Arts University Bournemouth student brief

It was hard to believe that 12 months had flown by since we last set a challenge for the AUB Graphic Design students. After the success of the project last year, we were asked to construct a brief for the students that would give them an insight into agency life and the type of work an agency typically does. As many of the students had never set foot inside a creative agency before, this was a great opportunity for them to experience the environment first-hand, as well as undertake a typical project. As most of our team have graduated from creative degrees we feel committed to inspiring the next generation of young creative talent. For us it was fantastic to brief the students in our new studio, which despite being a work in progress (we kicked the builders out for a day!), was an inspiring backdrop. From our experience, student portfolios are often lacking work that demonstrates their commercial awareness. In light of this, we outlined our expectations of their creative output clearly. We set the students a packaging brief, but one that also asked them to come up with ideas for an accompanying digital campaign to launch the product into market.

We visited the students on campus a week later to offer advice for their work in progress as well as provide some tips on how to deliver a successful presentation. We highlighted the reality that in business, the narrative behind it and delivery of their work is often as important as the work itself. Presenting their work well is a necessary skill that will be invaluable for them in the future, whether they’re pitching and selling their ideas to a client or making an impact in a job interview. The following week Dan and I found ourselves sat in a large boardroom, waiting with much anticipation and feeling much like the infamous Lord Sugar. Overall, we were very impressed by the amount of effort that had been dedicated to the project, as well as the variety of exciting ideas the students were presenting. Each group had a completely different approach to both the packaging aspect of the brief, as well as the way they used digital channels to try and increase brand awareness. We thoroughly enjoyed the experience and having the chance to work with students again. We enjoyed the blue sky thinking and creativity in the room, as well as the eagerness to learn that some of them possessed. We hope the students left the project richer than when they started it and took away plenty of industry knowledge and a fresh perspective to continue to apply to their developing portfolios. We felt they did and we helped to carry on the great tradition we have at Salad of working with emerging talent.