Infographic wins gold in MarCom Awards

“MarCom Awards is an international creative competition that recognizes outstanding achievement by marketing and communication professionals. Entries come from corporate marketing and communication departments, advertising agencies, PR firms, design shops, production companies and freelancers.

The Gold Award is presented to those entries judged to exceed the high standards of the industry norm. Approximately 23 percent were Gold Winners.”

–MarCom Awards

Last fall, while I was working on-call in the Communications and Marketing department of VCC, I was given pages of stats and asked to create an infographic that was easy to understand, lively and within the new brand. Basically, take boring but important information and make it interesting and digestible.

I started by figuring out the point of view of the reader and creating a logical storyline. Since our goal is to promote the college and attract new students, the most logical point of view is that of a prospective student. From that point of view, chronological order makes the most sense for a storyline. Travelling from before enrolment, through their studies and into the work-force post graduation. Where do students come from? What languages do they speak? How old are they? What programs do they take? How many get jobs after graduation? How many enjoyed their studies?

VCC’s new brand has a great colour palette, so that instantly helped create a lively and energetic feel for the piece. I had the most trouble with the program areas. How to fit so many diverse programs in there without over-powering the piece? Another hurdle was finding an image for employment. I first started with a handshake – to go with the thumbs up beside it. But I preferred the cheekiness of the piggy bank. We’re all looking to get paid, right?

Looking at the piece now, I would move the totem pole showing Aboriginal student enrolment to the left of the world map, so as not to confuse the stat that follows showing the breakdown of male and female students.

The Communications and Marketing department at VCC does fantastic work and I’m fortunate to work with them. This year they won 1 platinum, 4 golds, and 4 honorable mentions in the MarCom Awards.