AN innovative creative business has been set up on the Warrington Campus of Chester University, making use of the skills and talents of recent graduates, current students and staff.
The Hot Room brings together the creative genres of events management, public relations, advertising, video, radio, television, graphic design and commercial music production under one roof.
Providing all the specialisms a large agency can offer it gives its participants the chance to work on projects for clients which in turn leads to developing their portfolios and also earning money.
Kate Sillitoe, senior lecturer in visual communication and digital design, and Mick Farr, project manager for the creative industries, have been working closely with a mix of graduates and students on a number of projects for a range of businesses.
The idea is a natural progression from the projects the creative students work on as part of their degree.
Kate said: “Our students already follow ‘live briefs’ for some of their modules and produce work of a professional standard, so I want to give them the opportunity to earn while they learn.
“The Hot Room is a service for local businesses and organisations to use, to hire talented and fresh individuals to come up with innovative and great ideas. It allows them to use the raw talent of the students combined with the expertise of our staff to offer practical solutions for their design needs” she said.
Mick added: “We have a number of specialisms here and we wanted to draw on them. It works by the academic staff, who are experts in their field, selecting suitable students or graduates, to work on specific projects. We oversee their work and deliver the end result to the client.
“It operates as an extra-curricular activity to introduce our students to the world of commerce so they gain invaluable experience of meeting deadlines and hitting targets.”
One of the first briefs for the Hot Room was to design and create a series of murals to be displayed on several floors of a building on the campus reflecting the campus specialisms of creative industries and public services and the location of Warrington.
Recent graduate Chris Beck, who led the project, said: “Working for the Hot Room has been a brilliant experience. It has given me the opportunity to gain valuable work experience that has benefited both my CV and my portfolio.
“I have learned new skills in design, project management and communication. The aspect that I enjoyed the most was the opportunity to work as a team with other designers and photographers. I hope to collaborate on projects in the future.”
Pictured: Chris Beck, John Daltrey, Scott Duffey and Jason Cartwright with the graphic panels.
