Final Blog post for the semester

This semester has been fast paced and hectic but very beneficial. The real life clients we have been faced with have pushed us to really think outside the box with the way we approach the individual business solutions for the companies. If I knew what I know now about advertising and everything else at the beginning of the semester I would advise myself to stop using grungy textures and really start to evaluate my own style and its depth. Another big thing I learned about the art of copy writing is not to be afraid to fail.  To just start with a blank piece of paper and fill it up front and back and not to worry if 99% of it is complete crap because all you need is that little bit. One big thing I learned about the craft of art direction is to really make sure all of your components are consistent and look like they all come from the same mind frame. Consistency is key to success and range is the key to a lot of success. That brings me to what I will be doing this summer to push myself and better my my chances of being employed when I leave her. I will be give my portfolio an honest look and to learn alot of new technology. That includes expanding my knowledge of garage band, flash, imovie and breaking out of photo shopping everything and becoming more hands on.  Senior year is exciting because I finally get to pick my group I want to work with. Also to be able to pick brands lend themselves to forcing me to develop a more flexable style. NSAC seems like it should be very interesting. I am not sure exactly what it is all about yet but I am anxious to know the client and to dive in head first.

Ecology of Water Ambient Idea

So for this weeks blog I would like to talk about a media arts project idea I had for my ecology of water class. In our assignment we have been assigned to create an innovative way to promote species that are sustainable to direct people away from fish that are endangered or close to endangerment. We were assigned spiny lobster in the United States versus the option of Maine lobsters which are highly sought after. We are attempting to catch people at a place where they are potentially about to make the biggest purchase of lobster in one place. At first we thought a 5 star restaurant would be best for our display but then realized people buy multiple lobster at the super market so we chose to go with Whole Foods parking lot.  Here we would like to construct two tanks. One would be bigger and other small. In the larger tank we would place a lot of spiny lobsters and in the smaller tank we would put a few Maine lobsters. This is to visually represent the amount of lobster available in comparison and to get people to take a serious look at how they are effecting the planet and its food supply. I guess my biggest question here for everyone else is do you think this is an effective solution and would you stop and take it all in and buy the spiny lobster instead of the Maine lobster.

Go big or go home

 

While thinking of ideas for our current project with Phoenix Ink I was once again cruzin' through the ambient sections of the leading advertising web pages. Lately I have been trying to use things that exist in the environment already and to take advantage of that. This ambient idea reminded me that ambient pieces just have to catch you off guard out in the public and get your attention. This stunt did just that and is pretty inexpensive to produce along with the fact that it isn't stuck in the environment and can be easily move from one place to another which increases its visabality. Right away this idea gets you because you instantly see the kid hanging and you wonder if it's a real kid. Of course it isn't but it captures your imagination non the less. It also plays on that old game we used to play in the back seat with our brothers and sister you know the one where an 8 hour car ride turns into biggest bubble challenge until it splatters on your face. I love this idea and how easy it can be produced and displayed. Bravo guys. Bravo.

The Zen of social media marketing

The first big thing I learned from this book was what exactly online social marketing is used for. The author makes a statement that online marketing doesn't build a company, it just highlights successes and story's related to the company. In other words social marketing shouldn't be the place where you try to immediately boost your sales but rather to share with others how you helped other people solve the problem your product is the solution for.
Another point made about tracking your success interested me a lot. It caught my attention because during my job shadow experience with Advice Inc the owner asked me my view on social media and how you can show your client proof of its effectiveness. I really didn't know how to answer this question at the time other than, well I guess you really can't. Well I was wrong you can. First you have to know what you are trying to achieve and then you can choose the appropriate way to track your success. For example if your tactic is to drive traffic to your web page then you measure your success by the number of new web page views you have rather than your increase in sales. Also to be effective you must understand where in the buying and converting process the person is in order to market to them in the correct way.
Another great point made was that about having a great website. In class we have been focusing on how we drive people to the brands web page and how we are communicating and we rarely consider the site itself because the company or brand usually has one to start with. When starting to market yourself as an advertiser or designer through a web page is critical.  Like the example they made in the book about social proofing and having everything about you appear professional and put together, the web page you have is the glue that the people on the internet are judging you on. This is very true because people look for congruency in everyone. If we are looking to date someone we watch to see if they way they act around us in consistent with their core values and who they really are. The same holds true with the relationship you build with your customers. They want you to look believable and then not let them down once they have committed to you and the web page is a major piece of that puzzle in today's technology based society.
The next big point I want to bring up is probably the most obvious about social media marketing. That is the point of communication. The book makes a good point about how you can't talk back to your Tv and have anybody hear you. Therefore you cannot us the same tactics to talk to people on the internet than you do in other traditional mediums. The whole point of the web is for interaction purposes and now I understand why integrating audience participation is so effective. It is effective because that is what makes the internet different. People use new things because of what new they can do for them and once again the internet is new because they can tell you their opinion about how they feel about you as a company. So use your online palace as a place to display good feedback from others because a consumer will trust another consumer way before they believe someone on the inside.
After all this complicated stuff I want to hit lastly on the most important thing of all for this over worked high paced society, simplicity. Whether it is how easy it is to navigate your web page or how quick someone can pay once your consumer has filled their online shopping cart, it all revolves around being simple. It isn't that as a people we are stupid and we can't figure things out on our own. The fact of the matter is that for everything you need there are 10 or more people or companies that can make it happen for you and make their living off doing so. Therefore which ever one of those companies or people make it quickest, easiest, and most enjoyable they are going to pick your brand every time. I guess the point to make here as I wrap up is that you really have to think about what you are doing and put yourself in the customers shoes.  The faster and simpler someone gets from point a to point b, then the faster you shall grow my friend.

Two ways of looking at things

 

Once again I bring you another well executed ambient idea.  On my search to solve this Quietus ambient challenge I have been skimming around looking for good ideas. I think this is a great idea because it does show the bifocal experience of being able to see up close and far away all at once. I also like it because it opens up the possibilities of using this same construct for many other ideas. The direction you view the piece can also be used to your advantage depending on the placement. I also like how they used the traditional signs that rotate images and paused it in the middle so you can't see both sitting in the same spot.  This layout seems like it could be a lot of fun if you want people to see one thing as they walk then when they look back they see something completely different which drives home the message. Overall a clever idea for the proposed problem the company was looking to solve. Good job guys.

Bad Writing Response

I believe the filmmaker of Bad writing was trying to communicate the art of writing.  He goes through many examples of how he believed he was the greatest poet on the earth at one point. I think he does this to show us all that at certain times in our life we can get in a flow of good writing and think we are on our way and then in an instant our writing can turn to crap and we might not even notice right away.  It shows us to take each piece of writing at a time and not to get ahead of ourselves and when we fail, to get back up and keep writing, no matter what. 
The most important things I learned from the film were simple things. The biggest thing I learned from the film is I am allowed to suck at writing. Also that just because you think you can write and actually write something good, doesn't mean it's actually true. The film shows how reading someones writing is like strolling through an art gallery. Everyone sees the same thing just everyone has their own view on it. I think there is bad writing and then there is writing that the individual doesn't relate to because it was not targeting them. Both can be misinterpreted as bad writing but there is a major difference and that is one thing we have to think about as advertisers as we target different demographics.
The concepts I learned that I can apply to writing for advertising is the quote he used, "Good writing is when the reader can find a little space to put themselves into and interact with the story". I love this because it reminds me that good advertising doesn't just tell you what to think. It leaves that little gap for you to jump across and feel like you were the one who got it, and didn't have to be told what to think like an idiot!

Bad Writing