I am going to write a progress update today, as I feel this is necessary in order for me to clear my mind and point myself in the correct direction for making further progress.
Yesterday I focussed on the annotation of my sketchbook work for development. I almost completed this yesterday and have now fully completed it this morning. This includes development of the characters, logo, app, Facebook page, Twitter Page, YouTube channel, website, Safety Bus design, screensaver, mouse mat, story book, corporate clothing – including the T-shirt, hat and sweatshirt, the sunflower competition – including the disc roundel and packet design, stickers and badges, and the blog.
I will now refer back to my ‘aims for this week’, and see which areas I have completed and which I must focus on.
I have completed the photo shoot on location on Friday, therefore this task no longer needs to be concentrated on. Other tasks for last Friday included the ordering of stickers and badges, and the production of business cards – I have achieved all of these and therefore this entry no longer needs to be acknowledged.
My task for Saturday, Sunday and Monday was to annotate the print screens gathered over the course of this week and to print these pages. This morning I completed all of the development work that I am going to now until Friday – where I will consider going back and enhancing areas if I have enough time.
My aims for Tuesday were to complete the development work – there I am up to date, and also to purchase my third folder for this to be placed in – I will leave this last task and concentrate on this on Friday, when I am to get my time log bound and therefore will be venturing into town for this.
I also made a note within my ‘to do list’, that if my personalised folders arrive throughout the week, I should placed my work within these, one has arrived yet I am still waiting on the arrival of the other and will chase this up with a phone call today.
My task for Wednesday (tomorrow) is to sort out my dissertation, arranging all necessary sections and submit this to be printed like a storybook. However, this is my next task for today and I aim to have completed this by today. I need to return home as my report formatting was completed on my laptop, and therefore I will need to view the original file before I can make amendments and convert this into a PDF, however I aim to have this printed and bound by the end of today, so that this is a nice addition to my stand.
It then appears that I am ahead of task, as my aim for Thursday was to consider the production of the actual story book, to include the puppets. However, I have already organised this, and the story book should be arriving on Thursday – the day I was supposed to be creating this. I am very pleased with this story book and it appears to be of a high quality and I have had it produced in hard back, therefore I cannot wait for its arrivial.
This time schedule left Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday for the creation of my final boards. However, I aim to start working on these tomorrow – Wednesday, if not sooner! Therefore I am pleased to say that I am ahead of schedule.
I have also found out that my Lancabot article should be appearing in the Lancashire Evening Post on the Monday of submission. Therefore I will have to wake up early to purchase this paper and leave room within my portfolio to place this.
Tuesday, 17 May 2011
Sunday, 15 May 2011
Progress on the Story Book and Obstacles to Overcome
Today has been a very productive day for me. First of all I spent the majority of the day working on the story book to be published. I sent this over to the company at around 7pm this evening, and will be awaiting a PDF proof from them tomorrow, so I will have to keep checking my emails.
I understand that the proof will be sent to me tomorrow, and that this takes around four hours, therefore I expect to receive this at around 1pm. I must approve the proof that same day for it to be considered for production the next day.
So, as this stands the book will be ready for production on Tuesday, and then will be printed between Thursday and Friday. This means that it will be sent next day delivery for the Saturday, which means that I should (hopefully) receive this for the Monday. This is worrying me a little as the deadline is very tight!
However, I will not panic and will wait to hear from the company tomorrow. Today I also went back and annotated my development work including the Facebook and Twitter pages, and the development of the safety bus.
From this I have created a further list of items for me to complete tomorrow:
Annotation of development of mobile phone apps.
Annotation of development of YouTube site (this has already been started).
Annotation of development of story book – simply print screen each page and help to describe the narrative, also copy and paste the narrative onto a word document for inclusion into the development folder.
Annotation of development of the T-shirts and other corporate clothing
Annotation of badges print screens
Annotation of sunflower competition.
If I complete all of the above by the end of the day tomorrow then I will be on good track to finish my work before the deadline – if not then it looks like I may be in trouble.
Regardless of my achievements by the end of the day tomorrow, I will cast the development work aside, and then start working on the formatting of my final boards, to be included within my portfolio. From Tuesday I will start working on the formatting and annotation of the standard boards, of which I believe there will be around ten.
I understand that I may be able to group some of the forms of promotion together, for example SMM, and the mascot handler with the uniform, so on and so forth, therefore I will put great thought into how best to achieve the final outcome to the best possible standard, and without being immensely time consuming. Therefore I must remember that whatever my progress by the end of the day tomorrow, by Tuesday I will move forwards to the formatting of the boards. I will then give myself until the end of the day on Wednesday to review this progress and to decide how to move on from here.
I understand that the proof will be sent to me tomorrow, and that this takes around four hours, therefore I expect to receive this at around 1pm. I must approve the proof that same day for it to be considered for production the next day.
So, as this stands the book will be ready for production on Tuesday, and then will be printed between Thursday and Friday. This means that it will be sent next day delivery for the Saturday, which means that I should (hopefully) receive this for the Monday. This is worrying me a little as the deadline is very tight!
However, I will not panic and will wait to hear from the company tomorrow. Today I also went back and annotated my development work including the Facebook and Twitter pages, and the development of the safety bus.
From this I have created a further list of items for me to complete tomorrow:
Annotation of development of mobile phone apps.
Annotation of development of YouTube site (this has already been started).
Annotation of development of story book – simply print screen each page and help to describe the narrative, also copy and paste the narrative onto a word document for inclusion into the development folder.
Annotation of development of the T-shirts and other corporate clothing
Annotation of badges print screens
Annotation of sunflower competition.
If I complete all of the above by the end of the day tomorrow then I will be on good track to finish my work before the deadline – if not then it looks like I may be in trouble.
Regardless of my achievements by the end of the day tomorrow, I will cast the development work aside, and then start working on the formatting of my final boards, to be included within my portfolio. From Tuesday I will start working on the formatting and annotation of the standard boards, of which I believe there will be around ten.
I understand that I may be able to group some of the forms of promotion together, for example SMM, and the mascot handler with the uniform, so on and so forth, therefore I will put great thought into how best to achieve the final outcome to the best possible standard, and without being immensely time consuming. Therefore I must remember that whatever my progress by the end of the day tomorrow, by Tuesday I will move forwards to the formatting of the boards. I will then give myself until the end of the day on Wednesday to review this progress and to decide how to move on from here.
Friday, 13 May 2011
Regarding the Graphic Stand
I have not posted a blog update in a couple of days, however – this does not mean that I have been unproductive in that time – quite the opposite. The last week has been very hectic for me, finishing off bits of promotion, for example making small changes such as positioning and alignment to perfect the document.
I have also been concentrating on Lancabot, considering how best to implement him into the final stand to give him the credit he deserves as a main force in promotion. I therefore conducted an indoor photoshoot with Lancabot, and also included the production design so that the person viewing the board had an idea that the costume was to human scale and not a cuddly toy – like The Cell Crew.
My board format works well as the Lancabot head, arms and feet are within the margins of the board, this therefore acts as a header, footer and borders. I have literally just finished putting my board together, and am now waiting until the submission of the graphic stand .This is such a nerve-wracking moment, mostly due to the large scale of the stand – if there are any mistakes these will be very obvious.
Today I also had a photoshoot with Lancabot for the Lancashire Evening Post. I am very excited to see this printed, as this is a form of press for the Lancashire Science Festival, an example of PR, which is effectively free marketing within the local community of newsreaders.
What next? After the submission of this graphic stand tomorrow I will concentrate firstly on my development work within my sketchbook, as I believe I can get this completed within three days, leaving me with a full week to get my boards completed. These boards will be simply, as I am keeping the same consistent look and feel of my campaign as generated by the graphic stand, therefore I may continue using the header, footer and border combination.
I will also ensure that all entries for this timelot are printed to successfully document my time management. At present I feel very confident about the outcome of this campaign.
I have also been concentrating on Lancabot, considering how best to implement him into the final stand to give him the credit he deserves as a main force in promotion. I therefore conducted an indoor photoshoot with Lancabot, and also included the production design so that the person viewing the board had an idea that the costume was to human scale and not a cuddly toy – like The Cell Crew.
My board format works well as the Lancabot head, arms and feet are within the margins of the board, this therefore acts as a header, footer and borders. I have literally just finished putting my board together, and am now waiting until the submission of the graphic stand .This is such a nerve-wracking moment, mostly due to the large scale of the stand – if there are any mistakes these will be very obvious.
Today I also had a photoshoot with Lancabot for the Lancashire Evening Post. I am very excited to see this printed, as this is a form of press for the Lancashire Science Festival, an example of PR, which is effectively free marketing within the local community of newsreaders.
What next? After the submission of this graphic stand tomorrow I will concentrate firstly on my development work within my sketchbook, as I believe I can get this completed within three days, leaving me with a full week to get my boards completed. These boards will be simply, as I am keeping the same consistent look and feel of my campaign as generated by the graphic stand, therefore I may continue using the header, footer and border combination.
I will also ensure that all entries for this timelot are printed to successfully document my time management. At present I feel very confident about the outcome of this campaign.
Post Mascot Photo Shoot
This morning I completed my photo shoot with Lancabot on location. I dressed up in the Lancabot mascot costume and had photographs taken at a series of noteworthy locations, including: Preston high street, outside of St George’s shopping centre, the famous row of telephone boxes, Preston outdoor market and Fishergate shopping centre, along with shoots in other places such as bus shelters and benches.
My conclusion is that these photographs are the most successful out of all three shoots. Since looking at the images, I have rotated them all so that they are upright, I must now make it my task to choose around 5 from the studio photoshoot – these should be classed as product shots and should be the photographs which best help to communicate the type of personality which Lancabot has. I must then also choose five ‘on location’ shoots. These will be presented within my portfolio. I must consider how to present these – should these be individual photos, presented as a college, or laid out methodically with annotation.
This will be my next task for today; I will then also start working on imagery for the business cards I am to order, and also the badges. I will update this blog once I have completed these two tasks. I will then create a set of instructions for myself, relating to how I can move this project forwards.
My conclusion is that these photographs are the most successful out of all three shoots. Since looking at the images, I have rotated them all so that they are upright, I must now make it my task to choose around 5 from the studio photoshoot – these should be classed as product shots and should be the photographs which best help to communicate the type of personality which Lancabot has. I must then also choose five ‘on location’ shoots. These will be presented within my portfolio. I must consider how to present these – should these be individual photos, presented as a college, or laid out methodically with annotation.
This will be my next task for today; I will then also start working on imagery for the business cards I am to order, and also the badges. I will update this blog once I have completed these two tasks. I will then create a set of instructions for myself, relating to how I can move this project forwards.
Thursday, 12 May 2011
Plan of Action
I must come up with a plan of action of how I intend to spend the next week I have left to complete my campaign, therefore I have listed a timetable below, and will work (very strictly) towards this.
Friday – on location Lancabot shoot in the morning, order stickers and badges, get business cards produced with appropriate number in the evening, and print out time log entries to date. The business cards can include any illustration of imagery creative throughout this course.
Saturday – annotate print screens gathered over the course of this week – print these pages
Sunday – annotate print screens gathered over the course of this week – print these pages
Monday – development work – go through work and decide which elements need further development and which ones I can call complete.
Tuesday – development work, aim to complete this by the end of today. I should also have purchased my third folder for this to be placed in.
(Throughout these dates, if my personalised folder arrives, I should rearrange the original folder to suit this).
Wednesday – dissertation sort out all necessary sections submit this to be printed like a storybook.
Thursday – consider the production of the actual story book to include the puppets.
Friday – development board x 2
Saturday - research board x 2
Sunday – Timeplan, media plan and campaign plan.
Monday – Submission.
When working from the above it becomes clear that I do not have enough time to get all of the work I have planned to complete, completed. Therefore, I must work ahead of schedule, completing half of the work for the next day too. Something which I have no mentioned above is that I must produce boards which demonstrate my promotion, and that these must contain the imagery and then the annotation.
What next? I was planning on taking this evening off as a little ‘welldone’ for submitting my work today, and to the standard that I desired. However, I will now look at producing business cards as I believe that these are the items which have the longest lead time.
Friday – on location Lancabot shoot in the morning, order stickers and badges, get business cards produced with appropriate number in the evening, and print out time log entries to date. The business cards can include any illustration of imagery creative throughout this course.
Saturday – annotate print screens gathered over the course of this week – print these pages
Sunday – annotate print screens gathered over the course of this week – print these pages
Monday – development work – go through work and decide which elements need further development and which ones I can call complete.
Tuesday – development work, aim to complete this by the end of today. I should also have purchased my third folder for this to be placed in.
(Throughout these dates, if my personalised folder arrives, I should rearrange the original folder to suit this).
Wednesday – dissertation sort out all necessary sections submit this to be printed like a storybook.
Thursday – consider the production of the actual story book to include the puppets.
Friday – development board x 2
Saturday - research board x 2
Sunday – Timeplan, media plan and campaign plan.
Monday – Submission.
When working from the above it becomes clear that I do not have enough time to get all of the work I have planned to complete, completed. Therefore, I must work ahead of schedule, completing half of the work for the next day too. Something which I have no mentioned above is that I must produce boards which demonstrate my promotion, and that these must contain the imagery and then the annotation.
What next? I was planning on taking this evening off as a little ‘welldone’ for submitting my work today, and to the standard that I desired. However, I will now look at producing business cards as I believe that these are the items which have the longest lead time.
Wednesday, 11 May 2011
Graphic Stand Construction
I have not posted a blog update in a couple of days, however – this does not mean that I have been unproductive in that time – quite the opposite. The last week has been very hectic for me, finishing off bits of promotion, for example making small changes such as positioning and alignment to perfect the document.
I have also been concentrating on Lancabot, considering how best to implement him into the final stand to give him the credit he deserves as a main force in promotion. I therefore conducted an indoor photoshoot with Lancabot, and also included the production design so that the person viewing the board had an idea that the costume was to human scale and not a cuddly toy – like The Cell Crew.
My board format works well as the Lancabot head, arms and feet are within the margins of the board, this therefore acts as a header, footer and borders. I have literally just finished putting my board together, and am now waiting until the submission of the graphic stand .This is such a nerve-wracking moment, mostly due to the large scale of the stand – if there are any mistakes these will be very obvious.
Today I also had a photoshoot with Lancabot for the Lancashire Evening Post. I am very excited to see this printed, as this is a form of press for the Lancashire Science Festival, an example of PR, which is effectively free marketing within the local community of newsreaders.
What next? After the submission of this graphic stand tomorrow I will concentrate firstly on my development work within my sketchbook, as I believe I can get this completed within three days, leaving me with a full week to get my boards completed. These boards will be simply, as I am keeping the same consistent look and feel of my campaign as generated by the graphic stand, therefore I may continue using the header, footer and border combination.
I will also ensure that all entries for this timelot are printed to successfully document my time management. At present I feel very confident about the outcome of this campaign.
I have also been concentrating on Lancabot, considering how best to implement him into the final stand to give him the credit he deserves as a main force in promotion. I therefore conducted an indoor photoshoot with Lancabot, and also included the production design so that the person viewing the board had an idea that the costume was to human scale and not a cuddly toy – like The Cell Crew.
My board format works well as the Lancabot head, arms and feet are within the margins of the board, this therefore acts as a header, footer and borders. I have literally just finished putting my board together, and am now waiting until the submission of the graphic stand .This is such a nerve-wracking moment, mostly due to the large scale of the stand – if there are any mistakes these will be very obvious.
Today I also had a photoshoot with Lancabot for the Lancashire Evening Post. I am very excited to see this printed, as this is a form of press for the Lancashire Science Festival, an example of PR, which is effectively free marketing within the local community of newsreaders.
What next? After the submission of this graphic stand tomorrow I will concentrate firstly on my development work within my sketchbook, as I believe I can get this completed within three days, leaving me with a full week to get my boards completed. These boards will be simply, as I am keeping the same consistent look and feel of my campaign as generated by the graphic stand, therefore I may continue using the header, footer and border combination.
I will also ensure that all entries for this timelot are printed to successfully document my time management. At present I feel very confident about the outcome of this campaign.
Saturday, 7 May 2011
Receiving Lancabot and Formulating a Plan of Action
Yesterday I received Lancabot in the post – this was so exciting for me to finally see my character brought to life. However, I soon began to realise the urgency which surrounded this situation in ensuring Lancabot was recognised as a valid part of my final campaign.
I therefore contacted the LEP, who agreed that they would run a story on Lancabot and arranged a photo shoot for him this coming Monday at 4.30pm. This was great as it ensured that I would have access to some photographs of Lancabot to use within my report. I have also booked the photography studio for 5pm on the Friday; therefore I will use this and take pictures of Lancabot in action. I will make a collection of these for my portfolio, whilst also putting some of the most inspiring photographs on my final board.
This will be fairly time consuming, as my lecture on Monday requires me to spend a couple of hours working on the format and layout of my final board. I have presently placed the forms of promotion which I have completed, or nearly completed on this. However, I am aware that I will have to go back to these and make amendments.
I feel that the best way forwards is to continue working on the promotion and the placement of this on the board on Sunday and Monday, and that by the end of day Monday, I should be in the right place to make amendments to these promotions, ensuring that they are to the highest standard, quality and finish by submission on the Wednesday.
Submission day is very close, and although the thought of this is absolutely petrifying, I feel that I am at the correct pace and am pleased that I have already placed a lot of the promotion of the board, and that I am content with this. I am also pleased that Lancabot has arrived in time, and now must start working on the photo shoot for him.
My 'To Do List' by the end of today is:
Web portal blog
Story book and puppets
Badges and Stickers
Once these have been completed I am satisfied that I will be at the correct pace for submission on Thursday. I will show Paz the layout of my boards on Monday and see if he agrees that everything is to a good scale and that nothing dominates. If possible, I will get this printed on A2 size paper, so that I can see if any of the art work is pixilated, and this will put my mind at rest. This will also allow me to see if the placement of items is correct, or whether there is too much blank space / some areas are too over-crowded.
I therefore contacted the LEP, who agreed that they would run a story on Lancabot and arranged a photo shoot for him this coming Monday at 4.30pm. This was great as it ensured that I would have access to some photographs of Lancabot to use within my report. I have also booked the photography studio for 5pm on the Friday; therefore I will use this and take pictures of Lancabot in action. I will make a collection of these for my portfolio, whilst also putting some of the most inspiring photographs on my final board.
This will be fairly time consuming, as my lecture on Monday requires me to spend a couple of hours working on the format and layout of my final board. I have presently placed the forms of promotion which I have completed, or nearly completed on this. However, I am aware that I will have to go back to these and make amendments.
I feel that the best way forwards is to continue working on the promotion and the placement of this on the board on Sunday and Monday, and that by the end of day Monday, I should be in the right place to make amendments to these promotions, ensuring that they are to the highest standard, quality and finish by submission on the Wednesday.
Submission day is very close, and although the thought of this is absolutely petrifying, I feel that I am at the correct pace and am pleased that I have already placed a lot of the promotion of the board, and that I am content with this. I am also pleased that Lancabot has arrived in time, and now must start working on the photo shoot for him.
My 'To Do List' by the end of today is:
Web portal blog
Story book and puppets
Badges and Stickers
Once these have been completed I am satisfied that I will be at the correct pace for submission on Thursday. I will show Paz the layout of my boards on Monday and see if he agrees that everything is to a good scale and that nothing dominates. If possible, I will get this printed on A2 size paper, so that I can see if any of the art work is pixilated, and this will put my mind at rest. This will also allow me to see if the placement of items is correct, or whether there is too much blank space / some areas are too over-crowded.
Thursday, 5 May 2011
To Do List 05/05/2011
I have written a ‘to do’ list, and aim to have each of these items completed by the end of today.
These are as follows:
Send off stickers to be produced.
Send off for badges for be produced – rethink the text to be included on these
Produce or illustrate trading cards.
Send off for Lanyard to be produced, or buy a lanyard which is the most suitable colour for The LSF.
Phone app – design this and use print screens to show development – to be included within research file.
Game – design the game for the LSF, show at least three screens for the different levels of this.
Cup/mug – send off for this to be produced on vistaprint – this will be distributed as a promotional giveaway at the ‘ meet and greet’ sessions with Lancabot.
Magnet – also to be distributed at the meet and greet with Lancabot.
Set up a Facebook and Twitter page, print screen the development of these or use the template.
See Dave regarding the photoshoot with Lancabot, and also about filming.
Consider a press pack to be distributed one per school . This could be a mini school back and could contain a disk, this would minimise costs of printing and is also carbon neutral – this could contain the ‘grow your own sunflower competition’ within.
I must also order one more primary research folder so that there is continuity amongst the presentation of my research.
What next? I will update the blog post at the end of the day stating whether the above has realistically been achieved.
These are as follows:
Send off stickers to be produced.
Send off for badges for be produced – rethink the text to be included on these
Produce or illustrate trading cards.
Send off for Lanyard to be produced, or buy a lanyard which is the most suitable colour for The LSF.
Phone app – design this and use print screens to show development – to be included within research file.
Game – design the game for the LSF, show at least three screens for the different levels of this.
Cup/mug – send off for this to be produced on vistaprint – this will be distributed as a promotional giveaway at the ‘ meet and greet’ sessions with Lancabot.
Magnet – also to be distributed at the meet and greet with Lancabot.
Set up a Facebook and Twitter page, print screen the development of these or use the template.
See Dave regarding the photoshoot with Lancabot, and also about filming.
Consider a press pack to be distributed one per school . This could be a mini school back and could contain a disk, this would minimise costs of printing and is also carbon neutral – this could contain the ‘grow your own sunflower competition’ within.
I must also order one more primary research folder so that there is continuity amongst the presentation of my research.
What next? I will update the blog post at the end of the day stating whether the above has realistically been achieved.
Wednesday, 4 May 2011
Decisions and Revisions Regarding Promotion
Today has been a very productive day for me. Firstly, I have communicated with Claire Fearnley regarding the productive of the Lancashire Rose to be made out of felt for Lancabot. This will complete Lancabot’s appearance and will ensure that his identity is well grounded in the region.
Moreover, I have also been working on my development work. This includes documenting the development of the promotional postcards, as well as the LSF webpage. After revisiting the LSF webpages for the first time in a few week, it gave me a different perspective on the webpage. Ultimately, this enabled me to review it and make changes. One of the changes included changing the backdrop colour from black to navy blue, this is only a minor change, yet it made a huge difference on the overall impact of the webpage.
Moreover, I have also been developing an Iphone app, using the downloadable templates to ensure that all gesture buttons and icons are legitimate, authentic, and also have the professional final outcome needed for my final campaign.
I have also been buying components to insert within my research file to ensure that this is interactive and up to scratch. I have decided that I am nearly completed with regards to my research, I just need to scan in and annotate another couple of pages – and this can be done right before submission if necessary. I do, however, need to purchase another primary research file as I am currently using a standard folder and this is not in-keeping with the rest of the folders, and I wish to maintain continuity in this respect.
Finally, today I received the Lancashire Science Festival promotional hoody – to be worn by the Mascot handler. It states “Ask me about The LSF”. This is a crucial part of the promotion as the person who is going to be assisting the robot must wear this, to ensure they look professional, as ultimately they are the person who is going to be asked about the event.
What next? For now my main priority is creating the promotional items. This includes a Facebook and Twitter account, I must also create an Iphone app and continue with the development and annotation of this, as this is an important part of my promotional range.
With regards to three dimensional forms of promotion, I have considered producing a bag for life; however, I am not really sure how necessary this is, as there are no items available for purchase at the LSF. I am also considering producing promotional mugs as these can be given away as freebees as the Lancabot meet and greets - this is also true of the magnets. Moreover, I will produce badges and will ensure that I purchase these tomorrow; I must take into consideration the lead times of these items. I also need to communicate with Dave Schofield regarding the photoshoot with Lancabot and also the photoshoot of the corporate clothing.
Moreover, I have also been working on my development work. This includes documenting the development of the promotional postcards, as well as the LSF webpage. After revisiting the LSF webpages for the first time in a few week, it gave me a different perspective on the webpage. Ultimately, this enabled me to review it and make changes. One of the changes included changing the backdrop colour from black to navy blue, this is only a minor change, yet it made a huge difference on the overall impact of the webpage.
Moreover, I have also been developing an Iphone app, using the downloadable templates to ensure that all gesture buttons and icons are legitimate, authentic, and also have the professional final outcome needed for my final campaign.
I have also been buying components to insert within my research file to ensure that this is interactive and up to scratch. I have decided that I am nearly completed with regards to my research, I just need to scan in and annotate another couple of pages – and this can be done right before submission if necessary. I do, however, need to purchase another primary research file as I am currently using a standard folder and this is not in-keeping with the rest of the folders, and I wish to maintain continuity in this respect.
Finally, today I received the Lancashire Science Festival promotional hoody – to be worn by the Mascot handler. It states “Ask me about The LSF”. This is a crucial part of the promotion as the person who is going to be assisting the robot must wear this, to ensure they look professional, as ultimately they are the person who is going to be asked about the event.
What next? For now my main priority is creating the promotional items. This includes a Facebook and Twitter account, I must also create an Iphone app and continue with the development and annotation of this, as this is an important part of my promotional range.
With regards to three dimensional forms of promotion, I have considered producing a bag for life; however, I am not really sure how necessary this is, as there are no items available for purchase at the LSF. I am also considering producing promotional mugs as these can be given away as freebees as the Lancabot meet and greets - this is also true of the magnets. Moreover, I will produce badges and will ensure that I purchase these tomorrow; I must take into consideration the lead times of these items. I also need to communicate with Dave Schofield regarding the photoshoot with Lancabot and also the photoshoot of the corporate clothing.
Monday, 2 May 2011
Today I have been working on the promotional postcards to accompany my final campaign. I have been having some difficulty in getting these to the correct size without cutting off the logo or supporting text.
I have eventually managed to complete this and have an accurate template for a portrait and landscape orientation which I will use for the rest of the designs. I chose to purchase 60 postcards as opposed to 20, as I had more than 20 different designs, this enabled me to produce a couple of each design, also allowing me to place additional cards in my sketchbook as part of my development work.
Today I have also received photographs of Lancabot the robot mascot I have designed. This is very exciting and Lancabot is everything I hoped for and more, I am so pleased with the final outcome and cannot wait to hold a photoshoot and also a video session documenting what type of movements the robot would make.
I will email the mascot company tomorrow and make sure that the robot will be delivered on time, and ensure that I can book the photographer out for this day, the mascot actor and also the studio and venue.
What next? Tomorrow I will keep on top of my emails and ensure that I am up to date on all progress being made at this company. Tomorrow I will also finish uploading all of the pictures and will purchase these tomorrow.
I have eventually managed to complete this and have an accurate template for a portrait and landscape orientation which I will use for the rest of the designs. I chose to purchase 60 postcards as opposed to 20, as I had more than 20 different designs, this enabled me to produce a couple of each design, also allowing me to place additional cards in my sketchbook as part of my development work.
Today I have also received photographs of Lancabot the robot mascot I have designed. This is very exciting and Lancabot is everything I hoped for and more, I am so pleased with the final outcome and cannot wait to hold a photoshoot and also a video session documenting what type of movements the robot would make.
I will email the mascot company tomorrow and make sure that the robot will be delivered on time, and ensure that I can book the photographer out for this day, the mascot actor and also the studio and venue.
What next? Tomorrow I will keep on top of my emails and ensure that I am up to date on all progress being made at this company. Tomorrow I will also finish uploading all of the pictures and will purchase these tomorrow.
Sunday, 1 May 2011
To Do List 01/05/2011
Below I will include a ‘to do list’ for today, to ensure that I stay on track over the last three remaining weeks of this project:
Firstly, I must ensure all blog posts are up to date.
Secondly, I must print off all pages for my development and sketchbook and must annotate these, this includes the pages from earlier this week – the development of the development boards.
I must also send off my postcards for printing to moo.com, this will ensure that I am completely up to date with all form of 3D promotion. Once these are printed I must enquire about attaching 3D elements to make these more interactive than standard passive postcards.
This will include a sachet with sticky googly eyes and small foam pads. I must enquire about purchasing the sticky googly eyes as I am aware that some do not have the sticky feature and consequently are difficult to attach. I must ensure that a warning is placed on the reverse of these postcards stating that they are not suitable for under 4 years old, and must ensure the correct logo can be included to support this, for health and safety reasons.
I must enquire about the production of a jacket to support the other uniform I have purchased for the LSF, I will enquire about a jumper as opposed to a hoodie as I believe that this will be a shorter production time and much cheaper in price, this is also akin to the uniform which they wear at theme parks around the UK, and consequently it then has a more ‘leisure day out’ feel.
Once I have purchased the above two items, I will ensure that I have a consistent form and layout for the pages to be included in my portfolio. If I have enough time today I may go back and revisit the media plan, campaign and time plan and make these more interesting visually, this is important as these must be included within my portfolio, and consequently must have a creative look and appeal which is consistent with the rest of my designs.
Firstly, I must ensure all blog posts are up to date.
Secondly, I must print off all pages for my development and sketchbook and must annotate these, this includes the pages from earlier this week – the development of the development boards.
I must also send off my postcards for printing to moo.com, this will ensure that I am completely up to date with all form of 3D promotion. Once these are printed I must enquire about attaching 3D elements to make these more interactive than standard passive postcards.
This will include a sachet with sticky googly eyes and small foam pads. I must enquire about purchasing the sticky googly eyes as I am aware that some do not have the sticky feature and consequently are difficult to attach. I must ensure that a warning is placed on the reverse of these postcards stating that they are not suitable for under 4 years old, and must ensure the correct logo can be included to support this, for health and safety reasons.
I must enquire about the production of a jacket to support the other uniform I have purchased for the LSF, I will enquire about a jumper as opposed to a hoodie as I believe that this will be a shorter production time and much cheaper in price, this is also akin to the uniform which they wear at theme parks around the UK, and consequently it then has a more ‘leisure day out’ feel.
Once I have purchased the above two items, I will ensure that I have a consistent form and layout for the pages to be included in my portfolio. If I have enough time today I may go back and revisit the media plan, campaign and time plan and make these more interesting visually, this is important as these must be included within my portfolio, and consequently must have a creative look and appeal which is consistent with the rest of my designs.
Saturday, 30 April 2011
Creating and Purchasing 3D Promotional Items
Today I have been working on the production of 3D promotional items. I carefully considered these, bearing in mind which would be the most appropriate for the brand, both with regards to corporate identity, and also with regards to budget.
The items which I purchased include pens, mouse mats and key rings, below I will explain how each of these work:
The pens will be distributed in a goody bag to those people who interact with Lancabot at the ‘meet and greet’ sessions. The goody bags are necessary as counting these will provide an idea of the amount of people who have interacted with the brand, consequently measuring the success of the promotional method and providing an indication of the amount of people who will potentially interact with the brand.
Within this goody bag the key rings will also be provided. These are a nice incentive for people who meet the mascot, and will help extend brand recall and WOM advertising, as people may say “oh, what is the LSF?”, this will then be followed by a discussion of the mascot, where the person met it, and more about the festival.
The third item I purchased is mouse mats. These would be placed around UCLan library. There are a good couple of hundred computers in the library, and many people use these on a daily, weekly and monthly basis – this consequently extends brand awareness and also brand recall if exposed to the brand several times a week. The mouse mat contains information such as the location, time of the event, contact details and the company logo.
I also purchase a cap and a t-shirt, both of these included the company logo and supporting text. These would be worn by staff at the LSF. I will have a photograph taken of me wearing these items, whilst stood next to lancabot. This will present me as the mascot handler, and will make people officially aware of my role. I purchased these in black as this was more of a corporate colour, and more user-friendly than white which would be likely to get dirty very easily.
I shall await the delivery of these before arranging the photoshoot with Lancabot.
The items which I purchased include pens, mouse mats and key rings, below I will explain how each of these work:
The pens will be distributed in a goody bag to those people who interact with Lancabot at the ‘meet and greet’ sessions. The goody bags are necessary as counting these will provide an idea of the amount of people who have interacted with the brand, consequently measuring the success of the promotional method and providing an indication of the amount of people who will potentially interact with the brand.
Within this goody bag the key rings will also be provided. These are a nice incentive for people who meet the mascot, and will help extend brand recall and WOM advertising, as people may say “oh, what is the LSF?”, this will then be followed by a discussion of the mascot, where the person met it, and more about the festival.
The third item I purchased is mouse mats. These would be placed around UCLan library. There are a good couple of hundred computers in the library, and many people use these on a daily, weekly and monthly basis – this consequently extends brand awareness and also brand recall if exposed to the brand several times a week. The mouse mat contains information such as the location, time of the event, contact details and the company logo.
I also purchase a cap and a t-shirt, both of these included the company logo and supporting text. These would be worn by staff at the LSF. I will have a photograph taken of me wearing these items, whilst stood next to lancabot. This will present me as the mascot handler, and will make people officially aware of my role. I purchased these in black as this was more of a corporate colour, and more user-friendly than white which would be likely to get dirty very easily.
I shall await the delivery of these before arranging the photoshoot with Lancabot.
Wednesday, 27 April 2011
Keeping On Track
Yesterday I went back to my primary research file and created summary pages for each of the items analysed. Although I had obviously mentally summarised this as I have gone along, I had not yet summarised these in written terms. This helped to ensure my research was presented as required for the final submission.
From this it was clear that I required a second primary research file. The current one was brimming; therefore I should set about designing this folder today if I get the opportunity, as I am aware that it takes time for production and delivery.
I have ordered a second secondary research file and am currently awaiting the redelivery of this. Once this has arrived I can segment my research accordingly. I must also consider how I am to bind/submit this time log, after I have printed off all necessary pages.
I went through my secondary research files and inserted little trinkets and additional bits that I felt enhanced the overall feel of this research. This helped the person studying my research to see that I had taken an idea and further explored it myself.
What next? Today I have some more research which I must annotate. However, I must remember that today and tomorrow are the only days I am going to spend on going over this research, before I move onto other areas – such as the annotation of the development of my characters – this will require me to go through all of my files and keep these pages together for analysis; something which I will do tonight in preparation for Friday if I have enough time.
I must also stay in close communication with the Mascot company to ensure that the production of my mascot character can be achieved before the deadline – something which is worrying me a little at present.
From this it was clear that I required a second primary research file. The current one was brimming; therefore I should set about designing this folder today if I get the opportunity, as I am aware that it takes time for production and delivery.
I have ordered a second secondary research file and am currently awaiting the redelivery of this. Once this has arrived I can segment my research accordingly. I must also consider how I am to bind/submit this time log, after I have printed off all necessary pages.
I went through my secondary research files and inserted little trinkets and additional bits that I felt enhanced the overall feel of this research. This helped the person studying my research to see that I had taken an idea and further explored it myself.
What next? Today I have some more research which I must annotate. However, I must remember that today and tomorrow are the only days I am going to spend on going over this research, before I move onto other areas – such as the annotation of the development of my characters – this will require me to go through all of my files and keep these pages together for analysis; something which I will do tonight in preparation for Friday if I have enough time.
I must also stay in close communication with the Mascot company to ensure that the production of my mascot character can be achieved before the deadline – something which is worrying me a little at present.
Monday, 25 April 2011
Creating A 'To Do' List
I have just about a month left until submission now, therefore I must work to strict deadlines to ensure that everything is completed, and to the best possible standard.
In order to do this I will write a ‘to do’ list, and will post this on the blog later. This will include days which I will dedicate to accomplishing specific tasks. I will then update the blog post at the end of each day saying if I have achieved this or not – if I haven’t then the timetable will have to be amended accordingly.
I feel as if I wish to make one more primary research visit – to Thinktank museum in Birmingham. I will therefore enquire about this and make sure I take this day out of the timetable. This will keep me focussed on the task in hand, rather than dabbling with different areas of the brief, and hopefully then I will make more progress.
I must also check to see whether the photographer, Dave will be available for the date that the robot mascot is delivered, so that I can arrange a photoshoot for the character. I must consider the location of this. I believe that a weekend would be the best day to arrange the shoot as the streets will be busier and there will be more children about who will be likely to genuinely want to interact with the character. This will make the photographs more natural and less staged – exactly as if they were genuine.
What next? I will print off the brief now and start to devise a ‘to do’ list. I believe that I will dedicate the next two days to finishing off the research, and then after that I will start formatting the boards, considering a creative border to put on these, orientation, font types and headings etc. This must all be print screened for inclusion within my report. I must also go back to my university network and start annotating the screen prints I created on there, as none of these were annotated. I will update the blog with news of the to do list and how I plan to approach each task.
In order to do this I will write a ‘to do’ list, and will post this on the blog later. This will include days which I will dedicate to accomplishing specific tasks. I will then update the blog post at the end of each day saying if I have achieved this or not – if I haven’t then the timetable will have to be amended accordingly.
I feel as if I wish to make one more primary research visit – to Thinktank museum in Birmingham. I will therefore enquire about this and make sure I take this day out of the timetable. This will keep me focussed on the task in hand, rather than dabbling with different areas of the brief, and hopefully then I will make more progress.
I must also check to see whether the photographer, Dave will be available for the date that the robot mascot is delivered, so that I can arrange a photoshoot for the character. I must consider the location of this. I believe that a weekend would be the best day to arrange the shoot as the streets will be busier and there will be more children about who will be likely to genuinely want to interact with the character. This will make the photographs more natural and less staged – exactly as if they were genuine.
What next? I will print off the brief now and start to devise a ‘to do’ list. I believe that I will dedicate the next two days to finishing off the research, and then after that I will start formatting the boards, considering a creative border to put on these, orientation, font types and headings etc. This must all be print screened for inclusion within my report. I must also go back to my university network and start annotating the screen prints I created on there, as none of these were annotated. I will update the blog with news of the to do list and how I plan to approach each task.
Sunday, 24 April 2011
Easter Holidays - Work Load Devised
I am currently going back to my original research and ensuring that it is all up to scratch. This includes highlighting and annotating, and ensuring that it flows coherently within the correct research folder. I will consider purchasing section dividers.
I must also go back to the print screens of my final outcomes which were included within my report - this will allow me to show development, and I print screened different stages throughout - therefore this simply needs annotating and then filing.
I am also going to go back to my primary research and find different trinkets, buttons and beads which correlate to the trends seen on page - this will make my research file more interactive and will show my understanding of trends and how they can be found in a variety of different domains.
I will also start printing the blog off today, this is to ensure that all printed work is up to date.
Aim for today: I aim to have finished annotating the entire secondary research folder. I should also have gone through the contact sheets from all three photoshoots and annotate these photographs with regards to suitability. I must also go through my emails and print those which are relevant to research and development. I will print summmary sheets for my entire primary research.
I must also go back to the print screens of my final outcomes which were included within my report - this will allow me to show development, and I print screened different stages throughout - therefore this simply needs annotating and then filing.
I am also going to go back to my primary research and find different trinkets, buttons and beads which correlate to the trends seen on page - this will make my research file more interactive and will show my understanding of trends and how they can be found in a variety of different domains.
I will also start printing the blog off today, this is to ensure that all printed work is up to date.
Aim for today: I aim to have finished annotating the entire secondary research folder. I should also have gone through the contact sheets from all three photoshoots and annotate these photographs with regards to suitability. I must also go through my emails and print those which are relevant to research and development. I will print summmary sheets for my entire primary research.
Sunday, 17 April 2011
Going Back To The Brief
Today I have referred back to the Final Presentation brief. Listed below are the assessment requirements, it is important that I familiarise myself with these:
ASSESSMENT REQUIREMENTS AND PROCESS
You are required to present your final campaign work at your allocated space for your final degree show, plus
• A media plan (relates to dates of contact with specific press/media/mags for
PR activities and insertion of ads – included in report and A3 Board)
• A campaign plan with time line (details/dates of activities of whole campaign – included in report and A3 Board)
• 2xA3 research boards, showing evidence of analysis, summary and collation
• 2xA3 development boards, referencing inspiration points and influences, plus the development process of the concepts and ideas
• Research and development folder/sketchbook
• A comprehensive personal time management log to include reflection and evaluation, can be digital
The full campaign must be submitted in A3 folio format, accompanied by a display of selected promotional literature and products.
I will start working through this list methodically. I have to remember that I have already been working on the promotional items and have completed three photoshoots - however, these must be enhanced and reworked to match a consistent style and theme.
Also within the brief I must complete the following aims:
• To develop and exhibit expertise in research skills and market awareness
• To develop a high level of competence in promotional/written work
• To refine and consolidate expertise in creativity and presentation skills
• To develop and demonstrate proficiency in personal time management
I feel that I have successfully developed and exhibited expertise in research skills and market awareness as I have completed a series of interviews and been on many primary research trips. I have also developed a highly level of competence in written work. I must continue to work on these aims
ASSESSMENT REQUIREMENTS AND PROCESS
You are required to present your final campaign work at your allocated space for your final degree show, plus
• A media plan (relates to dates of contact with specific press/media/mags for
PR activities and insertion of ads – included in report and A3 Board)
• A campaign plan with time line (details/dates of activities of whole campaign – included in report and A3 Board)
• 2xA3 research boards, showing evidence of analysis, summary and collation
• 2xA3 development boards, referencing inspiration points and influences, plus the development process of the concepts and ideas
• Research and development folder/sketchbook
• A comprehensive personal time management log to include reflection and evaluation, can be digital
The full campaign must be submitted in A3 folio format, accompanied by a display of selected promotional literature and products.
I will start working through this list methodically. I have to remember that I have already been working on the promotional items and have completed three photoshoots - however, these must be enhanced and reworked to match a consistent style and theme.
Also within the brief I must complete the following aims:
• To develop and exhibit expertise in research skills and market awareness
• To develop a high level of competence in promotional/written work
• To refine and consolidate expertise in creativity and presentation skills
• To develop and demonstrate proficiency in personal time management
I feel that I have successfully developed and exhibited expertise in research skills and market awareness as I have completed a series of interviews and been on many primary research trips. I have also developed a highly level of competence in written work. I must continue to work on these aims
Saturday, 16 April 2011
Communication Regarding The Mascot Costume
Today I have been communicating with more mascot costume companies, enquiring about the production of the Lancabot character into a full-sized mascot costume. I have also purchased a guillotine so that I can cut down all of my research to the appropriate size for binding. I have also purchased an additional secondary research file as I was aware that mine was very full, brimming with magazine tares and the like. I will also consider printing pages from Google books, or scanning these, and also from downloading images files from the internet to print.
Today I have been highlighting my research and segmenting this into files, I have also decided that tonight I will print off my blog so far, so that I can keep this printed and ready to bind nearer the time.
I will check my emails over the weekend, yet the likelihood is that the mascot companies will reply on Monday. I have sifted through my photos from Blackpool Pleasure Beach and also from Preston Harris Museum, and I will annotate these tomorrow and then print the research off to be included within the A3 research folders.
What next? I am currently trying to find out what the resubmitted essay must contain, as this was missed off of the brief. I will refer back to the original brief and begin comprising a checklist of what I need to do by what date. I am also aware that I may have to produce a portfolio, so I will ensure that all work for this is available and within a folder and that I am able to print this off when necessary. I will update the blog once annotation is complete and when I have familiarised myself with the requirements of the brief.
Today I have been highlighting my research and segmenting this into files, I have also decided that tonight I will print off my blog so far, so that I can keep this printed and ready to bind nearer the time.
I will check my emails over the weekend, yet the likelihood is that the mascot companies will reply on Monday. I have sifted through my photos from Blackpool Pleasure Beach and also from Preston Harris Museum, and I will annotate these tomorrow and then print the research off to be included within the A3 research folders.
What next? I am currently trying to find out what the resubmitted essay must contain, as this was missed off of the brief. I will refer back to the original brief and begin comprising a checklist of what I need to do by what date. I am also aware that I may have to produce a portfolio, so I will ensure that all work for this is available and within a folder and that I am able to print this off when necessary. I will update the blog once annotation is complete and when I have familiarised myself with the requirements of the brief.
Friday, 15 April 2011
Today I have been working on the designs for the postcards and promotional material in general. I have created both landscape and portrait designs. Within these I have used the key colours of the characters. Three of these designs are completed and I am just waiting until tomorrow so that I can download the appropriate text to support this. With the next I am attempting to appeal to the teenage audience, whereas the illustrations will entice younger children, and consequently their parents. For example “Be there, or be square”, and “it doesn’t take a genius to work it out”. I will send these cards off to be printed before the end of the weekend. This will provide me with plenty of time to review these and make changes if necessary.
I will also consider creating badges and stickers if possible. The idea of creating birthday cards is also plausible – however it is likely that the LSF would use an online method of creation for these, namely e-cards. However, this is still something which I could trial. I will consider printing t-shirts on vista print as a mock up, or see if there are any personalised embroidery sites online. Once I have received the t-shirts I can consider creating a photoshoot for these, to display the clothing option.
I have also not given up on the idea of creating a mascot costume, therefore I will get back in touch with this company.
What next? I have a couple more magazines to read and review. I will then consider the best possible way to format these within the research files. I must also consider how to present this blog. I will scan in the research articles and annotate these tomorrow, devoting the whole weekend to this so that hopefully I will be up to date with this before continuing with the promotional work.
I will also consider creating badges and stickers if possible. The idea of creating birthday cards is also plausible – however it is likely that the LSF would use an online method of creation for these, namely e-cards. However, this is still something which I could trial. I will consider printing t-shirts on vista print as a mock up, or see if there are any personalised embroidery sites online. Once I have received the t-shirts I can consider creating a photoshoot for these, to display the clothing option.
I have also not given up on the idea of creating a mascot costume, therefore I will get back in touch with this company.
What next? I have a couple more magazines to read and review. I will then consider the best possible way to format these within the research files. I must also consider how to present this blog. I will scan in the research articles and annotate these tomorrow, devoting the whole weekend to this so that hopefully I will be up to date with this before continuing with the promotional work.
Wednesday, 13 April 2011
Post submission update
I submitted my dissertation on Monday – both the creative and standard version. This is a great weight off of my mind, and as these submissions amounted to a double module, I am satisfied that I have achieved highly in these and that, consequently, these will pull up my overall average mark.
I also received through the post both of the folders that I had produced and am very pleased with these. I have taken the last few days off to recover from the previous submission.
However, my plan of action is as follows:
1. To finish highlighting my research folder
2. To annotate the research folder - this may require me to scan in the magazine tares.
3. I must sort the research into primary and secondary files.
4. I must consider a way to format this blog, and consider printing this out while I have little work to concentrate on.
My next task is to consider any primary research venues which I have no yet visited, or which I should revisit to enhance research – for example Blackpool Pleasure Beach – I should coincide this with the launch of Nickelodeon land.
From this I will work on the promotional postcards, I will experiment with the speech bubbles for these, and also the background for the website. Once the postcards are completed I will send them off to Moo.com to be printed – it is likely that these will not be my final designs, however – allowing me to see these in a ‘final’ state- will allow me to make amendments which will enhance the overall theme and effect.
What next? I will ensure that research is completed by the end of next week – and the time log. This then gives me around four weeks to work on the promotional material.
I will also consider a press pack and how to make this 3D. I will update the blog once I have made further progress.
I also received through the post both of the folders that I had produced and am very pleased with these. I have taken the last few days off to recover from the previous submission.
However, my plan of action is as follows:
1. To finish highlighting my research folder
2. To annotate the research folder - this may require me to scan in the magazine tares.
3. I must sort the research into primary and secondary files.
4. I must consider a way to format this blog, and consider printing this out while I have little work to concentrate on.
My next task is to consider any primary research venues which I have no yet visited, or which I should revisit to enhance research – for example Blackpool Pleasure Beach – I should coincide this with the launch of Nickelodeon land.
From this I will work on the promotional postcards, I will experiment with the speech bubbles for these, and also the background for the website. Once the postcards are completed I will send them off to Moo.com to be printed – it is likely that these will not be my final designs, however – allowing me to see these in a ‘final’ state- will allow me to make amendments which will enhance the overall theme and effect.
What next? I will ensure that research is completed by the end of next week – and the time log. This then gives me around four weeks to work on the promotional material.
I will also consider a press pack and how to make this 3D. I will update the blog once I have made further progress.
Wednesday, 6 April 2011
Bibliography Progress
Today I have been through my entire research folder and included these documents in my bibliography. This successfully shows my wider reading throughout the course of my study – and not just the texts which have been directly quoted and referenced within my report.
I have been through this bibliography and ensured that the style I have used for referencing is consistent with the Harvard referencing style throughout. I have also remembered today that because my work is now 1.5 line spaced, this means that I now need to go back to my contents page and amend this.
I will see if there are any more articles for me to include within my research file and bibliography and this will help me in the long run, as it will mean that my research file is almost prepared for submission.
Today I set myself the ‘to do’ list with the following tasks included: bibliography, badges, vectors, print off report and read through, submit to be proofread, and summary.
Of these I still have the following tasks to complete: vectors, persuasion and summary (as well as the aforementioned contents page). I aim to have these tasks completed by the end of tonight so that tomorrow I can go back to look at my report formatting.
I must remember to print off my contents lists so that the report headings follow this. If I dedicate tomorrow to the report format, this means that when I get my report back on Friday (and literature review from Wiser), I will be able to simply insert this within the document. I may reconsider the size of the document, as at present it means that text is heavily segmented.
What next? Next I will look at the vectors PowerPoint and see if I can enhance this area of my report and I know this is an important section for inclusion. From this I will research summaries and what are to be included within these.
I will update this blog post later saying how many of these areas I have covered, and what I have left to do tomorrow.
I have been through this bibliography and ensured that the style I have used for referencing is consistent with the Harvard referencing style throughout. I have also remembered today that because my work is now 1.5 line spaced, this means that I now need to go back to my contents page and amend this.
I will see if there are any more articles for me to include within my research file and bibliography and this will help me in the long run, as it will mean that my research file is almost prepared for submission.
Today I set myself the ‘to do’ list with the following tasks included: bibliography, badges, vectors, print off report and read through, submit to be proofread, and summary.
Of these I still have the following tasks to complete: vectors, persuasion and summary (as well as the aforementioned contents page). I aim to have these tasks completed by the end of tonight so that tomorrow I can go back to look at my report formatting.
I must remember to print off my contents lists so that the report headings follow this. If I dedicate tomorrow to the report format, this means that when I get my report back on Friday (and literature review from Wiser), I will be able to simply insert this within the document. I may reconsider the size of the document, as at present it means that text is heavily segmented.
What next? Next I will look at the vectors PowerPoint and see if I can enhance this area of my report and I know this is an important section for inclusion. From this I will research summaries and what are to be included within these.
I will update this blog post later saying how many of these areas I have covered, and what I have left to do tomorrow.
Tuesday, 5 April 2011
Progress Update
Today I have been working on the ‘to do list’ which I created yesterday. Therefore I will talk you through my progress in relation to this list.
I have checked my emails and rectified the issues with the folders within which I am to present my research. I have now ordered two of these – a primary research folder and a secondary research folder. I have also today been considering how I am to present my time log and I will need to print this out too – would this be suitable for inclusion in a folder too? This area requires more thought.
II have put on my ‘to do’ list today that I must send over the images for the badges. These can be images from both the indoor and outdoor shoot. If I send them over to Carnegie badges then the workers will show me print screens as to what the final outcome will look like – I can then decide whether I wish to proceed with purchasing these badges. I will complete this task tonight before I leave the library.
I have 1.5 spaced my standard format of my essay, and then made sure that all of the text is within the appropriate pages, as opposed to going half over one page and onto the other. I also paginated my report so that the up to the methodology was not numbered, and then the rest of the document was page numbered.
Today I also printed off the marketing report check list and compared these items against the report that I have structured. I concluded that I have successfully included all necessary areas. However, a couple of areas did require more work – for example the vectors, persuasion section, and the measurement of the success of different promotional items. I will work on these either this evening or tomorrow, depending on the amount of time I have left tonight.
My most proud achievement of the day is that I have in fact finished the literature review. I feel that this is to a high standard and actually reflects the structure of an official literature review (the one included within this report is to be a more succinct and concise version due to time restraints). I have also given this to a Wiser advisor to read through and to check for grammar and punctuation. I must collect this on Friday at 12pm, so that is a date for the diary!
I have two key areas to concentrate on today: bibliography (to include all key texts within my research file) and glossary. I must look on the UCLan website for the glossary and ensure that I have integrated key terms within my work and that they are in the correct context. Once I have done this I will update the blog tonight with key tasks and objectives for tomorrow.
I have checked my emails and rectified the issues with the folders within which I am to present my research. I have now ordered two of these – a primary research folder and a secondary research folder. I have also today been considering how I am to present my time log and I will need to print this out too – would this be suitable for inclusion in a folder too? This area requires more thought.
II have put on my ‘to do’ list today that I must send over the images for the badges. These can be images from both the indoor and outdoor shoot. If I send them over to Carnegie badges then the workers will show me print screens as to what the final outcome will look like – I can then decide whether I wish to proceed with purchasing these badges. I will complete this task tonight before I leave the library.
I have 1.5 spaced my standard format of my essay, and then made sure that all of the text is within the appropriate pages, as opposed to going half over one page and onto the other. I also paginated my report so that the up to the methodology was not numbered, and then the rest of the document was page numbered.
Today I also printed off the marketing report check list and compared these items against the report that I have structured. I concluded that I have successfully included all necessary areas. However, a couple of areas did require more work – for example the vectors, persuasion section, and the measurement of the success of different promotional items. I will work on these either this evening or tomorrow, depending on the amount of time I have left tonight.
My most proud achievement of the day is that I have in fact finished the literature review. I feel that this is to a high standard and actually reflects the structure of an official literature review (the one included within this report is to be a more succinct and concise version due to time restraints). I have also given this to a Wiser advisor to read through and to check for grammar and punctuation. I must collect this on Friday at 12pm, so that is a date for the diary!
I have two key areas to concentrate on today: bibliography (to include all key texts within my research file) and glossary. I must look on the UCLan website for the glossary and ensure that I have integrated key terms within my work and that they are in the correct context. Once I have done this I will update the blog tonight with key tasks and objectives for tomorrow.
Monday, 4 April 2011
'To Do List' Check
Today has been a very very productive day so far and although I have only made minor changes to my report – grammatically and with regards to figure numbers and so on and so forth, I know that these minor changes will impact on the overall mark I will achieve by promoting a better-rounded project.
Yesterday I wrote myself a ‘to do’ list for today. These included:
Blog
Order folder
Order badges
Marketing report checklist
Read and amend essay
Literature review
References
At present I am about half way through this list. I have ordered the A4 folder which my secondary research will be placed in. The majority of my primary research, for example visits to places have been included within A3 research files, however research such as printouts from articles online and magazine tares have are A4 scale and therefore should be included within the A4 research files which I have purchased.
Once this report has been handed in, I have so much more research to both print off and update – research is one of my strongest areas, therefore I should ensure that this is executed to the best of my ability, as I know my final outcomes will be weaker, and the research files may pull up the weaker area.
I have read through and amended my essay today, ensuring that all figure numbers etc are correct and that the references in text also correspond with the reference list –I usually work on this just before submission, so I am glad that this is out of the way.
Today in lesson I received the Literature Review hand out, therefore I will be able to start working on this immediately. Once I have finished this I will print this off tomorrow morning and take it to a Wiser advisor to read through. This will benefit me and it will ‘force’ me to get on with this tonight, so that I have something to show for my work tomorrow – so that I can get help and guidance on it, and so that I can be content that it is completed and within my report.
I have also sent my work to Joanna Heaton to look through, and invite her to consider any amendments which I must make.
What next? I will start working on the literature review now. Once this is completed I will put this to one side and prepare to print this tomorrow morning. I will then look through my research file and see if there is any information which can be included within my report.
Yesterday I wrote myself a ‘to do’ list for today. These included:
Blog
Order folder
Order badges
Marketing report checklist
Read and amend essay
Literature review
References
At present I am about half way through this list. I have ordered the A4 folder which my secondary research will be placed in. The majority of my primary research, for example visits to places have been included within A3 research files, however research such as printouts from articles online and magazine tares have are A4 scale and therefore should be included within the A4 research files which I have purchased.
Once this report has been handed in, I have so much more research to both print off and update – research is one of my strongest areas, therefore I should ensure that this is executed to the best of my ability, as I know my final outcomes will be weaker, and the research files may pull up the weaker area.
I have read through and amended my essay today, ensuring that all figure numbers etc are correct and that the references in text also correspond with the reference list –I usually work on this just before submission, so I am glad that this is out of the way.
Today in lesson I received the Literature Review hand out, therefore I will be able to start working on this immediately. Once I have finished this I will print this off tomorrow morning and take it to a Wiser advisor to read through. This will benefit me and it will ‘force’ me to get on with this tonight, so that I have something to show for my work tomorrow – so that I can get help and guidance on it, and so that I can be content that it is completed and within my report.
I have also sent my work to Joanna Heaton to look through, and invite her to consider any amendments which I must make.
What next? I will start working on the literature review now. Once this is completed I will put this to one side and prepare to print this tomorrow morning. I will then look through my research file and see if there is any information which can be included within my report.
Sunday, 3 April 2011
The Brief: Assessment Requirements and Process
I read through the assessment requirements and process. From reading this I was a little confused. The brief stated that I was required to produce a draft submission of layout ideas. This was detailed as a plan/layouts/mock-up of the proposed format and style of the presentation. I will enquire about this to Paz tomorrow, as this is something which I must understand in order to satisfy the criterion for submission.
Other than this I must submit the final reports on Monday 11th April at 10am. I must submit two copies of these, including the digital report. I noted the word count which says 8-10k maximum, therefore I must ensure that I do not massively exceed this, and if I do I will have to be granted permission to do so.
Both of these reports must include a strong visual element – this is something which I feel my report does successfully so far. The second copy need only be in black and white – this is the copy I can take home at the end of the semester.
Within the report submission must be examples of questionnaires/summaries of information, emails, interview details, specific examples such as illustrations and visual. I should consider using the appendices for some of these - I have already made great use of the appendix.
I must paginate the report and use 1.5 line space setting – tomorrow I will double check whether this also applied to the digital submission, as this would increase the page numbers and limit the amount of text per page, meaning that I would have to rework my format.
The word count must be included and the document must be easy to navigate.
Finally, I studied the criteria for assessment and noticed that the written content is worth 70% of the overall submission. The written content must reflect the in-depth research and must include an introduction, structure, fluently written text, appropriate information, conclusion, bibliography, literature review and references.
The visual content is worth a must lower percentage of 30%. However, this is still a large enough percentage to significantly alter the grade achieved.
What next? I am just about to proofread the report again.
Other than this I must submit the final reports on Monday 11th April at 10am. I must submit two copies of these, including the digital report. I noted the word count which says 8-10k maximum, therefore I must ensure that I do not massively exceed this, and if I do I will have to be granted permission to do so.
Both of these reports must include a strong visual element – this is something which I feel my report does successfully so far. The second copy need only be in black and white – this is the copy I can take home at the end of the semester.
Within the report submission must be examples of questionnaires/summaries of information, emails, interview details, specific examples such as illustrations and visual. I should consider using the appendices for some of these - I have already made great use of the appendix.
I must paginate the report and use 1.5 line space setting – tomorrow I will double check whether this also applied to the digital submission, as this would increase the page numbers and limit the amount of text per page, meaning that I would have to rework my format.
The word count must be included and the document must be easy to navigate.
Finally, I studied the criteria for assessment and noticed that the written content is worth 70% of the overall submission. The written content must reflect the in-depth research and must include an introduction, structure, fluently written text, appropriate information, conclusion, bibliography, literature review and references.
The visual content is worth a must lower percentage of 30%. However, this is still a large enough percentage to significantly alter the grade achieved.
What next? I am just about to proofread the report again.
The Brief: Learning Outcomes
In order to monitor how successful I have been in this project, I shall compare my knowledge and current level of progress to the learning outcomes.
These state that on completion of this module, I should have described a thorough range of research strategies and methodologies. I must also develop an awareness of the role and importance of trend and forecasting information in relation to fashion brands and their development.
I should also allow and encourage investigation into a wide range of research methodologies in order to inform both the project and personal development. On top of this, I must fully integrate the use of digital media which demonstrates a level of expertise across a wide range of creative applications.
By doing the above I will satisfy the learning outcome of demonstrating a professional approach in relation to the presentation of both written and visual work. Moreover, along the way I will have analysed research information in order to draw conclusions and make informed decisions which will facilitate with the development of further investigative studies.
The ultimate objective is to apply a level of written expertise across a wide spectrum of academic and professional situations/solutions.
If I compare these learning outcomes to what I feel that I have achieved, I can honestly say that I think I am well on track with producing a successful marketing report.
What next? In my next blog post I will discuss the assessment requirements and process in order to ensure that I have covered all areas of the brief.
These state that on completion of this module, I should have described a thorough range of research strategies and methodologies. I must also develop an awareness of the role and importance of trend and forecasting information in relation to fashion brands and their development.
I should also allow and encourage investigation into a wide range of research methodologies in order to inform both the project and personal development. On top of this, I must fully integrate the use of digital media which demonstrates a level of expertise across a wide range of creative applications.
By doing the above I will satisfy the learning outcome of demonstrating a professional approach in relation to the presentation of both written and visual work. Moreover, along the way I will have analysed research information in order to draw conclusions and make informed decisions which will facilitate with the development of further investigative studies.
The ultimate objective is to apply a level of written expertise across a wide spectrum of academic and professional situations/solutions.
If I compare these learning outcomes to what I feel that I have achieved, I can honestly say that I think I am well on track with producing a successful marketing report.
What next? In my next blog post I will discuss the assessment requirements and process in order to ensure that I have covered all areas of the brief.
The Brief: Introduction
The ‘written and visual’ report should be based on my own research, development and final solutions. The brief states that the report should include:
• In-depth research
• Introduction
• Customer and brand profiles
• Market segmentation
• SMART objectives
• Vectors
• Budget details
• Rationale
• 6 P’s
• Well-informed conclusion
In order to present this in the most informative way possible, visual imagery should be used to illustrate points discussed within the written work. I have achieved this, using figures and illustrations to expand on discussions or to present evidence.
Time management is key to this – one way which my report shows how well I have managed time is because the details in my references, for example “accessed”, state the date that I first accessed the website, and in some cases this was many months ago, showing the span of my research.
With regards to the references, the brief states that these must be correctly formatted and relevant.
The brief emphasises that special attention should be paid to the methodology. It also stresses the importance of including marketing objectives, vectors and a literature review.
Ultimately, a bibliography should be included to show evidence of background reading. However, in my instance I will have to enquire as to what the difference is between references and a bibliography, and consequently I may need to change the title of this section of text.
I will enquire as to whether a bibliography – simply stating the different publications and book titles etc, should be included as well as – or instead of references.
I am a little concerned as I have read that creative and digital formats must be discussed as a proposal and approved before they are produced for the final submission – this is something I have been a little concerned about as I know my strength is writing and that my weakness is format.
In order to ensure that my format is on track – or even acceptable, I will send over my creatively formatted report to course leaders and also the proofreader tonight. Tonight I am also due to send Joanna Heaton, organiser of the LSF, a copy of my report and promotional items.
• In-depth research
• Introduction
• Customer and brand profiles
• Market segmentation
• SMART objectives
• Vectors
• Budget details
• Rationale
• 6 P’s
• Well-informed conclusion
In order to present this in the most informative way possible, visual imagery should be used to illustrate points discussed within the written work. I have achieved this, using figures and illustrations to expand on discussions or to present evidence.
Time management is key to this – one way which my report shows how well I have managed time is because the details in my references, for example “accessed”, state the date that I first accessed the website, and in some cases this was many months ago, showing the span of my research.
With regards to the references, the brief states that these must be correctly formatted and relevant.
The brief emphasises that special attention should be paid to the methodology. It also stresses the importance of including marketing objectives, vectors and a literature review.
Ultimately, a bibliography should be included to show evidence of background reading. However, in my instance I will have to enquire as to what the difference is between references and a bibliography, and consequently I may need to change the title of this section of text.
I will enquire as to whether a bibliography – simply stating the different publications and book titles etc, should be included as well as – or instead of references.
I am a little concerned as I have read that creative and digital formats must be discussed as a proposal and approved before they are produced for the final submission – this is something I have been a little concerned about as I know my strength is writing and that my weakness is format.
In order to ensure that my format is on track – or even acceptable, I will send over my creatively formatted report to course leaders and also the proofreader tonight. Tonight I am also due to send Joanna Heaton, organiser of the LSF, a copy of my report and promotional items.
The Brief: Aims
By reflecting at the brief, I am able to tell whether my report – so far – is meeting the learning objectives and desired outcomes. If it is not, then this gives me ample time to attempt to rectify these troubles.
For example, within my report I have shown evidence of advanced research methodology. However, I could enhance this through the use of magazines, blogs, ezines and ebooks as previously discussed, providing more modern sources and a wider variety of research consumption channels.
The brief also requires that I show expertise in written work – I feel I have achieved this as so far the course leader has read through my work, Wiser has read through a version of the marketing report, and I have also had the report proofread externally by a professional freelancer, in order to ensure that there are no mistakes – this is on top of friends and family.
A further aim on the brief is that I must demonstrate through both written and visual work an in-depth understanding of marketing a fashion/lifestyle final campaign. So far I feel that I have achieved this more through the written communication than the visual, however the visual does satisfy this criterion as I have images from Porter’s Five Forces, Teboul’s Service Triangle and a visual demonstrating the benchmarking of the Lancashire Science Festival, amongst others.
Finally, the aims within the brief state that I must display a professional approach in the visual, written and digital presentation. In order to do so I will use images taken professionally with my characters to narrate the digital submission, for example using speech bubbles. However, for the standard ‘black and white’ version of the submission I will make good use of white space, use font formatting appropriately, for example bold and italics for headlines and referencing etc. I will also use text alignment correctly and adhere to the noted line spacing.
What next? My next blog entry will discuss the introduction on the brief and how I have adhered to this/how I could better adhere to it.
For example, within my report I have shown evidence of advanced research methodology. However, I could enhance this through the use of magazines, blogs, ezines and ebooks as previously discussed, providing more modern sources and a wider variety of research consumption channels.
The brief also requires that I show expertise in written work – I feel I have achieved this as so far the course leader has read through my work, Wiser has read through a version of the marketing report, and I have also had the report proofread externally by a professional freelancer, in order to ensure that there are no mistakes – this is on top of friends and family.
A further aim on the brief is that I must demonstrate through both written and visual work an in-depth understanding of marketing a fashion/lifestyle final campaign. So far I feel that I have achieved this more through the written communication than the visual, however the visual does satisfy this criterion as I have images from Porter’s Five Forces, Teboul’s Service Triangle and a visual demonstrating the benchmarking of the Lancashire Science Festival, amongst others.
Finally, the aims within the brief state that I must display a professional approach in the visual, written and digital presentation. In order to do so I will use images taken professionally with my characters to narrate the digital submission, for example using speech bubbles. However, for the standard ‘black and white’ version of the submission I will make good use of white space, use font formatting appropriately, for example bold and italics for headlines and referencing etc. I will also use text alignment correctly and adhere to the noted line spacing.
What next? My next blog entry will discuss the introduction on the brief and how I have adhered to this/how I could better adhere to it.
Going Back To The Brief
This last week I have been working on ensuring that my report matches the learning objectives, in order to achieve the highest possible grade. I am aware that this report is worth a double module, consequently I should consider how this may pull up my grade if I am on the cusp of a 2:1 / first.
Today I have been through my report and ensured that the numbers correspond with the appendix, and I have also added figure numbers. Once I have written this blog entry, I will go back to the report and ensure that the reference list is all correct, in the respect that there should be no other references which are not in the list, or vice versa.
I will then read through my report and attempt to finish the sections which I have not yet completed, including the vectors section and a draft of the literature review.
So far my word count is just under 11,000 this is where I aim to keep this word count, therefore I should not go above or below this significantly, allowing myself the standard 10% leeway either way.
Also today I will ensure that the format of my report matches the criterion of the brief, for example it must be paginated, and it must also be 1.5 line spacing. Once I have ensured all is correct, I can move on to creatively formatting my report.
However, I am also aware that I must ensure that all information contained within my report is as relevant to the ‘here and now’ as possible. Consequently, I will go through my report with my research file and make sure I have included as much of the information, from as vast a variety of sources as possible.
The references list at the back of the report is segmented into different categories such as “books”, “journals” etc. The two categories which I know I am limited in is journals, and also magazines – which I have not started a category yet.
I have a variety of articles extracted from magazines from the Toy Fair and Spring Fair which I could use further within my report. Therefore I will dedicate tomorrow to reworking my report, and making it as informative as possible.
Today I have been through my report and ensured that the numbers correspond with the appendix, and I have also added figure numbers. Once I have written this blog entry, I will go back to the report and ensure that the reference list is all correct, in the respect that there should be no other references which are not in the list, or vice versa.
I will then read through my report and attempt to finish the sections which I have not yet completed, including the vectors section and a draft of the literature review.
So far my word count is just under 11,000 this is where I aim to keep this word count, therefore I should not go above or below this significantly, allowing myself the standard 10% leeway either way.
Also today I will ensure that the format of my report matches the criterion of the brief, for example it must be paginated, and it must also be 1.5 line spacing. Once I have ensured all is correct, I can move on to creatively formatting my report.
However, I am also aware that I must ensure that all information contained within my report is as relevant to the ‘here and now’ as possible. Consequently, I will go through my report with my research file and make sure I have included as much of the information, from as vast a variety of sources as possible.
The references list at the back of the report is segmented into different categories such as “books”, “journals” etc. The two categories which I know I am limited in is journals, and also magazines – which I have not started a category yet.
I have a variety of articles extracted from magazines from the Toy Fair and Spring Fair which I could use further within my report. Therefore I will dedicate tomorrow to reworking my report, and making it as informative as possible.
Friday, 25 March 2011
Referring Back To The Brief
I have just been to Grantham’s to get the CD roundel printed, I have paid for the setting up charge, as I am aware that this may be a little tricky for me to achieve an accurate cut around the label, therefore I have chosen for it to be professionally printed onto the CD roundel paper.
I am due to collect the art work at 12 o clock, so I will see how these have turned out – I will also purchase the CD disk for this to be put onto. Up until then I will continue working on ensuring all of the text from my written report is successfully included into my report format.
I will also work on ensuring that I am consistent with font type and layout throughout. So far I have just placed the written work anywhere, yet I will ensure that this is aligned and flows with the theme of ‘story book’. I should make sure that there is not ‘too much’ text on some of the pages in comparison to others.
Once the text is in place, I shall focus on the animations. It may get a little confusing with my work, as the characters are used throughout as animation to help signpost and narrate the report, yet they are also used for the visuals to demonstrate promotion. Consequently, this will have to be assessed. I will make sure that there is the correct balance between visuals and written content, and that this is in keeping with the target audience.
A correct way to ensure this may be to write a brief synopsis at the beginning of the report, instructing people exactly how they should read the report. For example “The report has been formatted as a children’s story book, therefore a brief segment of text is provided alongside heavy visuals throughout the report.” I should also consider the option to read the book in different ways, for example “for Advancement’s version click here” and “for Catherine’s version click here”.
What next? I am just about to go back to the brief to see whether I have fulfilled the objective requirements.
I am due to collect the art work at 12 o clock, so I will see how these have turned out – I will also purchase the CD disk for this to be put onto. Up until then I will continue working on ensuring all of the text from my written report is successfully included into my report format.
I will also work on ensuring that I am consistent with font type and layout throughout. So far I have just placed the written work anywhere, yet I will ensure that this is aligned and flows with the theme of ‘story book’. I should make sure that there is not ‘too much’ text on some of the pages in comparison to others.
Once the text is in place, I shall focus on the animations. It may get a little confusing with my work, as the characters are used throughout as animation to help signpost and narrate the report, yet they are also used for the visuals to demonstrate promotion. Consequently, this will have to be assessed. I will make sure that there is the correct balance between visuals and written content, and that this is in keeping with the target audience.
A correct way to ensure this may be to write a brief synopsis at the beginning of the report, instructing people exactly how they should read the report. For example “The report has been formatted as a children’s story book, therefore a brief segment of text is provided alongside heavy visuals throughout the report.” I should also consider the option to read the book in different ways, for example “for Advancement’s version click here” and “for Catherine’s version click here”.
What next? I am just about to go back to the brief to see whether I have fulfilled the objective requirements.
CD case and Roundel Design
Over the last days I have been concentrating on the creation of the CD disk roundel and the CD case design. This is so that, once my report is completed and properly formatted, I will not be stressing about how to submit my work.
I used an edited version of one of the photographs from my photo shoot, and worked on this. I sent this over to felt-doll creator Claire Fearnley, who produced my Cell Crew characters for me. She worked to my design guidelines and instructions to create a beautifully crafted CD case.
I desired this to have a bit of interactivity in it; therefore I requested that some of the elements were detachable, for example using Velcro. I used this for the cloud, the characters and the mushrooms and lady bird. I had to amend the original design so that the elements worked to a better scale, allowing Claire to create the intricate details which were necessary.
I have also been working on the CD roundel to compliment this. I decided that, as my final design of the CD case was fairly busy, I would use a very simple roundel design. I took each of the characters and expanded them, and used a clipping mask so that the main body of their faces could be seen. I thought it would be a nice bit of variation to use part a blown up version of the cell crew character alongside a very miniature garden setting.
I am just about to get a couple of these printed now, so that I can choose between them. I am so exciting to be nearing the end of this, with all my research coming along nicely.
What next? Once I have printed the CD label off, I will spend the rest of today working on my written report. I aim to have all of the written content situated nicely within my report, so that I can spend the rest of the next week or so working on the format, to make this as visually appealing as possible!
I used an edited version of one of the photographs from my photo shoot, and worked on this. I sent this over to felt-doll creator Claire Fearnley, who produced my Cell Crew characters for me. She worked to my design guidelines and instructions to create a beautifully crafted CD case.
I desired this to have a bit of interactivity in it; therefore I requested that some of the elements were detachable, for example using Velcro. I used this for the cloud, the characters and the mushrooms and lady bird. I had to amend the original design so that the elements worked to a better scale, allowing Claire to create the intricate details which were necessary.
I have also been working on the CD roundel to compliment this. I decided that, as my final design of the CD case was fairly busy, I would use a very simple roundel design. I took each of the characters and expanded them, and used a clipping mask so that the main body of their faces could be seen. I thought it would be a nice bit of variation to use part a blown up version of the cell crew character alongside a very miniature garden setting.
I am just about to get a couple of these printed now, so that I can choose between them. I am so exciting to be nearing the end of this, with all my research coming along nicely.
What next? Once I have printed the CD label off, I will spend the rest of today working on my written report. I aim to have all of the written content situated nicely within my report, so that I can spend the rest of the next week or so working on the format, to make this as visually appealing as possible!
Monday, 21 March 2011
On Location Photo Shoot
Today has been very productive, I have just had my on location photo shoot which went really well РI will look at the photographs and assess a suitable usage for these. I considered using these as part of a teaser campaign, much like the Vauxhall advertisement and the Pok̩mon launch which use puppets/cartoon illustrations amongst true to life settings to create a feeling of incongruity. The Cell Crew were photographed at a variety of locations, with some being more easily to identify than others. I decided that I could create a competition which would bring the community together.
This includes taking photographs of the characters at a series of different locations, including Blackpool zoo and the miniature gardens in Blackpool. I would take these photographs and then ask the question “where is this location”. Tomorrow I will ask about borrowing a camera for this purpose, hopefully I will produce enough quality images to produce a postcard set. These would be printed on MOO.com.
Moo suggests that you upload either 20 or 60 postcards. I may even have enough to have one of 60 different locations. The viewer of the postcard or Billboard/adshel will be able to text in to a number noted on the advertisement and state the location of the photo shoot, or alternatively enter online. This will get the whole of Preston and Lancashire thinking about their local community, and makes them pay attention to similar advertisements, enforcing the power of the marketing strategy.
The text used must be in keeping with the style of the advertisement, and the Lancabot mascot will be placed alongside this to heighten brand awareness. Also today, I am expecting to receive the proofreading of my work back, once I have done this I can make changes to the noted sections.
By the end of today I aim to have finished most areas of my report – by Wednesday I want the entire report finished.
Therefore, I will start working on the campaign plan and media and time plan. Once this is finished I will need to revisit the vectors section and literature review before attempting to reduce the word count by about 1,000 words.
This includes taking photographs of the characters at a series of different locations, including Blackpool zoo and the miniature gardens in Blackpool. I would take these photographs and then ask the question “where is this location”. Tomorrow I will ask about borrowing a camera for this purpose, hopefully I will produce enough quality images to produce a postcard set. These would be printed on MOO.com.
Moo suggests that you upload either 20 or 60 postcards. I may even have enough to have one of 60 different locations. The viewer of the postcard or Billboard/adshel will be able to text in to a number noted on the advertisement and state the location of the photo shoot, or alternatively enter online. This will get the whole of Preston and Lancashire thinking about their local community, and makes them pay attention to similar advertisements, enforcing the power of the marketing strategy.
The text used must be in keeping with the style of the advertisement, and the Lancabot mascot will be placed alongside this to heighten brand awareness. Also today, I am expecting to receive the proofreading of my work back, once I have done this I can make changes to the noted sections.
By the end of today I aim to have finished most areas of my report – by Wednesday I want the entire report finished.
Therefore, I will start working on the campaign plan and media and time plan. Once this is finished I will need to revisit the vectors section and literature review before attempting to reduce the word count by about 1,000 words.
Thursday, 17 March 2011
How To Use The Photos From The Shoot?
Once I have gathered the pictures from the shoot I will consider how to best put them to use. Some of the ideas I currently have for their usage are as follows:
Story book (printed)
E-book
E-cards
Printed Postcards
Birthday cards and general events cards (these could be sold by students on stalls up until the launch of the LSF, heightening awareness of the event).
Online Slideshow
Slideshow video for YouTube
Inspiration for the online game
Trading Cards
I will experiment with a few of these ideas, print screen the development and then evaluate the most successful options. Once I have done this I will also spend tonight working on the persuasion section of my report. My aim is to have the whole report written – no half sentences, bullet points of highlighted areas – by the end of this weekend.
I will then spend next week working on the format of my report. I have decided to keep this as near to A4 scale as possible due to the size of some of my images. I must start working on the figure references too – I will use Google to find the Harvard referencing style for this.
Story book (printed)
E-book
E-cards
Printed Postcards
Birthday cards and general events cards (these could be sold by students on stalls up until the launch of the LSF, heightening awareness of the event).
Online Slideshow
Slideshow video for YouTube
Inspiration for the online game
Trading Cards
I will experiment with a few of these ideas, print screen the development and then evaluate the most successful options. Once I have done this I will also spend tonight working on the persuasion section of my report. My aim is to have the whole report written – no half sentences, bullet points of highlighted areas – by the end of this weekend.
I will then spend next week working on the format of my report. I have decided to keep this as near to A4 scale as possible due to the size of some of my images. I must start working on the figure references too – I will use Google to find the Harvard referencing style for this.
The Day Of The Shoot
Today is the day! I have my photo shoot today at 2.00. All morning I have been panicking trying to think of ways in which to make my characters be able to stand up. I finally mastered this this morning by finding some mugs and using double-sided tape or sticky pads to secure them. When working on my different snap shots today I must consider a coherent narrative sequences.
This may include using taking a shot with one of the characters in it, then taking one with two – to demonstrate the build up of characters at a particular scene or setting. I am very excited about today, but also it is of course a very big responsibility. I will take the photographs on a crisp white background with no shadows – this will make my work easier when it comes to cutting the images out (magic wand tool Photoshop). I can then superimpose these images onto a variety of different background types- fun and jazzy or scenic, helping to depict a clear narrative sequence.
I must remember that the props that I have may also be of use for the outdoor shoot, so I must keep them for this. My second photo shoot is on the 21st of April, so I must bear in mind that I need to keep an eye out for different locations based on this.
I am to speak with Paz and Christine today about possibly creating a secondary tier of promotion to complement my primary tier – it is believed that this will better showcase my talents which are at present rather understated. After the photo shoot today I will analyse my final images and work out how exactly I can use these. I will experiment with different editing techniques such as colour 16 and colour 6 or high fidelity photographs which also allow the live paint facility – to see what interesting effects I can create.
Today within my lesson I will learn about campaign and time plans – this is something which I really need to concentrate on, as I have not covered this within my report yet. Also, tomorrow I am planning on venturing to Birmingham for the education fair, so I must make sure I book the tickets for that tonight and make sure everything is secure ready for me to go tomorrow. This will be a great opportunity for me to gather primary research of the ‘educational’ kind, to complement my more creative and child oriented primary research to date. I may also create new contacts who will be useful for inclusion within my report.
What next? Today, other than the photo shoot, I will also be working on the CD roundel and also the CD case – this last point will involve me mocking up a setting with I will use. I have considered using one of the photographs from the shoot for this, this way I will be maintaining continuity throughout the campaign. I will remember to annotate this to describe which parts will be detachable and which ones will be secured.
This may include using taking a shot with one of the characters in it, then taking one with two – to demonstrate the build up of characters at a particular scene or setting. I am very excited about today, but also it is of course a very big responsibility. I will take the photographs on a crisp white background with no shadows – this will make my work easier when it comes to cutting the images out (magic wand tool Photoshop). I can then superimpose these images onto a variety of different background types- fun and jazzy or scenic, helping to depict a clear narrative sequence.
I must remember that the props that I have may also be of use for the outdoor shoot, so I must keep them for this. My second photo shoot is on the 21st of April, so I must bear in mind that I need to keep an eye out for different locations based on this.
I am to speak with Paz and Christine today about possibly creating a secondary tier of promotion to complement my primary tier – it is believed that this will better showcase my talents which are at present rather understated. After the photo shoot today I will analyse my final images and work out how exactly I can use these. I will experiment with different editing techniques such as colour 16 and colour 6 or high fidelity photographs which also allow the live paint facility – to see what interesting effects I can create.
Today within my lesson I will learn about campaign and time plans – this is something which I really need to concentrate on, as I have not covered this within my report yet. Also, tomorrow I am planning on venturing to Birmingham for the education fair, so I must make sure I book the tickets for that tonight and make sure everything is secure ready for me to go tomorrow. This will be a great opportunity for me to gather primary research of the ‘educational’ kind, to complement my more creative and child oriented primary research to date. I may also create new contacts who will be useful for inclusion within my report.
What next? Today, other than the photo shoot, I will also be working on the CD roundel and also the CD case – this last point will involve me mocking up a setting with I will use. I have considered using one of the photographs from the shoot for this, this way I will be maintaining continuity throughout the campaign. I will remember to annotate this to describe which parts will be detachable and which ones will be secured.
Sunday, 13 March 2011
Character Blog Creation
I have spent this morning working on my blog entry for the Lancashire Science Festival. I have decided that I will create the rough template for this, and then – once the photo shoot is complete – I must work on enhancing this. I created the first blog entry which simply introduced the characters in their graphic CAD state. I have not yet decided which form I would like them to take, or whether the felt soft toy type could be brought in at a later date, or whether this should be introduced from the beginning and maintained throughout.
Yesterday I brought lots of props for the Cell Crew photoshoot, I will revisit these props and then think about stories which I can include within this narrative. Later tonight I will work on the seasonal characters of the cell crew, for example Easter, Christmas, New Year, Mother’s Day, Halloween etc. I will present these on an A4 document for inclusion either within the main body of my report or the appendix.
Hello readers! My name is Lancabot, and I am the famous Lancashire Robot.
I would like to tell everyone about the latest news and events surrounding the Lancashire Science Festival, but I am simply far too busy organising the event! Luckily for me my trusty friends the Cell Crew have kindly offered their assistance.
I hope you enjoy hearing from them from week to week, I know that they are very excited to meet you all!
Hello readers, pleased to meet you! We are the Cell Crew and we are such a lovely bunch. This is our first blog entry, so we would like to introduce ourselves to you, so that we are not strangers any more.
You should never speak to strangers after all.
Hey guys, I am Stacey and I am the girliest one of the Cell Crew. My favourite colour is pink and my favourite subject in science is Biology. I love learning about defending the body against infection. This keeps the body healthy by protecting against illness and disease.
I am Clive, it’s fair to say that I’m not the brightest member of the group. In fact, I’m sure the others will agree that I’m actually the dimmest. But that’s okay – because I love to learn, and my friends always help me when I find subjects difficult. At the moment I’m really struggling with Divisions in Maths, but Herbert is such a clever clogs and is always willing to give me a helping hand – not that he has hands!
Clever clogs? Me? Why thank you Clive. My name is Herbert, and my friends tell me I am the brains of the group. I love all areas of Science, Technology, Economics and Maths. But, although I know lots about these subjects – there is still so much more to learn. I’m hoping that you’ll enjoy discovering more about these topics with me. If there’s anything you’re not too sure about or are finding difficult, just ask!
Hello! I’m Laurie, my main subject of interest in Health. I love learning about how the body works, the brain and nervous system. I’d like to say it’s my area of expertise. I often teach Clive about the human body. I don’t mind helping him out at all – it’s what friends are for!
Hello, I’m Edmond. People often tell me I look more like an alien than a cell, but it doesn’t worry me. Everybody is different; it’s what makes people special. It is components of the cell membrane which are responsible for connecting cells, this means that my friends are – quite literally- always by my side.
We are so excited that you are reading our blog and hope we can help you learn more about Science, Technology, Economics, Maths and Health. If there’s anything you need to know, just ask us. We’d like to think that you are now our friend and look forward to speaking to you week after week.
Yesterday I brought lots of props for the Cell Crew photoshoot, I will revisit these props and then think about stories which I can include within this narrative. Later tonight I will work on the seasonal characters of the cell crew, for example Easter, Christmas, New Year, Mother’s Day, Halloween etc. I will present these on an A4 document for inclusion either within the main body of my report or the appendix.
Hello readers! My name is Lancabot, and I am the famous Lancashire Robot.
I would like to tell everyone about the latest news and events surrounding the Lancashire Science Festival, but I am simply far too busy organising the event! Luckily for me my trusty friends the Cell Crew have kindly offered their assistance.
I hope you enjoy hearing from them from week to week, I know that they are very excited to meet you all!
Hello readers, pleased to meet you! We are the Cell Crew and we are such a lovely bunch. This is our first blog entry, so we would like to introduce ourselves to you, so that we are not strangers any more.
You should never speak to strangers after all.
Hey guys, I am Stacey and I am the girliest one of the Cell Crew. My favourite colour is pink and my favourite subject in science is Biology. I love learning about defending the body against infection. This keeps the body healthy by protecting against illness and disease.
I am Clive, it’s fair to say that I’m not the brightest member of the group. In fact, I’m sure the others will agree that I’m actually the dimmest. But that’s okay – because I love to learn, and my friends always help me when I find subjects difficult. At the moment I’m really struggling with Divisions in Maths, but Herbert is such a clever clogs and is always willing to give me a helping hand – not that he has hands!
Clever clogs? Me? Why thank you Clive. My name is Herbert, and my friends tell me I am the brains of the group. I love all areas of Science, Technology, Economics and Maths. But, although I know lots about these subjects – there is still so much more to learn. I’m hoping that you’ll enjoy discovering more about these topics with me. If there’s anything you’re not too sure about or are finding difficult, just ask!
Hello! I’m Laurie, my main subject of interest in Health. I love learning about how the body works, the brain and nervous system. I’d like to say it’s my area of expertise. I often teach Clive about the human body. I don’t mind helping him out at all – it’s what friends are for!
Hello, I’m Edmond. People often tell me I look more like an alien than a cell, but it doesn’t worry me. Everybody is different; it’s what makes people special. It is components of the cell membrane which are responsible for connecting cells, this means that my friends are – quite literally- always by my side.
We are so excited that you are reading our blog and hope we can help you learn more about Science, Technology, Economics, Maths and Health. If there’s anything you need to know, just ask us. We’d like to think that you are now our friend and look forward to speaking to you week after week.
Saturday, 12 March 2011
Shopping For The Photo Shoot
Today I have been working on how I am to present the trading cards. I created five cards initially to outline the concept. Each of these cards contained an image of a Cell Crew character, with a graphic illustration of a location, and then a science-related fact.
These facts will also extend to cover areas other areas of STEM and health. I felt that by providing a sentence which depicted the location of the Cell Crew this would ground the campaign in the region of Lancashire more. The card would also contain a fact section. This would be mainly science-related however facts from other subjects would be mentioned if they were considered relevant.
I had to conduct research into the sort of information that primary school children would be being taught in lessons throughout the curriculum. It was important that this was not too simplistic or complex for them.
I have print-screened these and included them within my report. Today I have also spent time shopping for props for the photoshoot. I considered the media calendar when discussing props. Therefore I purchased items such as bunny ears and Easter eggs.
There is still another whole media year until the hosting of the LSF, therefore I will need to consider ‘special events’ in the media calendar, for example Halloween, Easter, Christmas, New Year, which the characters could celebrate. The characters would be adaptable to different seasons, for example growing bunny ears, wings, devil horns at christmas etc.
This is also something which I will write about in my report; therefore I shall experiment with this tonight before taking print screens to place in my report. Tonight I will take a look at the different props I have purchased and photograph these, tomorrow I will them place these into a word document this will provide me with some more annotation to do.
This morning I printed out some of the email conversations I have had with people regarding the mascot and the creation of the Cell Crew. I will continue to go through my email conversations and print these out; otherwise I will have a backlog to content with. Today I also purchased plastic wallets so I will be able to place these into the file securely, to analyse both the quantity and quality of my research.
What next? I will spend the rest of tonight working on the T-shirts for the ‘people’ section of my report – these will be worn by the staff. I will then go back to my written report and ensure that every section is covered with some sort of visual.
These facts will also extend to cover areas other areas of STEM and health. I felt that by providing a sentence which depicted the location of the Cell Crew this would ground the campaign in the region of Lancashire more. The card would also contain a fact section. This would be mainly science-related however facts from other subjects would be mentioned if they were considered relevant.
I had to conduct research into the sort of information that primary school children would be being taught in lessons throughout the curriculum. It was important that this was not too simplistic or complex for them.
I have print-screened these and included them within my report. Today I have also spent time shopping for props for the photoshoot. I considered the media calendar when discussing props. Therefore I purchased items such as bunny ears and Easter eggs.
There is still another whole media year until the hosting of the LSF, therefore I will need to consider ‘special events’ in the media calendar, for example Halloween, Easter, Christmas, New Year, which the characters could celebrate. The characters would be adaptable to different seasons, for example growing bunny ears, wings, devil horns at christmas etc.
This is also something which I will write about in my report; therefore I shall experiment with this tonight before taking print screens to place in my report. Tonight I will take a look at the different props I have purchased and photograph these, tomorrow I will them place these into a word document this will provide me with some more annotation to do.
This morning I printed out some of the email conversations I have had with people regarding the mascot and the creation of the Cell Crew. I will continue to go through my email conversations and print these out; otherwise I will have a backlog to content with. Today I also purchased plastic wallets so I will be able to place these into the file securely, to analyse both the quantity and quality of my research.
What next? I will spend the rest of tonight working on the T-shirts for the ‘people’ section of my report – these will be worn by the staff. I will then go back to my written report and ensure that every section is covered with some sort of visual.
Friday, 11 March 2011
Receiving The Cell Crew Characters
This morning I received the Cell Crew characters. I am so pleased with them. They look virtually identical to the characters that I initially sketched up. I have also trailed these against the props, and they work well with regards to size, proportion and colour.
Tomorrow I am going to venture into town to have a look around the charity shops to see if there is anything quirky which I can incorporate into a photo shoot. I decided that each of the postcards I produce should have its own strap line based on the image. This should be comical and capture the essence of the photo shoot, whilst also being educational.
Last night I worked on the web portal of my report. I now have produced the front page of the web site, based on my analysis of different science-oriented web pages, such as MOSI, Mad Science, Manchester Science Festival, Edinburgh International Science Festival, The Times Cheltenham Science Festival, Brighton Science Festival and Newcastle Science Festival, amongst others.
I have print screened this home page and placed it within my report. I understand that I am allowed to go back and edit my web portal, for example, post the submission of the report, however this should be included to provide an indication of what sort of graphic style I am aiming towards.
I will leave this home page of the web portal, and continue working on other aspects, for example the game for the site. This will be my task for today. Once I have produced this game, I will take a screen print of this and incorporate that into the home page of the website. I should analyse the other websites to see if their themes and layouts run throughout the campaign or whether they adopt a different approach within. I should also consider amending the appearance of the portal depending on the target audience. However, I feel that the LSF home page is, at present, accessible for all ages.
In the next coming week I am to conduct my photoshoot. Once I have these photos I will start on the design of E-cards – or postcards online. I previously considered the production of printed-out postcards, however I then concluded that this would not be carbon-neutral.
Tomorrow I am going to venture into town to have a look around the charity shops to see if there is anything quirky which I can incorporate into a photo shoot. I decided that each of the postcards I produce should have its own strap line based on the image. This should be comical and capture the essence of the photo shoot, whilst also being educational.
Last night I worked on the web portal of my report. I now have produced the front page of the web site, based on my analysis of different science-oriented web pages, such as MOSI, Mad Science, Manchester Science Festival, Edinburgh International Science Festival, The Times Cheltenham Science Festival, Brighton Science Festival and Newcastle Science Festival, amongst others.
I have print screened this home page and placed it within my report. I understand that I am allowed to go back and edit my web portal, for example, post the submission of the report, however this should be included to provide an indication of what sort of graphic style I am aiming towards.
I will leave this home page of the web portal, and continue working on other aspects, for example the game for the site. This will be my task for today. Once I have produced this game, I will take a screen print of this and incorporate that into the home page of the website. I should analyse the other websites to see if their themes and layouts run throughout the campaign or whether they adopt a different approach within. I should also consider amending the appearance of the portal depending on the target audience. However, I feel that the LSF home page is, at present, accessible for all ages.
In the next coming week I am to conduct my photoshoot. Once I have these photos I will start on the design of E-cards – or postcards online. I previously considered the production of printed-out postcards, however I then concluded that this would not be carbon-neutral.
Thursday, 10 March 2011
Reflection - Meeting The External
I have had a productive day today. I have met with the external; she seemed very positive about my work and my output. This has provided me with greater confidence within the campaign.
I have also had a meeting with Christine, who is going to have a quick read through my report. I will have this back to me by Monday. This gives me a good three full days to work solidly on my promotional items.
I will start on my web portal tomorrow morning, dedicating the full day to this. I am going to use a web portal for the Big Bang, MOSI and National Science Museums as inspiration. Once I have these as templates and guides, for example with regards to the positioning of navigation – assuming these companies have researched into consumer preferences, I will put the web portal together.
Depending on the progress I make towards my web portal tomorrow, I will consider even working on this the very next day, or giving myself a break from this and working on the formatting of the report.
My Cell Crew characters arrived in the post today, but unfortunately I was not there to collect them, therefore tomorrow I will collect these and look at them in relation to props. If I have time tomorrow I will take one of the characters into town so that I can analyse the scale of the characters in relation to the props.
This evening I am going to write a time plan / to do list of how I intend to manage my time wisely, as it is getting to a crucial stage in the project. Tomorrow, I will ask if I can have a look over the media plans / campaign plans and will take inspiration from these in order to complete my own – as this is one area in which my report is lacking in.
What next? Hopefully by the end of tomorrow I will have updated the report depicting the stage at which I am in the project. I anticipate that I will have made a healthy start on the web portal – around ¼ of the way complete. Later tonight I will also print off the primary research pages that I have annotated and put these into my research file so that I have a clear understanding of where I am up to research-wise.
I have also had a meeting with Christine, who is going to have a quick read through my report. I will have this back to me by Monday. This gives me a good three full days to work solidly on my promotional items.
I will start on my web portal tomorrow morning, dedicating the full day to this. I am going to use a web portal for the Big Bang, MOSI and National Science Museums as inspiration. Once I have these as templates and guides, for example with regards to the positioning of navigation – assuming these companies have researched into consumer preferences, I will put the web portal together.
Depending on the progress I make towards my web portal tomorrow, I will consider even working on this the very next day, or giving myself a break from this and working on the formatting of the report.
My Cell Crew characters arrived in the post today, but unfortunately I was not there to collect them, therefore tomorrow I will collect these and look at them in relation to props. If I have time tomorrow I will take one of the characters into town so that I can analyse the scale of the characters in relation to the props.
This evening I am going to write a time plan / to do list of how I intend to manage my time wisely, as it is getting to a crucial stage in the project. Tomorrow, I will ask if I can have a look over the media plans / campaign plans and will take inspiration from these in order to complete my own – as this is one area in which my report is lacking in.
What next? Hopefully by the end of tomorrow I will have updated the report depicting the stage at which I am in the project. I anticipate that I will have made a healthy start on the web portal – around ¼ of the way complete. Later tonight I will also print off the primary research pages that I have annotated and put these into my research file so that I have a clear understanding of where I am up to research-wise.
Producing Finger Puppets
Today I have been communicating with Claire Fearnley about the production of finger puppets which will satisfy my character design. I have asked for one of each of the Cell Crew to be produced into a finger puppet.
These will be used alongside a story book which I am going to illustrate and narrate. It is understood that drawing the illustrations for the book may be difficult; therefore – if necessary – I will ask for the help of a professional illustrator or graphic designer.
This book may be used within the festival as part of a story-telling time for parents with young children, or even throughout promotion and schools, hosting ‘story time’ in classroom registration sessions or assemblies. Today, after both of my meetings, I will return to the library and continue with the annotation of the rest of the images from my research trip to MOSI. I also have more images to upload from this.
Today I have also decided to venture to the charity shops to see if there is anything which will inspire me with regards to promotional items, or even with regards to props for my photo shoot. I have also decided to set up an EBay account of look for items of interest online, in the hope that they will arrive in time for my photo shoot.
I have printed off my report and will proofread through this myself once more today. Once I have completed this, and made the necessary changes to the document I will send this over to the proofreader to check through for me.
At present I feel that I am on track with regards to writing the report, however I feel that I need to ensure that my research is up to date so that – once the report is submitted – my focus can be entirely on the production of the promotional items.
I have been communicating with a company about producing badges for me, and may negotiate payment of these this week. Once I have these badges I will conduct a photoshoot on a children’s rucksack, in the studio or even on location. This will enable people to see how my final output will be executed and how it will actually be incorporated into my final campaign.
These will be used alongside a story book which I am going to illustrate and narrate. It is understood that drawing the illustrations for the book may be difficult; therefore – if necessary – I will ask for the help of a professional illustrator or graphic designer.
This book may be used within the festival as part of a story-telling time for parents with young children, or even throughout promotion and schools, hosting ‘story time’ in classroom registration sessions or assemblies. Today, after both of my meetings, I will return to the library and continue with the annotation of the rest of the images from my research trip to MOSI. I also have more images to upload from this.
Today I have also decided to venture to the charity shops to see if there is anything which will inspire me with regards to promotional items, or even with regards to props for my photo shoot. I have also decided to set up an EBay account of look for items of interest online, in the hope that they will arrive in time for my photo shoot.
I have printed off my report and will proofread through this myself once more today. Once I have completed this, and made the necessary changes to the document I will send this over to the proofreader to check through for me.
At present I feel that I am on track with regards to writing the report, however I feel that I need to ensure that my research is up to date so that – once the report is submitted – my focus can be entirely on the production of the promotional items.
I have been communicating with a company about producing badges for me, and may negotiate payment of these this week. Once I have these badges I will conduct a photoshoot on a children’s rucksack, in the studio or even on location. This will enable people to see how my final output will be executed and how it will actually be incorporated into my final campaign.
Considering Moving The Project Forwards
I am very excited as today is the day which the Cell Crew will be arriving! I cannot wait to see how my creations have turned out. I have also purchased props for these recently, so I will see if these are suitable and if not I will look for different options.
Today is going to be a busy day for me as I have also requested to see the ‘external’. This meeting is at 12.00. Prior to this I will be meeting my course leader for a one-to-one tutorial. I requested to see the external as I want to be made aware of any flaws in my campaign from the outset, so that these can be rectified before the final submission.
To the meeting with the external I am bringing my primary research folders. I am aware that I am behind on my secondary research – therefore I am going to work backwards and start working on this.
On Friday I am due to send over my ‘completed’ report to the proofreader, therefore today and tomorrow I will spend working on this. Once I have sent the report over to the proofreader, I will start working on the formatting of my report.
I am going to use InDesign for this, as I had prior experience of this from a previous report I wrote about Licensed Characters, therefore I understand the way in which this programme works. I must remember that each of my characters must be imported as individual items. From this I can then start working on different animation techniques and ways in which I can make the design interactive.
I will have around four days from the moment that I send off my work for proofreading, up until the day that I get the report back. During these four days I have decided that I must start working on the web portal. I have a deadline with the Advancement Department, that flexible web spaces, adapted to suit each audience, must by the beginning of March. Therefore I have four weeks to get on top of this. This is great practice for me as, once these are created, I can include these within my report and analyse these – painting a truer picture of what the overall campaign will look like.
I have two photo shoots booked – one is in the studio and the other is on location. I will take photographs through these locations and incorporate these into all promotional areas.
Today is going to be a busy day for me as I have also requested to see the ‘external’. This meeting is at 12.00. Prior to this I will be meeting my course leader for a one-to-one tutorial. I requested to see the external as I want to be made aware of any flaws in my campaign from the outset, so that these can be rectified before the final submission.
To the meeting with the external I am bringing my primary research folders. I am aware that I am behind on my secondary research – therefore I am going to work backwards and start working on this.
On Friday I am due to send over my ‘completed’ report to the proofreader, therefore today and tomorrow I will spend working on this. Once I have sent the report over to the proofreader, I will start working on the formatting of my report.
I am going to use InDesign for this, as I had prior experience of this from a previous report I wrote about Licensed Characters, therefore I understand the way in which this programme works. I must remember that each of my characters must be imported as individual items. From this I can then start working on different animation techniques and ways in which I can make the design interactive.
I will have around four days from the moment that I send off my work for proofreading, up until the day that I get the report back. During these four days I have decided that I must start working on the web portal. I have a deadline with the Advancement Department, that flexible web spaces, adapted to suit each audience, must by the beginning of March. Therefore I have four weeks to get on top of this. This is great practice for me as, once these are created, I can include these within my report and analyse these – painting a truer picture of what the overall campaign will look like.
I have two photo shoots booked – one is in the studio and the other is on location. I will take photographs through these locations and incorporate these into all promotional areas.
Tuesday, 8 March 2011
Photo Shoot Discussion
For the majority of this week I have been working on the characters that I have created, and considered how these can be implemented into fun and exciting photo shoot scenarios. I have been told that the characters have been produced and are ready for delivery.
I will await the delivery of these before I start conducting mock photo shoots. I have the photographer booked out for the 21st of April – this is for an on location shoot. However, I will also consider whether I should book out the photographer prior to this, and conduct a series of photo shoots with him.
Yesterday I purchased props for the cells – I considered different props which I could integrate into an online gaming system. As cells are present in every living organism, I did not have to simply stick with science-related props; rather I could expand this massively.
Therefore I purchased items included gardening sets – including watering can, fake flowers, ladybird, shovels. I also purchased an abacus, wheelchair, skittles and a ball. These were all vibrantly coloured an in keeping with the colour scheme of both the cells and the overall campaign.
Today I also collected my written report from WISER. The wiser adviser was very complimentary about my work and made only minor suggestions for alterations.
What next? Next I will make these alterations before printing off the report to proofread. I will allow Christine to read this, as previously she was a little wary about my use of written English, and the fact that I occasionally used three sentences to say something which I could say in one sentence.
I am also waiting to hear back from Joanna Heaton. I send over the character ideas by the specified deadline, and am now waiting to have final confirmation of these. I am also looking to have a character mascot produced. I will not agree on the confirmation of the production of this until I have the final work from Joanna and the rest of the Advancement Department.
I will await the delivery of these before I start conducting mock photo shoots. I have the photographer booked out for the 21st of April – this is for an on location shoot. However, I will also consider whether I should book out the photographer prior to this, and conduct a series of photo shoots with him.
Yesterday I purchased props for the cells – I considered different props which I could integrate into an online gaming system. As cells are present in every living organism, I did not have to simply stick with science-related props; rather I could expand this massively.
Therefore I purchased items included gardening sets – including watering can, fake flowers, ladybird, shovels. I also purchased an abacus, wheelchair, skittles and a ball. These were all vibrantly coloured an in keeping with the colour scheme of both the cells and the overall campaign.
Today I also collected my written report from WISER. The wiser adviser was very complimentary about my work and made only minor suggestions for alterations.
What next? Next I will make these alterations before printing off the report to proofread. I will allow Christine to read this, as previously she was a little wary about my use of written English, and the fact that I occasionally used three sentences to say something which I could say in one sentence.
I am also waiting to hear back from Joanna Heaton. I send over the character ideas by the specified deadline, and am now waiting to have final confirmation of these. I am also looking to have a character mascot produced. I will not agree on the confirmation of the production of this until I have the final work from Joanna and the rest of the Advancement Department.
Friday, 4 March 2011
Progress Update
Today was the deadline within which I must send over the characters for the marketing team to work with. I sent over the five cells characters (all of which have now been named), and also the Lancabot robot. The version of the robot which I sent over was based on the Production Design which PromoBears had outlined for me. This allowed the robot to be considered in anthropomorphic form.
I stated to Joanna that this was a much more approachable and accessible sketch of the robot. I also stressed to Joanna that I very much would like to produce an actual Mascot costume.
I have also received confirmation from Dave Schofield and have the photo shoot for the Cell Crew characters booked out for the 21st of March. This will allow me for over two weeks after the photo shoot to continue working with, and formatting my report. This way I can integrate any of the characters and photographs into the report – animating these in interesting ways.
In other news, I sent my essay of to be proofread and the professional who read through it and made only minor suggestions, regarding spacing and use of capital letters. I have made these changes, and also implemented the changes throughout the rest of the report, so that this would save the proofreader from picking up on the minor changes through the remainder of the body.
I am also due to collect my work from Wiser on the 8th of March. This is another version of proofreading, so I am interested in the changes that this lady advises. During my tutorial last week I spoke to Christine who advised that I printed out the document and went through it and made it as concise as possible.
I am just going to have to be as strict as I can with myself, trying to get the message across in as few words/sentences as possible. My aim for this coming week, therefore, is to make the report as concise as possible. I aim to have the written aspect of my work completed by the end of this week. This included the time plan, media plan and campaign plan – this will allow me to start working on the web platforms – this is very important for me as I am working to strict deadlines with the LSF organisers.
What next? I will update the blog once I have made further adjustments to the report which I feel enhance the fluency of the reading.
I stated to Joanna that this was a much more approachable and accessible sketch of the robot. I also stressed to Joanna that I very much would like to produce an actual Mascot costume.
I have also received confirmation from Dave Schofield and have the photo shoot for the Cell Crew characters booked out for the 21st of March. This will allow me for over two weeks after the photo shoot to continue working with, and formatting my report. This way I can integrate any of the characters and photographs into the report – animating these in interesting ways.
In other news, I sent my essay of to be proofread and the professional who read through it and made only minor suggestions, regarding spacing and use of capital letters. I have made these changes, and also implemented the changes throughout the rest of the report, so that this would save the proofreader from picking up on the minor changes through the remainder of the body.
I am also due to collect my work from Wiser on the 8th of March. This is another version of proofreading, so I am interested in the changes that this lady advises. During my tutorial last week I spoke to Christine who advised that I printed out the document and went through it and made it as concise as possible.
I am just going to have to be as strict as I can with myself, trying to get the message across in as few words/sentences as possible. My aim for this coming week, therefore, is to make the report as concise as possible. I aim to have the written aspect of my work completed by the end of this week. This included the time plan, media plan and campaign plan – this will allow me to start working on the web platforms – this is very important for me as I am working to strict deadlines with the LSF organisers.
What next? I will update the blog once I have made further adjustments to the report which I feel enhance the fluency of the reading.
Tuesday, 1 March 2011
Bringing The Characters To Life
It has been an exciting couple of days, and although I have not made solid progress on my report. I have made progress in considering ideas for forms of promotion. I now have an extensive list of promotional items, and I just need to work on the funds to produce these – this is the stressful part.
I have my heart set on bringing each of the Cell Crew to life, and also have my heart set on bringing the robot mascot to life – so this could be a VERY expensive campaign.
Watch this space! I have sent over the first half of my report to a proofreader, and am confident that this reads well. Other than this, today I have been communicating with a couple of people who will make my cell characters up for me.
I currently have three people offering to do this, and a potential fourth person getting back to me by the end of today. I am incredibly keen to get the ball rolling on this, and therefore would like to secure payment of this by the end of day tomorrow.
So very excited to see my characters brought to life. These characters will be treated like real life models – I may even buy them clothes! I will conduct photoshoots of these characters around Lancashire, and this will aid WOM marketing. The cell crew would be part of the teaser campaign, building up hype around Lancashire.
The LSF could work in accordance to a local paper, to find the Cell Crew graphic in their paper, to redeem discount to the theatre shows, for example – this idea is only up in the air at present, and requires a little more thought.
I also wish to go on two more primary research trips by the end of this month. One to the London Olympia to the education fair, and the other to Quantum science museum in Birmingham.
I am excited about both of these visits and am positive that they will aid my primary research, and also help to enhance the written report visually.
What next? I will update the blog entry once I have secured production of these characters with one of the people I am currently conversing with.
So very excited!
I have my heart set on bringing each of the Cell Crew to life, and also have my heart set on bringing the robot mascot to life – so this could be a VERY expensive campaign.
Watch this space! I have sent over the first half of my report to a proofreader, and am confident that this reads well. Other than this, today I have been communicating with a couple of people who will make my cell characters up for me.
I currently have three people offering to do this, and a potential fourth person getting back to me by the end of today. I am incredibly keen to get the ball rolling on this, and therefore would like to secure payment of this by the end of day tomorrow.
So very excited to see my characters brought to life. These characters will be treated like real life models – I may even buy them clothes! I will conduct photoshoots of these characters around Lancashire, and this will aid WOM marketing. The cell crew would be part of the teaser campaign, building up hype around Lancashire.
The LSF could work in accordance to a local paper, to find the Cell Crew graphic in their paper, to redeem discount to the theatre shows, for example – this idea is only up in the air at present, and requires a little more thought.
I also wish to go on two more primary research trips by the end of this month. One to the London Olympia to the education fair, and the other to Quantum science museum in Birmingham.
I am excited about both of these visits and am positive that they will aid my primary research, and also help to enhance the written report visually.
What next? I will update the blog entry once I have secured production of these characters with one of the people I am currently conversing with.
So very excited!
Friday, 25 February 2011
Wiser Response
I haven’t posted a blog update for a couple of days, yet since my last blog update I have made significant progress. I collected my report so far from the Wiser adviser, and she was very complimentary about my work, suggesting only a few minor amendments which she left to my discretion. I then arranged a date with Jacinta Boon, the proofreader for when she would be able to read through my report – we have agreed the date the 6th March. If possible I will try to get it to her prior to this, the sooner the better as far as I am concerned.
I do, however, want to make as much progress as possible with this report, filling in as many different sections as possible, as it is excellent to have a professional critical eye read over your work, I would hate for her to only be able to read a few sections, and not grasp the full idea of the report.
While Jacinta is reading over my work, I will start considering different ways to format this, whilst working on my promotional graphics. The graphics I choose to use for my promotional items can be easily integrated into my report, and therefore this will be mutually beneficial.
Also, today I resubmitted my report to Wiser, with the changes I have made to it since I last handed it to the advisor. Usually they are unable to read work that is longer than 3,000 words, however because the lady said that there were no real problems with my work, with regards to my written style, she was able to make an exception.
The only difficulty which arises is the fact that I am due to get this document back on the 8th March, and that Jacinta will already be reading the final version by then. In order to overcome this I have decided that I will listen to any guidance that Jacinta has to give me, and then compare this to the Wiser document, and make amendments depending on whether I feel they are beneficial to the overall impact of the text.
Today was also successful as I have completed the photoshoot which I will use to illustrate a couple of sections of my report. This is something which is a massive sign of relief to have out of the way, as photoshoots can be both very stressful and timeconsuming.
I have decided that tomorrow I will not work on the written report for the first half of the day, yet that I will ensure that all of my photographs from my primary research so far are annotated and up-to-date. I will also be able to print these pages as I have coloured ink now, so I will be able to assess my research realistically. I feel that my primary research at present is excellent, however that I have made poor progress with the secondary research. However, it is clear to the reader of the report that I have an extensive range of secondary research by looking at the report bibliography.
Tomorrow, therefore, I will go through this bibliography and locate all of the key texts and extract the relevant parts from there. This will enable me to get my secondary research up to date, whilst also equipping me with the knowledge needed to write the literature review at the end of the report.
I do, however, want to make as much progress as possible with this report, filling in as many different sections as possible, as it is excellent to have a professional critical eye read over your work, I would hate for her to only be able to read a few sections, and not grasp the full idea of the report.
While Jacinta is reading over my work, I will start considering different ways to format this, whilst working on my promotional graphics. The graphics I choose to use for my promotional items can be easily integrated into my report, and therefore this will be mutually beneficial.
Also, today I resubmitted my report to Wiser, with the changes I have made to it since I last handed it to the advisor. Usually they are unable to read work that is longer than 3,000 words, however because the lady said that there were no real problems with my work, with regards to my written style, she was able to make an exception.
The only difficulty which arises is the fact that I am due to get this document back on the 8th March, and that Jacinta will already be reading the final version by then. In order to overcome this I have decided that I will listen to any guidance that Jacinta has to give me, and then compare this to the Wiser document, and make amendments depending on whether I feel they are beneficial to the overall impact of the text.
Today was also successful as I have completed the photoshoot which I will use to illustrate a couple of sections of my report. This is something which is a massive sign of relief to have out of the way, as photoshoots can be both very stressful and timeconsuming.
I have decided that tomorrow I will not work on the written report for the first half of the day, yet that I will ensure that all of my photographs from my primary research so far are annotated and up-to-date. I will also be able to print these pages as I have coloured ink now, so I will be able to assess my research realistically. I feel that my primary research at present is excellent, however that I have made poor progress with the secondary research. However, it is clear to the reader of the report that I have an extensive range of secondary research by looking at the report bibliography.
Tomorrow, therefore, I will go through this bibliography and locate all of the key texts and extract the relevant parts from there. This will enable me to get my secondary research up to date, whilst also equipping me with the knowledge needed to write the literature review at the end of the report.
Wednesday, 23 February 2011
Quick Update Regarding Photoshoot
Yesterday I had a productive day with regards to planning for the photoshoot. I have successfully communicated with different models, and now have narrowed this option down to the one model which I will use in the shoot. I am currently undecided as to whether I will use this shoot in promotional material, or rather just for the benefit of enhancing my academic report. I have purchased a labcoat for both the model and myself. I would like the photoshoot to be as fun and animated as possible.
I have purchased a chemistry set and bubble blower. I will use one model and myself;
this photoshoot will form the front cover of my report, and individual pictures may be used to narrate my report within.
I will make the photoshoot look as dynamic and interesting as possible. I must dash now to collect my report from WISER as this is being looked over. I will update a blog entry tomorrow once changes have been made.
I have purchased a chemistry set and bubble blower. I will use one model and myself;
this photoshoot will form the front cover of my report, and individual pictures may be used to narrate my report within.
I will make the photoshoot look as dynamic and interesting as possible. I must dash now to collect my report from WISER as this is being looked over. I will update a blog entry tomorrow once changes have been made.
Monday, 21 February 2011
Further Research To Aid The Written Report
This morning I had a lecture on branding and brand guidelines, this focussed my mindset today more towards creating an identity which suited both the LSF and UCLan. From this I contacted Joanna Heaton again, proposing the following questions:
1). I have been looking into the production of a mascot character suit (human size), regarding cost and viability of using this to promote the LSF. This would be custom made, based on the LSF character (e.g. robot). Is this something that you feel is within the given budget? Also, is this something you would ever consider?
2). Which other regional universities are working with UCLan to assist with this event?
3). Please could you explain the relationship/association with the LSF and Preston Guild?
4). What do you hope will set the LSF apart from other science festivals? (USP of the festival).
5). Are there any regulations (government, for example) which state that the festival must be free of entry?
6). Is it important that the university ‘breaks even’ after this event? How do you intend to ensure this will happen, (e.g. charge for science celebrity lectures etc), what measures have been put in place?
7). Do you have a clear idea on the budget?
8). Do you have access to UCLan’s brand guidelines? If so, do you know if it would be possible to gain access to these?
9). Do you have a list of activities etc during the event?
I also chased up Aissa at Hot Munkey and am currently awaiting his reply. I also contacted a few companies regarding creating a character mascot costume. This would be used both throughout the event launch and the promotion in the run up to the event. I have also been speaking to a proof reader today who is willing to look through my marketing report for me.
Therefore I aim to have ‘completed’ my report – to as high a level as I possibly can – by mid march. This will then allow the lady to look over the report for me. This will take around four days, which is useful as these four days will allow me to go and further enhance another area of my work, or to work on promotional material, as opposed to constantly reworking my current report and potentially missing obvious mistakes.
I have the studio booked for a photoshoot on Friday, therefore tomorrow I will look into sourcing costumes for this. I will initially look in town for this, as this will save the cost on delivery, however if I am unsuccessful in this department then I will resort to looking online, and choose the next day delivery option, to save any disappointment. Tomorrow, therefore, will be dedicated to the organising of the photoshoot. However, tomorrow I also wish to enhance my report with research from WGSN, as this is a research which the external examiner will expect me to have used.
I will update the blog tomorrow with progress regarding fancy dress costumes.
1). I have been looking into the production of a mascot character suit (human size), regarding cost and viability of using this to promote the LSF. This would be custom made, based on the LSF character (e.g. robot). Is this something that you feel is within the given budget? Also, is this something you would ever consider?
2). Which other regional universities are working with UCLan to assist with this event?
3). Please could you explain the relationship/association with the LSF and Preston Guild?
4). What do you hope will set the LSF apart from other science festivals? (USP of the festival).
5). Are there any regulations (government, for example) which state that the festival must be free of entry?
6). Is it important that the university ‘breaks even’ after this event? How do you intend to ensure this will happen, (e.g. charge for science celebrity lectures etc), what measures have been put in place?
7). Do you have a clear idea on the budget?
8). Do you have access to UCLan’s brand guidelines? If so, do you know if it would be possible to gain access to these?
9). Do you have a list of activities etc during the event?
I also chased up Aissa at Hot Munkey and am currently awaiting his reply. I also contacted a few companies regarding creating a character mascot costume. This would be used both throughout the event launch and the promotion in the run up to the event. I have also been speaking to a proof reader today who is willing to look through my marketing report for me.
Therefore I aim to have ‘completed’ my report – to as high a level as I possibly can – by mid march. This will then allow the lady to look over the report for me. This will take around four days, which is useful as these four days will allow me to go and further enhance another area of my work, or to work on promotional material, as opposed to constantly reworking my current report and potentially missing obvious mistakes.
I have the studio booked for a photoshoot on Friday, therefore tomorrow I will look into sourcing costumes for this. I will initially look in town for this, as this will save the cost on delivery, however if I am unsuccessful in this department then I will resort to looking online, and choose the next day delivery option, to save any disappointment. Tomorrow, therefore, will be dedicated to the organising of the photoshoot. However, tomorrow I also wish to enhance my report with research from WGSN, as this is a research which the external examiner will expect me to have used.
I will update the blog tomorrow with progress regarding fancy dress costumes.
Sunday, 20 February 2011
Considering Further Research
I have dedicated a half day to study today as I have had to work this morning. Despite this, I have had a productive day working on my report. I have written around 5,000 words now this is a very good start. Once I have got a solid 6,000 words – which I am happy with, and which I feel read very well – I will start working on my promotional material.
I have also started looking into a proofreading service; this is something I would only use once I have 100% sure that my document was ‘finished’ and ‘perfect’ in my eyes. Today I have been working on the ‘competitors’ and ‘people’ sections of the report mainly.
Other than this I have been looking into different places which I may be able to visit before the submission of this campaign. Please see the Education Show at the NEC below:
Opening Times:
09.30 - 17.00 (16.00 on Saturday 19 March)
The Education Show is the UK’s largest general educational resources event. It has been going over 20 years and has recently celebrated its 20th Anniversary.
The Education Show is the host to over 470 exhibitors and has five CPD seminar theatres focussing on Early Years, Primary, Secondary, Special Educational Needs and Leadership.
Visitors who attend the show can find thousands of inspirational ideas and new resources and suppliers for their schools!
So far I have received heavily into the ‘fun’ side of the LSF, with extensive research into the marketing of activity zones and adventure centres. However, I must extend this research to look into the education sector. This would satisfy the two key brand attributes ‘fun’ and ‘education’ to ensure a well-rounded project.
I am currently waiting on email replies from Joanna and UCLan and also Aissa at Hot Munkey. Once I have received email replies from these two I will be able to make further progress with the written aspect of my report. However, until then I feel that it would be wise to spend my day tomorrow collating secondary research, or even continuing with the annotation of the primary research I have gathered so far. For example that which I have started annotating on word documents, and also the mound of leaflets, brochures and postcards which I have collected to this date.
Tomorrow I will work on this research, and also redraft the report one more time.
I have also started looking into a proofreading service; this is something I would only use once I have 100% sure that my document was ‘finished’ and ‘perfect’ in my eyes. Today I have been working on the ‘competitors’ and ‘people’ sections of the report mainly.
Other than this I have been looking into different places which I may be able to visit before the submission of this campaign. Please see the Education Show at the NEC below:
Opening Times:
09.30 - 17.00 (16.00 on Saturday 19 March)
The Education Show is the UK’s largest general educational resources event. It has been going over 20 years and has recently celebrated its 20th Anniversary.
The Education Show is the host to over 470 exhibitors and has five CPD seminar theatres focussing on Early Years, Primary, Secondary, Special Educational Needs and Leadership.
Visitors who attend the show can find thousands of inspirational ideas and new resources and suppliers for their schools!
So far I have received heavily into the ‘fun’ side of the LSF, with extensive research into the marketing of activity zones and adventure centres. However, I must extend this research to look into the education sector. This would satisfy the two key brand attributes ‘fun’ and ‘education’ to ensure a well-rounded project.
I am currently waiting on email replies from Joanna and UCLan and also Aissa at Hot Munkey. Once I have received email replies from these two I will be able to make further progress with the written aspect of my report. However, until then I feel that it would be wise to spend my day tomorrow collating secondary research, or even continuing with the annotation of the primary research I have gathered so far. For example that which I have started annotating on word documents, and also the mound of leaflets, brochures and postcards which I have collected to this date.
Tomorrow I will work on this research, and also redraft the report one more time.
Friday, 18 February 2011
Reviewing Progress of Marketing Report and Character Development
Today I have been working on the marketing report. I am currently around 3,000 words. I have reflected on other marketing reports to see the structure which I must adopt throughout this. From this it was decided that I should include a PEST/PESTLE analysis of the political, economic, sociocultural and technological factors which may impact upon my product. I have printed out the report and made changes to it using pen and paper as this is the best way for me to notice mistakes, from this I made amendments.
I also communicated with my course leader today regarding the inclusion of case studies. It was mutually decided that these case studies should be mentioned within the market segment of the report, specifically under the ‘competitors’ section. This should give a brief outline of findings derived from this case study, and from this the reader should be directed to view the appendix.
I have also been in great communication with Jo today regarding the characters I created. Jo believes that the cell characters are inspired, yet believes that the name ‘cell mates’ holds negative connotations of prison which neither the university of LSF itself would want to be associated with.
Jo therefore suggested that I tweaked the name of this slightly. Off the top of my head I decided that ‘Cell Crew’ could be plausible due to the alliteration of ‘C’, which may also make the character group more recognisable.
I stated to Jo my intentions about including these characters in an online game whereby they helped the main character (yet to be developed) in solving different science/maths related problems. By including a game on the online site, children will spend longer on the site, therefore increase the amount of time which they are exposed to the brand identity, thus making it more memorable.
From this Jo suggested that the cells could be called into action to fight infection. This stems from the idea that your immune system has different cells such as phagocytes (that eat up bacteria) and neutrophils (make bacteria burst). Therefore there is potential to do something very creative with this in the context of a game.
Jo completely ruled out the idea of using a scientist/professor as the mascot to represent the LSF. This is because the LSF offers much more than just physics – extending to all areas of science, technology, engineering and maths. Jo also reinforced the idea that she was keen to see a robot used, therefore I decided that this would be the focus of my day tomorrow.
I considered different ways in which I could bring this project into fruition to make the characters as child-friendly yet relatable to teenagers and adults as possible. I considered the brand which I have previously conducted extensive research into, including interviewing the brand manager. Hot Munkey was a giftware wholesaler and retailer of mutant dolls. I spoke to Aissa at the brand, and discussed the possibility of creating one-offs of the cells.
I visualised many exciting opportunities for how these could be used. I would also see if the robot character could be produced into one of these toys. From this I could conduct photoshoots, taking the toys into real-life scenarios such as classrooms, field trips, looking at insects etc, in order to educate the children in a way which is memorable and enjoyable to them.
I could then upload these onto a blog which would be continuously updated months prior to the launch of the event. This would tell stories of the cell mates and their adventures/misadventures with the robot. The children would be given access to this site and would be allowed to pass comment.
This would also be syndicated through the Facebook and Twitter news feed. I am very excited about this idea. I will get working on the robot character as soon as I have finished writing this blog entry, then I will send it over to Aissa at Hot Munkey, for him to provide me with pricings and timings.
Also today I have been communicating with models for the science-themed photoshoot. This is something which would visually satisfy my creative report – even if the marketing team were against the idea of using these images. The studio is booked out for Friday, and I have full confirmation from one of the models.
What next? I will update the blog entry tomorrow once I have potentially heard from Aissa at Hot Munkey – I will also keep the blog posted regarding my written report. I am to be on 5,000 words by the end of tomorrow. I must work on a concise list of promotional items which I would like to be produced. I must also remember to write up a review of Paul, for inclusion in my portfolio, as well as this blog.
I also communicated with my course leader today regarding the inclusion of case studies. It was mutually decided that these case studies should be mentioned within the market segment of the report, specifically under the ‘competitors’ section. This should give a brief outline of findings derived from this case study, and from this the reader should be directed to view the appendix.
I have also been in great communication with Jo today regarding the characters I created. Jo believes that the cell characters are inspired, yet believes that the name ‘cell mates’ holds negative connotations of prison which neither the university of LSF itself would want to be associated with.
Jo therefore suggested that I tweaked the name of this slightly. Off the top of my head I decided that ‘Cell Crew’ could be plausible due to the alliteration of ‘C’, which may also make the character group more recognisable.
I stated to Jo my intentions about including these characters in an online game whereby they helped the main character (yet to be developed) in solving different science/maths related problems. By including a game on the online site, children will spend longer on the site, therefore increase the amount of time which they are exposed to the brand identity, thus making it more memorable.
From this Jo suggested that the cells could be called into action to fight infection. This stems from the idea that your immune system has different cells such as phagocytes (that eat up bacteria) and neutrophils (make bacteria burst). Therefore there is potential to do something very creative with this in the context of a game.
Jo completely ruled out the idea of using a scientist/professor as the mascot to represent the LSF. This is because the LSF offers much more than just physics – extending to all areas of science, technology, engineering and maths. Jo also reinforced the idea that she was keen to see a robot used, therefore I decided that this would be the focus of my day tomorrow.
I considered different ways in which I could bring this project into fruition to make the characters as child-friendly yet relatable to teenagers and adults as possible. I considered the brand which I have previously conducted extensive research into, including interviewing the brand manager. Hot Munkey was a giftware wholesaler and retailer of mutant dolls. I spoke to Aissa at the brand, and discussed the possibility of creating one-offs of the cells.
I visualised many exciting opportunities for how these could be used. I would also see if the robot character could be produced into one of these toys. From this I could conduct photoshoots, taking the toys into real-life scenarios such as classrooms, field trips, looking at insects etc, in order to educate the children in a way which is memorable and enjoyable to them.
I could then upload these onto a blog which would be continuously updated months prior to the launch of the event. This would tell stories of the cell mates and their adventures/misadventures with the robot. The children would be given access to this site and would be allowed to pass comment.
This would also be syndicated through the Facebook and Twitter news feed. I am very excited about this idea. I will get working on the robot character as soon as I have finished writing this blog entry, then I will send it over to Aissa at Hot Munkey, for him to provide me with pricings and timings.
Also today I have been communicating with models for the science-themed photoshoot. This is something which would visually satisfy my creative report – even if the marketing team were against the idea of using these images. The studio is booked out for Friday, and I have full confirmation from one of the models.
What next? I will update the blog entry tomorrow once I have potentially heard from Aissa at Hot Munkey – I will also keep the blog posted regarding my written report. I am to be on 5,000 words by the end of tomorrow. I must work on a concise list of promotional items which I would like to be produced. I must also remember to write up a review of Paul, for inclusion in my portfolio, as well as this blog.
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