Kailing Zhang and Krishna Betai Turn Nutrition Labels Into Insights With Sweet Tooth

Kailin: The fact that people in the ad industry never grow old by heart resonated with me, and that's when I decided to become a creative.

Krishna: I love creating things that people can read, watch, and listen to, and the ad industry is one of the few places that allows for an individual to do all those things.

Kailin: Creativity for me is that unexpected "a-ha" moment, when you see something, and connect to it instantly, on a human level.

Krishna: For me, creativity means thinking of something that no one else has thought of or noticed, telling the stories people have read and heard in new ways, and bringing newness even in the small details.

Kailin: My favorite part of the creative process is when I get a creative brief, I sit down and think of all the things that have happened to me in my life, as I try to find something from my personal experiences that relates to the brief. I'm all about searching for that human truth, an insight that makes the idea strong and relatable.

Krishna: My favorite part of the creative process is brainstorming ideas, because that's where you can let your mind wander in infinite ways and dig deep before you find the golden idea. It's the most fun and exciting part of the creative process because without any restrictions, you can come up with the biggest and whackiest of ideas (or even a nugget of an idea that goes on to become something big), where there's truly no wrong answer.

It's an honor to win such a prestigious award! Seeing our work featured alongside other winners is a huge confidence booster and encourages us to come up with better ideas and keep pushing forward.

One in three adults in the U.S. have pre-diabetes, and more than 80% of them are undiagnosed. Google Sweet Tooth is a conceptual app that uses image recognition technology to help you see how much sugar you're consuming instead of just reading it on the nutrition label of a grocery item. The app also gives information about the contribution of that item to the daily sugar intake, and suggests healthier alternatives, thus helping to prevent pre-diabetes without the need for a blood glucose test.

"Pre-diabetes is a new space with not a lot of solutions, this is a great idea and has the potential to change how people consume/shop" was the feedback given by one of our instructors, which gave us confidence to enter this project in the competition.

1) As a creative in the industry, no two days are the same.

2) Sometimes, the biggest ideas come from the silliest thoughts.

3) Ideating and bringing concepts to life is such a collaborative process. Great ideas can come from anyone – writers can think of great designs, designers can think of great copy.

Push your idea to the best it can be, get feedback from your teachers and fellow students (which helps you to push the idea further), and most importantly, have fun!

Practice your craft, keep your eyes and ears open to people and their unique behavior, and your surroundings, and consume all forms of media – literature, movies, music, art; big and small – from billboards to greeting cards; mainstream and otherwise.

The golden idea lies in the things no one else notices or thinks about. A great idea is many times a simple one, presented in a clever, twisted way, and takes a person a moment to realize the thinking behind it. To quote one of our instructors, "A great idea is one that makes a person go, 'Huh? Oh!'”

Thank you to the MUSE Creative Awards for this honor, and for giving us an opportunity to do this interview!