Photography-design duo captures advertising award for perfume campaign

A designer and photographer from RIT’s College of Art and Design blended their skills to create an award-winning campaign inspired by the tempestuous nature of the seven deadly sins. 

“Aureate de Chanel” is a fictitious campaign — by Kyra Allen ’24 (photographic and imaging arts BFA — advertising photography option and Char Miller ’24 (graphic design) — advertising a new, golden perfume from Chanel. 

“The ‘Aureate de Chanel’ campaign lures consumers into a dreamy reality — an aureate scent,” the duo’s project description reads. 

It received silver in the Cross-Platform category at the 2024 Rochester Advertising Federation’s annual American Advertising Awards.

The print campaign captured three of the sins: greed, gluttony, and pride, each represented by a striking portrait. Miller executed the art direction, layout, and copywriting while Allen completed all the photography. The pair envisioned five print advertisements for fashion magazines. 

“In the first advertisement, the tagline, ‘Sinfully Brilliant’ drowns with King Midas,” the project description reads. “The second advertisement whispers the tagline, ‘Sinfully Brilliant,’ by the Aureate Pride figure’s halo. In the third advertisement, the tagline dissolves behind the smoking figure. The fourth advertisement is a two-page spread bringing the Aureate Pride portrait into the context of an ornate frame. Finally, the fifth advertisement is a two-page spread revealing a holy trinity through the superimposed Aureate Pride and Aureate Gluttony portraits.”

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Kyra Allen and Char Miller

A young king character illustrated greed for the campaign.

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Kyra Allen and Char Miller

A figure poses boastfully, surrounded by treasures, in this portrait representing pride.

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Kyra Allen and Char Miller

The third deadly sin of the campaign was gluttony.