Staying “Weird:” How an Ad Creative Student Maintains her Creativity
By: Riley Walsh
If fourth year advertising creative student, Malana Diebolt could give advice to a freshman thinking about joining her major, she would say: stay weird.
When Diebolt first began her journey at Michigan State University, she wanted to work in fashion design, so apparel and textile design was the obvious major choice. Once she began her classes, she realized that she was more interested in fashion, but not particularly the design of clothing. Still wanting to maintain her creativity, she made the switch to advertising creative to be able to blend her skills.
“All of freshman year, I took an art class which was like drawing, then there was a color and design class. After getting more into the major, we did sewing classes. I knew advertising could be a good career and I could still work with fashion so that’s what made me switch,” she said.
Diebolt says her background in apparel and design has helped her, especially in the required ad creative courses. She says maintaining creativity in courses where you must come up with different and unique ideas isn’t always easy. To spark ideas when she feels stuck, Diebolt says she uses apps like Pinterest, where she can research different aesthetics and begin her process for different projects.
When starting her briefs or projects, Diebolt says she tries to not have any limits on her ideas.
“When you go into doing your briefs and your projects, be yourself and show off your weirdness, your creativity. No one’s going to judge you, everyone can have great ideas, no matter how weird they might seem. It’s kind of fun being able to not have any limit,” she said.
For Diebolt, creativity is the most important aspect of her projects. She is constantly looking for ways to make her work stand out and be unique; she doesn’t like to take the simple route. She says she appreciates getting feedback from her peers to sharpen her work and find perspectives she hadn’t yet considered.
“My biggest takeaway is being open to feedback,” she said. You don’t always have to take someone else’s advice but it’s nice to hear something that maybe you haven’t thought about.”
After graduation, Diebolt says she plans to work in the fashion industry whether it be apparel or cosmetic brands. Her background in apparel and textile design has laid a great foundation for her in her future and given her experience working on the fashion side of the industry, as well as the advertising side.
Learn more about the Advertising Creative Major online here: https://admissions.msu.edu/academics/majors-degrees-programs/advertising-creative.
