Process 16th - 20th June

Process is going well. With national media exposure and postive audience responses.

The atmosphere and audience responses at the VIP night was superberb, with the (process one)  chalkboard installation being successful as the audience (of all ages) were interacting and co-creating  it with the coloured chalks. It was also great to see and hear both rooms being well-received by college governors, industry professionals and friends and family alike.

Well done to Grace King for having a mention in the Guardian and Anna & Sophie (AScreative) being spotted by Creative Review.


We are now looking forward to exhibiting at New Blood 2014.

A new Erasmus opportunity

Ravensburg, what a charming little place. A very well preserved historic town centre welcomes you to explore its fascinating buildings and medieval fortifications. The old town has three main gates and over 10 towers to visit and discover. This once very important trading centre hosted the "Great Ravensburg Trading Society" which owned many shops and trading companies across Europe.

It is a pleasure listening to the locals telling you all about it, whilst absorbing their sense of pride for the area and the famous people that once inhabited.

In Revensburg I've met  Professor Dr. Markus Rathgeb, which runs the Media Design programme at DHBW.  Among other things we discussed details to set up a new Erasmus partnership and exchange programme.

You must know by now that I'm very committed to get the Creative Advertising course to develop links and collaborations with foreign Institutions, as in my view opportunities like these will enrich your experience as students.








The Media design programme offers a range of modules to choose from which span from typography to illustration, from video editing and film to marketing and screen design.

 Hopefully we will be able to offer Ravensburg as an additional destination from September 2014. So keep your eye open and apply as soon as the opportunity becomes available. 

 Next stop? Croatia...

 

Achievement in Europe; Danielle receives academic diploma from edcom

Danielle Jackson has scooped another diploma for BA Creative Advertising at LCA, this time from Edcom (European Institute for Commercial Communications in Education), achieving third in the thesis competition.

 If you recall Danielle was a YCN winner in 2013 with her partner Kaitlin for the UGG for men campaign, but just prior to entering that competition she'd completed her dissertation Identity for Sale (follow link to see an online research poster of her study).

Danielle became a finalist having got through the national competition stage and ended with third place in the European final. This is an outstanding academic achievement, of which we are very proud. Danielle is a great all-rounder, her creativity is a product of an informed, analytical and inquisitive mind and her performance reflects the aspirations and philosophy of our course and college; success through creativity.

Edcom is an organisation that promotes excellence in the communications sector by encouraging exchanges (competitions, conferences, summer schools etc.) between academia and industry.  BA Creative Advertising became an Edcom member in 2013 through our new course leader Fabio Fragiacomo. These achievements of Danielle indicate the quality of our student’s work, and why not share this beyond UK boundries?

WELL DONE DANIELLE!! (I did warn her I'd shout about it).

Art inquiry in Liverpool

On March 11th level 4 took a day tripper to see some art in Liverpool; first stop, Albert Dock where we viewed Keywords at the Tate, then on to Lady Lever to the original 'soap paintings'.

It was a beautiful sunny day and the turquoise Mersey looked quite picturesque against the red brick mass of the dock buildings ( by Leeds architect Jesse Hartley). Keywords took its starting point from RaymondWilliams book (ref 306 WIL in college library) showing works from 1976-1996, leaving the audience to build connections from the following words; structural, private, folk, violence, criticism, liberation, formalist, myth, anthropology, nature, materialism, unconscious & theory.

A topical piece that caught the eye was Visceral Canker1990; by Ronald Rodney, with proximity to 12 yrs a Slave, the Slavery Museum (that a few students wandered to) and the word 'violence' pointing to the start of slavery in the UK colonies. It was interesting that the tube systems weren't connected (between John Hawkins & Queen Elizabeth I). This piece was adjacent to 'folk' with Peter Kennard’s Haywain with Cruise Missiles 1980.

At the Lady Lever, after a warm introduction by Carol (education officer) we stood around Millet's Bubbles (depicting the artists grandson), listening to how Lever was a social reformer bringing art to the people via advertising. At a time when art was for the elite (through the new printing technologies) Lever provided access to art, as the masses saved their vouchers from Sunlight soap to get their copy of a contemporary art piece. Lever’s self-enlightened approach has some similarities to  the 'new' principles underpinning advertising by Nike, using new media to enhance people’s lives. 

Despite delays on the M62, a successful day had by all. Students are now invited to reply to this post with their responses to art objects they encounter that sunny day in March...

Tour de France visit to Kettlewell

Yesterday was a good day, a very good day - Monday 24th Feb 2014
As part of a collaboration project with L'Aquilla students in Italy, the LCA students had a blast in the wild, windswept but gorgeous countryside of Yorkshire.
We are working collaboratively on a brief to advertise Yorkshire's Le Grand Depart to Italian tourists and Italian cycle enthusiasts... So, what more could we do as a course than to physically take ourselves out and experience the wonders on offer, the wonders of Yorkshire - we followed the Tour de France route from Leeds to Kettlewell - by bus, not cycle I hasten to add!
We stopped in Kettlewell, where we worked in the Bluebell Inn, lunch, more work, a bit of a wonder around the scenic village made famous by being the heart of the film Calendar Girls, and soon to be the heart of the Tour de France as the pelletron speeds through at an average speed of 40km/h.
We then walked - well, I say walked, it was more slid, slipped, rolled, tumbled, fell and ran through the countryside along the valley from Kettlewell to Starbottom on a round circuit that should have take about a third as long as it actually did. It was an experience for all. It was fun. Educational. It brought the positives to light and it was a great experience for all - an experience that our students can now share with their fellow team-mates in Italy!

There is no finer way of researching and driving enthusiasm for a creative brief than to experience it for yourself, and when that brief is such a delight it is even better.

Can't wait for the next one... shall we advertise the World Cup in Brazil next, that would be another quite nice trip.

All in a golden afternoon with Futurerising...

 

 On Friday 5th February, creative advertising at LCA were given a treat; an event designed by Futurerising - where lots of authentic, no nonsense advice was given by Jeremy Garner (CD Weapon7, Michaela Nicchiotti (Creative, Cheil Worldwide) and Eddie Fisher (Creative, W+K) , along with an hour 'hit'.  Read on to reflect on this truly golden afternoon...

 

After a warm-up outlining the structures of the creative advertising industry by Donald (futurerising), Jeremy offered five words 'to keep things easy'; Risk, Trust, Oppose, Story and Absorb. He illustrated each point with reference to a campaign; with Risk he gave us the catch - Trust - smart skate for two , Oppose - a bit of 180 degree thinking for UNICEF , Story - Dynamo vs Coulthard adding  "always storyboard stuff", asserting storytelling as especially important today where media is so fragmented . For Absorb he urges us to break outside the industry in order to keep our creativity interesing, giving examples of his other creative projects paintings (Jelly Buckingham) and writing thrillers (alias, Seth Garner).

 

The break out session gave an exciting buzz to the afternoon, where LCA creatives worked in teams on either 'UP' by Jawbone, the Nike Fuelband or Fitbit. After which teams had a mere 90 seconds to pitch their idea infront of their peers and the three professionals. The winners; Cicely, Bill, George & Harvey (featured) came up with an interesting idea for UP where mums are made redundant with a social media element involving P45s being sent via Mumsnet. Congrats again and we trust you enjoyed the wine!

 

Michela offered us some insightful creative  solutions with new media, from not getting your hands dirty while baking cakes (with motion sensors on the ipad to turn pages on recipes) to setting challengs with  bake brave . There was also a romantic idea with the message involving geo taging notes a place to the one you love and sending the location via google maps for (only) them to find. Michela advises lots of book crits, which gives exposure and like Jeremy, to work on a personal (creative) project.  

 

 Finally, Eddie gave a sizzling presentation on approaching agencies and turning  placements into jobs. Eddie and his creative partner had about 10 placements in 18mths and then were offered a job by VCCP creating things like the galloping Cow; from there they moved to W+K. He then offered six principles which conflate into; getting a job as a creative needs hard graft, get as many placements as possible, keep developing your book, get the timing right, don't get complacent (kills creativity) and keep your creative curiosity going by being a sponge (echoing Fink, Hegarty and Garner) - generally do the opposite of what is 'usual', reading genres you wouldn’t usually choose* etc. - with an aim to become a well-rounded creative.  Other advice which we've heard before was 'be nice' -become a crucial member of a team (this takes time and lots of placement experience), manage time and he ended by reminding students, level 6 (3rd years) they have 17 weeks left and the level 5, 54 weeks to 'smash it'.

 

 Subsequently (6^th Feb) Fisher sent an email (forwarded to you by Fabio titled useful links from Eddie Fisher) – read it and check out these photos of our afternoon. We know each of you took something from this event (for some, red wine) which is perfect timing for the Personal and Professional Practice modules (that is the advice, not the wine).

  

*Following Fisher's advice, why not join our course bookclub to read stuff you may not usually choose? We’re currently reading 'The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult our next meeting is 24th April in the green studio (with windows). Emily Hall (Level 4) had a great idea to launch the club with wet sponges detailing the next book, which lends itself to a bit of user generated content -  we look forward to the videos...

Sir John Hegarty's Keynote are key themes of Behind the glass Mosaic 1913 2013

Sir John Hegarty gave an interesting and inspirational speech yesterday at Leeds Town Hall, for the 2013 graduation ceremony of Leeds College of Art. 


Hegarty eloquently touched on a key theme of the forthcoming exhibition Behind the glass Mosaic 1913  2013; the nature of creativity.

The starting point of the exhibition are the words of artist and art educator Gordon Forsyth (1879-1952), who in 1913 said something similar about the nature of creativity -also to a group of art students in a town hall (in Stoke). Forsyth said 'art was [...] the embodiment of the spiritual aspirations of life' and is cultivated from the inner self.

Both Forsyth and Hegarty have objected to those who try and subjugate art to science; art is immeasurable. A theme of the exhibition is the challenge of making visible the essence of art education that exists in dialogue, actions and happenings that set the stage for creativity to occur. 

Hegarty like Jagodzinski (2013) and Dafiotis (2013) assert that by it's very nature creativity cannot be defined.

Tutors presently working at Leeds College of Art were asked to respond to the question; does your creative practice inform your learning design? The exhibition evidences the responses of nine tutors, which is contextualised in debates surrounding art education in 1913 and 2013.


 You are invited to enjoy a glass of fizz at the preview of Behind the glass Mosaic 1913  2013, at Blenheim Walk - Friday 13th Dec 4pm - 5pm. The exhibition runs till 14th January.