Advertising is a powerful art form, using graphic design, human psychology, and the latest media to deliver engaging messages to consumers. It’s a world ripe with creative possibilities, which continues to inspire Digital Media graduate Charity Read in her role as art director at AKQA in San Francisco.
“What I enjoy about advertising is the energy you get from it,” she says. “There’s such a broad range of things I get to do – Web design, iPhone apps, Twitter, photography. It’s pretty intense and I really enjoy that every day gives me a different challenge.”
AKQA is a global advertising firm with offices in markets like Shanghai, Berlin, and London, and since joining the company in 2009 Charity hasn’t been at a loss for challenging projects. As art director she’s responsible for creating new campaigns and deployment strategies, then working with her team to execute them in a way that will engage the client's audience.
“I love being able to concept a vision and then have a great team of creatives to help make it happen,” she says. “Everybody I work with is so creative and we’re constantly generating ideas. The more new concepts we throw on the table the more likely clients are to latch onto them.”
Marketing thrives on creative problem solving, and a recent example of Charity’s approach was a campaign featuring Visa Signature and the summer blockbuster Captain America: The First Avenger. She pitched an idea for a Visa-sponsored red carpet event during the film’s New York City premiere, which was filmed for an exclusive YouTube broadcast, and would see her become an active participant in the production.
“I actually had to be the on-camera interviewer for the red carpet,” she says. “I came up with questions, researched the film and the actors, and spoke with them at the premiere. Afterwards we made this great mini documentary about it, and that’s a project I’m really proud of.”
Charity’s position at AKQA is allowing her to experiment with the way she helps clients reach their audiences, while continuing to develop the depth of her skills as an art director. Her enthusiasm for the constant challenges of the industry is inspiring in that she still maintains the same curiosity for her craft that she had as a student.
“You can study graphic design at school, but once you get out there you really have to keep learning as much as you can in every department,” she says. “Learning how to work hard all the time with high energy, that’s really what I took away from Full Sail, and that’s serious training when you get out into your career.”
