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This article changed my perspective and transformed my design process. Enjoy!

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FINAL REFLECTION

Overall, WAS IT WORTH IT? Yes! The internship, the experience, the connections, the friendships, all of it, was definitely worth it. Am I over it? Yes, again. So far, I have been receiving texts and shoutouts on Facebook, acknowledging that they have seen the trailer and they are so proud of me. In the beginning, it was tough receiving the praise. I didn’t know how to receive it, so I smiled and said, “thank you!” But now, looking back at the whole process and what it took to get here, I am so very grateful. This opportunity was once in a lifetime. As Billy V told us before going Live on air with Hawaii News Now, “Consolidated’s trailer looks really out dated. This just changed the ball game.” That was a huge compliment! Was it our goal to change the ball game? Not necessarily. We wanted to measure up to the longevity of consolidated’s trailer, but our hard work was so highly praised that it changes things.

Much like I just finished writing in my other class reflection, I vow to make a lasting change (with design). As film and production is my chosen career, I appreciated the experience. It taught me valuable lessons that I can use going forward. The lessons include: watch your shadows while filming, establish roles and stick to them, develop a strong storyline and script BEFORE filming, oh! and don’t forget all of the permits.

I am sincerely grateful. Thank you for hand picking me for this project. It was an experience of a lifetime.

Until next time, stay creative.

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Design & Public Policy

The thesis of the entire essay was this:

Design should be a key element of every country’s research and innovation strategy.

The essay went on to prove that, using examples from Singapore and Korea. But immediately, the thesis reminded me of an article I had to read last semester. The article was about how a Long Island Design Institute Dean created an initiative to move STEM to STEAM. Science, Technology, Engineering and Math, is a government promoted program. The Dean wanted to add ART into the mix as design is apart of EVERYTHING. And if they incorporate art and design to the science and technology we discover/develop, then we will have more companies like Apple, and now Samsung (which stepped up their design).

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Reflecting | Art 311

Reflecting on ART 311, I know I complain about it a lot, but I DO learn so much through the process. One thing I always learn in Sharla’s classes: I need to work on my time management. Besides that, I have expanded on my design skills, been exposed to design in public spaces - go figure, it is the name of the course, and have overall grown as a designer. My perception has changed. Now I can see design in everything. It was in my innovative advertising class that I realized how design is in everything. But it was in this class that my perception regarding design in everything has changed. I realized that design could be used to manipulate the audience’s mind, in a good way. In reading about using public action to inform the public about policy, I realized how important design is to communicate a clear and effective message. The “click it or ticket” campaign, launched in Hawaii in 2008 (Honolulu Advertiser), was used to inform the public and enforce the seatbelt law. The design of the logo does an excellent job in delivering a clear message to its audience. “Click it or Ticket” can mean anything, but with the image of a seatbelt in its logo makes it obvious for everyone to know exactly what is being communicated in that campaign. This campaign was catchy enough to be embedded in our minds, and now, years after the initial release of the campaign, I know about it, you know about it, and so does the rest of Hawaii. Not only regarding policy and public action has my perception changed, but also in designing typographic posters. In our typography assignment/module, I did my best to do something different from my usual typographic pieces. In design there is a process that cannot be overlooked; each piece is necessary. It is important to decipher if the certain assignment can be effectively communicated using a type-dominant design, or if a visual element (besides type) is needed. Even in writing this out, I am typing in Georgia font because much like that article said, it is weighted differently than Times New Roman, but still looks similar enough to be academic. But because of the weight difference in Georgia, it is making it easier to read on the computer screen (as I have the beginnings of a migraine right now). Another and final way my perception has changed in this is: it is all about perspective.

Design is ALL ABOUT PERSPECTIVE.

There is no way around that. As human beings we were designed with different perspectives. Although there are times when our perspectives will overlap with another person, we ultimately see things differently than everyone else. I may like a certain design that the person next to me does not like, and vice versa. Or I might understand something one way and another person will understand it another way. Speaking about perspective, I am reminded of the article we read entitled, “Learning to see,” which states,

“Learning to design is, first of all, learning to see. Designers see more, and more precisely. This is a blessing and a curse—once we have learned to see design, both good and bad, we cannot un-see.”

As I continue to develop as a designer, I notice that I see things differently. My perspective is a lot more informed than it was two years ago. I see good and bad design. I can see where improvements can be made, and when a design is impeccable to that designer’s style. In my opinion, weighing someone’s design abilities result to how well informed and researched their perspective is and how well they communicate that in their execution.

My pay it forward oath is wrapped up in this reflection as everything I have learned in this class, I vow to apply. I vow to never allow the constraints and limits of human knowledge and personal skill levels to stop me from creating something new. I vow to create informed designs, that will not only look good but provide user efficiency and support a cause larger than itself. I vow to remain open to criticism from those who are either as informed or more informed than I am about design. I vow to make a lasting change through design. Design is everything. And everything is perceived through individual perspectives. I vow to do what is necessary to communicate the clearest messages, even if that means countless sketches, and numerous “try-agains.” I vow to keep on creating.

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ETHNOGRAPHIC RESEARCH

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PUBLIC POLICY

These “Policy to Public Action” examples are found ALL over in Hawaii, and I just found out, in the rest of America as well. These perfectly represent the article “Turning Policy into Public Action”. From the article, I especially liked, “internalize externalities”, “leverage local values”, and “The ‘I’ in Environment: Public Welfare via personal wellness” sections. Policy can be hard to enforce, but when put into public action, more people know about it so more people act on it. Internalizing externalities is important to consider. This article focused on making things personal for the public. The thought  in the public is: “if it doesn’t affect me, why should I care?” That’s why I really liked these several points. Internalizing externalities makes policy tangible for the general public. Leveraging local values is smart. Making policy local is needed because that same thought applies. If the commercials focus on a white/suburban audience, it won’t speak to the locals here in Hawaii, therefore being a policy dismissed by the general public in Hawaii. The “I” environment is also another good one. In Hawaii, we enjoy our beaches. Stuff going down the drains contaminates our oceans (stupid state for sending those pipelines to the oceans, smh). I remember when they sprayed that stamp just outside my house by the drain; I was in elementary then. It was something I knew about but didn’t really pay attention to until they sprayed the stamp. That’s when I became more aware of my actions, even raking up the leaves and grass after cutting the grass instead of shooting it down into the drain. This article put a name to what I see quite often. Signs which inform about certain policies are policies being put into public action. 

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Assignment 6 Sketches & Execution

My Cause Ads partner NIKE & Let’s Move (a government initiative) to promote exercise and healthy eating. These are relatively simple executions, but it does just enough to explain an important partnership. One idea I had was “for every bunch of healthy produce you buy, get a $1 off your next NIKE shoes” or something along those lines. If I wanted to add to these ads, I would include that statement as body copy to further explain the partnership.

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Ads, Ads, Ads!

PSA

Cause Ad

Commercial Ad

These are a few examples of the different kinds of advertising there is. I specifically remember the Meth Ads. To me, that was one of the most successful integrated ad campaigns there was. I don’t know if the rate of meth use went down (although I know it is still around) these ads use to make my skin crawl (especially the ones on the bus). It was a PSA which in my opinion integrated public policy (being that Meth is illegal). The cause ad represented here is a partnership between a phone company and some sort of charity organization. When I first saw this ad on google, I thought it was a blind ad. At first glance my reaction was, “wait-- huh?” It didn’t make sense to me. But when  I read the body copy, that’s when the partnership was clear. I think the most competitive marketing out there is between phone companies. This commercial ad is one for Verizon.

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Assignment 5: Project 2 Ideas

Me and Nakoa (my partner) thought of several ideas for this “Age Friendly” project. We thought about how in just about 10 years, the elder population will double, because we all keep getting older. The generation that will be entering the elderly population have already been exposed to technology, they will know (for the most part) how to operate technology. But their physical attributes will begin failing, such as their eye-sight. A couple ideas we thought of was creating larger bus signs that can benefit EVERYONE who catches the bus. The bus signs are about 12″ x 6″. We thought of doubling it, and making the font larger, the logo smaller, more breathing room for type at larger bus stops. Then we though of making online shopping more efficient for elder use. We didn’t know how we could execute that, so we moved on. We though of partnering with restaurants to make image dominant menus. We also thought of how kupuna need to do prescription refills. Since it is automated, they have to dial things. But then we thought about how it would be beneficial if they could simply state their “RX” number. We had several ideas, but we liked the one we executed the most.

We decided on executing an artifact that falls into the category aiding our aging bodies. Pictured above is our ethnographic research. When we settled our idea, we needed to think about what kinds of material would be most appropriate for this. We knew aluminum would be best, it is light weight, cost effective, and can withstand weather of all kinds. But one factor came into mind was the finishes that coated the aluminum. Because if you leave aluminum in the sun for so long, it would burn everyone who touches it, which adversely affects our idea. We decided on a powder finish which is also on the bike racks pictured above. We came up with potential specs, 2ft x 4ft, a 2in flat bar which marked that halfway point (2ft) and a 3in diameter/thickness for the poles; thick enough to hold onto as well as lean on, tall enough for anyone of any height to lean on, and the flat bar to prevent children from playing on it. The railings itself could act as a boundary to protect people waiting at the crosswalk from reckless drivers.

This project made me realize how much our city and county and state are not prepared for our boom in the elderly population which is soon to take place. There is so much to do to help build age friendly cities.

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Assignment 4 Reflection

Final Products:

It took a little brainstorming to get to this point in execution.

Typography is actually one of my favorite kinds of design. The main aspect of design is TYPE and we can do so much with it. For the most part, typography is rather simple, but when applying hierarchy, various fonts, colors, sizes, all come into play. Out of my sketches, I wanted to have the most playful font to attract the age group we were meant to market to, so I chose the two I executed. One is in a letter format. The first the I thought of was The Little Rascals when Alfalfa wrote his “Dear Darla” letter. Although my words do not reflect the letter, I just wanted a straightforward but playful execution. The second execution was mainly a play on color, font, and size. The statement was taken off of Letʻs Move’s website, and it is as to the point as you can get, but still leaving the circle 1/4th open so the audience can make their own decision.

There is always room for improvement with design, especially in getting the website correct (smh). But I believe, this executes the assignment well enough, as well as keeping in mind the audience this was meant to reach out to. The research was definitely key in this assignment. I couldn’t be accurate with my statements if I did not do some research before beginning. It was a great assignment that taught me more importance on LATCH (location, alphabet, time, category, and hierarchy). I emphasized on practicing hierarchy and location. Hopefully, that is noticeable in my design.

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Week 13-14 Reflection

In all honesty ---- I can breathe! It IS DONE!!! It was one heck of a process. Really, really. It was challenging, fun, stressful, trying, but it was all worth it. Julian and I did the news runs on Monday, we had our VIP event on Wednesday, and another news appearance on Thursday. This week was super busy with PR, but it was a great experience. It was quite interesting to get so much attention... I don’t think I really liked it. But it comes with the territory, right?

It is kind of surreal to actually be done with this project. Check out these news releases:

http://www.kitv.com/Clip/12370636/uh-west-oahu-students-create-special-video-for-new-luxury-theater#.VxVAK8iT9l8.facebook

http://khon2.com/2016/04/18/uh-students-create-a-trailer-for-hawaiis-first-luxury-movie-theater/

And here’s to working with an amazing bunch of people and ending the semester STRONG! WATCH THE VIDEO!!! I don’t know how to embed videos... sorry bout it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITO4Eqg8ENE

OH --- and because of our partnership through this internship, we got $25,000 donated to ACM.

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Week 11 & 12 Reflection

I thought there would be some sort of relief when we finally ended the production side of things... yeah, no. I fell behind in pretty much every class, sooo.. I am playing catch-up for the most part. But regarding the internship, the hype hasn’t really come yet. But we did get to see our trailer on the big screen, as well as being put in the Star Advertiser. That wasn’t much of a big deal, but I do know it is a start.

http://inthemix.staradvertiserblogs.com/2016/04/13/regal-kapolei-theaters/

^^thatʻs the link the article our faces were featured on. Next up, our experience on the news, and pretty much everything else.

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Week 9 & 10 Refelction

Soo... let’s just say we are almost there. After our advisors chewed apart our rough cut, we really broke down what we needed to do and how to fix it. Sharla gave Kevin the bright idea to simply “start over.” He used all the footage we already had and started a new timeline on premiere. That was the best we could do with refining the storyline. Kevin’s hard work really did pay off.

THEY LOVED IT!

We are finally getting there. During Spring Break we went to the theater to film our closing scene... it is beautiful! Yall seriously got to go and check it out when it opens. Prices will remain competitive with other theaters... so, might as well watch in luxury.

PC: MG

We are in our final stretch --- almost there. Thursday is our final day, then it will go to professionals for “frame-by-frame” color correction. Moving forward, we have a lot of PR to do. Catch me and Julian on the news, APRIL 18, and my whole group on APRIL 21. Hang in there, everyone!

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Here is mine and Nakoa’s project 2 design idea. It is to create a railing near crosswalks that the elderly can use to lean on while waiting to cross the street.

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Week 7 & 8 Reflection

So from week 6′s critique, we jumped into filming our opening scene. I don’t really remember who’s bright idea this was but...

^This happened.

Trust me, when I say, I was not quite comfortable at first with being the main character in the “past” so to speak. But, I totally rocked it! Didn’t I? Haha!

Moving forward from that -- it was a tough critique in Week 7. They chewed the rest of the trailer to pieces. I literally took notes, from start to finish, and that is exactly what it was, notes from start to finish. I am sure this is to be expected in the industry... it was just tough, I guess. This past week was all about making the story cohesive throughout the 2-minute trailer. (I am also including feelings from present day...)

But I believe, we are trying to put too much into 2-minutes. Not to say we don’t need a storyline, because we do. I believe we just need to refine our storyline and go from there. This is supposed to be about the westside, the people, the places, the food, the community, all the things which make the westside what it is. Did we get there? Not yet. Our final deadline was given to us -- April 12, 2016. Several people don’t think we will get there... I am all about DEFYING THE ODDS.

So I guess from here, it is all about refining the storyline, putting it together (again) and hoping our advisors like it.

stay tuned. pray for us.

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Week 5 & 6 Reflection

Since I am writing this post late, I have to try and remember where in the project we were at. I believe this is where we had to really zone in on editing and refining a rough cut, because our deadline got cut in half in order to show it to our supervisors/advisors (whatever they are called).

Week 5 was one of the toughest weeks on my part -- being that I had to relinquish control completely to our editor. It isn’t that I don’t trust him, I believe it was hard for me to let go the project and hope for the best because I am so invested in it (as my whole team is). I am glad I did, though. Kevin is a talented editor (talented in many things as well). I did fail at my job though. I was supposed to let go all control, but I didn’t. Every chance I got, I gave my input. The result was not the greatest, which leads me to week 6.

Week 6, Kevin worked tirelessly on editing together a rough cut. We had our first viewing of the complete trailer, and well, they didn’t like it. I could understand their feedback, but this time around, they focused in on the opening scene. There was A LOT of feedback, but in moving forward, we focused on editing the opening scene.

Stay tuned - week 7 & 8 reflection up next.

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