Category: Written Technically and Creatively

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!

#impromptus no. 2

Hey all,

It seems I’m always saying it’s been awhile…

This #impromptus was inspired by a late night stroll on social media. There are a ton of relevant ideas floating around LinkedIn and one particular video by Simon Sinek Inc. spoke about measuring success based on momentum. I relate to that idea, because my own work is based on the journey or process and the amount of energy, force, power or strength that can be gathered for my benefit or my clients’. Great value can be found when we step away for determined time frames, so that every element of the story can be reconsidered or put into context. For the type of artist that I am, I pound out content ad infinitum. So when I heard Simon hail momentum, I too thought – this is where I am. This past month, I’ve been learning to apply my work toward specific goals and a targeted audience, which is why I like defining my projects within campaigns. This allows me to compartmentalize content and I can begin to categorize my ideas. I’m sure in the future this will amount to greater output and ultimately quantifiable results, but for now it is accurate to say, I’m all about explorations.

_impromptus _ 11.16.2019 (1)

One thing’s for sure – if you’re losing sleep at night over your ideas, they are tied to your brain. Let them float away or they will never take full form or function.

With that said, goodnight!

Brand Strategy

Hi gang!

I was excited about creating these designs. The work was produced using Canva and took about 30 hours (including printing and assembling) to complete. I left out the personal part of my proposal, but I hope you can derive a positive sentiment from the style + tone I chose to go after!

This portion of the proposal defines a brand strategy in three parts – the social media aspect (WHAT), art direction aspect (HOW) and digital specialty aspect (WHY). At best, these aspects are shared and applied to a project equanimously in order create a sweet spot, ‘the magic’ or WHERE and WHEN true potential can emerge.

This whole concept is derived from Simon Sinek’s Golden Circle Theory which purports that great organizations create their foundation by addressing WHY they exist, HOW they go about their mission, and then finally, WHAT they do.

In my model, social media is used as a product or service we sell, however this can be changed to web development, SEO, email marketing etc.

The HOW is the people who are involved in the project. It is what sets us apart from the competition. It is what makes us unique and indispensable.

Lastly, WHY is the ultimate outcome. Very few organizations know WHY they do what they do. Why is not about making money. That’s a result. Why is a purpose, cause or belief. It’s the very reason your organization exists.

In synergy, any set of core values can be realized. In my model, I value belief, faith, trust and love. As a brand strategist, my ultimate outcome paints a beautiful picture for both the seller and buyer. The PICTURE is the agency differentiating itself from competitors. WHERE and WHEN this occurs impacts results – profitability, scalability and customer experience.

Have a look at this brief slideshow and let me know what you think –

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Remember, there is always room for further or greater interpretation. This is the sweetness of advertising. Branding is the #1 method we can use to portray our message, whether that message be creative, technical or both, a brand is responsible for defining who we are and what we do!

Talk soon!

The Social Seller & Social Buyer

Hi gang!

Let me know what you think of this project!

In my next few posts, I will showcase elements extracted from a direct mail proposal I created about brand strategy. The images below are a continuation of my Seller & Buyer persona study (also see image description in Previous Projects) and comment on the social aspect of selling and buying in the marketing industry.

Here is a pertinent excerpt from another relatable post Brand Names –

For example, we (Sellers & Buyers) make the same, dedicated connections when observing a special life experience. Then, this can be observed through products and services. We recall brand names and in the long-term, we remember who you are for what you can bring to the table. Then, the name you have chosen to attach to your products and/or services will become synonymous and eventually engrained in time.

The original document was printed on glossy cardstock and sized like a 10″ vinyl record cover. They were presented in a stack, so that the viewer could lay them out on a table and take in a visual and sensory experience.

I placed a variation of the BLOX rabbit mascot in the bottom right hand corner of the images, the seller mascot wearing the creative BLOX logo and the buyer mascot wearing the technical BLOX logo. I’ve just recently defined this aspect of my brand and have much more to explore regarding it in the future.

Here’s an interesting article you should read – Why people focus on the right-hand side of a design taken from creativebloq.com.

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#impromptus

Hey everyone!

Hope your weekends were fun!

I’ve started a third campaign called #impromptus. It’s focus is to develop and deliver brief commentary on interesting research I’ve come across relating to art + digital marketing + social media.

My goal with this campaign is to disseminate any relevant literature, then to relate researchers’ messages to my own studies on ‘global comprehension’. I’m still enraptured by the idea of defining the digital condition of human life, so I will use my blog ChonaBLOX and my articles on LinkedIn as an educational platform to inspire my vision – exploring the right-brained application of artificial intelligence.

Most of us don’t have time to read through pages and pages of research and sometimes content becomes too complex, so I will use simpler, more modern language in my interpretations while linking back to the original idea at hand.

To get us started here’s a great quote about gratitude –

“I looked around and thought about my life. I felt grateful. I noticed every detail. That is the key to time travel. You can only move if you are actually in the moment. You have to be where you are to get where you need to go.” – Amy Poehler

Takeaway: one must perform self-talk to quantify positive life events. For example, you could say – in one month’s time, I completed an intensive course, I received 3 valuable certifications, I took less naps during the day and I ramped up my workout routine. A grateful outcome would be an instance where you could tell yourself positively – I can tell the difference! I did this within this time frame! And then, reiterate the reason WHY this is of value. It really is all in the details. The details of putting the work into practicing self-worth. Time travel is just another way to say, I can live in the past to qualify my present. Then, these actions together, can bring about my future. Our future is really about seeing the path and the steps that were taken to get HERE. And Amy is entirely correct, to be able to move (with joy or intention) means you live in the NOW, you are HERE and able to evaluate everything around you, by placing measurable objectives around significant topics. For example, you could say – that test was comprised of 53 questions, they were challenging as they presented theoretical and/or fundamental situations that required analysis which uses thinking and my brain. This is significant because one year ago, I didn’t even know what marketing was. I didn’t even know that you could run Facebook Ads. I didn’t even know that I had the ability to study or the capacity to learn complex subject matter. On my own. With barely any additional help. This subjectification (or my attitude/viewpoint) classifies (makes relevant or arranges) each and every action in (my) life and like the #impromptus post below comments, this is the continual motion, the framework, the mechanism that guides our work on social media platforms like Instagram. As creators, we can make it right and pass that feeling along to our audience. And they can respond or reply by way of digital collaboration. And this example of gratitude is tough. It is very difficult to break down unity through creative + messaging. I hope you can make that connection!

So without further ado, here’s my first #impromptus post – Gratitude Via Social Media

#impromptus graphic/template - gratitude via social media

I hope you like this new project, any feedback is more than welcome!

The power is in us to incite wonder and change!

Cheers!

What is Marketing?

Hey gang!

This content was developed prior to leaving VanWhistle Media. I wrote it in my small, orange notebook. I was thumbing through that today, putting some definitions together for my Definitions post. It’s amazing how you can return to something, months later and it has become more relevant than it was when it was originally written! The photo was taken at the Starlight Drive-In Theatre in Enderby, BC.

Social Emotion - Peering Into The Human Psyche

What do YOU think?

If you would like to see the Abstract for this post, shoot me an email anytime – info@chonafecanlas.com.

Cheers guys!

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!

The power is in us to incite wonder and change! (1)

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

And remember, we stay on top!

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

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).

Blox is an artistic identity that was developed in the early 2000s. Since then, it has become a moniker for Chona's creative and technical work embodying explorations of (a concept she developed called) Digital Pre

 

Tweedle Seller & Buyer Lookin’ Right

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Past Experience

I dedicated 10 years at Bell Mobility, delving into telecommunications via customer experience, account management and solution selling. The entire experience was life-changing. It gave me the ability to think (2)

Copy of Untitled Design (1)