Students in the Time-Based Media program at Mainz University of Applied Sciences impressed the jury of a student competition with their creative concepts for preventing debt among adolescents and young adults. The three best projects were honored at an awards ceremony held at Mainz University of Applied Sciences. The competition was organized in collaboration with the Rhineland-Palatinate Ministry of Labor, Social Affairs, Women, Family, and Youth.
The goal of the competition was to develop a creative social media campaign that raises awareness among teenagers and young adults about debt prevention and teaches financial literacy in an accessible way. The competition was supervised by Prof. Julia Kühne, professor of fundamentals of design and cross-media design concepts. The projects were developed as part of her course in the Time-Based Media program.
The students developed independent communication concepts that included, among other things, the target audience approach, content priorities, tone, suitable social media formats, as well as initial storyboards and mock-ups. The concepts were then presented to a panel of experts.
The evaluation focused on creativity, originality, target audience orientation, feasibility, clarity of communication, and media-appropriate implementation.
“Young people, in particular, often make purchasing decisions in a digital world where payment is just a click away. This makes it all the more important to teach financial literacy in a way that is understandable, relevant to real life, and on their level. The submitted concepts impressively demonstrated how this can be achieved in a creative and target-audience-appropriate way,” explained State Secretary Kathrin Anklam-Trapp.
The award-winning projects:
First place and prize money of 1,500 euros went to Hanna-Sophie Limbach, James Skaletski, and Finn Eichert for their concept “Katsching.” The jury particularly praised the high-quality, target-audience-appropriate videos, which address both humorous and serious aspects of debt prevention. The well-thought-out influencer marketing concept was also convincing: The team had already researched suitable influencers, established contacts, and developed concrete proposals for implementation.
Second place (750 euros) went to Hannah Nolte, Linnéa Hünerfeld, and Jenny Hughes for their concept “Stop before you shop.” The jury was particularly impressed by the professionally designed website, its clear structure, and the creative and well-thought-out execution.
Third place (500 euros) was awarded to Lucia Sophie Teufel and Benjamin Borrmann for their concept “Geldkeeping.” The jury praised the professional media execution, the content that had already been produced, and the creative central theme centered on a “dove,” which left a lasting impression on the jury. The concept combined entertaining and informative elements and was complemented by a podcast.
The winning concepts can now be further developed—and, if appropriate, implemented—in collaboration with the Rhineland-Palatinate Ministry of Labor, Social Affairs, Women, Family, and Youth.
Prof. Julia Kühne: “I am impressed by the creativity, dedication, and professionalism with which the students tackled this socially important topic. It was wonderful to see how initial ideas evolved into compelling communication concepts within a single semester. The jury clearly had a difficult time making their selection.”
The collaboration with the Rhineland-Palatinate Ministry of Labor, Social Affairs, Women, Family, and Youth is particularly valuable in this context. “For the students, it’s a great motivator to work on a real-world challenge and to be able to present their concepts. For me, collaborations like this are what make for good teaching: they combine creative work with practical experience and demonstrate the contribution that design can make to socially relevant issues,” explains the professor.
