This was no simple assignment from Wood Buffalo Metis: The organization wanted a new logo and other marketing tools.
“It was a daunting task — to give a face to a forgotten people,” said Cameron Mart of Alchemy Systems, a graphic design firm in Guelph, Ont. “They wanted our help to produce a brand that would be noticed.”
The “our” in this case wasn’t Alchemy’s usual crew of experts. This assignment — and 11 others this week — fell largely on the young shoulders of students in the graphic design program at Conestoga College in Kitchener, Ont.
12 teams, each made up of students under the direction of Alchemy’s art directors and account managers, worked late into Thursday night (Oct. 20) at Alchemy’s studios in Guelph to produce marketing tools pro bono for 12 social-profit organizations in Fort McMurray, Alta., including Wood Buffalo Metis.
Capacity Canada, Alchemy and the college’s graphic design program arrange CreateAthon Waterloo-Wellington, an annual marathon event that provides tens of thousands of dollars worth of free branding work to local community groups.
This year, the partnership suspended its usual plans, added a new partner — FuseSocial in Fort McMurray — and rebranded itself “CreateAthon Waterloo-Wellington for Fort McMurray 2016” to assist groups affected by the wildfire that burned through the Alberta city in May.
On Friday morning (Oct. 21) the teams, up and running on only a few hours of sleep, presented concepts for logos, letterhead, websites, brochures and other branding elements to their clients in Alberta, who watched via video feed at the Redpoll Centre in Fort McMurray.
“The organizations were extremely happy with their marketing pieces,’’ said Amy Matthews, FuseSocial’s creator of possibilities and the person who co-ordinated the CreateAthon effort in Fort McMurray. “They were in awe of what the design teams accomplished in the 24 hours.
“Groups said things like, ‘It was like night and day in comparison to what we had.’ We are so grateful we were given the opportunity to bring the CreateAthon to Fort McMurray. It will make a huge difference to organizations as they rebuild their capacity.’’
The teams’ projects will be posted at www.createathonww.com.
CreateAthons have spread across the globe from the first event in the late 1990s in South Carolina. The formats are essentially the same — a creative blitz for social-profit agencies that rolls on late into the night, if not around the clock.
As Conestoga College students worked for clients in Fort McMurray, students in the design program at Central Texas College tackled projects for community groups in Austin, Texas, with the support of professionals at Alchemy’s Austin head office.
“One of the big things (about CreateAthon) is the tight time frame,” said John Baljkas, a faculty member in the graphic design program at Conestoga College. “The students really see what they can accomplish in a very short period of time. They learn how teams function under pressure. That’s a huge learning piece that is hard to simulate in a classroom.”
CreateAthon throws other working-world elements into the mix for students to consider. Developing a logo for Wood Buffalo Metis meant sensitively blending modern design elements with traditional features and colours of Metis heritage, Mart said.
Zac Spurling, a third-year graphic design student who is used to dreaming up his own concepts at Conestoga College, said CreateAthon gave him the experience of “working off somebody else’s idea” under the direction of an account manager and an art director.
Meeting the needs of clients forced students to improvise. Rebecca van Leeuwen, also a third-year student at Conestoga figured out a work-around to help her team come up with marketing tools that a client could manage on outdated software.
Benefitting agencies in Fort McMurray ranged from a non-profit golf course, to the local hospital foundation. Teams produced concepts that could be used on small business cards or large trucks.
“This is very exciting for us. We’re counting on the ideas,” said Jon McCallum, a creative director at Alchemy. “These students haven’t formed any preconceptions yet that something can’t be done.”
Tight deadlines, specific client needs, a different learning environment — third-year student Sarena van Dodewaard admitted she was a little nervous heading into CreateAthon. But the teamwork helped, she said, and she left with a new iPad as one of the event’s top participants.
The students “did their utmost to give (the clients) what was asked for,’’ said Matt Miller, Capacity Canada’s executive-in-residence who co-ordinates CreateAthon Waterloo-Wellington.
“Wait until they have the final results in hand. Video screens don’t do it justice.”
