Advertising & Beyond

Willem de Kooning Academy is the only art academy in the Netherlands that offers a major in Advertising.

Study Advertising & Beyond and become a creative pioneer at an advertising agency, design studio, brand or as an independent artist

The speed and complexity of technological, political, social and economic developments strongly influence practices in art, design and communication.
The professional world is looking for young creatives with a multitude of talents and skills, who look beyond the borders of their primary disciplines.
Creatives like you. As creative pioneers, you’re going to shape the future of creativity and what it means to society.

Applied art
The major Advertising transformed recently into the major Advertising & Beyond
It is a four year course at the Willem de Kooning Academy in Rotterdam and is the only one in the Netherlands where advertising is an applied art. Our goal is to broaden the scope of creativity and communication by taking it beyond advertising

Creativity, skill of the future
We believe creativity will be the key that contributes to our future in a positive and meaningful way. And becomes more effective in combination with science, technology, data and research. You develop a strong moral compass; you determine what’s most meaningful to you. You become conscious of the power of your creative talent and how you can apply it to influence society, today and in the future.

The art of influence and persuasion
In the Major Advertising & Beyond you become familiar with the tools of advertising and communication, such as research, conceptual thinking, idea-generation, branding, brand-activism, futurizing, communication-strategy, social media-strategy, hacking, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, target group analysis, visualization, storytelling, design and copywriting. You’ll learn to apply them in your concepts and ideas.

You explore and analyse complex issues with critical thinking and research. This is the starting point for generating ideas, conceptual thinking and designing a solution. You learn the art of influence and persuasion. You learn how to communicate your ideas and concepts and thereby create attention, interest and awareness. You choose the projects you want to work on and develop a professional portfolio.

Cross-Disciplinary Approach
You’ll collaborate in teams with like minded creative spirits. We strongly encourage you to cross-over and collaborate outside your discipline. Team up with technical experts, scientific researchers, medical professionals, interactive designers, data specialists and others. But also, with other disciplines within the academy.
With your creative and conceptual skills, you’ll produce concepts and solutions to move hearts, minds and imaginations. You’ll gain real world experience with real assignments for real clients.

You’ll be pushed to communicate your ideas and concepts to the outside world. They may be produced in video, photography, design or performance. Your concept will dictate the medium.

Career opportunities
You’ll give direction to the professional field in which you graduate by completing an internship, for example at a well-known communication agency, (design) studio, brand, NGO, independent artist, in the Netherlands or abroad.

There are various career opportunities for you. You can become an All-round Creative, Concept developer, Artist, Designer, Art Director, Copywriter, Creative Director, Creative strategist, Content developer… and more. But also futuristic jobs like Augmented Reality Designer, Machine-Learning Designer or a Cybernetic Director.

Cover project: Brands Should Be Friends by Isabelle Griffioen.

 

 

Open Days & Recruitment activities

Want to know more about life at the Willem de Kooning Academy?

Check out our extended programme, full of (online) activities and interaction with student ambassadors and tutors via this link.

 

Knowledge & skills

  • research
  • conceptual thinking
  • idea-generation
  • branding
  • brand-activism
  • communication-strategy
  • social media-strategy
  • hacking
  • artificial intelligence
  • virtual reality
  • target group analysis
  • visualization
  • storytelling
  • design
  • copywriting
  • and more...

Advertising is the greatest art form of the 21st century .

Marshall McLuhan

Career opportunities

  • All-round creative advertiser
  • Designer
  • Concept developer
  • Art director
  • Copywriter
  • Creative strategist
  • Creative digital concepter
  • Creative brand developer
  • Chief creative officer
  • Experience designer
  • Augmented Reality Designer
  • Machine-Learning Designer
  • Cybernetic Director
  • and more...

Next to 13 majors and three Practices WdKA offers its students high-tech meeting interdisciplinary spaces - Stations. Stations are the place for creating prototypes, experimenting, remixing and improving your ideas. All of the Willem de Kooning Academy’s students and staff members are welcome to work in our Stations, regardless of their major specialisation, minor, elective module or study year. The Stations are where you can explore the viability of your ideas and find out how to turn them into fully-functioning creations.

Dual Degree programme

Do you have an artistic or a musical talent, as well as a hunger for academic knowledge? You can now mix arts and academia in metropolitan Rotterdam. Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR), Willem de Kooning Academy (WdKA) and Codarts offer you the possibility to combine theory and practice in a five-year Dual Degree programme.

Want to study at Willem de Kooning Academy?

Apply now

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