Colour Copywriter Steve Wallace and former Art Director Matt Pearn have been honored by the 2009 ICE Awards as winners of the Young Creatives Competition, a new category for Atlantic Canada’s advertising accolades that were held this year at Pier 21. Steve was the successful candidate last year for Colour’s Year One Program – an opportunity given by the agency for junior creatives to break into the advertising business. The Young Creatives Competition was open to any resident of Atlantic Canada 29 years of age or under and interested in the advertising business. Steve and Matt beat out 28 other teams to take the top prize.

Applicants were given a brief and were asked to present concepts for pieces responding to the challenges within a 24 hour period.  Format was optional with candidates having the choice to develop concepts for TV/video, radio, print, billboard, poster, web or ambient. This year’s brief was for Laubauch Literacy New Brunswick with the goal of convincing those with limited literacy skills that improving their reading and writing will dramatically change their lives for the better.

Steve and Matt chose a billboard as their medium. Their concept was to literally present a before and after view of improving literacy. The word "Before" was presented as a disaranged jumble while the word "After" was shown clearly. “Our concept was simple, but effective,” says Steve. “There’s a challenge when trying to communicate with this market because they are currently struggling with reading. The message is easy to understand, even for someone with literacy challenges. Understanding what's being said already gives them a sense of accomplishment that they can associate with the client."