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The first nine initial concepts of the advertising campaign. The one that continued included taking a humorous approach to a serious topic. The final body copy takes on a completely different tone that has sass and grabs the attention of the intended audience. The body copy also makes connections between the mission of ENT to bring nutrition education and with misinformation perpetuated in fairy tales.

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4.4.2 Mastery

One of the largest learning points in the class Effective Copywriting is the idea of understanding the target audience on a personal level. The class looked at the target audience beyond numbers, graphs and grids to showcase the behaviors of the target audience as well as understood them on a psychological basis.  

This was accomplished by examining what motivates people beyond the physical. For instance, part of this process is looking at what motivates people as explained by Felton such as  succorance and nurturance (2013). In addition, writing copy is a matter of creating stories and giving life to the inanimate objects. As Professor Rogalle stated in one of her lectures, it is important to create a campaign that not only understands the target audience but also understands how the target audience responds (2020). With this in mind, the process of creating adverting campaign can be made.  

The first step in creating the campaign included creating target personas for the target demographic. While creating the campaign, the tone and voice that would appeal best to the target demographic was considered. The concept of “great ad begins with great concepts,” was part of the process in creating the testimonial advertisements (Smallish, 2014). Furthermore, in order to get over the creative hump, key processes included understanding the target audience, the design process in addition to understanding strategies for an effective design. This ideation phase and concept creation part of the process is my favorite part of the design process. It’s like creating a mini movie plots with each advertising idea. As mentioned by Felton, there are different types of characters that can be cast to tell the story (2013).  

The first couple of iterations involved a serious, generic tone which is either novel or appealing to the target audience. This would prove to neither novel nor effective in creating an effective advertisement for the target audience. A successful way to breed out the concepts that did not work, included comparing similar advertisements from the competition. Another way to see if the concept was really worthwhile includes weeding out the ideas that I thought would work but instead going for something that included taking a risk (Smallish, 2014). If something sounded too familiar or generic, the idea was worth throwing out.  

Once a clear concept was developed for the advertising campaign, the next step included taking the concept, developing effective copy. This started with creating a headline that drew the audience in with a sub header and body copy. The copy was meant to reflect an approachable, informative and sarcastic tone with the target audience. The final steps included refinement. Refinement of the overall design and refinement in the copy.  

This class was really enjoyable. I really needed to get over my fear of writing in this class and let myself love writing. The best aspect of creative writing is telling stories. Once this connection was made it made writing a lot easier.  

References

Felton, G. (2013). Advertising: Concept and Copy (Third ed., p. 241). New York, New York: W. W. Norton & Company.

Rogalle, E. M. (2020). Lecture presented at Week 3 Live Session Archive in Florida, Winter Park.

Smallish, C. (2014, May 24). Retrieved December 20, 2020, from https://www.linkedin.com/learning/designing-a-print-ad/what-is-a-final-comp?u=50813145

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12.4.2 Week 4 Mastery

Mastery: Personal Development and Leadership

This course really centered me on around the idea of loyalties and who I am loyal to as a designer. In one of the required book readings, it outlined the purpose of one’s career being to their career and not necessarily a company or a position. The course also spoke about the concept of mastery. These two items are what really propelled the concept of being a designer and my career path. It was encouraging to separate the purpose of being a designer than separate of the purpose of working for a company. Coming into a master's program was intimidating and this course was great way to get grounded.  

This course was almost like preamble to the thesis project It laid the foundation of being a designer, being a person in the design field and then having mastery in a subject. This was the precursor to the thesis project as being a being a final product to show how skills were mastered.  

Defining Client Needs

This class really shifted the framework from artist to designer. Before this class, design was an expression just as art. However, after this class, design was something created with purpose and created for an intended audience. This course really shifted to create a habit of designing with the consumer in mind and the target audience in mind. It also opened the door to practicing research and understanding the target audience.  

This course laid the foundation for the thesis project as my thesis project involved a real target audience. Prior to jumping in creating a design solution, the need to research the target audience first became a key skill was the developed first in Defining Client Needs. The foundation of the thesis project was understanding the client and understanding the need for the design in the thesis project.  

Brand Development

I walked into work at my design job, was asked to create a logo for a company. I failed with over seven iterations, then, I discovered what a branding was and finally made a logo that reflected the company’s brand.  

The brand development class not only put branding into perspective for being a designer designing for others and the concept of personal branding as well. Creating a branding statement was something that was taught. Personal branding was not something that I had thought about, but it was a great exercise in self-reflection during the course. The course introduced the concept of a brand being more than just an image but rather an experience.  

This idea of brand experience was carried through in my thesis project. One large piece of the thesis project was problem solving for the brand experience. The brand development class created a framework for creating brand and inner workings of a brand.  

Effective Copywriting

This course was a very challenging course. A large project in the course was picking an organization and writing a dissertation on what the brand could do to rebrand itself. At least when I was taking this course back in 2014. Unfortunately, there is not much more I remember about this course.  

The practice of writing a compelling story was a key skill learned in developing the thesis project. The thesis project was heavy on writing. This practice was essential in creating the thesis project. Furthermore, the practice of using writing while telling story.  

The skill of copywriting is one that I would like to further develop.

Design Research

Learning design research is a key skill in developing any design. This is a key takeaway for my career as a designer. Doing design research has been a fun process to and skill to gain as a designer. One of the key items learned in research design is finding out how much of the audience’s response can be controlled or influenced by the design. This created a framework for the thesis project.  

The thesis consisted of different layers of design research. This included researching what made an effective logo design.  

Organizational Structures

The course helped develop organization around design research. This skill helps in my career as a designer because it gave me a map of visualizing ideas and executing them. This skill was used in the master thesis project when coming up with the format of the webpages and designing them.  

Design Integration

A technical skill gained during this course includes creating a static and dynamic mood board. This skills is vital in the design industry and will be utilized while being a designer. The dynamic moodboard was especially enlightening because added the layers of motion and sound in the moodboard and brand voice and tone. Furthermore, developing a media plan is another skill that will be used. This skill was used as the thesis project for acquiring competencies as these are vital skillsets.  

Multi-Platform Delivery

This was one of my favorite courses here at Full Sail!

This course was a great putting-it-all-together type of course in which research, brand development, voice and tone were used to create a design solution while having multiple deliveries. One fun skill was creating an radio advertisement and using Adobe Premier Pro to create the audio. This was a fun, new skill to gain and learn in such as short amount time.  

This was used in the thesis project to demonstrate innovative thinking as well as acquiring competencies. Learning the experimental innovation process was showcased as part of my thesis project.  

Measuring Design Effectiveness

This course helped measure the design effectiveness of the design. Unfortunately, it has been so long since I completed this course, I not remember much about it. This skill is helpful in revamping and doing designs. This not was incorporated into my thesis project.  

Thesis: Presentation of Design Solution

Learning web design was a skill used in this course. This helped with the thesis project as it was the main format of presenting the thesis project.  

An experience map of my time at Full Sail Master’s of Fine Arts Program. There were hills and valley but hopefully I will be able to add this to my list of what I’m thankful for before Thanksgiving!

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Visual rhythm with the positioning of the imagery, title and text in the webpage layout. Sequencing of the presentation developed.

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MDM 690-O

Website Design / User Experience

Website design was a skill that was acquired during the course MDM690-O. The pixel platform was never used prior to taking the course. This is a key skill that is used in many design settings today as most companies have some type of website platform. The element of user experience was developed before, however, using user experience from the platform of website design will be used in the future of my design journey. Even though I might not always be the person in charge of the website design, having some knowledge of website design will help.  

Visual Rhythm in Presentations

This is a concept that was explored and attempted to be executed throughout the design of the webpage. The idea of focusing the audience with the evidence is another key concept from the course. In the first drafts of the webpage, the paragraphs were long and did not take the reader on a journey. In the final draft, the paragraphs were broken up and shorter in addition to having an illustration to explore the website.  

Sequencing in Storytelling  

One exercise done was to sketch out the layout for each page. The larger takeaway was the sequencing of the presentation from my perspective. For instance, when thinking of the presentation as the story, thinking of the different subplots and how information should be sequenced was just as important if not more important than creating the layout the design.  

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Example of innovative thinking

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Mastery Journal MDM650-O

Connecting, Synthesizing, Transforming:  

One example of synthesizing and transforming data is thinking about the overall creative thinking process. For instance, connections were made between suggestions Mr. Argo made and the overall creative thinking exploration page. It was interesting to make these connections between process improvement and the creative process as well. See example below.  

Don’t Be Afraid to Kill Babies  

"Don’t be afraid to kill to some babies,” was a profound quote by Mr. Argo during the second live session of week two (2020). Upon reflecting on this idea and the creative process, having more than one solution is vital to the creative process. Adam Grant in the book The Originals, chapter four explains how experimental innovators work on a specific problem but do not have a specific solution from the beginning but rather work through trial and error (2016). Through doing this, it means not putting too much investment in a particular “baby” or piece of design work but being willing to “kill babies” or let go of initial designs. Firsthand, killing babies was not pleasant in the moment but ultimately led to a better outcome.

Innovative Thinking:

Innovative thinking is showcased in the tone and messaging of the nature of the campaign. Typically, lean materials presented in organizations are dry and very technical. To demonstrate, pictured below is the Virginia Mason Institute logo. The typeface on the logo of the Virginia Mason Institute is a sans-serif font. In addition, the Gemba Academy logo is a sans-serif font as well. Both the Gemba Academy Logo and the Virginia Mason Institute logos have sharp edges. The Council for Six Sigma Certification has a serif font and very formal, institutional logo. Furthermore, the Lean Sensei logo also lacks a welcoming and generous tone as the movement of the typeface emphasizes the use of the technical Japanese terms and concepts. In contrast, the KPO provides a friendly and welcoming tone which is something that most process improvement logos lack as demonstrated in the pictures below.  

Acquiring Competencies:  

Skill 1: Week 1: Logo Design and Development  

Category: Occupational Soft Skill

Week one really allowed me to develop the skills needed to understand different logo concepts as well as logo development. To illustrate, one key concept that was mentioned during week one live session from Mr. Argo is the idea of the brand conveying is the idea of the logo conveying the brand message (2020). In addition, the elements of what makes a successful logo design as explained by David Airley in the book look Design Love, such as being relevant, and simplicity were explored in the first the first week of the course (2014).  

Skill 2: Weeks 1-2: Experimental Innovative Process

Category: Conceptual Occupational Skill

During week two, the logos were being fully developed and executed. One key concept Mr. Argo touched upon when he said, “don’t be afraid to kill babies,” is the idea of not being tied down to the first solution (2020). This concept is also explored by Adam Grant, in the book, The Originals, when exploring different creative processes (2016). The book explains how one creative process being an experimental innovator (2016). This process was demonstrated through the logo design. Overall, over seventy different logos were produced before creating a final product. This is a demonstration of both exhibiting innovative thinking and problem solving through trial and error.  

Skill 3: Week 2: Communication Through Typeface and Fonts

Category: Conceptual Occupational Skill

While design and developing the logo, the idea of using typeface to communicate was developed during week. Mr. Argo expressed during the first live session of the week, the concept of fonts communicating to the audience (2020). This idea was further explored through research.  In the chapter Creating Text Letters and Book Types, in the book Lettering & Type: Creating Letters and Designing Typefaces, authors Bruce Wiliam and Nolen Strays state the openness of a font can portray a friendliness to the typeface (2009). Another example of the typeface communicating different messages to the audience is the example of the type used in Janice Ramirez Arce’s logo design having a certain level of elegance as stated by Mr. Argo (2020). These ideas were executed in the logo development of KPO.  

Skill 4: Weeks 2: Audio Editing in Adobe Premiere Pro

Category: Technical Occupational Skill

One of the skills learned during week two of the mastery program was learning how edit audio in Adobe Premiere Pro. One function that was learned and utilized was editing the audio by assigning the layers to vocals or music. In addition, an effect was done to the voice audio layer as well as having the music adjust to the voice audio layer. These were all new skills acquired. It was a goal of mine from last term to become better at editing audio in Adobe Premiere Pro.  

Skill 5: Week 3: X indicator

Category: Conceptual Occupational Skill

One concept spoken of by Mr. Argo was the X indicator of how much space needs to be between a logo and the next object (2020). This was a new concept that was learned while creating the design brief and guide.  

Skill 6: Week 3: Design Brief

Category: Technical Occupational Skill

Creative the design brief is essential for passing down or communicating design guidelines to others who work with the brand.  

Skill 7: Week 3: 30 second Radio Edit

Category: Conceptual Occupational Skill

Editing is essential is making sure the commercial or content holds keeps the audience’s attention.  

Skill 8: Week 4: Layout

Category: Technical Occupational Skill

Viewing the layout of a page as a whole image or design is essential when attempting to create brand consistency as well as creating visual hierarchy as explained by Kristen Cullen in the book, Layout workbook: A real-world guide to building pages in graphic design (2018).

Skill 9: Week 4: Brand Retrospective

Category: Technical Occupational Skill

The brand retrospective is a great way to evaluate how effective a campaign is. This will be used in the near future in my current occupation in measuring design effectiveness.  

References

Airey, D. (2014). Chapter three. Elements of iconic design. In "Logo Design Love, Annotated and Expanded Edition, Second Edition". Berkeley, CA: Peachpit Press.

Argo, B. (2020, September 3). MDM650-O Week 1 Live Session. Lecture presented in Florida, Winter Park.

Argo, B. (2020, September 17). MDM650-O Week 3 Live Session. Lecture presented in Florida, Winter Park.

Cullen, K. (2018). Chapter 6: The Interaction of Visual Elements. In Layout workbook: A real-world guide to building pages in graphic design (0). Beverly,, MA: Rockport.

Gemba Academy. (2009). [Gemba Academy Logo]. Retrieved September 12, 2020, from https://www.gembaacademy.com/

Grant, A. M., & Sandberg, S. (2016). Fools Rush In. In Originals: How non-conformists move the world (pp. 109-110). New York, NY: Viking.

Lean Sensei International. (2020). [Lean Sensei Academy Logo]. Retrieved September 12, 2020, from https://leansensei.com/lean-academy/

Six Sigma Council Logo, S. (2020). [Six Sigma Council Logo]. Retrieved September 12, 2020, from https://www.sixsigmacouncil.org/

Virginia Mason Institute (2020). [Virgina Mason Institute Logo]. Retrieved September 12, 2020, from https://www.virginiamasoninstitute.org/

Willen, B. & Strals, N.  (2009). Creating Text Letters and Book Type. In Lettering & Type: Creating Letters and Designing Typefaces (1st Edition ed.). Hudson, NY: Architectural Press.

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Full Sail Masters of Fine Arts Journal

Jacqueline Douglas

Design Integration MD650-O

Full Sail University  

Overview of the material and concepts learned this month

Connecting/Synthesizing/Transforming

One example in which synthesis was done was during the voice and tone assignment. This assignment looked at voice and tone from multiple authors and sources. It gave different viewpoints on how voice and tone connect the brand overall. The sources provided included examples of different mediums being used to create a synchronized tone and voice of the brand. Multiple sources were used that demonstrated different examples to convey an overall arching idea.  

Example below:  

Motion Communicating Voice and Tone

The key characteristics of the brand were to be informative, approachable and empowering. As a result, the videos chosen for the dynamic mood board were realistic videos. I choose video’s that almost had a documentary-like feel. For instance, the shots in the videos chosen were often simple and static while straying away from using dramatic zooming in the video. Furthermore, the lighting in the videos also consisted of natural light. Megan Cunningham in the book, The Art of the Documentary, Fifteen Conversations with Leading Directors in the chapter called Cinematography, Cunningham describes how the purpose of the cinematography is to observe and capture what’s there (2014). Furthermore, the second characteristic of the brand is to be approachable. As a result, the videos in the mood board attempt to use everyday people that are reflective of the makeup of HealthPoint employees. The third characteristic of the brand is empowering. This is portrayed by the content of the videos. The videos showcase people celebrating and striving to complete different tasks. It is meant to portray a journey. The motion of the cameras when panning include panning upwards or forwards in some scenes. Including this motion further emphasizes, the use of vertical lines which portrays a sense of pride or having a positive as well as spirituality according Jirousek in the article Introduction to Design Elements (1995). The sense of approachableness is also portrayed in using the shapes of rectangles. This are familiar shapes and often gives off a sense of stability rather than using a jagged shape as overlay such as a triangle (1995).  

References

Cunningham, M (2014). Cinematography. The Art of the Documentary, Fifteen Conversations with Leading Directors, Cinematographers,

Editors, and Producers. SECOND EDITION. Indianapolis, IN: New Riders Publishers.

This book details the differences between filming and creating for documentaries in comparison to regular films.  

Chen, H. & Yang, Y. (2011). Overview of Emotion Description and Recognition. In Music Emotion Recognition. Cleveland, OH: CRC Press.

The book explores key features of music and the connection with emotion.  

Jirousek, C. (1995). Introduction to the Elements of Design. Retrieved August 23, 2020, from http://char.txa.cornell.edu/language/ELEMENT/element.htm

This article reviews the basic principles of design.

Problem Solving

The larger problem I was asked to solve was how to integrate the consumer into the brand of the Kaizen Promotion Office (KPO). This is the larger branding problem I was asked to solve. This was demonstrated in the reflection piece submitted with the design brief. The solutions were taking into the consideration of the consumer behaviors for the media mix. The first solution is how the brand of the KPO spoke to the consumer. The solution included having the office have a more friendly tone and brand while straying away from technical vocabulary that could discourage users. This problem was solved in the voice and tone project as well attempted in the visuals and imagery throughout the dynamic and static mood board. The two solutions presented in the two-mood board varied. The first solution was not the right path to take as it lingered toward a more formal tone which may have continued to sway the user to disengage from using the lean methodology. The second mood board portrayed more optimism by the body language in the imagery as well as the wide array of colors. Furthermore, the first choice while free from borders and rigid lines, it did not convey the same sense of empowerment as the last mood board. 

Innovative Thinking

The level of innovation was about the same or average as others in the industry. There was tension between innovation and staying within the brand constraints. This project was unique in that it was delivering a project for a brand within a brand. While attempting to push a mood boards that strayed away from using boxes within boxes, the delivery of the mood boards read more like advertisements than mood boards. Innovation was demonstrated in going out of the comfort-zone of doing a project that was the same design problem as the fellow classmates. In doing so, the breadth of the project was more unique, however, due to the nature of the project, certain delivery pieces were not very innovative. For instance, in thinking about the media plan, the envelope could have been pushed a little more to think about what applies in the office setting and the virtual office setting to create a unique product for the media plan.  

Acquiring Competencies

1. Brand Persona - Occupational Concept  

One large learning was the concept of the brand persona. This was mentioned in week one and then expanded upon throughout the course. Similar to an onion, the brand persona has many different layers and can be portrayed in many different mediums. It was really fascinating to learn about the different emotions that could be evoked strategically through design. 

2. Voice and Tone – Occupational Concept

Another key takeaway from the lecture is the differences between voice and tone. During the lecture of week one, voice was described as the skeleton while tone being described as the show of the message (2020). 

3. Tagline Not Always Speaking to the Exact Product- Occupational Concept  

Dr. Baldowski brought up an interesting question when he asked if the tagline should always call out the type of product or service. This was mentioned during the lecture when  

References  

Baldowski, A. (2020, August 15). MDM620-O Design Integration. Lecture presented at Week 2 Live Session.

4. Sound as Brand Extension – Occupational Concept  

It was especially enjoyable researching music and science of music in design through books such as Music Emotion Recognition by Chen and Yang (2011). If more time could be spent in the course, more time would be used really studying sound more as well as the relationship between sounds and branding. 

5. Adobe Premier Pro – Occupational Technical  

Brushing up on Adobe Premier Pro was a skill that was worth using again. Once again, if there were more time, improving upon light animation skills as well as sound mixing would be helpful moving forward. To demonstrate, in the following dynamic mood board, animations could have ran smoother to further emphasize the brand tone and voice (https://vimeo.com/user122315475/review/453095911/7a585e146e).

6. Mission Statement Development – Occupational Concept  

Developing a mission statement was a very worthwhile task. Although this has been practiced before in other courses I have taken, it was an interesting viewpoint think of the mission statement as the lenses in which to create the brand identity. This is important because no matter what industry and no matter what employer I work for, doing the job that matches the mission statement will always be relevant. 

7. Marketing versus Advertising – Occupational Concept  

In week three a few articles were required readings that discussed the differences between a marketing strategy and an advertising strategy. To demonstrate, in the article, Marketing and Advertising Strategies, What’s the Difference Gordon discusses how advertising is a piece of marketing (2017). Gordon also discusses how an advertising strategy has a specific message in mind towards to the consumer while marketing deals with product placement (2017).

8. Mood Board – Occupational Technical  

Creating mood boards is a skill in which I can definitely improve upon. To demonstrate, the mood boards created in the course read more like advertisements that mood boards. Mood boards are important in the design process because they provide direction and eye into the creative process with the design. 

9. Designing for Emotion

This concept was mentioned in week two as well as while I was doing my own research. For instance, this was touched upon when researching the connections between sound while researching the book Music Emotion Recognition by Chen and Yang (2011). In addition, this concept was explored while I researched the book Tragic design: The impact of bad product design and how to fix it by Jonathan Shariat and Cynthia Savard Saucier. This is an important concept because what a person feels when they interact with a brand can have an impact with how they interact with the brand.  

Reflection  

The biggest learning from the course was the idea of brand identity and how the brand identity is perceived within its customer base. The first week explored this through creating the tone and voice of a brand assignment. This concept was first explored in the lecture were brand and tone were discussed as well as during assignment one where the class was asked to create the tone and voice for a brand. This is a key business concept that can reflect everything that a brand does. During week two the idea of creating the brand identity through a mood board was explored. The research and justification for why certain images and color were picked was important to align with the target consumer. This was especially enjoyable and if more time could be spent researching the elements of design and how the target consumer views them it would. Week two also highlighted the importance of understanding the design problem. Reading Stories that Move Mountains: Storytelling and Visual Design for Persuasive Presentations by A. Nicklas Malik, Mark D. West, and Martin Sykes was helpful in gaining knowledge of where to begin when defining the brand problem. It was interesting to see the overlap between the methods used in the book and process improvement methods outside of visual design. Week three, the brand was extended into a sound and motion. Once again, a key concept during those weeks was knowing how to give the brand synergy as mentioned in the book Tragic Design: The impact of bad product design by Jonathan Shariat and Cynthia Savard Saucier. Although the idea of a dynamic mood board was new, the idea of having a consistent brand identity was expanded upon from week one during the course. Furthermore, the video critique assignment was to help give students an idea of what it's like getting and giving critique. The final assignment was giving the full design briefs. The importance of this skills is packaging the design solution to the client. According to the video by lynda.com called Running a Design Business Creative Briefs Terry Lee Stone explains the importance of a creative brief being an actionable document (2013). Learning to use the creative as a medium to further establish the design solution was an interesting task during week four. For instance, the project that I am doing was for a department within a company. Therefore, being mindful of certain already established branding gave another layer of the design challenge.  It was an enjoyable task creating the design brief as well as the dynamic mood board. As the project continues ot further understand the target consumer behaviors to create the media plan. Although this idea was explored when I was in Full Sail previously, being able to do the project in real life gave an extra-depth of understanding as well as assignments carrying a new level of importance and weight. As this project continues, it will be interesting to gain further knowledge of the target consumer’s behaviors and ideals.  

References  

Liker, J. K., & Convis, G. L. (2012). Chapter 3: Coach and Develop Others. In The Toyota way to lean leadership: Achieving and sustaining excellence through leadership development (p. 113). New York: McGraw-Hill.

Neumeier, M. (2016). Part 1 Flipping the Brand. In The brand flip: Why customers now run companies--and how to profit from it: A whiteboard overview (p. 147). San Francisco, CA, CA: New Riders.

Rea, L. M. (2014). Chapter 2: Designing Effective Questionnaires Basic Guidelines. In R. A. Parker (Ed.), Designing and Conducting Survey Research: A Comprehensive Guide (4th ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Shariat, J., & Saucier, C. S. (2017). Preface. In Tragic design: The impact of bad product design and how to fix it. Beijing, China: O'Reilly.