Careful

CAREFUL // SAE GRAPHIC DESIGN BLOG // JASMINE WAKE

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Ink and Icing Post-Mortem

When I first started this project, I never thought I would have been able to create a fully fleshed out fake company. After creating my timeline, I looked at it and got anxious and thought I would definitely have to cut some extras. At the end of this project, I have completely exceeded my expectations for the amount of different collateral and I have been able to expand the required collateral.

The idea I settled with was a Tattoo Parlour that also sells donuts. You can tell I really wanted to be as original as possible. I felt ill at the idea of having to create a cafe. I wanted to push myself and try my hardest to do something no one else has done. I knew that if I chose a cafe then it would have been so easy because the majority of previous students has chosen that so there would be a lot of examples.

My biggest obstacle was creating the Ink and Icing logo. I created about 30 different sketches of logos with names like "Cupcakes Inkorporated" and "Sugar Stamps". I had a very clear vision of what I wanted exactly and pushed it to its limit. What I ended up with was exactly what I wanted but I absolutely hated it. This drove me crazy. I knew I had to push away previous conceptions of what I wanted and take a completely different angle. I decided to try 30 different fonts and 5 different splats. I narrowed them down slowly and asked the opinion of everyone around me. What I ended up with was perfect and suited the company better than I could have imagined.

I am lucky that this company was my idea and wasn't for a client. I had the luxury to redo the logo. When it comes to professional clients you have a very strict time frame and need to hit the mark as fast as you can. In the future I think I will explore all my options first and not fully create the first idea I think is the best.

One of the most important lessons I have learnt from this project is never underestimate the time it takes to try something new. For this project I wanted to try two new things, foiling and complex packaging design. Both of these have taken up the majority of my time because I needed to use the cutting machine that also required registration marks.

I have only made one project with packaging in the past but it was pretty simple box. I thought this experience would allow me to create something a lot more complex and not run into too many difficulties. After many trial and errors of printing and cutting, I managed to get a very well created product. I learnt that I need to set aside more time for experimentation and always start things as early as you can because there is literally no disadvantages, you just gain more time to make it perfect.

Overall this project went really well and I was able to create a very professional product. I am really happy with how my project went. If you would like to read and see more, click the links below:

Ink and Icing Commercial

Ink and Icing Style Guide

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Project Management

This trimester I have completely stepped up my project Management abilities. I have learnt a bunch of new tools and have been able to manage a group of eleven people using these new skills.

For my own personal projects I decided to use Trello (a list based management) and Teamweek (a Gantt Chart/Timeline).

These both worked very well for me because I could visualise my time and understand what needed to be completed when in relation to other projects. They both kept me on track very well. At time I felt like I was falling behind but I knew that if I just relied on the timeline that I would get to the last week with completely everything and I have done exactly that.

For my group project that is carrying on for next trimester, I am the project manager. I am completely and solely in charge of managing the group as a whole and each individual person. For this I have learnt different add ons for Trello, games asset lists and a web program called Hack n Plan.

Overall my project management skills this trimester has increased a lot and has been the driving force that has held me together. Without being able to rely on my timeline and schedule I would have crashed and burned.

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Ink and Icing Style Guide

Ink and Icing Style Guide is one of the most in depth logo based Style Guides I have ever done. The reason for this is because my company has a very large selection of logos for different layouts and situations. Style Guides can be as big or as small as you want but you need to know that people are heavily relying on them.

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Marketing Research

5 C’s of Marketing

5 C’s of Marketing are used to analyze the five key areas that are involved in marketing decisions for a company. They are a good guideline to make the right decisions, and construct a well-defined marketing plan and strategy.

Customer:

Link to Marketing Personas

Company:

Competition:

Our biggest competition would be Westside Tattoo because they are in the same location and have been around since 1998. They are most likely more experienced and have a very good reputation.

Second biggest competition would be largely commercialised donut companies like Krispy Kreme and Donut Time. They have the budget to afford a lot of advertising and have a very good reputation.

Collaborators:

My company does not have any third party help for distribution or supply. The only thing would be a good social media presence and hopefully the community would increase our notoriety.

Context:

At this point in time a PEST analysis couldnt be properly formed because we are not a real company.

Porter's Five Forces

The Porter's Five Forces is a simple but powerful tool for understanding where power lies in your company. This is useful, because it helps you understand both the strength of your current competitive position, and the strength of a position you're considering moving into. With a clear understanding of where the power lies, you can take advantage of your situation and avoid taking wrong steps. Conventionally, it is used for identifying id new products, services or businesses have the potential to be profitable. 

Budget

I have created a budget for my fake company based on my current skill set and the price of printing and advertisement.

It makes a lot of sense that printing would cost the most but my estimates are for bulk buying for the long term and should hopefully not be a very regular occurrence. I think the most expensive item would be the Video Advertisement because I only estimated my time spent on it and didn't include how much it would cost to film it with a professional crew instead of a free team of students. In 2009, the Kauffmann Foundation estimated that the average start-up cost for businesses was approximately $30,000. Therefore, I think that $25,055 is a quite reasonable price for a professionally established company that includes advertising and merchandise.

Non-disclosure Agreement

A non-disclosure agreement (NDA) is used to safeguard a business’s confidential information. This document is used when one or both parties in a relationship wish to disclose confidential information. It ensures that the person or organisation who has access, does not disclose it to any third party without the consent of the business. 

I have encountered agreements like this twice during my career as a graphic designer. During this current project I had my actors sign a Talent Release form so they couldn’t have their image removed from the final product. A few months ago I created a contact that mentioned a NDA in the favour of the client because I knew they wouldn’t want me telling their competitors what I could possibly learn by working on their project.

I believe non-disclosure agreements are very important so that both parties know their duties and privileges.

Here is a good example of one: http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/sample-confidentiality-agreement-nda-33343.html

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Audience Impression

Getting advice and having your peers give their impression about your work is very important. I was able to get a decent amount of feedback through a gallery walk and through a survey.

The gallery walk wasn't very helpful because the only feedback I got was positive. This is awesome and definitely improves my overall confidence but I would have loved some critical deconstruction of my choices.

I got this result more in my survey because I asked specific questions to get people thinking and deconstruct what I wanted an impression of. I got 10 responses from people with different levels of exposure to my work. Here are each of the questions and the results:

Most people were surprised of my company combination but once they knew what it was the thought the branding fit it perfectly and the two ideas contrast well. The one thing it has helped me improve is my social media. I need to fill it out with fake photos so it provides context and looks like a real social media page. The only exception was one person who couldn't read the logo and got confused but they understood it once they saw more of the collateral. I am very excited to continue finishing up this project with all the positive feedback I have received.

If you would like to do my survey as well or see the whole thing you can check it out Here

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Storyboarding - Advertisement

As part of our Creative Advertising Project we were tasked to create an on brand commerical for our fake company. To do this we needed to create a story board pitch for film students to work with and understand. 

This is what I came up with:

Pitch:

Storyboards:

Lighting Asthetic:

Being a project manager is very stressful and takes up a lot of your time by just talking and organising things. If you don't do everything correctly then you won't end up with an amazing product. I am very happy with the end result of my commercial.

Making my commercial for Ink and Icing was probably the most overwhelming thing I have ever done. Working with a team of nine people came with a lot of dependencies and organisation. There were a lot of steps to get from an idea to the final product.

Here a list of the steps in order from start to end:

Come up with idea

Story board idea

Make pitch for film and audio students

Acquire film students

Choose where, when and how to film it

Book equipment

Organise actors

Organise props

Organise donuts

Film commercial

Make first edit of commercial

Give edit to composer for music

Complete video edit of commercial

Create animation

Implement animation

Send to composer for new timing

Send commercial and music to foley guy

Re edit video with new sound

Export

The hardest part was definitely communicating with that many team members and letting each group know what was going on and what I needed from others before they could do their job. It was very stressful even though it felt like I wasn’t doing very much.

Also at the end of the project it was up to me to finish editing the video because I needed to implement my animated logo. I had to completely learn two new software’s that I had never used before. It was very difficult and probably took me a lot longer than someone else who actually knew the software.

Overall working with this team was a really good experience. It has definitely taught me a lot which will prepare me for next trimester when I need to look after eleven people. It has also allowed me to use these connections in the future for my final product!

Watch the commerical Here!

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Marketing Personas

A marketing persona is a composite sketch of a key segment of your audience. For content marketing purposes, you need personas to help you deliver content that will be most relevant and useful to your audience.

The Target Audience for a Tattoo Parlor and Donut shop is pretty broad. There isn’t much of an age restriction and it isn’t gender specific.

I decided to chose three different groups of people with varying amounts of income and frequency to my company.

Overall I think these three different groups represent my target audience and are accurate marketing personas.

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Sustainable Graphic Design

What is Sustainability?

Sustainability is a dynamic process which enables people to realise their potential and improve their quality of life in ways which simultaneously protect and enhance the earth's life support systems.

The graphic design industry draws on energy, water, paper, inks, solvents and packaging. Designers make decisions that 'lock-in' potential environmental impacts associated with the life cycle of their designs. Eco design is a way of minimising the impacts of graphic design on the environment.

subgreendesign

How I can implement sustainability into my projects:

Spend extra and use recycled materials

Go digital when possible

Only print the necessary amount

Smart design that uses most of the page

Chose local printing options to reduce transport footprint

Create a reason for it not to be throw out

Cast Iron Design

“Environmentally responsible design is an emerging discipline with many different labels, such as green design, sustainable design, and eco design. Our method encompasses rethinking how we approach the design of physical goods (including questioning their necessity) and thoroughly researching materials, processes, and emerging technologies in order to understand their environmental footprint. This accumulated knowledge and experience guides our decisions, resulting in a smaller environmental footprint without necessitating concessions in cost or quality. Furthermore, we aim to share what we’ve learned with our peers in the industry through documentation of our projects (as demonstrated in the sustainability segments), written articles, lectures, and physical goods.”

Huckle & Goose

My favourite project of theirs is Huckle & Goose. It is a company that is centered around enabling, educating, and inspiring people to cook and eat consciously. Cast Iron Design created a press kit made out of fully recyclable and eco friendly printing which also incorporates a design for second use.

“Reusing this Corrugated Container” is not only cute and funny but it is also very smart design. Our society has been conditioned to believe we should just consume new things and not reuse the old but this cannot continue if we want a future. As graphic designers we need to be conscious of our eco footprint and realise that we are going to contribute to global warming if we pursue this career. Our task now is to reduce it as much as possible so we can all have a sustainable future.

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Packaging

The Dieline

Today we found inspiration for different kinds of packaging. Packaging is the most influential and stable career because literally everything has a packaging and there is so many different unique ways you can do it.

Here is four ones that really excited me and inspired me for my packaging:

Macarones

This packaging is something I might try to implement for my Tattoo Donut shop because it is super interesting and has a elegant feel to it. Each box is different and gives a unique feel for each customer.

Coven Vodka

This packaging technique is so simple and effective. Glow in the dark is secret surpirse for the customer. I think it could be expensive but I would love to look into it for either the packaging or stickers I want to create for my fake company.

Pie

This is really simple and functional which would work perfectly for Donuts! They provide advertising and a unique way to hold the food on the go and eat it. It would also promote more people buying it because they wouldn’t have to worry about their hands getting dirty or needing to sit down and eat.

Drift Wood

I really love packaging that can be combined with multiple products. These bottles are great by themselves and also great if you have multiple because it creates a bigger and unique view experience. The product moves beyond consumption and becomes art.

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Timeline - Studio 3

Week 1-3:

Logo Design

Research

Week 4:

Finalise Logo

Start Stye Guide

Book Cover Concepts

Jerky Logo

Start Book Cover Designs

Week 5:

Finalise Fiber Arts Expo Logo

Start Jerky Packaging

Business Card

Keep working on Style Guide

Week 6:

Finalise Book Cover Designs

Client Presentation

A1 Poster

Open Day Post Card

Fiber Arts Expo Post Card

Week 7:

Video Advertisement Story Board

Two Social Media Platforms

Social Media Advertisement

Open day Poster

Week 8:

Video Advertisement Filming

Packaging Template

Start Self-Promotion

Week 9:

Edit Advertisement Video

Start Serious Game UI Collaboration?

Start Extra Collatoral

Week 10:

Continue Extra Work

Finish Up Work

Refinement

Week 13:

Exhibition

Week 11 and 12 is buffer for projects taking longer than expected.

Gantt Chart

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Colour Copyright

Branding is a very important thing to copyright. Especially when there are so many companies all selling the same thing. In the legal world, companies will go to great lengths to make sure their reputation doesn't get tainted. Some companies have even gone to the extent of copyrighting a single colour. They then use this colour in every aspect of their marketing such as packaging, advertising and uniforms.

Copyright

A famous company that is synonymous for a colour is Target. Target use the colour Red everywhere and anywhere.

Building:

In Store:

Uniforms:

American Advertisements:

Australia Advertisements:

Webpage:

Target’s branding is very well done because of this colour. It really shows how important colours can be for a company to be successful and impactful. By sticking to just one colour you can really make a name for your brand and be remembered so easily.

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Traditional Print Advertising

Copywriting is the process of writing advertising promotional materials. Copywriters are responsible for the text on brochures, billboards, websites, emails, advertisements, catalogs, and more.

Print advertising is very useful because it creates engagement and adds credibility. The medium is very flexible and a lot can be communicated through physical things like texture and embossing. It also has a lasting impression because it is physical and can't just magically be deleted. It also helps companies build their image by creating an aesthetic through a style guide and overall tone.

In my research, the most common and effective advertising in print mostly incorporates a combination of text and visuals to make them more impactful. Very old advertising didn't have the advantage of colour or photographs so this is why today we rely so heavily on both for ‘traditional’ advertisements.

I have found three copywriting advertisements that I really like and are very effective:

Leafly:

Impact

Leafly was the first legal marijuana advertisement in the New York Times. The headline catches the audience because it's slightly confusing and makes you take a second look at it and then questions what is it trying to say. “Just Say Know” communicates that without knowledge no one will understand the benefits. It's bringing attention to knowledge about the effective uses of medical marijuana and if people are curious about such a normal ad for something so taboo then they are more likely to then research it further. Normalising is the first step for this campaign and I believe they are effectively doing that while also making it interesting for the audience.

Malaysian Nature Society:

Reference

This ad campaign was created to raise awareness of the effects of deforestation on wildlife. The way this ad constructs this message is through a ‘catchy slogan’ and the use of colour and form. “CUT A TREE. KILL A LIFE” is a very impactful and memorable message when incorporated with imagery of red bloody like forms and cute animal shapes. The use of cute animals is compelling because most people wouldn't want to ever hurt an animal and this would force them to think about their actions. This type of advertising is very powerful because it makes the audience uncomfortable without actually showing anything awful. The idea of horrible things is good enough to evoke a change.

Durex:

Reference

Durex uses humour advertising in very unique ways. Not only do they shock the audience but they also make them think about safe sex which is very important. This specific print ad not only is humours but also forces you to think about what it's trying to say. The phrasing of “DADDY” is super important and is what makes this advertisement effective. This advertisement really shows how wording and text by itself can be very impactful and can be even more effective than imagery.

This type of advertising is probably my favourite because it is so simple and effective. It takes a very small amount of time to understand these advertisements which is why they are more engaging in my opinion than Radio and TV advertisements.

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Slogans

A slogan is very important for a company because it can easily sum up an entire company with just a few words. It entices consumers and makes it less hard for them to find out what your company is all about. These are a few slogans that I really like and has given me a lot of inspiration.

Dollar Shave Club:

"Shave Time. Shave Money."

This slogan is an excellent representation of their enterprise and tells the consumer exactly what they are trying to sell. It sounds very appealing and also uses puns which perfectly represents the overall tone of the brand.

M&Ms:

"Melts in Your Mouth, Not in Your Hands"

This slogan completely sums up the advantage of this chocolate over another. It also uses imagination to make the consumer think about eating it. Slogans hat point out the advantages of a product always seem to be the most effective.

Kripsy Kreme:

“Happy all round”

This slogan is very cute and encapsulates the playful nature of Krispy Kreme. It also evokes in the consumer that sweets and Donuts particually will make you happy and is an easy option for parents with kids because they will “all” be happy.

Coke-Cola:

Coke has had a ridiculous amount of slogans that have all worked really well. It seems so easy to have a slogan about a drink but also really difficult for a brand that has been around for 130 years. WOW!

For my fake company I have thought of quite a few:

- We donut take forever lightly.

- So realistic you can taste it!

- Tasty creations for the body and soul.

- Crafted for your desires.

- You think it, we ink it.

- We make ink do more than you think.

- A different kind of tattoo experience.

- Tasty tattoos for trouble makers.

- Freshly baked creations.

- Both seriously addictive.

- Baking your ideas to life.

- I donut care what you think.

- For that extra special something.

- You can’t have just one.

- Making sweet things happen.

- Making your life sweeter.

- I can stop when I want.

- Irresistibly good.

- Indulge your desires.

I really want to express the idea that we can create magical things and also humour that you cant have just one donut or just one tattoo.

I have chosen:

Ink and Icing: Making you life Sweeter.

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Social Media Campaigns

Social Media Campaigns are the new norm for advertising currently. If you aren't harnessing social media then you are definitely hindering yourself and your potential.

Old Spice:

My favourite social media campaign has to be Old Spice, I mentioned it in a previous blog just because it was so affective at generating customers and became wide spread on social media. 

Case Study  Previous Blog Post

Deadpool:

A huge social media campaign that was very popular is the hype and content generated to promote the Deadpool movie. They incorporated Facebook, Twitter, Tinder, Fake Billboards, Purposefully Absurd Posters, billboards and in character pictures. He appeared on many different late night shows and even got other huge actors to promote it as well. The actor Ryan Reynolds even called himself out on previous movies and decided to pretty much become the character on all of his social media and appearances.

The Campaign  Case Study

Emirates:

A social media campaign that used a popular social outlet Youtube is Emirates. They took advantage of a very popular Youtube Star, Casey Neistat which was a very good choice. The video received 32,020,665 views and is a first hand experience perspective which makes it much more believable compared to the Jennifer Aniston Video.

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Free Fonts on Behance

Kensington: ‘It flows like a signature but very legible.’

(not free anymore)

https://www.behance.net/gallery/47783615/Kensington-Free-Font

ARGON: ‘Every letter a puzzle solved.’

https://www.behance.net/gallery/31448981/Argon-(Free-Font)

Hammock: ‘Embodies passion for travelling.’

https://www.behance.net/gallery/40768653/Hammock-Free-Font

GEOM: ‘Geometric forms and grids.’

https://www.behance.net/gallery/25507411/GEOM-Display-Typeface-Free

Valencia: ‘Stylish Alternate, Rough and Natural.’

https://www.behance.net/gallery/26006007/Valencia-free-font

Brotherhood: ‘Elegant.’

https://www.behance.net/gallery/22058985/Brotherhood-Script

Soul: ‘Uppercase alchemic typeface.’

https://www.behance.net/gallery/13449591/soul-(FREE-FONT)

Azedo: ‘New Age.’

https://www.behance.net/gallery/18702361/Azedo-Free-Font

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Prankvertising

Prankvertising is an advertising strategy that showcases the product by creating a viral video by pranking, scarring or tricking an unsuspecting person or audience. This tactic has become very popular over the past couple of years and has a wide range of pros and cons.

A great example of positive Prankvertising is this WestJet Christmas Miracle:

This video has a very high production value and is super harmless. It also doesn't use any scare tactics or fear, it uses money and resources which is a lot more expensive than just scaring people.

An example of using scare tactics in a controlled environment is LG So Real it’s Scary:

This is harmless because it is only visuals and isn't something physical that the subject could physically react to. It is perfectly using the product for what it is meant for and is very effective in that aspect of showing their message.

An example of over using scare tactics in a harmful environment is Devil Baby advertising the movie Devil's Due:

This ‘prank’ could be very harmful if children were exposed to this, especially because its a R rated movie. Other similar prankvertising does subject the scare tactics on children which is a bad choice on the company's behalf.

Another example of prankvertising in an uncontrolled envirnment is Ubisoft’s Watchdogs Prank:

This prank could have gone horribly wrong especially because of the vehicles crashing into each other and that it was in a public space where other pedestrians could have gotten injured.

This video is a satire of prankvertising and purposely makes fun of this type of advertising:

This is a fake extreme of how prankvertising could be used in a harmful way and could have very terrible results and highlights all the bad aspects of this type of advertising.

There are strong positives associated with these ads. They are highly shareable and memorable which generates free advertising for the company. They also can showcase the products strength really well in contrast to their competitors. They end up becoming cheaper than an ad campaign because social media does all the spreading for them so it makes sense why companies spend a lot of money on the production value because they know they won't need to spend money on advertising.

The downside of this type of advertising is that generally people are unpredictable and in some situations may act completely different than you want. This could cause lawsuits and injuries on actual unsuspecting people such as heart attacks or cause children mental scarring from being overly scared. Is it worth companies putting their reputation on the line for a few thousand views while risking the possibility of it going bad? I think this type of advertising is a trend that consumers are starting to get bored of because there is so many of them now and a lot are just fading into the vast prank sea of YouTube.

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Advertising Campaigns

Local: BRISBANE

SMART Advertising was commissioned to develop a name, advertising strategy and full creative suite for new apartments in Broadbeach, Gold Coast.

Project - Video Included

Case Study - Challenge, Idea and Impact

This campaign is really inspiring because it has a very modern and simple design that is more about making the apartments stand out and the life style then having unnecessary design. It also includes heaps of different mediums for the advertising to create one unified campaign.

National: MELBOURNE

Marmalade Melbourne created a campaign for The Line, it highlights the different types of violence that young people could experience in their relationships.

Marmalade  The Line  Campaign Responce 

I think this campaign is really effective because when you first watch the video you are really curious to know what is on his back and why the people in the video are acting this way. The photographs are also very confronting which is very effective in creating discussion and stays in your mind for longer.

International: NEW YORK

Wieden+Kennedy has a long running campaign series for Old Spice which is very successful and went viral when the first video came out. The wanted to make the brand relevant for younger modern men. They also targeted women because research found that they were responsible for more than 50 percent of body wash purchases.

WK  Case Study

I really like this advertising campaign because it uses video, graphics and interactive web as well as social media gain. The videos are short and are very different to standard adverts so it sticks wtih you and makes you want to watch it again. They are also very shareable on social media because of how ridiculous they get.