School Of Communications

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6I2koKZUFRk BYU students from the School of Communications and the Department of Design came together to create ‘Handimojis’ — an ASL-friendly version of Apple’s ‘Animoji’ BYU students Sam Carlson, Amanda Rasmussen and Coni Ramirez were given an assignment in their advertising class — create an idea that uses technology to connect customers to a brand. The result of this project extended beyond the classroom walls and has encouraged a wider conversation about inclusivity and diversity. Carlson knew he wanted this project to focus on the deaf community because of his deep admiration of American Sign Language and deaf culture — a respect he gained while serving an ASL mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and working as an ASL teaching assistant for BYU. During the brainstorming phase, Carlson proposed to Rasmussen and Ramierez that they use the idea of Apple’s Animoji technology and add the ability to depict hand movement. This would allow users who couldn’t previously use the feature to have access to Animoji technology in a new, exciting and personalized way. In addition to using this for their class project, the team decided to enter ‘Handimojis’ into the Future Lions advertising competition. The challenge for the competition was to “connect an audience of your choosing to a product or service from a global brand in a way that wasn’t possible three years ago.” ‘Handimojis’ fit the goal of the competition, so they decided to make the April 15 deadline. When the team presented the idea of ‘Handimojis’ to their BYU class, they were met with hesitation as many people were under the assumption that it would be impossible for deaf users to be able to hold their phone and use ‘Handimojis’ at the same time. However, the team explained that deaf people already use just one hand when video chatting on the phone. The new feature could be easily integrated into the existing culture. The team enlisted the help of Britta Schwall, a member of the Salt Lake Deaf Community, to sign in the one minute and 15 second video clip. After they finished shooting the footage of Schwall and others from the Salt Lake Deaf Community, there was still an integral part missing — the animation for the ‘Handimojis’ hands. This task proved to be the most challenging aspect of bringing ‘Handimojis’ to life. The three advertising students knew what they wanted but didn’t have the skills themselves to execute the 3D graphics for ‘Handimojis.’ As the team hurried to find someone to do the animation before the upcoming competition deadline, they turned to the Department of Design and its animation students. They eventually got in contact with Emily Ellis, who had just learned in her animation class the exact skills and techniques that would be required to complete the ‘Handimojis’ idea. “Emily was the answer to our prayers,” said Carlson. “With four days until the deadline, she pulled off some kind of magic. Seeing her animation was one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen — it was exactly how we imagined it.” Rassmussen took Ellis’ animations and added them into the video only hours before the Future Lions competition deadline. Although the team’s idea didn’t advance in the competition, the team felt proud of their work and commitment to include a group of people that had previously been excluded from using Animojis. Schwall asked the team for permission to share their video on her Facebook to show what she had helped with. While the post was initially intended for Schwall’s immediate family and friends, the post now has over 48k views and 800 shares. Many of the comments on the post ask if ‘Handimojis’ is available for download or mention they weren’t able to find it in the App Store. While this app hasn’t been picked up by Apple, these comments show high interest and appreciation for this idea created by BYU students. “Seeing how the Deaf community reacted to it was more fulfilling than winning any award,” said Carlson. “It was a reminder to me why I first got involved with advertising — there's so much good and positive change we can be a part of.” Read additional coverage at ABC4.

Students from the BYU School of Communications and the Department of Design competed in an event hosted by one of the most prestigious graphic design and advertising organizations in the world BYU design and advertising students dominated at The One Club for Creativity competition held each year in New York City — considered to be one of the top international award competitions for advertising and graphic design students. While the categories for these awards are vast, recognition in even one category showcases excellence in creativity and is a high honor. Collectively, BYU took home a new school record of awards during this year’s One Club for Creativity competition. Six advertising students and one graphic design student received gold for their portfolio submissions — more than any other university. To win a portfolio award, students must submit their best pieces in a portfolio as a single unit, which the judges — approximately 10 industry leaders from various artistic specialities — will look at collectively. This year, The One Club for Creativity reported that there were 8,751 portfolios submitted from designers in 45 different countries. From these submissions, the judges chose 14 gold winners from diverse disciplines, half of which were BYU students. “The portfolio competition in particular is held in such high esteem because they are not just recognizing one piece in your portfolio, but your entire body of work,” said Alexa Spiroff, an advertising student. “To be a portfolio winner means the judges are acknowledging that every piece of work in your book is award-winning.” Cam Tribe and Sara McLaws won for advertising. Connor Dean, Jedediah Thunell, Bentley Rawle and Alexa Spiroff won for film and TV commercials. Laura McNeill won for graphic design. In addition to the seven golds won by BYU students for portfolios, four individual advertising projects won gold, three won silver and one won bronze. They also won five gold cubes, two silver cubes and one bronze cube in the ADC Awards category. In the One Show category, BYU advertising students won one gold pencil, one silver pencil and three merit awards. McCall Keller, another BYU graphic design student, won a bronze cube for his redesign of King Kong Magazine. Nineteen advertising and graphic design projects were merit winners — all contributing to the competition’s ultimate ranking of BYU as the #2 program in the world. BYU advertising professor Jeff Sheets, who is a board member and judge for the One Club for Creativity, was asked to present the portfolio awards and give students their awards on stage. “It was a very fulfilling moment for me personally to be able to present so many awards to our very own BYU students,” said Sheets. “I had witnessed first-hand all of their hard work and creative determination.” Winning such a prestigious award can help students put their names out there and launch their professional careers after they leave BYU. “The One Club is really well known across the graphic design and advertising communities, so to be able to have that on my resume would really help with validating my work,” said McNeill. “I think even the networking that can happen from it is valuable.”

Students and faculty from BYU’s School of Communications hope the release of their recently produced documentary will reignite the public’s interest in solving the cold case of Rosie Tapia — a six-year-old girl who was abducted from her Salt Lake City apartment, sexually assaulted and murdered in August of 1995. The debut of the documentary is met with much emotion, especially in the wake of a sketch of the suspect given to police earlier this year by a former neighbor of the Tapia family. “Murderers Living Among Us: Who Killed Rosie Tapia?” not only covers the events of the tragedy but also explores different issues tied to the abduction and murder of Tapia, the impact it has had on her family and the cultural phenomena of true crime as entertainment. The film is the result of a year-long student and faculty-mentored project. Garofalo and the other documentary producers worked closely with the Utah Cold Case Coalition and members of the Tapia family to tell a story that was both factual and emotional. “I really wanted to bring awareness back to this story,” said Garofalo. “The case didn’t get the attention it deserved 24 years ago — it got shoved under the rug. At the end of the day, her killer still hasn’t been found.” Read the full story at comms.byu.edu.

Communications graduate students Kylie Brooks and Sara Bezdjian May took second place in the communications division of the Arthur W. Page Society Case Study Competition, which features original cases studies from students across the U.S. This is the third year in a row that graduate students from the School of Communications placed in the competition. Read more on the School of Communications website.

Some majors direct their student into a specific career path, but that isn’t the case for those who pursue a degree in communications. BYU School of Communications alumna Siovhan Johnson is learning this lesson as she makes the transition from broadcast news to strategic communications. Read Johnson's full story on the School of Communications website.

Raymond E. Beckham, one of BYU’s most distinguished former professors, will be honored with a Pillar of the Valley Award. The award honors individuals whose extraordinary contributions have improved the business, civic, social, educational and cultural climate of Utah Valley. During his lifetime, innovative improvements followed Beckham wherever he went. Things like the Young Ambassadors, BYU Education Week and the Aspen Grove Family Camp can all be traced back to him. He also served on the board of numerous charities, such as Boy Scouts of America and the Red Cross. To learn more about Beckham’s legacy and the award, continue reading at The Daily Herald.

BYU advertising alum Brandon Barkdull and his brother Blake, a BYU neuroscience student, started their business, Penguin Brothers, while Blake was still in high school. The business started out in a light pink food truck where the brothers learned the in’s and out’s of the food industry. Eventually, they were able to build up their skills and save up enough to purchase a storefront location on Canyon Road and Bulldog. To learn more about the brothers’ journey to success, read more here.

Vai Sikahema discusses his journey from rejection to the Alumni Achievement Award in the School of Communications.

The College of Fine Arts and Communications will feature NBC morning news anchor Vai Sikahema on October 11 at 11 a.m. in the Madsen Recital Hall in the Harris Fine Arts Center. His lecture is titled “Denied Admission to Alum of the Year: My BYU Journey”. Vai Sikahema played football at BYU and graduated in Broadcast Journalism before becoming the first Tongan drafted into the NFL. Sikahema, former running back and kick returner, ranks first among the NFL’s all-time career leaders in number of punt returns and second in return yardage after his time with the Cardinals, Packers and Eagles. Sikahema has since worked as a morning news anchor at NBC. He has earned three Mid-Atlantic Emmy Awards for his work in local television and is featured in the Philadelphia Broadcast Pioneers’ Hall of Fame. Sikahema’s influence in the Philadelphia area was instrumental in helping The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints get the Philadelphia Temple approved. Date: Thursday, October 11, 2018 Time: 11 a.m. Location: Madsen Recital Hall HFAC Admission: Free, open to the public

BYU students have set up an online information hub, organizing the flood of information on two major wildfires that have chased more than 6,000 Utah residents from their homes in recent days. Less than 24 hours after its creation, the Utah County Fire Relief Website had received more than 15,000 visitors. That’s about one new visitor every second. Y Digital Agency Manager Adam Durfee teamed up with BYU students and local volunteers to build a central hub for real-time updates on the Pole Creek and Bald Mountain fires burning just outside Spanish Fork, Utah. Finish reading 'New Y Digital website streamlines Utah wildfire information' at universe.byu.edu.

In their recent 'Build it Like Beckham' article, BYU Magazine featured former communications professor and associate dean of The College of Fine Arts and Communications, Raymond E. Beckham. Beckham, who worked at BYU for 42 years and passed away last October, will be recognized at the 2018 BYU Homecoming as the honored founder. To read more click here.

The BYU AdLab team has been recognized by the One Club for Creativity, the 2018 Telly Awards and the American Advertising (ADDY) Awards. “The AdLab has won an unprecedented number of awards and continues to represent the best of BYU’s advertising program,” said Jeff Sheets, faculty advisor for the AdLab. The One Club for Creativity is a non-profit organization that promotes excellence in advertising. The One Club holds an annual conference called the Young Ones, which judges submissions from art and design schools and programs from around the world. The four categories are the Art Directors Club (ADC), One Show, Young Ones Portfolio and Client Pitch Competition. BYU won three gold, three silver and five bronze Young Ones Cubes as well as two merits from the Art Directors Club, which judges open briefs for Best Creative Work in Advertising. BYU won one silver and one bronze Young Ones Pencils and five merits for brief-based assignments for a client and social cause. BYU also won First Place in the Client Brief competition. BYU performed especially well in the Young Ones Portfolio competition, winning three Advertising portfolio awards and one Film/Television/Video portfolio award. The BYU AdLab was the only school awarded in each of these two categories and was ranked as the number one school for portfolio work. Overall, BYU was ranked as the second best program in the world. To see BYU’s award-winning work, visit the One Club website. The BYU AdLab also did well at the 2018 Telly Awards, which honors the best in commercial advertising for television and web. The AdLab won two Gold and one Bronze awards in the General-Student category for Online Commercials. The winning commercials were “Ooh La La” for La Croix, “One More Giant Leap” for GE and “Earth Day” Vivint Solar, all of which can be seen on the Telly Award website. Most recently, the American Advertising Federation recognized the BYU AdLab’s work at the American Advertising Awards, often called the ADDY Awards. The ADDY Awards are the largest advertising competition in the U.S. and aim to recognize the creative spirit of excellence in advertising. “One More Giant Leap” won Best of Show for Cinematography. The BYU AdLab also won five Student Gold and two Student Silver Awards. The full list of winners can be found here.

Y Digital, a student-run digital- and social-media agency, opened a year ago, with the goal of preparing BYU communications majors and minors for a digital-first professional world. And over the past year, more than 60 students have done social-media analytics, social-media listening, digital-media production, content creation and search-engine marketing for such real-world clients as Pepsi Co., Marriott International, Subaru and the NBA. 'The more society turns to the internet, the more we need people who are savvy with the internet and technology to produce work for companies,' said Adam Durfee, public relations instructor and the lab’s director. And he’s passionate about helping students become savvy. “We have a whole range of skills — advertising, strategic messaging, writing, pitching, design and video — we help students put together to coexist online. That great writing is nothing without great visual. That great video is nothing without great targeting. Those are the connections we want them leaving with.” Read the rest of the story on news.byu.edu.

Convocation for the School of Communications will take place at 2 p.m. on April 27

Convocation for the School of Communications will take place at 2 p.m. on April 27

Convocation for the School of Communications will take place at 2 p.m. on April 27

BYU advertising and commercial music video advertisement impresses industry professionals and wins students $10,000 scholarship

With over 19,000 views just days before Christmas, a video featuring a snowman is inviting people to help the homeless