Target Audience

      Ideally, we want as many eyes on our product as possible. The more clients and customers, the better it is for our business. However, that can't always work in our favor. In graphic design, it is important to trim the fat of your audience and focus on one main part. A target audience, big or small, is one of the biggest parts to keep in mind when designing a product. Without further ado, let us explore this topic in today's blog.

        Now, a target audience really can be defined as the main group your product grabs. They are arguably the people you want to focus on the most. To give an example, if focusing on kids, it's best to make products with flashy colors, fun characters, and play along with their imagination. If your target audience is the elderly however, it's best to hand out concise, easily read information that doesn't leave them too distracted.

     Getting a target audience however, can be more of a challenge than you think. In some cases, you'll have one group in mind, but bring in an entirely different one. Another problem is may you try to grab in another target audience but isolate the one you already had.  At the end of the day, getting things right will be a tough balancing act. It's important that you properly research these groups  and see how you can improvise going forward.

       One piece of advice that I found best,  was to first create something for you. With that, you can find a target audience easier, and proceed to learn what works, and doesn't.  With all of that being said, thank you for reading, and stay tuned.

Unlikability

      So, I want to believe we all desire to be liked. If not by everyone, or praised to the moon, then at least tolerated. As for what we create though, we might not instantly want it to be liked. Spinning off of my controversy blogs there are people who do want negative reactions to their works. Perhaps it is for attention, story purposes, or whatever reason. This week, I say we look into it.

    So to start, let's take a look at how we could portray something unlikable. Usually,  when we portray something likable, we hype it up, we think about what we, or our audience want to see, and then build it up. So to portray something unlikable, draw attention to what they don't want to see, and again, build it up.  Don't focus on praising it though, keep attention on the negative aspects. In the case of a story for example, show how the unlikable subject affects people around them.

      Now, keep in mind, it's best to portray unlikability, and not go forward to making something completely unlikable. Not to say it can't be done right, but keep in mind, you will have an audience. If there is too much obnoxious noise in a commercial, no insightful commentary about something awful, or no redeeming qualities whatsoever, it will turn people off. Whether this disliking it is intentional, or not, be wary with your portrayals.

       Remember, it is ok to have an element that is unlikable, just remember to balance it out somehow.  Main character is a jerk the entire time, have him get his comeuppance in an embarrassing way. Doing a documentary about an awful event, speak with knowledge on the matter, and condone those in the wrong. Just making something for the sake of upsetting people isn't a smart way to seem artistic. It is cheap, uninspired,  and shows you probably shouldn't be worked with.

     Once again however, thank you for reading! I hope you got something out of this, and stay tuned!

    

A Style For Everyone Involved

       So, last time I explained how graphic design was a two in one package for everyone involved. In a blog post from a while back, I talked about simplification, and how you need to learn to use it right. Now, I'd like to go off of both of them to talk about a third subject, style. I might have touched on this a bit in the past, but I want to go in depth here.

       In essence, I want to use the upcoming show Hazbin Hotel as an example.

Image courtesy of Ayy Lmao of Youtube.

     Here we have two designs of the same character,  but I want to put special attention on the stripes. The stripes on the old design are smaller,  and there are more of them, while on the newer design, they're bigger, and don't have as many. In general, one could say that the newer design is less detailed. That isn't a bad thing though, as it does make this easier to animate. One might argue it is a bit lazy, but keep in mind, this original design was used for a pilot, made by a smaller team.

     Now while one would think more animators would lead to more detail, one has to remember not everyone has the same skill set. You also have to remember that this is going to be a show out on more of a regular basis. So, a compromise was reached, and a simpler design was made. A style for everyone involved isn't just a way to stay distinct, it's A way to ensure the people working on the product can work on it. It makes it so the style is easy to recreate when it needs recreation. Say, not to many colors in a logo.

     With that said, thank you once again for reading. I hope my point was able to come across, and that you stay tuned!

        

        

Delivering the Message

        When it comes to graphic design, one of our most important jobs is to deliver a message. Whether it be an advertisement, a political statement, or just a joke. However, it's important to understand that we might not have what it takes to send the message. Not to say we are incapable, but there are certain factors to understand. For example, I just made a post about my less than stellar thoughts on NFTs. Therefore if I started advertising NFTs, and someone were to find that post, it would feel like I was selling out. So it goes to show, just because you have the ability to do it, doesn't mean you're the right person to get the point across.

        My reasoning for this is because when Covid made everything suck in 2020, celebrities tried (and failed) to raise spirits.... I guess. Look, I don't want to rag on these guys too much, I'm sure they had good intentions. I just also think that people in luxury singing about a world with no possessions isn't going to make me feel better. The point I'm trying to make is, what they wanted to give us didn't feel right. Sometimes, just because you can, does5mean you should.

     Now, who do I think did this job better than all the celebrities? Well... a frog puppet.

         Now, yes Kermit is somewhat famous, (depends on who you ask), and yes he is owned by Disney. However, Kermit isn't trying to relate to us, or trying to make us feel like we're on the same level. He's simply just... Singing a song about finding your dreams. One he's sung before, but sometimes we just need that message brought up again to help motivate us. The video doesn't have make you feel like your being talked down to, yet it also relates to you in the simplest way.

        Maybe I'm reading a bit too much into it, but I feel this video with a Muppet does a better job of getting a positive message across than most. It probably helps that the message is handled in a certain way; so it is probably important you know what to say before you deliver a message as well. However, I still believe that the right way to handle the message delivery is to be the right person for the job. So before any of you wish to express yourself in any way, be prepared to be the right person to do so. Once again, thank you for reading, and stay tuned!

Inclusiveness and M&M's... I Guess..

      

 Image courtesy of Mashed

         So apparently, the Mars Candy Company has decided the M&M characters need to be redesigned to be more inclusive... Ok. Honestly, after looking at the redesign being a change of shoes, I really don't feel this is such a big deal. Now, if their are commercials that follow this which explores the characters dealing with inclusiveness, such as mental struggles, race, etc., then maybe I could see why. However, it was just the shoes, so... Why am I even talking about this!? Well, keep reading to find out!

         In a way, I would argue that Mars is just trying to either 'get with the times' or 'get attention'. Again, the redesigns are fairly minor, and only to the female M&M's. I can understand both arguments where on one hand, this campaign is probably being ran by people who are just a little out of touch. On the other hand, people have tried to 'act' inclusive to get cash before. At least this time I will say it doesn't feel scummy, just a little overblown.

  

          That's honestly just how I think people's reactions to this have been anyway. This doesn't need to be trending on Twitter, it doesn't need to be a main issue, it's just all overblown. At the end of the day, it's a simple design change so far. I guess it does bring up the argument of, 'what counts as big news.' Which is ideally the topic I wanted to discuss here. I understand that the change to the characters would need to be public for the company to move forward x but the way they worded it was superfluous. Then again, so is the reaction it, and any other minor change could have if it was presented right.

 

     At the end of the day, let's leave on this question. Will the Mars Company show more ways to show the M&M characters as inclusive, or will this be it? At the end of the day, let's just stay tuned!

  

          

Manipulation

 

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                So, does anyone else feel media has been manipulating you to watch it? Do not get me wrong, I enjoy a good twist every now and then, but there are twists, and then there are lies. To put into an example, let's say you get excited to see a sequel to 'Harry Potter', and the marketing heavily shows off Harry. He's in all of the trailers, mentioned heavily in the description, and even dead center in the poster. You go to see the movie, and..... Harry is killed off in the first scene and the rest of the movie focuses on some new students at Hogwarts. How would you feel if you saw that?

                Now, a lot of this tends to happen as a result of studio execs fearing audience interest. Take the movie 'Troll 2' for example.

                     

 (I do not own this image, it is property of the rightful owner.)

                   This is not a sequel to the original 'Troll', but it was kind of turned into one because the higher ups feared it wouldn't make enough money. (To be fair, they weren't wrong to fear that. Watch clips of the movie to know why.) However, this does show a problem where one could profit off tricking audiences.

                 Now, there is one argument that I would like to bring up. 'Well, it never said 'so and so' on this poster, so maybe you shouldn't complain.' To that I say, you're right in some cases. Again, if the main use of marketing is focused on attracting the audience to what they want to see, only to have it be taken away, I can not blame people for being upset. Especially if what the actual product was focusing on was featured very little in marketing. Also, so keep in mind that this type of manipulation could be used to dodge certain problems companies could face in the future.

                  Think about it like this; you want a fast and tasty meal; the sticker on the box says it will take five minutes to make; the back of the box has several instructions you need to complete before the five minutes. All in all, good design and media should avoid lying to the customer to produce cash. It never works out for anyone in the end.

    

Familiarity

            Chances are, if you saw the image above, you would think, "Wow, that looks like a bad McDonald's parody" . Now, obviously you would be right, I just made this image to discuss the topic of familiarity. When creating this image, I had the intent of wanting it people to immediately associate it with the McDonald's brand. I wanted it the image to seem 'familiar' enough that you would associate with the restaurant brand. I'm sure hard I maybe taken out the words, and changed the colors, you wouldn't connect the two.

             So, the ability to recognize a product is very important. This is why redesigning logos is tricky. Sometimes you want to move your brand to a new direction. Be it because of controversy, wanting to find a new audience, or just an pitching an idea. So, in that instance, you would see a more drastic logo change. That being said, other times you more of less just want to update the logo or brand. In that case, it's best to keep some semblance of what you originally had, that way people still recognize you.

 

               Something else you want to factor is nostalgia, and people's comfort zones. A lot the time, you probably prefer the look of things in the past than now. So, since companies want to speak to the masses, they'll try to cash in on nostalgia, and lure people in. Whatever makes their audience comfortable, that will be the route they want to go.

               You can make your logo seem familiar to a place, time, or feeling. At the end of the day, whatever your audience is, you want to show them something they would recognize. Give them something they could understand from just one look. With that however, thank you for reading. As always, make sure to comment your thoughts, give any criticism, and stay tuned!

            

 

The Minimalism Problem

 

The following images are courtesy of PR Newspire, uiconstock.com , and seeklogo.com

            So minimalism can really be a double edged sword. On one hand, it makes logos easier to make and print out to consumers all over. On the other hand, it can make a logo boring, cause someone to ignore it completely, and strip a famous logo of their identity. For example, the third logo above is the new FireFox logo, and yet that looks nothing like a fox, just fire. The BMW logo above also has lost a bit of added intensity now that the logo looks more flat.

         Another problem with minimalism is that really it feels lazy. I honestly can not say if I feel much time was spent redesigning these logos, and instead the teams just did what corporate told them to do. Keep in mind, while they may not be the most advanced logos, they look to be easier to have on a business card, and probably require less resources to make.

         So Another problem with minimalism is that really it feels lazy. I honestly can not say if I feel much time was spent redesigning these logos, and instead the teams just did what corporate told them to do. Keep in mind, while they may not be the most advanced logos, they look to be easier to have on a business card, and probably require less resources to make. Another problem with minimalism is that really it feels lazy. I honestly can not say if I feel much time was spent redesigning these logos, and instead the teams just did what corporate told them to do. Keep in mind, while they may not be the most advanced logos, they look to be easier to have on a business card, and probably require less resources to make.

         Now what does this mean for me, and graphic design in the future? Well, it might show a future where everything is clean, sterilized, and no creativity really shows. On the other hand, if enough people feel it, we will get new designs that are exciting to look at, and force companies to change their methods. Only time will tell what happens. So once again, thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this article, comment below what I could change, and stay tuned!

Early Preparations

             As a designer, you want to make sure you get a head start on your next project. This allows potential clients to see you as a hard worked, but also keeps your skills sharp. Furthermore, it helps you keep track of any big projects you want to do for a certain holiday or event. So in a sense, it is always nice to have a demonstration before you need to show it off to a big presentation. As they say, the early bird gets the business deal with the graphic design firm!

                  So we have a few reasons why you would want to be early already listed so far, and there is more to come.  Having the ability to get feedback for future reference is always nice, as it leads to better products. Moreso, there is the added benefit of being able to move into the next project, stress free. Finally, I would like to point out that with deadlines existing, you need all the practice  you can to deal with them. At the end of the day, getting work done early is a bit difficult, but it can be fun.

                Now with that put of the way, I'll show off some work I got done early. Holiday cards have been made, so feel free to take them for anything other than commercial use. If you have any comments, please let me know with a comment. Other than that, thank you for reading!

The Effects of the Pandemic

     

 Our lives now.

      

                  Recently, I've been seeing ads on TV, in papers, and online where it feels like the pandemic of Covid-19 must be addressed in some fashion. Commercials for restaurants which urge you to stay home; pictures of auto-shop workers in cloth masks; political campaigns where one side blamed the other for the problems of the virus. It's a bit hard to believe that a 30 day shut-down has escalated so much into our lives that it feels normal. This has me thinking about how much the design philosophy has changed to reflect current events. I then realized however that this isn't the first time we've had to change it.

               Think back to the early days, let's say the first two World Wars, where propaganda against the enemy and support for our countries was through the roof. We were in an era of change, where we couldn't do things the way we used to and had no idea when we could go back. There had to be rationing of  foods and gas, new laws made, and even deals struck that created products in their form today. For example, the Twinkie used to have banana cream before we had to ration bananas out. Now think about anything today that could be affected by the pandemic in such a way.

Images from allthatsinteresting.com

                    I can already imagine food delivery becoming more popular after this is over.  There is also the fact people could want more focus on vaccinations for future viruses. So many things that have changed, so we need to find a way to design with it. Create logos for special masks, advertise new hand sanitizers, etc. I'm sure that as long as we stay in things, it will be alright. With that said, thank you again for reading, and stay tuned.

Recycling Ideas

           Recycling ideas is something I'm beginning to see is beneficial to design. Not as a way of being lazy because you can't think of anything else though. To clarify what I mean, imagine you just got done with a big personal project, but you weren't satisfied. So, next project, you take ideas you liked, and improve upon them. Another example is changing an element mid-designing because it doesn't fit, but still looking for a place to use the first element. Just because something fails, doesn't mean you can't fix it up.

             I know not all ideas are going to work, and some will eventually need to be scrapped. Be that because it was insensitive, not convenient, or just forgotten. So do keep in mind what you want to reuse. Just like with actual recycling, there will be need of some disposal, you can't save everything. That being said, we still recycle because in the end, this will save us so much in the future. 

 Just some images I was recycling.

               

             I mainly came to this after hearing how some of my favorite writers reuse ideas they couldn't find a place for in past works. As if they needed a change of scenario for how the events will play out. I also think about how you can do a twist with an old concept to get audiences offguard. Whatever the case, as long as you aren't rehashing ideas, you should be good!

            With that, I once again thank you for reading. Apologies for not blogging last week, but I needed time to decompress. Anyways, make sure to comment your thoughts, and stay tuned! Also make sure to recycle any of your own ideas that you liked!

Video-Game Marketing

       So, earlier today while I was doing my online class, my teacher said  a videogame doesn't market anything. Now, I'm not hating on him, but that line did get me thinking. Can videogames be used for marketing? To the casual observer, probably not, but if you look closer... They just might. For one thing, they market themselves in advertisements, which is so obvious  it probably doesn't count


      Let's go deeper though, since I believe a videogame can market something bigger. The studio and companies that make them. Think about it, good games could land a team more work. Consistent work output will  help keep them afloat. A company that publishes great pieces will in turn expand.

    Going further, I've seen games that can be tied with toys, clothes, comics, all sorts of touchpoints. So with that being said, I think it's safe to say they do have marketing potential. Especially when you have a mascot or engine you want to put out.
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Art Vs Design

                One thing people need to know is that art and design aren't the same. Design is to art what squares are to rectangles. All squares are rectangles, but not all rectangles are squares. It's as simple as that. In this case, all design is art, not all art is design. I say this as I want my audience to understand they can see a floating bag as art. They can see nature as art, however, the purpose behind it was never there in the first place.
               
                       
                  The purpose of this image above is that I wanted to demonstrate the seven chakras. There is a purpose behind it.  So, every element is designed as such, and helps illustrate the point I want to make.                                                                                                      The purpose of this image was to be a fifth-grade children's book cover.  Again, there is a purpose for it, and all the elements help show that. In this case, it's to draw a fifth-graders attention.

 This image, holds no purpose. There was no intention to making other than create something. It is art, but it is not design. I pretty much just turned my brain off when making it for this blog.

                              So, I hope you see my point. When designing something, always have a purpose behind it. Always have something to bring elements together. The same can go for art as well, if you want. However, sometimes you can just go in, and create. Thank you for reading, and stay tuned.