Whether you watch the Super Bowl for the free beer, the halftime show, or because you actually love football there’s one thing that everyone’s talking about- the commercials. It seems that everywhere you look there’s an advertisement. On buildings, busses, pamphlets, and everywhere on the Internet, advertisements have become a part of our lives. For this week’s Campus Celebrity Hannah Green, they have fueled her passion for graphic design and inspired her to use her skills in art in the professional field through the UW-Madison’s Ad Club.
When did you join Ad Club?
I joined Ad Club the fall of my sophomore year.
You are currently the President. How did you get that position?
My sophomore year I applied for the Promotions Chair position. From there, I applied for the presidential position, and as of the 2013-2014 academic year I will begin my second year in the position.
What are your responsibilities as President?
As the Ad Club President, I have a lot of different responsibilities. Much of my time is spent coordinating with the rest of my executive board. Whether I’m helping set up fundraisers, discussing which speakers to bring in, or helping maintain our status with AAF I’m pretty involved in what goes on with each position. I run both our general meetings, and executive board meetings, and correspond with our members quite a bit both personally and as a whole club. Lastly, and probably most importantly, it is my responsibility to increase membership, ensure that Ad Club abides by all RSO rules and regulations, help Ad Club maintain a professional reputation on campus, stay in touch with our UW advisor, and provide our members with the best possible experience that Ad Club can offer.
What are you meetings like? How often do you meet?
Ad Club meets bi-weekly in Vilas Hall on Tuesdays at 7:30 PM. We begin each meeting with (free) pizza and my announcements. Our speaker goes on at 8:00 PM, and everything gets wrapped up around 9:00 with a question and answer session. Our speakers are great. We are really lucky to have heard from some amazing advertising professionals. Just in this last semester we’ve had visits from TRIS3CT, the Chicago Portfolio School, the President of KW2-Andy Wallman, and UW Communications’ own John Lucas. That’s just in one semester. In the past we’ve had Shine United, Twitter, a Hollywood Producer, and RS+K just to name a few. One of the best aspects about Ad Club is that our members get to network with our speakers after meetings.
You also take trips as a group. What types of places do you visit?
The trips are one of the highlights of Ad Club. Each semester we take a field trip out of town, generally to Milwaukee or Chicago, and we tour three to four agencies. In the 2012-2013 academic year we went to Chicago twice and were able to tour agencies like Ogilvy & Mather, DDB, MTV Viacom, and Razorfish. Members truly get to see the behind the scenes of some of the biggest agency names in the Midwest. In future years we’d love to get to expand out of the Midwest. Stay tuned for that. We also tour Madison agencies from time to time, at least once a year, which is great. Recently we headed to Hiebing and LS+B.
What has the ad club taught you? What have you gotten out of it?
Oh gosh, Ad Club has taught me some absolutely invaluable lessons. Think about it, we have professional advertising executives in every other week, and get to go to agencies every so often. I’ve learned about how an agency ticks, what employers are look for in a candidate, how to market myself, and that’s just to name a few things. Not to mention, I’ve gained excellent social media and leadership experience based on my positions with the club. I’m confident that Ad Club will be one of the most beneficial experiences that I leave my undergraduate degree with.
You currently do graphic design. What are you plans for the future?
I’m an Art major with an emphasis in graphic design, but when people ask what I’m studying, a lot of the time I say graphic design and advertising simply because so much of my coursework is geared towards branding. After I graduate, ideally I’d like to go into the creative side of advertising, art direction to be specific. I definitely have my eye on a couple of agencies, but I’m open to going pretty much anywhere in the country.
Do you have any favorite graphic design classes so far?
I have really enjoyed all of my graphic design courses. The university has a phenomenal staff of design professors and lecturers. I don’t think I can pin point one as my absolute favorite. However, Professor Millers’ classes have taught me the most about the rules of design. I left his classes with a completely different perspective on graphic design.
What is your favorite advertisement? Why?
That’s a tough question. There’s a lot out there that I like. I’ve always been a big fan of Volkswagon TV and print ads simply because they are so uniquely comical. They’re really subtle, but super successful. As far as agencies are concerned, I really like the work that comes out of TRIS3CT and 72andSunny.
If you want more information about the Ad Club visit their website adclub.journalism.wisc.edu