STUDENTS
First Year Student Bios
Anthony Cleave
Tony holds an honour’s degree in Art & Art History from the University of Toronto. He also completed a diploma in Fine Art from Sheridan College. Subsequently, Tony completed a post graduate diploma in computer graphics from Sheridan College. Tony is a founding partner and Creative Director of 4stroke. The studio is guided by one principle – to help its clients solve their branding challenges with creative, visual solutions. It features the expertise of a talented, dedicated, creative collective. From 1996 – 2004, Tony sat on the board of directors of the Broadcast Designers’ Association, in Los Angeles. The BDA is an international association dedicated to design excellence worldwide. Tony has lectured on the creative process at various industry events in Rome, Los Angeles and New York. Tony currently teaches design part time in Centennial College’s Digital Animation Program.
Kirstin Hammerberg
As an account executive at a boutique advertising agency in London Ontario, Kirstin has a diverse skill set that ranges from client management to strategy development. She became interested in advertising and design after her experience working in the fashion industry in Toronto, Ontario. Kirstin graduated from a specialist honours program in Visual Culture and Communications from the University of Toronto and has been working in the advertising industry ever since. As an account leader Kirstin has had the opportunity to hone her creative energy through the execution of national campaigns and integrated promotions. She thrives on staying relevant within the industry’s changing landscape, searching for innovative solutions for her clients and their brands.
Alex Stirling
Alex Stirling has been teaching Screenwriting for the past 11 years at Ryerson University in the Continuing Education Department. Additionally, he has taught Creative Commercial Production at Ryerson, and Advertising Copywriting and Layout coursesat Sheridan College, and Humber College as well. Prior to teaching, Alex worked as an Associate Creative Director at various ad agencies in Canada and the U.S., and also had his own creative consulting company here in Toronto.
Pamela Teh
Pamela Teh graduated from York University in 2003 with an Honours B.A. in Mass Communications and Political Science. Since then she has worked in the online world, most notably with Starwood Hotels and Resorts as a Marketing Manager for the past 5 years. Her expertise is in strategy, design, project and brand management. Besides marketing, Pamela is a skilled video editor who has worked on documentary projects including one for PBS in Seattle. Her skills in this genre were gained at Seneca College from where she holds a diploma in Broadcast Journalism. In her spare time Pamela designs jewelry and enjoys salsa dancing, ballet and beach volleyball.
Corey Tucker
Corey earned his degree in Graphic Design from Mohawk College and pursued his interest in Marketing at Wilfred Laurier University. As Art Director, he has led teams and developed branding and global advertising campaigns for multi- national corporations such as Cisco Systems and Corel Corporation. In 2005, he founded Ten-four Media, a creative firm with clients that include: Scotia- bank, Astral Media, Corus Entertainment, Journalists for Human Rights, Dubai International Film Festival and Sharpie. Last year, while continuing to run Ten- four Media, he pursued his love of fitness by opening a co-ed sports and social league for young professionals in Waterloo’s high-tech region. At OCAD, Corey is looking forward to working in a team setting with other creative thinkers. He is motivated to apply the knowledge he gains in the EMDes program to develop ground-breaking campaigns for social causes, non-profit agencies and clients alike.
Second Year Student Bios
Kristin Alt
Kristin Alt is a concepter, art director, and occasional copywriter at Extra Credit projects (ECP), an agency known for its non-traditional and guerrilla tactics, Kristin works on a team that has created numerous award-winning campaigns for both local and national clients that included print, web, in store, outdoor, non-traditional, radio, and television. But it wasn’t the Obie’s, the Addy’s, or any other hopes of recognition that drew Kristin to advertising… it was a 1997 beer commercial. As a young teen she first saw the Miller Lite® “Twist to Open”, and was immediately hooked on the power and creative simplicity that infuses the advertising industry. Choosing Kalamazoo College for her undergraduate degree in art and psychology, Kristin took in a wide array of experiences from study abroad in Madrid, Spain, to interning at Federated Merchandising Group in New York City, to completing a gallery installation for her Senior Individualized Project. During this time, Kristin also worked at Adams Outdoor Advertising where she concepted and designed billboards and commercial signs. Upon graduation, Kristin accepted a job at Kalamazoo College coordinating an outdoor adventure program and serving as the in-house designer at the L. Lee Stryker Center. She also taught a graphic design course for entrepreneurs and small business owners through the Small Business and Technology Development Center. While working at the Stryker Center, Kristin enrolled in the Polishing Center – a portfolio school in Grand Rapids, Michigan. A newly polished book helped Kristin land a job at ECP, where she continues to seek opportunities to build her skills. In 2007 she participated in an intensive week-long graphic design workshop with Milton Glaser in New York, and this year is looking forward to starting graduate school at the Ontario College of Art and Design. Upon obtaining this degree, Kristin hopes to move toward becoming a creative director and plans to eventually teach advertising classes at the college level.
Leanne Bodnar
Leanne completed her undergraduate degree in Economics at the University of Western Ontario. Upon graduation, Leanne was recruited by a leading international tourism-related market research consultancy firm to collaborate on the design, planning, execution and analysis of consumer research studies on behalf of government and corporate clients. As a Marketing Research Analyst, Leanne takes pride in managing and analysing advertising research projects at Longwoods. In particular, she has been responsible for Ad Trac, a study that monitors clients attitudes and opinions surrounding the advertising/communications industry, as well as various Ad Accountability projects for a diverse range of tourism clients. Before joining Longwoods in 2006, Leanne worked on an internship program based in Chicago where her team was in charge of developing and implementing a marketing plan for one of Spin Masters latest children's toy. Leanne’s focus was to generate various tactics that created awareness and generated buzz around the launch of TENGAMO. Leanne has always taken an interest in economics and psychology and has a passion for determining the underlining nature of consumer motivations and the influence of marketing and advertising on purchase behaviour.
Natalie Cunningham
Natalie Cunningham is Director, Marketing for TELETOON Canada inc., the country's first and only 24-hour animation station, with English and French language networks. In this role, Natalie leads the TELETOON advertising and research department in planning and implementing national marketing campaigns. She specializes in leveraging the TELETOON brand — to connect with the network’s three distinct audiences for: TELETOON, TELETOON Detour and TELETOON Retro. Natalie joined TELETOON in October 2003, and has been a part of the brand management team responsible for the 2007 rebrand of TELETOON. Natalie has also been a key contributor to the success of the award-winning advertising department whose achievements include a Marketing Innovation Award (MIA) for the development of the TELETOON trading cards in 2005. Natalie’s experience is rich — previously as Director of Marketing at PrideVision TV, and as the co-founder and partner of mc2 and team inc., she worked with a diverse list of clients including: Skate Canada, WIFT-T (Women in Film and Television-Toronto) and Casino Windsor. Natalie’s passion for design was ignited when she first graduated from Queen’s University and found herself part of the stage design team for Prince’s 1997 Surprise Tour here in Toronto and Montreal.
Caleb Goodman
Group Account Director
TAXI 2
Joe Mussico
Joe began his advertising career in 1997 as a writer at TBWA/Chiat/Day. After cutting his copywriting teeth on clients including Nissan, Panasonic, TD Bank and Moosehead, he eventually moved to Bensimon Byrne where he spent his sophomore years creating ads for Molson, the CFL and the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation. In 2003, Joe joined Maclaren McCann to work on the GM, Xbox, Coca-Cola, and Tylenol accounts. After a brief stopover at Grip Limited in 2005, Joe returned to Bensimon Byrne where he is currently Associate Creative Director on Hyundai. Joe’s advertising work has been recognized by Communication Arts, the London International Advertising Awards, New York Festivals, Shots, Marketing, the Bessies, the Clios, Applied Arts, and the Ad and Design Club of Canada. Joe holds an Honours B.A. in French and Political Science from King’s College at the University of Western Ontario, and is an alumnus of Humber’s postgraduate Copywriting program. An amateur oenophile, Joe lives in Toronto with his wife and two toddlers. When not working or spending time with his family, he tries in vain to catch up on sleep. He remains confident that it will happen one of these days.
Fady Sbeih
1993 was a busy year for me. I graduated from Notre Dame University in Lebanon, won my first pitch while working part time at a small typesetting and design house, and accepted an offer to work outside of my country. 1994 saw me return to Lebanon where I accepted a Junior Art Director’s position at a young start-up advertising agency named Sharp Pencil. During the eight and a half years that followed, I continued to gain insight into the world of advertising, strived to meet tight deadlines, and fought hard for new business. Four years later, Sharp Pencil became Euro RSCG Sharp Pencil (ERSP) and I got my 3rd promotion to Senior Art Director. By the time I left ERSP to join BBDO, I had advanced to Creative Director. While at ERSP, I was successful in winning all but one of the 14 accounts the agency pitched for, won numerous national awards and was a 3-time finalist at the London International Advertising Awards. I also attended many training sessions within the network, mainly at Euro RSCG Worldwide in London and Euro RSCG BETC in Paris. In 2002, I joined BBDO-Kuwait as Creative Director, adding a whole new dimension to my list of responsibilities. I was now heading a team of 19 talented multinationals (4 times larger than the creative department at ERSP), some with more than 25 years of experience. I was also engaging in accounts that were considerably larger than any I had previously worked on. My first 3 months in Kuwait were the most challenging. Aside from the nightly sirens announcing possible visits from Iraqi missiles, I was adapting to a totally new culture; a market with many variables and new rules dictated by a combination of the industry, religion and society. During my two years at BBDO, I succeeded in growing our clients’ businesses and market awareness (3 different campaigns for 3 different clients had the highest consumer recall and best ROI), and increased the creative department’s efficiency (less overtime, less mistakes and better creative output). After two years with BBDO, I decided to open up my own shop along with two partners. We bought a small and unknown in-house studio called 360º and turned it into a hot design boutique. In less than 2 years, we were able to establish 360º as the best magazine and corporate identity design studio in Kuwait. We designed more than ten corporate identities and four new magazines. In 2006, I was enticed by an offer I could not refuse: to join Ogilvy in one of the largest markets in the Gulf, KSA. I had a wonderful year at Ogilvy, and if it wasn’t for my decision to come and rebalance my life here in Canada, I could have easily spent a lifetime there. Today, the four goals I set for myself here in Canada are being realized: family, education, volunteering and, of course, my career. Next on the agenda: fulfill my dream of creating an agency without a fixed address.
Ann Urban
For as long as I can remember, Advertising has been my passion. In high school, when others aspired to perform in plays and go to dances, I just wanted to do the ads. I headed up the school’s advertising department, and created all the publicity pieces for school events. In my late teens I gave a more formal shape to my passion and enrolled in the Ontario College of Art and Design, where I graduated with scholarships and awards in both design and advertising. McCann-Erickson hired me while I was still in my third year, and from there I moved on to senior positions at several major multi-national agencies, including J. Walter Thompson and Ogilvy. For more than 20 years, I’ve been fortunate to work at the highest levels of Canadian advertising. As an Associate Creative Director at Ogilvy, I helped to build major multi-national brands that included American Express, Campbell’s Soup, Dove, Duracell, Unilever, General Foods and many more. I also judged award shows, and participated in international training workshops in New York. Yes, Advertising’s been good to me. In 1991 I left the downtown agency business to start a family and my own company. I formed Urban & Co., a highly successful advertising and design firm that has built profitable brands for over a hundred blue-chip companies. And along the way, I’ve won scores of national and international awards. Besides working as an advertising practitioner, I’ve also taught Advertising at OCAD for more than 20 years. Teaching is important to me, and my desire to nurture the next generation is one of the key reasons I applied for the Executive Master of Design in Advertising program. Of course, I’m also a student of advertising myself, and I would love the opportunity to continue my personal growth. I want to stay current and relevant, and I see this program as the perfect vehicle with which to formalize my education, expand my horizons, and broaden my perspectives on the business. I am very much looking forward to being part of the Executive Master of Design in Advertising Program. Advertising is my profession and my passion. And after nearly 30 years, it’s still all I ever want to do.
Last Modified:09/02/2010 2:38:23 PM
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