by Jonathan O’Connor, Staff Writer
“The thing to remember is that people hate advertising. You’re in an industry where people are trying to avoid you. You don’t want an ad that takes more than a second to figure out. You want it to be as simple as possible, clever and witty. If you’re reading a magazine, the ad interrupts your reading. If you’re watching a TV show, the ads are interrupting. People don’t like that.”
Carmelle Kendall, second-year M.A. advertising student, began her studies at Howard University as a marketing student. She wanted to do something creative, but found that marketing was not a perfect fit, “I knew that I didn’t want to do marketing, but I didn’t know what I did want to do.”
During her time at Howard, Kendall studied abroad in Japan and became fascinated by the advertising around her. It was different than the advertising in the United States, filled with anime, manga and butterflies, but what really caught her eye was how cultural differences impacted advertisements. She describes, “There was a Mac commercial that they had just translated to japanese, but my host mother did not understand the commercial. I thought it was interesting how advertising has to fit into different cultures. That’s what made me really want to pursue it.”
A native of Atlanta, Kendall came to SCAD to continue her studies and do the creative work she was looking for. When she arrived, she had to learn everything from the ground up, “I didn’t even know how to use Photoshop. I didn’t know Illustrator. I didn’t know anything. I just looked at Lynda videos until I was cross-eyed teaching myself and getting help from SCAD tutors.”
Kendalleventually found her footing and began creating compelling advertising. In the future she hopes to run her own agency, but right now she’s trying to break into art direction. She uses interesting typography and colors, but always prides herself on keeping her work relevant to the brand, “I think my style shows a big range. It just has to fit the campaign.”
Kendall graduates this Spring and is on the lookout for her next adventure. She is armed with a portfolio of remarkable pieces, “At first, I was self-conscious about having a website, but you have to be confident in your work. If you’re not confident in it, don’t put it on your website. Everything on your website should be 100 percent I love this, it’s perfect the way it is, kind of attitude.”
Visit www.carmellekendall.com to view more work and contact information.
