Showing posts with label Second Year. Show all posts
YCN
A star students, Joe, Lucy, Gaz, Linda and Elly.
The Young Creative Network have now made the new briefs available for their latest competition and they look as interesting and challenging as ever. The YCN student awards are a great test of a students abilities and really set a benchmark of excellence for advertising and design students.
The Creative Advertising course at the University of Lincoln has been fortunate enough to do very well in this competition and last year was no exception with no fewer than eight students picking up a highly coveted YCN award. Joe Lovett, Jonathan Salm, Ellie Hogarth, Lucy Cowlin, Gaz Hunt-Sutherland, Linda Klassens, Jenni Trotter and Gabi Kirwin were all winners.
Here's what Lucy thought of the evening. 'Situated in the impressive surrounds of the Marriott Hotel in Grosvenor Square, the YCN Student Awards ceremony held on September 10th was a great occasion. Given there were eight students from level 2 and level 3 of Creative Advertising commended, it was a fantastic night for showcasing the work of Lincoln's aspiring advertisers!
With exquisite food, (far superior to the student standard) engrossing entertainment, good company and copious glasses of Prosecco, it was a brilliant way to celebrate. It soon became apparent just how highly acclaimed YCN is within our industry so it felt like a real achievement to be collecting our awards in the presence of such talented individuals!'
So whilst the current students get down to working on the new briefs we thought that it would be a good time to show some pictures of Septembers awards ceremony and remember that all of the hard work is worth it.
A Call to a Creative Adventure
So what's this creativity thing all about? Is it about coming up with ideas?
Well, yes.
Is it about experimenting and trying new things. Yes, that too.
But something that is rarely discussed that is more powerful than any of this is TAKING ACTION. Without action ideas are not realised, without action mistakes are not made and without action those mistakes are not turned on their heads and crafted into opportunity.
We do take time here to help our students to be the kind of people who feel they can get off the sofa, with an idea in one hand and a suitcase in the other and just DO.
That's why we're incredibly proud of three Second year students, Tom Watkins, Matt Holmes and Carys Thomas who did just that; Took action to get a wild idea off the ground and in the process entered into a fabulous adventure.
Here's Tom Watkins to tell us more:
"We decided we wanted to go on an adventure and so we started to work out how we could explore Iceland on a student budget.
We didn't have any more money, definitely not enough to go on the adventure we wanted.
Together, we contacted travel agencies pitching them with an idea for a 'user video', a travelogue to capture the imagination of potential visitors and a couple of Skype chats and phone calls later we actually had a few offers, but one from NordicVisitor.com was the most comprehensive, they managed to sponsor us for every activity we did in Iceland. All in return for the video, and photographs of our journey.
Even with the chaos of a volcanic eruptions and storms while we were there, they re-arranged excursions and got us a quite literally last minute notice ride on a helicopter tour. "
So, obviously, they're awesome. When they hit a problem they just found a solution, a way they could get the holiday of their dreams on their budget by figuring out what else they had to offer. True creative entrepreneurs.
Here's the video and below are some stunning pictures taken as part of the trip.
Together, we contacted travel agencies pitching them with an idea for a 'user video', a travelogue to capture the imagination of potential visitors and a couple of Skype chats and phone calls later we actually had a few offers, but one from NordicVisitor.com was the most comprehensive, they managed to sponsor us for every activity we did in Iceland. All in return for the video, and photographs of our journey.
Even with the chaos of a volcanic eruptions and storms while we were there, they re-arranged excursions and got us a quite literally last minute notice ride on a helicopter tour. "
So, obviously, they're awesome. When they hit a problem they just found a solution, a way they could get the holiday of their dreams on their budget by figuring out what else they had to offer. True creative entrepreneurs.
Here's the video and below are some stunning pictures taken as part of the trip.
Mother agency visit
Their Mother's would be proud of them.
'It was only 3 hours after leaving Anomaly before we were waiting outside Mother, a building contrasting both in size and style to where we were earlier. The buildings situated 5 minutes away from the train station, but in the time between the two, we passed 1 giant rat, about 45 trainers hanging from a telephone wire and about 100 hipsters, it was awesome. As we walked into the reception area of Mother we were greeted by the slogan “Graffiti is advertising to me” in massive font above the elevators, this pretty much summed up Mother’s creative and youthful style.
An elephant is about to sit on Jonny.
Mother’s policy is about “doing work that makes your mother proud”, and to emphasise this every employee has a picture of their mother up on the wall in the corner of the foyer. As I sat there, admiring the obvious ambition and creative feel of the place, I realised how good it would feel to see my mother up on that wall, and how proud that would make me feel.
However, my daydreaming was soon interrupted as we were shown into their meeting room, the only room in the whole agency with a door. This was not the most interesting aspect of the room though. There was a massive elephants arse coming out of the wall apparently for two reasons, acoustics, and “to kill the elephant in the room” so that people feel more comfortable speaking.
Jonny and Georgie playing with their friend.
We were then lucky enough to be given a presentation by two creative directors Martin and Kyle, as well as Ben Heap. The guys told us all about Mother and its work, all of which I recognized and appreciated. It was not long before I got the sense that this was an amazing place to work. They described how they have events almost every night; they take part in their own projects and they work together around a massive table, like a big family. To me it seemed like a place where everyone is appreciated and you can truly be yourself. It was not long before question time. They answered a variety of questions, some told us about the importance of pairing up with someone that challenges you and also highlighted the necessity of creative pairs in the industry, now, and for the foreseeable future, and one answer in particular disappointed second year Simon, “No, the agency isn’t like Mad Men.”
Unfortunately, it was not long before our time in London was up. But I can tell you, after that day, I wont be gone for long.'
Second years visit Anomaly
The only way is up for Anomaly
Part of the philosophy you will find at Anomaly
No sausages
Upon entering the agencies building we were greeted by a wall of creative quotes, scamped from top to bottom. This was a good start; it already seemed like an interesting place to work. Upon having a few minutes to enjoy the creative wall, we were ushered into tight lifts and taken to the agencies floor.
As the doors of the lift opened, we were greeted by a bright, warming red glow radiating from the hallway, which was painted strikingly, to say the least. We were then led into a boardroom to start the presentation.
The presentation started with Ben Moore telling us all about the company and its strategies. He told us how they really tried to be the “anomaly” of all of the agencies, providing a service completely different and surprising. Through a business like approach, and strong opinions on the direction that the industry is heading, they are a relatively new agency in the UK trying to make big waves, with bigger clients. The presentation carried on, and it was quite interesting, with him showing us the agencies best work, including work for Budweiser and Adidas. But for me, the more interesting part came when we got to speak to the creative pairPaul Mann and CA graduate Mike Cuthell. They are both freelance creative who were very open with us, providing first hand experience of the ups and downs and completely new perspectives on the industry. They reassured us that getting the job is possible, and that it is truly worth it. One particular reoccurring theme of the agency that really made me think was their questioning of the importance of the creative partnership roles. They suggested that the industry would evolve into a place that makes partnerships redundant. However, we soon came to realise that, different agencies have different philosophies when we visited Mother in the afternoon.'
Leo Burnett welcomes the second years
Outside Leo's and their world-famous sign
Following on from Abi's report about the visit to Ogilvy, here's Emily Walker's report from the recent level 2 visit to Leo Burnett:–
“We were welcomed with open arms to Leo Burnett by Elliot Starr (copywriter and creative partner to Laura Clarke – another successful Lincoln Creative Advertising grad team).
“Elliott had arranged a detailed ‘who’s who’ at the agency and we listened to some great talks by Gus – Account Manager; Lorna – Planning; JJ – Creative Director; and Elliott – Creative.
Excitedly waiting in reception
It's a VERY stylish place
“Elliott had arranged a detailed ‘who’s who’ at the agency and we listened to some great talks by Gus – Account Manager; Lorna – Planning; JJ – Creative Director; and Elliott – Creative.
Listening to the four impressive presentations
(in an equally impressive meeting room!)
“All the talks were witty, informative and all four of the speakers seemed genuinely happy to be working for such a friendly, successful company. The talks were very insightful and inspiring and we were given lots of information into the different roles at an advertising agency. It was very clear how much everyone worked together in order to produce such fantastic work.
“They showed us examples of the great work the agency has created over the past few years. We all walked out of the meeting room with huge smiles on our faces and heads buzzing with excitement. It really was an excellent visit.
Elliott leaves the students with some inspiring words of wisdom
Apples have become a symbol for Leo Burnett ever since Leo Burnett put out a bowl of apples at reception when he opened his doors in the middle of the Great Depression. Opening in the middle of the Great Depression caused a lot of talk and people said it would not be long before Leo Burnett would be selling apples on the street. Apples continue to be a symbol of Leo Burnett’s hospitality and success throughout the years.
Second years visit Ogilvy
Ogilvy's rather swanky offices in Canary Wharf, London
Here's level 2 Creative Advertising student Abigail Wither's report on the recent student visit to Ogilvy in London:–
“On Friday 29th November 2013 level two Creative Advertising students visited Ogilvy & Mather in Canary Wharf, London. We sat in some very cool chairs and met some very cool people.
“The visit was run by Tom and Daz who graduated from the Lincoln's Creative Advertising course five years ago. They reinforced all the advice that Justin, Mike and Gyles keep giving us on the course: observations lead to insight; commitment is critical; always keep it simple and aim high. It felt great actually sitting in an ad agency rather than siting in the studio in Lincoln.
The second years admiring Ogily's creative decor.
“Tom and Daz carefully explained the structure of Ogilvy and talked us through the various stages of creating an advert from the initial briefing to every level the idea goes through before it's actually produced. We learned about traffic, client presentations, TV production, digital executions, being on-set, production and, naturally, finance.
“As part of the visit Tom & Daz arranged people from different areas of the agency to come and speak to us:
– Will Smith, Account Executive, whose role is to bridge the gap between the creatives and the client.
– Kim Parrett, TV Producer, who works with the creatives to make their ideas into a TV ad (who also reminded us that we should never be frightened to say ‘I don’t know’ because she still says it and that’s the only way we are going to learn).
Kim gives the students some great advice.
“We also got to meet Mark Doyle, Project Director at The Blue Hive, responsible for all of Ford's marketing, who reminded us to never be arrogant and always be willing to learn.
“I could write for hours on everything we learnt, but overall it was a very eye opening and incredibly informative visit. Thanks to everyone involved.”
Thanks Abbie. And a huge thanks to Tom and Daz who organised everything and made the visit so worthwhile. Cheers guys!
Do you come here often
The 'find a creative partner' merry go round.
Finding that elusive 'other half' can be a hit and miss affair which is why we run a creative speed dating session to help with this process. The second year students get to speak to all of the other students in a one-to-one conversation in order to find out about each others skills and ambitions.
Questions, questions, questions.
The students may not come out of the speed dating session knowing who is 'the one' for them but they will start to become clearer about what qualities are important to them.
YCN night
There's only one colour winners are interested in.
A little light reading before dinner.
Craig and Christina are 'The A Team'.
In the 2012/13 competition we had six winners in three categories, Gaby Kirwin and Alfie Daniell-Waldron for British Eurosport, Harriet Wiltshire and Marie Foster for Nissan and Christina Worman and Craig Ellinor for Plan UK. The awards ceremony was held in September and was a great night to remember for the students involved who all came away with certificates and hangovers. Christina explains how it all went.
"The YCN awards was such a nice way to mark the end of year two. With a few groups representing the University of Lincoln, the night was extra special as we could all celebrate together. YCN was a great opportunity as it is such a prestigious award to be considered for, so being named winners was very exciting as we knew the standard of work being entered was extremely high. Overall the evening was really fun with exceptional food and entertainment. If all award evenings are like this I definitely want to pursue a career in advertising!"
Marie and Harriet are straight A students.
Lincoln Creative Advertising has been very successful over the years and we do not take competition wins for granted. We know exactly how much hard work and effort that goes into them but we're confident that we will be trying our best to keep filling the trophy cabinet, so no pressure on the second years then.
Roses Student Awards success
Congratulations are due to second year Creative Advertising students, Sam Brown Abreu and Matt Paxton for winning their category in this year’s Roses Student Creativity Awards. Sam and Matt entered the Dandy category which required the students to help launch the famous comic in its new online format. The team created a campaign neatly combining classic images from the traditional comic with computer and online imagery which communicated Dandy's new direction.
The judges were particularly pleased with the boys’ efforts and felt that it answered the brief very well they were so pleased in fact, that they have decided to offer them both a work placement at the Leith Agency in recognition of their success.
This is a great opportunity for Sam and Matt because the Leith Agency produces such consistently effective advertising and will be a great place for them to learn their craft. So well done chaps and keep up the good work.
2nd Years work with 'sugru'
I'm sure the first question you have is. What is 'sugru'?
Well, take a look at this video for a lively introduction!
For the next 5 weeks students from the 2nd year of the Creative Advertising course will be working on adding some energetic and insightful advertising thinking to sugru's already impressive product design.
In groups they will be working out who they think the target audience is, how they see sugru fitting into their lives and then producing a range of creative solutions to communicate that, from billboards to radio ads.
They'll then be presenting this work to sugru in two days of client presentations in March.
To kick this project off, last Monday we had a live Skype briefing from James Carrigan (who you may recognise from the video above) who talked to us about the story of 'sugru', how it was invented, the long journey to turn it from a great idea into a great product and fielded a host of questions from the students.
Here's what 2nd year Jenni Trotter had to say:
'I think it is safe to say none of us were sure as to what to expect from this mysterious 'superbrief', and I don't think any of us imagined 'sugru' to come along.
After watching the 'What the flip is sugru?' video we experienced our first live briefing over Skype from James at sugru HQ. Encouraged by his enthusiasm for the product and even more so when we recieved our own packs of Sugru to play with, our 'superteams' were ready to go.
Now a week into project, momentum is as high as ever. We are all fuelled by the excitement of the chance to make something creative and interesting for such a great product.'
With such a short amount of time to produce a large amount of work the pressure is really on.
Check back in late March when we'll be updating you on the students progress during their live client presentations.
The Great Debate
Viki 'what are you looking at' Willis in full debate mode.
In order to be good at Creative Advertising you need to be able to construct a good argument. Constructing good arguments requires looking at things from all sides and only when you fully understand your subject can you create innovative and persuasive advertising strategies.
That's why the Creative Advertising course holds an annual Great Debate competition between the Level 1 and 2 students. The students have to know the subjects they will be debating inside out and be able to present an equally good case for and against their subject matter. The students don't know which side of the argument they will be promoting until they enter the 'debating arena' and only have a couple of minutes to compose themselves before the battle of minds begins. Preparation is key and the students that have done the most extensive research will inevitably progress the furthest in the competition.
'A-Levels easier to pass now, yes or no'?
'Which would win, a horse-sized duck or 100 duck-sized horses?'
The competition runs at a hectic pace with second years and first years squaring off against each other whilst the third years sit in judgement and decide which teams proceed into the next round. The questions range from the esoteric to the plain bizarre and a successful debater doesn't allow their personal feelings to enter into the discussion – it's all about creating the strongest argument.
After much heated debate thirty six teams were whittled down to just two, Joe Lovett & Becky Cartey Vs Harry Price & Alicia Job making up an all first year final. After a titanic struggle Joe and Becky emerged as this years Great Debate champions and will get the chance to defend their crown in next years competition.
Two Norwegian internationals were on the first year team this year.
180 minutes, 36 teams and 5 debates all leading to...... the final!
All this debating is great practice for developing a sound advertising brain and keeps everybody sharp. Now, which is best, poster advertising or social media?
Do Good, Brilliantly
At Christmas each year we have a conundrum: we need to set some work for the students in the 2nd year that is beneficial to their education but also keeps them busy and allows them to do what they do best – make a difference.
So we set them a challenge. Go home and get your head around what your local community needs. Then, motivate people, bring them together in some way to take action to make the necessary difference.
We embrace success equally to glorious failure in challenges like this – the key was they worked to make something happen and told their story when they returned to University.
Whilst we'd love to showcase all of the work it seems more appropriate to just pick a couple of pieces which best sum up the feel of the brief.
So, take a break and spend the next few minutes taking in some work from Suzi Paddison and Stanley Bennett. Suzi took something on that she cared deeply about and made sure her voice was heard. Stan tackled something a little closer to home but did so in a rather marvellous way.
Enjoy!
Judgement Day
We like to think it is a real test of character to send our students away for Christmas, safe in the knowledge that the very first day they get back... their assessment will begin.
Last week 2nd year students handed in a flurry of work for their formative reviews, giving us a chance to take a look and let them know how we thought they were progressing. (Very well, as it happens)
What's so good about these reviews is how open they are – not only can we see just how much work they have been doing but we can invite 1st year students in to let them see where they will be in a year's time.
It looks like we have a really committed 2nd year on our hands. Now for another term to turn them from 'pretty damn good' into 'frightening'!
Level 2 Advertising agency visits
Last week saw the Level 2 students visit some high profile advertising agencies in London. Getting first hand experience of the ad industry is vitally important for the University of Lincoln Creative Advertising students, who focus a great deal on 'real world experience'. The agencies get to see the next generation of advertisers, and the students get to see how interesting an agency is. It's a win-win situation. I'll let the students explain in their own words how the visits went, first up Suzi Paddison who visited VCCP.
"On Friday morning Group A made their way to Victoria to visit the agency VCCP. We were all very excited knowing that we were going to get a glimpse inside the agency which created great ads for brands such as Compare the Market and O2. We were greeted on the 5th floor of Greencoat House by Josh Dando, a Creative Advertising Graduate who has been working there with his partner Steven Dodd since March 2011.
Josh tells it how it is in the VCCP boardroom.
Firstly we got a tour around the building, through the large open plan working offices. It was great to see that the agency lived up to it's title of being integrated, with employees of different roles mixed together throughout the building. We also saw the separate sectors of the VCCP partnership - VCCP Search, VCCP Blue and VCCP Digital. Everybody was very friendly and seemed quite relaxed in their working environment.
Josh then gave us a very insightful Q & A session where we learnt about their journey into the agency, what they have been working on and how the agency works together. To finish the visit we went to a meeting room where we saw a show reel of some of VCCPs most recent successful ads, a great way to end the visit.
Suzi's group in VCCP's reception.
Going to VCCP was really motivational for us all and we feel we all gained a lot of great advice on what to do after graduating, and especially as it was from someone who was in our shoes not too long ago. A big thank you to Josh and everyone at VCCP for being so welcoming!"
Whilst one group of students were visiting VCCP another group went to JWT to find out more about the agency, Emma Thomas gives us her impressions of the visit.
JWT's Reception
James Hobbs giving the students the benefit of his experience.
James Hobbs, an ex lincoln student, and his creative partner Jeremy took us to the the Bullmore Room where we began our insight into the world of JWT. After a brief introduction to the duo we took a group tour around the agency. Traffic, accounts and the creative floor were all a buzz with creative conversations of current briefs and clients.
Once the tour was over and we were back in the Bullmore Room, James and Jeremy shared with us some of JWTs recent adverts and some of their own work, guiding us through the creative process of Andrex from initial ideas to final execution. Being able to see this process was both reassuring and inspiring to all of us. After almost two hours, we'd been given a first hand insight into both JWT and what it's really like to be a creative in the industry.
James and Jeremy will mostly be wearing stripes this week.
As we headed back down the escalators and left through the turning door, we felt more motivated and inspired then ever before to pursue our advertising dreams." Finally Jenni Trotter tells us how her group's visit to DLKWLowe went.
"In the afternoon of the agency visit trip to London, Group A were lucky enough to visit DLKWLowe in South Kensington. We were unsure as to what to expect from an agency going through a huge creative change at the moment, however greeted by a mix of patterned walls, huge velvet armchairs, giant lightbulb feature and gold framed televisions, the agency definitely had a welcoming and quirky feeling from the very start.
We were met by Lincoln Creative Advertising graduates Neil Ritson and Stefan van Zoggel who gave us a great chat about their journey as a creative team – from pairing up in their second year to the ups and downs of placements to then getting hired at DLKWLowe just over a year ago, going on to create work for clients such as Thorpe Park and Alton Towers. They also gave us a brilliant insight into how to create a great book by showing us their portfolio that they took to book critiques and giving us advice on how to create a book which sets your creative team apart from all the rest.
DLKWLowe's brightly illuminated reception.
Neil and Stefan can now afford the latest style baseball caps.
Is that a Morrisons Christmas advert prop I can see on the window ledge?
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