Reflection: Junior Year

I believe the most important lesson I've learned about copywriting and art direction is there is no easy way to get to the final solution. Both of these things requite trying and trying again if the first creative solution doesn't seem to be working. This has been the first year that I've had to re-concept a project just a few days before the final files are due to the client. I found that the most useful way to have an extremely successful campaign is to have a solid concept in the beginning so that you have plenty of time to go back and edit both copy and art direction. This also allows some time to experiment with different looks and diction for the client.

If I knew what I know now at the beginning of this year, I would have started pulling together my professional portfolio and resume way earlier that I had started. I am very upset that I was slow in doing this, and now I do not have a summer internship. This is going to slow down the actual hiring process a year from now. This summer I plan on scanning many of my sketches and doing some extra poster work on the side to add to my portfolio. I really look forward to working on my design and illustration!

As next year approaches, I'm looking forward to the experience that I will gain from participating in the N.S.A.C. However, I think that I'm most excited about finally seeing all that I have learned while I've been at Ringling come to a close. Next year at this time, we will all see how the education that we've gained will pay off. I am really looking forward optimistically to getting a great job at a reputable agency. I am greatly anticipating graduation day!

Social Media Marketing a Waste of Time?

I was browsing adweek recently and saw a headline that caught my attention. Social Traffic Worth Less to Publishers Than Search: Study claims search links bring more engaged visitors.

Honestly, I'm glad a group has taken the time to do a study on the accuracy of social media marketing. The article states that only eleven percent of personal website traffic is generated by social media, opposed to forty one percent generated by searches and direct visits. The organization who conducted the study, Outbrain, also found that the visitors from the social networks stay on companies web pages for less time than that of direct web traffic.

I find that the only reason social trafficking works at all is because of boredom. Most people surfing around on Facebook and Twitter are looking to waste some time and are probably not legitimately interested in your company, even if they love your product. (The article also suggests that these numbers are a bit skewed, depending on the product or service. For example, sports sites have less than five percent of their traffic come from social media.)

I am just happy to hear that social media isn't the final marketing frontier. I am personally pretty sick of coming up with the same ideas for sites like Facebook and Twitter. I think social media, at this point to our generation is getting a bit old. I am very ready to find another way of communicating a brand's personality to the consumer.

I've Got Some Creative Beef..

I was browsing through some other advertising blogs this weekend and stumbled across one that discussed the current job market. The poster talks about how lame some creative advertising applicants have become.

This links to Creative Beef's Blog

I'll be the first to admit that this post makes me nervous. If the job market is sparse now, imagine what we have to look forward to in the coming year. I'm hoping we will have an advantage, being that we'll be fresh out of school and cheap to hire. However, cheap work and free work are not quite the same. I mean, what would you choose, cheap pancakes or free ones? I just feel more and more discouraged each day. The pressure of having a dozen internships before anyone will hire you is just ridiculous. I know that this is something that shouldn't be discounted, but I find it frustrating that I'm supposed to work at a handful of agencies before I get any money!

How is everyone else feeling about this? I hope I'm not the only one scared of finding a summer internship in time..

The Zen of Social Media

I guess I'll start by putting up a fool proof chart on the differences between traditional marketing and social media marketing.


I think there are a few interesting points made in chapter three about the delicacies of the social media platform:

The author of the book, Shama Hyder Kabani, makes a point in differentiating traditional marketing and social media marketing by noting that social media is a dialog... not a monologue like traditional advertising. She has also stated that there are many negative repercussions to trying to control this conversation. A while ago there was a CEO of a company (posing as a customer) who was trying to manipulate the public by posting on his own company website. Lying and trying to manipulate is bad for business, because people will smell your bull and you will get caught.

I also like that Kabani points out that just being apart of Facebook or Linkedin won't get you anywhere. Once you're there, you have to be proactive! Just sitting around on sites hoping to be seen isn't going to work.

I also found the Twitter chapter pretty insightful. I feel that a lot of people under the age of 25 don't use Twitter as much as the 35-50 market. From what Kabani has said about Twitter, it is easier to reach consumers on this platform than it is on Facebook. I also liked learning the logistics of what the "@" is used for, what hashtags are (#) plus other various functions on the site. (I don't like that everything is limited to 120 words!)

Kabani also advises the new Twitter user to have a custom background for their page. I think I disagree with this; from a designer's standpoint, I think this could be tastefully done. However almost no one is going to hire a graphic designer to make a Twitter background for them. I understand the logistics of having an own-able, customized look and it is a nice little touch... I just think that this could make or break a reputation, and nine times out of ten the background will not be up to a designer's standards. But then again, I haven't been checking out many Twitter pages lately.

Bad Writing Reflection

I think the message that Vernon Lott has behind the documentary Bad Writing is an awareness of traditional writing dying off. Books and magazine articles are all being moved to digital outlets like Kindle or iPad. From what I remember, Lott thinks that contemporary poetry should take a turn towards the humorous side, similar to Prairie Home Companion, to get a different crowed. I personally would listen to more poetry if it were styled after this sort of silly situational humor; most of what I hear is not exactly something I would consider self deprecating... Other than this specific note in the film, my memory is hazed as to his stance on where the future of writing traditionally is headed.

The most important lesson I gathered from the film is that it's okay to suck at writing when you're starting. Before it was stated in the movie, I was noticing the age of most of these great novelists; Writing interesting, relevant content requires some life experience. Kids my age tend to think that they've experienced everything, which is just not true. There may be some significant experiences in such a short life, but not enough to truly write something great.

"Writers who are just effortlessly fluent are less likely to use obstacles, like mistakes, to grow and become more interesting." I really love this thought as well. It's very inspiring because when it comes to copywriting, I feel like I make a million mistakes every time. Vivian (my copywriting prof.) has helped me realize that I don't need to be a machine when it comes to writing headlines. It's okay if it takes me some time to craft the sentences I need for advertising.

My only hope is that I'm not over the age of 30 before I start improving my writing. :]

New Nokia Typeface!

The world's largest phone-maker has unveiled a new font dubbed Nokia Pure for mobile and digital environments. I guess the whole idea behind this new typeface is to create a feeling of fluid motion. The font is a sans serif that is actually quite nice and overall convey a "moving forward" attitude.

The brand is definitely on the cutting edge of foreign phones and other technologies, I just don't really see why they are jumping on the bandwagon of redesigns. Based on the trends so far this year, this redesign will undoubtedly fail. The brand is globally recognizable and it is going to be very difficult to change people's perceptions of something they are familiar with. Then again, no one but designers care that much about typography, so perhaps the change will go unnoticed.

Here's a little comparison so you can see the "moving forward" fluidity in the type.



Opposed to their old font:



The new font will come in three weights: Light, Regular and Bold. These are designed to deliver "pin sharp" legibility on screens. Supposedly, this font will be implemented on billboards and other forms of marketing by later this year. I guess we'll see how this one goes... Good Luck!