What’s an OCAD? is a campaign concept designed to introduce high school students across Canada to OCAD University through direct creative experience. The insight behind the campaign is that while OCAD has been Canada’s oldest art and design school for 150 years, many young people still do not fully understand what happens there or how a creative education can become a real future. The campaign targets Grade 11 and 12 students who are interested in art, design, storytelling, or making things, but may feel unsure about whether art school is the right path for them. 

The core idea is “Creativity in a Box”: a mailed kit filled with materials from across OCAD U, including textiles, printmaking, painting, environmental design, industrial design, and graphic design. Each box gives students a small but hands-on entry point into studio-based learning, allowing them to experiment before ever stepping on campus. The campaign also includes a QR code that allows students to submit their creations, with selected work displayed in a student exhibit at the Ada Slaight Gallery. 

By turning recruitment into participation, the campaign moves beyond simply telling students what OCAD is. Instead, it lets them feel it, build with it, and imagine themselves there. The result is a playful, accessible introduction to creative education that makes OCAD feel less intimidating and more possible.