Innovative imagery tilts competition in students’ favour

Associated media

A billboard advert for The Electric Bar & Restaurant featuring an unusual view of Lincoln, designed by two University of Lincoln students, is unveiled today, Friday 18 May.

Maria Sousa Machado (20) and Sam Barber (21) won a competition, organized in conjunction with the Lincoln School of Art & Design, to create an innovative advert for The Electric Bar & Restaurant which exuded ‘sophisticated escapism’.

Maria and Sam were among 38 third-year University of Lincoln BA (Hons) Creative Advertising students who entered the competition – either as teams or as individuals – and used contemporary tilt-shift photography to capture the view from the venue on the fifth floor of the DoubleTree by Hilton Lincoln.

 Despite tough competition from the seven other finalists, the judges felt the resulting image of the Brayford Pool together with the strapline ‘An Elevated Perspective’ best met the brief.

Sales & Marketing Manager Nicola Shepheard, who was one of the judges, said she was extremely impressed by the high calibre of the submissions:

The standard of the students’ work from the Creative Advertising programme was incredible and it was very difficult to choose a winner. We could have used any of the finalists’ proposals but Maria and Sam’s innovative use of imagery and clever strapline just gave them the edge.
One of The Electric Bar & Restaurant’s unique selling points is the fantastic views of the city and their submission really reflected this in an innovative and eye-catching way.

Maria said the duo brainstormed lots of ideas before settling on the winning entry:

We started off thinking about what makes the bar stand out and of different ways of looking at things through a lens. This translated quite literally in the end to using the tilt-shift image.

Nicola from the DoubleTree by Hilton was really passionate about the project and treated us like professionals throughout the whole process.

For Sam, seeing their ideas come to life was one of the most rewarding aspects of the project:

A lot of the work we have done is simply generating ideas, but actually seeing our idea come to life and turned into an ad campaign has given us invaluable experience.

Also on the judging panel was Principal Lecturer Gyles Lingwood, Senior Lecturer Mike Belton, Restaurant Manager Dan Ralley and Bar Manager Andy Hallam.

Gyles said:

This very ambitious and successful project has given Sam and Maria the opportunity to work with a high-profile, well regarded brand and work alongside a top professional photographer. The ads that they have produced are beautiful, intelligent and will help the new Electric Bar & Restaurant achieve its strategic objectives.

To produce the advert Maria and Sam worked with Newark-based photographer Clive Doyle who took a photo of the view from the roof-top bar & restaurant using tilt-shift photography to make it look like a miniature-scale model.

The finished advert will be used to promote The Electric Bar & Restaurant in newspapers and magazines, on websites and on a billboard on Broadgate in Lincoln which is set to be unveiled on 18th May.

The duo, who plan to work together as a creative advertising team after graduating, hope having an ad campaign commissioned by a reputable brand will be a valuable addition to their resumé.