[9][10] Strongly influenced by groundbreaking American advertising copywriters Bill Bernbach and Howard Luck Gossage, Gillard's approach focused on using subtle and original ideas, rather than stating selling propositions in obvious or aggressive ways, and also taught the importance of "research, problem solving, and strategic planning".
[15][16] By this time, Gillard had become disenchanted with traditional art-school education, which he considered "too precious", too theoretical and removed from everyday life, too formulaic, lacking diversity and professionalism, and with a "snobbish neglect of advertising".
[6][17][18] According to Bob Connor of Brunnings, Gillard "harboured a restlessness about the teaching system... [so] he developed his own ideas, ideas which he shared with a number of friends and supporters..."[13] In 1985, with help from Peters, Hegarty, John Salmon, John Webster, Jeremy Sinclair, Terence Donovan, and numerous other figures from the creative world, Gillard managed to raise £110,000 to set up his own independent design college, The School of Communication Arts (SCA), and staffed it with 134 visiting lecturers from the advertising and design industries, most of whom agreed to work for nothing.
[19][20] As reported by The Financial Times, Gillard and his backers, "united in their disenchantment with what they regard as an inadequate training and preparation for today's business world offered by the majority of art schools, has done something about it".
"[22] The SCA quickly achieved impressive results; by 1989, The Sunday Times noted that "The school has already built up a reputation as a fast track institution in its specialised field, with more than 80% of its people going to lucrative [advertising and design] agency jobs".
[27] According to Caroline Marshall, editor of Campaign magazine: "Gillard fought tirelessly in an ultimately doomed attempt to keep the SCA open with scant support from agencies who were prepared to spend plenty of money training account handlers and planners while underinvesting in the most important thing they have to offer, the creative product.
[28] The following year, Gillard was reunited with his former student Graham Fink, who had recently been elected President of D&AD (Design and Art Direction Association) and decided to refocus the organization on education.
[2][3] The School of Communication Arts was relaunched in 2010 by one of the original college's former pupils, Marc Lewis,[31] adopting a similar industry-funding model to Gillard's but with greater emphasis on equality and diversity.
[6] In its obituary, Campaign magazine described him as "one of the foremost teachers of creative skills in Britain",[2] while Michael Peters referred to him as "the guru of design arts education"[2] with a "manic, mesmerising influence".
[2] Lamenting the closure of The School of Communication Arts, shortly after John Gillard's death, Caroline Marshall, then editor of Campaign, noted that his "fame extended far beyond this advertising village and his influence will not be forgotten".