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Mastery Journal: Professional Practice

 1. Mastery: This course has helped me develop the confidence to continue pursuing my “life’s task.” It has also helped me see the pitfalls to avoid and how to deal with those who may not understand my journey. Finally, Mastery has given me tips on how to further develop my strengths and weaknesses so that I can be sound in mind, body, and spirit. It helped me develop my thesis presentation by building a strong foundation for my mastery journey. In doing the thesis presentation site I was able to look back over everything I learned, refine my best work and defend it with the proper research.

2. Defining Client Needs: This course helped me develop a new flow for my creative process. Learning about and developing mind maps was a critical turning point for me. I was finally able to visualize the paths to new innovative ideas. I was stretched during the sketching exercise. Now, I’ve learned that every design project needs to start with pencil and paper. The first ideas aren’t always the best ideas. We have to push our imaginations to arrive at the best possible solution for our clients. For my thesis presentation, this course helped me to show more of the process behind my work instead of just the finished work. I may not have sketched as many logo drafts as my peers, but I went from sketching 1or 2 logo designs to at least 25.

3. Brand Development: This course gave me a more detailed understanding of the logo design process and all of its moving parts - consideration of color palettes, typography, styling and other assets that complement the brand. It really took my passion for branding to another level. I’ve always loved the little details that no one else cared about, x-heights, the space around the logo, proper placement. It was because of this class that I wanted to go back to the drawing board and redevelop the Marrakech brand for my final project. My biggest accomplishment was creating 3 logos that were completely different from each other. Usually one stands out as the winner, but they were all solid.

4. Effective Copywriting: This course helped me sharpen my writing skills and learn how to create persuasive content for my design projects. I really enjoyed creating an ad campaign for the Lupus Research Alliance. I had never created a whole ad campaign from scratch before. Much of my inspiration comes from words, so it was fun to think of a brand as a person and develop the brand’s persona. I used my work from this class as part of the thesis presentation because I felt that I created a strong campaign for Lupus awareness based on the many voices in the Lupus community.

5. Design Research: This course helped me not dread web design as much. For some reason, me and web design just didn’t mix. After learning that even web design starts as a sketch, it helped me transition my ideas to the computer once I had a clear idea in place. Originally, I would have gone straight into Photoshop to “start” the layout only to end up spinning my wheels. This course helped me to break web design down into actionable steps so that I could produce a cohesive website for the sea turtle charity concert. Once again, this course helped me to focus more on the design process than the finished product.

6. Organizational Structures: This course is where it got real! I already had traumatic memories of Flash class from my undergrad degree. I wasn’t looking forward to learning AfterEffects on my own or creating motion graphics. Sketching storyboards for the motion graphic and the commercial helped ease my trepidation again. I made a plan to keep things simple and manageable. I actually had fun creating the motion graphic and the commercial! I used this project for my thesis site because I am proud of the work. Motion graphics were something that I never thought I’d be able to do.

7. Design Strategies and Motivation: This course helped me to develop a project timeline for my final project. I tried my best to stick to the calendar, but there were areas where I got stuck and had to go back to the drawing board. I decided to redo the Marrakech brand from the cities project. I discovered that Marrakech was known for winter sports, so I decided to create a brand that attracted a new audience through athletics and created a sense of unity in a culturally diverse environment. I used this project for the bulk of my thesis presentation because I was able to achieve the goal of not only creating a brand guide but also a design system with a set of icons.

8. Design Integration: This course is where the road became extremely rough. I had to retake this class three times due to personal external factors that affected my performance. I’m used to being an honors student, so being put on academic probation really sent me into a state of depression. They say that the third time is the charm. I hunkered down and focused so that I could pass the class. I bounced back from a low point and have had steady rise in my grades since then. The bright point during this course, what receiving advice and inspiration from my instructor. The focus of his work in media design was in developing design systems. He gave me tips on how to get started and pushed me to further with my project by developing a design system for the brand.

9. Multi-Platform Delivery: During this course, I developed the icons for the Marrakech brand. I studied Olympic design systems and how the icons were developed to be simple and universally recognizable. I also took a close look at how design systems unify design teams. I want the brand guide to be a resource that anyone could easily pick up and gain an understanding of the Marrakech brand and execute it with clarity. My biggest accomplishment was the development of an icon set. This portion was also highlighted on my thesis site.

10. Measuring Design Effectiveness: This course showed us how to develop surveys to test the effectiveness of our final projects before making the final tweaks and going public. I learned how to ask the right questions so that my respondents could provide the feedback needed to gauge the project’s success. The majority of the responses were positive and gave the direction I needed to focus on the Marrakech brand message. My biggest accomplishment was seeing that all the research and design work I put towards the brand was on the right track.

11. Presentation of Design Solution: This scared me a little. We were finally near the end of degree and now it was time show and back up what we’d learned over the past year. I saw how my work had grown and also how my research and analysis skills had developed in critiquing my peers’ work. I’ll definitely take the ability to give and receive constructive criticism with me. Again, the web design process gave me anxiety but I was able to execute it quickly since we used the same methods from design research to construct our thesis sites.

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Mastery Journal: Presentation of Design Solution

It’s been quite a journey toward mastery. Honestly, I came in thinking that I knew at least 50% of what would be taught since I already had some industry experience. I. Was. Wrong! I had to unlearn the things I had been taught in order to achieve Mastery.

Lesson #1 - Faster Isn’t Always Better

In the design world, speed is put at a premium often before function or sustainability. We’re driven to be fast and good, but are we really coming up with the best solution for the client? The time put into research and backing up the evidence supporting your design solution is just as, if not more important the visuals themselves. Mind mapping was the biggest breakthrough for me. It helped me find ideas I never would’ve thought of before. Sketching has been the biggest hang-up for me since more emphasis has been put on the final product. Initially sketching was just a quick scribble used for placement, but I now realize that it is the foundation for digital design. It even helped me ease into web design and motion graphics better because I had already planned it out on paper. 

Lesson #2 - Be a Human-Centered Designer

Human-centered design focuses on the people rather than the paycheck. We literally have the ability to change the world through design. We can help make lives better because we came up with a design solution that creates more income for a region or we helped bring a much-needed program to school! Design is so much more than making something look nice. It is an opportunity to affect the world for the better

Lesson #3 - Test Before Going to Market

Measuring Design Effectiveness helped me see the importance of testing a product on your target market before releasing it to the public. Seeing the results from the survey was helpful in allowing me to see if my reasoning were off or if they just needed a little tweaking. We shouldn’t be afraid of a critique. It can be what pushes us to our next design discovery.

This mind map led me to the discovery of winter sports in Marrakech.

Marrakech logo development sketches

Final sketches

Final mockups

Final logo design

Logo with icon development

I wanted to create a brand for Marrakech that brought people together through athletics much like the Olympics. The goal was to rebrand Marrakech as a place of unity and  with its diverse historical background and merging of cultures especially in today’s political climate of intolerance.

Storyboard design for motion graphic - Soca for Sea Turtles

One of the nesting grounds for sea turtles is found in Trinidad & Tobago. Originating in Trinidad, soca music is popular in the culture and a large following inside and outside of the Caribbean.

5-second motion graphic - Soca for Sea Turtles

30-second commercial - Soca for Sea Turtles

Measuring the effectiveness of the Marrakech brand helped me gauge if it was appealing to the target audience.

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Design Integration: Marrakech Design System

This month’s goal focused on developing the voice of the brand through social media and print advertisements. The brand voice is developed by the copy as well as the photography. Develop a brand’s voice is likened to public speaking. It has a specific audience and reaction or feeling that it wants to evoke from the viewer/listener. I also learned that brands speaking to social responsibility have the advantage of gaining more headspace. Having a great product is good, but if there’s a higher calling a brand aspires to it causes consumers to believe in something bigger.

In the development of social media and print ads, I focused on bold action photography and minimal copy for the Marrakech brand. I wanted the photography and inspired copy to speak for themselves. Since Marrakech’s brand voice focuses on unity and inclusion through athletics, I also developed the hashtag #WinningTogether. We win when we work together. Finding that Marrakech isn’t generally known for sports, I also felt that the URL MoreToMarrakech.com would be intriguing and easy to remember. See the social media and print ads below followed by the brand guide.

Social media ads for Instagram, Facebook and Twitter

8.5″x11″ print ads

Marrakech brand guide

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Mastery Journal: Measuring Design Effectiveness

This class has been really helpful in gauging the effectiveness of my final project. My goal is to create a unique brand for Marrakech that marks the city as a destination for sports enthusiasts that promotes tolerance and inclusion. In the current social climate racial intolerance is at an all-time high, but athletics have a way of bringing people from all cultures together. Much like the Olympics, I not only wanted to redesign the logo but also create a visual system with icons for each sport and usage guidelines.

I’m actually retaking Design Integration next month, so I’m looking forward to taking the findings from the questionnaire to tweak the brand a bit more and making the necessary adjustments. While many of the respondents thought the logo was unique and fit the creative brief, there were mixed reviews on whether they would travel to Marrakech based on the logo design while many would buy branded apparel. Some also had trouble understanding the icon set - trekking and horseback riding were a common denominator. I will rework the icons and find inspiration in other travel-related brands to see how I visually define the brand through various media outlets including social media and magazine ads.

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Mastery Journal: Multi-Platform Delivery

This month initiated the beginning of one of my career goals: developing a design system. I chose to redesign the Marrakech logo from the cities project earlier in the year. I wanted to find a new angle that no one had thought of before. In my research, I discovered that Marrakech is a winter sports destination due to the nearby Atlas mountain range. 

Initially, I wanted to brand Marrakech as a destination for winter sports. I realized that sporting events tend to unite everyone regardless of race or creed. In today’s social climate, I wanted to use sports as the unifier to bring tolerance and understanding to Moroccan culture. My professor encouraged me to develop an icon system. In my research, I found other sports that were popular in Marrakech - trekking, soccer, swimming, golf, and horseback riding. Much like the Olympics, I wanted to create a set of icons that were easily recognizable and had a clean, modern feel that would attract all ages. I plan to add expound upon the design principles, add the list of brand dos and don’ts, brand photography, ad styles and other design elements.

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Mastery Journal: Design Strategies and Motivation

This month I chose to focus on redoing the cities project that began in Defining Client Needs and Branding. My passion is developing corporate identities and helping my clients give birth to their brand. I’m shifting my business from the catch-all of graphic design to brand development - developing visual information systems so that businesses have a consistent visual voice that coincides with their brand story.

Learning about human-centered design changed my initial design process. Of course, we all want to make our clients happy but I had never looked at design from the standpoint of - how are we helping them change the world through this project? Sometimes we (I) have a habit of taking projects just to get the next invoice paid. Now, I’m making a conscious effort to pay attention to my clients’ goals no matter how big or small the project is to give them the best product possible.

Marrakech was the original city that I designed the logo for, but I decided to go back to the drawing board to discover how Marrakech could benefit from a new brand. A new brand could bring understanding to Muslim people and decrease prejudice or increase tourism in a new area. I began by creating mind maps for the culture, traditions, and geography of Marrakech. The fact that stood out to me this time is that Marrakech is known for winter sports because of the Altas mountain range that runs through the country. I believe that is a unique selling point since most design concepts emphasize the desert (palm trees, camels, sun, and sand) when thinking of Morroco. I’m excited to see how the project evolves from concept to completion!

Mind map of Marrakech’s traditions

Mind map of Marrakech’s culture

Mind map of Marrakech’s geography

Logo sketches that focus on highlighting the Atlas mountains/winter sports/snowboarding/snow.

Final three sketches - 1. Atlas Mountain peak, angular design 2. Snowflake, the points of the snowflake create the M and E in Marrakech 3. The sun rising between the Atlas Mountains. The mountains create an M for Marrakech.

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Organizational Structures: Mastery Journal

In learning that this course was about creating motion graphics, I was initially apprehensive. In my undergrad studies, Flash was a challenge for me but proved to be useful in my understanding of After Effects. By the end of the course, I discovered that I really enjoyed creating the motion graphic and the commercial spot! 

What helped ease my fears about motion design was that it started on paper with sketches and storyboards. This has been a common thread through the courses so far. Normally, I would jump right into the program and begin designing, but now sketching is becoming a part of my everyday process.

Now, I'm excited to develop motion graphics and videos for my professional and personal brands. I want to work towards developing design tutorials and webinars geared towards graphic designers. I don’t need to wait for a video production team, I can start working on my goals now! 

This is the final mood board created in Design Research for the charity concert. The event is set in Port of Spain, Trinidad a nesting ground for Sea Turtles. I wanted to capture the vibrant colors of the Caribbean but keep the relaxed by-the-beach feel.

This is the final logo chosen for the event. It was the most effective use of the color palette and the “bottom’s up” positioning of the sea turtle lends itself well to the motion graphic.

The motion graphic shows the sea turtle emerging from its shell. Designed in After Effects, I wanted to keep the animation simple, yet effective.

This is the final 30-second commercial spot created in iMovie after I got stuck in Premiere Pro. Initially frustrating, I found video creation and editing to be quite enjoyable by the end. I strove to remain consistent with my branding and keep the beachy, fun feel of the event.

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Design Research: Mastery Journal Reflection

My journey in Design Research quelled some of my distaste for web design. I’ve always struggled with web design. I don’t think I’m terrible, but it feels like what might take me hours, might take someone who’s more passionate about web design only a few minutes. Realizing that the web design process begins on paper just like print design, I was better able to translate my ideas from paper to pixels. I really enjoy creating mood boards. It helps me solidify my ideas and cuts down on the trap of “spinning my wheels.” I’d like to interact with web design from more of a creative director stance and delegate to other designers who are passionate. I don’t want to be a one-woman show. As my business grows, I want to accentuate my strengths as well as those of my future team members.

I did enjoy creating the concept for the charity website. Soca for Sea Turtles, highlights the music of Trinidad and the ease and breeze of the Caribbean culture. Plus, the Caribbean Sea is home to the hawksbill and leatherback sea turtle!

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These are the final ads for the Lupus Research Alliance campaign. I focused on giving those in the Lupus community a face and focusing on the issue of Lupus from different perspectives - recruiting scientific researchers, making the call for Lupus patients to sign up for clinic trials, and partnering with the LRA to create the technology that leads to a cure.

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These are my initial concept sketches for the Lupus Research Alliance Campaign. The target audience is lupus patients or those affected by Lupus, ages 20 - 45. Since little is known about Lupus, I wanted to develop an informational campaign that gave the disease a familiar face and brought awareness to those who could potentially be affected by the disease.

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Copywriting: Mastery Journal Reflection

I enjoy creative writing, so this course was a breath of fresh air apart from my struggles with time management. As a graphic designer and business owner, every course up to this point has shown me that I’ve abbreviated the creative process in order to be faster and more affordable, which in the end drains my creativity. Taking the time to sketch, write taglines from various angles and draft the ad compositions, made me think - maybe in the fight to be fast and affordable, I’m hurting my creativity because I’m not giving it enough time to develop.

I really enjoyed learning the various techniques for creating ad concepts, especially seeing if the concept has an evil twin. It caused me to conceptualize ideas from a broader perspective, instead of choosing what’s obvious. I learned that the copy is just as important as the design and should never be an afterthought.

3 Key Takeaways

Don’t be afraid of bad ideas. They often spark new and better ideas

Lower your expectations (Felton, 2013, p. 193). Pressure to be the best can often stifle my creativity. Lowering my expectations can help me relax and let the good ideas flow.

Don’t go with the first idea that comes to mind. “Bleed a little. The best work always costs you something and you’ll feel that” (Felton, 2013, p.192).

Felton, G. (2013) Advertising: Concept and Copy. New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.

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Brand Development: Mastery Journal Reflection

This course was a lot of fun, but very challenging. As a business owner, I realize that I’ve condensed the brand creation process to make my services faster and more affordable than my competitors. This process caused me to focus on every aspect of the brand - the logo, the feeling the brand evokes, and how the style is translated throughout different forms of media.

Below is my SWOT analysis:

Strengths

Education - 2 bachelor’s degrees in studio art and graphic design, pursuing master’s degree

Experience - Over 12 years of experience as a graphic designer - freelance and agency experience

Frequency - my business allows me to create on a daily basis at a professional level

Weaknesses

Isolation - I work from home and have few opportunities to collaborate with others. I have a potential to be a “self-referential” designer

Time-management - Working from home comes with many distractions. Sometimes it’s hard for me to stay focused.

Market Saturation - Tampa is filled with ad agencies and freelancers, not to mention cheap and quick solutions like Fiverr.

One person, many hats - I am the only person on my team. I need to expand if I want my business to grow.

Opportunities

Collaborate - I can collaborate with other freelancers and small agencies to build a network and team for my business.

Hone - I can hone my services down to ones that I’m really passionate about and look for team members that are stronger in the areas I’m the weakest in.

Process Creation - create a better process to manage my time and then teach it to other creatives.

Threats

Market Saturation - many ad agencies, freelancers, and online competition.

Client Structure - I love helping small businesses, but sometimes they don’t have the finances for design work.

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Defining Client Needs - Week 4 Summary

The logo workshop broadened my research skills and forced me to rely on analytical thinking. Creating mind maps for each city was a great exercise and enhanced my view of the culture and helped me extract key elements to create unique logo concepts and is something that I will continue to use in my process moving forward.

Although my critiques were kind, I can see that compared to other classmates’ work, I need to take the time to develop a myriad of logo concepts from the simplest to the craziest of ideas. The class also helped me fall in love with sketching again as I usually go from my head right into Illustrator.

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Defining Client Needs - Week 1 Reflection

I am currently almost three years into running my own marketing company. Over the past few months, I’ve considered shifting my company’s focus to branding rather than marketing. It had been a goal of mine to be a brand manager. I love creating corporate identities and maintaining brand standards. I realize that branding doesn’t just involve the visual side, but also the experience one has in interacting with an organization. I really want to focus on creating the visual narrative that defines a company.

In reviewing the live session, I realize that I need to realize delve into understanding and researching my clients’ needs, competition and issues to render effective design solutions. I feel that my creativity has waned somewhat due to the challenges of running a small business as my primary source of income. I sometimes tend to go into survival mode, just wanting to get the invoice paid, and only designing on a surface level instead of fully diving into my client’s world. I feel that I’ve hit a plateau and I know that I can achieve greater results for my business and my clients.

I’m excited to be in this class because my clients should always be my number one priority. I’m looking forward to broadening research skills and my horizons. The global campaign project is refreshing since it’s pushing us to think outside of local and national markets. I want my company to become a global branding force!

Goals for my MDMFA program:

1. Strengthen research and marketing plan/brand story development

2. Attain new skills in my weakest areas: video presentations and editing and UX/UI design.

3. Enhance my skills in Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign.

4. Strengthen my time-management skills.

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[Goalcast]. (2016, April 28). Muhammad Ali - Dare to Dare (Motivational Video) [Video File]. Retrieved https://youtu.be/2FaHw6yQX0c

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Mastery Journey Timeline

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