Vivid is a new multimedia consulting student organization at Ohio University, having hosted the first meeting on Jan. 22. The organization currently has five teams of students who work with local clients from start to finish, bringing the vision for their business or organization alive while doing it for free.
“We aim to empower local clients with impactful creative services and knowledge that enhances their brand, drives growth, and strengthens connections within the Athens community,” Vivid wrote in a LinkedIn post.
Isabella Jimenez, a junior studying multimedia with a certificate in strategic leadership and the vice president of Vivid, discussed what the visual communication aspect of Vivid covers.
“We are a multimedia consulting organization, and so what multimedia stands for is those interested in all of the visual communication aspects, whether that is photography, videography, graphic design, motion graphics, social media or marketing,” Jimenez said.
Nicole Bell, a junior studying visual communications and information graphics/publication design and the president of Vivid, spoke about the creation of Vivid and how the idea began from a phone call with her sister.
“This was back in September, I think, and I was starting to apply for internships for this upcoming summer and just trying to get my resume in order,” Bell said. “We were looking at my resume and I was just saying how I wish I had more professional experience.”
She described Vivid as a multimedia consulting organization that works to give students just the professional experience they might be lacking.
Vivid’s faculty advisor is Adonis Durado, and Jimenez described him as the organization’s “yes man” for whom they provide updates to.
The organization was created with professional development in mind. Jimenez said since the multimedia college didn’t have anything like Vivid, it’s the first multimedia consulting organization for students to gain experience, get their designs out there and for students to understand what the business industry is like.
“So we try to connect students with clients, give them that leadership role and take clients’ marketing campaigns in whatever direction they want to, as long as it aligns with the client's goals,” Bell said.
As Vivid takes on clients, students are within teams where an executive member facilitates their work with one client.
“That way they already understand what team building is like, what it’s like to be on a team, what it’s like to delegate others, what it’s like to take on their own leaders, take on their own lead,” Jimenez said.
The organization’s current clients are companies and businesses local to Athens. Community Makerspace, Athens County Food Pantry, Chabad at OU, Rainbow Love Cleaning and Club Clay have consulted with Vivid.
Molly Cohen, a senior studying communication studies and the president of Chabad at OU, spoke about the experience of working with Vivid.
“It’s really, really nice to have a fresh set of eyes and just a bunch of creatives,” Cohen said.
From seeing what services the organization could provide for Chabad, she was interested right off the bat. She was excited to receive professional help for Chabad’s social media.
Vivid, as a multimedia organization, provides its services for free to clients. Jimenez said as she and Bell began to consult with clients, the two would pitch ideas, including who they were as an organization and highlight that they work for free.
“The projects that I’m most proud of are what I do outside of school and for no money, because if you’re going to put that much work into something, it might as well be something you’re proud of,” Bell said.
Cohen spoke about her initial reaction to finding out that Vivid was working for free.
“I was really excited because Chabad doesn’t have all the money in the world,” Cohen said. “We have to fundraise for ourselves, so it’s not really something in our budget to hire a media team … the team is doing it for their portfolio and their resume, and I think that’s really awesome.”
Bell spoke about the excitement that has come from working with clients as well as students through the consulting process.
“When we finally got to meet with the clients and the teams in the same room and seeing the excitement from both sides and all of the ideas coming around and just everyone’s willingness to collaborate and just to make something cool happen, it was just super cool to see,” Bell said.
As Vivid continues to grow and gain more clients, it hopes to market itself by getting pictures of its team working and designing, as well as providing merch to promote itself.
“I’m really happy to be working with them,” Cohen said.
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