Student designs ad, runs in Roanoke Times
Sophomore merchandising design major Caitlin Kincaid created an advertisement for the local business Meg's and Garrett’s, which ran in The Roanoke Times in November.
The advertisement was part of the Design 2D course at Radford University, taught by Associate Professor Tammy Robinson. As part of the course, an advertisement is created for an open house event at Meg's and Garrett’s, a local clothing business owned by Meg Weddle.
The partnership with Weddle began six years ago and provides Radford University students with real-world experience in working with a client.
"I've always had ties to the Department of Design at Radford University," Weddle said. "We can benefit from one another. I feel like this is an authentic labratory for the students and helps them get real-world experience."
Left to right: Professor Tammy Robinson, Caitlin Kincaid and Meg Weddle.
“A big reason of coming to college is to gain experiences such as this," Kincaid said. "As a college student, it is the most rewarding thing you can have. It opened a new window of opportunity for me.”
As part of the assignment, the class visited the downtown Radford business.
“We take a field trip to her store, where Weddle talks about her newspaper advertising and discusses her Holiday Open House event,” Robinson said.
During that field trip, Weddle had a few things in mind regarding the ad, but still allowed Kincaid creative freedom in designing the holiday-themed advertisement.
“She wanted burgundy and teal to be incorporated,” Kincaid said. “She wanted both of Meg’s and Garrett’s logos incorporated into the ad.
“I could tell that she wanted an equal amount of importance placed on Garrett’s as Meg’s,” Kincaid continued. “There are two sections to the store, the women’s side and the men’s side. Advertisements from the past leaned more towards the women’s side of it. That’s why I wanted to have a man and a woman in the ad.”
Weddle also wanted a shop-locally theme incorporated into the advertisement.
“I had a few ideas for the slogan, but I went with ‘Keep your money where your heart is and shop locally,’” Kincaid said. “The heart is a reference to living here and to Radford being the heart of the New River Valley.”
The project also gave Kincaid a taste of the industry, from working with a client to taking an idea through the creative process.
“We met with Weddle and got ideas,” Kincaid said. “We went through a process of creating word lists and rough drafts up until we submitted our final copy. Thinking about somebody else’s needs and wants while working on this project was a valuable experience.”
During the process, each student worked individually, brainstorming and drafting their ideas. Two main ideas for each student are chosen based on feedback from their classmates.
The creative advertising process – from the drafting of idea to the submission of the final copy – opened Kincaid’s eyes to marketing.
“We have the option, as merchandising for design majors, we can add a few more classes on to do a marketing minor,” Kincaid said. “I think marketing and advertising seamlessly go together and I would like to further explore marketing after having this opportunity.”
The advertisement ran three times in the New River Valley section of The Roanoke Times in November.
For more information about merchandising design, visit its website. To learn more about Meg’s and Garrett’s, go to their web page.