SCABs

“SCA faculty & mentors are the best; learning from the best helps you become the best”

1. Hi Gem! Tell us a bit about yourself. Where are you from and which SCA intake were you in? 

My name is Gem, I’m from France and I was in HUSH (2018-2019)

2.  What were your sources of creative inspiration when you were growing up?

I didn’t grow up in a very creative environment, we wouldn’t listen to music nor watch classic movies and rarely went to museums etc and I suffered from this lack of cultural references growing up. I will always remember my friend’s disbelief in middle school when I admitted to not knowing Pink Floyd. This moment was like a revelation for me, I needed to create my own world of references. And from that day I started building my artistic culture, starting with watching movies. I instantly fell in love with anything art related and wanted my life to gravitate around it.

3. Where are you currently hired and what are your career highlights so far?

I’m an Art Director at TBWALondon and my career highlight so far is to have won Twitter’s annual competition #PoweredByTweets for a charity called Ovarian Cancer Action. A very exciting and important piece of work that’s coming out soon!

4. What encouraged you to study at SCA?

I initially came to SCA for one term through their partnership with French ad school Sup De Pub, and I decided to stay for the rest of the course the day I realised it was my best chance to turn my dream career into reality. 

5. How would you describe your time at SCA in 3 words?

Challenging. Intense. Life-changing. 

6. What did you most enjoy about your time at SCA and what did you find most challenging?

The best was how it helped me build my resilience. The most challenging was to believe in the process and deal with pressure. And you can see how the first helped me outcome the second. 

7. Have you had any ‘light-bulb’ moments that became a creative game-changer for you?

When I first saw ‘Irreversible’ from Gaspar Noé when I was 16. I thought ‘well, everything in this movie is different’ and found it extraordinary how the director challenged film conventions. Made me want to become a challenger myself. 

8. What advice would give to anyone who thinks they can’t be a professional creative?

That if they think so, they are in the wrong mindset and they should read ‘mindset’ by Dr Carol S. Dweck. That nothing is impossible in life if you change the way you think, believe in yourself and are ready to work for it. 

9. What do you think the magic formula is to the success of SCA Students? 

How the course constantly pushes you to overcome…yourself. You build excellent resilience which is a rare yet extremely important quality to thrive and stand out in this job. And of course, the faculty & mentors are the best and most experienced professionals you will ever meet: learning from the best ultimately helps you become the best.    

10. Top tips for future students on how to get the best out of SCA.

Believe in the process. It’s all going to work out in the end. A former student once told me ‘SCA is like climbing a mountain. You might not see where you’re going but when you get to the top, the view will be amazing.’ 

11. What’s the best piece of advice you were ever given?

I guess it was the mountain analogy I quoted above. My biggest problem was my stress and anxiety. Realising that everything will work out fine, really helped me relax and focus. 

*Follow Gemina on Twitter @ggflrs and check out her creative portfolio with partner Jem here

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