Jared Salimbene Mastery Journal Full Sail University Media Design MFA

About

My name is Jared Salimbene. I live in central PA but I am originally from Bethlehem, PA. I am currently a student at Full Sail University. I have a Bachelor's of Science in Graphic Design from Full Sail University, and I am currently pursuing a Master's of Fine Arts in Media Design at Full Sail University. I work from home and I focus on schoolwork followed by some freelance work when I have free time.

LinkedIn-https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaredsalimbene/

Intention Statement

Over the next 12 months, I hope to dive much deeper into the design industry. I feel as though I know a lot about the software, but now it is time for me to learn more about the bigger picture. Throughout my life, I would always want to know everything about the few topics that I really enjoyed, and this major is no different. I want to know more about why some design trends have come and gone, why things seem to be changing all the time, etc. I have of course taken some development classes and researched design trends, but I have never had classes that really go into depth about any of these topics. I also believe I will be learning more about myself in this program. Just throughout my first class I have found out much more than I expected in regards to learning about myself. I am also very excited about some of my upcoming classes including the Brand Development and Design Integration classes. I am looking forward to the thesis class, and I'm not sure if that's good or bad. I think that by the time I reach the 11th month, I will be prepared and ready to deliver a meaningful and impactful presentation.

Inspiration

When I found this video, I instantly was inspired and motivated. Coming from a mind as great as Steve's, this video really made me take a step back and think about the three main points in his speech. I made all of the choices in my life for a reason, I currently love what I do and failure is part of the journey, and I should try and live each day as though I won't make it to the next.

APA: Jobs, S. (2020, October 21). One of the greatest Speeches ever | Steve Jobs. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tuw8hxrFBH8.

LinkedIn

Inspiration Post 2

“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”

This is a simple yet powerful quote from Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi mentions to live everyday to the best of our abilities as our future is uncertain. He also says that we should learn as much as possible, almost as though we knew that we could live for eternity. This quote inspires me to never stop learning and to always live everyday being grateful and kind to everyone. The future is unknown, so make the best out of the present.

APA: Gandhi, M. (2021, January 13). 15 inspiring Gandhi quotes. Biography.com. Retrieved from https://www.biography.com/news/gandhi-quotes.

Infographic

Career and Graduation Goal

My career goal is to become either a design teacher or consultant. I will stick with Graphic Design Teacher as I would like to focus more on that. I want to teach and inspire a new generation of designers while still educating myself on the always changing world of design. Within my first month after graduation, I will apply to at least 5 schools looking for design teachers and hopefully get an interview.

6 Step Plan

Step 1- Search job sites and the web for accredited schools and universities for open design positions.

Step 2- Contact possible job oppurtunities through email or phone call asking about applying and other important details.

Step 3- Apply to jobs while still researching as much as possible through the school wesbite and other forms of media.

Step 4- Interview with possible school oppurtunities and show them coursework/curriculum while answering questions.

Step 5- If the school is no longer interested after the interview, I will thank them for their time and proceed to looking for more teaching oppurtunities. If the school is interested I will start to look at the next phase of being hired.

Step 6- I will still apply to other schools even if I get an oppurtunity from one of the first applications just to see what other universitites may offer in terms of benefits, relocation, etc.

MDM525 Week 1: Personal Vision Statement

Vision

My Life’s Aspirations as a Designer

As a designer, I want to not only be successful, but to also leave an impact. I want to create unique designs where people know that I made them. I also want to teach design. I want to inspire and educate the next generation of designers while pushing them to reach for their goals.

My Values

I value hard work, honesty, and passion. I value hard work because it shows that, even if the job is hard, I am willing to give it everything I have. Martin Luther King Jr. gave a speech in Philadelphia on October 26, 1967, and something King said has had a great impact on how I go through my life and complete my goals. Martin Luther King Jr. said, “Be a bush if you can’t be a tree. If you can’t be a highway, just be a trail. If you can’t be a sun, be a star. For it isn’t by size that you win or fail. Be the best of whatever you are.” (King, 1967). For me, hard work comes from passion. If I don’t have the passion for something, my work suffers. Being passionate and working hard are both very important to success and the longevity of my career. I also value honesty. Being honest with ourselves and with others is also important for success. If I am not honest with others, it ruins my relationship with them. If I am not honest with myself, it ruins multiple aspects of my life including the work that I create.

My Talents

I believe that my main talent is my eye for detail. I work on things for a long time, making sure that everything looks the best that I can make it. I am not sure if this is a talent, but I would consider my patience and persistence to be a talent for me. I used to work in mobile development, and I would spend hours trying to fix one or two issues with my code. I have brought that mindset to my designs as well, never giving up no matter how many obstacles are in the way of my goal.

What I Hope to Accomplish by the End of My Life

I want to be a successful designer and teacher. I want my designs to be impactful for years after they are made, and I want my students to remember me years after they have been in my class. I want my classes to be interactive, engaging, and fun while still being informative.

Values

Professionals That I Look Up To

Paula Scher (Creator of the Citi Bank Logo as well as the High Line Logo)

• Creativity
• Diversity
• Innovation
• Obsessive

Craig Moser (My Design Teacher from BAVTS and one of my mentors)

• Humor
• Intelligence
• Originality
• Respect

Chip Kidd (Famous for book cover designs, one of his most famous being Jurassic Park)

• Humor
• Individuality
• Longevity
• Creativity
• Intuition

My Value System

• Innovation
• Intelligence
• Honesty
• Respect
• Open-Mindedness
• Optimism

Mission Statement

Motivators: My motivators include my Family, Success, Financial Stability, and the hope to inspire others.

Timeline: From graduation to retirement.

Pillars For My Mission Statement

Personal: I want to be happy and successful while leaving a mark of some kind on the world. Whether that mark is large or small, only time will tell.

Family: I want my family to be proud of my work and what I accomplish.

Professional: I want to be impactful and honest. I want coworkers to remember me for the work I did and the person that I was. I want clients to remember my work and to remember me as a designer that they can trust with more business of their own and for others that they know.

Community: I want to give back to others that don’t have enough while also giving back to those that have helped me along the way.

My Mission Statement

To be an impactful teacher and designer. And to inspire as many people as possible to become the greatest version of themselves.

APA References

King, M. L., Jr. (1967, October 26). What Is Your Life’s Blueprint? The Seattle Times. https://projects.seattletimes.com/mlk/words-blueprint.html

Norris, L. (2021). How to Develop Your Personal Vision Statement: A Step-By-Step Guide To Charting Your Future With Purpose And Passion. Reading Assignment. http://static1.squarespace.com/static/5765deb1be659449f97fcbf5/t/5770b309579fb313164a7a37/1467003657818/LINDYNORRIS.COM+-+How+to+Develop+a+Personal+Vision+Statement.pdf

Design Challenge Week 1

This design challenge was to reconstruct one of Alexander Girard's prints as a vector file in Adobe Illustrator using the Pen tool. By reconstructing this print, it helped me to better understand the pen tool and how vital it is to getting those perfect edges. I've been using the pen tool for years, but it still amazes me how much I can learn by just creating simple shapes such as the triangles in this print.

Optional Challenge 1

This optional challenge was to complete a vector file of an iconic Alexander Girard grid pattern by drawing colored lines over a template using the Line Segment tool. I had trouble at the beginning of this assignment due to the amount of lines that had to be created and the position of them. I was making a lot of simple errors such as making the line too long or missing where it was supposed to go by a square or two in the file. This assignment definitely helped me to master the basics of the line segment tool while also being fun to create.

MDM525 Week 2

Graduate Writing

Design research is essential in creating meaningful products and services that can fulfill human wants and needs. When talking about design research, there are basic foundational principles that can be expressed in different ways, but they still lead to the same outcome in regards to talking about design research. Panthea Lee mentions five principles in regards to design research in her article about Design Research for Media Development. She says these five main principles are understanding humans and institutions, discarding assumptions, remaining flexible, considering diverse stakeholders, and being responsible (Lee, 2013). The best design research solutions always meet the needs of the user, but one must also understand the limitations and capacities of the user (Lee, 2013). This way of research is also done at the institutional level, so understanding both is necessary in order to conduct successful research. Discarding assumptions is also key. One must learn to recognize these biases and assumptions, then find a way around them in order to continue conducting effective and useful research. Remaining flexible is also an integral part of the design research process. No one ever knows which way the solution will come about, so they always have to be ready for change. Considering diverse stakeholders is also important as the program would be nothing without everything working together in harmony. These diverse stakeholder can include regulators, media outlets, journalists, and even audiences (Lee, 2013). Making sure that all of these groups are being satisfied is a sure way to begin successful in the long run. Lastly, and maybe most importantly, is that responsibility is key. There may be negative impacts that the project has on a community (Lee, 2013). One must always consider how actions and words play a part in the way they show themselves to local communities.

The choices a company makes during the research phase ultimately effects the outcome of the product, so making the right choices and using these principles is essential in a professional design setting. Once the research is conducted and the data is collected, which requires all five principles listed above, there is much more to be done in order for the design research to be executed effectively all the way to the end. These extra steps include processing the data into useful formats, making sense of the data, turning this data into insights that show how experiences can be improved, testing those insights against already known factors, and lastly turning these insights into actionable formats (Lee, 2012). These actionable formats are the best way that someone has been able to solve the problem through all of the previous research done and steps listed above. Taking these steps once collecting the data is crucial in figuring out the best and most efficient way to solve the problem at hand. Skipping any of these will create an incomplete solution that may not satisfy all of the diverse stakeholders that are having the same issue. Side tracking slightly, these principles and steps can also be used in education. Design research in relation to education is labeled as Educational Design Research, or EDR. Tom Reeves and Susan McKenny mention this form of design research in their article. EDR has two main goals: to develop knowledge, and to develop solutions (McKenny & Reeves, 2012). Just as with most design research, EDR extends the theoretical knowledge of students through data collection and analysis (McKenny & Reeves, 2012). Using the principles and steps outlined above, schools have started to create programs and classes that educate students through real-world settings without the use of labs. One such example of this is the Crystal Island Project. This project allowed students at North Carolina State University to figure out the cause of infectious diseases and how they spread through the structure of a game (McKenny & Reeves, 2012). EDR also aims to answer different questions other than choosing which method is better, for example online vs in class school structure. This quote from the article really sums up the true use of EDR in relation to teaching and learning, "It can offer researchers and practitioners the opportunity to produce interventions of real value—tools, approaches, theories, and products—tested in the field and shown to be effective, which can alter how instructors and students interact and can enhance the acquisition of learning" (McKenny & Reeves, 2012).

Besides the example in education, there are dozens of examples of design research being used by businesses and companies. One such example is that of improving emergency relief distribution in Pakistan, a journey that Panthea Lee was included in while on the Reboot team. In 2010, there were terrible Indus River floods in Pakistan. UBL, which was a large financial institution, gave over 2.3 million prepaid credit cards to Pakistani households that lost their homes in the flooding (Lee, 2012). One year later, the Reboot team was brought in to evaluate and improve the relief distribution and mobile banking systems. After conducting hundreds of interviews, Reboot found out that UBL's network of human agents was no where near as optimized as it should've been. "These independent retailers acting as the bank’s cash-in and cash-out points were often the sole human touchpoint between customers and the bank, yet they were not seen as a marketing tool by the bank. As the first point of contact for poor and often illiterate customers, they were in a strong position to explain the security that banking services could bring to their lives" (Lee, 2012). This quote shows how the retailers were not informed or educated enough in order to help the poor people that were in need of the money that they were given. UBL then took Reboot's insights and created a team of specialists whose job was to coach and support the agents. "By illustrating how branchless banking services can be designed for low-income users, we helped turn a commendable but unsustainable corporate social responsibility initiative into a long-term business growth area that was better able to meet the needs of the marginalized" (Lee, 2012). This quote shows how, through research, the Reboot team was able to bring banking to Pakistan's poor population, and it turned the helpless millions into knowledgeable customers.

APA Citations

Lee, P. (2012, February 19). Design Research: What Is It and Why Do It? Reboot. Retrieved from https://www.reboot.org/2012/02/19/design-research-what-is-it-and-why-do-it/.

Lee, P. (2013). Design Research for Media Development: A Guide for Practitioners. Reboot Design. Retrieved fromhttps://internews.org/wpcontent/uploads/legacy/resources/ Internews_Design-Research-for-Media-Development_2014-05.pdf.

McKenney, S., & Reeves, T. (2012, August 6). 7 Things You Should Know About Educational Design Research. Educause. Retrieved from https://library.educause.edu/resources/2012/8/7-things-you-should-know-about- educational-design-research.

Design Challenge Week 2

For the week 2 required design challenge, I created a vector file of Alexander Girard’s artwork from a sketch using the Pen and Shape Builder tools. This challenge was more difficult than last week in my opinion. I have been using the Pen tool and Shape Builder tool for years, but it still bugs me when certain thing don't go as planned. I had a really fun time creating this and this challenge and I definitely have become more skilled with the Pen tool and Shape Builder tool since I have been really using them non-stop again for the pas few weeks.

MDM525 Week 3

Defining Client Needs

Defining client needs is one of the foundational parts of working as a designer. Defining client needs is when the client presents an issue or even multiple issues to the designer, and how the designer envisions and responds to these issues is all part of defining client needs. Defining client needs is the starting point on a designer's journey to creating a solution to the client's problem.

Chris lowery from the Margo Chase case study makes a mention towards defining client needs in a well though out manner. He says, "Who they are, what they feel about their lives, what they aspire to, what they love, what they hate, so that we can know them as people and the first step for us to do that is to really take the brand and the aspiration of the brand and look at it in the realm of just generally how people are in society" (Chase, 2008, Branding, 2:08). This shows how important it is to understand as much about the client as possible. If it seems like there are too many questions, the designer most likely hasn't asked enough. It is crucial to get as much information as possible so that the designer can go into the creative process having a large foundation of information alongside the research that they should've done about the company before letting with the client. This process of figuring out who the clients are is also how Rose Toth breaks down her clients. As the owner of Rose Custom Interiors, Rose Toth makes it her mission to figure out exactly what the client wants. Whether that is downsizing and making the space feel more personalized to the client or a client starting a renovation project like building a new kitchen space, Toth goes the extra mile to make sure the client loves the designs. She says, "This is when I find out what the client is looking to do and who they are" (Local Firm's Designs, 2010, p.28). This example shows how regardless of what field someone is in, the importance of learning and understanding the client is paramount to having a successful time.

Defining client needs effectively can have many benefits. In Ardith Stephanson's article. she mentions 5 strategies to use in order to figure out exactly what the client needs. These strategies include knowing the client's business, listening carefully, asking questions and paraphrasing, bringing new ideas to the table, and always checking back with the client to stay on track (Stephanson, 2021). All of these strategies are useful to making sure the needs of the client are met successfully. Researching the client's business is a great way to show that the designer has done their homework before even meeting the client. Listening carefully shows that the designer is truly invested in what the client is talking about and that they want to help in the best way possible. Asking questions and bringing new ideas to the table go hand-in-hand and these strategies show that the designer wants to see through with the client's needs while also showing that the designer has knowledge of these topics. Always checking in with the client and making sure everyone is on the same page is also important to the overall success of the project as well as being able to build a relationship with the client.

Client Communication

Client communication is also a key part of the design process. Communication is essential to building relationships with a client and making sure everybody is on the same page at all times. Communication is also key in the beginning stages of the design process as that is when the designer and client speak the most with each other and really talk about the client's issues and ways to solve for these issues.

In the case study, Margo Chase makes a great connection to client communication. She mentions that in order to start creating a design, her team has to come up with a direction that both the team and the client can agree on (Chase, 2008, Branding, 5:06). Communication was essential in this scenario in order for Chase and the client to be on the same page in terms of the design. If there are disagreements, the designer would have to understand why the client doesn't like the design and then either fix the issue or prove to the client that the previous direction is better in a professional and knowledgable way. Tom Greever has a great quote on communication when he talks about asking the client questions to understand what's important to them. He says, "That’s how you create an awareness of the other person’s viewpoint and set yourself up for a better relationship, better communication, and better success in creating the best user experience" (Greever, 2015, ch.3). This quote shows how powerful simple communication such as asking questions can be when communicating with a client. It is always important to get as much information as possible when communicating. It helps build a bond with the client and shows that the designer is passionate about solving the issues at hand.

Client communications have a lot of benefits. Some of these benefits include that fact that good communication doesn't spoil expectations, it reduces clutter, it builds rapport with the client, and good communication even keeps the project aligned and on track (Kashyap, 2021). When the communication between the designer and client is clear, the client knows what to expect and when to expect it. Reducing clutter is important as knowing exactly what to work on his far more valuable than having little things get in the way of the main goal, and this could be cause by not knowing exactly what the client wants due to poor communication. Building rapport and keeping the client on the same page is also important as having a trusting and close relationship with the client usually tends to lead to better overall outcomes of projects.

Meeting Client Needs

Meeting client needs is almost the end goal of the design process. Once everything is finished, the designer needs to make sure that all of the needs of the client were met in an efficient and successful manner. Making sure that the client is satisfied not only gives the designer an opportunity for more of their business, but they will also mention the designer to other possible clients for work.

Margo Chase brings up meeting client needs near the end of her case study. She mentions that the reason her team did all of this was to help not only the client and her sales, but to also improve the business problems that the client was facing (Chase, 2008, Branding, 10:16). Chase also mentions that she loves when clients come back to her and tell her how much the business has grown since her team helped to solve the client's business problems (Chase, 2008, Branding, 10:20). Meeting client needs was also a huge factor in the success of The Christie Cookie Co. in Nashville, TN. The senior Vice President of Foodservice Sales, Mark Budd, mentioned that their cookies became so popular due to the high-quality ingredients that they use and that they were filling a big void in the cookie category (Doric, 2018, p.61). American Airlines was so interested in their company that they began to sell the company's cookies in first-class and business class as a dessert option while in flight. Christie Cookie Co. was able to meet the needs of American Airlines in a big way which showed that they were serious about getting to as many people as possible.

Meeting client needs is essential to having a successful relationship with the client. Once the client realizes that the designer/company can be trusted, it can open more doorways to new opportunities and clients. Meeting client needs also starts with setting expectations. Sometimes questions should be asked before the project in order for needs of the client to be met accordingly. These questions might include asking "what specific style is the goal of this project" or "what elements are a must-have in the design?" ("20 questions", 2019). Asking these questions can help set the needs of the client and these are the needs that should be met by the end of the project.

APA Citations

20 questions to ask your client before any design project. (2019, December 2). 99designs. https://99designs.com/blog/tips/questions-to-ask-your-client/

Dorich, A. (2018). Keeping Pace: Christie Cookie has been meeting the needs of its clients for 35 years. Food & Drink, 18(1), 61–63. https://web-a-ebscohost- com.oclc.fullsail.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=17&sid=4143f82f-7dca-4008- 8430-ca135c911c6e%40sessionmgr4006

Greever, T. (2015). Articulating Design Decisions: Communicate with Stakeholders, Keep Your Sanity, and Deliver the Best User Experience (1st ed.). O’Reilly Media.

Kashyap, S. (2021, February 9). Top Client Communication Skills That Will Make You A Star Communicator. ProofHub. https://www.proofhub.com/articles/client-communication-skills

Local firm’s designs based on client dynamic. (2010). Toledo Business Journal, 26(5), 28–30. Retrieved from https://web-a-ebscohost-com.oclc.fullsail.edu/ehost/ pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=6&sid=cc0ac933-91fc-43a1-a103- 2285fd0e30ff%40sessionmgr4007

Stephanson, A. (2021, June 9). How to identify client needs using 5 sure-fire tactics. Bonsai. https://www.hellobonsai.com/blog/client-needs

Design Challenge Week 3

For the week 3 required design challenge, I had to create a vector file of Alexander Girard’s signature using the pen tool. This challenge was difficult at first since there were many intersecting lines that eventually ended to be smoothed out and reshaped. Getting the line just right was a hard task as well considering the stroke needed to be bumped up in order to look like the actual signature. Overall I had a great time with this design challenge and it definitely has shown me that I need to make sure my lines are more smooth going forward when working on certain projects with specific goals such as this one.

MDM525 Week 4

Reflection Video With Important Concepts

Revised Design Challenge

This is my revised version of the week 3 design challenge. A few of the lines were not as smooth as they should've been, and some of the letter caps were no the proper size and shape. I ended up going back through each letter and revising these issues to the best of my ability and I believe that it turned out much better.

Completed Optional Challenges

This was the week 2 optional challenge 1. This challenge was to replicate one of Alexander Girard’s textile designs that he created for Herman Miller. Though it may seem like a lot, this textile design is merely one section which is then copied across the artboard and then down the artboard. I had a lot of fun creating this design and it really made think about how I used the pen tool along with creating shapes and cutting them to fit the pattern.

This was the optional challenge 2 from week 3. For this challenge, we had to take an already completed challenge and try to animate it in some way. I decided to take my week 1 line work challenge and animate it to have all of the lines come in from off screen and "build" the design. I had a really fun time creating this animation and I think it made the artwork standout even more.

MDM530 Week 1

Design Challenge Week 1

For the week 1 design challenge, I had to construct one of three brand vision boards using Adobe InDesign. Throughout this process I had to resize images, cut out the silhouette of the waitress on the right side of the vision board, and even put drop shadows behind the text. I had a lot of fun constructing this vision board and it really brought me back up to speed with some of the main tools in InDesign that I haven't used for a little bit.

Design Research

Branding for Attention

In today's world, branding for attention is almost everything. With attention spans shrinking and consumers having dozens of options to choose from in each category, there needs to be a way that brands can stand out and be different. Branding for attention is the process of trying to get the attention of consumers to find their products viable and necessary in a world of copy cats.

In the presentation Why We Brand, Debbie Millman talks about the sheer number of different types of products in the super market. One line stood out, and that is when she mentions that there are over 100 brands of advertised water in the super market (Millman, 2015, 4:23). This line alone shows just how important it is to try and standout from the crowd by getting the consumer's attention. Alison Tilling talks about this attention in her article. She mentions that attention is embedded in everything from evolution to societal understanding (Tilling, 2020). This means that attention is in everything a human does. It's built into the nature of who humans are as a species. Attention is necessary for a brand to grow as large as possible. Not only is attention important for a brand to be noticed, it is important for a brand to be remembered. Having a memorable product or service is vital in this world of never ending clone products. One way to stand out is to use media to the brand's full advantage (Robertson, 2021). This means that brands should try to stay up to date on trends and topics in this ever changing world and maximize on these scenarios by creating relevant ads.

One benefit from branding through attention is the memory structures that come from making a memorable product. Tilling (2020) uses a great example of Coca Cola and the famous red color that everyone associates with the brand. Another way to increase brand strength through attention is to notice the prior brand usage from consumers. Finding trends can be useful in creating an advertisement that connects with more than just new possible customers. One difficulty with this type of branding would be accidentally getting the wrong audience through the creation of a false advertisement, or something that shows a side of the brand that isn't true to who they are or what they are about. Attention is not everything in branding, as it is also vital to create a connection on an emotional level.

Brand for Human Connection

Branding for human connection is as important if not more important than branding for attention. Branding for human connection is about building an authentic brand that consumers can connect to on an emotional level. While attention in branding can be good for business, human connection is what creates a genuine relationship with the customer. That in turn creates brand loyalty and attracts new customers.

Sean Adams makes a great point towards human connections in his video guide Branding for Designers. Summed up in one sentence, Adams says, "A brand creates emotional connections, good or bad" (Adams, 2015, What is a brand?, 00:38). This simple quote shows how anything that is done creates an emotional feedback from the consumer, positive or negative. This is why it is so important to carefully study all aspects of the target audience before making large decisions that could change their views to a negative one of the brand. Jason Aten also talks about the emotional connection in his article. He mentions that attention is not a sure fire way to attract more clients. Instead, designers should try to build a relationship with clients that create genuine affection between the two parties (Aten, 2019). He goes on to say that three things are vitally important to create this affection. These three things are realizing that the designer is the brand's best asset, always keep promises, and try to go above and beyond for clients (Aten, 2019). These three things can help create a special genuine relationship that will help attract more possible clients in the future. Having this human interaction and connection is the best way to make sure that everyone is on the same page and that the job is as successful as it can be.

One of the biggest benefits from having a human connection is the loyalty that comes along with it. As Heather Murphy talks about in her article, not everyone will be interested in this type of brand loyalty and human connection (Murphy, 2020). This is completely fine. This means that there will be differentiating factors between that brand and the competition. Having this human connection will help brands to standout and be as unique as possible. If this can be done effectively, the right customers will show up and become a loyal and integral part of the brand itself. However, this may lead to a loss of sales or brand status as only targeting a certain audience can create these negative outcomes.

Projection of Brand Personality

Brand personalities are vital to how the brand wants to communicate what it is all about. Brand personalities are how someone would describe a brand as if it were a person. Attributes that are associated with a brand can even include those on an emotional and intellectual level. Brand personalities also create important decisions down the road in how the design of the brand should be shown to the world.

Southwest Airlines is a great example of being authentic and having a specific brand personality. In 2014, Southwest refreshed their entire design to bring what they called their human values front and center (Type with heart, 2021). Brand design and messaging is everything when a company creates the brand personality that they want to show to customers and others. Southwest refreshed all of their designs as a thank you to all of the support from their customers. This is a great example of what an authentic company does when they have the backing of loyal customers. While their goal was to thank the supportive customers, they surely attracted new ones with the refreshed look as well. Even their new logo was a projection of brand personality, identifying the focus for humanity and personal touch (Type with heart, 2021). Brian Lischer supports these claims indirectly in his article about brand personality. He talks about the importance brand personality has and how it plays a huge role in customer acquisition, encouraging brand loyalty, and building brand equity (Lischer, 2021). The steps Southwest took ensured all of those steps were met while also going above and beyond what they felt was necessary for a refreshed look.

There are many benefits to brand personality and what can happen to a brand when done effectively. These benefits include creating differentiation, boosting brand awareness, and even bolstering brand loyalty (Lischer, 2021). In the example above, Southwest clearly boosted brand awareness and created a more unique brand from their previous look differentiating themselves from other airline companies. In this process, they also attracted new loyal customers while making sure to keep the old loyal customers. However, some people don't have the same views about brand personalities. Three authors wrote an article stating that there is no verifiable evidence to support that brand personality has a major positive impact on brand equity. Though controversial, they go through and make researched backed claims while also introducing a new framework that can be used which is called Human brand association, or HBAs (Oklevik, Supphellen, Maehle, 2020). The article was very informative with a lot of information on the new framework, and while controversial to some it was interesting to read another viewpoint on brand personalities.

APA Citations

Aten, J. (2019, May 23). Attention or Affection: Why Brands Fail At What Matters Most. Inc. https://www.inc.com/jason-aten/attention-or-affection-why-brands-fail-at-what-matters-most.html

Lischer, B. (2021). The Psychology of Brand Personality. Ignyte. https://www.ignytebrands.com/the-psychology-of-brand-personality/

Millman, D (2015 ). Why We Brand. Khosla ventures. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQ0ht_9QxQs

Murphy, H. (2020, August 25). Building An Authentic Brand Is About Building Human Connections Online. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescoachescouncil/2020/08/25/building-an-authentic-brand-is-about-building-human-connections-online/?sh=a08e88d1da53

Oklevik, O., Supphellen, M., & Maehle, N. (2020). Time to retire the concept of brand personality? Extending the critique and introducing a new framework. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 19(3), 211–218. https://doi-org.oclc.fullsail.edu/10.1002/cb.1805

Robertson, G. (2021). How to successfully capture attention with your advertising. Beloved Brands. https://beloved-brands.com/attention/

Tilling, A. (2020, July 23). Attention-Seeking & Attention-Finding – Brain Design & Brand Power. Brandingmag. https://www.brandingmag.com/2020/07/23/attention-seeking-attention-finding-brain-design-brand-power/

Type with heart for Southwest Airlines. (2021). Monotype. https://www.monotype.com/resources/case-studies/type-with-heart-for-southwest-airlines

MDM530 Week 2

Design Challenge Week 2

For week 2 I was tasked with recreating a brand vision book. Below are all 10 pages of the vision book with each page being its own jpg. I really enjoyed recreating this vision book and the process behind it was fun and informative. Completing this assignment has really helped me to get back in tune with InDesign and a lot of the features that it has to offer. I look forward to building up my skills while also doing more and more research for my Design Research assignments.

Design Research

Determining Audience Needs

Figuring out what the target audience wants and needs is a vital part of building a successful brand and company, and it comes down to creating products and services that can satisfy that audience. Besides that, successfully determining audience needs will help a company prove to the audience that they are unique and authentic.

Figuring out the needs of the audience was exactly how Ralph Lauren became such an iconic clothing line. According to the case study in Section 2.5, the classic designs mixed with the Ralph Lauren name and the luxury materials made the brand exactly what the customers wanted in terms of a luxury brand (Kratz, 2021). These specific needs from the consumer first came to be when Lauren would observe Polo matches, and this is where he realized he could create products to appeal to the elegance and class of this specific audience. These observations and his love for glamor helped him to create the Polo Ralph Lauren brand that is known today. Lexie Lu bring up a similar point when talking about how to advertise to a target audience. She uses an example of Skate America, a skateboard and skate apparel company. She says that in order for this website to be successful, they had to cater towards the younger generations as those are the best generations for advertising skateboards and skate apparel (Lu, 2018). The company knew their target audience and how to be successful, so they created up to date skateboard graphics using superheroes from marvel to specifically target these younger generations. This simple example shows how knowing and understanding the target audience can be a huge factor in overall success and how these products and services are received by the targeted audience. Advertising skateboards to the elderly, while still possibly being beneficial, is not the right direction to take.

One benefit of correctly determining the target audience in today's world is being able to use social media to enlarge that target audience and in turn creating a more popular and recognizable brand. Choncé Maddox briefly touches on this in her article. She says that, through using social media, it is a lot easier to find out more about the audience and what their interests are (Maddox, 2018). This can help drive the brand forward in the right direction due to having more information and knowing what the audience really want. The one big drawback with deterring audience needs is companies not realizing that sometimes the audience they targeted isn't always the best fit. Having false advertising or being too fake can catch the attention of the wrong people which is never good in the long run. Determining audience needs efficiently and successfully doing so will help the company grow and will also help to make the brand as authentic as possible while having the perfect personality that represents the company.

Defining a Brand's Core

Defining a brand's core can be split into two sections. One sections is truly defining a brand's core by asking questions such as what products are being made or does the business model need to be modified. The other section of defining a brand's core is figuring out the core values of the brand. This is when a question such as what does this business stand for can be asked.

Understanding the target audience is essential to making sure that the brand can successfully advertise to that audience (Moffat, 2012). Brad Nix underwent the task of figuring out what the core of Pepperidge Farm was when he was called to come in and figure out why the cookies weren't selling. Through observation and research, he first found out that Campbell's, the parent company of Pepperidge Farm, was cutting too many corners and destroying this cookie. He then realized that these cookies had a special place in the hearts of the women who shopped in the supermarkets, putting them in special places and even keeping the cookies for themselves at home (Nix, 2021, 5:45-6:41). These cookies were special and Campbell's was destroying the integrity of the core of this brand, which was selling cookies that meant something that meant more than just a generic cookie brand would to the same customers. Nix also says that he went back and told the clients that they have to stop "efficiently" destroying the brand (Nix, 2021, 6:47). Lisa Furze talks about defining a brand's core and the core values that make up a brand. She uses her own example, stating that building relationships was the most important thing for her to do (Furze, 2019). This is exactly what Campbell's was accidentally destroying. They were destroying the years and years of relationships that were built by Pepperidge Farm in creating a product that was special in the hearts of the customers. Figuring out exactly why a brand is successful can help to steer the company away from making mistakes that could cost them profit and customers such as the Pepperidge Farm example above. Because Campbell's was not respecting the integrity and story of the Pepperidge Farm brand, they were destroying everything that Pepperidge Farm created.

Defining a brand's core can have many benefits such as steering away from disasters as seen in the example above. The main benefit of understanding the brand's core, especially the core values, is then being able to make the brand as authentic and unique as possible. There was a reason that Pepperidge Farm felt special to the shoppers. They were able to create a unique and authentic brand that made products to match those values. Lisa Furze brings up questions in her article addressing core brand values. One question she has in the article is in reference to asking a brand when conducting business, what should they consider most important (Furze, 2019). After being bought by Campbell, they believed profit was the most important thing for their business. Once sales started to go down and the cookies weren't as popular, they had to ask this same question again and bring in experts to evaluate why they were losing money and customers. They came to the conclusion that the customers should be the most important and the products once again were popular due to the ending of cutting cost and cutting corners. Creating an authentic and honest brand is one of the best ways to reach as many people as possible within the target audience. Even after this occurs, that audience will expand as more and more realize that this brand has the integrity of a great one.

Connecting to Audiences Meaningfully

Connecting to audiences meaningfully simply means connecting to them in a way that is on an emotional level. This isn't always on a business vs customer level. This can be a human vs human emotional connection that creates a strong loyal bond between each party. Brands should seek to make an impact in the lives of their customers. Once the customer feels safe and satisfied, this creates that loyal bond that is very hard to break.

Ralph Lauren was able to make this meaningful connection with the customers. In the case study section 2.5, "By combining consumer insights with strategic design, marketing, and imaging skills, the brand has created broad lifestyle product collections with a unified vision that reflect what people aspire to" (Kratz, 2021). Ralph Lauren was able to make the customers feel special and unique while also connecting with them on this emotional level. In terms of Ralph Lauren, this was an example of aspirational branding. This is when a company goes beyond something simple like a slogan and tries to connect to the customer in a long-term way (Kratz, 2021). On the Marketing Insider Group site, a guest author talks about these emotional ways to connect to an audience. They use an example of a Gillette commercial that talks about the topic of men and harassment (Author, 2019). This commercial goes on to show that changing how men act now will help younger generations to grow up and be more respectful towards everybody they talk to or meet. Creating an advertisement like this emotionally connects to all of their target audience, which in this case is any man that shaves. Sometimes emotionally connecting to an audience isn't just about the product or service that the brand is offering. Creating a powerful ad such as the Gillette ad is a great way to make people aware on some of the issues in today's world and what we can do to try and fix these issues.

Just as a brand's core values can create and authentic and honest brand, emotionally connecting to the audience has this benefit as well. Besides being authentic and honest, being empathetic has its benefits for a brand. Being aware of the customer's motivations can help a business to create a marketing strategy that can satisfy the wants and needs of an audience (Author, 2019). This is yet another benefit of being able to connect emotionally to a specific audience. Another thing to do is directly speak to the customers (Kettler, 2014). This comes down to knowing the target audience as much as possible. Study everything about them including their likes, dislikes, and even things such as how do they feel about competitors. Connecting emotionally to an audience is one of the most important things that can be done as a brand and in return can create a loyal following of customers that will be attached to the products and services for years and years to come.

APA Citations

Author, G. (2019, April 5). 5 Ways to Connect with Your Audience on an Emotional Level. Marketing Insider Group. https://marketinginsidergroup.com/content-marketing/ways-connect-audience-emotional-level/

Furze, L. (2019). The essential guide to defining your core brand values. Lisa Furze. https://lisafurze.com/blog/define-core-brand-values/

Kettler, R. (2014). 5 Ways to Connect with Your Audience Emotionally to Drive More Engagement. Convince & Convert. https://www.convinceandconvert.com/social-media-strategy/how-to-connect-with-your-audience-emotionally-to-drive-more-engagement/

Kratz, A. (2021). 2.5 Case Study: Pepperidge Farm & Ralph Lauren. Fullsail. https://online.fullsail.edu/class_sections/128042/modules/404567/activities/2403583

Nix, B. (2021). 2.3 Research: Brand Action & Behaviors. Fullsail. https://online.fullsail.edu/class_sections/128042/modules/404567/activities/2403581

Lu, L. (2018, April 6). How to Effectively Predict What Your Target Audience Needs. UX Planet. https://uxplanet.org/how-to-effectively-predict-what-your-target-audience-needs-e667bd5b6968

Maddox, C. (2018, December 30). 3 Best Ways to Find Out What Your Target Audience Wants. Due. https://due.com/blog/find-out-what-your-target-audience-wants/

Moffat, L. (2012). HOW-TO Define and manage your brand. Landscape Management, 51(10), 20–21. https://web-a-ebscohost.com.oclc.fullsail.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/ pdfviewer?vid=5&sid=026257a6-e3fe-4e9c-a7e034e079130c91%40sessionmgr4006

MDM530 Week 3

Design Challenge

The design challenge for this week was to piece together and export a Brand Vision Video. Though somewhat basic of a task, it was nice to go through Adobe Premiere and use all of the basic functions again. I am excited to see if anything else will require Adobe Premiere as I haven't used it in a long time and I quite enjoy using that software when it is needed.

Design Research

The Role of Strategy in Branding

Strategy is very important in life. Almost everybody uses some sort of strategy that creates a plan or course of action on a particular topic. Branding is no different. Using strategy in Branding is important for things such as advertisements and the direction of the brand. Strategy in branding also helps to set long-term achievable goals that a brand can work towards completing.

The case study this week has a great example of brand strategy. After Nix Check Cashing was bought by Kinecta Federal Credit Union, they changed the name to Nix Financial. These made many customers disappear as the name change made them rethink what that place was now offering. Brad Nix was tasked with fixing this issue, and he found the fix to be rather simple. His strategy was in two parts. Part one, according to Nix, was to change the name to something that would make people decrease their concerns of the new name and what it meant (Nix, 2021, Directing Creativity, 7:50). His second part was to help the customer even more by providing the services that they need for them right at Nix Neighborhood Lending such as wiring money or paying their rent straight from the store and eventually through an app (Nix, 2021, Directing Creativity, 9:40). This example shows how having a strategy can make the difference between saving a company and letting it plummet to the ground. An article written by Carly Step also touches upon brand strategy and seven different components that can create a comprehensive brand strategy. One of these components is consistency, and this is where Coca-Cola is used as an example. Coca-Cola has kept everything consistent over the entire lifespan of the brand. This is because they wanted to make sure that their consistency would bring them brand recognition, and in turn would give them a loyal customer base (Stec, 2020). When a brand advertises something that they don't back, this can create confusion and attract the wrong audience. Having a strategy can help a brand to avoid this scenario and many more problems that can occur due to unplanned actions. Strategy is also a time to ask important questions about the brand such as what are the brand's objectives or how can the brand identify ideal customers (What is branding, 2021).

One main benefit of creating a brand strategy is having a plan to reach certain goals within the brand. In turn, if done correctly, this can create a following of loyal customers that are willing to pay more than the average consumer for the brand's products services. Loyalty is an essential part of a brand strategy and it can show potential customers benefits and how members are treated should they choose to do join in as well (Step, 2020). The only big drawback from having a brand strategy is creating the wrong strategy. This could mean targeting the wrong audience or asking the wrong questions. In the end, a brand always needs to make sure that they are choosing the right audience and asking the right questions in order to gain more loyal customers and grow as a business.

Collaboration in the Branding Process

Collaboration can be an essential part of brand growth and development. Collaborating with brands from different fields can benefit both brands in terms of gaining customers and growing as a brand. Some of the most famous brands today collaborate with each other to share ideas and create amazing products and services. Collaboration is not always just two brands working on something together. Sometimes collaboration is the joint effort of everybody involved in the brand or everybody involved in fixing a certain issue as outlines below.

One could consider the acquisition of Nix Check Cashing as a sort of collaboration with Kinecta, but the collaboration with this case study seems to be more of a collaboration with Brad Nix's team and Kinecta to try and fix the problems that the business was having at the time. Brad Nix and his team worked together with Kinecta to try and figure out why Kinecta had suddenly lost so much business. According to Marty Neumeier in The Brand Gap, he states "The successful company is not the one with the most brains, he suggests, but the most brains acting in concert" (Neumeier, 2005).This quote references how Brad Nix and his team had to work together and get everyone from Kinecta on the same page in order for the brand to come back to life and start to work for the customers again. Collaboration within large companies is also a large part of advertising and sales today. In an article written by Hitesh Bhasin, he uses Apple and Nike as a great example of modern collaboration within very large companies. He mentions how Nike and Apple teamed up and create the Nike version of the Apple Watch, with Apple making the tech and Nike helping to supply health and fitness data gathered from other products that they have made (Bhasin, 2018). Collaboration with two large companies can help both simultaneously in acquiring new customers and growing business. This is just one of many examples of large brands working together to create products and services that both of their audiences will enjoy.

One of the largest benefits from collaboration is the publicity and increase in business that can come with a successful collaboration. According to the article written by Maria Bellissimo-Magrin, she says that collaborating has provided a lot of exposure and has shown to generate a lot of buzz for both companies (Bellissimo-Magrin, 2017). Another part of collaborating is when both brands make sure that they are doing the same amount of work and setting expectations for each other. This can bring the benefit of a relationship and future collaborations between the brands if all goes well since they now know that each can hold their end of the deal when creating a product or service. One drawback from collaboration can be that the two parties do not get along very well. The product or service that comes out of a bad collaboration is never a good representation of what either company is all about.

Adjusting Strategies For Audiences

Sometimes strategies don't work out for the brand. Whether it is from not enough research or choosing the wrong target audience, strategies can fail and it is how a brand can bounce back and fix the problem that can make or break the overall success. Adjusting strategies is an important process to understand as many companies at one time or another run into issues that need to be solved.

In the case of Kiencta, Brad Nix was called in and with the help off his team, they were tasked with adjusting the strategy in order for customers to once again accept Nix Financial as their trusted place for cashing checks among other transactions. After doing consumer research, he found that the new name change to Nix Financial had disenfranchised the customer base in two specific ways (Nix, 2021, Directing Creativity, 5:55). He later mentions how it was then time to fix the strategy in order to save the recently acquired brand (Nix, 2021, Directing Creativity, 7:00). These citations show how Brad Nix and his team were able to change the strategy and bring Nix Neighborhood Lending back to where it once was in the eyes of the customers. Because Kinecta had done no research and gone down to these areas to find the problem, they never realized that the name change had scared their customers away. Developing a strategy is key for these kinds of problems as it can help put the brand back on course and in the process also gain attention and new customers. Matthew Rivard brings up a great point in his article when he talks about optimizing audience segmentations. This means that by building the right audience segments, it can help a brand to be more efficient and place ads in the right areas at the right time (Rivard. 2021). This also correlates to when Brad Nix was talking about mobile advertisements and even making a mobile app for Nix Neighborhood Lending (Nix, 2021, Directing Creativity, 12:15). Bill Mickey also makes a connection to this in his article on adjusting strategies and visions. He says that, now more than ever, companies are using their audience to generate revenue instead of creating ads anywhere and everywhere (Mickey, 2010, p.15). Adjusting strategies, while difficult, could be the necessary step in bringing a brand back on track and bringing back customers while attracting new ones.

One major benefit from adjusting strategies is finding the true target audience for the brand's product or service. This then creates a much easier time when it comes to managing and communicating with the customers and how they feel about the products and services they are using. One drawback in adjusting strategies could be the result of not listening to the people or changing something without doing research on if it should be changed or not. The name change to Nix Financial is a great example of that. Kinecta did not do the research and in turn realize that they would lose business if they changed the name since people would be scared to trust this new place that was once familiar. The most important lesson to be learned from this is that doing research is much more valuable for long term success as a brand. Sometimes when a brand makes all of the money right away, that same process is not the best source of revenue years down the line. The goal is longevity as well as success and recognition.

APA Citations

Bellissimo-Magrin, M. (2017, August 14). The Power of Strategic Brand Collaboration. Dynamic Business. https://dynamicbusiness.com/topics/small-business-resources/sales-and-marketing/the-power-of-strategic-brand-collaboration.html

Bhasin, H. (2018, July 14). Brand Collaboration. Marketing91. https://www.marketing91.com/brand-collaboration/

Mickey, B. (2010). Monetize Your Audience. Audience Development, 25(3), 14–16. https://web- a-ebscohost-com.oclc.fullsail.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=17&sid=11b62d37- 477f-4222-8ff1-38583b4bc708%40sessionmgr4007

Nix, B. (2021). 3.3 Research: Directing Creativity. Fullsail. https://online.fullsail.edu/class_sections/128042/modules/404568/activities/2403595

Neumeier, M. (2005). The Brand Gap: How to Bridge the Distance Between Business Strategy and Design (2nd ed.) [E-book]. New Riders.

Rivard, M. (2021, May). Back to Basics: Adjusting your audience strategy during times of change. Think with Google. https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/intl/en-ca/marketing-strategies/data-and-measurement/adjusting-audience-strategy/

Stec, C. (2020, November 10). Brand Strategy 101: 7 Essentials for Strong Company Branding. HubSpot. https://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/31739/7-components-that-comprise-a-comprehensive-brand-strategy.aspx

What is branding strategy? A definition. (2021). Bynder. https://www.bynder.com/en/glossary/branding-strategy/

MDM530 Week 4

Course Reflection Video

MDM555 Week 1

Design Challenge

For the week 1 design challenge, I had to write the copy for a full-page print advertisement for Lucky Dog Rescue Orlando, a fictitious non-profit organization. This design challenge was fun and difficult at the same time. It was hard to think of an eye-catching headline along with informative and engaging body copy. This design challenge really pushed me to think outside of the box and try to create something that was informative but relatable and engaging. I'm excited to see how this progresses over the coming weeks since I will be working on an ad video and even radio spot.

Design Research

Benefits vs Features

Benefits and features are two very important topics to understand when undergoing the process of copywriting. Features can be simply put as just that. The features of the product. A good example of this can be thinking about the features of someone's hands. Their fingers and joints are features. The benefits of fingers are that they enable the person to touch and feel objects. Their joints allow their fingers to bend and hold something such as a cup of coffee in the morning. Benefits are how the product will help the consumer while features are things that describe the product.

Features and benefits were very important to Volkswagen when creating the Beetle in 1938. They wanted it to be the car of the future, but World War 2 made the manufacturing process come to a halt (Rogalle, 2021). The beetle did not gain serious recognition until the mid 50s. During the 1950s, American cars were very expensive and gas hogs due to the massive engines. To solve the problems of the American car, Volkswagen showed that they created a car that was small, affordable, and technically sophisticated (Rogalle, 2021). These features of the car had obvious benefits. Being affordable meant more people could now own cars. Due to the small size, they were not a hassle to drive around, and they had the newest technology which would make certain aspects of the car much easier to understand. In his article, Bruce Bendinger gives an example of using toothpaste and then mouthwash. The benefit of using these products is that the user gets a cleaner breath (Bendinger, 1996). This simple example shows the difference between benefits and features. Understanding the difference between the two is crucial in copywriting. Explaining the features of the product is one thing, but describing and showing how it can benefit the consumer is what makes all of the difference in reaching more of the target audience. Consumers need to be told why they need something. Creating an emotional connection can be a great advantage over other products in that same category.

One benefit of understanding this concept is that in return, the writer will have a much easier time going through research and the whole copywriting process when studying the product and company. Another benefit is that it will be easier to create a benefits and features list for a product or service. Susan Gunelius mentions this list in her article. She says that by making a benefits and features list, copywriting experience will improve as more detail and effort is being put into the work (Gunelius, 2016). One main difficulty with this concept is that a lot of research needs to be done to really have a successful outcome. Not full understanding the benefits vs features of a product and not doing enough research about outside factors such as the ongoing sales or target audience can spell disaster right from the start.

Personas

Personas are one of the most important things in any media or content job. Creating the "perfect" customer helps to build the ideas, details, and almost the entire product around who this person is and why they need this product or service. This will make the whole process much easier and in the end create a better overall persona. It's much easier to hit one ball at a time when playing pool over trying to hit three at once.

The Volkswagen Beetle was the family man's car. It was small, reliable, and affordable (Rogalle, 2021). The persona for the Volkswagen Beetle was a family man who wanted a reliable family car that wouldn't break the bank while still being able to take everyone around the town or on roadtrips. Spending so much on his family, house, necessities, etc. caused him to shy away from big and expensive American cars. Tesla has a much different buyer Persona. Depending on which car in the lineup is being looked at, this changes the buyer persona as well. The model S has a very different buyer persona over the model 3. For this example, the model 3 seems to be a good option to choose. It is the most affordable Tesla that still can be upgraded with all of the technical packages and upgrades available. The persona for the model 3 is someone who cares about the environment, a car enthusiast, and into new and exciting tech such as new cars or devices (Levine-Weinberg, 2016). Creating a buyer persona definitely helped the sale of these cars. Having a detailed and thoroughly researched buyer persona makes the overall process of designing a product or service much easier. It gives the designers or whoever is working on the product a path to follow to be as successful as possible.

One benefit of doing research for a buyer persona is that it shows who the competition is and how they are doing in the same field. Being able to change things around and avoid the competitions' mistakes can be a huge advantage. However, it is not always best to create an original buyer persona. In her article, Carolyn Beaudoin explains a new way to create a buyer persona and why it may be the way to go in the future. She calls these personas jobs-to-be-done personas, or JTBD (Beaudoin, 2021). This is when the persona shows that the customer is not buying a product for its features or benefits, but to simply get a job done. By explaining the job that needs to be done, it puts the customers' needs, desires, and motivations first-way before explaining the product (Beaudoin, 2021). While it still can be beneficial to have the features and benefits of the product outlined in the persona, it is important to remember that the customer comes first when creating a product or service. The point of creating a persona is to sell something to a targeted group, and instantly telling them how the job will get done with the created product is a great start in capturing their attention.

Writing Ad Copy That Sells

As mentioned earlier, the most important thing about copywriting is that the writer is trying to sell something. Having this in mind, understanding how to write ad copy that sells is a very important task in copywriting. Writing ad copy that sells can make the clients happy and lead to promotions and bigger opportunities down the line.

To write ad copy that will sell, the writer has to think of three main areas. Create. great headline, engaging and informative body copy, and a call to action. A headline is the most important thing as it is the first place that the reader looks (Bly, 2009). The headline should make the reader want to find out more about what is being sold. the body copy should tell a story. It should be engaging while also being informative. the call to action should be concise and clear while reinforcing the interest of the product. For Volkswagen, the headline in the ad below already grabs the attention of the reader, not to mention the obvious winding key toy on the back of the car. The body copy is engaging and tells a story throughout the entire article. It keeps the reader entertained with comedy while still being informative. Though there is no clear call to action statement, the call to action in this article is the sentence that provokes a response or interest from the reader and that sentence states, "Outside of that, we can't think of anything else you might want." While not directly stating it, this line subconsciously makes the reader think about this article and persuades them to find out more about this vehicle.

APA Citations

5 Steps for Writing Ad Copy That Sells. (2021, August 30). Hop Online. https://hop.online/content-marketing/5-tips-on-how-to-write-ad-copy-that-sells/

A Guide To Creating Buyer Personas That Will Improve Your Content Conversion Rates. (2016, January 27). The Daily Egg. https://www.crazyegg.com/blog/guide-creating-buyer-personas/

Beaudoin, C. (2021, June 2). Why I’m quitting traditional buyer personas. Copywriting for Startups and Marketers. https://copyhackers.com/2021/06/buyer-personas-vs-jtbd/

Bendinger, B. (1996). Thinking about the product. Marketing Tools, 3(3), 4. Retrieved from

https://web-s-ebscohost-com.oclc.fullsail.edu/ehost/detail/detail?vid=7&sid=06fb0478- 0cfc-4cd9-abe9-f9cd83d9e4d4%40redis&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#AN=9605081963&db=bth

Bly, R. W. (2009). 9 keys to writing copy that sells: Make your corporate clients happy with promotions that get results. Writer (Kalmbach Publishing Co.), 122(9), 40–41. Retrieved

https://web-s-ebscohost-com.oclc.fullsail.edu/ehost/detail/detail?vid=11&sid=9b31ab9c- 4e67-4010-b609cd1713dd9c73%40redis&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#AN=43622876&db=hlh

Gunelius, S. (2016, March 22). Features vs. Benefits – Why They Matter in Copywriting. KeySplash Creative, Inc. https://keysplashcreative.com/features-vs-benefits-how-theyre-different-and-why-it-matters-in-marketing/

Levine-Weinberg, A. (2016, May 10). Who Are All These Tesla Model 3 Buyers Anyway? The Motley Fool. https://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/05/10/who-are-all-these-tesla-model-3-buyers-anyway.aspx

Rogalle, Elena M. (2021, October). 1.5 Case Study: Volkswagen. FullSail. Retrieved from https://online.fullsail.edu/class_sections/128060/modules/408913/activities/2428655

Santi, B. (2007). Broaden your reach with copywriting: Four writers advise freelancers on the benefits of looking beyond writing for magazines and newspapers. Writer (Kalmbach Publishing Co.), 120(10), 41–42. Retrieved from https://web-s-ebscohost- com.oclc.fullsail.edu/ehost/detail/detail?vid=4&sid=9b31ab9c-4e67-4010-b609- cd1713dd9c73%40redis&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#AN=26599233 &db=ulh

McCormick, K. (2021, July 8). How to Write Copy That Sells (Anything): 102 Tips & Examples. WordStream. https://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2021/07/06/how-to-write-copy-that-sells

Week 2

Design Challenge

For the design challenge in week 2, I was tasked with creating a radio ad for the Lucky Dog Rescue Orlando foundation. The hardest part about this challenge was creating the script that I would have to say for the ad as I wanted it to be engaging and informative while not being too bland. I had a very fun time with this radio ad and I am excited for what's ahead in terms of working on this.

Design Research

Brand Voice

When it comes to brand recognition and what makes brands standout, the proper use of voice and tone are essential. A brand's voice is the personality of the brand that it creates through communications such as ads, press releases, etc. Brand voice needs to be consistent in order for the brand to grow and become recognized as a true-to-word brand and not a brand that says one thing but does another.

Volkswagen was all about voice and tone in their early ads. For the first ad campaign, Helmet Iron wanted to create an ad that showed the honesty and transparency of Volkswagen while also adding some sarcasm (Rogalle, 2021). These ads were created to highlight these traits of Volkswagen and therefore instantly made the company feel familiar while still being unique. In his article, Arek Dvornechcuck gives seven examples of companies using voice and tone to their advantage. One of these companies mentioned is Haley-Davidson. According to Dvornechcuck, the Harley-Davidson voice is strong and confident (Dvornechcuck, 2020). Having an easily identifiable voice is crucial to standing out and being unique. The more consistent the brand is, the more successful it will be in the long run. Mixed messages can be confusing and off putting to customers and end up hurting the business.

One main benefit of having a polished brand voice is that the customers will recognize this and begin to build a connection with the brand. As mentioned earlier, the most important parts of brand voice are consistency and uniqueness while still showing the true personality of the brand. Another benefit of having a strong brand voice is that it shows the brand has a strong personality and a clear sense of purpose (Ellering, 2020). One drawback of this concept can be the attraction of the wrong group due to inconsistent or misleading brand communications through voice. This can also lead to the decline of overall customer satisfaction and inevitable failure of the brand.

Writing For Radio

Writing for radio is an essential step in having an advantage over other brands and companies. Understanding how to create informative and engaging radio ads can boost sales while also making that specific brand standout in a field of copy cats and wanna be competitors.

https://www.adsoftheworld.com/media/audio/volkswagen_stalker

For this Volkswagen ad, while a slight departure from the old time Volkswagen ads, it is still on par with their brand voice of slight sarcasm and honesty. This whole ad was engaging to the listener while also being funny and unique. The ending also had a new detail about their cars that they wanted to share and this whole ad was how they lead up to the punchline of some people just can't stop themselves. Another ad that was engaging and informative was the Visit Kenya ad at the bottom of one of the listed references (8 Steps, 2020). This ad instantly engaged the listener by proposing certain adventures that were possible in the area in a way that made the listener want to find out more. The voice of this felt curious yet daring as one may consider trying some of these exciting adventures. Creating a "mood" for an ad can be an incredible advantage. Having a bland ad with a monotone voice is very boring and instantly makes the listener want to tune the radio out for that brief time period. It is important to engage the listener within the first few seconds as this is the make or break timeframe for hooking the listener in for more. It is also imperative to be relatable to the listener. One last thing that is very important when writing for the radio is creating a mental image in the listeners mind. Since there are no visuals on the radio, it is up to the script and how it is written to plant that image in the mind of the listener to make them feel more connected and engaged to the content.

One benefit of writing ads for the radio can be that it leads to understanding how to write for radio as a whole. this can mean writing actual scripts for radio stations or even newscasters. In his article, Chris Wodskou gives great tips on how to create engaging and informative scripts for radio. One of these tips is very important, and that is taking the time to write something that is well done. Writing scripts should not be rushed in any way at all. He says that if you have time set aside, double or even triple that time to make sure everything is where it should be in terms of quality (Wodskou, 2016). Out of all of the tips he mentions, this is the most important because without time, nothing else will work. Sometimes people have to walk away from their computers when working to recollect their thoughts or grab a snack. Time is crucial in being able to write a meaningful and successful radio script, whether it is for a show or just a 15 second ad.

Brand Tone

Brand Tone is just as important as brand voice. If brand voice is the personality, then brand tone is how that personality is expressed. An easy way to remember this is that someone's voice is always the same, but their tone may change depending on their situation such as being happy, sad, angry, etc. The voice should always be consistent, and while the tone is consistent most of the time, it may change depending on how the ad is being made or how the product is being shown off.

In the Volkswagen case study, there is a clear tone being given off by these ads. That tone seems to be one of sarcasm (Rogalle, 2021). There also seems to be slight comedy thrown in the ads as well to back the sarcasm alongside the facts about the vehicle. The tone of the ad mentioned above is that same sarcasm and comedy tone that has been adopted by Volkswagen since the beginning of their ad lineup. Their tone has seemed to stay consistent which has helped the brand to be where it is today in the world of many automobile manufacturers competing for sales.

One benefit of having a consistent tone is that it makes the brand easier to recognize. According to Felicia Sullivan, the voice and tone should be distinctive and consistent through all aspects of the brand (Sullivan, 2019). Sometimes it is necessary for tone to change if a different type of topic is brought up, but being consistent in both voice and tone can instantly make the brand easier to remember and therefore more successful such as the Volkswagen ads above. One drawback of bad tone can be that if the tone is off or inconsistent/not a good representation of the brand, the brand may start to lose customers and therefore lose interest overall in the eyes of the customers. It is important to have a clear and concise brand voice and tone as that is what brings in and keeps loyal customers. Understanding the difference between voice and tone and then combining the best aspects of both will lead to better marketing, better storytelling & ads, and better overall success as a brand.

APA References

8 Steps to Writing an Effective Radio Ad Script - Empire Group | Dubai Advertising. (2020, August 31). Empire Group. https://theempire.com/writing-an-effective-radio-ad-script/

Chen, J. (2020, August 4). Brand voice: What it is & why it matters. Sprout Social. https://sproutsocial.com/insights/brand-voice/

Delin, J. (2005). Brand Tone of Voice: a linguistic analysis of brand positions. Journal of Applied Linguistics, 2(1), 1–44. https://doi-org.oclc.fullsail.edu/10.1558/japl.2005.2.1.1

Dvornechcuck, A. (2020). 7 Best Examples of Brand Tone of Voice. Ebaqdesign. https://www.ebaqdesign.com/blog/brand-voice#harley

Ellering, N. (2020). How to Define Your Unique Brand Voice and Stand Out. CoSchedule Blog. https://coschedule.com/marketing-strategy/brand-voice

Rogalle, Elena M. (2021, November). 2.5 Case Study: Brand Voice. FullSail. Retrieved from https://online.fullsail.edu/class_sections/128060/modules/408914/activities/2428663

Sullivan, F. C. (2019, February 18). Let’s Talk About Brand Personality, Voice, and Tone. Medium. https://medium.com/s/how-to-build-a-brand/lets-talk-about-brand-personality-voice-and-tone-28276a48d5c1

Wodskou, C. (2016, June 1). The craft of writing for radio: 16 tips from a veteran script-writer. CBC. https://www.cbc.ca/radio/docproject/blog/the-craft-of-writing-for-radio-16-tips-from-a-veteran-script-writer-1.3562474

MDM555 Week 3

Design Challenge

The design challenge for this week was to make a 30 second ad that showcased the mission of Lucky Dog Rescue Orlando. I had a fun time creating the script for this assignment and also found not very informative and educating. I learned much more about editing videos in Adobe Premiere and I am excited to see what the final week has to offer for this project.

Design Research

Brand Trust

Brand trust is one of the most important aspects of a brand. If a brand cannot get consumers to trust it, that brand will no longer exist. For a brand to stand the test of time, they need to learn how to gain the customer’s trust through their honesty and their actions.

Volkswagen lost a lot of its trust when there was news that they had been lying about their diesel engines meeting emissions standard. Volkswagen ended up paying 14.7 billion dollars in settlements to fix the recalled cars or buy them back from customers (Rogalle, 2021). This break of trust created a large problem for Volkswagen. They now needed to gain the trust of their customers back. They ended up running apology ads that they hoped would help to show that they made an honest error and that they were truly sorry for their actions and breaking the trust that they had with their customers. Because Volkswagen understood the importance of brand trust, they were able to remedy the situation to the best of their ability. There are also brands that have kept to their promise for as long as they have been around. The article titled 12 of the Best Brand Promises We’ve Seen showcases 12 brands and their mission to being able to service the customer through their products and services to the best of the company’s ability. One of the best examples in this article is about Geico. Their promise is that they can save the customer 15% or more on car insurance in less than 15 minutes (12 of the Best, 2019). Through research and statistics, Geico has proven that they can make this serious claim as they have been able to do it since the birth of this promise. Understanding how to gain the trust of the customer and to also be able to keep that trust intact is a serious skill that all brands need to realize. In the case of Volkswagen, it was clear that they realized their fatal error and were quick to apologize t try and make things right. Brand trust is something that is hard to acquire and even harder to get back once lost. That is why consistency and honesty are two of the most important things that drive a brand.

There are three main benefits when a brand effectively accomplishes brand trust. These three benefits are loyalty, engagement, and advocacy (Brand Trust, 2020). These three benefits come directly from the consumers that engage with a brand’s product or service. If the consumers trust the brands, they will build loyalty to the brand, engage more with that brand, and share that brand with others while also defending the brand. Understanding brand trust is not only a key to overall brand success, but it also shows that the brand knows the direction it should be taking for the best possible outcome in both recognition and customer base.

Taglines

A tagline is very important for a few reasons. A tagline is a phrase that is meant to capture the brand’s personality while showcasing the differences between that brand and competitors. A tagline is meant to represent the brand.

There are many great examples of a tagline that fits within the brand and what the brand is all about. An article by Katy French showcases some very famous taglines and what they mean to the brand and how they represent the brand so well. One example is the Wounded Warrior Project. The tagline for this organization is The Greatest Casualty Is Being Forgotten. This tagline represents the injured veterans and gives them options for health care, economic support, and more (French, 2021). This tagline also represents their journey of being in the service and that no one should forget the sacrifice that they have made for the country. Another great example is Blue Buffalo, which is a brand that makes high-quality pet food. Their tagline is Love them like family. Feed them like family. This tagline represents the brand’s goal of creating food that is both nutritional and filled with high-quality, wholesome ingredients (French, 2021). Blue Buffalo made it important to emphasize the fact that they use natural ingredients to feed animals, just as people would want their meals to have the best and most natural ingredients possible. Taglines are an important part of a brand because in just a few words, that are representing that brand’s mission and what they are creating for the world.

Having an engaging and informative tagline can make or break a brand and what they are all about. In her article, Katy French says that a tagline should be memorable, likeable, and related to the brand (French, 2021). These three things are keys to a tagline and something that all brands should consider when creating one. Sometimes taglines can be misleading, and this can cause confusion and the attention of an unwanted audience for that brand. Understanding the power of taglines can help a brand to be unique and standout in a world where so many brands are making the same product or service.

Public Service Announcements

Public Service Announcements can play an important role in recognition of a brand or organization. They are normally used to spread or raise awareness on a particular subject. PSAs can also be used to promote benefits or features of a brand and what they have to offer.

One PSA that is very interesting is the anti-smoking PSAs that were created during the entirety of the 1990s. These PSAs focused on younger people instead of adults as the next generation was able to be more influenced by these anti-smoking PSAs. This path was taken because the researchers found that over 88% of smokers started around the age of 18 (Beaudoin, 2002). Creating these PSAs were an important part of trying to stop the smoking epidemic that had taken hold of Americans. For these PSAs to be effective, they not only targeted younger adults, but mentioned that their families and other loved ones would eventually suffer as well due to their newfound nasty habit. Another great PSA example is the American Cancer Society PSA. They created a 60 second, 30 second, and 15 second PSA. Each PSA highlighted the fact that everyone could check themselves for cancer at little to no cost due to the new Affordable Care Act (How to Write, 2021). It also mentioned that, because of this act, there is now a choice that could possibly save a life. This PSA was a great use of promoting a new care act that many most likely were not aware of at the time. It helped to spread awareness of this new act and the fact that people would not be able to get checked for serious issues at little to no cost. Understanding the core function of PSAs can help top create one that is effective and informative while also being engaging.

One main benefit of creating effective PSAs is that they spread the word for issues that everyone should know about or want to learn more about. PSAs aren’t as big as they used to be due to the internet being so instantaneous, but they still can be useful for brands and organizations alike to help spread awareness for topics that should concern everyone in today’s world.

References

12 of the Best Brand Promise Examples We’ve Seen. (2019). PowerReviews. https://www.powerreviews.com/blog/brand-promise-examples/

Beaudoin, C. E. (2002). Exploring Antismoking Ads: Appeals, Themes, and Consequences. Journal of Health Communication, 7(2), 123–137. https://doi-org.oclc.fullsail.edu/10.1080/10810730290088003

Brand Trust: How to Build and Protect Your Most Important Asset in 2020. (2020). Loomly Blog. https://blog.loomly.com/brand-trust/

French, K. (2021). 15 Perfect Tagline Examples from Brands of All Sizes. Column Five. https://www.columnfivemedia.com/13-unique-tagline-examples/

French, K. (2021). How to Write a Great Tagline (According to Science). Column Five. https://www.columnfivemedia.com/the-secrets-behind-a-great-tagline/

How to Write a PSA (Public Service Announcement). (2021). MediaTracks Communications. https://mediatracks.com/resources/how-to-write-a-public-service-announcement/

Rogalle, Elena M. (2021, November). 3.5 Case Study: Brand Trust. FullSail. Retrieved https://online.fullsail.edu/class_sections/128060/modules/408915/activities/2428671

MDM555 Week 4

Reflection Video

Design Challenge

For week 4, I decided to go back to week 2 and try to create a 15 second version of the 30 second ad that we had to make for the Dog Rescue. I had a difficult time trying to shorten up the ad while still giving as much information as possible. It was a fun process to try and figure out what should stay and what should go. I believe this also helped me more with my adobe audition skills and learning how to cut and replace audio. I had a great time with this challenge and it felt rewarding to finally create an ad that I felt was well put together for 15 seconds.

MDM565 Week 1

Design Challenge

For the week 1 design challenge, I was tasked with exploring typography and making font choices. My goal was to find typefaces that expressed the feeling of the even that the challenge was based on, which in this case was Earth Day. I had a fun time creating these compositions that show the event in different fonts with quotes surrounding them in certain ways that also match the feel of each composition. It was exciting to be able to explore all of these font and learn how different typefaces work with each other.

Design Research

Differentiation

Differentiation is something designers, brands, and companies do all the time to distinguish products or services from the competition. Nowadays, brands and companies are starting to understand that a lot of customers just want solutions, they don’t want something with 5000 features. Sometimes, the best way to differentiate a product or service is taking it back to a much simpler state.

Even though the Field Museum looks like other museums around the world due to its century-old look, they used differentiation in the form of hiring Fernando Medina for the Field Museum Series called Artists at the Field (Argo, 2021). All the Illustrations promoting this series had been created by Fernando, and he used different colors, textures, and drawings to differentiate this series from others at the museum. This same approach of using different colors was used by GM in the early 1920s, at a time where the Model T was king and it only came in one color, black. GM created six different cars in different color option and gave the owner the opportunity to pick the color of the vehicle (Stone, 2019). This simple act of creating color variations for vehicles skyrocketed the popularity of GM cars while Ford lost nearly 50% of its market share. This example really shows the profound impact that the effective use of differentiation can have on an industry. Understanding customer wants and needs is essential in building success in any category of sales. Being able to see the missing pieces and acting on it to fill in the gaps is an incredible skill to have as a designer or a brand.

Product differentiation can have multiple benefits. For one, it can be extremely successful. Product differentiation can increase brand loyalty and even make it so raising the prices will not scare customers away (Kopp, 2021). It can also help a company to standout in a world full of clones and copycat products. Understanding what needs to be done to standout and be different can mean the difference between another boring brand or something extraordinary and unique.

Font Families

Font families are everywhere. All. Typefaces and fonts are included into one of the many font families. Some font families that many will know are ones such as Serif, Sans-Serif, Slab-Serif, Cursive, etc. Posters, billboards, websites, applications. Every word is made up of a font that is included in a font family.

For Fernando Medina, he created the logo of the Field Museum series in a lettering based on Gotham Bold, a font in the Sans-Serif family. It was used for its clean look with heavier weight while still feeling stately (Argo, 2021). It also needed to be highly legible from great distances and this font was great in this scenario as well. Google needed a font, but not any normal font would do. They teamed up with Monotype to create a font they called Google Noto. This font was created over the span of five years and countless hours. Its purpose it to bridge the gap of lost information and communication. They wanted to keep information such as lesser-used and even dead languages intact with this font (Banks, 2016). They even made letters in serif and sans-serif, while also making eight weights (Banks, 2016). Font families are incredibly important. They encompass the typefaces and fonts into certain groups. Understanding the different font families and what fonts make up these families can be a great help to designers while also being useful for learning combinations of fonts for the best experience possible.

One benefit of. Font families is that there are certain rules that need to be followed which help to give people such as designers sort of guidelines on what will look good and what won’t. There are certain fonts from different font families that should never go together. There are certain fonts from the same font family that should never go together. Learning as many fonts as possible and what font family they are in can be a big help when designing down the road. Understanding the difference between a typeface and font family can also be a benefit to a designer’s workflow. A font family is a collection of fonts that share design features within a specified typeface (Understanding Font, 2021). Fonts refer to size, weight, etc of a specific typeface that one may use. These terms may seem conflicting and confusing but understanding them now will help in the long run.

Expressive Typography

Expressive typography is visual communication through type. The type acts as the visual medium while still giving information through the actual word that is there. Expressive typography merges the two ideas of what the type says and how it looks.

For the Artists at the Field series, Fernando made great use of expressive typography through his logo design. He was able to take bland type and give it its own identity. He was able to take the type and make it special through multiple ways. One way was that he made the negative space of the E a T-Rex head (Argo, 2021). Fernando also gave each letter their own textures as a way for the logo to standout while still being very legible from far away. This design has expressed the concepts of art and artists using special style choices made during the design process (Argo, 2021). Another great example of expressive typography was the Greenspace ad campaign for raising awareness about deforestation (Glaser & Knight, 2012). Greenspace took the Nestle Kit Kat logo and changed only the words Kit Kat to Killer. It takes a few glances to notice the difference as it fits right in, but once the message is seen, it creates a strong impact on the viewer. Understanding the proper use of expressive typography can create an entirely different mood or feel of a word, art piece, poster, ad, etc. Expressive typography is something that every designer should master as it can give them massive advantages over others who just see words for what they say, and not how they can also be seen.

One benefit of understanding expressive typography is that the designer can convey emotions through typography. Daisy Ein mentions that emotion is a big part of visual communication (Ein, 2020). Being able to express different emotions using expressive typography can create a sense of relation between the word and the viewer. They feel more connected to that word as it doesn’t look like just a word to them. It expresses itself through visual communication and the viewer realizes this and acts upon it by feeling a certain way. Being able to understand and create typography like this can be a great tool in any designer’s arsenal as words are everywhere and it is up to designers to express what they truly mean.

References

Argo, B. (2021, November). 1.4 Case Study. FullSail. Retrieved https://online.fullsail.edu/class_sections/128077/modules/423248/activities/2510099

Banks, T. (2016). Monotype and Google collaborate on multi-language font family. Design Week (Online Edition), 1. Retrieved from https://login.oclc.fullsail.edu /login?url=https://search-ebscohost-com.oclc.fullsail.edu/login.aspx?direct=true &db=asu&AN=118650029&site=ehost-live

Ein, D. (2020, December 11). What Is Expressive Typography? Design & Illustration Envato Tuts+. https://design.tutsplus.com/articles/what-is-expressive-typography--cms-36080

Glaser, J., & Knight, C. (2012, April 13). When Typography Speaks Louder Than Words. Smashing Magazine. https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2012/04/when-typography-speaks-louder-than-words/

Kopp, C. M. (2021, June 7). Understanding Product Differentiation. Investopedia. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/product_differentiation.asp

Stone, E. (2019, March 19). Great design: The secret to differentiating in a crowded market. Fluidui. https://blog.fluidui.com/great-design-differentiating-in-a-crowded-market

Understanding Font Families: 5 Types of Font Families. (2021, June 21). Masterclass. https://www.masterclass.com/articles/font-family-guide#what-is-a-font-family

MDM565 Week 2

Design Challenge

For the week 2 design challenge, I had to make three compositions based off the event in week 1 which was Earth Day. This challenge was very fun to me as Photoshop is one of my favorite and knowledge filled Adobe softwares. I enjoyed masking and adding blend modes to create these three compositions that showcase Earth Day. I am looking forward to what is next in this process and I hope whoever views these enjoys looking at them as much and I enjoyed making them.

Design Research

Art vs Design

While art and design may seem similar on the surface, there are many factors that come into play that make them different from one another. While art is more of an expression of creative imagination, design is more of a well thought out plan for creating something such as solutions for people.

Mr. Argo mentioned design in his lecture this week. He said that while art is personal, design is purposeful (Argo, 2021). This statement is backed up by another article written by the Eden Gallery team. They mention that, while art is unconstrained, design creativity is held back by client demands, business goals, and user needs (Art vs Design, 2021). While art can be interpreted in many ways to different people, design is all about solving problems through reason and logic. However, there are a few similarities. Both art and design share the same visual principle, these being things such as shape, color, contrast, etc. Artists and designers also study the same methods to increase their creative ability such as drawing or painting.

Understanding the differences between art and design can especially help the more artistic designers that want to flex their creative muscle during a design job. On some occasions, it is fine to take more creative approaches to work, but other times the rules and needs of the client must be followed with great accuracy. According to Ben Lisefski, if the designer tries to be more of an artist than a designer, the finished work ends up being an expression of the designer’s work and not the client’s brand (Lisefski, 2019). To be a great designer, one must understand both the goals of the client and the needs of the user. Design is all about achieving a goal, and what that goal is can be up to whatever the client sees fit. Understanding the difference between these two forms of visual communication is key in becoming a better designer.

Design Decision

Creating something amazing happens with only the best of decisions. Making the right decisions can be a crucial step in the right or wrong direction. Understanding and making the right decisions can be very difficult at times but using research and other gathered information can help with this process.

Bartley Argo makes a great point in his design reasonings lecture. He mentions that every part of a design is a choice. (Argo, 2021). According to the case study, design decisions can also be a great way of shaping communication (Argo, 2021). In his article, Ravi Mehta talks about design decisions and what it takes to make the right decision and in turn create an amazing product. He mentions that it comes down to what he calls the “three pillars” of decision making. These include intuition, analytics, and feedback (Mehta, 2020). These pillars of decision making are what Mehta has followed his entire career, and for good reason. Making the right decisions that lead to the most successful outcome can be stressful but very rewarding. Using research, asking questions, and looking up other sources of information such as the pillars of decision making can be great tools in becoming the best designer possible.

Another great way of using decision making is making sure that the correct verbiage and message is being used and understood by different client needs. A designer can’t talk to a group of businessmen the same way as other designers. According to Tom Greever, there are four categories, each with their own tailored messages, that are used in decision making. These four categories include business, design, research, and limitation (Greever, 2015). Understanding each category and what message needs to be heard by each specific group can be crucial when describing a project to a client. Decision making is one of the most important steps in creating a well thought out and executed plan that can then turn into an amazing product or service. The end goal is to have agreement between the designer and the client, and effective decision making can create this ending scenario in the best way possible.

Types of Visual Hierarchy

Visual hierarchy is a very important design topic. Visual hierarchy is the arrangement of all elements in a design in order of importance. The order of elements in a design is essential to the overall look and feel of the finished design shown to the audience. While visual hierarchy may seem confusing to master, researching and understanding the core principles of it can make designing much easier.

Many elements are important in visual hierarchy, but one major factor is size. According to Ina Saltz, larger objects such as a piece of text or a larger image have more power by their very nature (Saltz, 2013). Even in the world outside of design, this statement holds true. Larger objects garner more attention and therefore should be more important if that is the goal. If someone instantly notices something because of its size in a design, it should mean something and not just be larger for the sake of being larger. Along with this, figuring out the typeface is very important. In his article, Alex Bigman mentions that finding the right typeface weight along with pairing the right style such as serif or sans serif is important to the overall look and feel of the design (Bigman, 2018). He also goes over six principles that designers should follow if they want to be more successful and have a better foundation to work from when designing the elements for proper visual hierarchy. Understanding these principles will help designers to not only have a better foundation, but it will also be beneficial for their career as becoming better at designing is never a bad thing. Visual hierarchy is essential and is a huge part of what makes a design either very good or just awful to view.

One benefit of understanding visual hierarchy is how it can help a design. In his video lecture, Jim Krause mentions that good visual hierarchy makes it easy and intuitive for the eye and brain to work together to pick apart a design and to navigate through what is most important to what is least important (Krause, 2015). Creating designs that have strong visual hierarchy help viewers to not only learn what the design is all about, but to also scan through the design to find the most important aspects with no straining or confusion. If visual hierarchy isn’t properly used throughout a design, the viewer may feel negative feelings towards the design and even be driven away by how it looks. All three of these topics go together very well. Making better design decision can also help with understanding the difference between when to be very creative and when to follow the client’s orders. Design decisions can also help with creating designs that evoke certain feelings or emotions using visual hierarchy. Realizing that all these topics work together to create the best design possible is the first step in becoming a better designer.

References

Argo, B. (2021, December). 2.3 Lecture. FullSail. Retrieved https://online.fullsail.edu/class_sections/128077/modules/423249/activities/2510104

Argo, B. (2021, December). 2.4 Case Study. FullSail. Retrieved https://online.fullsail.edu/class_sections/128077/modules/423249/activities/2510106

Art vs Design: What’s The Difference? (2021, July 21). Eden Gallery. https://www.eden-gallery.com/news/art-vs-design

Bigman, A. (2018). 6 principles of visual hierarchy for designers. 99designs. Retrieved

from https://99designs.com/blog/tips/6-principles-of-visual-hierarchy/

Greever, T. (2015, September 30). How to describe your design decisions. O’Reilly Media. https://www.oreilly.com/content/how-to-describe-your-design-decisions/

Krause, J. (2015, November). Lessons in Typography Learn By Video. O’Reilly Online Learning. Retrieved December 3, 2021, from https://www.oreilly.com/videos/lessons-in-typography/9780134096469/9780134096469-TYPE_04_01/

Lisefski, B. (2019, May 6). The truth about Art vs. Design - UX Collective. Medium. https://uxdesign.cc/the-truth-about-art-vs-design-c9a616de828

Mehta, R. (2020, June 25). The Three Pillars of Product Decision Making. Ravi Mehta | Product Leadership. https://www.ravi-mehta.com/product-decision-making/

Saltz, I. (2013, November 25). Typography: Hierarchy and Navigation. LinkedInLearning. Retrieved https://www.linkedin.com/learning/typography-hierarchy-and-navigation/creating-hierarchy-using-size?autoAdvance=true&autoSkip=false&autoplay=true&resume=false&u=50813145

MDM565 Week 3

Design Challenge

For the week 3 design challenge, I was tasked with creating a banner ad for the Earth Day event. I had to keep in mind that this design would be split down the middle, so I wanted to make each side unique with different forms of information in hopes that the viewer would be encouraged to look at both sides of the banner ad. I had a fun time creating this ad and it took a lot of thinking and decision making to figure out where certain parts of the design would go while still being legible.

DESIGN RESEARCH

Combining Texts and Images

Combining text and images is like creating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. They go great together if they are used in the right proportion and with the right purpose. It is used in almost every design, so understanding the important and effective use of both is necessary for any designer to succeed in creating great designs. The design can have a multitude of factors that cause the designers to make educated decisions on how text and images can work together and what they represent in the design.

For the case study, the GOGO’s poster has effective use of text and imagery working together. The text has all the necessary information, along with clarification for what this poster is all about (Argo, 2021). The imagery works well by conveying the attitude of the poster with a glance (Argo, 2021). Both the text and imagery work in harmony to create a poster that is instantly recognizable and showcases what the poster is all about. In her article, Carrie Cousins gives a great example of one way that text and imagery can work well together. She mentions the use of contrast in a design so that text can still be seen against the background. Cousins says that text must be readable for it to be successful (Cousins, 2020). Comparing this to the case study, it is obvious that contrast was used with the text as the black is still legible against the multiple-colored background. The colors are bright and fun, but the text is still easy to read through all of it. Effectively combining text and imagery can take designs to a new level of professionalism and skill. Designers should make it a priority to research and learn the proper use of combining text and imagery as it can turn designs into something truly amazing.

Combining text and imagery is one of the most basic building blocks of graphic design (Kliever, 2021). It is a design solution that every designer needs to learn how to master. Benefits of combining text and imagery include better overall looking designs, more professional designs, and it showcases that the designer has a more knowledgeable grasp on design. Understanding the fundamentals and tips to create designs with text and imagery is not only necessary but a great tool to learn as a designer.

The Elements of Visual Design

Along with combining text and imagery, understanding the visual elements of design is another building block that designers must master. These elements include Line, Shape, Space, Texture, and multiple others that are a necessary part of design.

In the case study, there are instances to multiple elements of design, but color is the one that will be referenced in this paper. According to Argo, “The colored stripes and pennant elements are reminiscent of a beach ball, a carnival, a balloon man's jacket, an ice cream vendor's signage, etc... all things that are summery and cheerful” (Argo, 2021). This quote gives a visual image of what the poster was trying to convey through the element of color. In his book, Jeremy Webb defines and gives examples on the element of color and what it can do for designs. He even says that there are many well-known and scientifically proven connections between our experience of color and the state of mind that it can induce once viewed (Webb, 2010). While these examples only touch on the element of color, it is important to understand just how special each element is on their own, let alone when working together in a design. Fully grasping each element and what it can do for a design is a necessary part of being a great designer. These elements will take a designer’s work to new levels of skill and quality.

Touching again on color, the benefits of design and its elements are endless. In her article, Monica Galvan talks about color and what it can do in certain situations. She mentions that color is an exciting element to play with, and that there is an infinite number of possibilities to create using color (Galvan, 2021). Another element that can boost a design is texture. Galvan even says that texture can add dimension, depth, and character to a design (Galvan, 2021). The benefits of understanding and using these elements of visual design are endless. If properly understood and executed, designers can become the best version of themselves and propel their career to new levels with these foundational elements.

The Principles of Design

Principles of design are essential in creating noticeable and effective designs. Design must follow specific rules to be considered good design. While rules can be bent or even broken to some extent, it is in the best interest of everyone involved that these principles are followed. This will ensure that a professional and creative design is made that everyone will enjoy.

For the case study, balance played an important part in the design. Argo mentions that all three of the visual communication components work together in balance and that each can perform its specific role without interfering with the other (Argo, 2021). In her article, Meg Redi references balance and the importance it has on a vast majority of designs that are created today. She gives a great line about balance, mentioning that designers should never forget that every element placed in a design has weight (Reid, 2018). Understanding the principles of design will not only help the workflow of designers, but also show through in the final design. These fundamentals are necessary for all designers in that these principles are what create great designs. Through practice and research, designers can build a strong foundation of design with the knowledge that they will gain from understanding these design principles and elements highlighted in this paper.

The benefits that come from understanding these principles are endless. Designers can take these principles and use them on anything they want to create. According to Laura Keung, these principles are the foundation for creating a composition in design (Keung, 2019). Benefits from these principles include better understanding of foundational pieces of design, greater knowledge of good and bad design, better overall skill when creating design, and so much more. Having the ability to notice good and bad design and what components make up this difference is essential to a designer’s overall success and knowledge.

References

Argo, B. (2021, December). 3.5 Case Study. FullSail. Retrieved https://online.fullsail.edu/class_sections/128077/modules/423250/activities/2510114

Cousins, C. (2020, May 28). 17 Tips for Designing with Type on a Photo. Designmodo. https://designmodo.com/design-type-photo/

Galvan, M. (2021, May 26). 7 visual elements of design - UX Planet. Medium. https://uxplanet.org/7-visual-elements-of-design-bbd56eb063e9

Keung, L. (2019, October 24). The Principles of Design. Design & Illustration Envato Tuts+. https://design.tutsplus.com/articles/the-principles-of-design--cms-33962

Kliever, J. (2021). The complete guide for how to marry text and images in your designs. Canva. https://www.canva.com/learn/how-to-marry-text-and-images/

Reid, M. (2018). The 7 principles of design. 99designs. https://99designs.com/blog/tips/principles-of-design/

Webb, J. (2010). Design Principles. AVA Publishing. Retrieved from https://web-p-ebscohost- com.oclc.fullsail.edu/ehost/ebookviewer/ebook/bmxlYmtfXzM1NDQ4M19fQU41?sid=3 300b5d2-f8c2-425e-a75b-42182ed73e24@redis&vid=6&format=EB&rid=1

MDM565 Week 4

Design Challenge

For week 4, I made some revisions on some of my design challenges that spanned over the course of this class. I had a fun and exciting time revisiting the and trying to make them the best that they can be. For the two composition photos above the banner photo, I ended up changing the order around to fix some of the balance issues that were present in the originals. For the banner, I changed the size of Earth Day as it was too close to the edge and felt squished by the edges of the design.

Design Research REflection

MDM570 Week 1

Design Challenge

For the week 1 design challenge, I was tasked with taking one of my photos form last month and adding background music and sounds to create a more emotionally connected event, which in this case is Earth Day. While it was slightly confusing at first, I was able to find some sounds that mixed very well together. I had a great time creating this short audio mix and I look forward to what's ahead in this class.

Design Research

Sonic Branding

Sound is everywhere. Sound is connected to almost everything humans interact with. Sonic branding is so important to a brand anywhere in the world because being memorable and instantly recognizable is a major advantage over other companies. Simply put, sonic branding is the sound/sounds of any one specific brand. This can be a simple jingle or even one specific sound.

This creation of sound was the challenge that Massive Music faced when creating a new sonic brand identity. With the supplied article from Massive Music in the case study for this week, the author mentions that since Philips was now focusing on healthcare, they had to create a spectrum of sounds that could support their communication (The Sound of Philips, 2021). This massive task, no pun intended, was the start of a brand-new side of Philips in terms of sonic branding. Philips wanted to create something that would help them to connect more with the patients and the healthcare workers, which in turn would give more recognition to Philips while helping the healthcare industry. Massive Music took the idea that Philips had and made it a reality while using some of the most organic sounds they could find, the lightbulb and human sounds. This created something unique and memorable that will stick with Philips and give them the brand recognition that they deserve. The same could be said for Nationwide. In his article, Stewart Hodgson mentions a multitude of companies that perfected the idea of sonic branding. One great example is Nationwide with their famous and recognizable jingle. He mentions that the relaxing sound of the jingle is a perfect way for the company to convey the peace of mind customers have when using Nationwide insurance (Hodgson, 2020). This recognizable jingle is just one of many in a world of sound that immediately garners for our attention.

Some obvious benefits of successful sonic branding include brand recognition, stronger brand loyalty, and even higher engagement with the brand. Another example of a great jingle is Intel. One main benefit of such a powerful yet simple arrangement of sounds is that no matter how it is being played, it is still recognizable (Case & Day, 2018). Some disadvantages could be that, due to the same sound being played repeatedly, it can become monotonous and lackluster in effect. Sometimes it is in the best interest of the brand to refresh and create something new and exciting once again, but other times it is best to stick with what made the brand famous years or even decades ago. Understanding and mastering sonic branding can be one of a brand’s biggest advantages over others and should be a main concern when trying to reach as many people as possible.

Three Categories of Sound

Sound can be broken down into three categories. Voice, sound effects, and music. These three categories, while different in their own way, work together to create what humans know as sound.

Massive Music was tasked with creating a sound for Philips and their new connection with the subject of healthcare. In the case study, Dr. B talks about Massive Music and what the company had to come up with by stating that Massive Music didn’t simply want to create a generic sound and that this was more of a way to incorporate the product of Philips together with the lightbulb and the human body (Baldowski, 2022). The sound effects made by the lightbulb and human body were created in a way to connect to Philips and the healthcare field. Just as Philips and many others use sound to promote their brand or gain recognition, film also uses voice, sound effects, and music in a way that makes each film connect more with the audience. Jane Marshall mentions all three in her article, but the music section had a simple sentence that connects with Philips and all other companies that use sound and the categories that make up sound. Marshall mentions that background music is added to add emotion and rhythm to a film (Marshall, 2021). While rhythm may work in some cases, emotion is the larger factor in this reference. Companies try all the time to connect in the best way possible with their customers. In most cases, it is on an emotional level. They want the customer to feel some sort of emotional connection to the brand when hearing the sounds.

One main benefit of sound is how everyone interprets it in their own way. In their article, the author mentions sound and what it means to film when they say, “Sound enhances the imaginary world, it can provide depth, establish character and environment, introduce a new scene or cue the viewer to important information” (FILM SOUND, 2011). Though talking about films, one main point of this statement that can also stand true for design is that sound enhances the imaginary world. It is up to the listener on how they interpret the sound that they are hearing. Sounds can connect people with memories that they may have forgotten about, and in turn create a stronger bond between the sound and the connection that the listener may have. Understanding, researching, and applying the proper use of sound in design is a great way to connect with as many customers or potential customers as possible.

Audio Logo

Most famous companies have sounds associated with the logo. McDonald’s has their famous jingle, Xbox has their famous start sound, Nationwide has their famous jingle, and the list can go on forever. These sounds connected with the visual logo are referred to as audio logos. They are created to increase brand recognition and they also help when no visual aid is present, such as a radio ad in the car.

In the lecture this week, Dr. B talks about audio logos and mentions that an audio logo should be instantly recognizable, catchy, and provoke and emotional reaction (Baldowski, 2022). These three criteria are covered with the Intel jingle. In his article, Tom May talks about some of the most famous audio logos and why they work. May mentions that through finding the sweet spot between computerized and physical sounds, Walter Werzowa was able to create a unique, relatable, and timeless audio logo (May, 2019). The main goal of an audio logo is to compliment the visual logo and take it to a place where the visual logo no longer needs to be the star. There is a reason that everyone knows when a McDonald’s commercial comes on the TV, even when they aren’t looking at the screen.

Understanding how to emotionally connect with the audience while also making a recognizable tune can make a brand’s image skyrocket in popularity. One main benefit includes an increase in brand recognition. In the case of Intel, Kjems mentions that the Intel sound has become one of the most widely recognized five-note patterns of our day and age (Kjems, 2021). Being able to make something recognizable and emotionally connect to an audience also helps the overall image of a brand. They seem more relatable, friendly, and a better option over other brands for those not familiar and trying to find out more. Visual logos are very important as they are seen everywhere, but it takes another level of skill and design to create something that can be heard and remembered by the world.

References

Baldowski, A. (2022). 1.2 Lecture. Full Sail. Retrieved from https://online.fullsail.edu/class_sections/128093/modules/428439/activities/2538900

Baldowski, A. (2022). 1.5 Case Study. Full Sail. Retrieved from https://online.fullsail.edu/class_sections/128093/modules/428439/activities/2538903

Case, A., & Day, A. (2018). Designing with Sound: Fundamentals for Products and Services (1st ed.). O’Reilly Media.

FILM SOUND AND MUSIC. (2011). College Film & Media Studies. https://collegefilmandmediastudies.com/film-sound-and-music/

Hodgson, S. (2020). Your guide to sonic branding: A sound strategy for business growth. Fabrik Brands. https://fabrikbrands.com/guide-to-sonic-branding/

Kjems, K. (2021, February 28). Here Are the Sound Logos you won’t forget – Find Out Why. Sonic Minds. https://sonicminds.dk/here-are-the-sound-logos-you-wont-forget/

Marshall, J. K. (2021). Introduction to Film Sound. FilmSound. http://filmsound.org/marshall/

May, T. (2019, August 13). The 10 best audio logos and why they work. Creative Bloq. https://www.creativebloq.com/features/audio-logos

The Sound of Philips | Sonic Branding | Audio Branding | Brand Audio Identity | MassiveMusic Amsterdam. (2021). MassiveMusic. https://www.massivemusic.com/en/work/detail/the-sound-of-philips

MDM570 Week 2

Design Challenge

For the week 2 design challenge, I had to use audio and create a background for one of the Earth Day quotes that I was given from one of the design challenges last month. I had a fun time creating the audio and trying to find both colors and fonts that worked together and with the background image. Overall I am happy with the end result and this challenge really helped me to become even more familiar with Adobe Audition and After Effects.

Design Research

Selective Attention

Everything in this world is a fight for human attention. No matter where people go, their attention is always pulled in one direction or the other. Selective attention is when people focus on a specific object for a certain amount of time. Due to everything vying for attention, selective attention helps people to tune out unwanted distractions and solely focus on something specific. Understanding how to create media in a way that draws and keeps the attention of the viewer can be a massive advantage in any area of design or even outside of design.

In the lecture this week, Dr. Baldowski has some important statements when it comes to selective attention. Dr. B mentions that since audience attention is limited, it is important as editors to be as cautious as possible as to not distract the audience from what they should be focusing on (Baldowski, 2022). In their book, Curt Steinhorst and Jonathan McKee talk about attention and how technology has played a large role in distracting more and more people. In chapter 3, they give a great reason to the problem of attention when they mention that people have lost control of the ability to choose where they spend their attention and instead have become slaves of distraction (Steinhorst & McKee, 2017). This statement really does make an impact as it truly has become harder to focus on specific things currently. Anywhere people go, something is trying to get their attention and distract them. Whether it is for something worth their time or not, distractions our everywhere and the growth of technology has only amplified this problem.

While there are very few benefits to being distracted, one main benefit may be that a designer can create a design to promote something in a way that gets and keeps the viewer’s attention. This may benefit the brand and help it to gain recognition and make the brand seem more interesting. Auditory attention also plays a large role in where most of the person’s attention goes. In her article, Kendra Cherry discusses selective auditory attention and describes what makes the listener realize something has been changed. Cherry mentions that while a change in language was almost always unnoticed, a change from male to female or pitch was instantly noticed by the listener (Cherry, 2020). This reference shows how visuals are not the only thing that people are using selective attention for every day. Audio plays a role that is just as important. As mentioned earlier, selective attention does have drawbacks. One major drawback is that it is hard to concentrate on one thing at a time in today’s world full of distractions. Understanding how to focus on certain things can not only help people but help designers to create something that is truly worth the viewer’s time while also getting them interested and wanting to learn more.

Rhythm

Along with film, great design incorporates rhythm. Rhythm is the flow of a certain story, video, song, design, etc. Rhythm is everywhere. In design, specific variations of rhythm can give the viewer a sense of movement. This can make a powerful and almost hypnotic impact on the viewer, causing them to give their attention to the design.

In the research this week, Walter Murch explains what rhythm is and how it is so important in editing in the video Walter Murch: On Editing. Murch mentions that there is a relationship with the story itself and how to tell it and the rhythm in which it is told (Murch, 2013, 0:43). Comparing this to design, Rick Mess talks about rhythm in his article. Mess talks about rhythm and mentions that rhythm can unite, direct, highlight, and set the dynamics for any one specific design (Mess, 2020). Though these are two different fields, it is easy to tell that rhythm is the same across the board in terms of its importance and what it can do to a story or design. Understanding the fundamentals of rhythm and how to create rhythm in both video and design can help editors and designers to create truly significant works of art. Without the proper implementation of rhythm, both editors and designers create things that are lackluster and that lack quality.

One main benefit of understanding rhythm especially in design is realizing that there are different types of rhythm. In his article, Mads Soegaard explains these five types of rhythms and what they each do for their specific scenario. These five types of rhythm include random, regular, alternating, flowing and progressive (Soegaard, 2020). He also mentions that understanding these variations of rhythm can help to build cadence in designs (Soegaard, 2020). Both film and design incorporate rhythm in almost everything that is created under these fields. Researching, understanding, and properly implementing the techniques of rhythm can create things that are engaging, aesthetically pleasing, and overall amazing pieces of work.

Pacing

Pacing is just as important when it comes to filming. Pacing creates the flow of the story and how the audience should be keeping up with what they are viewing. Pacing can be fast or slow, and both timings can be used to create tension, an emotional response, etc.

In the case study this week, a perfect example of pacing and its importance can be the Old Spice body wash commercial. In the commercial, the old spice man uses specific timing to create a sense of importance and urgency to buy the product (The Man Your Man, 0:02-0:28). In his description of Christopher Nolan films, article author Jourdan Aldredge explains how well Nolan stitches scenes together to create a perfect sequence. Aldredge says that instead of feeling like the audience is watching several small vignettes, everything is seamlessly part of a fully realized whole (Aldredge, 2020). Mastering the art of pacing can be a major task but can also be very rewarding. Pacing can make or break a story and how it flows. It can also ruin the experience for the audience and create unwanted pauses and skips that ruin the flow and immersion.

One benefit of pacing is creating momentum to liven the story up and reel the audience back in. As mentioned earlier, a great example of using momentum is Christopher Nolan. In her article, Luthra explains momentum and what it can do for a film. Luthra mentions that simple movement at a key point in the movie can create momentum and help push the pace of the film to another level (Luthra, 2021). One drawback of this concept can be the improper use of pacing. If the pacing is too fast or too slow, the audience will become uninterested or even confused with the story and its parts. The hardest part of correct pacing is having the perfect balance of fast and slow-paced scenes to blend into one seamless story that entertains from start to end.

References

Aldredge, J. (2020, December 22). Film Pacing: 5 Secrets to Keep Your Projects from Getting Stale. The Beat: A Blog by PremiumBeat. https://www.premiumbeat.com/blog/5-film-pacing-secrets/

Baldowski, A. (2022). 2.2 Lecture. Full Sail. Retrieved https://online.fullsail.edu/class_sections/128093/modules/428440/activities/2538908

Cherry, K. (2020, November 9). How We Use Selective Attention to Filter Information and Focus. Verywell Mind. https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-selective-attention-2795022

Luthra, A. (2021, March 15). How to keep your film from stagnating. Top tips for pacing your film. Filmstro. https://filmstro.com/blog/how-to-keep-your-film-from-stagnating-top-tips-for-pacing-your-film

Mess, R. (2020, April 9). Value of Rhythm in Design. Outcrowd. https://www.outcrowd.io/blog/value-of-rhythm-in-design

Murch, W. (2013, September 20). Walter Murch: On Editing. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcBpXLNmS3Q&t=44s

Old Spice | The Man Your Man Could Smell Like. (2010, February 5). YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owGykVbfgUE&t=29s

Soegaard, M. (2020). Repetition, Pattern, and Rhythm. The Interaction Design Foundation. https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/article/repetition-pattern-and-rhythm

Steinhorst, C., & McKee, J. (2017). Can I Have Your Attention?: Inspiring Better Work Habits, Focusing Your Team, and Getting Stuff Done in the Constantly Connected Workplace (1st ed.). Wiley.

MDM570 Week 3

Design Challenge

For week 3, the design challenge was to combine the background audio, quote audio, and background image together to create one cohesive video about the special event. It was exciting to put all of these things together and to try and create an impactful video while still making it interesting to watch. I had a great time working on this project and I look forward to what's next.

Design Research

Motion Graphics

Though people may not realize it, motion graphics are everywhere. Motion graphics are exactly as they sound, graphics in motion. They are fundamentally animated versions of graphic design.

In the case study this month, Dr. Baldowski talks about motion graphics, specifically NBC and their first motion logo. Dr. B mentions that the first ever motion logo for NBC was created in 1959 by Pablo Ferro (Baldowski, 2022). Dr. B goes on to mention that the colors represented the broadcasting capabilities of NBC and made it a very easy transition to animation (Baldowski, 2022). Another great example of visuals but now with typography is the true detective title sequence created by design team led by Patrick Clair (Silveira, 2021). Silveira mentions this in the article when talking about great examples of motion graphics in the world today. Silveira goes on to mention how the landscape reflects the inner lives of the characters while also illustrating the story (Silveira, 2021). Though the NBC motion logo had no typography, the use of the colors and animations fulfilled the job of conveying information to the public. In the title sequence of True Detective, the landscape mixed with minimal type created a sense of unease and darkness that surrounded the story. Motion graphics can be very powerful in conveying information, and that is why it is so important for designers to understand the use of effective motion to capture the audience while giving them useful and impactful information and imagery.

One benefit of effective motion design is the connection that designers can create with the viewers. In the article What is Motion Graphics, the author talks about the importance of studying different types of movements, acceleration, and speed as a designer creating motion graphics. The author mentions that when all these elements are put together, the designer can bring life to design elements in a humanized way that connects to the viewer (What is Motion Graphics, 2020). Motion graphics are so important because understanding how to create a relatable and informative motion graphic can be a major factor in the overall success of both the design and the story it is trying to tell.

Difference between Animation and Motion Graphics

At first glance, animation and motion graphics can easily seem to be the same thing. However, there are some differences that set them apart. While motion graphics are a type of animation, motion graphics still stick to animating graphic elements and not focus as much on telling a specific story.

In the lecture this week, Dr. Baldowski gives a great statement on the difference between animations and motion graphics. Dr. Baldowski mentions that while a motion graphic is meant to inform and then entertain, the job of an animation is to entertain and then inform (Baldowski, 2022). Understanding the true goal of the project is key when trying to figure out which one of these is more important. Does the viewer need to be entertained first or informed first? The article Motion Graphics vs Animation also gives great points for each topic and why they can easily be confusing to those not looking for the differences. In the article, Taylor explains some of these differences. Taylor says that motion graphics tend to favor abstract concepts instead of stories, are usually more informative, and they typically avoid characters (Taylor, 2021). Taylor goes on to mention that animations are usually more story-driven, give more artistry, and offer fully developed characters (Taylor, 2021). Therefore, understanding the difference is key when creating a motion graphic or animation. For designers, more of the focus tends to be on information which would mean that motion graphics are more of the specialty. While entertaining the viewer can still be a key factor in a motion graphic, the main reason is to inform them on something, whether that be a specific product or service.

As mentioned earlier, knowing the differences can really make an impact on overall success and quality of what is being created. In another article on these topics, Matt Ellis gives great reasoning on when to use either motion graphics or animation. Ellis says that while animation is meant to bring characters to life with emotional narratives, motion graphics are meant to bring statical data to life (Ellis, 2019). This statement really solidifies the necessity for understanding the key differences which can be a massive benefit for any designer or animator.

Language of Motion Graphics

The language of motion graphics is very important to understand. Motion graphics usually consist of a few languages that together create what is known as the language of motion graphics.

In the lecture, Dr. Baldowski mentions one of these languages as the language of graphic design. In this language, many of the components make up the foundation of motion graphics. Dr. Baldowski mentions some of these components and they include typography, storytelling, color, imagery, and visual communication (Baldowski, 2022). Storytelling will be the focus from this reference. Storytelling has been around since the beginning of time. Many things that humans know have been through stories passed down through a multitude of generations. In the book Animated Storytelling, Liz Blazer makes a great connection to this week’s lecture and the part about storytelling. She mentions that storytelling is very old, and that people have been making up stories since cave dwelling times (Blazer, 2019). Blazer also mentions that human brains are hard wired to make connections and find narratives (Blazer, 2019). Though there are other languages to motion graphics, language of graphic design was picked as storytelling can still be useful for the motion graphics side of things alongside animation. A designer might be able to tell a story through data to make a motion graphic more appealing and easier to remember. Though not always the case, it is interesting to see just how truly complex a motion graphic can become once one deep dives into all the parts that work together to create one of these.

One way to fully understand the language of motion graphics is to dissect the language of motion itself. This was done in an article titled Discover the language of motion design. In the article, Justin Cone explains the language of motion and how adding motion doesn’t simply broaden the skillset of a designer, but redefines it (Cone, 2014). This statement is very powerful as it explains in a few words the importance of truly mastering the language of motion graphics and design. Researching and studying the languages that are included in motion graphics are just as important as understanding the difference between motion graphics and animation. Cone also explains another topic from earlier in the paper, and it is that of information vs entertainment. This all comes down again to simply understanding whether that audience is supposed to be entertained or informed first. The parts of motion graphics can be compared to some parts of a car. A mechanic will not successfully change the oil if they don’t know where the correct parts are or what oil to use. A designer can’t create a successful motion graphic if the parts to create that graphic are unknown.

References

Baldowski, A. (2022). 3.2 Lecture. Full Sail. Retrieved https://online.fullsail.edu/class_sections/128093/modules/428441/activities/2538916

Baldowski, A. (2022). 3.5 Case Study. Full Sail. Retrieved https://online.fullsail.edu/class_sections/128093/modules/428441/activities/2538919

Blazer, L. (2019). Animated Storytelling (2nd ed.). Peachpit Press. Retrieved from https://learning.oreilly.com/library/view/animated-storytelling-simple/9780134133812/

Cone, J. (2014, January 6). Creative Bloq. https://www.creativebloq.com/graphic-design/discover-language-motion-design-11410269

Ellis, M. (2019). Motion graphics vs. animation: what’s the difference? 99designs. https://99designs.com/blog/video-animation/motion-graphics-vs-animation/

Silveira, F. (2021). What is Motion Graphics? | MOWE Studio. MOWE. https://mowe.studio/what-is-motion-graphics/

Taylor, H. (2021, February 1). Motion Graphics vs. Animation. The DVI Group. https://www.thedvigroup.com/video-production-blog/2021/02/motion-graphics-vs-animation/

What is Motion Graphics? (2020). Biteable. https://biteable.com/blog/what-is-motion-graphics/

Mdm570 Week 4

Design Challenge

For the week 4 design challenge, I had to make a revision on the week 2 quote video. For the revision, I created softer transitions for the words that show on screen to match the theme and feeling of Earth Day. Since Earth Day is a calm and positive day, I wanted to rework the word transitions to give that feeling to the viewer. I had a fun time revising this project and I am excited for the design challenges ahead.

Week 4 Reflection Video

MDM615 Week 1: Onliness Statement

Thesis Application

The Las Vegas Enforcers are the only ECHL team in the Las Vegas area that provide a new sense of joy and appeal in the post-Covid era. These benefits are provided to working-class people, young professionals, and suburban families through connecting with local communities and giving back to supporting communities while still making the prices affordable for everyone.

Design Rationale

Introduction

The development of an Onliness statement is crucial for brand identity. In Marty Neumeier’s book ZAG: The Number-One Strategy of High-Performance Brands, Neumeier describes the onliness statement as true test of a zag (Neumeier, 2006). He goes on to say that if the brand can’t say they are the “only”, they need to go back and start over (Neumeier, 2006). In the week 1 lecture, Bartley Argo explains the purpose of an onliness statement as being a concise creative brief that brings all the research together to also help designers make specific design choices related to the key factors of the onliness statement (Argo, 2022). This means that the onliness statement is a way for a brand to show what makes them different, a way to stand out from the crowd.

Design Problem

For this brand, the problem lies with the absence of an onliness statement. The brand needs a statement to help create a unique look and feel from competitors through both attributes and what the brand has to offer.

Design Solution Process

Using the template outlined by Bartley Argo (2022) in the week 1 lecture, the first part of an onliness statement is correctly identifying the name of the brand. Using the brand profile, the name to be used in this statement is the name of the team, which is the Las Vegas Enforcers. The next part of the statement was defining the category followed immediately by the location. The brand profiled stated that this team was an ECHL (formerly known as the East Coast Hockey League) team that made their home in the Las Vegas area. While the use of Las Vegas insinuates the coverage of a large area, the term ECHL helps to bring this back in by understanding that this team is in a very specific group of the league in a specific city.

The benefits are next in the onliness statement. For this, the phrase provides a new sense of joy and appeal in the post-Covid era was used to indicate the benefits that the target audience would be receiving by showing up to hockey games. These benefits have a lot of weight, especially referring to this as the post-covid era. In her article on Las Vegas and how it has changed since the pandemic struck, Helanie Olen says a lot on how it is not the Las Vegas of old. When talking with Jennifer Graff, who is an executive with Columbia Foods, Helanie mentions that Jennifer is happy to just get a little normalcy back regarding the pandemic and what it has done to public gatherings and conventions (Olen, 2021). This connects to the reference of the post-covid era in the statement as it is important to help the target audience realize that this is a new and improved brand that wants to entertain and let everyone have an enjoyable time while still following some new rules that need to be in place for the safety of everyone.

The next part of the onliness statement references the target audience. Reading through the brand profile, the target audience is working-class people, young professionals, and suburban families. Christina Gough created a graph to illustrate the level of interest in NHL in the US as of December 2021. Gough found that the age range of 18-34 had the highest avid fan percentage as well as a tie for the highest casual fan percentage (Gough, 2022). This statistic is in line with the brand profile description of the target audience, especially in reference to young professionals and suburban families, in which that age range would be an accurate description.The target audience is also very active and enjoys spending time with other likeminded people in their community.

The final part of the onliness statement is that of the features that will be provided to the target audience. Entertainment is not all that the Las Vegas Enforcers have to offer. The last part of the statement references the other features as the brand also wants to connect with local communities and give back to supporting communities. The brand profile also mentions the price of admission, and it can be deducted by the price that they will be able to do all of this and provide entertainment at a very reasonable and fair price to the customers. This can tie back to the benefits as some people don’t want to spend a lot of money right after a global pandemic that could have possibly caused some rough times regarding finances. An article by Juliana Menasce Horowitz, Anna Brown, and Rachel Minkin can shed some light on why people are more frugal with their money than ever. In one section of the article, they mention that while concerns are less pressing than earlier in the pandemic, many Americans remain worried about basic needs (Menasce et al., 2021). Regardless of the target audience and their financial situation, it was imperative to the brand that the ticket price could remain low to help bring in as many customers as possible since the tickets are the main source of revenue for them.

Summary

This onliness statement will be used as a guide for the brand identity. It showcases the name of the brand, the main category that this brand falls under, the location, the main benefits offered to the target audience, and features to be expected. This onliness statement will be the main tool for the brand moving forward as it is the foundation of what this brand is all about and how their uniqueness can set them apart from the competition.

References

Argo, B. (2022, February). 1.2 Lecture. FullSail. Retrieved https://online.fullsail.edu/class_sections/135339/modules/435541/activities/2579469

Gough, C. (2022, February 1). Hockey interest level in the U.S. 2021, by age. Statista. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1100143/interest-level-hockey-age/

Horowitz, J. M., Brown, A., & Minkin, R. (2021, March 5). A Year Into the Pandemic, Long-Term Financial Impact Weighs Heavily on Many Americans. Pew Research Center’s Social & Demographic Trends Project. https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2021/03/05/a-year-into-the-pandemic-long-term-financial-impact-weighs-heavily-on-many-americans/

Neumeier, M. (2006). Zag: The Number One Strategy of High-Performance Brands (1st ed.) [E-book]. New Riders. Retrieved https://learning.oreilly.com/library/view/zag-the-number-one/0321426770/

Olen, H. (2021, September 27). How covid-19 changed Las Vegas. Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/09/27/covid-changed-vegas-appeal-remains/

Reference Photos

MDM615 Week 2: Thesis Application

Theme

Heroes

Brand Personality

Is

• Electrifying
• Altruistic
• Inclusive
• Courageous

Isn't

• Uninteresting
• Selfish
• Singular
• Timid

Taglines

Empowering lives on and off the ice.

Enforcing change on and off the ice.

Enforcing change one assist at a time.

Protecting others one check at a time.

Positioning Statement

Not everyone can fight for themselves. In this arena, it isn’t just about entertaining and giving the fans a day to remember. It is about continuing to help local communities and giving back to anybody who is gracious enough to support our cause. We want to inspire everyone to become something more than they ever imagined. We want to turn the normal citizens of today into the heroes of tomorrow.

Design Rationale

Introduction

The theme, brand personality, tagline, and positioning statement are all crucial in the next step of brand identity. All these elements work together with the Onlyness statement to help designers create the entire face of the brand. They also work together to give customers an idea about what this brand has to offer and why it should appeal to them.

Design Problem

For this brand, the problem now lies with the absence of theme, personality, and tagline. These things make the brand more well-rounded and easier to understand. This also helps both the designer when making choices about designs and customers when they want to learn more about what this brand is and why they offer their specific benefits and features.

Design Problem Solution

The theme was quite difficult to find for this specific brand profile. With the direction of philanthropy used as the benefits for the target audience, it was challenging to find a theme that fit both the idea of exciting hockey games and the team supporting the community. To understand the theme, the first step is to understand the brand identity. In the week 2 lecture, Bartley Argo explains a theme as a guide to focus design decisions (Argo, 2022). Using this information and doing some research, it is easier to understand the theme for the Enforcers. An Enforcer can mean many things, but for this specific profile and the way the Onlyness statement was worded, the theme for the Enforcers will be that of Heroes. An Enforcer can protect and serve the community while also protecting their players during the games. A hero helps those in need while also defending their own people. This double meaning meets both the requirements of understanding that while the team is about giving back and helping local communities, at the end of the day people still want to go there to watch action-packed hockey games where the team needs to work together and help each other to win.

Moving on from the theme, the next phase next is finding the brand personality. In her article, Kathryn Wheeler gives a great definition of brand identity and how brand personality makes up a big chunk of this subject. She says that a brand identity is the aspect of branding that focuses on the brand personality and the values conveyed to the customer (Wheeler, 2021). The brand personality list was then created after this research was conducted. Some words were chosen to reflect the actual game of hockey and how that relates to the Enforcers while other words were chosen to reflect the theme of heroes and how the brand is more than just a hockey team. Words such as the Enforcers being electrifying and not uninteresting reflects the actual sporting even that is occurring. Other words such as altruistic and courageous reflect the theme of heroes and how the team not only stands up for themselves on the ice, but how the brand also stands up for their communities off the ice.

The tagline is also a very important piece of the brand identity. Ryan Robinson makes a great statement when it comes to taglines and what they can do for a brand. He says, “Either way you look at it, there’s an undeniable value to be claimed if you can create a memorable slogan that people want to share, can’t forget—or that they mentally connect to a specific need in their lives” (Robinson, para 4, 2020). This quote gives a very detailed but brief explanation on why taglines can be so useful. For the Enforcers, the tagline had to once again reference both the idea of exhilarating hockey games and helping the community. Taglines such as enforcing change on and off the ice or enforcing change one check at a time reference both main points that need to be targeted. Regarding the tagline enforcing change one check at a time, this can resemble both the action of checking players into the hockey boards along with the team donating to local communities. Having a memorable tagline can make or break a brand. It can save the brand in terms of advertisement costs and attract more customers with less effort.

The last part of this week was creating a positioning statement. This statement is a brief description to customers that provides an easily understood picture of the brand and how it is unique. The positioning statement for the Enforcers explains that this team is not just about giving the fans a good time and entertaining the audience. It’s also about giving back to local communities and those who have supported them. The Enforcers want to show that anyone can become something bigger than they imagined.

Visual Aids