EXAM BRIEF BLOG

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24HOUR BRIEF.

Last week we had a one day brief which required us to team up with 3 other teams of 4, making the task a bit more challenging but required us to work faster , rattling out a lot more ideas. Our aim was to create a campaign which would get men to look after their health and visit the doctors more often. However, it was targeted at female's who had any relation to a male that could possibly help improve this.


The night before we all individually brainstormed some ideas and carried out some initial research, looking at basic facts about men and woman visiting the doctors. The kind of information we found out was expected: Men have higher rates of death than woman, most men kid themselves on and pretend they are fine but are actually not well and when they actually do go they are reluctantly force due to the nagging of his Mother , Girlfriend , Sister etc.


It was important to remember however that not all good ideas come from good research and sometimes that first wee initial idea from what your opinions were already could actually be a winner.


The next stage of our research was to ask random females and males to fill out a mini-survey based from a combination of team-members  development ideas from the night before. 


The first part had an outline drawing of a males body and was to get females to indicate whereabouts they thought males would be most concerned about if he were to face any health problems. 


On the next sheet, we had questions that were meant only for men regarding a females role in their medical life. For example :
" Who would they take medical advice from?"
"Who would be most likely to convince them to see a doctor ? " 

After this we gathered up all of our data and was time to draw up some conclusions and start thinking of effective ways we could advertise. Our main thoughts were that actually embarrassing the male and constantly pressuring them will make them go. We compared this to experiences when we were young when our Mothers would deliberately embarrass us knowing that you will do what she says unless the embarrassment will happen again. To expand our ideas we split into 3 teams and drew up multiple storyboards. 

Adding up all of the teams ideas we came to a final soloution which would mostly be advertised during nighttime soap programmes and in cheap woman gossip magazine e.g "Now" & "OK!". This would mean gaining the biggest possible audience and at a cheaper price because of choosing lower-quality magazines. 

We decided to focus on the idea of subtly getting the females to constantly remind the man to care about his health, staying away from "nagging" as this would just annoy him and make him more stubborn. It will also contain scenes of embarrassment for the male e.g the billboard scene. The feature will go through a mans day as he gradually gets more ill. Throughout this, messages from his girlfriend will appear at different locations that get more exaggerated as the day goes on. The man doesn't really take notice of the messages until he finally sneezes into the bathroom mirror at the end of the day which finally makes the message clearer. 

Here is our final Ad storyboard: 

1 - Wakes up to see a post-stick next to him.

2 - Steamed up mirror after shower.

3 - Bus stop advertisement but man doesn't take notice

4 - Billboard out of office window.

5- Sneeze in mirror makes him see the message.

"Eventually hell get the message"

6 - Campaign poster / Advertisement will appear on screen. 

(Doctor appointment cards with notes from Girlfriend on it)

We felt this idea would be the best approach out of all our ideas. It relates to our target audience as it takes everyday scenarios and shows the constant pressure a woman should apply to a man until he finally does get the message. We also thought that  our poster (scene 6) had a serious effect to it because it used a mixture of  personal emotional messages (using "do it for me" as a subtle  emotional bribery) and the reality of using important medical names like the NHS to show that his illness could actually be more serious than expected.  Overall, i think we did a good job on the advertisement . Our main fault though was perhaps actually not showing a female in the Ad, as it could be unclear to who is actually making these messages. 

PERSONAS & SMASH

Last week we received a brief that required us to carry out research based on different personas that could help to increase sales on the product "Smash", an instant mash potato.

My team decided to build a questionnaire which was constructed in a way that would allow us to create a picture ,  gain insight into their personal traits and an overall attitude of the kind of person we were asking. For example using generative tools like getting people to draw out their favourite meal in a designated circle (plate)  alongside the questions. 

We printed out 12 questionnaires and went off each with four copies to find random volunteers. Our aim was not just  to ask students but people at different age groups and professions so at the next stage we could split people into different categories and then would be easier to target different general personas. 

After analysing all 12 of our results we split them into 3 groups and thought of situations when they each use smash :

Students : All of the meals they described when answering the question "what typical meal do you cook?" were quick easy meals which meant obviously most students are lazy when it comes to making dinner. They also have little money to spend on meals and have other typical student life priorities e.g doing work and going out which seemed more important that spending time making food. We also found out that students rarely buy foods that will go off because of the risk of wasting money on food you will not use. This means buying unhealthy cheap foods, unlike Smash which is cheap , low in calories and nutritious.  The kitchen restrictions you have from sharing with a group of messy flatmates also meant wanting to spend little time in the kitchen. We found most of students favourite meals had a nostalgic homely aspect to it mainly being the stereotypical "sunday dinner" , with mash potato being a common side food in these kind of homely meals. With all factors considered, Smash would be an ideal option for a student meal. 

Young Professionals : We found a lot of similarities between them and students. Mainly the whole aspect of having little time to cook but for different reasons. One of them being due to having young families. However, they did show interest in cooking with signs of their typical meals sometimes being healthy but still admitting to wasting money on food that goes out of date quickly. This portrays that maybe their intentions are good but the reality is that they just don't have the time. So, Smash being a good alternative that fits their all around needs. A good point to consider when  aiming Smash advertising at young professionals would be to show Ad's mainly during the week days. This is because a lot of their favourite meals compared students were more foreign and adventurous  and would not involve something like Smash showing that perhaps they are "weekend cookers" because this is mainly when they do not work and have the time. 

Health Concious : They appeared to have a lot more time than the other 2 groups which meant marketing Smash at them would be more difficult. Their typical and favourite meals are cooked from scratch with most of them involving healthy foods that require time and effort to cook. However, based from the question "What is your favourite childhood meal?" it was shown that  homely factors linking back to the "Grannys Sunday Dinner"  were popular which means Smash could bring a nostalgic aspect to their meal. Most obviously it would be important to make clearer that Smash is actually a healthy nutritious food source that would be quick and suitable for them to have. 

Personally, i would find i fit in-between the common student and health conscious groups. Therefore, i do believe Smash need to stress its health values and not just its time benefits because before i carried out this brief i thought Smash was just an un-healthy cheap way eating mash potatoes with a mad Robot on the packet. I think also they should think about the name of the product. Personally when i think of the word "Smash" in terms of food it sounds like it should be a cheap candy powder that crackles in your mouth. . . . However, now knowing what Smash is really like, i have recently tried it with a meal and enjoyed it! 

Pillow Talk // Part.2

After this weeks lecture in looking further into Marketing Tools our next task involving Pillow Talk was to come up with rough advertisement that would be used in a appropriate environment which would effectively promote the product. 


We decided our target market were at busy working couples who live long distances apart and aimed to place the Ad in mainly public transport areas and in magazines such as metro and aeroplane on-flight magazines. 


The next step was to come up with an answer to "Why would you buy Pillow Talk?". . . 


Using the tools we learnt in this weeks lecture we thought of the "What's and Why's (irrational&rational)" of Pillow Talk. . . . .  


What - A tech pillow product with a ring , speaker , sensor, lights and a smartphone app. 
Irrational - Makes you feel closer, desire to communicate with your loved one, appear open to try out new tecnoglogy , look like a loving person. 
Rational - Able to contact your partner in long distant circumstances. 


Answer - A mode of communication which means that you can have a long distance emotional and innovative relationship. So you can look like a caring and loving Partner. 


With our poster we wanted to reflect the idea of long distance and the way in which the product actually works, showing the thought provoking idea of Pillow Talk. The main idea of my take of the poster was portraying the feelings you receive when lying on the pillow, a pulsing heartbeat from a distant lover. . . 


Here is my quick idea for the poster. . . 

LITTLE RIOT!* - Pillow Talk

Last week our class met Jo Montgomery, an former Digital Interaction Student at DOJ. She came in to tell us bout her company "Little Riot" and her current project "Pillow Talk" which consisted of two pillows, a ring which isconnected through a smartphone APP that could detect your pulse beat and then each others heartbeat and play it through a speaker inside your bed pillow. The aim of her product was to connect long distance lovers in a more emotional and intimate way.

Personally, when i first heard the idea of the product i thought it had its limitations because at the end of the day all heartbeats sound the same and the its lack of customisation and individual personality meant maybe the products life cycle would be rather small. However, its target audience isn't aimed at people like me, a single student who lives only a 2 hour bus journey away from his mummy in Glasgow. So, i can't fully understand its point and connection with a partner. 

This opinion would be the basis of my next task given to me after hearing Jo talk about her product. 

The first task was to again use Marketing Tools to find the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and market threats of her product. All of the groups pitched their ideas to Jo, most of them suggesting the different environments in which her products could be used and the different ways in which the product could be personalised to suit the relationship .                                           

I enjoyed this task as it put me in a real design situation that i could face in the future and hopefully as a class provided Jo with a few more ideas that will help her success. 

Week 1 - MARKETING TOOLS

The two main questions that you need to understand before learning the tools of marketing are: "What is a brand ?" and "What is advertising?". A brand consists of a mix between functional and emotional strengths that when combined provide an experience. However, advertising is the difference between you and someone else. It's subtle and isn't obvious, a good brand will advertise in such a way you will not realise and not noticing "plant a seed" that will change the way you buy.

"A brand is a promise & ads communicate that promise"

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This week i was given the task to develop a new proposal for one company out of the 3 choices ( DUSA, CATINA, V&A Dundee). In order to do this we had to use the recently learnt "marketing tools" which were: SWOT, Perception Maps&Positioning, "the 4 P's" (Price, Place, Product & Promotion) or "The Ansoff Matrix". 

My team decided to look at the DUSA. . . . .Our first step was to fire out initial individual thoughts through a brainstorm, using post stick notes. This was to gain a basic understanding of the general opinion of what we thought about the DUSA. After this  we sorted these opinions into a S.W.O.T (Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities & Threats) map. We found it hard to find many threats and weaknesses about the DUSA as it was already was obviously already well tailored to suit the needs of it's target audience, students. However, after acknowledging this we understood that students ages range from the young to mature. So, the next obvious step would be a Perception map. We made four of these maps ( Y axis - Young/Old , X axis - Femine/Mature) and did one for each of the 4 most important aspects of any student Union. 


The final proposal, was to make the DUSA more welcoming to mature students and generally more of a comfortable place to be during the day. We found the services during the day put a lot of mature students off due to the noise and a lack promotion towards a comfortable environment to relax and eat. Our solution was to simply make the entrance more obvious with outside menus or Ads around the campus with more information on what food they serve rather than how cheap the booze is. Perhaps, even having another smaller union built on another part of the campus which focused more on a calm environment with even themed nights and a more pub / restaurant feel to it. 

Assignment 5 - Planning for the Future

Before a designer can complete a clients project they have a variety of jobs to do before the final outcome. It is a big misconception to think a designers only role is to create the look of the project. This year I gained various design tools that can be used individually or as a team, through connecting with people and resources to come up with more valuable information.

In Semester 1 we were to expand from an initial topic derived from a chapter in the book “The Tipping Point” by Malcolm Gladwell. I decided to use “Chapter 4: The Power of Context : Bernie Goetz and the Rise and Fall of New York” which Gladwell discussed how a few small but influential changes in the environment of New York city allowed a major reduction in crime. He cites the fact that a number of New York City agencies began to make decisions based on the “Broken Windows theory”, meaning to stop un-attending to things that need changed which are right in front of you such as graffiti and drug abuse. Next, through various techniques such as brainstorms, mind maps and reading secondary information it led to the discussion of Americas large number of varied cultures ( mainly blacks and white) and divides. Also their laws on accessing a firearm and the roots behind Americas organised crime. This would be the basis of my final assignment of Semester 1.

Now for this assignment I have to develop Semester 1s work into a research proposal using one or more of the four methods I have used in completing this Semesters assignments. It could either be through an interview, analysis of images and what they mean, using the concept of Ethnography by experiencing environments which are designed for others or the analysis of someone’s personal environment such as their bedroom.

The problem for me trying to include a brief reference to the research from Semester 1 would be the difficulty in gaining access to valid first-hand information from a relevant person or environment. Also, the nature of the topics I researched could be rather dangerous to use when approaching someone of relevance. For example, interviewing an ex-gang member who has previously been involved in organised crime. Thus, I believe the main method in my case would be using relevant found images and showing why you should not judge something by the way it looks and discarding the story behind the image. However, I believe there is a way around most of the methods in proposing an expansion on my research, some being more appropriate than others. In this case, looking at my research in a broader scale, not just looking at America but Britain too. This will mean first-hand information will be easier to access and adding a depth into my investigation, looking at the relationship between American and British crime cultures.

My proposal is using a combination of the “what images mean” and “interview” methods. Firstly I would show, to a neutral candidate, images that relate to the varied cultures of America and Britain. The images will portray subtlety the crime and violence in these cultures. Throughout the procedure I will record their thoughts and feelings . The reason I chose to use this as my main method is because it builds a good initial starting point before the interview. I believe this because I found from my “What Images Mean” assignment in Semester 2 that usually an image can create instant emotions and feelings towards the subject without usually knowing the story behind it which is a major problem when discussing crime and culture. For example, a lot of Hip Hop album covers subtlety suggest the cultures inside a black society and shows the crime within it. Also, movie advertisements can be used for the same purpose. Obviously hiding any texts or connotations that help the viewer.

I think this part of the proposal would be more of a general learning experience to gain an understanding of common views of the society. Also, it will be difficult to find images that are truthful of what actually goes on and not just how they are wanting to be perceived.

The next stage would be to find a suitable candidate to interview who relates back in some way to your chosen image. You would use the information gained from your first candidates reactions compared to the real stories of whoever you are interviewing. Creating a mind map based on the main question and idea your first candidate built from the images, expanding into more in-depth personal questions. For example, the person you are interviewing could be a black person who has experienced racism, a police officer who has dealt with scenes of cultural violence or if you have links to someone in America or Britain who has experienced areas that are effected by problems such as gun crime. Organising an interview through an online tool such as “Skype” could be used if the candidate lives at an un-reachable distance.

However, I feel due to the fact that I could be interviewing someone who may be reluctant to give out information regarding criminal activities that I should approach the whole procedure carefully. I found from previous assignments, a slow build up of questions is needed before asking anything too personal, using key words to trigger the right kind of answers. Most importantly, gaining trust from my candidate.

These two techniques will be of main use to my research. However, the other method I have also previously tested might be used in a later stage. Using the method of Ethnography could be used as a further expansion. For example, my hometown of Glasgow suffers from a great deal of sectarianism between the two football clubs “Rangers” and “Celtic”. Each team having their own unique society and culture. Visiting either of these two teams stadiums during a match would give insight into what its like to be part of the team and how they work. Possibly witnessing some of violence connected to these two teams. This would act as a good comparison to the sort crime America experiences, as they rarely have this problem within sport.

I plan to carry out my proposal within two months after finalizing the questions that will be asked. Adding to this, I think my main difficulty will be finding the people I would talk to and how I would contact them, with a further month to review the information, finding balanced links between American and British cultural crime. I believe most of this project would be done alone due to the seriousness of the topics. Over crowding the research could cause problems when gaining relations with the people I will interact with.

Assignment 4 - Interviews

For Assignment 4 we were asked to construct an interview with a person who doesn't know you based around a chosen question that related to one of this semesters previous assignments. The question i decided to use was "What is most valuable to you?". The whole point of this was not to prove anything but how to access meaningful  in-depth data which can then be used through a design process.

I sketched up a mind map of how i would expand on my question and most effectively receive the best answer from my volunteer. I ended up with 9 basic questions, some having variable options depending on what is initially most valuable to them. . . 

I used my flatmates friend from class "Gavin" who i had only met twice before. . . 

The first stage of my interview was to choose an environment which would help Gavin feel comfortable and relaxed in answering my questions. I decided to carry out the interview in his own flat, accompanied by my flatmate, as this would ease any feeling of any awkwardness / shyness. At first i decided to play along with the kind of question i  was about to ask, telling him "its a difficult question but everyone has something . It could be from a family member to a physical object". Next, i asked the first question : What is most valuable to you? After slight hesitation and with a slight smirk on his face he answered "My Car". From this i began asking simple questions like "When and where did you get it?". Once i reached question 4 "What makes it yours?" i began to gather a sense of what Gavin's current life is like and perhaps how being a student has effected the way he treats his possessions. As he answered "my personal registration plate and not having to share it with anyone" suggested that it means a lot to him to have something with your own mark on it that can only be used by yourself and having to share e.g with your student flatmates.  I noticed after this question he seemed more relaxed in the interview, giving more in-depth answers, adding extra bits of information. Thus showing that easing slowly into personal information takes time and carefully planned previous stages. 

Gavins answer to question 6 "Do you like it as much now from when you first bought it?" surprised me as he portrayed he wasn't fully happy with his valuable possession. I was expecting a different answer. The final two questions ended well.  I received a deeper insight into why his car his most valuable to him. The fact that his Dad bought it for him and that he would only trust his family with it shows that he believes they simply have the right to. It also shows how Gavin perceived the word "value", meaning he chose his most expensive possession but shows personal insight because he would only let his family the right to use his most expensive object, not his friends.

Overall, i believe my interview technique worked fairly well. I learned that there is always a key word in the main question that will play a major roll in what you have learned at the end. Also, that different people will have a different understanding of how they perceive this word. In my case, the word "value" was important as i can understand now that its difficult to describe a personal feeling towards something which the interviewer may not feel the same about. Also, that it takes time to understand someones personal feelings and that you have to explore it at all angles. 

Assignment 3 - Casino

From this assignment my aim was to understand the concept of Ethnography , an idea that helps in designing enviroments for others. In order of doing so, i visited the local Gala Casino with a group of friends because this was an unfamiliar enviroment to me, making me feel awkard and more observant of the way a people behave inside a  Casino.

 I reluctantly decided not to drink alchohal before entering the Casino, as this would of probably affected my observation skills. This was my first ever visit to a Casino. Beforehand, all i knew was  from what i had seen in one of my favourite movies, "Casino",  starring Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci. The film shows an indepth understanding of how a Casino works, alongside the usual Martin Scorsese themes of Greed, deception, money, power, and murder  between two mobster best friends and a trophy wife.

I decided at the cash machine outside the Casino , since this was my first time and to experiance this in full  that myself should try my hand at a small £10 limit gamble (which i would soon loose a quick 30minutes later). Before entering the main gambling rooms of the Casino, i was comfronted by a 20stone Bouncer at the entrance who demanded for my I.D . This was all done without a smile or any form of pleasentness. Straight away this made me feel uncomfortable and rather intimidated. At this point, i started to think if this was all an act of the Bouncers roll in the Casino so from the second you enter , it was made clear that the rules of the Casino will not be broken.

My next stage was to become a member of the Casino which meant filling out a small form and once again showing proof of identity. This idea of "Members Only" and physically having a members card with my name on it made me feel more at ease. Thus more confident in spending my money gambling.

Entering the main hall of gambling i was hit with buzz of noise and flashing lights. It was hard to stay focused on anything because of what was happening around me. I walked around for around 30seconds before making my first bet on the Roulette table (loosing my first £5) , the only game i was familiar with. I felt that i had to sit down as there was little movement around the gambling areas. The colour Blue seemed to be everywhere, a tactic used by the Casino because Blue has a relaxing effect on the mind and body making you more confident and calm. After my first loss , i decided to sit out of the way and observe.

There was a lot going on to keep your head on track making you feel sick and dizzy. However, I noticed there was no windows in the main hall, making it all seem very personal which led onto observing the type of people inside the Casino. Apart from the common group of drunk students who were simply grabbed in by the bright lights and chance at doubling their student loan , there was a much deeper side. There was alot of Asians gambling at high stakes. I believe this is due partly to the Asian culture being very big on the concept of "Luck" and "Fate" . Two major factors which were being shown all around the Casino. However, the Asians did seem most happy out of all groups which shows that they may just accept a loss as its just the way it was meant to be.

Most gamblers looked as if they were kidding themselves on, certain they were always going to win. Mainly,  the older male which dominated most of the Casino. In a way, it was a sad sight . I eventually gathered the feeling some of them were gambling their families away by the look of it . In one case, a middle age man sat with his head down talking to himself fiddling with his small stack of poker chips.

It was eay to tell who was winning. I found whoever was standing seemed to be the happiest looking and most animated. The seating arrangements around the machines and tables were backless stools , not designed for comfort. This portraying the quick snappy decisions the Casino want its customers to make. Oppositely, the bar and restraunt area is simply a gimic to the customer , making them feel comfortable before entering the mind-controlling gambling arena. 

Ethnography allows us to understand beyond what we just simply see infront of us. It gives us an insight into how the world is designed for different purposes , showing varying patterns and behaviours that we can understand both immediately and reflectively.

Assignment 2 - What images mean

In this assignment i was asked to show 3 advertisements with all typography removed from the image so there was no obvious sign of what product was  being advertised.  I cropped these 3 images and presented them to a group of 3 people, asking each what the image made them feel like and think about :

Joshua : Uncomfortable, Amused , Practical Jokes and Drag Queens.

Jaime : Confused , Interested , Funny , Sleep and Tiredness.
Ben : Clean , Creeped , Homosexuals and Woman.

Joshua : Dispair , Shame , Athletes and Steroids.

Jaime : Dark , Evil , Unhappy , Hairloss and Exercise.
Ben : Anger , Cold , Manly , Brutality and Warriors.

Joshua : Lust , Attractive , Good Health and Hair Products.

Jaime : Sexy, Beuty , Lesbians , Purity , Clothes and Angels.
Ben : Clean , Happy , Closeness , Elegant , Hair Products and Angels.

Overall, i believe this experiment went pretty well. As a Graphic Designer it opened my eyes further to the power of typography and the difference it can make . Most importantly how a smartly chosen image can speak for more than words. Especially, in the final image when "Ben" mentioned the word "clean" as it portrays the tounge and cheek  style the advert is using when selling Virgin Olive Oil . In other cases , for example the second image , the phrase "natural extracts" and the product itself were needed alongside the image of the male as it alone suggested different ideas. The first image was a good example of creating postive emotions towards the product , making its audience feel amused and most importantly , interested. Also , i found out most of the time people read images by what they only see in the subject and not the story behind it or who else may be involved in whats happening.

Assignment 1 - Semester 2 - Room Inspector .

I found this activity very interesting but yet quite creepy . Its one of those things that is rather obvious but would never cross your mind. Each little detail or object sitting your room were you sleep , eat and drink every day and night can give away so much about you. Now when i look around my room i notice little details which directly relfect my personality. For example , i learnt that i am actually influenced greatly by my big brother because of the layout of my bed covers and pillows. . . . which is something i had`nt actually noticed before. From a designers point of view i have learnt that it is important to add your own personality into your work , so that you will stand out for being yourself and oppositely to look closer into your work , asking others what they think and if they can spot any of your habits which could be loosing you marks.

From analysing the photos sent from my randomly assigned partner i`m pretty confident i now know alot about a person who i had never spoken to before in my life. Straight away i could tell he liked to travel as there is various maps on his wall , a clock shaped like a ships helm , alongside a poster of the famous New York builders hanging from a piece of foundation thousands of feet above the ground, which suggested to me further he may be a risk taker. Linking to this , there a paintball gun and helmet hung on his wall. His large DVD collection gave me the idea that his interests and personal life could be influenced by his obvious passion for film. Next, i noticed that he was rather technical as there is posters of various computer model diagrams , 3d structures , cutting boards and a light box . Most importantly , a poster of Da Vincis perfect dimension of a male body . This showed me that he obviously takes great interest in his University course IED , which is known as a very tech course. Adding to this idea , a sense of organisation was gatherd from his amount of notes on his wall. His clothes all are natural coloured and a the two pair of slippers next to his bed told me that he is a man of comfort. I noticed a from a small photo of him and girl on his cabnet , with the girl having the same noticable golden coloured hair as him , which suggested that the girl is his sister and family is very important to him. I believe the most crucial point gathered was his collection of various sentamental objects like his Christmas cards and various pamplets taking great pride on his wall which told me alot of past
memorys are of great importance to him.