Collections

Below is a link to a presentation I gave during lecture last week showing one of my collections of "stuff" and how it describes me as a designer. The particular collection I chose is simply a series of snap shots of things in my room. As I've alluded to in an earlier post, we are fortunate as designers to create art that people surround themselves with everyday. My presentation shows examples of such art that I particularly enjoy. It also illustrates my theory that every individual should attempt to embody their personality within their living space. I feel I've always done a great job at plastering my identity all over my walls and always find it strange when someone lives in a house with a blank or generic decorating scheme.

View the presentation

Cakespy.com

Another website/blog I really like - I found out about CakeSpy at a craft fair in Seattle where the artist was showcasing her drawings. I love how this site combines adorable design and illustration with fun baking tips.

Thoughts down on paper

I spent a lot of time last week playing around with and combining typography, color and illustration to see what could work and what wouldn’t work as the new Blue Cross identity. I’m coming up with concepts for a revised logo and also brainstorming various presentation ideas – the most successful of which I feel will be “the equation”. Through the use of eye-catching pictograms, I’m hoping I can develop a series of equations using the cross as a plus sign. Ideally they will attractively and clearly communicate various Blue Cross calls to action – donate, volunteer, adopt, learn more, etc. The following are some placement tests of the various illustration styles and logos I’ve developed thus far.

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Art is everywhere, and that makes me happy

Our class visit to the V&A’s 20th Century exhibit reinforced in my mind one key benefit of being a designer – we are one of the few classes of artists that have the ability to create art that the average person can interact with every day.

Like any typical museum exhibition, the 20th Century collection sits behind glass. Visitors mosey along a well-worn path glancing at each artifact. If something catches their eye - they skim its description written on a small plaque and learn why it’s important. However, what made these pieces of art unique is that only a relativity short time ago, they were simply props in a normal person’s day-to-day life – furnishing his home, clothing her back, helping her clean the carpets or sitting in his office. The sleek lines and functionality of a typewriter, the playful pattern on a child’s dress, the organized layout of a car manual – all of these things were hand-crafted by a designer. They then entered and exited the consumer’s life and can now be celebrated alongside some of the greatest fine art ever created.

It’s fun to guess what things in my life I might find myself viewing in a museum one day. The computer I type this blog post on? The mobile phone sitting next to me? The trendy boots on my feet? What about these cool post cards we grabbed at the V&A?

Maybe even (fingers-crossed) one of my own future designs….

Business for Design: Logotype concepts

Here is a sampling of logotype options for the two business names I'm exploring for this module. I haven't applied color yet, but this shows what I'm thinking as far as typography and composition.

Button:

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Kettle:

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Takin' care of business

To ensure I stay on track to meet the Jan. 20 deadline for the RSA/Design Project A, I created this timeline and corresponding check list.

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Oh, hello friend blog

My friend showed me this blog a few weeks ago. Not only is the content interesting and innovative, the overall look and organization is really great. So many ideas for beautifully designed crafts. Truly inspiring!

Objects and Moods

The names I chose to explore for the creative business also happen to be names of objects that I feel describe me and my com design style.

Button

The object:

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The mood:

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Kettle

The object:

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The mood: 

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I am currently working on logo type concepts for these names and should be posting my ideas within the next few days. Stay tuned!

What's in a name?

My research for Design Project A to date has led me to one clear problem – The Blue Cross is not understood by the general public because of the ambiguity infused within its name and branding.

This week, I spent quite a bit of time reading through a very helpful text entitled Charity Marketing: Meeting Need Through Customer Focus by Ian Bruce. In it, Bruce delves deep into what makes a successful charity brand. To determine this, one must examine the organization’s “presented identity” including the name of the charity itself. Bruce states that a well-positioned name must be distinctive, relevant, memorable and flexible. Using this as criteria, I’m going to evaluate Blue Cross’ current name and branding scheme by giving a small visual survey to a small sampling of people.

Readers of my blog can check out the survey here and leave their responses in the comments field below.

Proposition - Design Project A

Below is a quick snap shot of my proposal for the RSA project - giving and getting.

Research progress - Design Project A

This week I met with a member of The Blue Cross media relations team and made general inquires about the organization’s general communications strategy and how the fundraising and communications departments are structured. She was able to give me a general overview and suggest other departments and employees I could meet with to learn more. She was able to provide a key piece of past research the company conducted – The Blue Cross Supporter Donor Profile – which outlines who typically gives to the organization, how and why.

I have written up key issues discussed but will not post them here in case they consider the information classified.

Also, this week I conducted some secondary research into other top animal charities in Britain and noted their apparent branding and messaging tactics. I noted what about them made them clearly recognizable as an organization for animals. I observed their use of social media and whether it appears successful or not.  I also researched other organizations with similar names that could highlight the causes of some of the confusion behind Blue Cross’ purpose.

I then took a look at how these organizations approach their messaging. Many, like the Blue Cross, take a conservative approach. Imagery is typically an animal suffering. This may or may not be followed up by images of the animal rehabilitated.

Dogs Trust:

Dogs Trust YouTube page:

PDSA:

PDSA "Well Vetted" online gift site:

RSPCA:

RSPCA "Give Animals a Voice" site:

RSPCA "Political Animal" site:

RSPCA "Think Pig" Facebook application:

The only one that clearly deviated from this strategy was the RSPCA. Though they discuss very serious issues, they are able at time to approach it in a humorous way. To quickly illustrate the different impacts – check out the overview videos of the Blue Cross and RSPCA.

Further research to be done:

Primary:

• Follow up with members of the Creative Services and Direct Marketing teams that were suggested. Request informational interviews
• Investigate other Blue Cross facilities (shelters, shops, etc.) in the area to visit and meet staff
• Continue observing everyday interactions of clients and staff at Blue Cross Victoria hospital
• Try to get in touch with communications team of other charities researched to get a firm understanding of whether strategies noted above have been successful or not

Secondary:

• Research animal charities in other parts of the world and note their communications strategies – are they similar/different?
• Read up on the psychology that fuels giving. Do those that typically give to other charities match the profile of the average Blue Cross supporter?
• Read up on the psychology behind companion animals. Why do people love their pets? What here can be exploited in messaging?

Research map - Design Project A

The brief I’m exploring is “Giving and getting” and I chose to kick off my research by looking into a specific animal charity in Great Britain – The Blue Cross. I researched the organization via it’s corporate website and other online sources – taking note of its resources and evident communications methods.

I then organized these notes into a research map that would help me better digest them and uncover further questions. The map I created is organized into who, what, where and why sections. As in:

• What can be donated? What are the resources the organization needs from the public in order to function?
• Who donates or could donate? Who should be targeted?
• Why do people donate? What are the motivations?
• Why don’t people donate? What are the barriers?
• Where can people donate? What are the touchpoints between organization and public where resources are donated?

I drew lines between the list of resources and the possible motivations and barriers associated with each one. For example, those without the proper living environment would not be inclined to adopt an animal while those with spare time (i.e. students or retired persons) might be inclined to volunteer.

Around the map, I noted various methods by which the organization could reach the public with information. Those noted in red were ones I wasn’t sure existed or I thought might need improving. I also included a small key at the bottom of the map and the key goals of the brief to refer back to.

I placed notes throughout the map to identify missing information that is specific to the organization (in orange) and further research that needed to be done on my own (in pink). I came up with the following questions:

Individual research questions:

• What typically motivates people to give?
• What typically motivates people to give to animals?
• The role companion animals play in society. Why do people love their pets?
• Do other animal charities require different resources?
• Have other animal charities attempted to overcome barriers listed? Were they successful?

Questions for organization:

• What demographic gives most and who gives least?
• How are various demographics targeted differently?
• Has any formal research been done by Blue Cross (i.e. focus groups, case studies) to uncover target audiences or barriers to giving?
• Media relations: what outlets are typically targeted (i.e. print, TV, radio, online)?Have timely barriers occurred due to recent economic changes? How have they impacted the organization and how have you changed your communications strategy to accommodate?
• What current partnership relationships exist and are they being exploited to their fullest potential?
• What outreach method works best in encouraging giving and which doesn’t work at all or needs to be reworked?
• Is paid advertising an outreach method or can you obtain donated space or work with partners/sponsors on joint campaigns?

Hearts

Just a small illustration exercise I did this week.

Designers I think are neato

Noma Bar:
OK, so this guy is actually an illustrator but I just read about him in a magazine recently and fell in love with his work. He does fairly simple but brilliant illustrations. I particularly enjoy his portraits where he uses familiar silhouettes of famous people or characters and then one simple icon as a facial feature that also sums up their claim to fame. I also like his pieces that use negative space to juxtapose two different figures to create meaning for each one. In the interview I read, he mentioned that the simplicity of his work causes people to mimic his style – which I thought was an interested downside and something to consider when developing one’s design style.

Sanna Annukka:
Again, dang, also an illustrator. I noticed Sanna’s work when we took the trip to the Design Museum. They were selling her prints in the gift shop. I love the 60s mod/70s feel to her work in the use of color and general shapes. I’m a huge fan of patterns as well as flat, minimal illustration and I feel that she combines the two nicely. I also love that her work isn’t limited to the printed page – it also expands into home décor and textiles.

Greetings from Jolly Ol’!

Hello to you, reader of my first blog posting – EVER. I set up this blog as part of my MA in Design for Communication coursework – to record my process and progress on the various projects tasked to me throughout the year. However, I may also use this platform from time to time to showcase some of my self-initiated work  - such as this photo I took today of me on a scale I found in my new bathroom. The metric weights just scream, “You’re in Europe now!”. It even shows weight in stones, which I recently learned equals 14 pounds (or 6.35 kilograms). Wow!