The Adobe Creative Jam was full of competition, inspiration and guidance as student designers challenged themselves to create and network with professionals.
Ten pairs of designers gathered in the College of Art and Design Building Tuesday to put their creative skills to work. Each team used Adobe Creative Cloud to design a piece in the Creative Jam tournament.
Creative Jam co-host and Adobe senior community manager Megan Kirkwood said the theme of this year’s event was the color red, as red is the English translation for “rouge,” from Baton Rouge. Teams had three hours to complete their projects with the freedom to create anything from apps to posters to ad campaigns under the graphic design category or videos and animations in the motion design category.
As the teams worked on their projects, four local creative leaders provided one-on-one professional reviews of designers’ portfolios. The professionals included ThreeSixtyEight’s senior graphic designer Corey Schneider, art director and designer for Strike Visuals Co. Thomas Wimberly, director of digital strategy at MESH Jacob Jolibois and MESH creative director David Catoire.
“We were simply looking at the quality and strength of the portfolio as a whole, as well as critiquing individual pieces,” Jolibois said.
He said particular elements the professionals looked for in each design included typography, color, weight and balance. The professionals gave suggestions to students to finesse and strengthen their portfolios and ultimately help them get hired.
Paul Trani, co-host and senior worldwide evangelist for Adobe, kicked off the Creative Jam by introducing the event’s three speakers.
Three Sixty Eight co-founder and chief strategy officer Jeremy Beyt offered advice to designers with his speech “Creatives Can Be Pretty Bad at Business.”
Beyt, a University alumnus, said that while he felt the need to graduate with an economics degree, he also began advertising his band in college as a way to fulfill his need for a creative outlet.
His lecture highlighted three lessons for future designers on how to be financially responsible while still doing what they love.
Beyt discussed how designers should learn to speak different languages for their clients and use popular social media to better understand, connect and come to terms with them. His second lesson focused on setting business ground rules, and the last taught students how to “deliver like a rock star” and build a reputation at being “awesome” to work with.
Owner and artist of Smallchalk, a chalk illustration business in New Orleans, Ashlee Arceneaux Jones graduated from the University with a degree in mass communication.
After having trouble finding a job post graduation, Jones began working as a waitress and was asked to create a chalkboard sign outside of a restaurant one day. She was rewarded for her work with egg sandwiches.
As she started doing more chalkboards, Jones decided to go back to school to study design because she was an untrained artist.
“I needed to learn these skills,” Jones said. “I guess I’m just grateful that people believed in my natural talent.”
Around 2013, Jones left the service industry and took her dream job as a store artist for Whole Foods Market. She progressed in her career, eventually being asked to make Super Bowl XLVII chalkboard signs for ESPN and a mural for the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.
“This was such a far cry from getting egg sandwiches,” Jones said.
Andrew Reilley, owner and creative director of Slash, gave a speech entitled “I Create Because I Give a Damn.” As lead singer and guitarist of the modern alternative rock band Meriwether, he started designing T-shirts and merchandise for bands that toured with them.
Reilley said he came back to the University to pursue a degree in digital arts and developed a love for web design. His wife encouraged him to pursue his passion, and he eventually began branding and rebranding companies.
“At the end of the day, all we really want to do is travel and meet new people and create things that are relevant and constantly satisfy those services [we’re] providing,” Reilley said. “And only if you give a damn is that possible.”
The judges’ choice for favorite graphic design was a tie between Team Annakim and Team Scared Shiftless. Team Ham & Cheese was the winner of the Judges’ Choice for favorite motion design.
Team LDER won the People’s Choice for favorite graphic design and Team First Year (Last) Experience won for favorite motion design.
The prize for the winning teams was a one-year subscription to Adobe Creative Cloud.