Pa-Pa-Pa-Patterns

I was reading Lake Jane.

A blog for the curious at heart, girly-girls, procrastinators, nail biters and eternal dreamers.

The most recent topic blogged about was the Dwell Patterns by Heath Ceramics. These vibrant, funky tiles would give life and rhythm to any space yet not overburden it. These are not like other tile patterns, these were a product of the design company Dwell which creates goods for the modern home. And truthfully, they've done a beautiful job with these tiles - they are futuristic yet as a whole, not angular (as you would naturally envision something futuristic to be). The design background of the creators is definitely apparent. The patterns allow the eye to meander within the grout and slates, finding different repetitions and rhythms. It's all very architectural, yet, somewhat natural. A tile collection that speaks to Gen Y - half of them on drugs, a large percentage fancying themselves artists, the vast majority wanting to break away from the confines of previous generations, all of them looking to make their mark and establish themselves as individuals.

Check out the full collection for a visual trip right here!

And if you want to kill some time, happily perusing or need to find a gift for a fellow Gen Y'er, check out the Dwell site.

Speaking of patterns.... and visual trips.



Check out The Limits of Control. A film by Jim Jarmusch who did Broken Flowers and Coffee and Cigarettes.

I saw this film maybe a year ago... and it still haunts me. The visuals swirl around in my head. Virtually every scene provides splashes of colour and patterned backdrops - a film set in contemporary Spain, so the vibrant setting is to be expected to a certain extent. This piece is truly a work of art not only due it's cinematography but also the riveting story-line and incredible acting. Listen, I'm no film critique, but I do know that this film was beautiful and different and it drew me in. Truly inspiring for someone interested in the arts, philosophy, and with a strange sense of humour.

The Calm Before the Storm

School begins in exactly 3 weeks! So this is pretty much the lull before the big bang. And this also feels like pretty much, the end of my prehistory. The end of my prologue. After this, who knows. This next year will change everything! The next year will start my new chapter.

I cannot wait to be submersed in an intensive graphic design program with passionate artists surrounding my everyday! I feel so happy and assured. Definitely not the feelings I had when I initially made the decision to go back to school. A few weeks ago, the fear of being beyond broke (with a massive loan over my shoulders) greatly overshadowed the excitement. The truth is that this is an investment in my future, albeit, a very large one. But forget the money, this is the necessary step. This is what I gotta do to get where I wanna be! The professor I'm assisting's words are ringing in my head: "Go for the jugular, don't be passive, don't think about the money - just focus on putting yourself where you need to be, who do you want to be in 20 years?". She gives me lots to contemplate. And she's right, if you want to be somewhere, you have to envision it and just go for it.

So before I get into the craziness that is September, I've been taking advantage of working from home, streaming Big Brother, making trips to Atwater Market, hanging out with girlfriends and making delicious meals with my lova. Last night we had a dinner of gourmet cheese (Camenbert from Quebec and France, Brie, spicy Gouda, Quebec Goat, aged Cheddar - accompanied by blueberries, olives and grapes), fresh bread, yummy salad and some lemon dark chocolate to top it all off. DELECTABLE and mouth watering as I think of it now.

September will mean my second trip to the Gaspe (to celebrate my Dad's 58th and his retirement), the filming and editing of promotional videos for JMSB undergraduate courses with yours truly as the Art Director :), the start of my graphic design studies, some fall camping and a weekend of PodCamp.



I feel so satisfied and positive about my choice! Cheers to the beginning of the rest of my life...

Appalled at JMSB's Curriculum Committee

I was recently informed by one of my former professors that the John Molson School of Business's curriculum committee has considered merging three highly influential and integral courses within the marketing curriculum into one course. These courses are Direct Response Marketing, Advertising and Integrated Marketing Communications. For anyone whose taken even one of these, you understanding the detriment and negative consequences of merging 28 weeks of in-depth learning and development of hard and soft coveted skills into 9 weeks of force-fed theory.

What is the curriculum committee thinking???

This is a major step down for the school as a whole and the students who will have to suffer because of it. As a recent graduate, I feel that I have a duty to voice my opinion and represent the students who will follow me. I urge any JMSB graduates who have been fortunate enough to benefit from either of these three courses to SPEAK UP! Let the curriculum committee know how incredibly dense they are being.

Here was what I wrote to my professor when he asked for former students' opinions on the matter:

What are your thoughts on the proposed discontinuation of Marketing 460 (IMC)?

As a recent graduate from JMSB in Marketing, I can say with confidence that IMC was the only class which truly prepared me for a career in marketing. The IMC course gives the students a realistic view of what completing a real marketing project entails. Furthermore, I am shocked that this course’s validity and importance are being questioned since the trends in marketing point entirely toward integration of communications. This is the only class that allows students to grasp this trend and its implications.

Another trend that this course allows students to become knowledgeable about is that of experiential marketing. In order for companies to stay at the forefront of marketing, they must move towards experiential. How can JMSB boast “real education for the real world” if they do not offer students a course which teaches them about the aspects which are most important when moving into a career in marketing?

Employers are looking for recruits that are aware of the changes in the industry and who will bring a forward-looking and innovation-focused mindset to the company. JMSB allows graduates to have that advantage over other recruits by offering IMC. Discontinuing the IMC course would hinder the students’ development, their future success and the school’s reputation as “a business school focused on the real world and the students’ success”. In fact, discontinuing IMC would completely negate JMSB’s interest in their students’ success and their focus on the “real world”.

What are your opinions about combining advertising, direct marketing and IMC into one course?

Merging these three courses would remove the opportunities that students studying marketing at JMSB have to gain coveted knowledge and skills for their future career. These courses and their material test and educate the students in ways that other marketing courses do not.

Merging these courses would overwhelm the students with information. All of the highly important details would get lost. Further, these courses allow students to learn of different specializations within marketing; a merge of the three courses would be completely un-real world. The students are not paying thousands of dollars for their education to have this information shoved into their brains in 9 weeks. The students want to benefit from the courses and want to learn everything that they can. They do not want “speed-learning” they want a “real education for the real world”!

Advertising and IMC allowed me to gain a realistic perspective on what creating a campaign actually entails. Because of these two courses, I gained insight into the marketing world that I would have otherwise no been privileged to. I have entered into the work force a more knowledgeable, prepared, aware, confident and skilled individual because of the advertising and IMC courses.

If the curriculum committee does decide to go ahead with this merge, they are outwardly stating that they care more about budget, more about bureaucratic disagreements and more about their own agenda than the STUDENTS’ WELL-BEING and EDUCATION. The curriculum committee should be ashamed of their ignorance. I worry about the future of the students’ that have yet to pass through JMSB since this curriculum review makes it apparent that their best interest is not being taken into consideration.

What do you believe will be lost or gained by these proposed changes?

If these changes are in fact instated, JMSB as a whole and the graduates will be less coveted and less reputable. The skills developed because of these 3 courses are without comparison. This curriculum change will nullify the entirety of the committee’s interest in the students’ futures.

Therefore, what will be lost:
- JMSB’s reputation as an institution that cares about their graduates’ success.
- JMSB’s reputation as an institution that offers “real education for the real world”.
- The students will loose the opportunity to study at an institution that is at the forefront of business education.
- The students will loose the opportunity to learn of specialization within marketing.
- The students will loose the opportunity to develop coveted soft skills such as: communication skills, self-confidence, ease in group settings, listening skills, learning how to be effective and valuable team members.
- The students will loose the opportunity to develop coveted hard skills such as: developing presentations, developing campaigns, developing their cv and cover letter.
- All around, the students’ diplomas will be less valuable.

What will be gained:
- JMSB will be seen as an institution that cares less about their students and more about their budget.
- JMSB will be seen as an institution that offers speed-learning rather than in depth education.
- JMSB will be seen as an institution that is not interested in the forward-looking trends within the marketing industry but as an institution that is comfortable offering an outdated education.
- JMSB will be seen as an institution that offers a “one size fits all” education, with no real specialization and no real-life experience.
- The students will learn that cramming for exams is better than taking the time to learn.
- The students will learn that an outdated, theory-focused education at JMSB is as costly as an education at other business schools that actually offer courses on specialization, real-world knowledge and a focus on the actual trends within the industry.

Is JMSB not supposed to be focused on a real education for the real world? Is JMSB not supposed to be focused on their students’ education and their graduates’ success? Does JMSB not want to be at the forefront of business educations? Does JMSB not care what their students think or want? Why, after all the up-roar from the professors and the students involved in these courses, would the curriculum committee even consider implementing this change?

I am extremely disappointed and hope that future JMSB students can benefit from the institution that I benefited from; an institution focused on the future and focused on what was best for me.

Erin Willett
B.Comm, Marketing