by Alli Inglebright
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Journalism and Mass Communications hosted an Adobe Creative Jam on Thursday, April 27, at Andersen Hall. This was the first time the Creative Jam was hosted on University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s campus, and the event drew competitors from multiple disciplines.
The competition was a two-part event that included presentations from two local creative leaders, and an opportunity for students to create something, present it to an audience and judges, and compete for a prize. Students competed in one of three categories: user experience design, graphic design or photography. Students worked in pairs for the user experience and graphic design categories, and worked individually for the photography category.
The theme for the event was Summertime, which students received Thursday morning and used the day to prepare. They gathered in Andersen Hall at 5 p.m. to receive instruction, and began work on their projects, which had to be completed and presented at 9 p.m.
The presentations from local creatives, Becca Kroese, owner of Skwintz, and Joe Braun, owner of Joe Braun Photography, began at 8 p.m.
Competitors presented their work following Kroese and Braun, and explained it to the judges and the audience. After the presentations, the audience voted on its favorite project in each category while the judges deliberated. Awards were given to each winning team and included a trophy and a one-year subscription to Adobe Creative Cloud upon graduation.
“This event is a cool opportunity for students to compete, which isn’t something they get to do in class,” said Adam Wagler, assistant professor at CoJMC and co-organizer of the Creative Jam.
The event provides a great opportunity for students to test their creative abilities and grow as designers and creators. Morgan Bruggeman, a junior advertising and public relations student, won the judges’ choice in user experience with her teammate, Emily Nemec.
“Winning the user experience category in the Adobe Creative Jam was very reassuring to me,” Bruggeman said. “I am very interested in this field and I am hoping that this is where my career is headed towards, so winning this category really meant a lot to me, because I truly love user experience design.”
