Category: Art Theory

Why I Love Asynchronous Communication (a.k.a. Emails)

I love to write, and emails are a breath of fresh air.

No editing.
No fancy words.
No issues over length.
No need for profundity.

It has been almost five years since I left Bell Mobility to pursue a career in marketing, and one thing that has drastically changed is how often I communicate via email.

I miss the simplicity of it all.
I miss reaching out to my clients daily.
I miss the back-and-forth motion that builds connection.

At Bell, I had so many great relationships; I used email to build better ones along the way. It was just so damn efficient. Templates allowed the writing to take shape quickly. In mere minutes, I was sending off concise and compelling messages. Over and over again. Each email was re-read once, at most twice, and then sent so I could continue to the next case. It was a beautiful workflow, and it was all supported by Salesforce.

The strategy behind it? Starting, stopping, continuing. Perpetually. The true definition of email really—asynchronous. This is also marketing. For a later topic!

And by the way, I am trying to write more like Seth Godin. Also, finding my way back to my university days. My favourite professor and mentor, Paul Woodrow, graded an essay I wrote on the fallacies of Coca-Cola, commenting in tiny writing and bright green ink, “Swift and punchy, Chona!”

So begets my email manifesto –

I will always try to write swift and punchy. 

If I can remember to, that is.

Alas, I have a pop quiz for y’all.

I want you to decide which entry below is authentic, meaning not edited. And which one is “fake”, as in completely and utterly revised from its original style + tone.

How can you tell?
What gives it away?
Which is written better?

Ah, so many questions to ponder, but if only we had more time.

Off to bed, now, enjoy the exercise!

Entry 1

For all my years as a Corporate Account Manager at Bell, some of my fondest memories included writing emails. I loved how fluid and uncomplicated it was to craft messages on the spot without spending copious amounts of time editing. I would not mind working on some ideas to “wow” our current and prospective customers with something easy to read, memorable, and impactful!

Entry 2

I spent many years as a Corporate Account Manager at Bell, crafting friendly and professional emails. I thought it was so exciting (yup, I love communication!) to be able to write something on the spot that didn’t require any editing. It’s an art form really. Would love to work on some ideas to incorporate more emails into how we communicate with our customers.

Learning Your ABCs – A Quick Guide to Effective Communication Practices

Effective communication is simple, straightforward, and accurate. 

a

b

c

It follows a linear path and is easy to digest. 

a a

b b

c c

Still, in its best forms, it can empower and inspire us to uncover new ways to respond to business demands and challenges. This is change!

a b c 

For example, by understanding what type of communication drives our customers to choose us over the competition and then using that data to promote growth, we can harness communication to cultivate opportunity.

a b c 

a b c 

Here are some things to consider:

  • Be self-aware and understand the need to adapt your message to your audience
  • Communicate what you are doing, why you are doing it and how you are going to get there
  • Build a system or process, then be accountable and track your progress
  • Focus on transparency, empathy and consistency to elevate trust 
  • Create opportunities for learning and development
  • Practice active listening to understand and feel the situation
  • Share your milestones, challenges, concerns and victories 

How do you develop an effective communication strategy? What are some important values that support your communicative work?

Food for Thought

We all wonder about things, everyday things, that lead us to research and ponder.

For example, are you starting a new diet? Curious about trying fresh, healthy food? Just nosy about the history of something? Well, these graphics will satiate you.

The #AllAbout campaign explores a variety of fresh, local, and healthy products, giving customers the chance to learn something new in a colourful and digestible way. As part of an ongoing strategy to define the tagline #TrulyFarmtoTable, I explicitly position an image at the bottom of a newsletter, like my brother Alan would say when we were kids eating dinner at the dinner table –

“The Ultimate” a.k.a. the last bite.

It satisfies and perfectly wraps up the meal (conversely idea) (metaphorically conversation).

Are you munching on words or proverbial nuggets or just vegan nuggets?

Well, these images will work in the same way! Once again, satisfying and perfectly wrapping up your dinner.

Another analogy – who didn’t chew Bazooka bubble gum only to unwrap the tiny comic folded neatly on the inside? Take it apart. Pop the pink gum. Immediately unravel the humorous reward.

It’s a ritual in a sense, and these graphics were indeed a ritual to create. So, I hope you enjoy them and that they will entice you to…Munsch!

How Ad Imagery Could Translate Into Product Packaging

The stack of magazines was impressive. Elle, Vogue, Architectural Digest, Bon Appetit and People. As a 13-year old, I just wanted to fixate and rip, fixate and rip, fixate and rip. Slowly, I was adding to my expanding wall collection, and I was proud. How were the ‘best’ images selected, and what made them ‘iconic’? What mattered to me at the time—creativity, originality, colour, composition—made it onto my closet doors, locker and school binder clear insert. If I could think of these images in my sleep, they became iconic. I will never forget one in particular. The triangular red and white logo juxtaposed against a black and white photograph of a girl pouting while a man anticipates… 

What intrigues us about this image? Almost instantly, we find ourselves peering in, linked to the experience. We sense she is in the wrong place; however, we do not feel that she does not belong or would rather be elsewhere. Time and space are interrupted. We ask ourselves, “Will it occur?” But the chain of events does not matter. What matters is that we are suspended in a rare and captivating moment. And because the image is black and white, we are transported to the exact scene where the ‘film’ unravels. Then the bold red of the typeface and the logo bring us back to life, and we are suddenly alive; the advertisement has won us over…without a guess!

If we know that people can impact an ad’s efficacy, should we consider using people on food packaging? Could we use the interaction between a man and a woman on a coffee bag, for example? In my opinion, yes. Imagine this. A tired corporate executive finds herself standing in a Whole Foods Market. There is no one around. Soft music flutters in and out of her ears. She is standing in the coffee aisle, looking at bags and bags and bags. There’s so much unique packaging, she’s not sure what to choose. But then she sees it—a couple set in black and white. The photograph is beautiful; the packaging seems bound by eternal love as the image wraps fully around the product. It portrays something the executive longs for on a deeper level. “I’ll go for this,” she thinks, grabbing it to pay.

Using people in ad imagery is not a new concept, but could potentially be an innovative idea in the food and beverage domain. We know that ads are geared to make us think and feel. And there’s a whole range of themes emotional ads can trigger, from love to empathy to excitement. I don’t think I’ve ever spent valuable time and money on a product that didn’t trigger an emotion somehow. Even if it may go unrecognized—the power and influence of an emotional experience are unforgettable.

Should packaging portray a feeling using images of people? And if so, what are the most effective ways this can be executed?

How Art on Food Packaging Affects Decision-Making

Oldhand Coffee

Koichi Kiyono

Process

Luna Coffee

11 – The Virus or the Conundrum of Space

Daisy opened up her laptop and began to write. She had been assigned to design a letter speaking about the War of 2019. She’ll be presenting for TED and all of Elevententeen’s pupils will be there. The tribune, was postponed. Something to do with a new diagnosis? Alas, Daisy was excited because this presentation could signal the end of her journey. She went back to work, feeling a rush to write.

The letter began:

Today, technology halts outcome. Who hears it first, becomes a pause in our brains, allowing the alive space of digitization to enter. The first visual comment has us running to our beds/desktops eager for a reward and multiple likes once separated by peace.

This war has created emotions that we used to disregard. And now, these emotions come flooding back, just in time for Christmas. Let’s think about this season for a change.

Is it worse because we have to evaluate goodness?

Is it best because it allows us moments to prove hard workmanship?

Are we hungry for mashed potatoes or are we actually craving compassion?

Are we feeling warm and cozy or are we actually dreading waking up for a moment?

And so I say to you. Post apocalypse. When they come (feelings of despair) or when they change (frivolous concerns), ensure you are perceiving the right way.

This new time will become a newly renewed love affair. Not between partners, but among trees. Amidst technology. For the planet and for business sustainability.

Returning back to the matter at hand. We have learned that our perception does not come from the inherence of the season itself, but from the attachments our society has formed to recognize its presence. We all recognized the burden of things changed. We accept the new leaves, yet we loathe the alive routine. But it is these routines, which are difficult to many, that will become your impartiality. You can still take the winter jackets out of storage, battle multiple colds and even welcome the re-release of horrifyingly humorous memories.

Daisy paused for a banana split second. She had a ham and cheese omelette on her mind.

She continued – 

My friends. I continually battle with the idea that the world around me dictates my capabilities, my depth of understanding, my skills and my knowledge. This is now false, because outcomes can be deciphered. Deja Vu? From different realms. An awakening? Of old Mother Earth. We imbue a desire to communicate, engage, then we activate our chosen device (could be true thought; could be a rejected memory) and begin to receive the message. This is only 1-way communication, there is also 2. So, at what point is the message one hundred percent real? At what point does it impact veritable change? Is 100% still an appropriate measurement? It may be difficult for you all to tell; there could be billions of individual entities engaging right now and the true game is just beginning.

When you feel lost, think about this:

In reality, old or new, love is complex.

It is a system that involves desire, admittance and in this new age, food.

Albeit an old program, arguably ineffective, but still around.

You may believe you are choosing select items, however in this new age of openness, we are all objects suddenly classifying subject. Making decisions which impact our shopping mechanisms, for instance.

How does that make you feel?

How much will it cost (mentally, figuratively, physically, emotionally, spiritually) to participate?

Who is managing currency and why? Who has the rights to money now?

We don’t want the feeling of our worth in the process of these changes to become falsified. We don’t want our worth to be based on illogical desires/demands which our current culture and societal sub-text had us dreaming of. Portraying these literal imaginings (still), however we should not be involved in that feeling. The past or the image has not necessarily inspired greater Being, but more questioning, more travel further beyond the limits of time. Quantum leaping. The cost to be involved is altering our own sense of currency, so that we can belong and feel rich and fulfilled.

The intention of my letter to you today is to say – there is a greater meaning behind our technological (new) interactions. Our role as humans is to comprehend our ability to evolve into new forms, including an innate, superior form of Being classified under AI. This form rejects nature, but only at first as part of its complicated introduction (compliance). I don’t want to say initiation, but it sort of reverts to this, because people so fervently reject new shapes of change, if they do not fit any previous mould.

And so, our Technologists and Artists will go about creating super logical systems that will facilitate transformation. They will implement the strategies of our highly evolved grey matter from planet Earth. The ultimate gestation involves our ability to balance decision-making processes from both sides (human and digital human) and predicting outcomes as products of a specific user experience, not conceptual volition or trend. At the end of the day, if I were to meet you in person, would you truthfully portray truth and empathy? Stand up, because we need to get going, move out butts out of our seats! We need to understand this new heat, before it evaporates into thick air.

Folks, this is the end of Digital Warfare.

Daisy stops. Satisfied. She liked what she wrote. She always did. She capped her yellow inked pen and closed the notebook containing every unknown element to Elevententeen’s reckoning. If she was going to be a part of this mass destruction, she was going to lead it. There was no question. 

 

 

 

#blocks Project

Hi everyone!

One of my favorite creator’s is David Airey. He recently put out a large book titled, ID which explores his previous projects down to the nitty gritty of project management, managing expectations and design decisions. I love how it encapsulates important ideas from page to page, in bold black typeface. I’m pretty sure it’s the same one I used in my Previous Documents Presentation (more on that later).

As I was thinking what to post on next, I read from a glance –

It’s important to show how the identity will perform in a variety of contexts.

This quote quickly reminded me of some logos I designed for my social media project Blocks. So, I’ve put them together here for you, along with some other showstoppers (in my opinion).

Each image has been categorized based on identity type (e.g.: logo, label, magazine cover) and context (e.g.: exercise, influence, mission). These categories will help you to understand my focuses and interests in digital marketing, branding and design (BTW BC stands for Blox. Communications, if that wasn’t already obvious!) –

  • BC Vision
  • BC Mission
  • BC Value
  • BC Mantra
  • BC Symbol
  • BC Perception
  • BC Stock Image
  • BC Logo
  • BC Quote
  • BC Label
  • BC Photograph
  • BC Influence
  • BC Panel
  • BC Grid
  • BC Magazine Cover
  • BC Digital Collaboration
  • BC Text
  • BC Album Cover

Note: can you guess which image belongs to what category?

Let me know what you think, cheers guys! Oh, and you can check out the entire project (which ran for about 2 months) on my Instagram account chona_canlas.

#brand Campaign

Hey all!

Do we all love Grinch green? The original green colouring of the Grinch was inspired by a rental car. This reminds us that inspiration can strike from anything, that’s how easy it is to come up with new and innovative ideas. Just look, see & apply!

Started a new project focused on communicating some mainstay ideas relating to my business entity Blox. Communications. My aim is to further develop my use of transparent, accurate and responsible language. Hope you like this content, let me know what you think!

collage.png

Recent Works – Direct Mail Proposal

Hey everyone!

Back into the swing of things.

This project may seem simple to you, but it challenges the idea of giving and receiving. In our digital space, we give constantly. And is the return of our efforts (ROE) measured through digital collaboration (DC) enough? Think: total impact of IQ + EQ + PQ or a new notion ascertaining digital quotient (DQ) / digital equilibrium (DE) / digital aspect ROI (DAROI). *I will explore these ideas in a future post.

When my mother received letters from her suitors (a common practice in her time), she did not write back. She kept each letter as if to say, I realize you are all interested, however I will hold in my heart, the one who is right. Is this action right? Is it just? We observe a similar practice in Japanese culture. The ritual is gift-giving (action), rather than the gift itself. Huffpost.com describes it in three steps – the reveal, the denial and the recognition. Or, revelation of intelligence + denying impact of emotionality + recognition of our role and place in digital space.

Using this interpretation, I could say that this project was aimed to reveal part of my identity/intelligence (I now question its visual and linguistic legitimacy in my current digital explorations), to reflect my denial of attaching emotion to the act of giving and receiving, and finally to sustain 2-way recognition/communication (between seller and buyer in this case) of the journey (action) itself – “For the Japanese, gratitude is a battle of endurance.”

We need to evaluate the tone and style of our expressions (gratitude being relevant today) as we delve further and further into a state of digital collaboration. We are impacted and at what point are we actually bringing more clarity to situations and circumstance? This is sort of the concept of ‘niceties’ and because I aim to maintain a certain level of accuracy in my work, details are important, but should my actions impose more or less scrutiny in regards to how my audience receives my message? This ties everything back to: total impact of IQ + EQ + PQ or a new notion ascertaining digital quotient (DQ) / digital equilibrium (DE) / digital aspect ROI (DAROI).

As you make your way through the below, try to remove feelings of assumption or judgement. Art is for everyone. Despite my specific approach, there’s a core selection from each demographic (Baby Boomer to Gen Z) that relates to my work in its simplest form, in other words – the visual and the language. For this project, I give it back to them!

Abstract – slash / roboto / elephant

This project started out with a photoshoot. I was dressed as Wenda (Where’s Waldo’s girlfriend) and my friend Allegra and I captured a series of images in and around Horseshoe Bay, British Columbia, Canada. There was lunch at Troll’s (fish and chips of course) and a brief introduction/chat with family business owner Ab Troll. Then, tea at another local establishment Flour Bakery and the final shot – me peering over … The Giant Hedge.

I developed the concept around a youthful, graffiti-inspired (old BLOX style) rendering of sweetness or the sweet spot/’magic’ that we often search for in our interactions with brands and art projects in general. My old style was always striking, vibrant and street culture inspired. Think – Keith Haring meets baby Andy Warhol.

The first portion centres around strategy, the next on my Social Seller & Social Buyer personas and finally, the Wenda portion (introducing myself within a specific context) finalizes the presentation. I printed the images on glossy card stock and hand-cut each one with a paper cutter. The final presentation resembled 7-inch vinyl singles and are displayed most effectively in a stack, layed out as placards on a table or mounted onto a wall with colourful binder clips (yellow, purple or stainless steel would work).

Along with my visual presentation, I designed a series of stickers that were printed on matte sticker paper and cut by hand. I then assembled the stickers, one by one, into individual, resealable plastic bags. Two of the images are BLOX identity concepts. The one with the primary color wheel represents right-brained or creative BLOX and the other with the black and white bunny mascot (and letter B branded roboto typeface mouth) represents left-brained or technical BLOX. The remainder stickers were simple and fun applications of imagery used in the presentation. To top the set off, I made a collaborative-style logo (powered by) for the agency I was presenting to.

As a fun treat and tribute to the jam jar (featured in several of the images), I filled a couple of clear canisters with bright fruit candy (I once had a banana necklace) to match the colour theme and concept of sweetness. I also included a book containing 85 pages of work samples and creative/technical resources – collateral, white papers and articles. The book was bound using the specifications below:

8.5″ x 11″
Double Sided, Colour
Colour Laser, 98 Bright, 32-lb.
Binding – Wireless Binding – Black
Standard front cover
Pastel Yellow, 90-lb. Index
Standard back cover
Pastel Yellow, 90-lb. Index

*See more supporting documentation on my Instagram, Facebook or LinkedIn account.

The final products were wrapped in colourful confetti  paper and fastened with two Jelly Marketing stickers. Everything was arranged bento-style in an unobtrusive Staples box with a package of fun pastel highlighters and a final ‘hello’ letter placed on top.

I am eternally dedicated to my work and process. This project was a homage to my academic background as a printmaker and street identity as a writer. When I was practicing regularly, the art forms themselves took shape. There was no plan, just creation. I would compare it to writing and reading classical music. I can’t really compare it to anything else. But my efforts today are different. They are positioned around understanding and fully utilizing the creative + technical aspects of my brain. So, now there is a need to plan and there is a need to create, but by having a specific outcome in mind.

At the end of it all, this has generated the foundation of A Brand Strategy. You will hear more about this in the coming year.

A few quick work goals for 2020 –

  • Find a job that I’m happy about
  • Develop Digital Presence business model
  • Develop A Brand Strategy

Next up: who’s down for white, black and corporate-friendly? Is it time to revisit my Digital Presence business model? Yes/No?

The question remains – To mail or not to mail? To give or not to give? To receive or not to receive? What matters most? Having or expecting? Waiting or forgetting? Are you a yes-man or a no-sayer? Check back guys!