Dan and Jordan – partners in design
L- R: Jordan Williams and Dan Mitchell.
University is a place to forge life-long friendships, but for Dan Mitchell and Jordan Williams it has been a testing group for their professional partnership – a partnership that has already led to national recognition.
Dan and Jordan, both 21, graduated this summer from Advertising and Design. A strong element of the degree is building professional network – and, working together, the two students have already won two national awards.
Earlier this year the design duo won the national Sleep Better Competition, for their ‘Sleep Tight, Be Bright’ campaign. Only weeks later they hit the national headlines again, with their winning billboard ‘#WorkToGetHer’, supporting gender workplace equality, displayed across London.
Their work, judged by Group Chief Creative Officer Justin Tindall of M&C Saatchi London, was the pick of hundreds of entries from across the country’s advertising schools. He said: "This work stood out because of its simplicity and social potential. It’s also a clear call to action for the industry to join forces and make change happen."
Ali Hanan, CEO and founder of Creative Equals, an non-profit organisation driving gender equality across the creative industry, explained: "With our Young Creative Council survey, Creative Equals revealed 50% of young female creatives said they were already considering leaving the industry because of low wages and living conditions, while 60% said they felt they couldn’t stay with a young family; 88% also said they had no role models to follow.
“Jordan and Dan’s #WorkToGetHer is a direct call to agencies to change their policies and working culture to attract and retain female creative talent."
The students’ 48-sheet poster was displayed on the Roundhouse venue in Camden, leading up to the Creative Circle Ball at the weekend, the biggest event in the UK creative calendar, with professionals from the advertising industry coming from agencies all over the UK.
Dan and Jordan, as part of their prize were given two free tickets to the ball and seated on the golden judges’ table, giving them access to some of the highest ranking creative directors in London.
Dan, 21, from Cramlington, said: “After a week from submission of our entry we got told of our win and were over the moon.
“We booked our tickets for London and once we headed into Camden, seeing our work up on a billboard was amazing, the whole night was great and we got some extra contacts as well in the industry, hopefully a sign of bigger and better things to come!”
Dan Mitchell and Jordan Williams opposite the #WorkToGetHer billboard.
Jordan, 21, from County Durham, added: “We only found out about the competition a few hours before the deadline and started working on it straight away, got it submitted and then hoped we had a chance of winning and a week later we got the good news. Then we got tickets to the event that would usually cost £250 each and our work on a billboard!”
Both students showcased more of their work at a design exhibition in London on July 6, two days before they graduated from their degrees at the University.
Keith Nevens Senior, Lecturer and Programme Leader in Advertising & Design, said: “This is an incredibly mature piece of design that Jordan and Dan have pulled off. It's simple yet very sophisticated. More than just a poster, it is a complete call to action that can run over a whole range of media.
“Everyone I have spoken to about this, whether they’re fellow tutors or the biggest creatives in the industry, they all agreed 'the boys just simply nailed it'.
“As a result of winning and being guests at the event they are guaranteed interviews with MC Saatchi's Justin Tindall and Vicky Maquire of Grey, as well as countless other creatives agreed to see the pair during the course of the evening, so they are looking for a very big appointments diary.
“This is the team’s second big win of the year and needless to say I couldn't be more proud of them, but they still have another four competition entries outstanding, so who knows what their final tally might be. One thing I can be certain of is that they are well on their way to landing the career of their dreams.”
“I loved my time here, and would love to do it all over again,” said Dan. “Jordan and I are aiming high.”
Jordan, added: “I think if I hadn't gone to university I would have struggled a lot to find myself and know what I wanted to do as a career.
“I hope to get a job in the advertising industry, that would be my dream. And I plan on doing a Masters degree sometime in the future too - if I ever get the time!”