Mick Alvarez Flores, B.A., is the Graphic Design Coordinator for ACET, Inc. She started in June 2021 as the first graphic designer at ACET. Mick is the website and social media lead for the 2023 Escape the Vape Video Challenge funded by a grant from the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH). This initiative has been a success in previous years thanks to Tobacco-Free Alliance and MDH. As a result, the ACET team was able to use the already-established branding for the 2023 campaign. Mick crafted new social media graphics, created a social media kit, and updated information on the Escape the Vape website, as well as various marketing and promotional documents.
Escape the Vape is an annual Public Service Announcement (PSA) video contest designed for Minnesota 6th-12th graders to use their voices to raise awareness about the dangers of vaping and to expose commercial tobacco marketing tactics behind it. To enter the Video Challenge, students create and upload a 30-second masterpiece highlighting one key message about the dangers of vaping. The videos then go through judging to choose the top videos, followed by public online voting. The 1st place video in each division (high school or middle school) is awarded $500 for both themselves and their school. Awards between $250 and $50 are also given to the 2nd through 5th place videos.
Mick had a blast ”working on a social media campaign targeted toward youth. The designs included a mix of colorful branding and important messaging.” She enjoyed planning the campaign with the whole team. “It was a fun experience collaborating with co-workers. Generally I work solely with project leads. Being part of a team effort made this project even more enjoyable.” She also described the many different aspects of the website to be included, from ensuring items were correctly placed and listed, to linking and testing the video submission form so that it functioned properly. Because of the contributions of Mick, the ACET team, MDH, and the founder of Escape the Vape, there were 347 video submissions received this year.
Thank you to Mick (and the team) for your dedication and creativity in making an impact on the youth in Minnesota.
