An Edinburgh College Graphic Design student is in the running to be crowned Scotland’s top creative marketing student at the Scottish Marketing Society Star Awards.
Charlie Law (above), who is in his final year of the HND Graphic Design course, has been shortlisted in the Star Creative Student of the Year category at the awards, which take place in June.
The competition, which was open to students across all colleges and universities in Scotland, tasked entrants with a brief set by The Scottish Government to tackle gender inequality. Students were asked to develop campaign materials to raise awareness of the 50/50 pledge laid out by the First Minister. The pledge challenges all public, private and third-sector bodies in Scotland to commit to take action on gender equality, promising to get a 50/50 gender split on their boards of management by 2020.
Charlie’s work aimed to provoke people to talk more openly about gender inequality. His campaign – ‘Put Her in Her Place’ – was intentionally provocative in order to grab people’s attention.
He said: “When I found out I had been shortlisted for the award I couldn’t believe it. It feels amazing to be in the final four, especially after so many people entered from colleges and universities around Scotland. I’m really happy I got to this stage and if anything more comes from it it’ll be the icing on the cake.
“This brief was different because we had to answer it with a written submission, something that I’m not used to as a design student who normally focuses a lot on how a campaign looks. This meant I had to think more about the concept and how it would work.
“My idea was to create a slogan that initially caused outrage – then the full message is revealed … : ‘Put Her in Her Place … rightfully the boardroom.’ In a nation that prides itself on diversity, we should be celebrating gender equality, not shying away from it. I think we often ignore it to avoid being branded sexist.”
Charlie will find out if he is a winner on 9 June at the 2016 Marketing Society Star Awards Gala Dinner held at the Edinburgh Corn Exchange. He will be up against three students from Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design.
Neil Manning, curriculum manager for Art and Design at Edinburgh College, said: “This is a great achievement for Charlie and is a reflection of the high standard and professionalism of the work produced on the HNDs and NCs in Art and Design at Edinburgh College. The dedication of the lecturing staff and commitment and talent evident in the students’ design work has been recognised as above national standards by recent external verification reports. We are really proud of Charlie for being shortlisted and wish him well for the announcement of the Marketing Society Awards in June.”
You can read more about the awards here.
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