[video]
I love it. It’s beautiful.
The infographic poster my team creates for our client
CreateAthon reception!! My client loved everything, despite them not having printed work, because of difficulties that had arisen.
I’ve been avoiding this post.
This is the one post that I don’t want to write in any way, because it means that CreateAthon is over. It is the last assigned blog post for this semester.
Now how will I spread the word about CreateAthon?
Well, in part, I believe that I’ve already done this. I’ve talked to the Creative director, art directors, and others at the agency that I intern with. I’ve also talked with local Richmond business people, those that are extremely tech-savvy. I and another CreateAthon-er (Alana) talked to the founder of tumblr, David Karp, about CreateAthon.
Pretty much any chance that I get to talk about CreateAthon, and introduce what it is to someone, I take that chance. This is an idea that I believe everyone should know about, so because of that I want to talk about it as much as I possibly can. I’m sure to some people, it gets annoying, but I think that CreateAthon is a brilliant way to simply give back.
(This person is amazing by the way, she’s the one that got me hooked on CreateAthon)
I’m most likely going to talk to some of my old high school teachers as well, and see if there could possibly be a mini-CreateAthon that could be established at the high school level. Maybe they help just one client, instead of breaking into teams and helping 12 different clients, but I think with all the different electives offered in high school (or my high school at least) with students learning business skills, art, yearbook, newspaper, management, automotive, etc., that there could possibly be a class dedicated to giving back to the community. Or maybe it’s not a class, maybe it’s a club set up in high school. Either way, I think it’s a great way for students to see how they could be helping the community around them, and having that kind of experience on your college application, really helps. It shows that you’ve done something real. I realize that the CreateAthon event for them would be a little bit different when it comes to set up, but maybe it’s a 12 hour event during the day, instead of the full 24. Like I said, an intro to CreateAthon events out there for the younger audience.
I have one assigned blog post left for this class…
What am I going to do with my life once CreateAthon is done?
Is there life after CreateAthon?
This is a difficult question. I mean, already I think CreateAthon is great.
The only thing I could think to make it better, is set break times. Maybe it’s different times for each team, or an event game of kickball, but there should be some break times where we’re out having fun definitely instilled. Those small moments of fun help us relax, and in turn, help us pump out even more creative ideas.
Going without breaks, which I almost did, results in not as nearly creative ideas, as well as stress and tension. Neither of those are good with CreateAthon.
(also, honestly, I think students in high school would work better if they had a set time during the middle of the day where they could be outside and just go crazy or relax, just give them some time to not think about school, and then they’ll most likely be more productive)
Maybe it’s bringing back jump rope, or having a crazy coloring contest, sidewalk chalk even.
But with the large majority of us being creative, we definitely need to make sure we have crazy creative outlets that relate to absolutely nothing.
I wish we could help out more nonprofits during the semester, but already we produce so much work for the one nonprofit each team is assigned, but at least it’s awesome work.
Passion-ade: I'm getting there eventually... -
To do list:
Send off toolkit finals
Organize files for client(ughhhh … soooo tedious!)Work on copy for spotify
Finish all dog adventures final touches
Update portfolio
Find a nice dress for the CreateAthon reception
Make sure print adsare done for bioride (I’ll half-way cross this…
My reflection on the field trip to Carter Printing:
OH MY GODZZ IT WAS AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!
I can’t say that I learned this during CreateAthon, but I did learn how much this attribute affects how I work with others.
I am a control freak. I like to be in charge. I’m pretty organized with my work, not as much for the sake of organization, but more to make sure that I know where I am, to know where everyone stands that I’m working with. I have to make sure I have everything planned out ahead of time, that I have all the information I could possibly need. I don’t mean to make it sound like I’m completely obsessive about being in control either. Im just someone who’s ambitious (to put it lightly), yet independent. I like to stay on top of things.
Being a team leader means that I had to let others take charge of certain projects, trust them to do things correctly, and trust their judgement. That is not easy for me. While I did check in on what everyone was doing constantly, and gave some feedback, I had to let my team members do their own thing as well.
I’m pretty sure anyone who knows me, knows that I like things done my way. I like to be in control of how things are done. I’m extremely independent, which may factor into all this as well.
“Creativity, the pulsating orb of light that resides in the back of a designer’s mind feeding them with vision, innovation and contagious ideas. It puts reins on a wildly running imagination, giving it direction and production; making thought reality. The degree of thought and process put into a design is what really sets it apart from the rest of the crowd. You could say that a designer’s purpose is to ignite and set off its audiences’ imaginations into a wild running frenzy. Although, as we all know some ideas come at the click of one’s fingers, while others play a desperate game of hide and seek in the back of our minds. Inspiration can work like the electrodes of a defibrillator, shocking and bringing back to life a once dying idea. The flow of creation can bring an evolution of thought and imagination, superseding anything concocted beforehand.”
http://speckyboy.com/2010/08/10/30-creative-and-inspiring-poster-designs
Now what does creativity mean to CreateAthon?
CreateAthon means helping real clients, real people.
Taking a campaign that is either close to nothing, or is not really working at all, and transforming it to create something amazing.
Creativity. With CreateAthon, you take the foundation of the client, what they need, and find a way to create something completely amazing. This can be website design, posters, brochures, a new logo, anything. The amount of creative brainpower that comes through during CreateAthon is unlike anything else. Perhaps it’s the pressure, or maybe the amount of time, possibly the knowledge that you’re doing something for good.
Whatever the reason may be, creativity is essential. Thinking outside the norms, coming up with crazy ideas.
Creativity during CreateAthon means pushing the limits. This can be a video spot, showing television sets being thrown or even some crazy new website design to draw in the audience. Guidelines are set, of course, saying who we need to target, what is essential to get done, what problems need to be solved; but going beyond those guidelines is where creativity comes in.
How do you take what needs to be done and then push that even further?
And all of this within 24 hours.
