7th Annual 12-Hour Student Design Challenge

Life in the advertising and marketing industry happens quickly. Deadlines loom. Budgets bust. Clients change their minds at the last minute. Creatives butt heads. This is real life. This is our life. And we love it! In an effort to expose students to a little of the beautiful chaos that is this life, AAFCM is proud to present the 7th Annual(ish- thanks 2020) 12–Hour Student Design Challenge.

It seems only fitting, given how much things can and do change in this industry, that this event has changed as well. Like many events in the last year, we will be hosting this one virtually. To avoid the dreaded Zoom fatigue that would come from 12-hours of being live, we are breaking up this design challenge into two days. 

Here’s what it will look like: 

Starting at 2 pm, Friday, April 16th, eight teams of four college students will be presented with a creative brief explaining the chosen nonprofit’s mission and unique marketing needs. The teams’ goal for the next six hours? Execute. They will have until 8 pm to begin developing a complete marketing strategy including all necessary deliverables with the client’s mission in mind. At 8 pm, teams will disperse and reconvene the following day, Saturday, April 17th at 8 am to complete their concepts and prepare for presentations. 

Throughout those two days, teams will have access to advisors representing several different agencies and creative organizations in the area – advisors who spend their days doing exactly what the students will come up against – hustling to meet a deadline while turning out incredible work. Advisors will be available via specified Zoom links that will be shared the day of. 

Teams will present their designs and working strategies to a panel of judges from the selected non-profit. The winning team will the much-coveted traveling SDC trophy, and more importantly, clout. For all students, it will be a great portfolio and resume builder, as well as a chance to get your name into the network of creative professionals who support the day.

Details:

Date: Friday, April 16th- Saturday, April 17th

Time: Friday – 2 PM to 8 PM; Saturday – 8 AM to 12:30 PM; presentations begin at 12:45 PM with the winning team announced by 3 PM.

Place: Virtual

Cost: $20 per Team

Contact: Tiffany Schultz by email at tiffanyzschultz@gmail.com

Students:

Register now to be one of the eight SDC teams. It’s first come, first serve, so finalize your teams, and we’ll announce when team registration is full. There is no requirement to what majors/areas of study are represented by the team members. However, we strongly recommend that teams be well-rounded with strong skills in design, marketing/communications, writing, strategy, and planning.

Apply Now