The University of Birmingham has developed a range of short courses to offer flexible and personalised education for modern learners. The three different types of short course – Skills Bootcamps, Microcredentials, and Continuing Professional Development (CPD) – help students get to where they want to be faster.
Brief
Word of mouth marketing is an effective marketing technique. Our client, Dan Brindley, came to Creative Media with the idea of laptop stickers to promote the short courses. Students could stick these on the back of their laptops, which would in turn inspire passers-by in the library, coffee shop etc to consider studying the short courses.
Dan asked our designer, Alice, and copywriter, Jack, to work together on the sticker concepts. One requirement was that the stickers must be fun and vibrant to stand out in crowded venues.
When Copywriting Meets Design …
Alice and Jack jumped at the opportunity to collaborate on the stickers.
The two came up with 12 sticker concepts based on unique ideas, including: a crystal ball that prophesises a bright future; a retro computer ‘loading’ new career prospects; and a cassette tape complete with a study mix.
Alice got to work drawing up draft versions of the stickers, allowing Dan to collaborate on the look and feel of the campaign. Throughout this process, the team worked out the shapes, colours and fonts to be used across the 12 designs.
As the stickers varied in design, it was important to write a slogan that tied all 12 items together. Jack pitched the title ‘Short Courses, Big Ideas’ to Dan, who immediately approved it.
The Short Courses stickers gave Creative Media a fantastic opportunity to showcase their copy and design skills around the University. We’re excited to see the stickers about campus and to hear from students who choose to pursue the courses.
‘I really enjoyed working on this project with Alice and Jack. They really ran with the brief and came up with some great ideas and executed them brilliantly. It was nice to have the creative freedom to concept something that was more design focused rather than functional.
Short courses are a relatively new mode of study for the University so initiatives like this are a great way of spreading the word in a creative way. Thanks to Alice and Jack for all their hard work!’
