Calling themselves “Team Unicorn Alpaca 328”, Elsa Yeow and Miza Yazmin Hendroff had recently won the Student Design competition sponsored by University of Northampton. The BA (Hons) Advertising and Design students won a grand prize of RM3,000.
“We were super-duper shocked! We couldn’t believe it – it was like floating on a cotton candy cloud,” said Elsa, sharing her feelings on the recent win.
“In the beginning, we wanted to try and push ourselves to the limit in order to win, but we saw everyone’s entries all look amazing and we both lost hope,” shared Miza. “But we both decided to try our best to make our ads look professional and corporate-looking. Then when the news came, we couldn’t believe it!
“Up till this day, we are still amazed!”
The competition was organised specially for IACT students and held between January to May 2021, with 7 team entries from the August 2020 BAD batch. The Student Design competition had these students design a logo and an advertisement for a two-day student tour around Northampton and Northamptonshire. This was done in conjunction with the final campaign of their module Introduction to Advertising 2, guided by lecturer Ms. Farah Izyan.
Sharing her thoughts on the win, the lecturer said, “Naturally [I’m] very proud of them! The students started off with basic knowledge in layout and design so the fact that they made the judges’ work a little tougher was good to hear. It was a close but healthy competition between the students.”
The final poster entered by the duo showcased elements which emphasized the “friendship” aspect of the tour which impressed the judges. The logo also showcases silhouettes of Northampton landmarks alongside a double-decker bus on the top. The judges noted, “This is very well thought through – you have gone beyond the brief to try and understand what might motivate your target audience – well done.”
Bus Tour Poster by Team Unicorn Alpaca 328
Wander Tours logo by Team Unicorn Alpaca 328
What’s interesting to note is how the assignment, classes, and consultations were all held 100% online over Microsoft Teams, so they don’t have to meet face-to-face.
When asked whether it was challenging guiding the students, Ms. Farah replied, “It was indeed challenging since it is only their first few semesters of study, and they have not been exposed to a lot of industry and competition standards yet.”
“The main challenge was getting them to produce quality work within the short timeframe but in the end all of the groups showed tremendous improvement and I am super impressed with how much they progressed within the semester.”
“They will only continue to get better and maybe in the future carve their names on a Kancil Award too,” the Advertising lecturer also remarked.
Sharing on her hopes for future campaigns or competitions, Ms Farah said, “We hope to get more collaborations with companies and institutions such as this; not only does it give our students a boost of confidence, it also encourages other students to step up and do their best.
“I believe IACT College will continue to soar through awards and competitions and be even more recognised in the advertising industry particularly.”
Coming in at a close second place is duo Alyssa Mia and Anselm Francis, whose entries emphasized “Instagrammable spots” in Northampton and Northamptonshire. They will also be receiving a token of participation.
Bus tour poster by Alyssa Mia and Anselm Francis.
Bus tour poster by Alyssa Mia and Anselm Francis.
