Week 10

Kristin Nohe

Nargol Arefin

Cody Griffith

Alyssa Nassner

WORK -IN-PROGRESS: We did individual reviews to check project progress, reviewing completion of all things to date including the entrepreneur analysis, the use of labeling and packaging, online publishing dates, direction of concepts on projects and branding assessment draft. The branding assessment will lead to writing a project description for promotional materials and other business needs.

Next week we meet in class at 9am, have a brief talk about Art Market, then visit Double Dutch Boutique at 11am. All the class will attend, half the class will get a crit. Have your projects ready to show progress to date and describe the product using some of the tools learned in the Branding Workshop.

HOMEWORK: Attend the Photographing Your Work workshop at the Career Center, Wednesday Nov 4th at 2:30pm

Week 9

Branding Workshop with Mike Weikert

Mike covered the basics of branding and demonstrated the difference between identity and branding. Here are some of the points he made:

What is a Brand?

A brand is not a logo.A brand is not an identity system. A brand is not a product.

A brand is an idea, not a thing. It is a shifting set of perceptions and associations that can be influenced but not controlled. A successful brand evokes an emotional response by telling a story that connects to its audience, transcending the product to represent something bigger—an idea, a movement, a way of life. Most importantly, successful brands ring true.

People are emotional and intuitive beings and react and respond to products and companies based on those emotions and intuitions. As a result, brands are defined by individuals, not companies, marketing firms or designers.

It’s not what you say it is, It’s what they say it is.— Marty NeumeierThe Brand Gap

Products are created in the factory. Brands are created in the mind.— Walter Landor, FounderLandor Associates

It takes a whole company to build a brand.—Blake Deutsch

A brand becomes stronger when you narrow the focus.—Al and Laura Ries

Brands are most successful when strategy and creativity work together.

— smart and beautiful.

— analytical and intuitive.

— logical and emotional.

When both sides work together (in the words of Marty Neumeier) you can build a charismatic brand.

Charismatic brand: product, service or organization for which people believe there is no substitute.

Students were asked to bring a draft of their brand assessment considering the following points in reference to their specific project:

Brand Strategy, Positioning and Identity.

Brand Strategy The combined understanding of three parts.

1. Position in the marketplace(target audience, competition)

2. Visual identity(product/service itself, logo, all design and communication)

3. Marketing initiatives (how your product/service is delivered to the audience)

Brand Positioning Define a platform that will provide a standard for judging the accuracy of all brand communications

Objectives—What are the goals of the product/service?

Challenges—What obstacles does it face in attaining those goals and getting the message out?

Target Markets—Who are you talking to?

Attributes—What characteristics best describe the product/service?

Points of Difference—What makes it unique?

Perceptions—How would you expect the product/service to be perceived by the public?

Reasons to Believe—What makes it different?

Essence—What are the significant features of of the product/service and what does it promise?

from this, we define this:

Key Messages—specific communication points.

Thematic Platform—visual and conceptual principles.

Imaging Criteria—standards for developing the brand identity.

Development Ideas—list of deliverables.

Brand IdentityVisual and verbal expression of the brand.

Execution of deliverables based on the Brand Positioning exercise.

BE AN EARLY BIRD : BRANDING WORKSHOP

Our Tuesday Branding Workshop in The Lab with Mike Weikert will begin at 9am sharp. Please arrive 10 min early to set up your work and be ready to start at 9am. Remember to bring all work to date, your handouts and questions AND you draft of the branding assessment.

See you Tuesday!

WEEK 7 & 8

Week 7 : Mid-term individual crits were done in class. Any materials that needed reworking were collected [revamped proposals or Letterpress demo work]. The class looks like it is on-track generally for completing their projects. Some students may need to put the pedal down to get it all done. We discussed individual strategies for getting it all done, adapting directions, etc.

HOMEWORK : Read the branding handouts given out at the end of class. Some material is from Mike Weikert who will visit the class in Week 9, some is from Alina Wheeler, the Philadelphia branding expert. If you are really interested in branding, I'd suggest her book! Read this material throughly, reread it. Using this information, create a draft of your Brand Assessment. Pls have this typed to hand in. In Week 9, Mike Weikert will do a Branding Workshop and look at your project with an eye toward how well you thinking on your brand represents your project. Mike has worked as a brand focused designer for many years and is the Director of the MICA Center for Design Practice. Pls bring your work in to-date. This presentation and review will take a majority of the class time. Links to Branding information will be posted before the end of this week. Pls check it again for add'l info on branding.

Week 8 : Fall Break

HOMEWORK : Continue working on your project.

Art Market : Important dates

Here are the Art Market date you need to know about:

Oct 14 : Informational Meeting 2:30 in B110

This is a good meeting to attend if you have general questions about how Art market works. You can also ask me in class.

Nov 11 : Required Mtg 2:30 in M110

This meeting will cover tags and other pertinent information. You must attend.

Dec 2 : Required Mtg 2:30 in Falvey Hall

This meeting covers all the last minute details and info about how the Market will run including packing up each night, recording sales and wrapping merchandise, etc. You must attend.

Dec 9-12 : The Art Market in Leidy Atrium

We will develop a schedule of work shifts for manning tables. Pls be aware we will need 4-6 people at all times.

WEEK 6

This week we had a great Letterpress demo by Kyle Van Horn. Check out his site's TEACHING page for great letterpress resources. For this demo, students were asked to take the project imagery generated for the Gocco demo farther, make it more sophisticated, developed toward their brand identity. Students were also asked to bring a variety of materials to print on testing out their ideas and use of materials.

In the afternoon, we did one-on-one midterm assessments. If you were told something was missing, pls complete it or if you wish to improve your grade, you may rewrite your entrepreneur assessment, improve your identity ideas, etc.

This is Kyle!

Students mixed ink.

The rollers are inked.

The polymer plate is set on the press bed.

And the proofs are checked.

HOMEWORK : Develop promotional/branding ideas from the Letterpress demo. What did this exercise inform in your identity. Keep working on your project.

Art Market : Register Now

The Art Market registration form is currently live. Please register today to insure your spot at the Illustration table. http://www.mica.edu/artmarket

ALSO: Please turn in your negatives to the IL Office, if you haven't done so already. Many of you had not and we need them to burn the plates ahead of time. It takes 2 1/2 hrs to burn them...we can't do it on Tues morning, so if your neg is not in by this weekend [place it in my mailbox], you won't be able to print on Tuesday!