Sydney creatives Madeleine and Alec had briefly met in high school but it wasn’t until their paths crossed again while attending AWARD School in 2018 did they start to share ideas and eventually partner up.
TCC: Congratulations on graduating from AWARD School! Tell us about your creative partnership
MBW: I’m the Art Director and Alec is the Copywriter. We spend most of our time coming up with ideas together. But when it comes time to sit at our desks, generally, I’m deciding how the ideas will look and Alec is deciding how they’ll read.
TCC: How did you land your dream jobs?
It was definitely a mix of good timing, luck and some hard work. We first built a website and worked on a few new briefs together to add to our portfolio. Then timing was really on our side because we landed our job right away. When we met with the creative director and learnt about the agency we knew we were the right fit.
TCC: What were you doing before you applied for AWARD school?
MBW: When I applied I was just a year out of my Bachelor of Commerce and working as a Creative Services Coordinator at a production company.
AB: I graduated university two years prior to applying for AWARD School. In that time I worked at Carsguide and The Yacht Week overseas.
TCC: What prompted you to apply to the course?
MBW: I heard about it from some friends so I went along to the Info Night. After that it was clear that AWARD School was going to be an unforgettable experience if I got in. I was equal parts intimidated and excited, and knew it was definitely worth a go.
AB: It wasn’t until I was well out of university that I stumbled across the industry. I was catching up with friends from uni, one of whom had just started as a Junior Copywriter. I asked him about his new role, to which I replied: “Let me get this straight, your job is to come up with ideas?? How do I get this job?!” He recommended AWARD School as my best bet.
TCC: What were some of the highlights of AWARD School for you?
MBW: The time the tutors gave us was so generous and I’ll be forever grateful for their commitment to us. Also the lectures were great. The high you left on after each one was awesome. Hearing from some of the best in the industry was so inspiring.
AB: The whole experience was simultaneously great and terrible. I enjoyed meeting students from all sorts of backgrounds and listening to their ideas. I was stoked for the opportunity to have creatives in the industry invest themselves in my ideas, pushing me each week to come back with bigger ideas.
TCC: What are some of the AWARD School learnings that you carry with you each day?
MBW: Less is more…
AB: …also, fail heaps, push your ideas and find a truth. Finally, for any other young creatives who are feeling discouraged about getting into the industry, we recommend watching this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXsQAXx_ao0