Former ADCNJ President, Deborah Rivera, third from left, mentors her team as they compete in this year's Let's Charrette event during Kean College's Thinking Creatively conference.
This year’s annual Thinking Creatively conference, hosted by Kean College featured the creative shoot out where students, studying graphic design, architecture and interior design, join forces to compete for bragging rights at the Let’s Charrette event.
Al Montagna's team presents their concepts.
Al Montagna, President of Small Earth Visual Communications, discusses concepts with his team. Sponsored by ADCNJ members, The Gruskin Group, for the third year in a row, the Charrette pitted ten teams composed of ten students, who design a retail environment, a product identity program, a multi-channel marketing campaign and product packaging with the guidance of a mentor from one of the cited industries.
Students present early ideas for approval from their team mentor, Jay Beispiel
This year, the product was a customizable sneaker, made on-demand, and the students had to create this experience for the consumer based on their own experiences.
ADCNJ Communications Chair and Gruskin Group Creative Director, Jeff Barcan advises students in their teams presentation.
Teams were given three-hours to develop and lay-out their ideas onto large presentation boards and then make a personal presentation to the crowd. Competitors learned the value of working as a team and the real-life deadline pressure to create a unified pitch, an invaluable skill that is not usually taught as part of the college curriculum of graphic design.
Ken Gruskin and John Weiman, center, discuss strategies for getting student presentations to be dynamic.
Join me as I interview the sponsors, mentors and students to delve into what we call creativity and how it can be wielded in many forms. And, of course, which team was judged the best.
Art Director's Club of New Jersey 