We have begun to think about pricings and costs, one of the elements is solicitor costs. I decided to email the two contact I have which work as or in a solicitors to find out any information, as a new business, that we would need.
Wednesday, 15 February 2012
Enterprise - Getting a domain
http://www.123-reg.co.uk/domain-names/index.shtml#tab-1
Researching possible sites to purchase a web domain - This task was passed on to my partner to research in depth, to find out whether the web name we wanted was available and which was the cheapest site to purchase it from.
Researching possible sites to purchase a web domain - This task was passed on to my partner to research in depth, to find out whether the web name we wanted was available and which was the cheapest site to purchase it from.
http://l-rushfirth1013-ppd.blogspot.com/
Information found by my Enterprise partner:
Enterprise - Advertising - Case study
Propaganda
Web:
Facebook page:
Promotional :
A6 Leaflets
Other:
Northern Ballet:
Enterprise - Methods of advertisement
I decided to use a few case studies, those of our intended audience, to find out which forms of advertising they used; to find out which would be most suitable for us, as a company, to use.
When trying to think of ways, we as a company, could advertise I came across this website which opened my eyes to the vast array of different types of advertising there is out there.
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/modern-advertising-methods.html
Modern Advertising Methods
There are different types of advertising and advertising techniques that are available for promoting products and services. However, here are some of the latest and hottest trends in advertising that are gaining popularity. People are now looking for new types of advertising appeals that they can target. Many of the new-age advertising methods are a result of the advent of the Internet, while some of the trends are just novel ideas that have transformed mundane advertising media into brilliant and witty advertising methods! Internet advertising is a vast concept and it entails several sub-types, many of which have been only recently introduced. Email advertising is one of the earlier trends, while the new ones include banner advertising, pixel advertising, blog advertising, keyword advertising and contextual advertising. Let's take a look at some of the most widely used modern advertising methods.
Web Banner Advertising
If billboard advertising is used on roads, then a similar type called banner advertising is used on the web. Have you noticed the horizontal advertisement strips that are seen at the top of almost every web page? These are we banners. Web banners are usually constructed using images, or JavaScript, or any other multimedia objects and animation. Web banners are usually linked to web pages that are related to the content on the existing website.
Bandwagon Advertising
This is nothing but a propaganda advertising technique, which aims at convincing the user that everyone else is using the products or everyone in the customer base, is in favor of the brand and so he must do so too. This compels the consumer to at least think about buying that product and check what everyone else is raving about and in turn 'jump on the bandwagon'. Bandwagon advertising is a strategy that is based on consumer psychology and hence, is an effective advertising technique which can be used via any media, be it print, electronic or broadcast.
Promotional Advertising
Promotional advertising involves the use of promotional give-away items or promotional media events, which help to garner public attention and are an effective way of advertising. Handing out promotional freebies is a modern advertising technique that is innovative and very effective as well.
Testimonials and Endorsements
Ever wondered why Colgate brought Brooke Shields on board to promote their toothpaste? Or did you know that Keanu Reeves had once been a part of an advertisement for Corn Flakes? Well, an endorsement from a celebrity or a public figure is reason enough for certain customers to try a particular product. Such testimonials or endorsements are a great way to advertise particular products and services. Another evolved version of this being a new type called covert advertising, involves the use of brand names or actual products in movies or television shows in an indirect form of advertising.
Surrogate Advertising
Several national laws have banned the advertising of products like alcohol or cigarettes. Owing to this, many umbrella brands have come up with an advertising technique which only promotes the umbrella brand name which of course, also reminds the consumer of the products that have been banned from advertising. For example, Kingfisher doesn't need to advertise its beer when the general brand name, also conferred to the aircraft, is being advertised publicly.
Pixel Advertising
Pixel advertising is a new type of Internet advertising in which the cost of an advertisement is calculated based on the number of pixels it occupies. This form of advertising originated in late 2005, when a British student Alex Tew came up with a website called The Million Dollar Homepage, where advertisers could buy advertising space at the rate of $1 per pixel with a space limit of one million pixels. In addition to the space options provided by the hosting websites, there is also the option of using Do-it-Yourself (DIY) pixel scripts, which ensures that people who do not understand the intricacies of the pixel ads can incorporate the pixel ads in their website without any hassles. Some of the commonly used DIY pixel scripts are Million Pixel Script and the GPix Pixel Ad Script.
Contextual Advertising
Do you notice how Google generates ads that are relevant to your search query? Or more recently, have you noticed the Google ads that show up next to your emails in the Google mail service? Well, if you are one of those people who still haven't noticed this, then you need to wake up and smell the coffee. Google Adsense was the first contextual advertising venture. Contextual advertising is a very specifically targeted form of Internet marketing in which the advertisements are selected by automated systems based on the content being viewed by a particular user. The automated system scans the text of a website for keywords and sends advertisements that match the content which the user is viewing. Many search engines also make use of contextual advertising for displaying ads on the search result pages, such that the ads match the things that the user is looking up on the web. After Google started this trend, there were many others like Yahoo! and Microsoft who followed suit.
Keyword Advertising
Commonly, keyword advertising is also known as pay per click advertising or cost per action advertising. Although Yahoo was the first company to venture into keyword advertising, it is Google Adwords program which is now most popular for its keyword advertising. Some of the popular search engines, which are into keyword advertising, include Yahoo! Search Marketing, Microsoft adCenter, Miva and LookSmart.
Blog Advertising
If you thought that a blog was nothing but an online journal, then you are wrong. Owing to the tremendous popularity of blogs, advertisers have wisely used blogs as effective advertising and marketing tools. Corporate blogs are an excellent way for companies to reach out to their customer base on the Internet. Advertising blogs often make use of Search Engine Marketing techniques, which ensure better results on the web.
Bathroom Advertising
Truly out-of-the-box, isn't it? Yes, bathroom advertising is nothing but placement of advertisements in public restrooms. A research was carried out, in which a test group of people visiting a restroom were asked whether they noticed the advertisements in there, and surprisingly, a major percentage of the group were seen to have a high retention of the advertisements. This led to the conclusion that people visiting the restroom are a good target audience. Bathroom advertising is soon catching up as an effective advertising tool.
Mobile Advertising
Yes, as annoying as it might be for you to receive advertisements on your cell phone, it is now a fact that mobile advertising or cell phone advertising is one of the most effective ways of advertising. Most of the time, advertisers have a data of mobile numbers of their existing customer base as well as a list of phone numbers of people who might be potential customers. A message on the mobile phone rarely goes unnoticed and hence, qualifies as an effective marketing or advertising tool!
Public Relations Advertising
Maintaining and developing good public relations has been a marketing tool for companies to maintain goodwill amongst employees as well as clients. It is not only a way to be in the public eye, but also a great way to build and maintain a particular brand image and identity. Public relations is thus a great advertising tool which is used by companies to reach out to their investors, employees and of course, their existing and potential customer base.
As you can see, the field of advertising has evolved and reached the masses in ways that were perceived to be unimaginable a decade ago. All thanks to huge developments and innovations in the field of technology, advertising is now present almost everywhere we go, in almost every form we can imagine. Don't believe it? Just look around you!
When trying to think of ways, we as a company, could advertise I came across this website which opened my eyes to the vast array of different types of advertising there is out there.
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/modern-advertising-methods.html
Modern Advertising Methods
There are different types of advertising and advertising techniques that are available for promoting products and services. However, here are some of the latest and hottest trends in advertising that are gaining popularity. People are now looking for new types of advertising appeals that they can target. Many of the new-age advertising methods are a result of the advent of the Internet, while some of the trends are just novel ideas that have transformed mundane advertising media into brilliant and witty advertising methods! Internet advertising is a vast concept and it entails several sub-types, many of which have been only recently introduced. Email advertising is one of the earlier trends, while the new ones include banner advertising, pixel advertising, blog advertising, keyword advertising and contextual advertising. Let's take a look at some of the most widely used modern advertising methods.
Web Banner Advertising
If billboard advertising is used on roads, then a similar type called banner advertising is used on the web. Have you noticed the horizontal advertisement strips that are seen at the top of almost every web page? These are we banners. Web banners are usually constructed using images, or JavaScript, or any other multimedia objects and animation. Web banners are usually linked to web pages that are related to the content on the existing website.
Bandwagon Advertising
This is nothing but a propaganda advertising technique, which aims at convincing the user that everyone else is using the products or everyone in the customer base, is in favor of the brand and so he must do so too. This compels the consumer to at least think about buying that product and check what everyone else is raving about and in turn 'jump on the bandwagon'. Bandwagon advertising is a strategy that is based on consumer psychology and hence, is an effective advertising technique which can be used via any media, be it print, electronic or broadcast.
Promotional Advertising
Promotional advertising involves the use of promotional give-away items or promotional media events, which help to garner public attention and are an effective way of advertising. Handing out promotional freebies is a modern advertising technique that is innovative and very effective as well.
Testimonials and Endorsements
Ever wondered why Colgate brought Brooke Shields on board to promote their toothpaste? Or did you know that Keanu Reeves had once been a part of an advertisement for Corn Flakes? Well, an endorsement from a celebrity or a public figure is reason enough for certain customers to try a particular product. Such testimonials or endorsements are a great way to advertise particular products and services. Another evolved version of this being a new type called covert advertising, involves the use of brand names or actual products in movies or television shows in an indirect form of advertising.
Surrogate Advertising
Several national laws have banned the advertising of products like alcohol or cigarettes. Owing to this, many umbrella brands have come up with an advertising technique which only promotes the umbrella brand name which of course, also reminds the consumer of the products that have been banned from advertising. For example, Kingfisher doesn't need to advertise its beer when the general brand name, also conferred to the aircraft, is being advertised publicly.
Pixel Advertising
Pixel advertising is a new type of Internet advertising in which the cost of an advertisement is calculated based on the number of pixels it occupies. This form of advertising originated in late 2005, when a British student Alex Tew came up with a website called The Million Dollar Homepage, where advertisers could buy advertising space at the rate of $1 per pixel with a space limit of one million pixels. In addition to the space options provided by the hosting websites, there is also the option of using Do-it-Yourself (DIY) pixel scripts, which ensures that people who do not understand the intricacies of the pixel ads can incorporate the pixel ads in their website without any hassles. Some of the commonly used DIY pixel scripts are Million Pixel Script and the GPix Pixel Ad Script.
Contextual Advertising
Do you notice how Google generates ads that are relevant to your search query? Or more recently, have you noticed the Google ads that show up next to your emails in the Google mail service? Well, if you are one of those people who still haven't noticed this, then you need to wake up and smell the coffee. Google Adsense was the first contextual advertising venture. Contextual advertising is a very specifically targeted form of Internet marketing in which the advertisements are selected by automated systems based on the content being viewed by a particular user. The automated system scans the text of a website for keywords and sends advertisements that match the content which the user is viewing. Many search engines also make use of contextual advertising for displaying ads on the search result pages, such that the ads match the things that the user is looking up on the web. After Google started this trend, there were many others like Yahoo! and Microsoft who followed suit.
Keyword Advertising
Commonly, keyword advertising is also known as pay per click advertising or cost per action advertising. Although Yahoo was the first company to venture into keyword advertising, it is Google Adwords program which is now most popular for its keyword advertising. Some of the popular search engines, which are into keyword advertising, include Yahoo! Search Marketing, Microsoft adCenter, Miva and LookSmart.
Blog Advertising
If you thought that a blog was nothing but an online journal, then you are wrong. Owing to the tremendous popularity of blogs, advertisers have wisely used blogs as effective advertising and marketing tools. Corporate blogs are an excellent way for companies to reach out to their customer base on the Internet. Advertising blogs often make use of Search Engine Marketing techniques, which ensure better results on the web.
Bathroom Advertising
Truly out-of-the-box, isn't it? Yes, bathroom advertising is nothing but placement of advertisements in public restrooms. A research was carried out, in which a test group of people visiting a restroom were asked whether they noticed the advertisements in there, and surprisingly, a major percentage of the group were seen to have a high retention of the advertisements. This led to the conclusion that people visiting the restroom are a good target audience. Bathroom advertising is soon catching up as an effective advertising tool.
Mobile Advertising
Yes, as annoying as it might be for you to receive advertisements on your cell phone, it is now a fact that mobile advertising or cell phone advertising is one of the most effective ways of advertising. Most of the time, advertisers have a data of mobile numbers of their existing customer base as well as a list of phone numbers of people who might be potential customers. A message on the mobile phone rarely goes unnoticed and hence, qualifies as an effective marketing or advertising tool!
Public Relations Advertising
Maintaining and developing good public relations has been a marketing tool for companies to maintain goodwill amongst employees as well as clients. It is not only a way to be in the public eye, but also a great way to build and maintain a particular brand image and identity. Public relations is thus a great advertising tool which is used by companies to reach out to their investors, employees and of course, their existing and potential customer base.
As you can see, the field of advertising has evolved and reached the masses in ways that were perceived to be unimaginable a decade ago. All thanks to huge developments and innovations in the field of technology, advertising is now present almost everywhere we go, in almost every form we can imagine. Don't believe it? Just look around you!
Sunday, 12 February 2012
Enterprise - Reading week - plan of action
After the tutorial last week I realise how far behind we'd become. So I decided to try and organise the group and to become the instigator, arranging meetings and passing on action plans to each other.
This week we've arranged to meet up a few times, I intend on emailing the contacts discussed and researching intently how we're going to target our audience. The methods in which to do so, the costing and the way of getting it out there; whether it be by post, mail shot or on the door. I need to think about who exactly we need to target, considering we are a branding company, we discussed targeting clubs, music arenas and theatres in Leeds and outside the city.
So thats the plan of attack for this week!
This week we've arranged to meet up a few times, I intend on emailing the contacts discussed and researching intently how we're going to target our audience. The methods in which to do so, the costing and the way of getting it out there; whether it be by post, mail shot or on the door. I need to think about who exactly we need to target, considering we are a branding company, we discussed targeting clubs, music arenas and theatres in Leeds and outside the city.
So thats the plan of attack for this week!
Wednesday, 8 February 2012
OUGD202 evaluation
BA (Hons.) GRAPHIC DESIGN
|
LEVEL
|
05
| |
Module Code
|
OUGD201
| ||
Module Title
|
DESIGN PRODUCTION - PRINT
| ||
END OF MODULE SELF-EVALUATION
|
NAME
|
Stephanie Lawson
|
BLOG. ADDRESS
|
sl-lawson1013.blogspot.com
|
1. What skills have you developed through this module and how effectively do you think you have applied them?
Throughout this module I have stumbled upon a range of things I lack any skill in, the most obvious being that of After effects; having never used the program I found it pretty difficult to get a grip on and understand. Although we had several workshops teaching us how to use the program, I found it really difficult to understand even the simplest of actions. Over time though I did manage to understand the program, and how best to utilise it, through doing some animation first hand. I think the stepping point was making the silent movie, although frustrating and taking a lot longer than it should have, it gave me a good amount of first hand experience using the program, making me feel more comfortable when it came to approaching making the idents and title sequence. I did very much doubt my skills in After Effects, but now, after finishing the title sequence, idents and silent movies, I can see how much my skills have grown in this short period of time.
Another element I feel has developed is my organisation skills. Although, previous to this module, I felt my organisation skills were good, with the amount of work we've all had on, I've needed to be super organised, setting myself action plans, and doing lists. Not just doing daily 'to do' lists but weekly, in very detailed bullet points just to keep me upto date. It became routine every day to prepare my next few days, I feel its a really good habit to get into and one to carry on throughout university.
I have always had a negative attitude toward digital work of any description, so in approaching this brief I already had taken a disliking to it. My motivation levels were pretty low to begin with, especially with the difficult I found in using the software. But over time, as my design began to come into shape, I gained a real motivation to produce more and more work, as seeing my work in motion is some what satisfying.
Another skill I feel has developed within this module is the use of colour, in the past i've been very bland in colour palette choice, sticking to browns and desaturated colour, if any. Within this project, working with very colour subject matter, I needed to use the colour appropriate to the fruit in order to make my animations recognisable and life-like. Alongside working with colour, I have used texture, as I found a real liking for it within OUGD201 and realised to would add realistic qualities to my work. I can say I'm now very confident in using colour within my work, and know how to use it appropriately.
2. What approaches to/methods of design production have you developed and how have they informed your design development process?
I've really had to go outside my comfort zone within this brief, considering the media we have had to work in. I've avoided using hand crafted and rendered pieces due to the technical issues I knew I would have getting them from paper to screen. So I've almost adapted my digital style, to create the aura of a hand crafted piece, through colour, texture and appearance; almost montaging my work digitally. It was said within a feedback session that my title sequence had a hand rendered quality. I'm glad I've managed to transfer my style across from paper to screen (with out physically scanning to do so), its reassured me that I don't lose myself when I work entirely on digital work. Again, thats another approach to design I've improved on. Using digital has never been my strong point, but my knowledge of programs, technically and physically has improved, I can transfer ideas to screen precisely, through storyboarding. That of which has also been a new design method I've used this year. At first I found it a huge bore, and found it quite difficult, but now more than ever I've come to realise how useful they have been in regard to the direction of my work. With a storyboard to hand, it was easy to know what to do on screen, quickly and efficiently, without one I'd struggle. This was all part of the organisation of creating my animation, and became the most useful thing to do and utilise.
3. What strengths can you identify in your work and how have/will you capitalise on these?
The imagery within my work I feel is one of my strengths, as I spent the majority of my time creating and perfecting these to animate. These were created to add realistic elements, to back up the realism of my 'Top ten title sequence'. This use of realism I feel is another strength within my work. Alongside this is the use of colour, its been utalised well, to make my items of fruit have truth to appearance. Imagery in general I feel is the main strength within this project, in had made up absolutely everything that of all my idents, title sequence and packaging.
*****
4. What weaknesses can you identify in your work and how will you address these in the future?
The main weakness I can identify within my work is my lack of After Effects skills in some areas, I know teh basic skills well but didn't use my initiative to find out what else was out there I could possibly experiment with, ask about or research. I regret doing so as It could have made my work that of a higher quality, and anything I picked up, I could have used in further projects.
With working in After Effects I soon found out the importance of organisation. I had failed to name my projects, files and images accordingly, which made my life a lot harder than it should have been. This effected my work quality hugely, things I wanted to do, I couldn't, because I was unable to find the suitable folder or item to do so. This is certainly something I will do in the future, after learning the hard way.
Audio was also another weakness I found within my work, I had struggled figuring out audio levels, and hadn't taken a step back, watched the entirety of my videos and listened. After having a crit, it was mentioned that my audio levels were all over the place and needed to hold some consistancy. I feel this was down to me not using audio from the beginning, I have come to find design really works best around sound, I will start with it in the future.
5. Identify five things that you will do differently next time and what do you expect to gain from doing these?
Looking at the pro's and con's within this project has made me realise the things I did wrong, and shouldn't do again, and the things I did right and will continue to do so. Files and organisation being a key thing I didn't do very well, I have come to realise the importance of it and within future projects will make it my priority to be organised from day one.
Not starting earlier on was something I regretted, as it was only towards the end of my project that I realised how little time I had to actually do it, I didn't make it a priority and I should have done.
Something I did right was time keeping (after I eventually made it a priority), I made daily lists of things I needed to do, created weekly action plans, and stood by them, making sure I completed each and every task on time. This really helped me when things got a little stressed and busy, to compact my problems and things I had to do, into an easy readable form.
6.How would you grade yourself on the following areas:
(please indicate using an ‘x’)
5= excellent, 4 = very good, 3 = good, 2 = average, 1 = poor
Attendance - 5
Punctuality - 5
Motivation - 4
Commitment - 4
Quantity of work produced - 3
Quality of work produced - 2
Contribution to group - 3
Wednesday, 1 February 2012
Top ten things - Final crit
I was very nervous about attending this crit, feeling I really haden't done enough in the time given, due to me struggling with software, direction and having a last minute change of idea. After seeing everyones work it was reassuring as many were at the same stage as me, and those in front, had produced some brilliant work which was an inspiration in itself.
Gaining feedback has REALLY helped me in pushing me in the right direction as I was rather lost before today. Many things were mentioned about the ident I had to show:
Strengths:
- Great plans / storyboards
- Distinct illustrative style
- Textures
- The design approach is working well, liking the textures and colour palette
Area's for improvement:
- "Fire in the sky" to be more legible, too quick.
- Consider clouds moving in the background
- Get red juice to cover the same width of the coke.
- Possibly change the glass to a cocktail glass to make it more obvious.
- The name of the cocktail needs to either change position or move slower.
- Dont really understand your storyboarding.
Considerations:
- Find out the music they play in TGI fridays for inspiration for audio.
- Possibly find 2 pieces of upbeat jazz music, could work well.
- Change the day, time and date as it looks like its just been stuck there, possibly position on top of the hills.
- Make sure you dont put all 'top ten mocktails' in the title sequence, or you'll give away the programme too much.
- Possibly make the clouds move slowely.
- Reconsider surroundings for other idents, make them more 'Mocktailly'
- Colour is suitable too
- Music = suitable got surroundings, e.g - birds, people chatting.
After being given the feedback I created a Action Plan for myself:
- Animate clouds to move
- Blog textures
- Align text to hill - roll over time
- Find music and apply
- Illustrate cottage, trees
- Begin creating title sequence - copy ident key frames
- Research music / playlists in bars
- Research places you drink cocktails
- Change coke juice size to hide orange
- 'Fire in the sky' change typeface to be more legible
- Design DVD packaging
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
