Calvin Students Work for Symphony

May 4, 2006 == MEDIA ADVISORY

At 11 am on May 10 a dozen Calvin College seniors in art professor Frank
Speyers' graphics class have a client appointment with the Grand Rapids
Symphony.

The marketing campaigns the students will present at that session, to be held
in Calvin's Meeter Center lecture hall, mark the culmination of their
semester-long projects for Communications Design, an art class that serves as a
marketing simulation.

"It's an exploration of branding," says Speyers. "It's the most realistic
simulation that I could make it."

Every year Speyers' class takes on the marketing challenges of a real-life
organization, attempting to capture that client's message in brochures,
mailers, letterhead and other materials. Past clients have included Jubilee
Jobs, Goodwill Industries International, Inc., DeVos Place and the Grand Rapids
Art Museum.

"The ideas behind the work are still academic," Speyers says, "but when you
have a client, the idea is rooted and grounded in reality. The idea takes on
feet and can walk."

The process started early in the semester when the class met with symphony
executives to hear about their marketing needs. The creative ideas students
generate in his class not only land them jobs, Speyers says, they may also be
picked up by the client for an actual marketing campaign.

Right now, the student marketers just have to make it through their pitches.

"Presentation is a big part of it," Speyers says. "They each have to do a
little three-minute shtick. They have to memorize it. It's show time, baby."

For the full story, including JPGs, see
http://www.calvin.edu/news/releases/2005_06/graphic_arts.htm

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Received on Thu May 4 16:10:11 2006