With offices in New York and Los Angeles, Brand New School is a bicoastal directing collective working in all fields of commercial art. Ever evolving, the studio continues to cultivate a sense of wonder and exploration.
In the past twelve months, directing commercials for Apple, VW, Toyota, Jeep, Target, Vodafone, Coca-Cola, Pepsi and EA Sports, Brand New School has worked with agencies such as Arnold Worldwide, Wieden+Kennedy, TBWA\Chiat\Day, DDB and JWT. The company has also helmed viral ads for VW, Budweiser, and Adidas. On the music video front, BNS’ clips for The Polyphonic Spree and Muse each earned MVPA nominations with Muse “Hysteria” taking home the MVPA for Best Visual Effects of 2005.
Founded by Partner/CD Jonathan Notaro in 2000, BNS has supplied branding consultation and design to American Express, Apple, AT&T, Lexus, Motorola, Buick, UPS, and MTV2, in addition to designing the network identities for Fox Fuel, VH1 Classic, and IMF (International Music Feed). The company’s award-winning work for Fox Fuel included writing and directing over 20 station identifiers. The IDs BNS wrote and directed for VH1 Classic are still airing, five years after they were produced. For two years, BNS was responsible for promoting and designing MTV’s Sunday Stew programming block. Additionally, it has created over 80 Art Breaks for both MTV and MTV2, and has produced over 120 mini promos for the MTV 10 Spot Drop.
Brand New School has won numerous awards from organizations such as the Art Directors Club, the D&AD, the AIGA, the MVPA, the BDA, and the Type Directors Club (TDC). The company has given lectures and presentations across the United States, as well as in Brazil, Australia and Korea. The work of BNS has been published in publications and books in the UK, the US, Japan, France, Germany, South Korea and Brazil. The company’s principals also have garnered numerous accolades: Notaro was named a Young Gun by the Art Directors Club in 2006, and was invited to sit on the juries of the TDC in 2005 and the AICP in 2007. Partner/Executive Creative Director Jens Gehlhaar won an EMMY for Broadcast Design and a World Class Award by the BDA in 1999; he also participated in judging the Advertising category in the 2006 Art Directors Club competition.
As BNS participates in more directorial endeavors, Notaro and Gehlhaar have strived to create an open collaborative environment for its entire creative team. BNS has also matured as an organization, adding Executive Producers Danny Rosenbloom and Ned Brown to its staff.
With its expanded staff and horizons, for its artists and clients alike, BNS represents an opportunity to play at work, to conduct experiments in image-making, and to feed the inspiration that drives the industry.
