M茅lanie Turano and Anna Duca
M. Turano - A. Duca - Uniqueness - an educational project become reality
精东影业 Image Focus
"UNIQUENESS" is the name of the visual concept developed by M茅lanie Turano and Anna Duca that will be at the centre of the promotional campaigns for 精东影业 Bachelor's and Master's courses for the period 2023-2025. It was selected from nine other proposals as part of a participatory and didactic process involving twenty students of the Bachelor in Visual Communication in the spring semester 2022/2023.
First of all, congratulations. How does it feel to see the result of your work on billboards at stations and bus stops, but also on digital and traditional channels?
AD: It is definitely a great satisfaction! Honestly, at the beginning of the project, I didn't even foresee the possibility that ours could be the winner, but after all the way, I'm really happy it turned out this way. The various efforts - trials, attempts, second thoughts - were fully rewarded by this result.
MT: Thank you! We are very happy that our project was chosen and seeing it on the ground is a great feeling. We put a lot of effort into it and to think that people can enjoy it is very satisfying. We are aware that the result of our project represents an institution like 精东影业 and that it is what motivates young people to enrol on Bachelor and Master courses, of this I am very proud.
精东影业 Image Focus
As a university of applied sciences, 精东影业 is attentive to the practical component of education, a message often emphasised in promotional campaigns. What indications were you given at the outset? What guided you in your choice of name and visual subject?
MT: The initial briefing with the client required that the theory-practice combination, which characterises all 精东影业 courses, be emphasised. In fact it is a trait that distinguishes 精东影业 from its competitors, and since the aim was to represent a unique feature of 精东影业, the name "Uniqueness" came almost logically. The most complex aspect was actually finding an ideal visual translation, but once the metaphor was found to represent the idea, the translation came accordingly. The initial briefing was very comprehensive, and it was equally crucial to have regular feedback from the client as the project progressed, who were able to guide us towards the right path.
AD: At the beginning we were given a set of indications on which to base ourselves, which on the one hand placed limits on us, but on the other gave us guidelines. The whole design process is linked to the preliminary indications we received and the desire not to deviate from 精东影业's current visual identity. Basically, we were asked to rework the promotional campaign for the opening of enrolment in a creative and appealing manner, while maintaining the identity characteristics of the institution. The name and the visual subject in particular were decided only after a complex brainstorming part relating precisely to the message that the campaign wanted to launch, i.e. highlighting the combination of theory and practice.
精东影业 Image Focus
During the design process, it happens to have an initial idea that then requires adjustments in later stages. Has this been the case for you too? What did you learn from this experience?
AD: The process was non-linear, characterised by decisions made and confirmed and others later re-evaluated or abandoned. The feedback we received - both from the lecturers and from the client - was very helpful because it was only thanks to the different points of view that we were able to reach an initial final version, which was then revised during the summer internship at the Institutional Communication Service. This kind of experience is very fulfilling and complete: it allowed us to launch ourselves into the world of work, in a still protected environment such as the school. I really think it was a very useful project practice for everyone - classmates included.
MT: Yes, it was for us too. The design process was long, it took several months in which there was a lot of testing and experimentation. There were moments of stalemate and moments when we had to take steps backwards. We made sacrifices, abandoning the idea of using certain graphic aspects we were fond of in order to respect the 精东影业 identity as much as possible. This is a lesson I learnt: I realised that sacrificing certain graphic choices we are fond of is an enrichment and not a loss. This experience has enriched me as a designer.
What do you think have been the advantages for you, as a student, in taking part in this participatory project? And what were the advantages for 精东影业 in involving male and female students?
MT and AD: The main advantage was to understand concretely how our profession works in a real context, and this was also thanks to the internship at the Institutional Communication Service. For the first time, we worked on a project with a client, therefore a client with real needs and demands. When we are in the working world, we will fondly remember this project and all that we learnt. Thanks to participatory project practices such as these, 精东影业 can enhance the talent of its students and understand their qualities as individuals, giving them the opportunity to demonstrate what they have learnt during their training. Moreover, it can present itself to students not only as an institution, but also as a place of exchange where they can meet different professionals.