ADMENTAL 2024
Advertising and mental health collide in AdMental, an annual event that showcases and raises awareness of mental health through the powerful lens of film, television and advertising.
Client: AdMental // TAFE SA
AGDA Finalist - Student Print (Posters)
AADC Student Finalist - E.01 Idea // E.02 Craft
Overview
This student brief asked us to create a poster for the event ”AdMental”, a yearly event that showcases advertisements and short films with the theme of mental health.
The brief asked us to approach the creative with a lighter tone and feel, with the main objective to get ”bums on seats” and advertise the event.
My idea was to simply smash the two themes of mental health and film into one image, by sandwiching a motion picture camera between a plastic brain. This solution communicates a lighthearted tone and feel through it’s bright colours and dynamic angle, forcing two themes together into a fun and unusual image.
Audience
The audience for this brief was quite broad as identified by the client, with the main objective to “get bums on seats.”Due to the broad nature of the brief, and the event being positive in nature, it was important to steer clear of distressing or upsetting imagery, and to instead create something that was lighthearted, fun, and non-confrontational.
Software
I had a clear vision of what I wanted this to look like, so I know that the software I would mainly use would be Blender. This was used to create the plastic brain by watching creators online and mimicking the tools and methods they used, combined with a free asset of the camera found online.
These were both imported into Adobe Illustrator, and was later expanded into an animation using Blender and Adobe After Effects.
Outcome
This solution was selected as the winner for event, although it unfortunately didn’t go ahead due for external reasons. This design secured a finalist position in two categories for the AADC awards, and one for the AGDA awards.
After some feedback from industry, the decision was made to revamp the animation and initial poster, by making it clear what the event was, and by implementing a 3D effect in an otherwise 2D poster.
This was also used in my end of year graduation exhibition, highlighting some of the skills and knowledge I had developed for this brief and during the year.
Overview
This solution was selected as the winner for event, although it unfortunately didn’t go ahead due for external reasons. This design secured a finalist position in two categories for the AADC awards, and one for the AGDA awards.
After some feedback from industry, the decision was made to revamp the animation and initial poster, by making it clear what the event was, and by implementing a 3D effect in an otherwise 2D poster.
This was also used in my end of year graduation exhibition, highlighting some of the skills and knowledge I had developed for this brief and during the year.
I had a clear vision of what I wanted this to look like, so I know that the software I would mainly use would be Blender. This was used to create the plastic brain by watching creators online and mimicing the tools and methods they used, combined with a free asset of the camera found online.
These were both imported into Adobe Illustrator, and was later expanded into an animation using Blender and Adobe After Effects.
Outcome
The audience for this brief was quite broad as identified by the client, with the main objective to “get bums on seats.”
Due to the broad nature of the brief, and the event being positive in nature, it was important to steer clear of distressing or upsetting imagery, and to instead create something that was lighthearted, fun, and non-confrontational.
This student brief asked us to create a poster for the event ”AdMental”, a yearly event that showcases advertisements and short films with the theme of mental health.
The brief asked us to approach the creative with a lighter tone and feel, with the main objective to get ”bums on seats” and advertise the event.
My idea was to simply smash the two themes of mental health and film into one image, by sandwiching a motion picture camera between a plastic brain. This solution communicates a lighthearted tone and feel through it’s bright colours and dynamic angle, forcing two themes together into a fun and unusual image.
Audience / Research
Software
Overview
This creative direction shows a driver, (or “dummy”) been bombarded and crowded by unimportant, mundane, and sometimes miss-spelt text messages while driving. These messages were inspired directly from messages that I have sent and received while driving, which further highlighted how much I had let it get in my way of driving safely.
The concept behind this creative direction is based on findings that not all distractions are visual, and even simple notifications can still take the driver’s mind away from the task at hand. This is reflected in the tagline; “Clear Mind, Clear Sight”, which is paired with a strike-through bell symbol, using familiar imagery to provide the audience with a solution to avoid distractions.
The message content features references to roads or places in both Adelaide and Melbourne. This shows that the same campaign can be spread across the country, yet can be tailored to local areas, roads, and suburbs. It also was a personal Easter Egg for others to find, as the Melbourne based references are from where I grew up.
While Re:Act were quite clear that the audience was 17 to 25 year olds, it was up to our own research to define what kind of phone distraction we would be targeting.
While other students chose to look at distractions that related to music or pedestrians being distracted, I selected messaging as my specific theme, with around 54% of respondents admitting that they were distracted by messaging or phone calls.
Students were provided with the bones of how Re:act and other stakeholders required the creative to be delivered. This included lockups of logos, and a pre-defined exclusion area at the bottom of the composition. I used Blender to create the message bubbles, which had vector messages UV wrapped around each bubble, and used add-ons such as Blender-Kit and Mixamo to source assets such as a vehicle and a model.
This was later exported into Adobe Illustrator, with the final billboard shown on as mockups on billboards around Adelaide, taken by me. These mockups give the advertisement a real world feel by placing it in familiar and local environments.
Outcome
While Re:Act were quite clear that the audience was 17 to 25 year olds, it was up to our own research to define what kind of phone distraction we would be targeting.
While other students chose to look at distractions that related to music or pedestrians being distracted, I selected messaging as my specific theme, with around 54% of respondents admitting that they were distracted by messaging or phone calls.
While Re:Act were quite clear that the audience was 17 to 25 year olds, it was up to our own research to define what kind of phone distraction we would be targeting.
While other students chose to look at distractions that related to music or pedestrians being distracted, I selected messaging as my specific theme, with around 54% of respondents admitting that they were distracted by messaging or phone calls.
Audience / Research
Software
Overview
This creative direction shows a driver, (or “dummy”) been bombarded and crowded by unimportant, mundane, and sometimes miss-spelt text messages while driving. These messages were inspired directly from messages that I have sent and received while driving, which further highlighted how much I had let it get in my way of driving safely.
The concept behind this creative direction is based on findings that not all distractions are visual, and even simple notifications can still take the driver’s mind away from the task at hand. This is reflected in the tagline; “Clear Mind, Clear Sight”, which is paired with a strike-through bell symbol, using familiar imagery to provide the audience with a solution to avoid distractions.
The message content features references to roads or places in both Adelaide and Melbourne. This shows that the same campaign can be spread across the country, yet can be tailored to local areas, roads, and suburbs. It also was a personal Easter Egg for others to find, as the Melbourne based references are from where I grew up.
While Re:Act were quite clear that the audience was 17 to 25 year olds, it was up to our own research to define what kind of phone distraction we would be targeting.
While other students chose to look at distractions that related to music or pedestrians being distracted, I selected messaging as my specific theme, with around 54% of respondents admitting that they were distracted by messaging or phone calls.
Students were provided with the bones of how Re:act and other stakeholders required the creative to be delivered. This included lockups of logos, and a pre-defined exclusion area at the bottom of the composition. I used Blender to create the message bubbles, which had vector messages UV wrapped around each bubble, and used add-ons such as Blender-Kit and Mixamo to source assets such as a vehicle and a model.
This was later exported into Adobe Illustrator, with the final billboard shown on as mockups on billboards around Adelaide, taken by me. These mockups give the advertisement a real world feel by placing it in familiar and local environments.
Outcome
While Re:Act were quite clear that the audience was 17 to 25 year olds, it was up to our own research to define what kind of phone distraction we would be targeting.
While other students chose to look at distractions that related to music or pedestrians being distracted, I selected messaging as my specific theme, with around 54% of respondents admitting that they were distracted by messaging or phone calls.
While Re:Act were quite clear that the audience was 17 to 25 year olds, it was up to our own research to define what kind of phone distraction we would be targeting.
While other students chose to look at distractions that related to music or pedestrians being distracted, I selected messaging as my specific theme, with around 54% of respondents admitting that they were distracted by messaging or phone calls.