BFA Advertising
New York City is the advertising capital of the world, so it should come as no surprise that our program attracts the finest students and draws faculty from the best of the industry—and they've won the awards to prove it.
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More About the Department
In BFA Advertising, master art direction, branding, integrated advertising, digital production, and critical and strategic thinking while learning typography, motion design, interaction design, graphic design, and a conceptual approach toward problem-solving. We broaden your visual literacy and sharpen your voice.
Just as important, you benefit from our strong ties to the professional world. Many of SVA’s advertising classes are held at faculty members’ agencies, where students can mingle with executives, media planners, and copywriters. Our students complete internships during their junior and senior years, providing further opportunities to create industry connections.
Internships and Careers
Industry connections find you at SVA, with faculty often hiring talented students straight from the classroom to intern at their agencies, and graduates enlisting former classmates for professional projects. Networking is invaluable, and much easier when there’s a career network all around you.
Our students have recently interned and/or secured full-time positions at The Walt Disney Company, Walmart, Google, Wasserman, Zeno Group, and Aurate, and renowned design and advertising agencies including McCann, Ogilvy, Wieden + Kennedy, FCB NY, Dentsu Creative, Outfront Media, Mojo Supermarket, ZAK NY, Chermayeff & Geismar & Haviv, GUT, Mischief, DAVID Miami, Digitas Health, and VIRTUE Worldwide.
Internships are also available right here on campus, within BFA Advertising and at the college’s in-house design studio, Visual Arts Press.
Jungmin Kim (BFA 2024 Advertising) served as junior art director on the team at Mojo Supermarket that created the award-winning Pinterest Predicts campaign, which garnered over 1.2 billion media impressions.
During her time as an Art Director at The Walt Disney Company, Anna Heath (BFA 2022 in Advertising) and team produced the "That's My Magic" annual passholder campaign.
Hyereen Nam (BFA 2024 Advertising) art directed this campaign for Ziploc, encouraging households to reduce food waste.
Prakriti Negi (BFA 2025 Advertising) interned at Aurate, where she assisted with the brand's collaboration with sporting equipment company Wilson.
Jungmin Kim (BFA 2024 Advertising) served as junior art director on the team at Mojo Supermarket that created the award-winning Pinterest Predicts campaign, which garnered over 1.2 billion media impressions.
During her time as an Art Director at The Walt Disney Company, Anna Heath (BFA 2022 in Advertising) and team produced the "That's My Magic" annual passholder campaign.
Hyereen Nam (BFA 2024 Advertising) art directed this campaign for Ziploc, encouraging households to reduce food waste.
Prakriti Negi (BFA 2025 Advertising) interned at Aurate, where she assisted with the brand's collaboration with sporting equipment company Wilson.
Ad Lab Student-Led Agency
Classes are regularly held at instructors’ agency offices, where you’ll work with real clients from environmental nonprofits to tech startups as part of SVA’s own student ad agency. All seniors take the Advertising Agency Portfolio course, home of the Ad Lab, where they gain firsthand experience crafting impactful campaigns to graduate with actual client work already in their portfolios.
Recent campaigns include promotional assets, a brand-new logo, and the launch strategy for the go-to-market launch of the fashion sustainability and AI startup GoodFit, as well as a food waste campaign for the global non-profit WildAid in partnership with the James Beard Foundation, which was displayed on billboards across major U.S. cities. Stay tuned for more on our in-progress collab with PRINT!
Select students participate in BFA Design collaborations as well, such as the recent partnership with the NASA Office of STEM Engagement to design posters promoting the upcoming Artemis II mission (check out the coverage on NY1 News!), and the collaboration with Disney on Broadway for a theater display to celebrate The Lion King musical's 25th anniversary.
BFA Advertising seniors present their initial concepts to an Ad Lab client at the Johannes Leonardo’s agency headquarters during class.
One of three real ads fighting food waste, featuring students and staff, that were created as part of the Ad Lab's collaboration with notable nonprofits WildAid and the James Beard Foundation. The campaign graced billboards and bus shelters across New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and other major cities.
BFA Advertising students and staff find their places for the James Beard Foundation photoshoot as part of the Ad Lab’s collaboration with WildAid.
An Ad Lab x WildAid ad featuring staff and students is displayed at an NYC bus stop near campus.
BFA Advertising seniors around a conference table at Johannes Leonardo’s agency headquarters to present their final pitch to the fashion sustainability tech startup, GoodFit.
A sample of logo explorations designed in the Ad Lab that led to client GoodFit’s new logo.
BFA Advertising seniors present their initial concepts to an Ad Lab client at the Johannes Leonardo’s agency headquarters during class.
One of three real ads fighting food waste, featuring students and staff, that were created as part of the Ad Lab's collaboration with notable nonprofits WildAid and the James Beard Foundation. The campaign graced billboards and bus shelters across New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and other major cities.
BFA Advertising students and staff find their places for the James Beard Foundation photoshoot as part of the Ad Lab’s collaboration with WildAid.
An Ad Lab x WildAid ad featuring staff and students is displayed at an NYC bus stop near campus.
BFA Advertising seniors around a conference table at Johannes Leonardo’s agency headquarters to present their final pitch to the fashion sustainability tech startup, GoodFit.
A sample of logo explorations designed in the Ad Lab that led to client GoodFit’s new logo.
BFA Advertising seniors present their initial concepts to an Ad Lab client at the Johannes Leonardo’s agency headquarters during class.
Emerging Media and Technology
Advertising is more limitless than ever, with activations using interactive technology, social media, and immersive experiences to blur the line between brands and entertainment, engaging audiences in exciting new ways.
Thanks to a curriculum that evolves at the speed of innovation, you’ll learn to integrate industry trends and cutting-edge technologies such as game design, creative coding, generative design, augmented/virtual reality, and AI workflows with foundational technology like motion graphics, interaction design, branding, and more. Manipulate images with sound and camera inputs, throw on a headset to collaborate with your peers in the metaverse, or design a touchscreen dining table; the possibilities are only as limited as your imagination.
A proud student poses with their first-place winning Hackathon project on the opening night of the 2025 spring gallery exhibition.
At the 2025 student gallery exhibition, a student guest plays hands-on levels created by their peers in the Game Design course.
A Hackathon team presents their winning smart helmet concept for an audience of peers and industry judges.
A t-shirt that uses a microcircuit and conductive thread to introduce the wearer with just a tap was one of the star projects from the intro to physical computing workshop.
Guests were immersed in student projects after suiting up in a VR headset during the Emerging Media Showcase at the SVA Theatre.
During a generative design workshop, faculty member Armon Naeini demonstrates how to interact with the powerful tool TouchDesigner using webcam and audio inputs.
A proud student poses with their first-place winning Hackathon project on the opening night of the 2025 spring gallery exhibition.
At the 2025 student gallery exhibition, a student guest plays hands-on levels created by their peers in the Game Design course.
A Hackathon team presents their winning smart helmet concept for an audience of peers and industry judges.
A t-shirt that uses a microcircuit and conductive thread to introduce the wearer with just a tap was one of the star projects from the intro to physical computing workshop.
Guests were immersed in student projects after suiting up in a VR headset during the Emerging Media Showcase at the SVA Theatre.
During a generative design workshop, faculty member Armon Naeini demonstrates how to interact with the powerful tool TouchDesigner using webcam and audio inputs.
A proud student poses with their first-place winning Hackathon project on the opening night of the 2025 spring gallery exhibition.
Wilde Fabrication Lab and Digital Imaging Center (DIC)
Named after founding chair Richard Wilde, the Wilde Lab fabrication studio is packed with the latest tools and technology to transform digital ideas into physical reality. Branded packaging, product prototypes, zines, stickers, and merch: all of these and more come to life thanks to multicolor 3D printers, an embroidery machine, a direct-to-surface UV printer, a plotter/cutter, a portable printer, and laser cutting and etching.
Looking for more? Our DIC (Digital Imaging Center) offers a fully equipped photography studio, large-scale printing, bookbinding, Risograph printing, and state-of-the-art smart classrooms for experimentation with programs such as the generative design tool TouchDesigner and the powerful 2D animation software Cavalry.
A student's Risograph-printed currency concept designed for the gaming economy.
A mini SVA campus building, 3D printed in the Wilde Lab! Look for these at SVA events across the country.
Wilde Lab Manager Cory Einbinder working with students to plan their next project.
The Wilde Lab's multicolor 3D printers, allowing students to 3D print with dozens of colors of filament at the same time.
Zhuonan Xu’s packaging design project was made in the Wilde Lab and photographed in the DIC's pro-grade photo studio.
Students can bring their ideas to life in a variety of sizes, colors, and textures, like using layers of UV ink to create textured type on holographic paper.
A student's Risograph-printed currency concept designed for the gaming economy.
A mini SVA campus building, 3D printed in the Wilde Lab! Look for these at SVA events across the country.
Wilde Lab Manager Cory Einbinder working with students to plan their next project.
The Wilde Lab's multicolor 3D printers, allowing students to 3D print with dozens of colors of filament at the same time.
Zhuonan Xu’s packaging design project was made in the Wilde Lab and photographed in the DIC's pro-grade photo studio.
Students can bring their ideas to life in a variety of sizes, colors, and textures, like using layers of UV ink to create textured type on holographic paper.
A student's Risograph-printed currency concept designed for the gaming economy.
Intensive Workshops and Design Hackathons
Test drive new skills and topics in just a few intensive sessions with rotating workshops on trending topics taught by professional guests, with different workshops offered each semester. Past topics include data-driven marketing, advertising pitch decks and promo videos, advanced Figma, physical computing, game design, code for interactive webpages, generative design, illustrative lettering, and more.
In just 24 hours, add a project to your portfolio, experience to your résumé, and network with pros from top firms. During our weekend hackathons, student teams respond to design briefs on climate change, communication challenges, and social issues to prototype solutions using cutting-edge technology. Teams receive mentorship and feedback from industry professionals—with past judges from Microsoft, Google, Meta, Verizon, and Instagram—and strengthen vital teamwork skills that enable them to succeed in agencies and studios of all sizes.
In the Interactive Web workshop led by a software engineer from Square, students learned essential coding languages HTML and CSS and used the open-source JavaScript library p5.js to create custom web pages with interactive graphics and animations.
Students during a workshop at The Pekoe Group marketing agency in the heart of Times Square with President Amanda Pekoe, exploring the ins and outs of marketing and advertising for Broadway.
A team presents their AI-powered app concept to industry judges at the Design and AI Hackathon Pitch-Off.
The fan-favorite Hand Lettering for Signs workshop with instructor Travis Simon has students practice their hand-painted letters.
A student confidently presents his team’s project on the big screen at a recent hackathon.
Whoa, glitchy! This sample from the generative design workshop shows how nodes function in the software TouchDesigner to manipulate camera inputs.
In the Interactive Web workshop led by a software engineer from Square, students learned essential coding languages HTML and CSS and used the open-source JavaScript library p5.js to create custom web pages with interactive graphics and animations.
Students during a workshop at The Pekoe Group marketing agency in the heart of Times Square with President Amanda Pekoe, exploring the ins and outs of marketing and advertising for Broadway.
A team presents their AI-powered app concept to industry judges at the Design and AI Hackathon Pitch-Off.
The fan-favorite Hand Lettering for Signs workshop with instructor Travis Simon has students practice their hand-painted letters.
A student confidently presents his team’s project on the big screen at a recent hackathon.
Whoa, glitchy! This sample from the generative design workshop shows how nodes function in the software TouchDesigner to manipulate camera inputs.
In the Interactive Web workshop led by a software engineer from Square, students learned essential coding languages HTML and CSS and used the open-source JavaScript library p5.js to create custom web pages with interactive graphics and animations.
Expert Faculty and Guest Lecturers
When our instructors aren't teaching, you can find them at Google, Pentagram, HBO, Amazon, Penguin Random House, Madison Square Garden, Hearst, COLLINS, AKQA, Shopify, Horizon Sports, Zoom, 72andSunny, and Jones Knowles Ritchie, to name a few. All faculty work in the industry, bringing up-to-the-minute field knowledge and network connections straight into the classroom.
Our distinguished faculty have been awarded by every major advertising competition, from the Emmy Awards, Cannes Lions, Clios, and One Show, to ADDYs, Webby Awards, and D&AD, as well as five Cooper Hewitt Design Award recipients and four AIGA Lifetime Achievement medalists among them. These are authorities in the field who have shaped advertising and design as we know it today.
Our An Evening With lecture series hosts design and advertising professionals at the top of their field (think Paula Scher and Natasha Jen from Pentagram, Leo Porto from PORTO ROCHA, Bill Oberlander from OBERLAND, and Debra Bishop from The New York Times) for exclusive discussions on industry insider tips, the creative process, and pathways to professional success.
Instructors often bring their classes for an insider glimpse at the offices of prestigious companies where they work or have connections, such as this class visit to Nickelodeon.
BFA Advertising instructor Chris Lane takes his class on a visit to Madison Square Garden, where he serves as Associate Creative Director.
BFA Advertising instructor Jay Marsen (left) moderates a discussion with advertising mogul Bill Oberlander about purpose-driven advertising for social change.
Faculty member and Executive Creative Director of Sunday Afternoon, Rich Tu, unveils his design for the 2026 FIFA World Cup poster.
Pentagram partner Natasha Jen presents an exclusive look into her team's Reddit rebrand at an Evening With event.
PORTO ROCHA co-founder and BFA Design alumnus Leo Porto discusses previous work for NIKE Run during his Evening With event.
Instructor Nathalie Kirsheh, former Creative Director of the Allure and Glamour brands, teaching her course on graphic design for fashion brands.
Founder of Cotton Design Talia Cotton gave an exclusive talk to students about starting a successful creative business and integrating coding with branding.
Instructors often bring their classes for an insider glimpse at the offices of prestigious companies where they work or have connections, such as this class visit to Nickelodeon.
BFA Advertising instructor Chris Lane takes his class on a visit to Madison Square Garden, where he serves as Associate Creative Director.
BFA Advertising instructor Jay Marsen (left) moderates a discussion with advertising mogul Bill Oberlander about purpose-driven advertising for social change.
Faculty member and Executive Creative Director of Sunday Afternoon, Rich Tu, unveils his design for the 2026 FIFA World Cup poster.
Pentagram partner Natasha Jen presents an exclusive look into her team's Reddit rebrand at an Evening With event.
PORTO ROCHA co-founder and BFA Design alumnus Leo Porto discusses previous work for NIKE Run during his Evening With event.
Instructor Nathalie Kirsheh, former Creative Director of the Allure and Glamour brands, teaching her course on graphic design for fashion brands.
Founder of Cotton Design Talia Cotton gave an exclusive talk to students about starting a successful creative business and integrating coding with branding.
Instructors often bring their classes for an insider glimpse at the offices of prestigious companies where they work or have connections, such as this class visit to Nickelodeon.
Competitions and Awards
SVA has consistently ranked among the top advertising and design schools in the world, thanks in large part to our award-winning students, who earned nearly 500 awards and recognitions just this year. You create the great work, and we’ll make sure it’s entered in award shows across the globe; department staff enter projects on behalf of students into major advertising competitions like Young Ones, the Webby Awards, the ANDYs, the Clios, the ADDYs, and D&AD.
Hiring managers aren't the only ones who'll be impressed; award wins look great on applications for visas, fellowships, and master's programs, too.
Students and faculty member Joe Newton on stage at the Young Ones award ceremony, accepting their TDC award for the 2024 SVA Yearbook.
BFA Advertising student Yena Hong with a trophy in each hand at the 2025 Clio Awards ceremony.
BFA Advertising graduates Cecilia Mol and Seongyun Park hold a prestigious One Show silver pencil for their winning project, Vaseline Assistant Referee, at the 2025 Young Ones award ceremony.
BFA Advertising student Ethan Cha with his bronze and silver One Show pencils at the 2025 Young Ones award ceremony.
Jungmin Kim (BFA 2024 Advertising) with her two bronze One Show pencils at the 2024 Young Ones award ceremony.
BFA Advertising student Yena Hong poses with her coveted ADC bronze cube and One Show bronze pencil at the 2025 Young Ones award ceremony.
Students and faculty member Joe Newton on stage at the Young Ones award ceremony, accepting their TDC award for the 2024 SVA Yearbook.
BFA Advertising student Yena Hong with a trophy in each hand at the 2025 Clio Awards ceremony.
BFA Advertising graduates Cecilia Mol and Seongyun Park hold a prestigious One Show silver pencil for their winning project, Vaseline Assistant Referee, at the 2025 Young Ones award ceremony.
BFA Advertising student Ethan Cha with his bronze and silver One Show pencils at the 2025 Young Ones award ceremony.
Jungmin Kim (BFA 2024 Advertising) with her two bronze One Show pencils at the 2024 Young Ones award ceremony.
BFA Advertising student Yena Hong poses with her coveted ADC bronze cube and One Show bronze pencil at the 2025 Young Ones award ceremony.
Students and faculty member Joe Newton on stage at the Young Ones award ceremony, accepting their TDC award for the 2024 SVA Yearbook.
Career Preparation and Industry Day
At the SVA-only senior networking marathon each May, hundreds of creative directors, hiring recruiters, and industry professionals critique graduating students' portfolios, forge connections, and even find their newest hire (it's where 72andSunny discovered their recent intern). Last year’s all-day event hosted over 300 industry guests from Verizon, IBM, Instagram, Rockstar Games, ESPN, Morgan Stanley, Tiffany & Co., Penguin Random House, COLLINS, Red Antler, Koto, BUCK, and more.
There’s plenty of behind-the-scenes support to get you ready for the big day, including sophomore and junior year portfolio reviews. All seniors take Intellectual Property and Copyright Law, learning how to draft contracts, avoid copyright infringement, and register trademarks, design patents, and copyrights, and Real World 101, where you’ll learn to present yourself and your work, and to navigate the exciting “real world” waiting just after graduation.
Industry Day guests peruse the digital displays and printed materials of seniors ready to forge professional connections.
At Industry Day, meet one-on-one with hundreds of members of the creative community and show off your work while practicing your interview skills.
Industry Day is a great chance to support and celebrate with your fellow seniors before graduation.
Students and industry guests exchange handshakes, contact info, and professional wisdom at the annual Industry Day networking marathon.
You're never too young to start hiring your first creative directors!
Industry Day isn't just networking and portfolio reviews; there are snacks, too!
Thanks to the senior-level Real World 101 course, grads are more than ready to present themselves and their work with skill and confidence.
Industry Day guests peruse the digital displays and printed materials of seniors ready to forge professional connections.
At Industry Day, meet one-on-one with hundreds of members of the creative community and show off your work while practicing your interview skills.
Industry Day is a great chance to support and celebrate with your fellow seniors before graduation.
Students and industry guests exchange handshakes, contact info, and professional wisdom at the annual Industry Day networking marathon.
You're never too young to start hiring your first creative directors!
Industry Day isn't just networking and portfolio reviews; there are snacks, too!
Thanks to the senior-level Real World 101 course, grads are more than ready to present themselves and their work with skill and confidence.
Industry Day guests peruse the digital displays and printed materials of seniors ready to forge professional connections.
Public Exhibitions
Of course, creativity is at its best when seen and experienced in the real world! Our students exhibit at world-class professional venues, including Rockefeller Plaza, SVA Theatre, along Madison Avenue, and in SVA’s Gramercy Gallery, where Spectrum NY1 News recently interviewed our students about a poster collaboration with NASA.
Each spring, students have the opportunity to showcase their work to a larger audience and impress crowds with playable, student-designed video games, interactive stations where hand gestures control coded interfaces, AR-activated posters, and large-scale 3D-fabricated works.
For the tech-minded, EMERGE at the SVA Theatre is our yearly showcase of emerging media, with a special feature for our students' innovative advertising work. A panel of leaders in cutting-edge tech starts the night with a state-of-the-industry talk before student work graces the same big screen that hosts events for the iconic Tribeca Film Festival.
Expert panelists discuss design and emerging technology at EMERGE before the screening of cutting-edge student work.
Guests at the opening reception of the annual spring gallery show admire a screen of rotating student advertising work.
Elyza Nachimson (BFA 2024 Advertising) and her manhole cover design for the SVA x The Lion King display in Broadway's Minskoff Theater.
A student smiles for a photo as her work plays on a screen at the annual spring gallery exhibition.
See your name in lights at the SVA Theatre, shown here during the annual student Emerging Media Showcase.
A wall in the Gramercy Gallery introduces the poster exhibition for the BFA Advertising, BFA Design, and BFA Illustration collaboration with NASA.
Attendees of the annual spring gallery show could watch sophomore posters come to life thanks to augmented reality technology.
Expert panelists discuss design and emerging technology at EMERGE before the screening of cutting-edge student work.
Guests at the opening reception of the annual spring gallery show admire a screen of rotating student advertising work.
Elyza Nachimson (BFA 2024 Advertising) and her manhole cover design for the SVA x The Lion King display in Broadway's Minskoff Theater.
A student smiles for a photo as her work plays on a screen at the annual spring gallery exhibition.
See your name in lights at the SVA Theatre, shown here during the annual student Emerging Media Showcase.
A wall in the Gramercy Gallery introduces the poster exhibition for the BFA Advertising, BFA Design, and BFA Illustration collaboration with NASA.
Attendees of the annual spring gallery show could watch sophomore posters come to life thanks to augmented reality technology.
Expert panelists discuss design and emerging technology at EMERGE before the screening of cutting-edge student work.
Scholarships
All students are automatically eligible for merit-based scholarships from the department, no additional applications required! Awards just for BFA Advertising students including the Richard Wilde Award Fund, the Thomas J. Carnevali Jr Memorial Award, the Jerry Ashkinos Scholarship, and the Ken & Ruth Deardoff Scholarships.
The SVA Alumni Society, the Visual Arts Foundation, AIGA, The One Club for Creativity, and other creative organizations offer scholarships for advertising and design students, too.
Community, Leadership, and Student Podcast
Our student representative strives to create a sense of community while further connecting students with their program staff, planning parties, movie nights, and co-working sessions so students feel right at home in the Big Apple.
Connect more deeply with other students, faculty, and alumni through the Before & After podcast, where student hosts develop their on-air skills by interviewing peers and industry professionals alike, and through SVA’s award-winning yearbook, where students work in a mini editorial design lab led by the Executive Director of the TDC to create custom typefaces and layouts.
Be a part of the larger SVA community as a student government leader with VASA, a member of one of our many campus clubs, a contributor to the Visual Opinion magazine, or a DJ for the WSVA radio station.
The bubblegum-pink cover of the 2025 student-designed SVA yearbook.
Trivia nights, themed parties, all-night coworking jams; we’ll keep you busy when schoolwork isn’t!
A WSVA student DJ spinning jams during a takeover of the One Club for Creativity headquarters.
Sasha Baker (BFA 2025 Design) interviews alumnus Shantanu Sharma (BFA 2021 Design) for Before & After, the student-led design and advertising podcast.
A tense round of jumbo Jenga that could come crashing down at any second.
Popeye's catering at a student party, yum!
A spread from the student-designed 2025 SVA Yearbook featuring a custom Spotify playlist.
Even the faculty gets a chance to have some fun! An instructor wins a raffled poster at our annual Faculty Appreciation Mixer.
The bubblegum-pink cover of the 2025 student-designed SVA yearbook.
Trivia nights, themed parties, all-night coworking jams; we’ll keep you busy when schoolwork isn’t!
A WSVA student DJ spinning jams during a takeover of the One Club for Creativity headquarters.
Sasha Baker (BFA 2025 Design) interviews alumnus Shantanu Sharma (BFA 2021 Design) for Before & After, the student-led design and advertising podcast.
A tense round of jumbo Jenga that could come crashing down at any second.
Popeye's catering at a student party, yum!
A spread from the student-designed 2025 SVA Yearbook featuring a custom Spotify playlist.
Even the faculty gets a chance to have some fun! An instructor wins a raffled poster at our annual Faculty Appreciation Mixer.
The bubblegum-pink cover of the 2025 student-designed SVA yearbook.
New York, NY 10010
