Check out these outstanding advertising student projects.
It’s always a thrill celebrating the outstanding marketing and creative work from this year’s Advertising and Digital Media students at Macleay College. Some exciting new careers are off to a great start!
Disruption can take a lot of shapes and forms. For Macleay College students, it recently involved #PozPots – a student-run event where participants were invited to decorate plant pots with positive imagery and messages. After the paint had dried, students planted a seed, then gifted their creations to a stranger – hoping to brighten their day!
The event was a huge success, with many students (and staff) dropping in throughout the day to join in on the fun. The creators of the project are now hoping to spread the word, and using the hashtag #PozPots help raise awareness around mental health worldwide.
It’s easy to do. Just get some friends together, buy some seeds, paint a pot along the theme of the positive word, then plant the seed and give the plant to someone who could benefit from a kind word (and a colourful pot).
“A visual metaphor is a device for encouraging insights, a tool to think with” states Noël Carroll in his book Beyond Aesthetics. Looking around at some of the world’s greatest ads, there is little doubt that one of the most powerful ways advertising communicates a message is through visual metaphors. It is an art in itself. To strip down an idea to its essence, then represent this through a powerful and visually engaging metaphor, making it easier to communicate the message to an audience. Our Advertising and Digital Media students produce an original photographic visual metaphor in our Digital Photography classes.
The first challenge of taking a great photo is coming up with a great idea. In this assignment, students nominate a client, product or service and develop a photographic ad to solve a specific communications problem. After a series of lessons in digital, studio and lifestyle photography, students take an original photo and retouch and composite it with a headline, typography and a brand logo.
“The first step is to nut out the core message, then sketch out visual solutions. Taking the photo is where the executional expertise comes in” says Digital Photography lecturer Simon Cardwell.
Simon runs the Digital Photography unit at our Sydney campus. In addition to being an accomplished fine arts and portrait photographer himself, Simon embodies Macleay’s principles of delivering student and industry focused education with industry expert teachers, project-based learning and a hands-on approach to learning.
Advertising student Ray Phan (now working as a Designer at We Are Social) wanted to surprise his audience. His visual solution for Kinder Surprise – a chocolate egg with a hidden toy, was to remind us that eggs have long hidden unexpected hatchlings.
International student Carlos Alcantara (now working at Magna Global) approached his casual employer Des Renford Leisure Centre and offered to create an ad to help clients get their ‘muffin top’ into shape.
Recent Bachelor of Advertising and Media graduate Sophie Robertson created a soft and beautiful image of firm, round peaches to discreetly create awareness around screening for breast cancer.
After taking time-out of her creative career to start a family, art director Helen Metlenko wanted to up-date her digital skills, and in the meantime, found out she was a pretty keen copywriter. Her visual ad for Patrick’s Barbers was pitched specifically at their male clientele.
Sam Harley (most recently Junior Creative at Host) topped the Diploma of Advertising course, and also came up with this crafty visual solution for the craft beer bar next door to the college.
Callam Hanks always had a creative ‘outside-of-the-box’ idea for his assignments. This was a very unexpected solution to the visual metaphor assignment, comparing the cost of a new car to the cost of raising a child. The ad was specifically aimed at getting teens to rethink their choices around unwanted teen pregnancy. No need to say Callam has gone on to create some innovative and out-there solutions in his new job as Social and Content Manager at Infinity Squared.
If you would like to know more about the Digital Photography classes, part of our Advertising & Media or Digital Media courses read on.
When Rowan Slade started his studies, he was a self-confessed “guy from a beachie town who made cappuccinos”. This might sound familiar. Finishing school and moving into a career can often be daunting, but after a couple of years of study Rowan discovered the art of becoming an Art Director. Proof of his artistic talent was on display recently with his graduating project from Macleay’s Bachelor of Advertising and Media, where Rowan created an art installation that explored the tension between the fantasy and brutality of Reality TV.
Rowan describes the humble beginning of his creative career behind the cappuccino machine on his blog: “It was here, meeting and talking to a variety of different people, that I learned the value of customer experience for a business. I thrived working with others but decided that I didn’t want to be stuck in the hospitality bubble.”
“My life has been consistently drawn towards the creative arts and I’ve been a performer since my childhood; refer to mum for videos. I moved out on my own to Sydney where I’ve continued to study and further my career. I’ve studied acting, film & media production and travelled aplenty – and it’s all these influences of working within and being around creativity that have driven me to work in the advertising and media industry; in particular, the ability to use my creativity to drive business.”
Rowan has a keen eye and a great sense of style, so even his early college projects stood out. One of my favourites was a brand he developed from scratch (excuse the pun), for a real-world client in his Advanced Digital Design class. ‘RuvBox’ is a pet care pack that Rowan developed a logo, packaging, magazine advertising and merchandising for.
Rowan’s branding project for ‘RuvBox’
Once Rowan got a video camera in his hand, he started producing some fun and quirky video content, like this engaging digital content piece with Sophie Robertson visualising the word ‘Joy’ in their Art Direction and Design class.
But Rowan hasn’t limited his creative talents to visual mediums, he also produced a great podcast on ‘TV Streaming’ in his Radio Advertising & Podcasting class with our award-winning radio lecturer Cameron Horn. Have a listen here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1djurNOZl_p-Iw6hBbL5S2iEXRzRbL2_E/view
It was of course a highlight of Rowan’s time at the college to see him create a visual installation exploring his ideas around Reality TV. It was an ambitious project to take over a whole room; design and build a floral installation; contrast this with a broken television and image of a bleeding heart; and invite people to sit in the installation and share their selfies on Instagram.
Both Adam Ross, executive creative director at the projects* and the marketing consultant Louise Chamberlain, who sat on the industry marking panel commended Rowan’s courage and ambition in creating an immersive and interactive installation. The next challenge for Rowan is to make his creative mark on the advertising industry. Stay tuned.
Rowan presenting his major art directing project to Adam Ross and Louise Chamberlain.
Instagram reactions to Rowan’s installation.
If you would like to see more of Rowan’s work, you can check out the creative portfolio on his blog here:
https://rowanjslade.wordpress.com/creative-portfolio/
This statement by Laura Javier has been front-of-mind as we explored Opportunity-Based Learning (OBL) in the Creative Process unit as part of the Advertising & Media course at Macleay College, culminating in a creative pitch to the Creative Director, Cherie Davies of Sudler & Hennessey.
The creative solutions – borne from a fast-paced OBL workshop – were well-received by Cherie who recognises the value of responding to a ‘problem-based’ question as it requires us to dig deeper to uncover a clear insight.
During the 1-hour workshop, the small cohort of students researched the question posed; determined an insight; and reframed the original question with this insight. The workshop included empathy maps, triangulated research, user-centred design and design thinking techniques.
The students then worked in groups to develop their prototypes and iterate their concepts. They were grateful for the opportunity to present their mixed media campaign solutions at the Sudler & Hennessey advertising agency in Sydney.
“Presenting to a Creative Director of Cherie’s standing was a daunting yet beneficial experience and the feedback we obtained was invaluable – not only to the current assignment, but also how I’ll approach future campaigns”, said Macleay College advertising student Jamie-Lee Carter.
Cherie shared a snapshot of her stellar career journey since completing Award School in 2006, then offered some useful tips, especially in relation to hunting through creative briefs for the kernel of an idea, and the importance of a key insight and big idea that can be extended across multi channels and executions.
Recently nominated to Judge at Cannes Lions* 2018, we’re extremely grateful for the time Cherie invests in our programs at Macleay. Our partnership with agencies like Sudler & Hennessey supports our commitment to preparing our students for purposeful employment in a VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous) world.
*Cannes Lions is the world’s largest festival and awards for the creative and marketing communications, entertainment, design and tech industries.
Macleay College’s industry and innovation focused advertising and media courses are currently enrolling for the mid-year intake (starts on the 28th May). For more information, click here!
By Julieann Brooker
Creative Process Lecturer, Advertising & Media
Macleay College is the only Australian Higher Education institution running a Positive Education program. As well as teaching our students industry based skills and practical theory, we also address their personal development and mental health through positive psychology.
This holistic approach in learning, is aimed at enriching the student’s wellbeing and emotional intelligence through tailored individual support and encouragement.
It gives the student a better understanding of themselves, their passions, their strengths and their goals. It helps them to better manage their life, relationships and future careers through a greater understanding and use of empathy, gratitude and other positive emotions.
In a nutshell, the program aims to increase the student’s confidence, sense of wellbeing and happiness.
As part of the program, Macleay College has installed PosEd Kits in many of the classrooms across our Sydney and Melbourne campuses and students in the Digital Design Unit have been putting them to good use in Term One of the Advertising & Digital Media course.
One of our tasks was to take the free VIA Character Strength Test. This is a short ten minute assessment that takes students through a series of questions to determine their top character strengths. Armed with this list, the students are then asked to step away from their iMacs and use their hands to construct or draw visual representations of their favourite strengths.
The PosEd Kits are full of great stuff to get them started like Play Doh, feathers, buttons, coloured fabric, wood and paper. There are also ample large rolls of paper and Sharpies.
To begin with, the students had a lot of questions and curious looks. As they started to move around the room and choose their materials the noise levels increased and they were off and running. There were lots of comparing notes on each other’s different strengths with most agreeing that the VIA Test had done a good job.
As I moved around the group, there were some initial awkwardness with speaking about their strengths but they were encouraged to start thinking beyond that and how their personal brand could be visualised into an abstract object or pictorial form.
There was a sense of enjoy in the room so I popped on some music and spent the next hour watching their creations unfold. The next part of the workshop was to take their physical objects and turn them into a digital piece of artwork. The students could take photos, load them up into Illustrator and use this as a template to create a kind of personal logo.
This was the first time I’ve been involved in a workshop like this so there is some tweaking I’d still like to do but it was one of the most enjoyable sessions I’ve run. It was one of those days when you get home, put your feet up and smile!
Jason Gemenis is Macleay’s Digital Ninja
lecturing in Digital Design, Advanced
Digital Design and Visualisation across Macleay’s
Dip Advertising & Media, Dip Digital Media,
BA Advertising & Media & BA Digital Media.
We are proud to announce the winners of the Advertising & Media Showcase Awards for 2016 for the best student work from the advertising and media diploma and bachelor students at Macleay College in both Sydney and Melbourne. Well done guys!
As part of Macleay College’s Hype End of Year Showcase held in December last year, the 2016 Advertising & Digital Media Faculty Awards where handed out to students that achieved the highest grades for their work throughout the year.
And the winners for 2016 are…
Best Print Ad: Michael Lamb “One Pair of Sneakers” Converse Shoes
Best Typographical Poster: Teresa Solaese “Dachshund”
Best Photographic Project: Chloe Geggus “Savvy Brides” Bridal Dresses
Best Copywriting: Daniel Koublachvili “Link 4 Change” Children’s Charity
Best Outdoor Campaign: Rowan Slade “You’re Not That Guy” Gun Control Campaign
Best Radio Commercial: Brooke Demenezes “Gymbaroo” Child Care
Best Video: Cassandra Sabin “One for One” Tom’s Roasting Company
Best Video: Caitlin Thomas “Super-Tough” Dr. Martens Boots
Best Social Media Project: Ellen Rafferty, Michael Lamb & Aislin Mcleod “Social Studio”
Best Marketing Plan: Daniel Fitzsimmons “Chanel”
Best Cross-Media Campaign: Alicia Sanarko “All Eyes on You” Chevrolet Corvette
Best Portfolio: Cassandra Sabin
A call out to Industry, Alumni and Interested, please join us for a celebration of MACLEAY COLLEGE’s 2016’s best student ADVERTISING & MEDIA projects at our student showcase ‘HYPE’ on Thursday the 8.12.16 from 6-9pm. Please RSVP here: https://macleay.typeform.com/to/b0lBqU
Inspired by Jessica Walsh’s AGDA keynote presentation Play by Your Own Rules, and Jessica’s design workshop by the same name, Julieann Brooker ran a TypePlay® workshop for our Creative Process students at Macleay College.
The client: Pacific Artisan, a new online shop that sells ethically sourced and produced fair-trade products handmade by women from countries in the Oceania region and indigenous Australia.
The biggest advertising related problem: How to promote yet another online shop in the Australian market, with a minimal budget. No real promotion has been done yet other than infrequent Facebook and Twitter posts.
The creative task: To develop branding and advertising to target socially aware women, aged 35+, and persuade them that the relaunched online shop will provide an easy way to buy unique hip cool products made locally by women living ‘off the beaten track’. To use creativity and design to do good.
Why TypePlay®? Let’s get serious about play. In Dr. Stuart Brown’s 2008 TED talk, Play is more than just fun, he shares how contemporary innovation and creativity has been impeded by the reduced use of our hands. In fact, it’s currently a condition of employment, in problem-solving roles at NASA and Boeing, to have worked with one’s hands.
Play is boosting creativity and innovation for young and old, across several domains, (Brown, 2009), and studies indicate work and play are complimentary, (Staw & Barsade, 1993). Hence, it’s an ideal practice for developing branding and advertising.
“Play is nature’s greatest tool for creating new neural networks and for reconciling cognitive difficulties.” (Brown, p. 127, 2009).
The students made their own rules and played.
Constraints included materials, limited words, and time. They split into groups of 2-4, selected words and brand statements to portray, sketched ideas and tested materials. From a wellbeing perspective, play is an excellent conduit to integrate our lives and ourselves, and especially useful in building trust, a valuable commodity for group work!
The cohort regrouped for a quick critique, then photographed and recorded their work as pics to be used in marketing, the website, and social media.
One team used the products and some props to create a stop motion piece of an island village.
“Nothing lights up the brain like play”, Stuart Brown, 2008.
The rewarding project continued in the Social Media and Digital Design units, and the bountiful creative concepts presented pitched to a panel of judges at Publicis Mojo.
You can browse the Pacific Artisan story, and purchase their authentic range of off-the beaten-track products here.
Advertising student Brooke Demenzes writes about developing a new brand and advertising campaign for a live brief for ‘Pacific Artisan’.
13 students were given a baby. A baby without a face.
Her name: Pacific Artisan.
Over the next few months, it would be to their discretion in moulding what they think would be a clean, fresh look for this baby before handing her back.
Before enrolling in advertising, one would imagine that working with a real client would be amazing. Get a real taste for it, experience first hand what it’s going to be like out there in the real world, really peacock the hell out of yourself.
Then you get the brief. Suddenly your ideas role over one night and ask for an annulment. They just pack up and leave and suddenly, they’ve move in with the opposition. You hear from a few people that they are really happy together and they’ve made an idea of their own.
So you’re alone. You even have to start shaving again just so you attract a new idea. But nothing. It starts to feel like you’ll come up with something brilliant after the assignment is already over. Then something amazing happens…
You immediately scan the room in search of the person you want to share the stress with. Done! Together the ideas start flowing. 
So in a nut shell, Macleay Advertising students had to put together an entire look for the brand; give it some personality. Pacific Artisan as a brand has always been to make and distribute beautiful hand made products from a struggling demographic overseas, but to show no emphasis on the dire needs of these people, and more on the celebration on what the future holds for them instead.
It was our job to bring this brand identity to life. We needed to create a logo, colour schemes, mood posters and give the fonts we chose personality descriptions…
We eventually got there.
The day came when we finally finished and let me tell you, it was a beautiful moment.
Now, to tidy it all up over the next few weeks before presenting….
Stay tuned for the wrap up.
By Brooke Demenzes, Diploma of Advertising
AdBare 