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MFAMD Reflection

1. Mastery: Personal Development and Leadership

This course was my introduction to my master program and graduate-level work. The reading from this course really stuck with me through the program it reminded me always to stay in touch with the playful inner child an carry her with me throughout my work. This stuck within these project in the whimsical illustration that I did to look like line drawing doodle that I used to make in the corner of my paper in class when my mind would wander. My personal triumph in this class was the research paper, writing has always been something I struggled with and learning APA style writing was a win for me.

2. Defining Clients Needs

The course helped me better understand how to create a creative strategy for a client. With the research that I did in the into client and the creative relationship I was able to better the processed of illustration what the client needs which helped in my professional development as well as prepare me for the level of research that would be needed to define my problem stamen for my thesis on what my city needed.

3. Brand Development

The coursed was a mini-prep for my thesis it taught me to research a city and define what its brand was and build upon it, This course really taught me to connect and syntheses my research.

4. Effective Copywriting

This course had my nervous just from the title, as I said writing isn’t my strong suit and wasn’t sure how I was going to do. However, this course was one of my favorites I was able to research a Non-profit and create ads for it I think as much fun making the ads as well as writing the research paper for it. This course helped me with my these because without t even realizing it I was creating a campaign with my print ads that could have developed into a multimedia campaign. My personal triumph in this course was the ad I created thought eh copy wasn’t the greatest I was still extremely proud of how the ads turned out.

5. Design Research

This course pushed me, to rationalize every design decision I made. It taught me the value of research and how using it can elevate your design. With this course, I learned to give a story to the narrative of a brand not just describe it. This course helped me with my thesis in cementing the important of ensure every design decision was careful though out with a process and research and not just for the sake of looking pretty. A personal triumph was writing my narrative for Reykjavik and though it was still not at its best this was the first time I thought to put the story behind my narrative deception.

6. Organizational Structure

The course I made a dynamic vision board for Reykjavik. Prior to this course, I had very little video experience. Creating the dynamic vision board allowed me to strengthen my creative muscle this helped with my thesis because it gave the foundation to feel confident in creating my dynamic vision board for Manayunk.

7. Design Strategies and Motivation

This course I collect my research for my thesis on Manayunk, it allowed me to go into my community and do a SWOT analysis and for the first time an empathy map. those courses challenge me to think critically of my community. This led me to begin my design brief and define my problem statement. My personal triumph in this course was completing the research and community interviews.

8. Design Integration

This course was jammed packed with the creation of my design brief in a creative format it was collimation of all the program DOLS and allowed me to show and utilize my skill in them. This month pulled together my understanding of vison boards static and dynamic as well as a media plan, problem statement, solution statement, and the use of voice and tone for my brand direction. My biggest personal and creative triumph was my design brief and my use of brand voice and tone through it this was a huge triumph for me due to my struggles with narrative storying tell I was not only proud of the design, due the amount of research I did to make every decision but my brand writing as well.

9. Multi-Platform Delivery

This course I was able to flex my design skills further in creating my logo and media assets for my city. The course taught me to make a cohesive campaign and how to ensure that you are communicating with your audience the in the most effective medium. This course finished with the creation of brand guideline which allowed me to use the brand voice and tone once again.

10. Measuring Design Effectiveness

This course showed me how to effectively measure my design success. A survey was sent online to the target audience and was able to see if the design decision I made for Manayunk were in favor of my target audience. The course gave me the final data for my thesis. My personal triumph was the feedback from the audience which was positive in many ways it was lovely to see that the research I put into making my design choice was accurate.

11. Thesis Presentation

This course was my most difficult course as depicted in my experience map, with the amount of data collection as well as an insane work schedule taking me to multiple time zone I struggled with my time management. This course helped me understand visual storying telling with images and heavy copy. My personal triumph for this course was powering though

12. Professional Practices

This course was my final course about eh ethic involved in media design. I discovered the regulation on copyright and the serious repercussions it can have. Unfortunately, much of this class I wasn’t able to participate in. With the course begin about the professional practice I had to make a tough decision to put my career first which is why I don’t feel I have any triumphs in this course it wasn’t how I want to end my Mastery journey

________

My experience map of the last 12 months in my mater program. I hit a few big dips throughput but the month doing the work for my Thesis is where I excelled it reminded me why I love the design so much and its something I am very proud of which is why the experience map was designed in the style of the branding project.

Presentation of Design Solution: Mastery Reflection

Now that the Media Design Masters program coming to an end, this month, we were asked to listing the three most valuable takeaways from this month.

My first takeaway this month was Masters-Work life balance. This month was the first month of the program where my professional work began to bleed into school work. Managing my time this month has been challenging and a little unsuccessful. I would have been better for me to sit down at the beginning of-of the month to map out precisely what I had to do for work so that I could have balanced it out with my school work.

Second takeaway: Presentation and storytelling: This month, we read about the CAST process from Stories that Move Mountains. C: Content, A: Audience, S: Story, T: Tell (Sykes, Malik, West, 2012). I personally found this read interesting, but it wasn't able to truly connect it with the thesis presentation, which was another area I fail in this month. I have found in the past when writing a thesis it has always been formal writing that is more persuasive or informative but not so much storytelling. Making an informative and formal piece tell a story was another area of struggle for me this month.

Third takeaway: Effective Communication: My last take way this month was communicating; whether it be with the professor my peers or my viewing audience. Communicating with my professor was essential to ensure that I understood the assignment and was able to make the adjustment to my work. Communicating with my peers was critical to the peer reviews and ensuring that I was able to give constructive and critical feedback to help them along their mastery journey. Lastly communicating with audiences that will be viewing my site is essential for my understanding of the Mastery learning outcomes to come across successful.

Rreferences

Sykes, M., Malik, N. A. & West, M. (2012). Stories that Move Mountains: Storytelling and Visual Design for Persuasive Presentations. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. Retrieved from https://ce.safaribooksonline.com/book/communications/presentations/9781118423998

Month Ten

Over the course of month ten, I have acquired new skills for my design toolbelt. One of the competencies I have learned is how to format the questions correctly for a questionnaire that will yield results that will be helpful in determining the data for evaluation effective design. In A Designer's Research Manual: Succeed in Design by Knowing Your Clients and What They Really Need it is stated, "This information can be used to guide design decisions during project development. It can also be used as summative research, to support or confirm creative solutions, or to understand the effects of a creative campaign" (O'Grady & Visocky-O'Grady, 2009). Conducting the survey for my Manayunk branding elements allowed me to receive valuable insight from the indented target audience. Using the questionnaire survey helped in determining the successes in my design as well as the component, which were not as strong and successful.

With about 80% of the respondents having a positive reaction to many of the branding elements, it was clear that my initial design was successful. I employed the method stated in Creative Research, which was to keep the questions "relatively simple" (Collins, 2010). Keeping the questions simple allowed for a more streamlined result from the target audiences on the information I need to determine my designs successfulness.

Going forward, I know I have the knowledge gained throughout my ten months in the mastery program, which I can apply to my professional job as a designer.

References

Collins, H. (2010). Questionnaires. In Research methods in design management (pp. 128-131). Lausanne: AVA Publishing. Retrieved June 2, 2019, from http://ce.safaribooksonline.com/book/design/9782940439676

O'Grady, J. V., & O'Grady, K. V. (2009). A Designer’s Research Manual: Succeed in Design by Knowing Your Clients and What They Really Need (pp. 48-49). Beverly, MA: Rockport, an imprint of The Quarto Group. Retrieved June 2, 2019, from http://ce.safaribooksonline.com/book/graphic-design/9781592535576

This month was about building the brand of Manayunk, as well as creating media assets a logo and brand guidelines. I started with doing the research into creating my logo. In my research, I had to ensure that I was creating the best logo for my community. Living in the community I was able to know exactly what an easily recognizable aspect of the community that resident associated with it. “Without a strong knowledge of your client’s world, you can’t hope to create a design that successfully differentiates your client’s business from its closest competitors” (Airey, 2014). Using the knowledge and data I collected in the early stages of this project I was able to assemble a theme that would notable for the logo production. I used the theme to combine the aspect of the resident’s personality with the way I produced the logo.

“Casual, spirited, authentic, and aspirational this is what we are. Our logo represents the combination of the two world our residents live in. So many of us are young professionals, students, and creatives we wanted to ensure our new logo is the perfect badge of honor to wear. The professionalism of the mechanical representation of our favorite way to spend a warm day; paired with the creative splash of our fluid hand lettering font of our logo brings our way of living to live.”

The design problem I was solving this was: Manayunk struggles to shed the image of being a college drinking town, which is causing its young professional residents to seek enjoyment outside of the community. I need to rebrand Manayunk so that the residents would have more pride in their community. Since many of the residents are young professionals, I need to ensure that the brand was young and modern but still held an air of professionalism. Base on the synthesized information from my community research and interviews the residents are very active but they were leaving the community to enjoy those activities instead of staying. So, I created assets that would allow the resident to feel a sense of pride with their community. The innovation that comes with my work was through my snapchat filter. When thinking of connecting with younger markets the first thought is social media like Instagram of Facebook. However, I took the approach of snapchat, this is a form where people that snapshots of their day to share with their community, but I offer a way for the brand to become intertwined into the person day to day life.

This showed innovation as more and more brands are flocking to snapchat for this exact reason. Through this process, I acquired competence in leading with voice and tone and how it can affect every corn of a brand. When you have a solid grasp on the voice and tone of the brand then you can create its personality. I make it easier to write from the perspective of the brand. This is something I plan to take with me this will allow my work to flow easily and help me in the professional setting with my new position.

This month in Design Integration we continued our thesis in our rebranding for our communities. We took a look at creating brand characteristics as well as a voice and tone for the new brand identity, which including creating a tagline and mission statement.W e finished up by creating a media matrix which will outline the types of assets we are going to for the rebrand and their pros and cons.

Connecting/Synthesizing/Transforming

This month I spent the first half of the month creating a solution statement to my problem statement. I had to research an innovative way to create solutions to design problems. The second half of the month I researched voice and tone and how it is used throughout a brand. I looked into brands like Spodify , Misguided and Skype looking at their brand books, and social media accounts to see the voice of the tone of the brand. I used this research with these companies to create my brand's youthful voice and tone

Problem Solving

The design problem I am trying to solve is :

Manayunk struggles to shed the image of being a college drinking town, which is causing its young professional residents to seek enjoyment outside of the community.

I came up with three possible solutions to this problem, which was a problem in itself. Trying to come up with three legitimate solutions that could help solve the problem at hand in a way that the community wouldn’t reject.

Solution 1

Through a new identity brand and campaign focused on bringing other aspects of the community aside from drinking forward. Manayunk will become a neighborhood known for its community aspect it has to offer its young professional and shed the reputation of being a college drinking town.

Solution Rational: Solution 1 suggest leaning away from the reputation of drinking altogether, with Manayunk being such an active community by leaning away from drinking in its entirety the residents can focus on what the community has to offer. Activity like the arts festival or stroll the street in the summer should be focused on more than drinking; by showing the residents that Manayunk isn’t a neighborhood centered around drinking resident can start to develop more pride in beginning a part of the community. This identity brand revamps and campaign won't totally shift the brand as a total rebrand would but instead shift attention from the aspect of the community to another this. Disilvestro suggests “A radical shift in your overall message takes time, so do just that – take your time. Don’t dramatically shift your image from Thrift Shop to Macy’s. Sometimes an instant or speedy transition isn’t in the cards”(Disilvestro, 2017). This solution isn’t intended to be a radical shift of the brand just think of it as a spring cleaning.

Solution 2

With a campaign centered around “drinking out” in Manayunk and how it can be more than just an extended college party, but a useful professional tool, the community will see that Manayunk is just if not more enjoyable than the surrounding neighborhoods like Center City or Conshohocken.

Solution Rational: With solution 2 unlike solution 1 the campaign with lean into the neighborhood history of drinking. With Manayunk being a native American word for “where we go to drink” the campaign won’t shy away from drinking but change the culture of it. In his article Cole says, “A lot of business deals still happen over a drink!” and “Happy hours can be a great networking tool, when done wisely” (Cole, 2014). This solution will lean into those ideas that drinking in Manayunk does have to be about blacking out on a Friday night, but it can be a networking a professional tool to further the young professionals’ career. This coupled with research into what attracts the young professionals to neighbors like Conshohocken or Center City when they are going out could make this the solution need to keep the resident from venturing outside of the community when looking to go out.

Solution 3

A visual identity change (new logo, color patterns, signage, and digital aspects) will show the young professional that Manayunk is a neighborhood changing and evolving with them and be able to compete with Center City and its new rebrand.

Solution Rational: This solution is a rebrand the visual aspect and deliverable. Manayunk has the small town feel in an urban environment, this is successful but the issue with Manayunk is its image. With it being in such close proximity to Center City and the entire city of Philadelphia having a rebrand, which focused primarily on Center City the area has created a renewed buzz practically in young professionals. If Manayunk did the same and rebranded to show its residents that is evolving and growing like them this could allow for it to competitively compete against an area like center city

I decided the solution 1 would be the most successful solution, this solution highlights all aspect of the community not just drinking, it will allow the resident to see how much Manayunk has to offer.

Innovative

The work I’m doing isn’t innovative in the sense that its new (hand-drawn elements, contrasting colors, brush script type) but how it is being used to reach the audience is. This brand is going to reach the young professionals of the community. So, the brand new to carry an air of freshness and likeability, the hand draw element are little doodles that you would find in a planner where you’d write down your activities. The color is contrasting colors of orange (youthful, bright, fun) and blue (calming & professional) which is perfect for the residents many are young professionals so those two colors are a sort of representation of the two parts of their life.

Acquiring Competencies

This month I took a stab at a new video software instead of using After Effects I used Premiere Pro and After Effect, which was a little of a learning curve, but I felt I was able to do more video editing wise in Premiere Pro. I also enjoyed learning more about voice and tone and how creating that early in the process can dictate a lot of the design decision. I’ve begun to notice the voice and tone in the real word like documentaries and how they used the different method and angels of shooting to convey their voice and tone.

Throughout this program, I have been wanting more creative opportunities like I had in my undergrad degree, but as the program continues, I’ve begun to see how the lesson and skill I’m learning actually influence and challenge me more as a creative. I have started noticing myself using the lesson I learn in the classes in my job as a design and it is making me happy to realize that this lesson is going to be what takes me to the next leave as a designer and help to move forward in my career.

Month 6 :Organizational Structures

Overview

For this month’s course, I created two motion pieces for the Reykjavik brand that had been created and expanded upon in previous classes. Taking my static vision board and creating a dynamic vision board as will an animated logo required me to research motion graphic and animated logo but also the process that goes into making a motion piece starting with storyboarding.

Connecting/Synthesizing/Transforming

I have always been a loose sketcher rather than a detailed drawer so when it came time to storyboard I was worried that my lack of technical drawing would be my downfall but Blazer stated “the goal here is not high art, it’s clarity. If you are able to capture the action and emotion of your story with little more than scribbles, then go for it, but just make sure you’re able to capture all the detail” (Blazer,2015). I was able to use directional arrows in my storyboards as well as a detailed description to convey my story message. This also made it easier when it came time to animate instead of going off script and creating something different the storyboards held me accountable for the piece I was going to create.

( Dynamic Vision Board Storyboard)

(Animated Logo Storyboard)

Problem Solving

Throughout the month the design problem I had to solve with my pieces was creating the sense of suspense and tension throughout the motion pieces so that the audience would feel as if they were being taken on a discovery. In the dynamic storyboard, this is done by the music choice. Using a more upper tempo instead of the intended elements allow for more of a focus on having a journey rather than the elements. Also, by starting the video slowly, like how a journey would start and then quicken the pace as if traveling through the board. As stated by Hunjan “Non-diegetic sound is the best and easiest way to build tension within a scene. The way the music is set to a slow pace and then speeds up, makes the audience jump and interests them more to the scene"(Hunjan, 2013).

This method worked for the dynamic vision board but for the animated logo, there was no audio used so to create the emotion I wanted to I used directional movement. Blazer remarks “Movement that is directionally consistent (all vertical and horizontal, for instance) will feel calmer and so is best used for scenes meant to give the audience a sense of ease. But if you want to adjust the emotional environment (say a villain enters), then adding a movement that contrasts to the predominant direction can clue the audience into a big story moment” (Blazer, 2016). While creating the animated logo, I used the vertical motion, in the beginning, too was to create a calm feeling then having the circular motions enter off the frame to increase the emotion and finally ending with the type using a vertical motion to restore the sense of calm. Like a discovery, the animated logo takes the audience through a cycle of emotions like the dynamic vision board.

Innovative Thinking

The projects I have created are minimal, For the dynamic vision board, I chose to keep it minimal and with few photos of Reykjavik. This was done to invite the audience to place their imagination onto the white spaces of the dynamic board. This leaves space for them to discover rather than push images of what other people have done it allows the viewer to create those memories not fantasize about them. For the animated logo, I created it so that it will elevate the Reykjavik brand a generate more brand awareness and bring the brand to life. An animated logo will take the static logo, of a brand identity and transform it, introducing a personality to the audience that will strengthen the brand narrative(Arhipova, 2018)

Acquiring Competencies

I was able to improve upon my After Effects skills while learning that the storyboarding process is vital to creating motion graphics. While writing in my weekly journals I was able to begin to unearth story kernels in everyday life, this allowed me to generate a list of personal project that I plan to continue to work on to improve my mastery craft outside of the assignments.

Reflect

I’ve learned how motion graphics can be the extra push that a brand needs to gain a leap in its competitors. I enjoyed being able to journal it allowed me to reflect on memorable parts of my day and used those to create work as a designer. I knew going into the first week it was going to be a struggle using After Effects again, it is not my strong suit but throughout the course, I have found a new appreciation for the program. Moving forward I plan to continue developing my skills in After Effect with the Thesis portion of the master program coming up I look forward to being able to utilize the AE program to strengthen my portfolio.

(Final Dynamic Vision Board)

(Animated Logo)

References

Arhipova, A. (2018, September 06). Don't Stay Still. Why Brand Needs an Animated Logo.Retrieved from https://tubikstudio.com/dont-stay-still-whybrand-needs-an-animated-logo/

Blazer, L. (2016) Animated storytelling: Simple steps for creating animation & motion graphics. San Francisco, CA: Peachpit Press. Retrieved fromhttp://ce.safaribooksonline.com/book/animation-and-3d/9780134133812

Design Research 5.4.1 Week 4 Mastery Reflection

This month the project was to create a finalized mood board for Reykjavik using the research for that was done in the previous class I created a theme of the Synergy of Seasons. This was due to the extreme season that the city has and how each season has to work in harmony this harmony inspired me to write the narrative of the brand that talks to the harmony of the season and how each season offers something that blends into the next season.

For Synthesizing, identify, at least, 2 concepts from your research that you feel have a connection. Explain what that connection means to you (how you synthesized the information). Then how you applied the synthesis to your work. Provide APA compliant, in-text citations and references for your concepts. Also, provide a visual example of the concept from a researched work and your final application of the concept.

This month I feel I did well in connecting my color choices to color theory. In Jirousek’s interactive textbook Art, Design, and Visual Thinking that in the positive greens can suggest naturalness and stability. While blues suggest spirituality, coolness, and elegance. Violets/ purples indicate a dream state or playfulness (Jirousek, 1995). According to color phycology, these colors are suggesting different aspects of balance and reflects the landscape of Reykjavik which is why I chose to use them in my color pallet.

Another concept that was displayed was the use of the triangle in my visual to not only connect with the mountains od Reykjavik but connect with the idea of balance and as a tool to direct viewers through the broad. Debbie O’Connor states in her article The Meaning of Shapes in Design that “the triangle when balanced is the symbol for justice, science and religion (O’Connor, 2014)” I found this useful when I created the logo design but even more so now that the brand theme has been established. This balance is a stable for balance in life as well as in nature. Triangles can also be used to provide direction this will help in directing the visual flow (Evans, 2010). Lastly, the triangle is a connection to the rule of thirds which helps in splitting the visual hierarchy in the center of the page.

For Problem Solving, Identify, at least, 1 design problem. Then explain how your solution solves that problem. (You may identify additional design problems that arose during the process.) Provide a visual example in the form of before an after shots of your work.

A design issue I faced was creating a clear grid system that can connect back to my theme of harmony and balance. My ordinal board didn’t have a clear grid system and there for that layout didn’t have a connection back to the theme of the brand. In Basic Design 02: Layout Ambrose and Harry's state “Symmetrical grids aim to organize information and provide a sense of balance across a double-page spread. (Ambrose, G. & Harrys, pg.30, 2011).”I realized that in need to organize the board so it could reflect harmony which means it needs balance so I went with t a symmetrical grid applying grid apply it to a one-page board instead of a 2-page spread.

For Innovative Thinking, explain the common practice of a standard design choice. Then describe how your procedure, or solution, is positively differentiated (innovative) from the status quo. If you feel that your current work does not employ strong innovative thinking, you may identify how this project might do so in the future. Provide visual examples of the common practice from other works.

A common practice standard I used this month was asymmetric grid system, by no mean was this an innovated solution but it was in the sense of using the layout to connect back to narrative and theme of the brand in doing this I am able to take this layout and carry it across multimedia platform as I did in my infographic.

For Acquiring Competencies, Identify, at least, 3 concepts and/or techniques that you feel have helped you improve as a designer. These will help differentiate you as a designer in the future. Provide a visual example from your finished work for each.

One of the techniques I acquired this month was writing a brand narrative this is not a new concept to me but is something that I struggle with this month. My original narrative was more of a list of this different thing that happens in each season but there was a disconnect with the theme of the brand. The narrative didn’t reflect any of the harmonies that the season have with one another. Although through research and direction form my person I found a way to connect my narrative to my theme.In the article Discovering your brand voice, Lynn Manternach describes a brand as having a voice “It’s your brand’s personality that provides dimension and texture for your brand voice” (Manternach, 2017).

Another concept that will help in the future is color psychology and using it to evoke the emotion that I wan the viewers to feel. Learning how each color can be used in the positive to say something and used in the negative to say another. Lastly, my use of InDesign has been made more efficient by my understanding of how to use the margin and gutter to create the page grid system.

Final SWOT Analysis

Threats:

The active THREATS that I’ve faced during this course, is not having the proper time management skills to properly produce the projects that I would like to. I consider myself to be a hard-working professional who is very creative with unique ideas for designs but because time was so limited this month it became a bit challenging to ensure that I was able to work out each area. Though this hasn’t been easy it is also very stimulating to have to create in limited time frames. Another threat that I’ve faced is the threat of an ever-changing field like the design and the increasing competitiveness.

I see this as an OPPORTUNITY to expand my abilities and raise the bar on my personal expectations. While I’m learning about the research and the background of a client and creating a brand that is best for them, I am also learning to design on limited timelines and with limited means. This is demanding but still very useful and allows me to grow as a design professional. I’ve been able to expand my knowledge on branding and identify the key concepts of a successful brand is this was the greatest opportunity. Lastly, there is the opportunity to learn from the very people I am competing against in the filed I have an opportunity to use there work to inspire me to better develop my craft.

Strengths

My Strengths through this course have improved, I’ve got a keen eye to detail and I consider myself to be a really fast learner, I’ve had the advantage of having a strong idea in mind of what I was going to create and then challenging myself to produce this on paper or print. My research expertise really influences my work as well.

Weakness

Where you have strengths there are always weaknesses. As I possess a unique mind for graphics, and software creating technically sound work isn’t a problem, but balancing my creative drive with my time management is a weakness. At times I found that I rushed my work to produce a product to turn in rather than being patient and working on the project until it has received every revision. I also believe I’m very limited with my time while working full time as a professional designer and contracted with companies overseas I’ve been out of the country many times this month and in different time zones making it hard to track my time. This isn’t an excuse, but I do view it as a great weakness in the fact that I’ve sacrificed some of my work quality. Another weakness that I have found through the entire program is my APA writing style though it has improved from the beginning it still has a long way to go to be up to the standard it should be at a graduate level.

SWOT

Threats:

The active THREATS that I’ve faced during this course, is not having the proper time management skills to properly produce the projects that I would like to. I consider myself to be a hard working professional who is very creative with unique ideas for designs but because time was so limited this month it became a bit challenging to ensure that I was able to work out each area. Though this hasn’t been easy it is also very stimulating to have to create in limited time frames.

I see this as an OPPORTUNITY to expand my abilities and raise the bar on my personal expectations. While I’m learning about the research and the background of a client and creating a brand that is best for them, I am also learning to design on limited timelines and with limited means. This is demanding but still very useful and allows me to grow as a design professional. I've been able to expand my knowledge on branding and identify the key concepts of a successful brand is this was the greatest opportunity.

Strengths

Weakness

Effective Copywriting

I have never considered myself a person who writes well and going into Effective Copy Writing (MDM555) I was concern that my lack of writing capabilities would be obvious to the professor and my peer. Design has always been my passion as well as type, but I found it challenging to set large blocks of type during this class. Writing copy is an important part of the design because without it the message can be lost to its intended audience. This month my client was Americares nonprofit organization a health-focused relief and development organization that responds to people affected by poverty or disaster with life-changing medicine, medical supplies, and health programs that educate communities. I decided to make a campaign to bring awareness to Americares mission as well help them reach the goals set in their 10-year strategy plan.

Target Audience Profiles

I enjoyed creating personas for this project, I was able to be creative in the creation of the personality. I took the opportunity of creating these personalities as the first step in creating the voice of the campaign. Felton says that “that’s your first job as a copywriter: understand the character of your client’s brand. Find out who you’re representing” (Felton 93). The personas I created for the target audiences were young adult millennials who are educated. Between the ages of 19 and 30, the target audience is people who have an interest in medicine, writing (blogging), having a national geographic magazine subscription, and most importantly they used social media platform on a regular base.

Reference

Felton, George. Advertising: Concept and Copy (Third Edition), 3rd Edition. W. W. Norton & Company, 20130805. VitalBook file.

Sketches

As I moved forward in the in my process I developed six sketches and headlines. These were very rough sketches and I used them more like ideas for concepts rather than the structure of the ads. I took some of the concepts like the teddy bear in the mask, the doctor holding the baby, and the people holding hands as starting points for my first round of digital mockups. I chose to stick with the headlines I’d chosen to go with as well. With some of my sketches, I tried to make it speak to the “plain folks” ( Felton 245) so that the reader would feel like they were connecting with a real person and not just a corporation.

First Initial Comps

My first initials comps were my interpretations of my sketches into digital form. The feedback that I received was to add more copy as well as try and make the ads more cohesive, so they looked more related to one another.

Final Comps

These are what I turned as my final comps however I wasn’t pleased with the feedback I received. The ads had taken a step back, in an attempt to unify them I deceived to so with the headline of the first ad and pair it with the design of the third. The taped photos where an attempted to look like photos taped in a scrapbook to play on the nostalgia of the view. However, the feedback was there was an unnecessary amount of white space as well as an issue with the type hierarchy. In an attempted to make the ads better, I decided to do a third comp for personal improvement.

Post-Final Comps

These are comps I did after the final comps in order to improve the design I went back to the original idea of single photos but kept the red frame as was way to visually represent a photo in a picture frame. but I choose to have the photos extend past the frame. I am still a personal workshop type combination, but I think I have finally sorted the hierarchy properly.

3 Key Takeaways from Effective Copywriting

During the Effective Copywriting course, I learned many valuable things that will help me develop as a designer. I know that designers typically neglect copy and tend to focus on the visual aspect more. Three of my biggest takeaways from this course was that the research you do on the brand's buyer person is just as important as the research you do for creating the copy. In order to be able to carry the voice of ad to the reader/viewer, you have to first know who you're trying to reach, how you’d like to reach and then this will be able to help you in creating what you will say to get to them. My second takeaway from this course was typesetting copy into an ad has to come first rather than the visual message. In order to have the most effective ad, the copy should come first, if you put her copy first and then find visuals that speak to the copy. My last take way is how enjoyable creating tagline lines can be. I didn’t expect to enjoy that part of the process and it was by far my favorite part.

Mastery Journal Reflection

This month I created logos for Reykjavik modern culture, tradition, and geography. For geography I used the mountains, instead of using the typography under them I wanted them to stand alone, I also went back and combined the mountain idea with the Nordic symbol for earth I liked the ideas some of my peers had of combining categories to create logos that worked with multiple concepts.

For the modern culture, like I discussed in my other post I decided to go back an make an additional mind map for festivals since Reykjavik has so many festivals some celebrating the past tradition, some celebrating history, or art or fashion I wanted this logo to encompass the feeling of togetherness. So I stayed with the original idea of the script type, with the letters connected and creating a circle at the end. Hover I did combine the traditions and the modern culture by creating a logo using the Nordic symbols for togetherness (humanity), sun ( positive energy ) and knowledge, which are all word I got from mind mapping festivals. I used a typography treatment with tradition for the letter form are solid and mostly rounded like the Nordic history of Reykjavik. They and j come to an almost like the sails of a Viking ship and the k has a circular shield around it with an arrow both weapons that the Viking were known for using.

During this assignment, I used two process methods for creating these logos. I am satisfied with what I have for now, but I do plan to continue to push myself. Having to do a lot of self-critic if felt I wasn’t harsh enough with myself in developing them further. As an artist, we all know itis hard to be 100% objective critical of something you are to close with. With that being said I do think that I was able to improve on my line quality and think more conceptually while creating my logos.

Moving forward in my master journey I know I have to be a little more removed from my projects. This will allow me to be more self-critical of my own work.

2.1.4 Week 1 Activity: Mastery Journal Reflection

•What are the key takeaways that will have the most impact on your

experience as a graduate student?

The key take away that will have the most impact on my experience as a graduate student is that I and expected to take a proactive approach to my learning experience. I will have to take the initiative in communicating with my peer and professor by actively posting and engaging in discussions. Peer critiques are going to be a large part of this program and I will be expected to demonstrate insightful, feedback to my peers as well as applying the feedback I am given where I can.

Also, I must be professional in each interaction, employ creative and innovative evidence of reason when problem-solving and approaching projects. All my claims must be back up by research and credit is to be given using APA formatting when citing. While writing it would behoove me to use an active voice as it will come across better than a passive voice.

•What are some questions and/or concerns that you may have about

the program that may impact your future success?

A concern that I have about the program is not gaining enough studio class time where I have to create portfolio pieces. As someone who plans to continue my MFA at another mastery leave for UX/UI, I a worry that the course may spend too much time in requiring research-based thinking and not putting an equal importance on creative thinking as well. Will this program be helpful in providing a network of professional contacts?

My 5 step Personal Action Plan

Reason-Design is my passion, I can not imagine doing anything else with my life

Long-Term Goal- 10 years from now I hope to become a creative director of an agency that specializes in the liquor and beer industry brands

Short Term Goal- Within the next few months I hope to secure a position at an agency in Philadelphia as an entry/junior designer

Prepare -Plan my weeks in advance, using a planner and calendar reminders, getting a head start on assignments when I can

Remember- Remember to breathe and not become overwhelmed, as well as remember that this is my passion and the hard work I put into it will be worth it

Inspirational Post

http://graphicdesignjunction.com/2018/07/professional-website-builders-to-use-instead-of-wordpress/