each Friday starting at 1:30p.m., we host creatives from all aspects of the advertising industry. From executive creative directors, to typography experts, to world-famous photographers, each week features an insightful speaker that not only informs everyone on their perspective of the industry, but inspires students.

Below is the most up-to-date schedule for the Spring 2013 Circus Forums. As with every quarter, we’ll live tweet during the event. Simply follow the hashtag #CircusForum.

April 19

Kevin Flatt | SVP Director of Design and Digital

Craig Likhite | Creative Manager, VP

Cramer-Krasselt

April 26

Michelle Burgess | Director of Human Resources

Paul Kuzma | Chief Idea Officer

TRIS3CT

May 3

Prentice Howe | Creative Director

Doner

May 10

The One Show in New York | No Forum

May 17

Dustin Duke | Senior Partner, Group Creative Director

Ogilvy & Mather

May 24

TBA

May 31

Geoff Edwards | Founder, Executive Creative Director

DOJO

June 7

Mike Lear | VP, Creative Director

The Martin Agency

Christo is currently a freelance designer for Sony Entertainment, designing album convers, music packaging, even branding efforts when the need calls for it.

You can see some of Christo’s award-winning work below, and view even more from his portfolio on his website, christowerks.

Pereira & O’Dell currently employs 11 graduates from The Creative Circus, and they’ve all banded together to talk a little about the school via a YouTube video. Aw, you guys. You’re too kind.

Aside from the nice words about our school, the creatives from Pereira & O’Dell offer up their insights on working at Pereira & O’Dell, ideas for making your book really stand out, even some helpful advice on choosing the right agency (following portfolio school of course).

Added bonus: at the 5:21 mark, Creative Circus alums from POD share a few of their (kind?) thoughts on Dan Balser.