Identifying the Benefits of CSULA's graphic design program (Mon.)

The graphic design/visual communication program at CSULA has its share of benefits as well as its share of flaws. At times it seems that the negatives aspects of attending this program outweighs the positives aspects. However the program is not to blame, it is the students/department that must be held responsible. Affirmative action must take place in order to replace the negatives into positives. The students and the department of the design program have the power to make a difference. When developing a promotional video for the graphic design program, one must consider both positive and negatives aspects of the program.

Students should first evaluate and identify the negatives aspects of the program. One aspect is that faculty is greatly understaffed. At the time, there is not enough graphic design professors to help accommodate student feedback. Considering that size of the student body in this program, these professors tend to become highly overwhelmed with the amount of student/professor interaction. There is simply not enough time to help each student. It is up to the department to help make this change and bring in more professors. Another negative aspect in this department is the lack of lab efficiency. The computer labs have a shortage of computers available to the students and the printers are always malfunctioning. It is difficult to fit in labs hours at times. However this is a financial issue which, unfortunately, is out of the department's control. It is up to the school and the state to help make these changes. Lastly, the lack of student community. At times it seems that the student body is highly involved with the program's activities and events, however this isn't the case. Despite how well these students get along, there still tends to be a lack of student involvement. For example, CSULA design students tend to miss design events, they hardly to work together or work in the dept. studios, most leave right when class is over, most aren't involved with Aiga/Gauge, and they hardly critique each others work. These students lack motivation. Most design school, such as Cal state North ridge and Cal state Long beach have the sense of community, and not to mention with a larger student body. It is up to the students of CSULA to make this change.

However, despite these negative factors, we are trying to portray the positive aspects of this design program for our promo video. These aspects include creativity, professor feedback, individualism, work ethic, and growth. Even though this program lacks community, we can promote that it actually does. This might help promote the motivation for change and inspire future design students to build this community in which we lack. The idea is there, we just need to find a way to communicate that message to the audience. The goal is personalize and relate to the audience's desires and expectations when entering CSULA's design program.

Promotional Video (Feb. 29th, 2012)

Promotional web videos are an exciting internet marketing tool for businesses large and small. Like a traditional TV commercial, a promotional web video will advertise your business’s advantages to potential customers. Unlike traditional TV commercials, promotional web videos can be broadcast directly to your target audience for free through email, search engine marketing and video sharing sites such as YouTube. Producing a promotional web video doesn't have to be complex or expensive. With a little bit of planning, you can produce a promotional web video that becomes a priceless marketing tool for your business. (http://desktopvideo.about.com/od/videoprojects/ht/webpromo.htm)

However in this case, we are promoting our school's program; the CSULA graphic design/visual communication option.

Before preparing for a project like this, one must identify the goals for a promotional video. Before one can begin to produce a promotional video, one needs to think about what the ?video has to accomplish. Such as the - what is the targeted audience? what is the mood? what is the tone? and especially, what is the message? After doing plenty of research, we found the best way to approach a video such as this is to perceive it through the eyes of a college design student. Since this is a promotional video for CSULA's design program, the target audience is obviously potential CSULA transfer design students and high school students. The mood of this video should be exciting and inspiring yet with a comedic tone which can help relief an serious tension towards the program. The most importantly the message: "CSULA's design program will bring individuality within your work along with friendship/community." The idea is to motivate viewer/s with a video that gives positive insight in the life of a CSULA design student. Therefore this video must be developed accordingly through the eyes of a graphic designer. Here are some promotional videos that CSULA has already developed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkH_-mpzCXM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaCF0QHLzw8

These videos has given us some direction to how our video can be developed. However, since these videos are promoting CSULA as a whole, our video would need to be more specific (only focusing on the Graphic Design/Vis Comm program of CSULA.). We would need to take a more creative approach.

Final Formula 409 ads (Feb. 27th, 2012)

For the past few decades, Product Formula 409 has been poorly advertised and marketed.

The ads produced for 409 did not succeed in persuading their audience to purchase this product. The audience 409 targeted was mainly female between the ages 30 to 60 years old, which is the usual demographics for most cleaning products today. That being the case, our team decided to take a different approach, to target a new audience: young male adults.

Throughout our research, we discovered that most males between 20 to 40 years of age have no clue what Formula 409 really is. Therefore we decided to take the high road and target this specific demographic, mainly single men. Since most men in that age range tend to be a bit messy, we thought it would be best to capture the essence of those messy moments. In our approach, we came up with the concept that "Formula 409 is a guy-friendly product" and the message that "This is the product for you". Therefore in these ads, we decided to personalize this approach by using a young male finding himself in need for the product. We portrayed a young adult male finding himself caught up in a messy situation where 409 would be useful for him; eating diner, after a frat party, and during a date night (3 different situations that most single males can relate to). We show the male (left side of spread) reaching out of his messy situation towards the light side where the 409 bottle is focused (right side of spread). The aim behind this concept is to express the idea of reaching out of your male boundaries to get a hold of this product, to insist this isn't a female product. The text in the ad helps insinuate this idea by using expressing a problem, showing the resolution, and giving an answer to the problem. Problem solved. These ads insinuate the notion that males are messy, however, they don't have to show it, especially in front of women. These ads are meant to convince the male audience that 409 comes in handy for any messy situation, the idea that 409 is accessible and available to them at any time in their house hold.

At the time, there isn't many product cleaning ads in the American market that does a good job in connecting with a male audience. For this reason, we decided to take this different approach with the 409 ad campaign. Taking this approach will help broaden the audience for 409 and bring in a new wave of male customers. Personalizing 409 towards men is sure to increase male interest in this product and slowly but surely can persuade them to purchase 409.

GAUGE presents Kali Nikitas (Feb. 16, 2012)

Kali Nikitas is Chair of the Communication Arts department at Otis College of Art and Design. She previously served as an Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Visual Arts at Northeastern University in Boston, chaired the Design Department at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design and was on faculty at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Kali has curated two international design exhibitions: "And She Told 2Friends: An International Exhibition of Graphic Design by Women" and "Soul Design." Her work has been published in Emigre, Eye, I.D. and the AIGA Journal. She has received awards from the ACD, AIGA and the Type Directors Club. Kali has been considered to be one of the best and well known designers in the Los Angeles/Chicago region. Because of her vast reputation, it was an honor for her to come give her inspirational speech at cal state LA. (Wikipedia)

As a cal state LA design student, I felt privileged to be part of this Gauge event. Throughout her presentation, Kali gave a sense of gentleness when it came to her work, especially when it came to her personality. Kali started off her presentation with an interactive exercise which many thought to very interesting. The exercise was very personalized. During the exercise, the audience had to write down three descriptions of a personal, professional, and global nature. At first, I couldn’t see where she was going with it but soon became clear. She had us jot down our future ambitions pertaining to our view of the world, our career and ourselves. She instructed us to store these cards away, forget about them, then see if you were to run into them again that these ambitions would have came true. This exercise seem to be an activity in which one can help better themselves both personally and socially. An exercise in which she claimed helped her out in her own life. Kali also tried a second exercise with the audience. She took 5 different ideas from the audience and choose one that the audience thought was most important. For some reason everyone choose the idea of owning a Panda Habitat. She then made the audience pull out their smart phones and laptops and post this idea on face book. This exercise seemed to touch on social involvement. Many believe that the purpose of this exercise was to take an issue/idea and try to get an reaction to the topic. Maybe to get people to engage on an issue never thought about.

Despite her creative exercises, Kali gave an intriguing presentation. During her presentation, the audience can see she is very personal and very family oriented. This seems to be her main inspiration for all her work. Kali isn’t like most designers out there. Most the designers seem to lean more towards the professional side of design whereas Kali seems to lean more towards the personal side. Her design seems to work more in her favor than for the client, she seems to be more of an artist rather than a designer. Throughout her presentation, she made many references to other designers, artists, events, and work which many found very helpful. She also mention her excursions in Europe where she met new and interesting artists/designers. Kali must of gained great inspiration from those travels. It seems like she applied a good amount of European design style in some of her work. For example, her line of bag designs seem to be very European oriented. Kali’s Fashion for Love project was also very interesting. I believe the most successful type of creativity is the one where people can interact with. This project has many people involved and engaging in this activity. It is cleverly fun and highly interesting. Kali has a very effective way of interacting with her audience, creative engagement, and most importantly gaining student reaction.

Kali Nikitas was a very inspirational speaker. She made me feel a bit more secure in choosing the field of design. Before her presentation I wasn’t sure in which direction of design I wanted to head for but then she gave me hope. She mentioned that many people tend to get in the field of design without a sense of direction. Fortunately, she expressed the fact that obtaining and education in graphic design/visual communication can help open doors to other interesting careers. One can use what he/she learned in design/art and apply it to another type of career. As designer, she made me realize there is many options to choose from and many open doors available. It all just depends one’s ambition and desire to push forward. She made me realize the importance of getting evolved and participating in the field of design. Inspiration must come from everywhere.

Advertising Formula 409 Cleaner. (Feb. 13th, 2012)

Those for you who do not know, Formula 409 was created in 1957 by the Rouff brothers, three scientists from Detroit, Michigan. The brothers worked for Gem Products, an industrial cleaning solution manufacturer. As their intention was to create a heavy-duty degreaser for commercial de-greasing, alkaline was a main ingredient in this powerful cleaner. Gem Products sold Formula 409 to Chemsol in 1960. Chemsol toned down the chemical content of the formula in to a product gentle enough for standard home use. In the mid-1960s, entrepreneurs Harrell, Woodcock and Linkletter bought the product and promoted it on the national level through television commercials. Clorox eventually purchased the Formula 409 brand. It was named 409 because it was not until the 409th try that Gem Products was able to discover the perfect chemical mixture for degreasing needs. The first appearance of the product was in an 1960s television commercial for Formula 409 featured animated pinup girl Betty Boop singing as she cleaned with a hulky bottle of the solution. (wikipedia)

Researching Formula 409 is no easy task. There isn't much information out there regarding the advertisement of 409 or its demographics. But when looking at past ad campaigns, one can see that 409 is mainly for house wives and house mothers (age ranging between mid 20s to late 60s). There hasn't been any other 409 campaigns to prove otherwise. So if 409 were to start a new campaign anytime soon, they might want to think about using other demographics. The product should not only communicate to a female audience, it should also communicate to the men. 409 can also target men (ages 20-60). 409 is an all purpose cleaner, therefore should be treated as such. For the new 409 ad campaigns, the product should express a more masculine point of few. For example, showing a man who has a giant mess to clean up after having a huge party and the only solution to clean it all up with is 409. This type of campaign will involve a great deal of brainstorming, sketching, and male opinions to get this campaign right.

Adverting the Legalization of Marijuana. (Feb. 6, 2012)

For the past several years, the legalization of marijuana has been a highly controversial issue in the U.S, in this case California. Because of it's intensity, the issue of legalizing marijuana has reached new heights, especially when it came to advertising it's legalization.

Radio and magazine ads are just the beginning of what promises to be an intense and expensive campaign. One supporter promises to spend a million dollars of his own money to legalize marijuana. If successful California would become the first state this century to legalize marijuana, and tax it. Many proponents claim legalizing the use of marijuana in California is one way to help solve the state's budget problems. And they say it's one way to make life easier for police. So supporters of what is being called the regulate, control and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010. have a former reserve sheriff's deputy and school policeman as their voice. One radio advertisement broadcasts: "Like many other cops, I've seen firsthand that the current approach on cannabis is simply not working. It's led to violent drug cartels, dealers in our schools and our streets." What law enforcement in the state and nationally is focused on is the cultivation and the large-scale smuggling operations of marijuana. Millionaire Richard Lee bankrolled much of the petition drive that got the measure on the November ballot. He started using marijuana medicinally after a back injury. Now he sells medical marijuana and promises to raise at least $20 million to legalize marijuana. Lee believes that taxing marijuana will make the proposition more attractive to voters. However, many opposers ask "if we as a society want another intoxicant legalized." "Once we get a consistent voice, I think the public will realize what's really at stake here is the social fabric of the state," said KIm Raney, head of the Covina chief of police. Fourteen states, including California, allow marijuana for medical use. Alaska tried legalizing it for recreation in 1978. The law was repealed in 1990.

With feelings as strong as those you can get some idea how tough the campaign will be on both sides of the legalization issue, especially when advertising comes into play. When advertising an issue such as this one, both sides must figure a way to persuade their audience in believing their campaign, mainly through advertisement. This is where visual and verbal communication is key to winning over your audience. When designing an ad for the legalization of marijuana, one must chose imagery, wording, and especially type very carefully. It is important for the designer to visually capture the viewer's attention and persuade him/her in the cause. A designer's main focus in designing ads is make their audience think, communicate, and persuade. The designer will know when he/she has succeed in this approach. When an ad turns out confusing, unnoticeable, and unattractive, that is when a designer will know when he/she was unsuccessful. And this goes back to the layout of the ad's design. Design and copyright have to visual work together. Color, positioning, typefaces, imagery, etc must work together to create visual interest. In the aspect of advertising either pro or con legalization, one must consider what will visually capture the viewer's attention. For pro, a designer would need to create some positive imagery and copyright promoting the positives of legalizing. In the case of con, one would need to focus on negative imagery to promote the negatives of legalization. Depending on the audience, the campaign would need to understand the extent of their ads. For example, in the case of pro, designers might want to focus more on expressing the benefits of legalizing marijuana with a strong sense of maturity (since most of those who might oppose are in the age range of an older crowd). In the case of con, one might want to express the negatives with a sense of fear and negativity (since most of those who are for marijuana are in the age range of a younger crowd). But despite the differences from both sides of the issue, they can both agree on one thing- having successful advertising is key to winning.

The Legalization of Marijuana (Jan. 30th)

For the past few decades, the legalization of marijuana has been a subject of debate and controversy in California. Marijuana is illegal to consume, use, possess, cultivate, transfer or trade in most countries of today. Since the beginning of the worldwide spread of marijuana prohibition of the mid 1900s, most countries have not re-legalized it for personal use, although more than 10 countries tolerate, or have decriminalized, its use and cultivation in limited quantities. However, medicinal use of marijuana is also legal in a number of countries, including Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Netherlands, Israel and 16 states of the U.S.

Even though marijuana is illegal in most parts of the world, many considerable resources are committed to both interdiction and counter-interdiction of its cultivation. Thermal imaging helicopters, inspection of trash, examination of credit purchases, and analysis of energy bills, have been used in the prosecutions of marijuana. However, in the U.S., thermal imaging is considered to violate civil liberties that are constituted in the U.S. constitution. This had resulted in significant changes to growing trends and availability in our country.

In 1996, California voters passed Prop 215 (the Compassionate Use Act) by means of popular initiative. It allows for patients with a valid doctor's recommendation to possess and cultivate marijuana for personal medical use and now expanded to the point where if protects a growing system of collective and cooperative distribution. It was the first law of its kind and was later followed by similar laws in Alaska, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington. However, California's common law has interpreted the intitiative on multiple occasions. In 2007, the courts upheld a decision of a trail court in the City of Garden Grove v. Superior Court to the Garden Grove police department to give Felix Kha his marijuana back it is said it is not the job of local police to enforce the federal drug law. In 2010, the California Supreme Court took down limits on how much marijuana people could grow or possess in the People v. Kelly case, which says its ok for people with doctors' permission to grow or possess reasonable amounts. In California there are designated shops for people who are permitted by law to purchase and use marijuana. Today there are even marijuana bakeries that make a wide variety of treats that range from chocolate bars to foods such as nachos and baked goods. These shops are made for people who have illnesses which allow them to purchase medical marijuana to go to if they do not wish to smoke in order to get the needed marijuana into their system. (wikipedia)

Magazine Ads (Jan. 23, 2012)

The average American, today, is surrounded by advertisements promoted on t.v., billboards, buses, buildings, newspapers and magazines. Advertisements are used to sell a point of view, promote a charity, or even to support political campaigns. But mainly advertisement is used to sell commercial products. Products like toothpaste, cereals, tissue paper, shampoo, blow dryers, jeans, t-shirts, soft drinks, bottled water, radios, computers, etc. How many of these products do you we actually need? For example, why is it important to have a underwear under Calvin Klein's or Levi's on your back pocket of your favorite pants? This is because the purpose of advertisement is to persuade viewers to buy or support something for profit. As graphic designer, one must consider important questions before designing, for example :What is the ad really trying to sell? What visual and verbal strategies is the ad using to portray its message? Is the ad ultimately persuasive?

Magazines ads, for example, can be used to demonstrate this idea. Designers must first do research and figure out who the ad is going to target and what kind of message is going to be portrayed . Secondly, the design. Designers need to make sure that the customer's eye goes immediately to the visuals. They got to think about how they will use visuals: people or places in the ad, uses of color, choice of font, movement of customer's eyes, etc. Third, Designers must examine the brand name and its display, the product's slogan, and other print information and analyze why this slogan was chosen. Fourth, they must consider the types of emotional appeals that are meant to entice the customer. And finally, consider the overall impact of the ad. Make the audience think about your ad and why would they need it.

After looking through many magazine ads during the past week, I have noticed many ads aren't as good as they should be. The best type of ads are the ones that look visually attractive and send a strong message. The good ones usually have imagery, type, and color all working together withing the layout of the ad. The bad ones usually do not have these qualities working together, layout just looks all slapped on together. Positioning, Layout, color and message connection must all work together within an ad in order for a successful ad.

Advertisement (Jan. 18, 2012)

Advertising, is defined, as a form of communication used to encourage or persuade an audience (viewers, readers or listeners) to continue or take some new action. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common. The purpose of advertising may also be to reassure employees or shareholders that a company is viable or successful. Advertising messages are usually paid for by sponsors and viewed via various traditional media; including mass media such as newspaper, magazines, television commercial, radio advertisement, outdoor advertising or direct mail; or new media such as websites and text messages. But I believe it is more than that.

The most important part of advertisement is the audience. Getting to know your target audience is the most important process to the success of the product/idea being advertised. During this process, research and analysis is very crucial, the better you know your audience, the more successful your ad will be. The idea of all this is to send a message to your intended audience, to convince them your product/idea is the product/idea for them. As a fellow victim of this manipulation, I understand the control that the media has on it's audiences. Creating an attractive design is key. However, even though design plays a big part in the process of advertisement, it is not the most important aspect, Language is.

Choice of words play a huge role in audience manipulation. Short slogans and simple quotes usually work very well with this manipulation. Nike, for example, has had a huge success in its advertisement using this approach. "Just do it" has had major success in the manipulation of it's audience. Besides the many attractive shoe designs and its many ads/commercials, Nike's success comes from its slogan and its simple logo design. Its extremely simple which makes it very memorable. I'm sure that there is not one person in the country who doesn't recognize the Nike slogan or its logo. The idea is to get your audience interested and thinking about your product/idea, to give them a reason to purchase your product. "Just do it" can imply many ideas to it's audience, one of them can imply "Just buy our product. You know you want to. Just do it." which seems to be the logical idea behind the brand. Product Recognition is key to all ad success.