University of Worcester students have launched their own digital media magazine.
Creative Crunch is the BA Hons Creative Media course’s new online magazine and was designed by a team of second year students, in collaboration with first and third year students, staff, alumni and industry. The magazine features stories about the work and life of current and past students, offering an insight into the course’s community, alongside news and job opportunities.
Third year student Meescha Bhamra said: “Having all this content under one roof makes it a great, professional home to direct people of industry. It's a place to be proud of.”
The magazine features a range of digital media content, including student-produced photography, videos and graphics. Helen Holmes, Senior Lecturer and Course Leader, Creative Media, said she wanted to find a way to further build the course community, to keep everyone updated with news and opportunities.
“Our community is much wider than just the current students, as we continue to support our alumni and regularly invite them back,” she said. “We also work closely with industry and institutions such as the Police, Fire Service, NHS and National Trust. We will also be involving our new students at our Applicant event in June.
“Digital publishing is fast growing in popularity as we see larger online audiences, with quality over quantity content, and industry-standard multi-media narrative content, so we wanted to reflect that demand in what we asked the students to produce.”
Alongside content, Ms Holmes tasked the students with taking responsibility for the magazine’s design and layout, and driving it forward. The Creative Media course covers a wide range of digital media, including digital publishing and creative web content, such as photography, video and motion graphics, visual communication, branding and content management systems and optimisation of the web. This meant that the students had all the skills necessary to design, populate and build the online magazine. Some of the students involved in the initial launch have asked if they can continue to be involved next year.
Ms Holmes said the magazine’s content would evolve over time, with regular updates. The editorial team are writing a further five articles at present, and stories on the homepage will therefore change constantly, meaning that, every time a viewer looks, it should appear different.
“The beauty of it being digital is that it can be added to all year round, and so it will be very current,” added Ms Holmes.
Georgie Goode, 21, a second year Creative Media student, said: “Being able to collate my own opinions and experiences, along with those of others, into informative and passionate articles was a creatively freeing experience. Having to then consider aspects such as SEO (search engine optimisation) added a new depth of knowledge, vital for this industry. Creative Crunch allowed me to express myself and my creativity in a real-world, professional situation and I now consider career opportunities in this area.”
To check out the magazine visit www.creativecrunchworcester.co.uk.