Showcase of students’ talent
THE Taylor’s School of Communication, under the Faculty of Arts and Social Science, held its recent annual Student’s Talent Appreciation and Recognition (STAR) Showcase and Awards 2018.
It was an afternoon of opportunity for its Communications students to network with experienced practitioners and industry experts and an avenue for the final year rising Communications stars to display their talents through projects that they have done for real clients, and be recognised for it at the awards ceremony.
At the event, three groups of graduating Advertising students showcased their campaigns for their online entrepreneurs clients such as All is Amazing, Crumbly and Loka Made.
Daniel Liew Hean Teng, a graduating Advertising student and the executive producer for the team working for All is Amazing, a professional photography company, shared his experience on working on the client’s advertising campaign, which applied Augmented Reality (AR) as a brand storytelling tool to engage consumers.
“Using an AR app compatible on all smartphones, visitors of the exhibition are able to scan the AR code attached to each portrait of the artists.
“Scanning it will open up a slew of other visual content related to the artist, consisting of a short video that tells their story, a brief write-up on their background and other information relevant to the artists,” said Liew.
The team’s graphic designer, Lor Phaik Yee, said she always wanted to do something different for her final-year project, which would allow people to interact and engage with one another.
“The reactions on the visitors’ faces while interacting with the portraits were priceless. We’re really happy to create this unforgettable experience for them,” she said.
The students’ run public relations consultancy agency ProPassion showcased their public relations campaigns for Prasarana Malaysia Berhad for its Rapid Rail project, IOI Properties and Leap Asia, a subsidiary of 8MAD Group.
The School’s broadcasting students aired their final year productions of documentaries and short films, while the campus newspaper Inkslingers’ April, May and June 2018 editorial teams comprising Journalism students displayed their writing talents and skills.
The final year Taylor’s School of Communication students get to be recognised for their hard work, creativity, knowledge and skills.
Prasanna Narayanaswami, winner of the Best Feature Writing (Degree), which is an award sponsored by Star Media Group, said it was amazing to win.
“My article was titled ‘Fifty Shades of Humour’, and it was an opinion piece about university students who were suspended last year for joking about raping a female student.
“It was one of the most difficult pieces I have ever had to write because the topic was such a grey area and I really had to construct my words carefully to convey the story in an unbiased manner,” she said. Taylor’s School of Communication head Dr Latiffah Pawanteh said: “The proof of the work produced by our students can be seen by the projects which are judged by industry experts in the areas of advertising, broadcasting, public relations, multimedia, journalism, and marketing.”
The STAR Awards is an annual event held at Taylor’s University with the aim of promoting high standards and best practices in the media and communication industries by cultivating passion, interest, commitment and integrity in creative work among the students, Dr Latiffah added.
The awards were sponsored by industry players such as PHD Media, Edelman, BBDO, Star Media Group, Sony Malaysia, Moving Walls, Radhikal Films, Pravda Studio, Far East Documentary Center, Malaysia Documentary Association, ada (sic), and Creative Unicorns.