Graphic Design students do Oaklands College proud in competition finals

On the 12th December 2018, BTEC Level 3 Graphic Design students Jonathan Yankah-Ashun and Luisa Zorlakki were hand-selected by a judging committee for their impressive work on a live-brief set out by ‘My Kinda Future’.

‘My Kinda Future’ are an organisation which works with over 4,500 schools and colleges helping students explore their career options post-education.

The BTEC Level 3 Graphic Design course has always prided itself on working closely with live-briefs set by ‘My Kinda Future’, enabling students to simulate real client to designer experience and develop their skills before entering full-time work.

Oaklands College’s Graphic Design students have previously worked with organisations such as 20th Century Fox, National Grid, Abbey Line, Watford Football Club CSE Trust and many more. 

The current Extended Diploma Graphic Design students were given a live brief from ‘My Kinda Future’ (partnered with Dentsu Aegeis), to create an advertising campaign for Jaguar Land Rover. Students were given a choice of what kind of brief they wanted to pursue as a group, with two groups targeting a younger demographic and the remaining two groups targeting a female specific audience.

Each group produced engaging logo’s for their campaigns, as well as print and web-based media advertisements, planned events to coincide with the launch of their campaigns and created dynamic social media campaigns to further appeal to their target demographics and measure engagement rates.

Huma Yousaf, personal tutor for BTEC Level 3 Graphic Design students said: “The students did a fantastic job, conceptualising new and innovative ideas for their campaigns. All of the groups created sophisticated and relevant outcomes which were produced to a professional standard.”

Jonathan Yankah Ashun and Luisa Zorlakki were selected to present their designs to a panel of judges at an awards ceremony at the British Transport Museum. 

Their content included two original logo designs, an online social media campaign which was distributed across all social media platforms and printed advertisements which would be advertised through public transport, magazines and roadside billboards.

Huma added: “The student’s had their presentation pre-recorded and intercut to coincide with the PowerPoint presentation they had prepared showcasing all of their original creative content.

Despite not winning the final; Jonathan and Luisa were the only group from the finals’ participants to produce a campaign with original material, accompanying the logistics of their campaign. 

Bursting with pride, Huma said: “The students did exceptionally well at the finals and despite their nerves, maintained their professionalism throughout. All the Extended Diploma Graphic Design second year students worked incredibly hard and produced innovative and professional work that they should be proud of”