Paul Mulraney: Creative Advertising graduate
MA Creative Advertising - 1998-1999
After graduating with a Fine Art degree from Sheffield Hallam University, I was looking to work as an art director on mixed media projects. Advertising struck me as being one of the most visible, and often the most creative, types of work available to a 'commercial artist' working across media.
The Creative Advertising course helped me to develop awareness of the discipline behind advertising. And more importantly, considering my subsequent career, the course gave me the confidence to develop and apply marketable ideas across a broad range of media with consistency and clarity.
l did agency placement rounds at companies like O&M and AMV, where I built upon my creative teamwork experience. During this time I met art directors from other design disciplines such as film, web, games, graphics and animation and was drawn to the more ‘hands-on' side of the business. I'm a strong believer that great work comes from understanding the tools of your trade as well as having good ideas. I've spent the last few years working across as many types of media as possible to gain this understanding.
My creative experience is varied to say the least. I have worked as a designer on pop videos for the Spice Girls, mobile applications for Ericsson, digital ad campaigns for Toyota and Opel, games for Mobile Media, iTV for Sky, websites for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and Duracell. I made a return to art directing with a feature length interactive drama for the BBC and Endemol. This big budget project used Flash to combine live action and computer games into one experience; it's a fine example of how media convergence creates new disciplines which require new skill sets. I am currently Digital Creative Director at Gendall.
The ability to generate, develop and communicate ideas in a ‘campaign-like' or ‘cross-media' way still underpins most of my working practice. Alice and John's good advice and shared experience were critical in helping to kick-start my career in this competitive and fast-evolving industry.
Website: www.gendall.co.uk
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