UCLan advertising student recognised for innovative construction industry ad campaign
A Liverpool designer has won an award for her advertising campaign to keep construction industry workers ahead of the game.
Jemma Redpath, an advertising student from the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan), designed OFFSITE for her final year project; a service that would safeguard construction workers’ careers by retraining them for the future ahead.
The savvy designer has won a D&AD (Design and Art Direction) New Blood Award for her would-be campaign targeted at construction workers aged 55 and over. During her research she found that although 42% of construction work in the UK is due to take place away from its final location over the next five years, the UK construction industry isn’t making great strides in making sure its workforce will have the correct skills to match it.
"Taking jobs away from the building site is a big thing in Europe and a growing trend in the UK, yet many people in the industry don’t have the skills for this way of working. That’s what my project addresses."
Jemma, 24 from Wavertree, said: “My idea is centred around a website called OFFSITE that would offer online training courses, job opportunities and face to face seminars with industry professionals. Taking jobs away from the building site is a big thing in Europe and a growing trend in the UK, yet many people in the industry don’t have the skills for this way of working. That’s what my project addresses.
“I worked with people in the construction trade to research the best ways to advertise the site and the kind of language I should use. On the back of this, I came up with a campaign that included billboards, a direct mail, drinking mugs, and a radio advert.”
Jemma will receive her D&AD New Blood award, which recognises the very best of new design talent from around the world, at a ceremony in London next month. She has already started her first job as a campaign executive at BJL.
She added: “I’m really excited to win this award and feel like all the hard work I put into the project has paid off. It is an honour to win D&AD Award and a fantastic way to end my time at UCLan.”