Anything is Possible and Brighton MET College Collaborate for Merchandise Competition

Anything is Possible (aip), Brighton’s transformational advertising agency known for pushing boundaries in Media, Creative, and Technology, has partnered with Brighton MET College to launch an exciting agency-branded merchandise campaign.

The collaboration aims to foster creativity and support emerging talent while showcasing the brand’s identity.

In this joint effort, Anything is Possible invited students from Brighton MET to participate in a competition to create branded designs for a range of merchandise options. From sweatshirts and hoodies to tote bags, beanies, notebooks, and more, the campaign presented a unique opportunity for designers to showcase their skills and leave a lasting imprint on the agency’s merchandise that resonated with the agency’s ethos..

The brief challenged Brighton MET students to create a standout design for the agency’s centrepiece item: their signature sweatshirt. However, the students were encouraged to go beyond the traditional boundaries for branded merchandise and create a fashionable garment embodying the spirit of aip’s brand without being too literal or corporate.

Not only will the winning design be featured prominently on the agency’s merchandise, but they will also contribute to a charitable cause, with proceeds from the campaign being donated to support worthy charities, further amplifying the positive impact of this collaboration.

The winners of the award were announced at a presentation ceremony held at Brighton MET College’s Campus in Brighton’s North Laine on Wednesday 18 May, which was attended by many from the local area, students and Principal of Brighton MET College, Paul Riley.

The agency’s judges were overwhelmed with the quality of entries from students in Brighton MET College’s Art and Design courses, who responded to the brief with inspired and unexpected results, including bold redesigns of the aip pink goat logo and AI-generated art.

In a process that began at the end of 2022, over forty entries from Brighton MET College students were whittled down to a shortlist of five in feedback meetings held with aip’s Creative and Marketing leaders. In a process that was designed to give the participating students an experience that was as true to life as possible, this face-to-face session and subsequent feedback helped the students gain valuable real-world experience of life in the creative industries.

In addition to prizes of up to £500 worth of vouchers, the winner of the sweatshirt design prize and runners-up will have their designs produced and featured in the agency’s online shop, with all proceeds from the merchandise sales going to charity.

The partnership with Brighton MET College reflects aip’s commitment to fostering collaboration and nurturing creative and media talent within the local community.

Anything is Possible’s CEO, Sam Fenton-Elstone, said:

“We were blown away with the response to the merch competition. We wanted to produce a sweatshirt that people would be proud to wear out and about in Brighton, but we got back so much more. In advertising, creativity is the critical difference to success or failure, and we found a whole new generation of creative talent right here on our doorstep.”

Brighton MET College Deputy Head of Learning, Jim Lee, said:

“The Agency was amazed by the outstanding creativity and diverse range of entries that our talented students produced. We’re thrilled to present a selection of the designs submitted for the merchandise competition as well as the top 5 shortlisted hoodie/sweatshirt designs that truly stood out on the other posters.

Showing students a path out of education and into industries that honour their talents and the skills we help them develop is a huge part of what colleges in 2023 need to do. By going into partnership with a growing local business for the merch competition, we gave our students a taste of professional life that shows them anything is possible.”

Winners:

Special Commendation: Rachel Maclean (Art Foundation – Illustration Pathway)

Special Commendation: Isaiah Lee (Level 3 Art & Design)

3rd Place: Zac Makey (Level 3 Creative Media)

2nd Place: Luca Steque (Art Foundation – Graphics Pathway)

1st Place: Esme Jarvis (Art Foundation – Graphics Pathway)