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BrandHack 2019 Recap: Diamonds in the Ruff Animal Rescue

February 11, 2019February 12, 2019Lauren Carmer

The fourth installment of our BrandHack event featured Diamonds in the Ruff Animal Rescue (DITR), a local non-profit looking for an updated logo, icon set and sales sheet in order to increase brand awareness and show people how to get involved with their organization.

About Our Benefiting Non-Profit

Diamonds in the Ruff Animal Rescue was formed in 2011 by a group of like-minded individuals with one goal in mind – to help and save the voiceless. DITR is a foster and volunteer dog rescue in Niagara and Erie counties.

Meet the Competition

Three teams of students from St. Bonaventure, SUNY Buffalo State, and Hilbert College gathered at Hilbert on a cold Saturday morning. They were tasked with designing updated creative elements for DITR. Three seasons professionals from the area each lead a team: Joe Conti from Luminus, Samantha Lonczak from Fifteen, and Megan Sweeney from Gelia. These creative pros provided guidance and advice for the student teams from brainstorming and development through to execution.

In true BrandHack tradition, teams had five hours to organize and create their ideas before pitching them to our two judges and the representatives from Diamonds in the Ruff.

Guidance from Judges and Rescuers

Our two judges, Frank Conjerti from martin. and Brian Benzin from Columbus McKinnon, offered their expertise throughout the event. They assisted to make sure the teams were on track and accomplishing what they had to deliver on a tight deadline. Meanwhile, DITR representatives Leandra Braham and Erin Boyd provided the students with valuable information as to the various needs of their organization, as well as their process for rescuing animals.

Each team beat the clock and produced some well-executed, unique work along the way. Congrats to all the students and captains for being a part of another great event!

Check out the results of BrandHack 2019!

WINNER: Buff State/Hilbert captained by Joe Conti

RUNNER-UP: St. Bonaventure captained by Samantha Lonczak

Buff State/Hilbert captained by Megan Sweeney

Blog Students

Finding answers to portfolio problems

November 25, 2016Dan Nesselbush

Guest post by Noah Herman, Daemen College ’18

Portfolios. They’re usually not an easy topic to talk about. Discussions often end up sparking more questions than answers, and end with comments like, “But, it’s really up to you as the designer.” However, for students stepping into the job market, the search for concrete answers that could lead to a job opportunity can be hard to come by. This year, the 2016 Portfolio Seminar shed light on the subject by featuring four different speakers in four different phases of their careers.

Offering different point of views, Angela Marini, a Daemen College student and winner of the AAF’s 2016 Student Portfolio Review; Greg Meadows, Creative Director at Telesco Creative Group; Jason Yates, Associate Creative Director at Gelia; and April Brown, Art Director at FARM, were able to provide unique information based on their own experiences to give more well-rounded portfolio advice.

The biggest takeaways at Portfolio Seminar:

Be yourself and be comfortable with it
Quality over quantity, always
An online portfolio is equally as necessary as a physical portfolio
There’s no right answer, but there are a lot of wrong ones

While these were the primary messages, they certainly weren’t the only ones. Other lessons learned included the importance of being able to talk about your work, the insight a process book can add to a project, the effectiveness of showing a wide range of projects, the value of tailoring your presentation for the job you’re applying to, and more.

This discussion didn’t just cover the do’s and don’ts of portfolios, but also branched out into career advice for finding a job that fits you, and insight into proper networking. In particular, April Brown stressed the importance of putting yourself out there, noting that you never know where a connection can lead. Jason Yates also voiced that as a designer, a job needs to fit you well for it to benefit you and the company in the long term. Greg Meadows continued on this subject as he briefly discussed his career path as a designer, and his broad amount of experience in the industry.

After the professionals finished their points, the conversation switched to Angela Marini’s presentation of her award-winning portfolio. Seeing a successful portfolio that touched on a range of subjects (from print design to motion graphics), along with her mature and concise choice of pieces, put the preaching of the seminar into practice.

The Portfolio Seminar touched on many tips that can be implemented by students searching for their first job or internship. Learning how to stand out in a competitive field can seem overwhelming at times, but starting with an outline created from the panelists’ main points is a good way to create a unique and successful approach to portfolio design.

The lessons covered here and more made the 2016 Portfolio Seminar incredibly influential; it provided those who attended with a comprehensive basis for a strong portfolio concept. Thank you to all attendees, and those who helped execute this valuable seminar.

Blog Students

Two students awarded scholarships by the Ad Club.

April 19, 2013October 28, 2016Ad Club Of Buffalo

The Buffalo Ad Club recently awarded two bright communication students scholarships. That’s right, our annual Don Nichols Scholarship competition has come and gone, and Juan Esguerra and Marissa Caggiano won us over, to say the least.

The competition is named in honor of Don Nichols, who founded the Albright Art School’s Graphic Design Department in 1950. He brought the program to UB, where he served as its head until his passing in 1987. He educated countless graphic designers, some of whom went on to national prominence. Nichols was awarded the Alex Osborn Award for Creativity from the Art Directors/Communicators of Buffalo, along with the Chancellor’s Award for Teaching from UB.

The Don Nichols Scholarship competition has been around for 15 years now, awarding promising communication students a little financial help with their education. This year, Juan Esguerra of Daemen College was awarded first place for his “No Futuro” poster. Marissa Caggiano of UB took home second place for her “Roots” poster. Congratulations to both and good luck to all students wishing to take part next year. And students, be sure to look for more information about our next Don Nichols Scholarship competition in the fall.