Project Information

M.AD School of Ideas

Challenge

How do the best and brightest in the making get brighter?

In 1993, Pippa and Ron Seichrist invented the school they wished they’d gone to. As creative directors themselves, they set out to create a model for learning that brought together creative education and real-world experience with agencies and companies.

M.AD School of Ideas (f.k.a. Miami Ad School) knew it then, and knows it now. The only way to learn how to seek, make, and do is in the act of seeking, making, and doing. It’s solving problems in live briefs with real clients. It’s the meeting of minds, the occasional 5 AM class (hi, Hank Richardson), and the 100 or so sketches you do to discover the threshold where your best work arrives.

With programs in Art Direction, Copywriting, Creative Technology, Design, Photo & Video, Social Strategy, Strategic Planning, and UX Design—M.AD is home to passionate misfits, rookie visionaries, and some of the most awarded alumni on the planet. A global network with 15 schools around the world from Berlin to Buenos Aires.

M.AD, now over 25 years old, was ready to evolve. They invited us to define their brand strategy, and reimagine their mission, their brand, and its expression. Together we sought to embrace their legacy whilst acknowledging education is never static. It must change to respect and anticipate the future. So the talent of tomorrow can find their voices and thrive in the face of fear. Overcoming every daunting blank page to arrive at the ideas that move our world.

Solution

Creativity belongs to all of us.

It’s wired innately into the functioning of every human brain. But to wield and master it is a process that can only be honed over time with persistence. The best people to learn from, when you’re tapping into your innate creative force, are those who’ve discovered how to command theirs. The teachers who send the elevator back down, challenge your spirit, and spur you on to follow your path.

In developing our strategy, we recognized M.AD School of Ideas as a place where this resilience of imagination flourishes. Where the lifelong, never-settling journey of finding and expressing your voice is set in motion.

M.AD cultivates unconventional minds.

To bring this idea to life, we created the M.AD / M-dot mark. The “M”: a fluid form constantly changing and recreating itself. And the “dot”: an always present, steadfast counterpoint. Never without each other—they reflect the dance of the process. The tensions in constant dialogue with each other. Be it the interplay between passion and discipline. Wild optimism and unwavering rigor. The audacious thinking that transcends limits and the remarkable craft you need to make it real.

To support the new mark, we developed a color strategy that builds upon the vibrant pink M.AD is recognized for. Like plastic flamingos or a beachside sunset, our primary pink is true to their Miami roots.

Team

  • Zuzanna Rogatty
  • Niamh Walsh
  • Tomas Markevicius
  • Aran Quinn
  • Eric Park
  • Christine Takaichi
  • Dashiell Alison
  • Madeleine Carrucan
  • TJ Dumser
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  • M.AD School of Ideas
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  • Pippa Seichrist
  • Hank Richardson
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  • Photography
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  • Mari Juliano
  • Theo Livaudais
  • Kristine Lim
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