About the Dream Team
In August 2014, I had this amazing idea. What would happen if I setup a team that included one student from different disciplines or courses from within Melbourne Polytechnic (formerly NMIT) and told them to collaborate together to help create something wonderful and useful for the Institute and possibly external partners or community groups.
The Dream Team 2014
In 2014, the idea was to create an amazing promotional poster for the Institute? As far as I knew- this was the first time this type of project has been attempted at NMIT. The poster and the image for the poster would be designed and created by the students and in doing so, act as a powerful stamp of credibility for the institute. Think about it. A poster designed by existing students to attract new students.
As I had hoped, the students lived up to the task enormously and also lived up to the name DREAM TEAM. It was amazing. The students listed below were hand-picked following recommendations and endorsements by their teachers. The qualities I was looking for including, technical skills, creative skills, reliability, ability to work with others as apart of a team and professionalism (including communication skills).
Jessica Lawrence from the Certificate IV in Fashion Design
Rebecca Koster from the Advanced Diploma of Engineering Technology
Rita Mokbel from the Diploma of Specialist Makeup Services
Elle Hughes from the Diploma of Specialist Makeup Services
Sean Paris from the Certificate IV in Photo Imaging
Nina Cheles-McLean from the Diploma of Visual Arts – Illustration Steam
Carlos Fojo from the Diploma of Graphic Design
So after our first and only creative meeting I gave the students the brief and set the challenge. They had 24 hours to work together and produce something like this….
This was a collaboration that required a high level of communication, organisation and technical expertise. Jessica designed and produced the shirt and tie for model Elle who also developed the hair style. Rebecca designed and manufactured the ear rings. Nina then applied the make-up and Sean setup and managed the photo shoot. Once the ‘hero’ image was selected – Nina created her stylised brush and ink illustration. Then both the photo and illustration were sent to Carlos who produced the final poster.
AND this is what it looks like….
What about me? What role did I play you may ask? Well apart from Art Directing the project, I was also busy with my handy cam videotaping every stage of production. This involved careful planning and negotiation and lots of traveling between campuses. I had decided that this momentous event required an official promotional video clip. Leigh Duffas from the Advanced Diploma of Sound Production agreed to supply the original soundtrack for my clip.
To see my final Dream Team Promo Clip click here.
The DREAM TEAM 2015
In 2015, I was approached by the Marketing and Communications Unit at Melbourne Polytechnic to see if I could dedicated the Dream Team project to beautifying the students courtyard at Preston Campus. We decided a large mural was required to add colour and interest to the space. “The visual concept for the mural was based on Melbourne Polytechnic’s new tagline ‘Rule Your World’.
In order for our students to understand the meaning of ‘Rule Your World’ the idea was to base the mural on the eight Australians we believe embody the essence of the ‘Rule Your World spirit’. We think that when students and visitors to the Preston campus visit the art piece, they will be inspired to achieve success if they follow the same etho of these icons.
When it came to selecting the students for the Melbourne Polytechnic Dream Team , we based our criteria on a number of factors, aside from the ability to illustrate, the students also needed to have shown commitment throughout the academic year, reliability, communication skills and a can do attitude – all part of working in a successful collaborative project with a tight time frame.
I am really excited that we get this opportunity to validate the talent of our students work and will continue to do so with more Melbourne Polytechnic Dream Team projects”.
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