Get to know some of our College of Media students! Joseph Rund is a Class of 2025 advertising major. 

What first sparked your interest in advertising?
I’m creative at heart and I have always had an interest in making videos and working on creative projects. So advertising as a major has allowed me to follow my interests that will lead me down a creative career path. The skills I’ve learned from the curriculum and activities have allowed me to create work where I can make a real impact on the companies I work with.

Are there any resources within the College of Media that you have found to be helpful for students with the same interests as you?
There are so many people within the College of Media who can assist with professional development like helping you brush up on resumes or figure out what you want to do for your future career. Taking advantage of those opportunities is very important for students. I came from a small rural town, so I never realized I would have this much help when navigating college and my future. I always thought I’d be on my own in college, but this was not the case. The college provides students with resources to explore their professional and creative side which is perfect for someone like me who is building a career that incorporates creativity. 

Tell me about your time with Fighting Illini Productions.
I applied to work at Fighting Illini Productions at the end of my freshman year after seeing someone with an all-access pass at a football game and being inspired to work with the team. Now, I’m incredibly thankful to be in a position as a student getting to work for a creative department in NCAA Division I athletics. Through networking with full-time staff, I’ve had the opportunity to shoot a variety of sports, including women’s basketball, baseball, softball, volleyball, men’s and women’s gymnastics, soccer, and track and field.

I started as a post-production intern, editing videos without attending shoots. After a few months, I joined the football creative team and began filming home games. I was used to shooting alone, but this experience taught me how to creatively collaborate with a team on video projects. I’m surrounded by a group of very talented people who are not only great creatives but also sharp analytical thinkers.

Last semester, a new creative director was hired, and I wanted to show initiative, so I reached out to ask for more responsibility. That made a strong impression, and he made me the video lead for men’s gymnastics, which I’m so grateful for. It’s fast-paced and high-pressure, with 24-hour turnarounds and daily deadlines, but also incredibly rewarding. I even got to travel with the team to the Big Ten and NCAA Championships in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

What RSOs are you a part of here at Illinois?
I am part of Illinois Enactus, which is an entrepreneurial group that focuses on social and environmental change in the community. I started as a media team member and became the media liaison, using my advertising and media knowledge to balance marketing operations. Now I am on the membership development team in which I lead the socials and professional development events. I nicknamed our team the “F.O.M.O.” team because we try to generate as much “F.O.M.O.” (Fear Of Missing Out) as possible around our events when we advertise for them.

What is the 24-Hour Spec Ad Challenge, and how did the skills you learned from the College of Media help prepare you for it?
The 24-Hour Spec Ad Challenge was an open invitation challenge in Columbus to create a spec-ad for any brand of choice within 24 hours. After receiving an invitation, I was very interested, so I reached out to people I knew in Columbus and got with them to figure out what we wanted to do. 

During the process of this challenge, I remember thinking back to my advertising classes that encouraged me to get a big idea for the story that is told through an advertisement. I thought about finding a leading selling point, which is something you have to consider for projects within this major. For the spec-ad, we wanted to do Brooks running shoes. Brooks are made to run on all types of surfaces, so I wanted to embody that main idea that you can go anywhere when you run with Brooks shoes. Following that point, we went through all stages of production and created an advertisement we were very happy with in 24 hours. We faced hiccups along the way, but persevered to create an advertisement that told the story we hoped to tell. 

What do you think your freshman-year self would think of you now?
My freshman-year self would probably look at me like, “No way! This guy is so cool.” I would like to think he would be inspired by everything I’ve done so far. Coming from a small farming town and going to a larger community like the University of Illinois as a freshman was very intimidating. I have now realized how many opportunities there were within the school, and I took advantage of as many of them as I could and grew so much because of that. 

I was definitely lost my freshman year—as most people are—trying to figure out what I wanted to do. At first, I was always interested in the creative side, but after joining Illinois Enactus my sophomore year, I became more interested in the business side, which is what persuaded me to start my own business. I would love to have my own creative agency to give back on a larger scale, which is something younger-me would be very proud of. Ultimately, I want to help people tell their stories through my creative abilities in advertising and have a real impact in my work. 

—Interview by Brooklynn Hubbard, New Voices Intern