Students from the three agencies pictured with staff from Fife College and FH&SCP at the No Smoking Day event.
Young people in Fife will soon be encouraged to quit smoking, or prevented from starting, thanks to a range of inspiring interactive ideas created by Fife College creative students which were showcased on No Smoking Day.
The event, held recently at the College’s Kirkcaldy campus, was a partnership project between Fife College and Fife Health and Social Care Partnership (FH&SCP) who are keen to explore new ways of reaching 16-24 year olds to help spread the tobacco awareness message.
As part of their course the BA Visual Communication and Digital Publishing students at Fife College run their own agencies taking live briefs from clients - the student agency groups were thrilled to work on the tobacco message and explore ideas on how to best engage young people.
Each of the three student agencies involved took a different approach to the subject. Student agency MERGE created ‘Myke’ the interactive info graphic to promote health benefits of not smoking. Agency ERNEL used a Star Wars style video game which shoots cigarettes at a mouth which if it hits it decreases strength of heart and lungs. An environmental approach was developed by student agency HACK who designed a Breath Green campaign which includes a mannequin for social media campaigns and smoking shelter graphics with environmental messages of how tobacco destroys the environment and contributes to global warming.
Initially, staff from FH&SCP were looking for just one idea to take forward but were so impressed with what the students came up with have decided to use all the ideas across Fife in the near future.
Kay Samson, Deputy Health Promotion Manager at FH&SCP said: “This project has been extremely exciting and it has been fantastic to see how the students’ ideas have developed – what a fantastic way to mark No Smoking Day in Fife. All of the ideas created can be used time and time again in different places and scenarios - we can’t wait to make them available in Fife. Alongside creating some great ideas to encourage young people in Fife to consider the impact tobacco has on their lives, the project has also built on the fantastic links we have with Fife College.”
Wayne Craddock, 25 from Glenrothes is part of the MERGE student agency and said:
“We decided to do something different to show the impact of smoking to make it more fun and interactive for young people with useful facts which are colourful and attractive. The students involved are the same age as the target group we are trying to reach so I think it was a great idea to get us involved. I’ve also really enjoyed working in an agency setting on a live project which gives us the experience we need to help secure jobs when we graduate.”
Alastair Leadbetter, Health and Safety Manager at Fife College said: “This has been a fantastic project to raise awareness of the health issues around smoking, to mark No Smoking Day and to give our students valuable experience. The event was a great success and proved popular with students and staff on campus – we look forward to supporting further health promotion initiatives in the future.”
