Fancy Tiger Holiday Handemade Craft Fair

 

I recently attended Fancy Tiger’s Holiday Craft Fair at the Sherman Events Center. The fair featured crafts, homemade gifts and goodies by sixty local crafters. There were a large variety of booths, everything a holiday shopper could ask for: handmade Christmas dioramas, screen printed tees and totes, mini pies, cute little felted birds, quilted baby shoes and handcrafted jewelry and pottery. There was even a booth where you could make your own notebooks (you picked the size, binding, paper and cover photo). My favorite booth was a company called The Naked Goat, the made different bath products and also homemade jellies and jams. I also really liked the Christmas dioramas. There were tiny Christmas trees and snowman tucked neatly into vintage radios and coffee pots. Each diorama had its own light source and some of the figures even moved. I would have to say his pieces were the most original and unusual. Even though it was a craft fair there was a fair amount of typography and design. All booths had signs with their names and many had brochures and business cards. I always like when they take the time to hand letter the price signs. 

Lines of text and 1st go at text blocks

1.Dear potential employer, my name is Nicole.

2. I am currently a journalism student at Metro with an emphasis in public relations and a minor in studio art.

3.I am interested in exploring the relationship between design and public relations, I believe there is quite a bit of overlap between the two fields.

4.I see myself as a creative person who can think outside of the box.

5.I meet deadlines and enjoy challenges.

6.I am a fast learner and work well on a team.

7.At your convenience, I’d appreciate the opportunity to discuss the possibility of an internship and my candidacy with you.

8.An internship with your company would allow me to refine skills I have learned in my marketing, public relations and design classes and apply them to real-life situations. I have a great deal of sales experience, both in retail and wholesale.

9.I am comfortable approaching new people and consistently make or exceed sales goals.

10.I have enclosed a copy of my resume, and have writing and layout/design samples if needed.

11.Thank you so much for your time and consideration.

12. If you have any question please feel free to contact me. Kind regards, Nicole Proulx

 

 

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Research Design Brief

1.Title

Pampered Pooches- Dogs Living in the Lap of Luxury

2. General Introduction

–According to the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) in 2012, 36.5 % of U.S. households  own a dog. Owning a dog is a big responsibility and comes with many costs. This inforgraphic is not about those costs. This infograph will illustrate the amount of money individuals spend on their dogs for things other than food, and veterinary expenses. In the last ten years there has been an increase in “dog boutiques,” dog parks and businesses focused on dogs (doggy daycare, dog yoga etc). In 2011 the American Pet Products Association estimated the total U.S. pet industry expenditures would be above $50 billion dollars. The pet industry is booming even with current economic challenges.

3. Problem Identification

-The cause of this informational graphic is to inform the audience of the amount of money spent in the United States on dogs for products and services that many would consider non-essential. Digging through statistics and finding valid sources is one of the problems needed to be overcome. Also displaying the information in a meaningful way may also be a challenge.

– The amount of time/money spent on our pets, specifically dogs compared to years before. As well as the increase in the number of pet products, boarding facilities, daycare, etc in the last 10 years.

4. Analysis and Conclusion

– The goal of this informational graphic is to effectively illustrate the boom in the pet industry, notably in dog related fields.

-The purpose of visualizing this information is to inform and to entertain.

1. Entertain

2. Trends

3. Inform

4. Money

5. Products

6. Services

7. Luxury

8.  Pet industry

9. Local

10. Understood/ easily navigated

5. Variables or Measurements Utilized Within Research

1. Demographics

-Male and Females, early twenties and up. I think I may focus specifically on females. They seem to be more likely to buy the products/services I am investigating.

2. Psychographics

-Dog owner. Spends money on their pet other than regular expenses. Would find something like this entertaining and possibly informational. Interested in some of the topics presented and may want to explore them in more detail.

3. Geographics

-My audience can be local or national. Research was focused on national   trends as well as local businesses and statistics.

6. World View, Historical and Social Contexts

-I think this solution should illustrate the absurd amount of money that can be spent on a pet. I would also like to maybe get into the reasons why people feel they must spend that amount of money they do on their pets (time individuals have to take care of a pet, or the perceived time they have).

7. Positioning and Communication Strategy

– I would say that the primary purpose of this design is to entertain. Perhaps on some level it is also to inform the audience about the exuberant amount of money spent on things most people would not consider necessary. Maybe it will also get the viewer to ask the question, “What’s the point or is it necessary? Do dogs really care if they go to yoga or have fancy drinking water?”

Categories

– Man’s best friend a brief history

-Organic/ natural trends in pet products

– People companies going to the dogs

-Pet hotels, Yoga classes, massages, and day care (doggy day out).

-Dogs in the US vs Dogs abroad

– How these trends compare to trends 15-20 years ago

– Why? (what makes someone spend $$)

– Are dogs better off today then they were 10 years ago?

-Eco-dogs

 Variable

I would like to illustrate the variables using different graphs and illustrations I create in illustrator. Perhaps there will be some imported images?

8. Pragmatic Issues

– Some of the issues I have come across are obtaining information from valuable sources. Also sometimes the information that I have found includes other pets, not just dogs. I think illustrating the information in a way that effectively displays it and engages the viewer may be my biggest challenge.

“The Marketing of No Marketing”

I found Rob Walker’s “The Marketing of No Marketing,” interesting. It shows the power and influence your audience or customer can have with a product. Although the article was written in 2003 you can still see the prevalence of P.B.R. in dive-bars and “hipster” hangouts.  It is interesting to me that an unintended audience, a group of people who were not necessarily the target market for Pabst is the driving force behind an increase in sales. It is also interesting Pabst as a brand has “unassumingly” taken on this image of their new primary market. Its great Pabst sales have increased in certain states, but what would be better is if they could become a national competitor using the same no marketing tactics. How do you increase national sales or how do you sell your product to what the article refers to as “swing voters,” without alienating the individuals who helped create the initial buzz? What I wonder is if it is even possible without the help of some form of commercial marketing. Word-of-mouth is one of the most powerful tools a company has but I am not sure word-of-mouth alone can help a mediocre brew. Perhaps Pabst is content only holding less than one percent of the market. I assume their “fans” are. 

Who Dat?!

Simple self portrait using pen tool in illustrator.

News Headline Poster Design

1. “Lawsuit Claims Pork Producers Council Scammed $60 Million from Farmers.”

              byline- “Pork the Other White Meat…” (NPR.com 9/24/12)

2. Alfred Roller. He was one of the founders of the Vienna Secession.

3. Geometric shapes – Dense, bold decorative type -Muted reds, blues and greens, also black -“Curvilinear” style -Art Nouveau

4. Secessionist and artist like Alfred Roller focused on creating art outside of the confines of the academic tradition. I think it is interesting to take something somewhat academic like a news headline and translating it into a design reminiscent of Roller and his work.

5. I really like the poster with the long, curvy S’s. I would like to incorporate those into my poster maybe with the P in pork, the S in scam. Roller’s work has a hand-drawn quality to it that I hope I can recreate even though we will be working digitally. 

 

Logo Design Exercise

Maggie’s Cashmere Cupcakes logo design

Fonts

Love it or Hate it

Is a Designer an Artist?

 

I found this passage a little confusing. But what I got from it is that design and art for the most part are intertwined. “Art” or the skills associated with it are used by designers to solve problems. Designers are the middlemen for a client/the client’s vision or problem and for the target audience. Designers are creative translators. 

 

I found Eames’ idea of the ever-changing area of the concerns of society, etc to be an interesting notion. Also the reality of a designer being influenced not only by his or her tastes but by cultural norms, the client and their beliefs etc and by society’s needs is true and something I think is taken for granted when defining a designer and their work.