The Norwich Big Book Crit is transforming creative careers
Cordell Burke is helping to bridge the gap between aspiring creatives and seasoned professionals, offering students invaluable real-world guidance while giving industry experts a chance to give back.
"Students have always found it challenging to get in front of creative heads whose busy days often make them inaccessible to their own department and never mind the outside world.
And unless those creative heads have a close link with a particular university/college course then students tend to miss out on real world advice and guidance.
I’ve been lucky to have been guided by some of the finest creatives in advertising and marketing over many years so it’s important that I pass that knowledge and experience onto the next generation directly whenever possible as a way of saying ‘thank you’."
- Cordell Burke, Creative Managing Partner for UP THERE, EVERYWHERE
About the Norwich Big Book Crit x DMA Talent
In 2016, this initiative was developed by DMA Talent in partnership with Norwich University of the Arts, initially led by Cordell Burke, agency Creative Director and non-executive board director at the DMA, and Sarah Steed, the Business Director of Norwich University of the Arts at the time.
The first Norwich Big Book Crit was kickstarted with 20+ Creative Heads and 40+ students crammed into a tiny room in one of the university’s smaller buildings.
Today, the initiative has gone from strength to strength with the outstanding support and energy of Evie Ross, Industry Link Officer and Luke Oxford, Employability Adviser, both from Norwich University of the Arts and James Dredge, Marketing & Student Membership Manager at DMA UK.
In January 2024, 95 students attended, 39 Creative Heads were critiquing representing 23 creative businesses, and 260 critiques were achieved over the evening. In May 2024, they had 73 students attending and 39 Creative Heads critiquing representing 24 creative businesses, and over the evening, 280 critiques were achieved. In all cases after the events, the students connected on LinkedIn with those Creative Heads who reviewed their work, establishing links for future contacts.
Now, the Norwich Big Book Crit have a growing database of over 90 Norfolk-based Creative Heads who are all keen to give up their time to support the initiative and other projects at the university.
Over the years, they have replicated the Big Book Crit in other regional locations such as Bristol, Edinburgh, Leeds and Manchester. The challenge is to find a way to make that a regular occurrence.
One of the lessons learnt from the Norwich Big Book Crit is demonstrating how to avoid a creative talent drain in a particular location. This initiative allows the area to keep the talent coming out of Norwich University of the Arts and ensures that retained, diverse talent contributes to the continual growth and awareness of the creative industries in Norfolk.
That’s clearly a win-win for all concerned.