# Bachelor project Idea to market: what we expect, how you are assessed, who coaches you and what is due first. Multimedia & Creative Technology · 3.3 Bachelor project · Kick-off · version 1.0.0 · 2026-10-14 Slides: Speaker notes: ## The finish line ![The class of 2025 throwing their caps in the air in front of the KdG campus](https://slides.mctantwerp.be/decks/en/bachelor-project/01-kick-off/graduation.jpg) ## Agenda 1. Idea to market 2. Best of class 3. Assessment 4. Thesis and product 5. Coaches and mentor 6. The year 7. To do ## 1. Idea to market **One route for every profile.** Web and mobile, 2D and XR, audio and video. Whatever your profile, you take one idea all the way to something people would pay for. ### Idea to market An arrow from idea to market, with the skills per stage. Customer research: Qualitative research, UX/UI, AV production, Storytelling. Product validation: MVP building, Proof of concept, Prototyping, I/O systems, 2D/3D visualisation, UX/UI. Market validation: MVP testing, 2D animation, Crowdfunding, Storytelling. Marketing strategy: Business modelling, Segmentation, Go-to-market campaigning, AV production, 3D VFX, Storytelling. Product development: Web development, UX/UI, I/O systems, 3D development, Support. Premiere, Illustrator, After Effects, HTML, C++, C#, Figma, Blender, Unity, Unreal Engine, Miro ### Digital Nomads as creative matchmaker - **Technical** The basics of current digital technologies 3D dev, 2D animation, web dev, graphic design, UI design, I/O systems, AV production, qualitative research - **Creative and strategy** Matching technical skills to a business context Pitching, storytelling, visualisation, facilitation skills, human centric thinking, design thinking, idea validation - **Business** Getting an idea to market Business modelling, value propositions, MVP strategy and building, circular thinking, financial planning, legal context ### The Kickstarter test - AV production - Prototyping - 3D visualisation - Branding strategy ![The Kickstarter page of Sound Explorer, music controllers for kids, with the Flubby and Floop controllers](https://slides.mctantwerp.be/decks/en/bachelor-project/01-kick-off/kickstarter.jpg) - Web presence and SEO - Marketing strategy - Business modelling ## 2. Best of class [Video](https://static.mctantwerp.be/slides/en/bachelor-project/01-kick-off/2025-kotbox.mp4) [Video](https://static.mctantwerp.be/slides/en/bachelor-project/01-kick-off/2025-special-boy.mp4) [Video](https://static.mctantwerp.be/slides/en/bachelor-project/01-kick-off/2025-knowli.mp4) [Video](https://static.mctantwerp.be/slides/en/bachelor-project/01-kick-off/2025-one-love.mp4) [Video](https://static.mctantwerp.be/slides/en/bachelor-project/01-kick-off/2025-smulpack.mp4) ### More examples **[BP best of class examples](https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1mi3Y2XwDceehHAE-tMfqwT6LUPZSeVJU)**: The demo reels of the best bachelor projects, in one Drive folder. ## 3. Assessment ### 15 credits - **15 ECTS credits**: English, marked out of 20. - **375 Hours of work**: For one project, on your own. > [!WARNING] > **Mind the timing** > > Your internship of 56 days falls in the same terms as the build. Start well before it does. The official version: the [ECTS fiche](https://bamaflexweb.kdg.be/BMFUIDetailxOLOD.aspx?a=170581&b=1&c=2). ### Learning outcomes | | What you show | | --- | --- | | #Solve | Analysing a problem and finding multimedia solutions based on the adopted strategy and concept, with an eye on the target audience and the demands of the client | | #Design | Designing and producing creative multimedia solutions, based upon inclusive, solution-oriented strategies and concepts | | #Make | Technically manufacturing, modifying, documenting and testing universally applicable multimedia applications in a structured way | | #Create | Creatively developing and combining original, unique multimedia applications by means of digital technologies | ### More learning outcomes | | What you show | | --- | --- | | #Manage | Managing the phases of a project professionally and communicating in every phase, with specialists and others, with regard for intercultural differences | | #Research | Studying a practice-related research question under supervision, and formulating a structured answer | | #Explore | Reflecting on and updating your own professional competences, and critically following international trends in multimedia technology | | #Care | Placing multimedia applications in their social and international context, judging their social and legal implications, and acting by the values of the profession | ### Three parts, one mark - **55% Professional product**: The Kickstarter test: your hard skills, integrated. - **30% Thesis**: Structured research, with an eye on society and on your own growth. - **15% Presentation**: Your story and the questions of the jury. ### What gets scored | Part | The question | Scored on | | --- | --- | --- | | Professional product | Can you show your hard skills in an integrated way? | #Solve, #Design, #Create, #Make | | Thesis | Can you research in a structured way? | #Research, #Care, #Manage, #Explore | | Presentation | Can you bring a coherent, convincing and substantiated story? | Visual content, storytelling and format, presence | ### The rules - The thesis and the presentation are conditions. Without them, your product is not graded - The jury advises, the lecturers grade - Growth counts: your self-reflection and what you did with feedback - The mark is never deliberated, so a fail cannot be compensated by other courses - A re-sit is possible, with a jury of internal experts only - Proving that you handed in is up to you ### Your product is great, but you skip the presentation at the jury. What happens? - A. Your product cannot be graded - B. You lose the 15% of the presentation - C. The jury grades the product on its own - D. You only lose points on presence **Answer:** A. Your product cannot be graded The thesis and the examination interview are necessary conditions. Without them the professional product is not assessed at all, so you do not just lose 15%. ### The jury - At the end of the academic year, in June - A jury of teachers and external professionals - About 30 minutes per project 1. **Defence**: 15 minutes 2. **Question round**: 10 minutes The exact timing follows later. ## 4. Thesis and product ### Thesis - The final documentation of the research process behind your bachelor project, and the last assignment of the programme - Annexes for your frameworks, models, wireframes and Miro boards - Someone who never heard of your project reads through your process without getting stuck on jargon ### Format - **EN Written in English** - **12 Verdana** - **9k to 12k Words** - **PDF File type** - File name: `JohnDoe_The Nomad experience_BP2027` - Page numbers at the bottom of every page, and numbered appendices - Sources in [APA style](https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/references/examples), with in-text citations ### Thesis structure #### Intro - Executive summary - Scope and personal motivation - The problem - The opportunity - Problem-solution fit - Product-market fit #### Research - Research questions - Approach and planning - Validation experiments #### Product or service - Final value proposition - Description - Proof of concept - Specs and features - Product and target group fit - Visualisations and prototype ### Business plan #### The market - Market analysis - Market maturity - Market share - Product-market fit - SWOT #### Positioning and launch - Marketing plan - Strategic positioning - Go-to-market strategy - Launch campaign - Branding #### Product and money - Internal value chain - Product roadmap - Financial plan - Business model - Funding ### Closing the thesis #### Conclusions - Main conclusions - Next steps - Acknowledgments #### Sources and annexes - All references - Frameworks, models, wireframes, Miro boards ### Plagiarism is fraud - Copying a text, or the structure of a text, tables or data, without the source - Paraphrasing the content or the reasoning of a text without the source - Having a text, or part of it, written by someone else. That shows in your oral defence - Citing a source means published and unpublished sources alike ### ChatGPT and friends - Allowed in your thesis, with proper references and citations in APA style - Document every prompt: screenshots of the prompts and of the results go in an annex > [!WARNING] > Undocumented AI content falls under the plagiarism rules. ### Professional product - **Proof of concept**: an overview of your experiments - **MVP**: the final validation test of your visual prototype - **Product or brand movie**: animation, stock footage and AI - **Brand assets**: your logo and the essential visual brand elements - **Launch campaign image**: the key visual for your launch The must-haves: thesis, presentation and demo reel. ![Two 3D printed figures, an orange fox and a pink cat, on a white desk](https://slides.mctantwerp.be/decks/en/bachelor-project/01-kick-off/prototype.jpg) ### Demo reel - Plays at the award ceremony, where the Best of MCT award is handed out - A shortened version of your product movie is fine - Someone with no prior knowledge knows what your project is about What is it? Who is it for? Why is it relevant? How does it work? ![A presenter on stage at the MCT Showcase, with the title on the big screen behind him](https://slides.mctantwerp.be/decks/en/bachelor-project/01-kick-off/showcase.jpg) **A demo reel is not a screencast.** 30 to 45 seconds, max. ### Handing in - Your thesis, as one PDF on Canvas - At the end of the thesis, a link to an online folder with everything else, structured and organised - Made it in Canva or Miro? Export the files into that folder. A link to the platform is not enough ## 5. Coaches and mentor ### Coaches No coach is assigned to you. Ask the one whose expertise fits your question. ![Remo Herzog](https://slides.mctantwerp.be/decks/en/bachelor-project/01-kick-off/coaches/remo.jpg) Remo Herzog Market research, branding and strategy ![Nathalie De Schepper](https://slides.mctantwerp.be/decks/en/bachelor-project/01-kick-off/coaches/nathalie.jpg) Nathalie De Schepper Funding, pitching and financial strategy ![Sam Serrien](https://slides.mctantwerp.be/decks/en/bachelor-project/01-kick-off/coaches/sam.jpg) Sam Serrien Creative technology and digital products ![Jasper Aelvoet](https://slides.mctantwerp.be/decks/en/bachelor-project/01-kick-off/coaches/jasper.jpg) Jasper Aelvoet Creative thinking, enabling and crafting ![Walter Fransen](https://slides.mctantwerp.be/decks/en/bachelor-project/01-kick-off/coaches/walter.jpg) Walter Fransen 3D modelling, visualisation and real-time 3D ### Coach or coordinator #### A coach - Questions about your subject - Feedback on your work #### The coordinator - Jasper Aelvoet - General questions about the organisation - Anything unforeseen, as soon as it happens ### Your external mentor - At least three years of experience in your industry - Started a business, or drafted a new product or service - Not family, not a friend. A second degree connection is fine - Your sparring partner, with advice from real industry experience - You meet as often as you agree on, but at least twice - Invited to your final pitch ### Finding a mentor - Your internship is a good place to start - LinkedIn and the other internship companies are next - Most people say yes to a clear, short email - Strongly advised, but not required to pass ### Who can be your external mentor? - A. Your cousin, who runs a startup - B. A founder with eight years in your industry, found through a friend on LinkedIn - C. Your internship supervisor, two years into the job - D. A classmate who runs a webshop on the side **Answer:** B. A founder with eight years in your industry, found through a friend on LinkedIn Family is out, and so is anyone with less than three years in the industry. A second degree connection, someone you reach through a friend, is fine. ## 6. The year ### The BP site **[bp.en.mctantwerp.be](https://bp.en.mctantwerp.be)**: The dates, your round table and 1-on-1 per key moment, what to prepare, the coaches and the FAQ. Uploads and announcements stay on Canvas. ### Term 1 + 2: find your idea - **16 October** Kick-off - **Key moment 1** Three ideas: Draft idea statement - **Key moment 2** One idea: One-pager, then a go or a pivot - **Alongside** Find a mentor: Before you start building The dates of every key moment: [bp.en.mctantwerp.be](https://bp.en.mctantwerp.be) ### Term 3 + 4: build and deliver - **Key moment 3** First build: Expert tables on your work in progress - **Key moment 4** Final stretch: Product, thesis and pitch come together - **End of term 4** Hand-in: Thesis with a link to your deliverables - **June** Jury: Your pitch > [!WARNING] > Your internship of 56 days runs in these terms too, next to your thesis and your demo reel. Extra sessions follow when needed or when you ask for them. Keep an eye on Canvas. ### Every key moment #### Round tables A small group at the table of one coach. Everyone presents, the group and the coach react. #### 1-on-1 A short conversation with one coach about your doubts, your questions and the next step. ### Key moment 1: three ideas - A draft idea statement on Canvas: three ideas, nine questions each, as one PDF - The coaches read it before the day - Each idea explained in a minute - A first feeling for the idea you like most, and why - Questions about feasibility, scope and relevance - You leave with feedback on all three, and a clear view of the one to take further ### Key moment 2: one idea - A one-pager on Canvas, type size 9.5: title, challenge, opportunity and solution in 400 words - Then 100 words on your motivation, plan of action and mentor - Supporting research goes in an annex - Still torn between two ideas? Upload two one-pagers, no more - You leave with a go, or a suggestion to pivot. A pivot is no fail ### Graduating early - Term 1 + 2 instead of 3 + 4, only when your internship is all you have left, or when you go on an exchange - After consultation, and only if it is feasible. The initiative is yours - First exam chance at the end of term 2, maybe with a jury of internal experts - The second chance at the end of term 4, with an external jury ### Enrolment and costs - In your graduation year, after or alongside Innovation Project or 3.1 Innovation Challenge - Not possible under an exam contract - Software, hardware or actors that KdG does not provide are on you - Something unforeseen? Contact Jasper Aelvoet, an adapted programme is possible ## 7. To do ### What makes an idea strong - Real demand. Fall in love with the problem, not with your solution - Ask people what they did, not whether they would use your product - Friends and family are not your target audience - Test early, fast and cheap. Evidence beats assumptions - Building too early and ignoring negative feedback kill more projects than bad ideas - One clear value proposition, and distribution in mind from day one ### Task: Three idea statements For key moment 1, in the [idea statement template](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1mVl5SiQc2pwArK3AvN-7zUIEchVjUP2jTigt_kQp_4U/edit). The deadline is on [bp.en.mctantwerp.be](https://bp.en.mctantwerp.be). 1. Make your own copy of the Google Sheet and leave the original alone 2. Answer all nine questions for each of your three ideas 3. Download your copy as a PDF 4. Upload it to the assignment on Canvas ### Nine questions per idea | Question | What you write | | --- | --- | | 1. Name your idea | One sentence | | 2. What is it about? | The challenge, the opportunity and a potential solution | | 3. Who is it for? | Your audience | | 4. Why is it relevant? | The impact for your audience, personal or societal | | 5. Expected outcome | A website, a game, an app, a movie, an installation... | ### And four more | Question | What you write | | --- | --- | | 6. Potential roadblocks | Complexity, expertise, timing... | | 7. Motivation | Why you want this as your bachelor project | | 8. Plan of action | The 5 most important milestones until the jury | | 9. Mentor | Three candidates: LinkedIn link, and confirmed, potential or unknown | **Would people back it on Kickstarter?** ## Glossary - **Bachelor project**: Your individual graduation project: you take one multimedia idea from customer research to a product you could realistically launch. Worth 15 credits. (slide 4) - **Idea to market**: The route of the bachelor project: customer research, product validation, market validation, marketing strategy and product development. (slide 4) - **Kickstarter test**: The question behind your professional product: would people back this on Kickstarter? Every skill you have shows up on one campaign page. (slide 8) - **Proof of concept**: POC. An overview of your experiments that shows your idea is technically feasible. (slide 33) - **MVP**: Minimum viable product. The visual prototype you use for your final validation test. (slide 33) - **Demo reel**: A video of 30 to 45 seconds that shows what your project is, who it is for, why it matters and how it works. Plays at the award ceremony. Not a screencast. (slide 34) - **Thesis**: The final documentation of the research process behind your bachelor project, 9,000 to 12,000 words in English. Counts for 30%. (slide 26) - **External mentor**: A professional with at least three years in your industry and a history of starting something, who is your sparring partner during the project and comes to your final pitch. (slide 40) - **Key moment**: One of the four days in the year where you meet the coaches, at a round table and in a 1-on-1. (slide 47) - **Round table**: A small group of students at the table of one coach. Everyone presents, the group and the coach react. (slide 47) - **Idea statement**: The sheet with nine questions about each of your three ideas. You hand it in as a PDF before key moment 1. (slide 54) - **One-pager**: One page that sums up your chosen idea: challenge, opportunity, solution, motivation, plan of action and mentor. You hand it in before key moment 2. (slide 49) - **Pivot**: Advice from the coaches to adjust your idea or take another direction. Not a fail. (slide 49) ## Links and sources ### In the deck - [BP best of class examples](https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1mi3Y2XwDceehHAE-tMfqwT6LUPZSeVJU) (slide 15): The demo reels of the best bachelor projects - [ECTS fiche Bachelor project](https://bamaflexweb.kdg.be/BMFUIDetailxOLOD.aspx?a=170581&b=1&c=2) (slide 17) - [APA style, reference examples](https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/references/examples) (slide 27) - [Bachelor project site](https://bp.en.mctantwerp.be) (slide 44, slide 45, slide 54, slide 58): Dates, planning per key moment, coaches and FAQ - [Idea statement template](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1mVl5SiQc2pwArK3AvN-7zUIEchVjUP2jTigt_kQp_4U/edit) (slide 54, slide 58): Make your own copy, do not edit the original