Why do School of Thought

Emily Cuthbert was our Leeds winner in 2021, read her 7 ways that School of Thought helps your creative career

Self-Assurance. It seems like the obvious first choice, but my God, the things this course can do for your confidence. The affirmation of presenting to completely new creatives, of senior and junior level, gives you a newfound spring in your step.
Succinctness. Before School of Thought, my ideas could be quite… lofty. It was something I wanted to improve on, and knew the course would help. The time pressure of working on a brief from Monday to Thursday forced me to address this, and gave me the tools to keep picking away.
Standard. This might be a funny choice of word, but there’s nothing better than a good competition to motivate you to up your game (especially when the prize at the end is an all-expenses paid trip to Cannes). The quality of School of Thought talent is incredibly high and, as a group, you will all up your standard of work over the 12 weeks.
Scamping. This is often an overlooked benefit of doing the programme, but the repeated exposure of presenting your ideas week after week will mean that your quick scamping of brilliant first stage ideas will rapidly improve whether you’re a seasoned art director, or stick person scribbler.
Speed. Speed is self-explanatory, but improved pace is such a big benefit of doing the 12 weeks. The timing is like a real-world brief, but there’s no perimeters – you can do anything. You’ll naturally notice that, back in your day job, you’ll get a quicker rhythm on jobs.
Swagger. When you do School of Thought, you automatically become part of an awesome club of past participants who have been through the course. I’ve called this point ‘Swagger’, because every participant in this club has bags of it.
Zeal. Meaning ‘a great energy or enthusiasm in pursuit of a cause or an objective.’. When you complete the course, you’ll feel a yearning to go out and put everything you’ve discovered into practice. It’s brilliant.

School of Thought truly is for every level. If you feel like you’ve lost your mojo, want a new challenge or fancy going back to basics for the hell of it, for crying out loud, enter!

And if you wanted to find out more about a typical School of Thought evening, check out this video from the 2021 visit to THG!