The Portfolio Center Difference

If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea. —-Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Perhaps it’s the above quote that best characterizes the tiny world-class branding school tucked into the kudzu at the dead end of Bennett Street, in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s a philosophy embodied and propagated by founder Gemma Gatti, and by Hank Richardson, long-time teacher and, now, the school’s president.

Sometimes called the Perfect Storm, Richardson rarely sleeps. Each student is a mission, and every minute matters. He builds further on the ideals of the Bauhaus, eschewing dogma, and nudging students toward the day they become their own best teachers.

As a result, the school is not defined by the strength of its programs or its tough curriculum, as important as those things are. Instead, it is defined by its spirit—its passion, which can’t be contained by the cinder-block walls.

Students don’t merely learn about design, advertising, photography, illustration, or media architecture; they learn to frame their values and to filter all their work through those; and they learn to value themselves and their lives, to embrace their responsibility to the world and to their own happiness. They learn that if it can be imagined, it can be created—and that they should never put limits on their imaginations.

Walk through the halls, and you can feel it—the creativity, curiosity, and sense of adventure. The spirit is contagious, both absorbed and exuded by everyone within. You’ll find classes in session at 5:30 in the morning; notice designers singing annual reports, writers making cut paper posters, photographers telling stories.

You’ll find instructors who run marathons and do poetry readings at universities and perform stand-up comedy—in their free time, when they’re not winning Gold Pencils or getting their work in CA. You can find those same instructors meeting with students outside of class, at Starbucks or on the school’s front porch, giving extra time and support when it’s needed.

That’s because everyone at Portfolio Center longs for the proverbial sea—students, faculty, and administration. The idea is to be a part of something bigger, for each person to live fully and contribute. It never stops, either—not since 1979—as an ever-growing alumni network can attest to. They don’t forget, giving back constantly, while creating powerful work that affects us all. They present seminars, teach classes, and move up into power positions.

They work at firms like Pentagram, Goodby Silverstein, and the Moderns. They design for The Metropolitan Opera, name new products at Landor, or travel around the world shooting images for Samata Mason. They write and publish children’s books, open exquisite boutique bakeries, and develop video games.

In short, they discover or create endless possibilities for the immensity of their lives.