William Schwab
Professor of Practice
Contact Information
Research and Creative Interests
- Advertising
- Branding
- Film and Editing
- photography
- Design
- Fine Arts
- Painting and Drawing
- Pedagogy
Biography
Bill Schwab joined the faculty of the Media School as Professor of Practice after more than 25 years experience in major ad agencies in Manhattan. He teaches multiple Advertising courses in the Media School and serves as Advertising Concentration Coordinator. Since coming to the Media School he has revitalized and expanded the Portfolio Workshop course, giving students the opportunity to work with significant real world clients to reach marketing goals with strategic advertising campaigns while creating a personal website job ready portfolio. As Concentration Coordinator he has contributed to the updating and revision of courses throughout the Advertising program. He has also developed “the Talk”, a series of conversations with visiting Advertising industry professionals, who share their working professional knowledge with the students in a casual Q&A format. Prior to his appointment as Professor of Practice, he served as Visiting Professor at IU. His previous teaching experience includes 3 years as an instructor at the Pratt Institute.
As a creative director, Bill’s freelance and agency experience includes 360 work for agencies BBDO, Fallon, Ammirati&Puris and Chiat Day on the globally recognized brands GE, BMW, Chrysler, Exxon, Bayer, Optum, Pfizer, CVS, Charles Schwab, Fortune Magazine, State Street Global Advisors, Aetna, McDonalds, Pizza Hut, Arbys, KFC, Holiday Inn, Nikon, Campbell Soup, RCA, Stanley Tools, iRobot, Guinness, Lowes Home Centers, P&G, Gillette, United Airlines, and Reebok.
His work has been recognized in Adweek, AdAge, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, AICP, Graphis, Communication Arts, the Effies, Cannes and the One Show, where his work hangs in permanent display.
Bill is coauthor of a best selling business book “Death to All Sacred Cows” published by Disney/Hyperion. He contributed to the popular college textbook “Advertising by Design” and his career is profiled in the award winning book “Inside Art Direction.” He served as art director and designer of Volume 17 and 18 of the One Show Annual. The campaign Bill produced for BMW Z3 Roadster was a case study for successful new product launches by the Harvard University School of Business.
He attended Indiana University, the Hyper Island Program, the Art Academy of Cincinnati, Arizona State University and the Art Students League.
In addition to his other interests Bill is an award winning fine artist and a member of the Indiana Plein Air Painters Association, and a founding member of the Upland Plein Air Painters.