Falmouth graduates declare WarOnCovid

As coronavirus began to take its toll on the UK, Creative Advertising graduates James Hodson and Jason Keet put their creativity to good use by designing a series of posters aimed at encouraging good behaviours during the pandemic. 

The pair decided to transform lengthy government announcements into wartime-styled images that delivered clear instructions to the public, with a sense of humour and style. Their campaign proved to be enormously effective. WarOnCovid was featured by the New York Times, as well as receiving industry recogntion and being widely viewed across social media.

Recently we caught up with James and Jason to hear how Falmouth’s Creative Advertising MA helped develop their creativity and refine their skills.

Since completing your MA, which agencies have you worked at and which brands have you worked on?

Since graduating we worked at Agency Republic (now defunct but was five times Digital Agency of the Year), then we moved to WCRS, which later became Engine. Can’t even remember all the brands we’ve worked on (a lot!) but they include (deep breath) PlayStation, Smirnoff, The Royal Marines, the RAF, Born Free, The Department of Work and Pensions, Sky Mobile, NowTV, Converse and Cazoo.

How do you feel, now that you’re working for Engine?

It felt great when we joined WCRS. We were instantly doing big, populist TV campaigns. The Engine thing happened very recently, so it pretty much feels exactly the same. We’ve recently been put in charge of the placement scheme here, so they obviously trust us a bit. As long as we get good briefs and we’re enjoying ourselves and our work, it’s all good. An ad agency by any other name etc.

Just learning about ideas and how to be clever in a simple way. That’s the hardest thing to learn and takes years, but Falmouth gives you the discipline straight away.

How did the course at Falmouth help you to develop your skills and career?

It was a good start, for sure. Just learning about ideas and how to be clever in a simple way. That’s the hardest thing to learn and takes years, but Falmouth gives you the discipline straight away. Also, presenting your ideas. No-one tells you about that before you go in, but it’s a massive part of the job. Falmouth definitely helped with that.

What are the best things about working in advertising?

It doesn’t feel like work. At its best, it can leave you really buzzing. The thrill of finding a great idea and selling it never, ever gets old. The meeting room sandwiches do, though. Really old.

Find out more about Creative Advertising MA