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MDM691 Professional Practice

Each course in the MDMFA program contributed to my personal and professional development as a media designer.

The first course, Mastery, helped me gain a better understanding of what “mastery” means and how to apply this to both my personal and professional life. It helped me identify and act upon the most efficient routes toward my mastery of media design.

In the second course, Defining Client Needs, I learned how to distill the clients’ needs and goals within the context of the design relationship. This can impact personal relationships and professional relationships by allowing the designer to ascertain the actual wants of friends and clients alike.

In Brand Development, I learned how to develop and publish a unified brand identity across varying media and how to tailor this identity to the target audience. This impacted me personally, because I gained a deeper understanding and perspective to view and study brand identities that are currently in the industry.

The fourth course, Effective Copywriting, helped develop my persuasive writing skills as a designer. This not only impacted me on a professional level, but it improved my day-to-day writing as well. I can communicate and persuade through writing in a way that was not possible before this program.

In Design Research, industry standards were studied, and innovative design was contextualized. Not only did this course provide a multitude of design processes and research methods, but it granted further insight into the objective value of varying types of design.

The following course, Organizational Structures, a clear organization method was created out of industry research and its influence in the designer’s work. This course helped me clearly define what research impacted which components of a design project. Not only did this aid in the development of designs, but it also granted clarity regarding the thought process involved in the development of a design solution.

In Design Strategies and Motivation, we received feedback from the design committee on our progress up to that point. This committee-style feedback was extremely important as professional designs are often critiqued by a group. This will help me in the future, because I know understand how to entertain multiple directions of critique and then provide a rationale as to why one direction was followed over another.

Design Integration promoted creative direction and innovation for each of the students. This course helped me on both a personal and professional level by necessitating autonomy and a clearly defined schedule.  

In the ninth course, Multi-Platform Delivery, I was impacted by the thought process and methodologies required to present a uniform design solution across multiple platforms. This course required the designer to delve back into the foundational aspects of design such as creativity and innovation.

Measuring Design Effectiveness was an eye-opening class for me, as it allowed the design solution to go full circle and it allowed the designer to verify whether the design solution was an effective solution. I developed professionally and personally from this course as it was humbling. However, it permitted clarity as to the success of the design.

In the next course, Thesis: Presentation of Design Solutions, I was tested in a manner that I had not experienced before. In overcoming this difficulty, I benefited on a personal level from a confidence standpoint. Professionally, I can now develop and exhibit work in a logical, aesthetic manner that solves the design problem.

Lastly, the course Professional Practice granted insights into the legal and ethical standards and grey areas within the design industry. This aided in my development as I learned right from wrong within the world of design and gained professional assurance in the safety of my work from a legal standpoint.

I was able to utilize the concepts and techniques that I learned from the MDMFA course extremely well. By implementing the various concepts and theories into the development of a design solution, I was able to wield design processes that were adopted and adapted from current industry standards to create and publish multimedia content. Was the content published, but its creation was evidenced in an expository manner through the thesis website in a concise manner that was reviewed by the committee. The thesis website presentation would not have been possible for me before this program.

Throughout the MDMFA program, I had many failures, but each was accompanied by successes that were more potent.

The most outstanding personal triumph in the first course, Mastery, was taking the first step toward the mastery of a talent. While this sounds miniscule, it took a lot for me to overcome nerves and to actually start the MDMFA program.

In Defining Client Needs, my triumph was the Milton Glaser inspired Romeo and Juliet poster. Because this poster blended the style of a previous designer with a well-known subject and detailed illustration, its completion allowed me to feel a tangible, personal sense of achievement that was a big motivator for me.

My biggest success in Brand Development was the competitor brand analysis that was carried out. This didn’t seem like much at the time, however, I have used this method in my freelance work countless times since. It provides actionable and tangible information for both myself and the client.

Honestly, my biggest triumph in Effective Copywriting was the completion of the course. Before this program, I had always considered writing my weakest academic facet, therefore it was quite an achievement to get through the course.

      The most outstanding triumph that I achieved in Design Research was the development and implementation of a moodboard. I had never created a moodboard up until that point and was curious as to its development and its use.  It was incredibly empowering within the context of design to carry out this method.

      My most successful moment in Organizational Structures occurred when I gained comfort in both Adobe After Effects and Adobe Premiere. Before this program, the only Adobe software I had ever used was Illustrator, InDesign, and Photoshop. The only motion work I had ever done was in iMovie. Gaining confidence in these two programs opened up a whole other world within the field of design.

      In Design Strategies and Motivation my biggest triumph happened in overcoming the feedback from the design committee. While I had received some pretty harsh critiques and reviews from groups before, I generally was able to anticipate what they were going to say based on how I felt about the designs while I was developing them. In this instance, I was caught off guard by the committee and it took a lot for me to overcome this.

      My most outstanding triumph in Design Integration happened as a result of the required autonomy. It was incredibly difficult to implement a benchmarked schedule for the work, let alone adhere to it. I found success after an erroneous postponement of the first benchmark that led to an extremely late night and lots of regret.

      The biggest triumph that I had in Multi-Platform Delivery was the creation of the mockups for my Turtle Fest website. It was through these mockups that a professional display of my site was made possible for the thesis presentation website and I don’t think that my thesis would have been as successful without them.

      In Measuring Design Effectiveness, the largest success that I had was the development and dispersal of a questionnaire to measure the design solution’s effectiveness. This is a skill that has an incredible amount of potential within the design industry and is something that I will carry with me throughout my career.

      In Thesis: Presentation of Design Solutions, the most outstanding success that I had was pretty obvious, the creation of the thesis presentation website. This design project required more hours and motivation than any project I have ever completed to date, and it allowed me to discover the boundaries of my design skill, my ability to rationalize, and my work ethic.

      The largest success in Professional Practice was the completion of the year-long MDMFA course and continuing to work up until this culminating point. By continuing to work past the thesis website, I proved to myself that I could continue to research the industry and to implement said research into designs even while completely exhausted.

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MDM 690 Thesis: Presentation of Design Solution

Throughout MDM 690 Thesis: Presentation of Design Solution, the text, Stories that Move Mountains: Storytelling and Visual Design for Persuasive Presentations, was read and used in the presentation of the thesis design solution. As the title makes clear, this text persuades the reader to implement storytelling as a means of presentation. Sykes, Malik, and West reference a Stanford experiment by Chip and Dan Heath in which, “…sixth-three percent of the audience can remember facts from the story-telling presentations, compared with only five percent from the rest” (2012). Within the realm of media design, this is perspective altering information. Even though this statistic is from a sample of Stanford students, the difference between the two percentages is significant. By creating a plot, however fundamental it may be, has the potential to increase the overall retention of an actionable idea. While there are many, one notable application of this takeaway can be seen in evidencing the progression of a design solution (see figure 1 below). By presenting an overarching plotline, or at least adhering to one, it allows an element of organization and immersion that is not possible without narrative.

Figure 1 

Another major takeaway from the text was audience-driven data, which is foundational in maximizing a presentation’s effectiveness. Sykes et al. argue, “Convincing everyone of an idea is nearly impossible, even if the idea is amazingly compelling” (2012). Instead of presenting data in a shotgun style approach that might offer a fleeting chance for the audience to relate or connect, it allows the presenter to discover and present data in accordance with what is important for the specific audience. This was implemented in the Thesis presentation when only a fraction of the Turtle Fest website prototype project (see figure 2 below) was used to evidence a benchmark. This is a much more effective method for presenting the design solution to the intended audience than displaying everything single idea, sketch, comp, iteration and deliverable. Instead, only the elements of focus were presented, to keep the information understandable and retainable.

Figure 2

The final takeaway from the text regarded rehearsal presentations, but could also be applied to design solution prototypes and pilots. Sykes et al. state that, “…rehearsals help you tell the story as though it were a treasured memory” (2012). If the designer has presented the design solution to the intended audience and received feedback, then he or she knows how to better tailor the design solution to the specific audience in the future. This increase in confidence and repetitive “practice allows the designer to present the information to the next audience in a manner that seems as if it is a treasured memory. Within the thesis presentation, a summative questionnaire (see figure 3 below) was sent out regarding the Turtle Fest website prototypes. This methodological approach to developing presentation confidence is invaluable to a media designer as it permits an iterative method for improvement.

Figure 3

References

Sykes, M., Malik, A.N., & West, M.D. (2012). Stories that move mountains: Storytelling and visual design for persuasive presentations. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. Retrieved

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MDM 640 – Measuring Design Effectiveness

According to Best, “The reason it is difficult to measure [design] value for money is because no standards exist for quantifying all the added-value benefits that design can bring to an organization” (2006). While this course didn’t establish an exact method for quantifying added-value benefits of design, it did communicate standards for objectifying the design process and evidencing successful design, which is a step in the right direction.

Measuring Design Effectiveness was a perspective shifting class for me as it connected industry standards and allowed us to synthesize a method for garnering extra personal validation for design work. Before this course, I had mostly thought that the client verified whether the designs were effective and usually did so from an inexact correlation between the business financials and the implementation of the design solution, which I always considered to be problematic. On top of this, this course granted an advanced understanding of the designer and audience relationship through summative survey and questionnaire research. Again, much like the validation of the design work, I mostly relied on the client for information regarding the target audience. However, now, through the same methodology that design effectiveness is measured, the designer or creative team can send a formative questionnaire or survey out that helps establish and define the target audience for a project or series of projects. Using this formative research, the designer can determine current unmet needs and develop innovative solutions to overcome them, in a supportable manner. Finally, through the surveying tactics, this course established how, as a designer, you can create clear and measurable design objectives to be included in the creative brief that determine the project’s whether the project was successful or not, and at that, how successful it was.

After taking this course, it has become apparent how important receiving feedback on the effectiveness of design work is. Now that I have developed the competencies to create, publish, and analyze targeted questionnaires, it is a skill that I will practice throughout my professional career as a designer. Throughout the entire course, it was apparent that there is a nearly limitless amount of applications for both formative and summative surveys and questionnaires within the design process. It will be especially helpful in the development of my personal freelance brand as I won’t have a “client” to fall back on for validation if I become too comfortable with my design work in the future.

References

Best, K. (2006). Design management. Worthing, UK: AVA Publishing. Retrieved from: http://ce.safaribooksonline.com/book/design/9782940439782

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MDM 650: Multi-Platform Delivery

It has been interesting to experience the changes in class styles throughout the duration of this program. During the previous course, MDM 620: Design Integration, assignment grades were not uploaded until roughly half way through this course, MDM 650: Multi-Platform delivery. I assumed this was due to the extreme weather that Orlando experienced in the 4 weeks of the Design Integration course, however, there haven’t been any mandatory evacuations during the 4 weeks of Multi-Platform delivery and I still only have one assignment grade posted. If it is the norm to not upload the individual assignment grades until after the course is over, that is fine, I just feel that this should be expressed to the students before the course begins so that they know what to expect throughout the course. It is difficult to adjust one’s course of action without receiving the professional and objective ratings from the professors. I hope that this is something that can be adjusted for future Media Design classes or the whole program at Full Sail University.

As far as the projects themselves are concerned, during this 4-week period I revised the sea turtle conservation website as well as the promotional video for the conservation event. I learned a lot regarding both projects and enjoyed both experiences. With the website, I learned a lot regarding mockups and presenting website prototypes to an audience. With the promotional video, my software competencies continued to develop as I gained a more in-depth understanding of both Adobe After Effects and Adobe Premiere.

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MDM 620: Design Integration

This was the semester of Hurricane Irma and the classroom communication seemed to reflect this. At no fault of anyone, the peer and instructor feedback was minimal and delayed in ways that made project progression uncertain. However, it does feel that some major progress has been made in the development and improvement of two projects. The two projects that were iterated during MDM 620 were: the Wildlands Network Testimonial Advertisements and the event website prototypes for the “Turtle Fest” concert. After multiple rounds of critique and development, the Testimonial Advertisments became: 

The resulting website prototypes:

Mobile: 

Tablet: 

Desktop (horizontal): 

Complete with a basic interaction map for all three: 

It was frustrating, but ultimately relieving to go back into these projects and alter some elements that felt unturned in the initial submission. 

During the course, I read a lot of material and listened to a lot of lectures, however one design concept stood out to me. This idea was the mobile-first methodology brought up by Brian Bralczyk (2016), but is originally from Luke Wroblewski. According to Bralczyk this is, “The idea is to start with your mobile website’s content and design. Then work your way up in size” (2016). Through the economization of the of the screen space, the most necessary and important design elements can be distilled. This design process is something that had never ocurred to me, and will now stick me throughout my mastery journey and on into my professional career. 

I’m looking forward to the continued revision of my work in MDM 650: Multi-Platform Delivery. 

References 

Bralczyk, B.T. (2014, August 15). Delivering content across devices [Lynda.com online course]. Retrieved from: https://www.lynda.com/Mobile-Web-tutorials/Delivering-content-across-devices/165610/186039-4.html?srchtrk=index%3a5%0alinktypeid%3a2%0aq%3aUX+Foundations%0apage%3a1%0as%3arelevance%0asa%3atrue%0aproducttypeid%3a2

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MDM615: Design Strategies and Motivation

Due to the new conventions that were started in this course, I have been academically anxious for the past four weeks. It was enjoyable to plan and begin the execution of a 10-week course of action to improve my works. However, as I am going in to this venture with a limited frame of reference, it is difficult to quantify my performance and have a solid understanding of where I am at from an academic perspective. This is similar to the first test one has to take in a class, where they may not be quite sure how it will be graded, so they’re not entirely sure which areas of study to focus on beforehand. Because of this, I have high hopes for the next course, as I will have a better hold on the performance metrics and what is expected. 

As far as design choices executed during this course, half came from me, the designer, and half came from either peer or instructor feedback. This helped not only my professional development, but it also improved each element that I received feedback on. During the two weeks of the tentative plan that were carried out during MDM615, the Rainy Day Toys brand presentation was revised. It was mostly an improvement on the legibility and readbility of the typography that is implemented throughout the presentation, however, the icon and logo were both also reiterated and developed (logo iteration 1 vs logo iteration 2).

Logo iteration 1 

Logo iteration 2

Along with the logos, the brand fonts were also further explored and developed, initially exploring the fonts”Ovo Regular” and “Muli Light” as the new font pair. 

However, after receiving peer feedback, it was determined that the two fonts below, from the Quattrocento font family, would be most appropriate in communicating the Rainy Day Toy brand attributes. 

Lastly, to finalize the brand presentation and present the “client” with yet another option for the brand, a second logo option was developed. While this logo option did deviate from the first logo option somewhat, it still has the capabilities to utilize the font system and color scheme. This logo deviates from the initial logo in that it pulls from a more classicized approach to design and typography in a way that is a bit more visually concise than the first approach. 

This course will remain with me, as it provided me with quite a few more instances of critical feedback. As a designer, it is imperative that I continue to seek out and receive constructive criticisms of my work. Not only is it extremely useful to continuously improve upon designs, but it is even more beneficial to have routine experience with receiving and implementing feedback in a professional setting. 

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MDM570: Organizational Structures

Completing the course: MDM570, Organizational Structures, has been my biggest struggle yet during my time with FSO. I lack an educational background in video and motion design, which not only made the information harder to digest, but it also made it difficult to find academic research on the topic. On top of this, I have very little video editing experience which increased the learning curve for the software. With all this in mind, it must also be mentioned that this has also been the most rewarding course to date. Not only did I develop a more solidified understanding of video and motion design, but I can now speak with increased confidence when editing video or proposing motion designs.

A finite concept from Organizational Structures that will stick with me throughout my journey, is the idea that there is a template for video virality. Before this course, I had never thought to stop and analyze and attempt to understand the underlying techniques among viral web videos. I thought that viral videos became viral mostly out of luck. However, much like the predictability of packaging design, the social response to a video can also be estimated. This virality template has the potential to facilitate the production of low-budget videos with tremendous reach and is something that has obvious benefits to a professional career.

Along with my lack of experience in motion design, I have also had very little experience in producing and editing sound designs and audio identities before this course. I often forget that sound is a designable element that has an enormous impact on the audience. This will stick with me along my professional journey as it is yet another option for engineering the audience’s reaction to a branded or designed work.

The main, overarching concept that resonated with me from this course, is the idea that motion design, content aside, can be executed in a manner that conveys a certain style, theme, or identity. This abstract idea parallels the narratives established through website wireframes, in that it can communicate brand attributes through the interaction of the presented information. I had always assumed that it was merely the informational content within the motion design that impacted my response to the video. As I know now, this can be altered along with the sound and color scheme of a work. This concept is already impacting my professional career as a media designer, as I have already sent out proposals to clients for animated logos, and have the confidence to do so. 

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MDM 565 - Design Research

As front-end, visual design on the web is evolving, it benefits the designer to understand how to confidently research, create, and propose a website prototypes to clients. Throughout the course, MDM 565: Design Research, the book The Principles of Beautiful Web Design was used as a learning template for the web design process (Beaird & George, 2014). In the book, Jason Beaird and James George argue that, “The process of creating a design comp, however, can be boiled down to just three key tasks: discovery, exploration, and implementation” (2014). During the course, we developed moodboards, wireframes, and design comps that respectively represent Beaird and George’s design process. The design process was carried out to promote a hypothetical charity concert event for sea turtle conservation. 

Index Prototype Design Comp

Discovery - Moodboard

In discussing the research process, Sean Adams argues, “...I need to know about the current brand strategy, competition, audience, goals, strengths, and weaknesses” (2015). In MDM 565, three web-oriented moodboards were created to represent distinctively different genres of music for the hypothetical concert. The goal of the moodboard was to accurately convey the brand attributes, to present the information in an organized way, and to provide an example of the type of voice and tone to be used throughout the site. To do this however, the designer needs to research the brand and either determine or develop the necessary information for the creation of a moodboard. After receiving constructive feedback, the island themed moodboard was selected as the moodboard to advance and further develop.

Charity Event Moodboards

Exploration - Wireframes and Sketches

To further explore the brand, the selected moodboard was developed into a second iteration and wireframes and sketches were carried out. According to Beaird and George, “Wireframes are extremely useful, because you can quickly and easily move elements around” (2014). The wireframing process helped my work because it allowed me to start thinking about navigation and the pages’ connectivity, which ultimately lends itself to the usability of the website. The sketches required a hybrid combination of the wireframes’ usability with the moodboard’s aesthetic, for an introduction into the visual design of the initial website prototype.

Implementation - Design Comps

The final process of the design process is implementation. In this instance, the implementation was carried out through the creation of design comps. In their book, Principles of Beautiful Web Design, Beaird and George explain that, “... a comp is an image of a layout that’s created before we begin to prototype the design in HTML” (2014). This step granted me an awareness of the potential for the designs. As the moodboards, wireframes, and sketches were created for the web, it is imperative to remember that the design comps are for the web as well. Since comp design is similar to print design, it becomes easy to forget the constraints and conventions of the web, or to misuse design elements without intention.

After carrying out Beaird and George’s three-tiered design process, I can honestly say that I would not feel comfortable delegating tasks like this without first attempting to learn how to solve the task myself. That way, I can not only sympathize with the person I would delegate the task to, but I would also have a better idea of what to expect and what is required. In my professional career, I would prefer to develop a more confident understanding of front-end code as well as non-code web design software and take that knowledge with me to a role in creative direction.

During Design Research, I had my first “flow” moment with my design work. I began working on something with a clear objective and then when I looked up at the clock, 5 hours had gone by. As concept generation and exploration seems to be a recurring theme in the current design job market, this state of flow can be very useful when paired with Baird and George’s design process. This course taught me the fundamentals of web-based design research, which is applicable to media other than the web. This class also helped me develop my design confidence and I have already started implementing the concepts learned from this course in my freelance work outside of the MFA program. As the next course, Organizational Structures, and Design Research are closely linked, I’m excited to see what the next course has in store. Similarly, the impact that this course will have on my professional career is something that I’m excited about, as I respect the potential of the concepts established throughout the course.

References

Adams, S. (2015, March 26). Foundations of branding for designers [Lynda.com online course]. Retrieved from: https://www.lynda.com/Design-Color-tutorials/Welcome/363131/380157-4.html?org=fullsail.edu

Beaird, J. & George, J. (2014). The principles of beautiful web design, 3rd edition. Collingwood, VIC, Australia: Sitepoint. Retrieved from: http://ce.safaribooksonline.com/book/web-design-and-development/9781457174353

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MDM 555 - Effective Copywriting

The first take away that resonated with me from MDM 555 was the evolution of my method for free association and mind mapping that occurred after my reading of chapter 15 from George Felton’s book Advertising: Concept and Copy (2013). Free association, according to Felton, is to, “Write down rapidly whatever comes to mind as it comes to mind” (2013). For the testimonial advertisement mind map that I created during this course, not only did I write down whatever came to mind, but I also recorded the connections between the ideas that were coming to mind. The free association helped with idea generation and being able to see specifically how each idea was connected in a visual setting really helped to advance the concepts in to more abstract territories. I will carry this evolved form of free association into my career as a creative, as it helped me venture into conceptual territories that I had not previously gone.

Associative Mapping/Horizontal Thought Process 

Another idea that was introduced by Felton that I had never considered was Edward de Bono’s thoughts on the dichotomy of creative thinking being either lateral or vertical in nature (2013). Lateral thinking, according to Advertising: Concept and Copy, is, “…abundant and uncritical – generating a variety of approaches, a number of different starts and little thumbnails and half ideas…” (2013). Separate from this process of conceptualization, is vertical thinking, which Felton posits is when you, “…take that half-idea and think it through…” (2013). I had never differentiated my forms of creative thought and this resulted in jumbled concepts quite often. Separating the mental processes for concepting in to multiple categories really helped organize the generation of ideas and allowed those ideas to be conveyed in a more effective manner. These two thought processes have the potential to have a profound impact on my career as a professional and will provide an effective structure for not only idea generation, but for fine-tuning the ideas that are generated as well.

Transition between horizontal and vertical thought process 

Vertical Thought Process (These are drafts and not the final advertisements)

The third concept from Effective Copywriting that will remain with me, is Ian Lurie’s idea of the symbolism, which he associates with a full glass of water on his desk while copywriting (2014). While Lurie might not actually be thirsty, in his video lecture series, he stated that having the water on his desk represented his dedication to the task at hand, as he won’t even get up for a glass of water (2014). Since watching Lurie’s Lynda.com lecture series, I have filled up a glass of water to place next to my computer while working on any assignments for the remainder of MDM 555, and plan to continue this for the rest of the Media Design program. I think the amount of dedication symbolized by this small act is paramount when staying on task and minimizing distractions in the office or workplace and is something that I will keep with me throughout my time as a design professional.

References

Felton, G. (2013). Advertising: Concept and Copy, 3rd Edition. United States: W.W. Norton & Company.

Lurie, I. (2014). Writing Marketing Copy [online video series]. Retrieved from: https://www.lynda.com/Business-Online-Marketing-tutorials/Preparing-yourself-write-copy/149250/175047-4.html

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MDM 530 - Brand Development

In the class, Brand Development, the essence of a brand was looked at and conventionalized to facilitate the journey toward design mastery. Branding plays a large role in the booming industries of the globe, as they provide consumers with a contextual understanding and identification of an entity or organization. It is becoming more and more important that organizations implement branding in their journey through the world of business. In her book, Designing Brand Identity, Wheeler states that, “experienced design directors are joining senior management teams to oversee and build the brand, manage the design group, and identify specialists needed” (2013, pp. 114). On top of this, Wheeler goes on to explain that when companies involve design as a foundational element within the business, the businesses’ brand tends to be more successful in its purpose (2013, pp. 114). The design thought process usually results in innovation, or at least conceptual advancement, due to the nature of design. One example of this can be seen in the Lynda.com online series Creative Inspirations: Margo Chase, Graphic Designer with the relationship between Chase Design Group and the internal design team at Starbucks (Chase, 2008). Because the Starbucks internal design team is collaborating with the Chase Design Group to develop a product style guide, which acts as a “sub-brand” or microcosmic style guide, this relationship falls under the “innovators” role outlined by Wheeler (2013, pp. 115). However, for this segmentation tactic to properly describe the Chase-Starbucks’ product style relationship, one must replace Wheeler’s use of the word “brand” with “product style” and then it pretty accurately describes the connection between the two companies. This relationship then resulted in a product that can convey the essence of Starbucks without displaying the company logo anywhere on the product. 

Throughout Brand Development there were many concepts and design elements covered that I had not considered crucial to design before the class. To be concise, I will discuss three of the most impactful concepts to my journey toward design mastery. The first takeaway is Marty Neumeier’s concept of a brand as a “platonic ideal” (2006, pp. 3). This put the philosophy of the brand in a new light and it allowed me to gain a new understanding of what a brand really is. It’s extremely exciting to me to know that a brand does not have to be something precise, but instead draws from crucial elements of previously successful brands. This permits the artistic freedom that is design while still providing a path towards the successful representation of an entity. 

 I also particularly enjoyed Phillip Kotler’s thoughts on Aristotle being the “father of marketing” in his presentation at the Chicago Humanities festival (2012). Due to Aristotle’s foresight regarding rhetoric and argumentation, he successfully developed one of the earliest known conventions for persuasion, which is the goal of branding. Because of this new-found appreciation for the impact of ancient philosophy on branding, I now intend to set up an independent hybridized course for myself that relates ancient philosophy and modern branding paradigms. This could not only help contextualize current brand practices, but also provide a timeless understanding of the essence of a brand. 

The last concept that resonated with me was the Drucker’s brand analysis method, the Paradigm of Change (Best, 2006, pp. 30). While the SWOT and PEST analyses do provide great insights, Drucker’s Paradigm of Change analyzes the brand within the context of time and the change that is inherent in the passing of time (Best, 2006, pp. 30). This method of dimensional analysis and subsequent planning provided me with novel insights into the methods for brand positioning and the way that those methods interact. 

Competitive analysis for the repositioning of a brand, Bolste was selected as the brand to reposition. 

As part of the brand repositioning, three new icon options were presented for the repositioning of Bolste. 

Based upon a hypothetical RFP for “Rainy Day Toys” a visual identity and brand strategy first line pitch were developed. 

References 

 Best, K. (2006). Design Management: Managing Design Strategy, Process and Implementation. Switzerland: AVA Publishing. 

Bolste, Inc. (2016). Bolste [brand website]. Retrieved April 1, 2017, from: https://bolste.com/ 

Chase, M. (2008). Creative Inspirations: Margo Chase, Graphic Designer [Lynda.com online Documentary]. Retrieved from: https://www.lynda.com/Typography-tutorials/margochasegraphicdesigner/685-2.html 

MetaDesign. (2016). ChatWork [brand website]. Retrieved April 1, 2017, from: http://www.chatwork.com/ 

Neuemeier, M. (2006). The Brand Gap: How to Bridge the Distance Between Business Strategy and Design. Berkeley, CA: New Riders. 

(2012). Philip Kotler: Marketing. Chicago Humanities Festival [Youtube video presentation] Retrieved, April 7, 2017, from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sR-qL7QdVZQ 

Slack Technologies, Inc. (2016). Slack [brand website]. Retrieved April 1, 2017 from: https://slack.com/ 

Wheeler, A. (2013). Designing Brand Identity: An Essential Guide for the Whole Branding Team. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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MDM525 - 2.4.1 Task 4: Mastery Journal Reflection

During the course: Defining Client Needs, the necessity for targeted research within the design industry really came in to perspective. In discussing the research tools implemented by Chase Design Group (CDG), Chris Lowery, the president of CDG, states “...what we are trying to do is find the sweet spot where the aspirations of the brand and the aspirations of the consumer line up.” (Chase, 2008). This “sweet spot” that Lowery mentions, resides in the designer’s understanding of the clearly defined needs of the client. It can then be inferred that the act of finding this sweet spot is the research necessary to gain a complete grasp of the prerequisites to the sweet spot. Having an unhindered view of the client’s needs is of paramount importance within the designer-client relationship. The basis for a clear understanding then lies in targeted research regarding the client’s needs and the designer’s means of meeting those needs.

Along with the importance of researching the client’s needs, the research required to articulate the value of the designer’s decisions to the client becomes increasingly essential as well. In A Designer’s Manual, the O’Grady’s posit, “Research – the key to aiming creative impulses properly – provides the designer with documentation supporting aesthetic/design decisions” (O’Grady, 2009). Therefore, according to A Designer’s Research Manual, targeted creativity supported by a framework of contextual research supports the proposed design solutions, which allows the client to better appreciate the value of the work (O’Grady, 2009). Without the designer’s projection of the design solutions in a manner that articulates the solutions’ value, the client may not fully grasp the intent or the ramifications of the designer’s choices. With all this in mind, the necessity of the accurate articulation of a design solution’s value becomes apparent in the designer-client relationship.

Ina Saltz’s Lynda.com Foundations of Typography Challenge (2013) – 11”x17” Posters that rely on typographic design to convey the message.  The “Much Ado About Nothing” Posters were also required to be black and white only.

  Nigel French’s Designing a Poster Challenge (2009) – 11”x17” Posters that implement graphic treatments, photography treatments, and historical inspiration to deliver their message.

Romeo and Juliet Initial Sketches – First draft of thumbnail sketches for a series of Romeo and Juliet promotional posters. One requirement of this project was that the posters must be inspired from specific designers or design movements and it was determined that the first drafts did not adequately represent their stylistic inspirations.

Romeo and Juliet Final Sketches – Second and final draft of the thumbnail sketches for a series of Romeo and Juliet promotional posters. After receiving critical assessments of my first draft, these sketches attempt to better represent their historical inspirations.  

Romeo and Juliet Initial Comps – 11”x17” Portrait and landscape oriented posters developed from the second and final round of sketches, which are pulling stylistic inspiration from different historic designs and designers.

Romeo and Juliet Final Changes – The only changes made to the initial digital comps, are contained within typographic layout and flow within the landscape oriented, gothic inspired poster.

Course Takeaways:

There were quite a few concepts that resonated with me during the research required for this course. The three ideas that stuck with me the most are: Ina Saltz’s “theory of typographic relativity” (2013), the concept of contextually supported subjectivity from A Designer’s Manual (2009), and Chase Design Group’s process of avoiding self-referential design (2008). The “theory of typographic relativity” that Ina Saltz discusses in her Lynda.com course provided me with contextual support for typographic issues that I often encounter with clients (2013). Usually, clients don’t understand that making type bigger doesn’t necessarily make it seem more important or eye-catching. It is difficult to explain to them that if everything’s large and visually commanding, then paradoxically, nothing is. Therefore, Ina Saltz’s use of contextual visual importance regarding typography is a great asset to a designer (2013). Similarly, the O’Gradys’ convention of using contextual research to support a subjective design decision is very useful in the designer-client discussion (2009). This concept creates a metaphorical pedestal that becomes the foundation of the proper communication of subjective design solutions, which I am excited to implement within my own professional experiences. The final process that I hope to keep with me throughout my mastery journey is the Chase Design Group’s method for venturing away from personal aesthetic preferences when developing design solutions for clients (2008). Through the researched creation of an arbitrary, hypothetical persona that falls within the client’s target audience, Margo Chase and her team have developed a method that allows the group to design for virtually any client, and to accurately articulate the value of their decisions (2008). There were many more concepts that I have learned throughout the duration of this course that have greatly impacted my understanding of not only the necessity of proper design research, but of the paramount importance found within accurately defining a client’s needs and efficiently catering to them.

References

Chase, M. (2008). Creative Inspirations: Margo Chase, Graphic Designer [Lynda.com online Documentary]. Retrieved from: https://www.lynda.com/Typography-tutorials/margochasegraphicdesigner/685-2.html

French, Nigel. (2009). Designing a Poster [Lynda.com online course]. Retrieved from: https://www.lynda.com/Illustrator-tutorials/designing-an-event-poster-hands-on-workshop/741-2.html

O’Grady, J., & O’Grady, K. (2009). A Designer’s Research Manual: Succeed in Design by Knowing Your Clients and What They Really Need. United Kingdom: Rockport Publishers. Retrieved from: http://ce.safaribooksonline.com/book/graphic-design/9781592535576/introduction/7?percentage=&reader=pf#X2ludGVybmFsX1BGVmlldz94bWxpZD05NzgxNTkyNTM1NTc2JTJGOTAmX19pbWFnZXBhZ2VyZXNvbHV0aW9uPTgwMCZxdWVyeT0=

Saltz, I. (2013). Foundations of Typography: Color, Contrast, and Scale [Lynda.com online course]. Retrieved from: https://www.lynda.com/Design-Color-tutorials/Welcome/133328/153164-4.html

Saltz, I. (2013). Foundations of Typography: Hierarchy and Navigation [Lynda.com online course]. Retrieved from: https://www.lynda.com/Design-Typography-tutorials/Welcome/133327/156588-4.html?autoplay=true

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(2017). Abstract: The Art of Design | Official Trailer [HD] | Netflix. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYaq2sWTWAA&t=7s

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(2015). Henri Matisse and a new art form [television broadcast]. United States: CBS Sunday Morning. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Od5JYdsvBgk

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A timeline of my mastery journey goals (cont’d)

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A timeline of my mastery journey goals 

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Artist:

Gwaja JI

“Who am I”

Sketch

2017

Pencil

“오늘 인스타 방송으로 그린 스케치. 일부러 중간부터 찍어서 방송했는데 너무 빨리 끝나버렸네요😭 내일도 방송할 수 있으면 더 길게 과정 보여드��도록 할게요. 방송할때 질문도 자유롭게 해주세요!… ”

https://www.facebook.com/gwaja88?__nodl

[drewsmithdesigns-blog]

Some great ideas on perspective from a great artist. 

Cohen, J. (producer). (2011). Use art to turn the world inside out | JR [TED conference]. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PAy1zBtTbw