Bachelor of Design in Advertising
Toronto, Canada
DURATION
4 Years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
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EARLIEST START DATE
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TUITION FEES
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STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
* The Fall 2019 entry term is still accepting applications until further notice.
Introduction
Advertising
This is Canada’s top advertising program through a combo of classes in graphic design, branding, creative copywriting and career-building skills. More than half of students get offered jobs before they even graduate at Canada’s only four-year university advertising program.
Admissions
Curriculum
In this program, instructors who work in the advertising field will teach you:
- Design
- Storytelling
- Digital
- Copywriting
- Typography
- Layout
- Strategy
- Consumer behaviors and market research
- Art direction
- Film
- User experience
- Public relations
You will learn storytelling from many different points of views. You will be encouraged to challenge tradition and consider different viewpoints and values.
In the fourth year, you’ll work in boot camps with real clients and create real campaigns. In the past, students have worked with McCain Pizza Pockets and Sony PlayStation. This means you can say you’ve sold a creative concept before even finishing school – a huge advantage when you’re looking for a job.
You’ll also benefit from guest speakers from Canada’s biggest ad agencies and have the opportunity to do internships. An acclaimed alum of the program includes many top creative directors in Canada and worldwide, including Elspeth Lynn, Creative Director for Saatchi & Saatchi in London, UK, Wain Choi, Global VP ECD at Cheil Worldwide in Korea and Carlos Moreno, Global Chief Creative Officer for Cossette.
At the end of this four-year program, you will earn a Bachelor of Design degree.
What You’ll Do in the Program
First Year
In the first year, you’ll take intro to advertising courses and a good base of art and design classes including:
- Typography
- Drawing
- Colour and two-dimensional design
- Writing
- Design history
Second Year
In the second year, you’ll learn the advertising strategy and concept. You’ll also take:
- Digital advertising design
- Typography
- Photography
- Your choice of classes in English, social sciences or humanities
Third Year
The third year features your choice of art classes and:
- Advertising concepts
- Advertising research
- Art of persuasion
- Advertising storytelling
- Advertising copywriting
- Retail advertising and user experience
- Your choice of classes in English, social sciences or humanities
Fourth Year
- In the fourth year, you’ll work with real clients in advertising boot camp. You will create real campaigns from scratch and present it to clients such as McCain or Sony. You’ll also work on your thesis project and showcase your work at OCAD U’s GradEx, the biggest free art and design exhibition in Toronto with over 40,000 visitors.
Gallery
Career Opportunities
More than half of the fourth year students have jobs lined up before they even graduate. Many of Canada’s top advertising creatives are graduates of OCAD U’s program.
- Advertising agencies and marketing firms
- In-house marketing for companies
- Digital agencies
- Design companies
- Production and film studios
Co-ops/Internships
OCAD U offers so much more than co-ops because creative careers take many forms. Our approach is specialized and individual to every student’s needs and goals. You will be able to take advantage of:
- Short experiential learning placements from among hundreds of organizations
- Creative in-class projects with real-world industry partners
- Exclusive summer internships
- Gallery exhibitions of your work
- Freelance creative opportunities
- Jobs after graduation
OCAD University’s dedicated support services will help you build a professional community, valuable experience and skills necessary for a meaningful career.