Ad Age has breaking news out of Richmond.
Effective Jan. 14, the Richmond, Va.-based VCU Adcenter, founded in 1996, will be called VCU Brandcenter. It also is unveiling a new logo, courtesy of New York-based design firm Collins, as well as a website, www.brandcenter.vcu.edu, created by Interpublic Group of Cos.’ RG/A, New York.
Following lengthy debate, faculty, board members and students concluded that association with advertising was too limiting and that the school needed a broader name to reflect the rapidly changing industry landscape in which the school’s graduates find employment, said Rick Boyko, managing director of the VCU Brandcenter.
VCU Brandcenter also dropped $9 million to move to a new building, tapping world-famous architect Clive Wilkinson to lead the effort. Wilkinson partnered with local firm Baskerville to transform a historic 27,000-square-foot building in VCU’s Monroe Park campus into an open, airy space with a modern feel.
Boyko hopes the changes will help the school further set itself apart from the pack of portfolio schools and traditional academia by more closely aligning itself with an evolving ad business.
