alexisrightbrain

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Assignment 6: Cause Advertisement

This assignment was fun for me because I got to create an ad that I feel like would show up as an actual advertisement that I would stop and look at while flipping through a surf magazine or online shopping. As soon as I knew about this assignment I thought about the cause that I wanted to support. As a local person in Hawaii that loves the ocean, I immediately decided on beach/ocean pollution. There are so many foundations that get together to do research on the ocean and the situations at hand (NOAA) as well as those that gather to take first hand actions and go out and clean the beaches (Surfrider Foundation).

I chose the brand to be Billabong, just because I’m an active consumer and know a lot of local people are, so if this partnership were to actually happen, it would be pretty beneficial to the brand and the cause.

I was striving for the aesthetic of a surf magazine. So just like a regular Billabong advertisement, showing the beauty of the ocean and how it goes hand in hand with their products. But adding a small tagline that catches the eye, and encourages consumers to contribute. So if you’re a consumer of Billabong products, like bikinis and beachwear, you might love the ocean, so keep it clean and care about it.

The second ad was more straightforward, showing the direct effects of pollution to those who love the ocean. The Surfrider Foundation takes a more straightforward approach, like beach clean ups so I felt like this company matched better.

Overall, I enjoyed this assignment because it matched up with my own personal causes and aesthetic. Hopefully actual campaigns like this can happen more often.

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Choice Posting

While doing research for my Cause Advertisements, where we have to partner a brand with a cause, I found this awesome video on the website of an organization for Ocean Preservation. I love the medium, it was unusual, and grabbed the attention of many people, raising awareness of a problem. The title of the video is “Project Change” and it’s an amazing presentation, projected onto large buildings, showing the truth of what’s going on with animals and our planet. I wasn’t able to share the video directly on here because it’s hosted on the website. Here’s a snapshot and the link so you can check it out for yourself.

http://www.opsociety.org/

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Ideas & Images for Project 2

For our project, we decided to deal with the issue of elderly people and parking. The growth of the elderly population is eminent and there are always problems that arise with any group of any people. We decided to take on this problem because my partner and I have both witnessed elderly people taking the disabled parking. It would only make sense that they have their own parking as well. It’s a steep statement to make, but in some aspects, elderly people are faced with nearly the same amount of challenges to get to places as disabled people. By combining aspects of a known and easily recognizable sign (disability sign), with a clear and semi established graphic of elderly, the intentions of this parking sign would be less susceptible to misconstrued. 

We’re basically proposing to give elderly people their own convenience parking, represented by a sign. 

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Assignment 4 Reflection:

My first poster was the “Eat less sugar, you’re sweet enough.” I originally had this one on the chalkboard background because I wanted it to have the visual effect of being a simple concept to understand, like something you would see on a chalkboard. But I also wanted to incorporate the sugar text effect because I thought it was a cute way to keep the focus on the text/typography but visually reinforce the idea. I had the word “sugar” written in sugar crystals but thought it didn’t resemble sugar enough on the chalk background. It looked too much like actual chalk. Which wasn’t the look I was going for. I decided that because the text was fancy, maybe a simpler background would do it better justice. I played around with different colors and decided to make the poster to resemble the packaging of local sugar company C&H. (Like wow, the sugar is telling you you’re sweet enough, you must be really sweet.) It was fun to play around with the dodge tool and drop shadows to text effects to add dynamic so it would look less flat.  I felt the text of the packaging was too serious so decided to add the text effect to the end of the statement to keep it playful.

For my second poster I decided to maintain a more serious note, but used the chalk background for this one instead. I wanted the poster to be simple, balanced, but not boring. So I kept it at 2 fonts and balanced it with 3 different text sizes. Spacing was all critical and measured out using guides and rulers. I added a green border because I mentally associate health with the color green. So it not only reinforced the idea of health, but also didn’t leave the poster just black and white. 

*here are my sketches- I chose to execute the 3rd in the first row and 1st in the second row.

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UC Logo Contraversy

Finally getting around to reading the UC logo controversy article, I could definitely understand both sides of the story, and where the confusions lied. It’s interesting to see how majority of people only care about something once one person is passionate about it. As designers, the intentions were good, and things kind of just fell apart because people misinterpreted it and the intentions of the new design were not clearly expressed from the start. Although everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and art is created for people to interpret, it is important for people to consider other factors before stating their opinion about something.

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Project 1: Reflection

I ended up following through with the instagram ad campaign due to the fact that this would most likely appeal to my demographic, 18-30 year olds. Similar to print posters and flyers, this goal of this virtual flyer will be to get the attention of those passing, or scrolling, by and open their mind to new ideas and encourage them to vote. Most 18-30 year olds voluntarily plug into this big pool of people as frequent users of social media platforms like Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Vine,  using it to express themselves and share experiences with friends, family, and even strangers. Big companies and brands are able to connect with consumers on their level through these social media platforms. This artifact would coincide with the existing social media campaign for the non-profit organization, Rock the Vote. They’ve been using celebrity endorsements like Kendall Jenner and John Legend to promote their message of the importance of voting. This artifact would simply be a tool for the company to use and for consumers to share.

The theme of the artifact is expression. I started off with the concept of not always being able to vote. Historical figures like Martin Luther King and Susan B. Anthony fought for the right to vote for African Americans and women. I started by creating artistic versions of the figures and placing them over a white background to keep it simple and keep the focus on the figures. I wasn’t satisfied with this look, so I figured I would add more layers to create depth. Incorporating a painted american flag, and balancing the type between expressive and stern. All factors centering around the theme of expression. People always have something to say, but how they communicate their viewpoints is what makes a difference.

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YOGA BROCHURE- after many trials, my finished yoga brochure. I designed it to be different from the typical tri fold brochure, but still simple enough to convey a lot of information and have visually appealing graphics.

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I’ve played this game once before, but I love how technical and therapeutic it is to just mess around to what feels or looks right. Perfect for the OCD neatly placed inside you somewhere.

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Mind mapping assignment

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<p>Project 1 sketches/draft- I was struggling to find an idea that wasn’t too common, so people would notice it. After watching Selma at school, I remembered that the journey to voting has been a struggle for many people including African Americans and women. So for my project, I chose between 2 mediums, either a social media ad or soda can. Conveying the message that voting has never been this easy. The graphics would be artistic displaying the something like the ones attached but also including women’s rights activist Susan B. Anthony.</p>

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These are my brochure fold drafts. I originally wanted to do something that was different from the standard tri-fold brochure. But ended up considering it because all of the other folds didn’t give me as much space for content. I ended up deciding to go with the 2nd to the last one because it was still different from the typical brochure but provided enough room for content.

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First of all, with big words like ethnography I was scared to dive into this assignment because I thought everything would go right over my head. But this was a super interesting article and made me want to keep reading. It talks about the importance of ethnographic research to advertising. There is an example of ethnographic Miller Lite researchers that go into bars to observe people to "identify consumers’ hot buttons, allowing them to craft messages with more resonance.”  The article quotes a president of a company called Ogilvy & Mather, New York, describing ethnography as a tool to tip the balance of the environment in favor of our brand.” Ethnographic research helped to identify the demographic difference between their brand, Miller Lite, and the competing brand, Bud Light. Therefore could adjust their advertisements to appeal to their audience better, or get people from other demographics.

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Talking about myself and why I took ART311 Design in Public Spaces

Aloha,

My name is Alexis Mitchell, I am a Creative Media student. I often found myself figuring out how to work adobe programs to support the entrepreneurial pursuits of my family. Creating numerous videos, flyers, and logos at the amateur level. I found this work tedious for the most part, but also therapeutic, and loved stepping back to admire the finished product. This class will further strengthen my skills and provide more experience to grow from. 

Also, I really like the beach and tend to draw most of my inspiration from it.