The students in Laurie Hawkins鈥� Grade 8 Art Class at Assiniboia Elementary are learning about more than drawing and painting. 鈥淪tudents don鈥檛 always see the relevance of school projects but Kidvertising is 鈥榟ands on鈥欌��, she said. 鈥淢y goal was for the students to connect with the community and see that school can be related to real life.鈥�
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In the Kidvertising project each student selected a business or service from the community and designed two to three graphic advertisements for them. 鈥淲e learned the idea of slogans, and keeping it short and simple. They also studied elements like colour, line, space, and shape. They had to discover different aspects of the company they chose, and learn to highlight one at a time in their ads.鈥�
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Three of the students shared their findings. Meghan Ray chose to design a logo and graphic for Hutch Ambulance. 鈥淚 researched their business online, and I used some prior knowledge. I talked to my mom because she鈥檚 a paramedic. I learned that nothing in advertising is an accident. Everything is placed where they want it.鈥�
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Van Sinclair, who drew an ad for Kal Tire, talked about how the students and the businesses collaborate. 鈥淲e each draw two or three ads and then the company will choose which one they like best. We weren鈥檛 allowed to copy past ads because that would be plagiarism.鈥�
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Xander Dijkstra, who advertised for Westrum Lumber, gave some advice. 鈥淚t has to have the right colours to catch your eye. It has to stand out.鈥�
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Van said, 鈥淚f sales have gone up, then you know your advertising has worked.鈥�
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Honesty and integrity in advertising are also something the students commented on. 鈥淵ou would want to tell people the truth so your business gets better, not worse,鈥� says Meghan. Van added that if there is faulty advertising, the company may have to provide a refund. 鈥淥r if the thing malfunctioned, then you could get another one for free.鈥� Xander said that both the company and the customer are responsible for honesty in the ads. 鈥淭he company can鈥檛 lie to the consumer,鈥� he said, 鈥渂ut the consumer shouldn鈥檛 mis-use the product either, or they could get hurt. The company might need to put safety measures on the advertisement.鈥�
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The students said that we have freedom of speech in our ads, and readers should not jump to conclusions about the message in an ad. Meghan said, 鈥淗ow do you really know what the product or service is like until you try it out for yourself? You can鈥檛 judge a book by its cover. If you see an ad you don鈥檛 like then you have to go to that place and see what it is all about. Then you can decide if you agree or disagree.鈥澨� Van added that we should not complain about an ad right away. Sometimes we misunderstand the wording. 鈥淲e have to go and see for ourselves what the ad meant and how their product works.鈥�
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Xander said that we should be respectful with the words we use in ads. Meghan agreed. 鈥淓veryone is equal, no matter what.鈥� 听
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Van said, 鈥淚 know a lot of older people read the newspaper.鈥� Xander concluded that lots of young people read it too. 鈥淚f I had a business in town, I would advertise in the paper.鈥�
How does one measure the success of this art project? The students learned a lot about advertising standards such as integrity and freedom of speech, and how every element in advertising is intentional. Laurie Hawkins talked about success from an art perspective. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not who the best drawer is, but rather about using the elements such as lines, negative and positive space, and colour. Many kids who can鈥檛 draw are worried. But you can still get a good mark even if you can鈥檛 draw well 鈥� you just have to use the elements.鈥�
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鈥淜idvertising is more than a mark in art,鈥� said Laurie. It鈥檚 also about relationship. 鈥淭he kids can feel proud when they see their ad in the paper. They start to feel some success and connection to our town.鈥�
