The Learning Zone

Sophie Babenko

Bachelor of Design, Minor in Art History

Sophie Babenko will be graduating this June from OCAD U’s Advertising program with a minor in Art History. Between classes and working as a Learning Zone Remote Student Monitor, Sophie also divided her time offering pro bono Art Direction work with The New Kid Collective; a collective created by her friends and classmates, Louise Delfin and Alvin Zheng.

Painting and drawing has been a part of Sophie’s life ever since she can remember, from taking art classes as a child, to studying fine arts in Ukraine. After moving to Canada with her family, she enrolled in the Specialist High Skills Majors (SHSM) fine arts program in high school.

Last week, we sat down with Sophie:

What influenced your decision to major in Advertising?

I have always known that I wanted to work in a creative field but never saw myself pursuing a fine arts career. I took some business classes in high-school and really enjoyed them. For me Advertising is a combination of my interests in arts and business.

I considered enrolling in the drawing and painting program but was always interested in business. My dad worked in marketing in Ukraine and so I have always been surrounded by that industry. I told my parents that I want to enroll in Advertising, they said that made sense because when I was a kid I memorized ads and sang the jingles—it came full circle.

What did you most enjoy about your program?

I definitely enjoyed getting to know people in my program and becoming good friends with them. I think that I got really lucky to be a part of such supportive class. The Advertising program also provided the opportunity to explore the many sides of advertising. You could study photography for advertising or retail which is how some people became interested in UX/UI design, Social Media Management, Strategy etc. I enjoyed how much variety you have in looking at advertising—it was not one straight path, you explored the discipline a little more from different perspectives, and you get to choose what you enjoy the most.

Where are you most productive? Tell us a bit about your creative space.

I am most productive when I am alone at my apartment. I need to focus and not get distracted. However, I am most creative when I am talking to other people. Since I can’t be around my friends during the pandemic, I like to change the setting and to take my work outside when possible.

What kind of books do you enjoy reading?

I really enjoy reading books on art history, especially Renaissance and Baroque. I have always loved reading about artists from a very young age; I would read art books cover to cover. Besides that, I like books based on historical events and the ones that tell individual life stories. My favourite book is One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez.

What are your next steps after graduating?

I am looking forward to starting out in the creative industry.  The next step will be getting a creative/art direction internship.

What will you miss the most about OCAD University?

I will definitely miss being able to work on all types of projects with other students from my program. The first thing that comes to my mind is the walk to the 6th floor. There would always be someone there, sitting at the big table and you would join them. We were all friends with each other too so, you go and sit and tell them some of your ideas or work on your own—I will miss that collective mind and creative group work.

You can find more of Sophie’s work:

OCADVERTISING Website:

My Portfolio Website

The New Kid Collective

Congratulations to our Learning Zone Student Monitor, Amanda Lam. Amanda has successfully completed her 4 years at OCAD U with a Bachelor of Design. Although, Amanda was born in Canada she moved with parents to Mauritius when she was four. Her exposure to the design world came at a young age because her dad worked in advertising and her uncle was in the graphic design field. Both her dad and uncle are now owners of their design company.

 LZ: What influenced your decision to major in Advertising?

AL: My dad told me that OCAD U was a really a good school and his creative directors studied there, so I should consider studying there too. When I came to Canada to study advertising it was primarily because my dad really encouraged me, but I ended up really liking OCAD, the design world itself and going into advertising.

Learning advertising at OCAD was really fun but also challenging. It was not what I thought it would be. At OCAD, the focus is on big ideas, concepts and how to bring an idea further and bigger. That’s what I really like about advertising; it puts the idea both squarely with problem solving of a business, and with the design and creative side — that’s fun.

With OCAD, I was exposed to real world clients and briefs and ended up winning the OCAD U Advertising Collaboration Masters Presentation, which was even more motivating. It was the first time I had the opportunity to work on real-life briefs, and it makes me want to do it more.

I’ve learned the importance of networking and making connections. Now that I’m graduating, I notice how more than ever how important it is to talk to people. For design there are a lot of opportunities, it’s just a matter of getting passed being scared about having no experience — just doing it even though you don’t know how to — that’s how I started. You make mistakes, but you have support from profs, parents, and friends to help you out.

My thesis group named ourselves Awkmob Agency because we bonded over awkward stories. Our group was considered the underdogs and nobody expected us to come in first and second in the Thesis Masters Presentations.

What did you most enjoy about your program?

I love the challenge. In the beginning, I went into the program thinking that I knew what advertising was about, big ads, fun ads but once studying advertising I learned things like copywriting, typography and the importance of design and a call into action. Brands want to see a return investment and getting your target to do something such as the poster may look nice but then what? It can be challenging.

I also liked all of my profs at OCAD, they were real world working people like actual creative directors. It was nice having their view on the industry especially because we are not close to that yet since we are still in school — they would be that step into the advertising world.

What was the most challenging about your program?

I think that advertising is very competitive and that competitive nature of advertising is reflected in our program, that was challenging. Seeing students from the other programs really friendly or chummy, kind of supporting each other but in our program, it is more like competition.

Coming up with new ideas that have not been done, it is something that any designer faces. In such a big world it’s kind of hard to come up with something completely new.

What do you most look forward to after graduation?

I was looking forward to going back home to the island, to the beach and resorts, and under the sun, but because of the pressures of finding a job, I’m staying in Toronto.

I’m looking forward to finding a job that I will actually like, and to keep on learning. The working world will be so different from being in school, so that is exciting, and a new challenge. Hopefully seeing my work out there, on T.V. or online — that would be cool.

What will you miss the most about OCAD University?

Being able to talk to different design creative students from the different programs at OCAD U. When you go to Grad-ex, you get to see all the students’ work, that you don’t see all year because you are in your own bubble — it’s cool to see other projects and what they are doing. Most of my friends are from illustration program so I’m going to miss them as they will still be here doing a 5^th year and I will miss my job at the Learning Zone.

Did you know that the Learning Zone holds a collection of Art & Design Annuals?

With publication dates from 1922 onwards, this collection represents historical content as well as contemporary titles.

A variety of annuals and yearbooks in a range of topics including advertising, graphic design, illustrators and photography are available as a reference resource, here at the Learning Zone.

So come to the Learning Zone to read, enjoy and create!