CAM24 ADVANCED MEDIA INTEGRATION
Welcome to Advanced Media Integration, the most exotically named course I've come across. In more basic terms what you'll be doing is creating a number of media options that will work together to support and promote your cause or organisation. Specifically in my classes you'll be producing a communications manual.
This manual will house:
- Corporate standards of your brand. This you will do with Lissa and Felix.
- Editorial layouts for a proposed magazine.
- Advertising campaign concepts spread across ATL, BTL and guerrilla marketing.
In the last section of this semester (Wk 13 - 16) We'll also be putting your communications manual together. In some ways this is very like a portfolio, showing your work off in the best possible light. We will be looking at how we can place concepts in-sitch to provide even greater impact and how we lay out our work without the layout becoming obvious and taking over. This publication will be 24 pages long and should fit in with all your corporate standards you have created.
Timetable looks like this:
- Briefing and types of publication / target market
- Publication lecture 01 / types of Advertising 01
- Publication lecture 02 / Advertising lecture 02
- In-class presentation - marked
- Publication lecture 03 / Advertising lecture 03
- PW 1
- Publication lecture 04 / Advertising lecture 04
- In-class presentation - marked
- Publication lecture 05 / Advertising lecture 05
- Publication lecture 06 / Advertising lecture 06
- Publication lecture 07 / Advertising lecture 07
- PW 2 / In-class presentation - not marked
- Publication lecture 08 / Advertising lecture 08
- Publication lecture 09 / Advertising lecture 09
- Publication lecture 10 / Advertising lecture 10
- In-class presentation - marked
- PW 3 / Final presentations - marked / Final hand-in - marked
- Review week
TARGET MARKETS
You should all know me well enough by now to know that target-markets to me, is god. Understanding your target market is the best way to make your design accepted and loved. If you understand your target market you'll not only know where they are and how to reach them, but also to where they can be pushed and what they want to evolve to. Yes, target markets evolve, and not only that - they want to. Evolution of target markets takes into account peoples age, status, environment and aspirations.
Lets look at ourselves as a target market. What three characteristics would you sum yourself up as? Are these the same three you would have had 5 years ago? What about 10 years ago? How have you evolved? Are you even the same target market you used to be? Have you evolved into something else. Was it a conscious choice?
It in these aspirations to evolve into another target market that magazines and advertising can sit quite comfortably and have the most impact. Most magazines show you pictures of what you aspire to, not what you have. The same type of thing occurs with advertising - people in Coke ads are laughing, out in the sun and having fun - not waking up at 11am with a banging headache from the night before in desperate need of moisture and sugar.
So not only do you have to work out who your Target Market is but you have to be aware of what they are trying to evolve into.
Add to this that your publishing Target Market might be different to your main Target Market and both of them might be different to your advertising Target Market. For example: If your main organisation is focused on reducing bullying in schools your publishing Target Market is probably not going to be the kids that are being bullied - it'd be like a red rag to a bull. It's probably not going to be the bullies - what would it be More Effective Bullying Techniques...actually that's not bad. It's probably going to be parents or teachers...probably. Your advertising Target Market on the other hand is most likely not going to be the bullied kids either - the whole dobbing in thing just doesn't work. Advertising to parents and teachers might be a bit excessive - especially if we've already sent them a publication. So that really only leaves the other kids, the ones in the middle, not being bullied and not doing the bullying. Or... we could target the bullies? How would we do that?
The point being is we need to work out who our Target Markets are for each of the things we're producing. Target Market for your organisation should hopefully already be pretty clear.What about the other ones? Ask yourself all the usual questions for Target Market research:
Demographics: Age, Income (Purchasing power), Family size, Education, Occupations, Gender, Nationality/Race.
Geography: Region, Climate, Politics, Social standards.
Behaviors: Brand loyalty, Value of quality, Geek-new.
Psychographic: Personality, Lifestyle, Interests, Readiness to buy.
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CASE STUDY - 3A.M.
In the case of Detox the target market didn't really exist. It was an organisation that showed 18-25s how bad binge drinking was - the last thing a binge drinking 18-25 year old is interested in. They are even less likely to want to read a magazine dedicated to the topic. Thus the problem - how to get someone to read something they don't want to read.
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TYPES OF PUBLICATIONS
Now comes the part where we bring your concept to the publishing world. The choice of publication is up to you. It could be a book, a magazine, a brochure (see below for a bigger list) - anything that is printed and contains content.
Magazines have numerous writers and numerous opinions. While they might have a house style they can still be quite varied in their approach to stories and design.
Zines are targeted opinions normally on one topic to one audience, often by one writer.
Brochures can be similar to magazines but have a clear message to get across with a sale or a sign-up being the end goal. There is normally only a few items/services on show and normally from one brand.
Catalogues are the same as a brochures but with more emphasis on showing the many products and many brands on sale. There is a selection for the viewer to buy and no need for them to purchase all. Don't think Harvey Norman catalogues here, think Our People (General Pants) or Shop.
Coffee Table Books are focused on making great visual impressions. Spreads are generally thought of as one visual and content is kept to a minimum. Of course if you choose this one I'll be pushing for you to do a few content pages just to check off the typography part of the assignment.
Journals are the opposite of a Coffee Table Book. It's focus is on content. Type plays a big part in journals and good use of hierarchy is important to keep the reader interested.
Annuals provide a yearly sum up in their content. They fall somewhere in the middle of a coffee table and a journal with equal standing with visuals and content.
That should give you a good start when you begin to think about what your publication might be. Of course if you've got your heart set on something else I haven't listed... have your people call my people.
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What you need to complete for each type of publication:
Magazine/Zine
3 covers (1st three issues)
Contents page [1 page]
Contributors/Editors note [1 page]
Mini article/News items/letters [2 pages]
Feature article [4 pages]
Feature opener spread [2 pages]
Feature opener right hand page [1 page]
Coffee Table Book/Journal/Annual
Full cover (front, spine, back and inner flaps/end papers)
Opener [1 page]
Contents page [1 page]
Forward [2 pages]
Introduction [1 page]
2 x Chapter opener and followers [3 pages]
Brochure/Catalogue
Full cover (front, back, end papers)
Introduction [2 page]
Feature article [4 pages]
Feature opener spread [2 pages]
Feature opener page [1 page]
Call to action/order form
They each work out at around 14 pages each. This will form part of your 24 page communications manual - more on that later.
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HOMEWORK
For next week you need to come in with a clear understanding of who your Target Markets are and what sort of publication you are going to do. I'll get a random few to get up and tell the rest of the class what they have chosen and why and the rest of you I'll talk to individually within your set groups. So thats:
- What publication style you are going to do & why.
- What Target Market you are going after with the publication & why.
- What Target Market you are going after with your advertising & why.
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INSPIRATION & EXTRAS
Each week I throw up things I find that relate to what we've been discussing or working on that week. Sometimes it might be things that relate to your major assessment and sometimes just stuff I thought was worth seeing. If you find something you think we should be showing or something we just have to see let us know in class or throw an email over to me at matt@billyblue.com.au and I'll get it up here or on the Bluni inspiration site.
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Kylie and Madonna
The Kylie coffee table book that many people thought was a light version of Madonna's Sex book. That's right Madge had a coffee table book about sex in 92, it caused a big stir at the time because of the hard-core images it portrayed. When it was released it sold out within 3 days (1.5 million copies.) Check out the wikipedia entry for the full bizarre story. Vanilla Ice was even in it - nude!
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Stefan Sagmeister’s Things I Have Learned In My Life So Far
This book began as a list designer Stefan Sagmeister made in his diary under the title Things I have learned in my life so far, which includes statements such as "Worrying solves nothing" and "Trying to look good limits my life." The list reveals something that is profoundly true: Although human beings have been pursuing happiness for countless generations, it is not so easily achieved. And we need constant reminders to keep us on the right path.
With the support of his clients, Sagmeister transformed these sentences into typographic works, from billboards in France to sign-toting inflatable monkeys on the streets of Scotland. Accompanied by essays from design historian Steven Heller, Guggenheim chief curator Nancy Spector, and UK psychologist Daniel Nettle, as well as Sagmeister's own words, the series is revealed as a complex blend of personal revelation, art, and design – an eclectic mix of visual audacity and sound advice.
This book consists of 15 unbound signatures in a laser-cut slipcase. Shuffling the sequence of the signatures will produce 15 different covers.
Sagmeister’s full list of 20 maxims are as follows:
1. Helping other people helps me.
2. Having guts always works out for me.
3. Thinking that life will be better in the future is stupid. I have to live now.
4. Organising a charity group is surprisingly easy.
5. Being not truthful always works against me.
6. Everything I do always comes back to me.
7. Assuming is stifling.
8. Drugs feel great in the beginning and become a drag later on.
9. Over time I get used to everything and start taking for granted.
10. Money does not make me happy.
11. My dreams have no meaning.
12. Keeping a diary supports personal development.
13. Trying to look good limits my life.
14. Material luxuries are best enjoyed in small doses.
15. Worrying solves nothing.
16. Complaining is silly. Either act or forget.
17. Everybody thinks they are right.
18. If I want to explore a new direction professionally, it is helpful to try it out for myself first.
19. Low expectations are a good strategy.
20. Everybody who is honest is interesting.
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Beautiful old type posters
Why don't we spend as much time on our type as these masters did. It looks so beautiful even boring subjects come alive. Design Observer has a great article on the lost art of Artistic Type. Forget letterpress, this is where it's at. When we are thinking about mastheads and headings this might be worth researching. Spending the extra time here will pay off in the viewers appreciation and respect for the publication.
