You pay us and
we'll get you paid.
That big sexy number is the average starting salary for DAD Grads. Try finding that kinda job right out of college with zero industry experience and a below-average creative portfolio.
This is why students come to DAD immediately after graduating college. Portfolio school helps you start your career off at the best agencies in a role you actually love at a salary you really deserve.
Copywriting
Denver Ad School tuition: $27,000
Average starting agency salary: $65,000
5 quarters | 15 months | full-time workload | online or in Denver
Agency copywriters best express their thoughts using words.
They brainstorm lots of ideas with their art direction partners, write a ton of headlines, write scripts for tv commercials and digital videos, craft epic brand manifestos, write website and social post copy, and anything else that involves the act of assembling individual letters into words that are then recognized by other English readers as coherent thoughts. If you have a strong opinion on the Oxford Comma, fly into an unhinged rage when you spot a missplleing, spend your free time on thesaurus.com, think music lyrics are poetry (even Machine Gun Kelly, I guess), can pen the wittiest of prose on Instagram like some sorta social media Shakespeare, and are able to distill large complex thoughts into succinct and impactful messages that people can easily understand and enjoy then you’d probably make a good writer.
They brainstorm lots of ideas with their art direction partners, write a ton of headlines, write scripts for tv commercials and digital videos, craft epic brand manifestos, write website and social post copy, and anything else that involves the act of assembling individual letters into words that are then recognized by other English readers as coherent thoughts. If you have a strong opinion on the Oxford Comma, fly into an unhinged rage when you spot a missplleing, spend your free time on thesaurus.com, think music lyrics are poetry (even Machine Gun Kelly, I guess), can pen the wittiest of prose on Instagram like some sorta social media Shakespeare, and are able to distill large complex thoughts into succinct and impactful messages that people can easily understand and enjoy then you’d probably make a good writer.
Copywriting sometimes feels like...
Stand-up comedy • Philosophy • Songwriting • Being a real estate agent on Million Dollar Listing • Writing for SNL • Directing a movie • Working as a translator • Tweeting all day and getting paid for it
Are you secretly a copywriter?
check the flow
Are you big into music lyrics? There's a certain flow to the words in songs and it doesn't always have to come from a simple rhyme. This can be a sign you're capable of writing in a more unique voice than normal writers, inserting more energy into your words that demand they not be just read but heard and felt.
You, like, really get it
Do you know the meanings behind your favorite songs, writers, or lines of dialogue in a show or movie? Can you discern what the artist is really saying? This is the ability to read between the lines and understand what we call subtext, an underlying theme or message in a piece of writing. This is what good copywriters do – deliver deeper messages through creative advertising.
say it without saying it
It’s one thing to clearly communicate an idea, but copywriters also need to put a clever and creative spin on the thought so it gets noticed and is remembered. Do you write similes that are as hot as hell? Do metaphors flow out of you like a river? Or are allusions your Kryptonite?
write all damn day long
Do you write veritable novels inside birthday cards? Should people take a seat and get comfortable before diving into one of your epic emails? Could you write until your hand falls off at which point you’d just find someone to transcribe your words while you continued relentlessly talking? Spoiler alert – you should be able to write a fuck ton each day if you want to be a copywriter.
always (over)think it through
Do you dive into a subject in search of deeper critical and emotional understanding? Can you imagine people or characters with multiple points of view or motivations? Do you have keen observation and perception skills? What are you writing? Why are you writing it? What is the true purpose? Are all these questions bothering you or are you totally loving this right now?
The copy curriculum.
The Big Idea
Writing for Space
The Craft of Writing
Adobe I – Design
Q1
Q2
Campaign Development
Writing for Tone
Campaign Development
Strategy for Dummies
Adobe II – Layout
Campaign Development
Writing for Screen
Campaign Development
Culture Vulture
Adobe III – FX
Q3
Q4
Campaign Development
Campaign Execution
Campaign Development – Fire Drill
Campaign Execution
Adobe IV – Motion
Campaign Assembly
Getting a Job
The High Art of Selling
Adobe V – Portfolio Prep
Q5
Look like fun? Click below to get more info along with in-depth class descriptions. Or if you can’t wait don’t let us stop ya, go ahead and apply below.
How does
DAD stack up?
If you’ve researched portfolio schools, then you know – they’re expensive as hell and all basically seem the same. Well, until we came along and started shakin’ things up, of course. With our consistently killer portfolios quarter-after-quarter and big agency job placements, why exactly are you paying more at those other schools again?
Denver
Tuition
$27,000
Program Length
5 QTRS
Active & Experienced Teachers
ALL
Breweries Per Capita
10
Big Agency Job Placements
YEP
School Kickball Team
AWWWW YEAH
Full-Time Online Option?
ABSOLUTELY
Weather Situation
BEAUTIFUL
Miami
Tuition
$38,800+
Program Length
8 QTRS
Active & Experienced Teachers
SOME
Breweries Per Capita
2
Big Agency Job Placements
YEP
School Kickball Team
DOUBT IT
Full-Time Online Option?
NOPE
Weather Situation
HUMID
Virginia
Tuition
$55,502+
Program Length
8 QTRS
Active & Experienced Teachers
SOME
Breweries Per Capita
5
Big Agency Job Placements
YEP
School Kickball Team
DOUBT IT
Full-Time Online Option?
NOPE
Weather Situation
SEVERE
Don't forget to check the work.
Choosing between post-grad portfolio schools? We get it, there aren’t a ton of options out there. But if you can’t decide, let the work speak for itself! After all, what better way to judge a portfolio school than by the quality of the portfolios they put out? We’re so confident in ours that we wanted to make it super easy for you to compare, so smash the links below and decide for yourself what kind of standard you want your own portfolio to live up to.
Copywriting Application
