Latest Banner/Billboard

Hey everyone!

2 down, 1 to go. #continuouslearning

Abstract – work / power / size / EQ / PQ / IQ

I designed a banner/billboard while studying the last bits of the Hootsuite Social Marketing Certification course. I usually take 5 minute breaks here and there, to do something creative. I find it helps with my focus and energy.

Find more focusing tips here – How to Stay Sharp During Exam Preparations

When designing work intended for large scale applications (think brand loyalty + awareness), consider an art theory I will call ‘Fever’ (see this post for more background). Note: You’ll have to dig around your mind to figure out the connections there!

But back to the theory…

Say you were looking through a 3000 page art history book. You see a tiny, little thumbnail image of a painting. Now, in your mind you’re imagining a massive piece of art, covering half of a wall in a prodigious art gallery. Fast forward to a trip you decide to take to England, where you’ve scheduled 4 museum visits per day. When you finally arrive at Tate St Ives (Art Fund Museum of the Year 2018 Winner) in Porthmeor Beach, St Ives, Cornwall, you come across Piet Mondrian’s Composition with Yellow, Blue and Red (1937-42). You can’t believe your mind!

It’s…so…SMALL!

How can that be, you think. Well, that is the theory.

I’m sure someone has written about this before, but my version entails –

Any work (work = image + subject matter) that produces reactionary propensity (influence) via media outside of the original source (appropriation). This may be based on an ability (equanimous object + subject or audience mental equilibrium) or on the evidence of power or size in the creator’s or audience’s interpretation. In other words, the work generates a sense of power or size, partly because of the artist’s or audience’s ability (talent) and partly from the image + subject matter itself (content). The work, creator and audience can choose how to participate, which results is an unintentional, yet intentional amplification of ‘grandeur’.

Believe me, I’ve tested out this theory with many works throughout my life. It is so cool!

Power of the work. Power of the people. Power of the experience.

So, coming back to the matter at hand. When creating work on a small scale, it is important to preview the work and to evaluate its ‘power’ as a billboard placed on a busy street or a light box advertisement hung over a retail store’s checkout space. We should advertise both the company and the ‘size’ or capacity of the image + subject matter itself. If everything checks out (sorry I’m punny), you should ~~proceed to the checkout~~ with the work’s development. Note: your work should imbue a positive force. Make the choice, because you have it!

Example of positive force –

I remember standing in line once at Sephora and just staring at the large and beautiful space directly above the cashiers’ heads. I daydreamed about covering that space with something amazing. At the time I envisioned graffiti, but today it would be a lot more reminiscent of this post’s featured image. I might just have to keep the slogan too!

The power is in us to incite change and wonder!

Hope everyone has a spectacular weekend! See y’all next week.

And remember, we stay on top!

PS – The topic of Fever could imbue significant change in Western medicine.

#girlstories

Hey gang!

I forgot to post my ad for #girlstories, which launched a month or two ago.

The purpose of this campaign is to empower women from different demographics and psychographics to tell their personal stories using creativity to dispel fear, judgement, and other negative attributes that we may associate with categorization.

Wikipedia describes categorization as:

…something that humans and other organisms do: “doing the right thing with the right kind of thing.” The doing can be nonverbal or verbal. For humans, both concrete objects and abstract ideas are recognized, differentiated, and understood through categorization.

I’m learning about Facebook Ads right now and it just seems fitting to mention this topic today! I love being analytical, because I don’t have to worry about ‘categorization’, it’s just an ‘interest’ hey!

It’s as simple as this:

doing the right thing –> creating campaigns

with the right kind of thing –> Facebook advertising

Facebook’s mission for 2019 is Embrace Automation. Perhaps a further step towards developing AI…

“Using Dynamic Ads, advertisers can upload an entire product catalog and set their campaign time, and let Facebook do the rest. Working in conjunction with the Facebook Pixel, Facebook will automatically show the right products to users who have visited your website previously.” – Ignite Visibility

It doesn’t sound so simple, but it can be!

If we take this notion and apply it to a creative + technical writing style (see my first paragraph), we can attempt to mimic the theory and eliminate a need for keywords, bringing us one step closer to attributing right-brained thinking to adaptive modes of learning.

Check out this interesting article, A Glance at the Past & Future of Keyword Research on Semper Plugins.

In place of keywords, we can utilize Facebook Ad concepts like targeting, audiences and insights.

But, who is the pixel? Or, shall I say: who is Pixel? 😉

Okay, that’s my concept exploration for the day! Back to the matter at hand…

When crafting my ideas, I stay true to (what I believe is) the genuine nature of short story telling: condensed length + resisting the sense of obligation to apply edits to the original draft.

Okay, but I still run a wee minor check before I post – always!

This speaks to the campaign’s purpose – revealing our true self (it ends up being paradoxical at times – think: can we express truth condensed?) while maintaining the raw and gritty nature of our human existence.

At the end of the hour, we remain women (and men), powerful regardless of what we know, how we advertise ourselves and why we do it!

These stories will be posted at least once per month. I hope you enjoy them and if you have any ideas for new character names, I’m all ears!

Launching #bloxbooks Sept. 17/19

Hey gang!

I’m starting a new regular topic called #bloxbooks.

It will showcase any recent books I’ve read and extracted elements that I believe are relevant to changing career paths or approaching life in a more creative + technical way.

My first book for this campaign is, Emergent Strategy by Adrienne Maree Brown.

The quote below is actually taken from the author’s blog. I find it ultra relevant as I search for the right company culture to work with.

Company culture is the personality of a company. It defines the environment in which employees work. Company culture includes a variety of elements, including work environment, company mission, value, ethics, expectations, and goals. – Definition from www.thebalancecareers.com

Brown’s post resonates with me, because it is primarily focused on trust and in my interpretation, what we should experience as Sellers & Buyers in the marketing, advertising and public relations industry.

Have a read and please let me know what you think!

trust the people who move towards you and already feel like home.

trust the people to let you rest.

trust the people to do everything better than you could have imagined.

trust the people and they become trustworthy.

trust that the people are doing their work to trust themselves.

trust that each breach of trust can deepen trust or clarify boundaries.

trust the people who revel in pleasure after hard work.

trust the people who let children teach/remind us how to emote, be still, and laugh.

trust the people who see and hold your heart.

trust the people who listen to the whales.

trust the people and you will become trustworthy.

trust the people and show them your love.

trust the people.

My favorite is: Trust the people who listen to the whales.

Psychology Today says, “Creativity comes through personal ecstatic experience, play, and a kind of osmosis: “Research conducted at the University of Kansas concludes that people from all walks of life show startling cognitive improvement — for instance, a 50 percent boost in creativity — after living for a few days steeped in nature.”

Do YOU believe in this? Why don’t we try?!

Organize a nature retreat for your team, or implement weekly yoga classes set outdoors. I remember when things got tough at my previous corporate job, I would schedule 5K runs at lunch to clear my brain and reset my mind to returning to a high performance environment (my job was that demanding).

I can usually say, if my body demands more exercise, it may be a sign of burnout, so it is imperative to carve out physical, mental and spiritual time to take care of yourself.

Do you feel this way when you’re overworked? Books can help, no?

The power is in us to incite wonder and change!

Talk soon!

Redux – A Work in Progress

(Title inspiration: Reduxwood West)

Hi everyone!

You can find the original blog post under the name A Work in Progress (you can also find it under Technical Work on my homepage).

Since determining that my actual most fit vocation is art/creative direction (yay!), I had to update the original post for transparency and accuracy. I guess the act of doing that is responsible!

Another thing to clarify – saying ‘customized content solutions’ is just a more ambiguous way of saying art/creative direction. And, saying ‘define or refine your brand’ is my way of slowly dissecting the meaning of Digital Presence and how it can impact a business’ success. Is it not crazy to think only half a year ago I didn’t respect my artistry (and 20+ years of it)?! INSANE!

Imagine this graphic in a movie’s title credit (inspired by Star Wars).

Tweedle Seller & Buyer Lookin’ Right

Passion & Efficiency

Past Experience

SEO

Hi everyone!

Just a short burst of info here. What are you drawn to? Do the colours play a significant role in your interpretation? What connections can you make with the chosen imagery attached to each hashtag?

A perfect brainstorming exercise for design newbies – make a list under each hashtag including transferable elements (actual aspects and items like a brand name or object) and attributes (descriptions and words) for each. Aim for 50 answers, then narrow down to your top 10 answers, then again to your top 3, then top 1. What conclusion can you draw from this experiment?

Always remember the acronym PRAC – Popularity, Relevance, Authority & Credibility. This will help you target your audience and ensure that your content is set up to improve your overall search engine rankings.

Yes, yes…SEO is a lot more complex than a simple acronym, but sometimes starting off with something more general helps to develop your digital marketing strategy or plan more succinctly down the road.

I will get into this topic (SEO) further in the future!

Visual Transparency

Hi everyone!

Today’s topic is SMART Goals.

A brief definition of each objective and an example of how each objective can be applied to achieve an effective creative technical writing style.

Here, I am writing about visual transparency as it relates to an image I designed for Blocks, my first and ongoing social media management strategy. Blocks aims to explore left and right-brained thinking and our ability to control destiny (or in simpler terms, improve issues of self-image or esteem.) Note: Initially, I was going to include the image in this post, but the relevance of my imagery is too swift. I will always include my most recent works to keep you up-to-date with my current visual style and tone.

As an extra creative exercise, try to imagine a fruit to attach to each objective. How does it relate to the SMART goal and our definition of visual transparency? Could you affix these tasty symbols to a billboard? What would be the significance? How effective would say, a giant teal apple be at communicating a specific message?

I will post the fruits on my next post tomorrow!

BEGIN

HEADING: The heading is the text indicating the nature of the article below it. The large type front page headline did not come into use until the late 19th century when increased competition between newspapers led to the use of attention-getting headlines. (Wikipedia)

WILL IT ENTICE YOU IN A GLANCE?

SUBHEADING: For documents longer than 3 or 4 paragraphs, subheadings are an important usability and accessibility strategy to help readers both determine the overall outline of the document and to navigate to specific information on the page.

VISUAL TRANSPARENCY AS A COMMUNICATIONS STRATEGY

SPECIFIC: Goals that are specific have a significantly greater chance of being accomplished. It should be well-defined, clear, and unambiguous. Essentially a definition of your idea that allows your audience to understand your topic more accurately. (CFI)

Visual transparency, from an artist’s standpoint, is a form of contextual openness that allows viewers to become engaged on a more subconscious or subliminal level.

MEASURABLE: Goals that are measurable have criteria for measuring progress. Criteria can be in line with your vision, mission, values etc. The point is to measure your progress somehow, for example, how would you measure engagement or participation? Is the action itself significant enough? In writing, a statement of intent is a great way to achieve a sense of measurability. (CFI)

As a writer and digital specialist, the goal is to be transparent, accurate and responsible. As an artist, I simply want to be engaged with my work and for my viewers to participate. Note: professional transparency has more to do with how others perceive you and what your actions say about your brand.

ATTAINABLE: Goals that are attainable help you figure out ways you can realize an objective and work towards it. The achievability of the goal should be stretched to make you feel challenged, but defined well enough that you can actually achieve it. It would be a good time to insert your call to action here. (CFI)

With all of the outlets available, viewers can participate using whichever preferred medium they desire. And they don’t need to be 100% engaged for it to matter. For example, your interaction with a billboard might only last 5 seconds, so the argument could be that visual transparency is actually quite critical.

RELEVANT: Goals that are relevant must be realistic given the available resources and your timeline. What would be the innovative or mainstream approach? What are pertinent examples you can showcase? What will be the outcome? Ideal or realistic? Your exploration should be relevant to your life’s or work’s purpose. (CFI)

This is who we are today. We embrace a fast and furious approach to everything and criticize the results. From placing mobile food orders to providing subscribers with a mere minute to execute a successful Instagram (video) campaign – the faster we engage our viewers while applying visual transparency, the more likely we can succeed in delivering our message.

TIME-BOUND: Goals that are time-bound must have a sense of a start and finish date. What is it like today, what will it be like in the future? If the goal is not time constrained, there will be no sense of urgency or motivation to achieve the goal. What is causing the urgency for action? Are we in a position to answer or question? (CFI)

Perhaps one day it will be different, but for now artists and marketers must adapt to these swift modes of communication. Visual transparency will become the norm, then who knows what will be next…

END

Does using the SMART goal technique help you? I believe that it is a great stepping stone towards achieving a more clear and linear style of communication. Test it out!

Meanwhile, dear Alice is still falling…

down?

below?

towards?

5 Influential Marketing Personalities

Hi everyone! Without further ado…

We crowdsource (ideas). It’s our membership and contribution to the digital landscape. Wikipedia says –

Crowdsourcing is a sourcing model in which individuals or organizations obtain goods and services, including ideas and finances, from a large, relatively open and often rapidly-evolving group of internet users; it divides work between participants to achieve a cumulative result. The word crowdsourcing itself is a portmanteau of crowd and outsourcing, and was coined in 2005.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4] As a mode of sourcing, crowdsourcing existed prior to the digital age (i.e. “offline“).^[5]

Crowdsourcing is a great way to develop content and topics for your target audience. I put together a listicle based on a few influential marketing personalities I admire. In my opinion, they provide some answers (to my design life) and a unique perspective. I hope they can help you in any way, shape or form.

Also, here they are in a creative digital collage. Does it make you crave mangoes or money?

1

Chris Do, Matthew Encina & the team at Blind

It started with advice from my brother. He goes, check out the vlog by The Futur. This happened right when I started at VanWhistle Media. I was looking for a way to feel inspired. These guys helped me identify high-end pricing techniques and I designed my website portfolio around a couple of videos they put out with creative director of Vrontikis Design Office, Petrula Vrontikis. I’m drawn to these guys for simple reasons – energy and passion.

2

Seth Godin

It started with an interview. Chris Do and Seth Godin, together, hashing out topics like, What is school for? Watch it on YouTube – Seth Godin—Make Something Everyday (Best Hour You’ll Spend Today). This was the first time I felt inspired to write continuously and I tried out (half of) his challenge by posting 50 blog posts, once a day. I didn’t quite make it to 50, but the point of the matter is, I identified with Godin’s creative process. He also coined the phrase Make Change Happen, a slogan I adopted for my artistic identity BLOX.

3

Barney the Business Guy

Just a straight-up, no fluff business guy, I follow Barney Cohen on Instagram. I can’t remember how our paths crossed, but he offers a refreshing, business-minded approach to life’s common obstacles. Coming from a corporate background, I identify with his mentality, clear reasoning and straightforward delivery. He has 50 years of experience in business, so his acumen is spot-on. You can check him out on Twitter as well.

4

Neil Patel

Shoot, I almost forgot! Neil is probably the most humourous, dramatic, yet to-the-point marketing entrepreneur I have come across to date. He helps me understand the importance of brand development and every time I come across his feed, I’m pretty sure we’re thinking the same thing. Quid pro quo at it’s finest, Neil can help you develop metrics that work and he will provide all the necessary reasonings behind it. On top of everything, he’s an excellent copywriter.

5

The Rock

To think mainstream is to truly understand the relationship between popularity and accessibility. The Rock shows us that fame can be your next door neighbour, unpretentious and welcoming. In the pursuit of greatness, his face and voice puts a sticker on my blank page. Everyone loves stickers. Not everything has to be complicated. Sometimes you are just a do-gooder with a gigantic heart. The Rock shares these emotions with me and his 154M followers.

What do you admire? Who inspires you to do better? Whether it be music or satirical retorts, we have something in common!

	Stuart Danker on Put ‘Em Up
	Latest Banner/Billbo… on She Saw Him First
	Brand Names –… on Visual Transparency
	Vaness on 1 – The Pen
	Vaness on 2018

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