Communication Artifact/Collaborative Design

The Seuss Factory

Collateral--consumer

Communication Objectives

The communication objectives of this “Fun in a Box” meal deal are:

•        Stimulate a want and desire for this product;
•     To affect the customer in such a way that they reach for their wallet and/or purse and make a purchase.

Design Principles

Typestyle: the typestyle used on this box is consistent with the type used on the website, and both are in the style of “Dr. Seuss.” It is important to public perception to use the same whimsical style made popular by Dr. Seuss books.

Composition: The images on the box and cups are obviously framed within the physical dimensions of each object. As with every good design, balance is of utmost importance. An asymmetrical layout works well with Dr. Seuss’s images—this allows for the movement within Seuss’s images, while providing the needed balance.

Contrast: I’ve tried to keep true to the contrast of Seuss’s work. Many of his creations have a hard “edginess” about them, yet they are also surrounded with softness—fur or hair, the roundness of the trees, etc. The lines and color also offer contrast, as seen in the image of the Cat in the Hat. There is also the contrast of the bright colors of the cups played against the soft pastel background of the meal box.

I felt like continuity between artifacts in this project is important, so this is what I’ve/we’ve strived to achieve.

Figure/ground relationship: though it may be hard to see in the above picture, the background on the box includes pastel colors in various (almost cloud-like) shapes. I felt this kept to the whimsical nature of the Seuss theme, as did the bold colors of the cups--enhancing, but not distracting from, the characters and other images. 

The Cat in the Hat image is a good use of the principle of closure in that only the top half of his body is seen; yet our eyes tell us that the rest of him is there, though out of sight.

Personas

While we are appealing to kids, we realize parents are the ones with the money. So the appeal is to kids who will get Mom and Dad, Grandma and Grandpa to shell out the cash. Yet there is much for adults to like about this theme park.

Grandpa Max Smith is 67. He’s just retired and is struggling to feel useful in this new role. He lives in the same town with his son and granddaughter. He says theme parks are a waste of time and money, but he's really jealous because he never got to go to Disneyland when he was a kid. He secretly wishes he could have had that experience as a kid. He sounds like he's against going to a theme park, and complains that it's too juvenile and he's too old, but he's looking forward to taking his granddaughter to the SEUSS FACTORY, going on a few (tame) rides with her, and buying her lunch and treats and snacks and memorabilia.

Papa John Smith is 37. He goes to work everyday at a local factory, where his wife Pamela also works. They have one child. Papa spends his days installing knobs on widgets as they come down the assembly line. It’s boring and tedious, but he’s been there for fifteen years, and likes the fact that his job gives him a paid vacation. He's really just a big kid at heart--he wants to go to every theme park he can for himself--he lets his daughter tag along as an afterthought. He’s more excited for himself that he is for his child. He even goes on the easy rides with his daughter, though he often wonders how it’s going to look if he goes on the rides alone when his daughter gets bigger and loses interest. But he’s not too worried; he’ll figure something out by then.

Jane Jones-Smith is six. She’s a wide-eyed, innocent child, whose mother has read books to her as long as she can remember. Her favorite books are anything by Dr. Seuss. She is naturally imaginative, and her mother has always encouraged Jane to use her imagination. She wants to grow up and draw pictures and write children’s books, after she becomes an astronaut and flies to Mars.

Communication Objectives

The communication objectives to this project are to stimulate a want and desire to visit the park, and by so doing, affect a sale. That is, to make someone get online and give us a card number, or come to the front gate and purchase a pass. The theme and communication objectives also carry over into food and souvenir items offered for sale in the park.

ABOUT

            The Seuss Factory is an amusement park based on the fertile imagination of Dr. Seuss. The park is filled with the bright colors, crazy characters, and zany inventions that have made generations of children fall in love with Dr. Seuss. The park was designed for and caters to kids of all ages, from the oldest to the youngest, and the tallest to the shortest. Come spend the day!

Mis-en-scene

Mis-en-Scene

(noun: arrangement of scenery and properties to represent

the place where a play or movie is enacted)

The Hunger Games (2012)

Our group: 

        Lindsey--art director

        Alex--photography designer

        Josh--set design

        Stan--makeup

BASIC MOVIE INFORMATION

Movie Credits: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1392170/fullcredits?ref_=tt_ov_wr#writers

Note: 37 makeup artists are listed in the credits for The Hunger Games.

Makeup Department Head/ Makeup Designer

Ve Neill:  http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0624763/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cr90

ABOUT VE

Credentials: Won Academy Awards for Beetlejuice, Mrs. Doubtfire, and Ed Wood; worked on Pirates of the Caribbean, Hook, Edward Scissorhands, and Star Trek: The Motion Picture; and won an Emmy for The Shining.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ve_Neill

Interview with Ve Neill about “The Hunger Games,” “Catching Fire,” and “Face Off.”

http://www.fearnet.com/news/news-article/exclusive-makeup-designerartist-ve-neill-talks-%E2%80%98-hunger-games%E2%80%99-%E2%80%98catching-fire%E2%80%99-and

FEARNET.COM:"Since The Hunger Games is based on a very descriptive book, did you go into your meetings with director Gary Ross and production designer Philip Messina with a lot of specific ideas or did you follow their lead?" 

Ve Neill: "I obviously read the book first and then definitely read the script. You're hired for your knowledge and your expertise so I like to go in and say what I think and what I'd like to do, but ultimately we're the tool of the director. We have to go off his inspiration and what vision he has. You also work together with everybody. I worked very closely with Judianna (Makovsky), the costume designer, because all these visions have to work together. Nothing can be done independently of each other or you'll have a jumbled up mess. We all did work very closely together and we all brought our expertise to the table and we made a beautiful meal." [Laughs]

Watch Ve Neill at work as she applies blood splatter, dirt and scratches.

THE ROLE OF THE MAKEUP ARTIST

Makeup overview: http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/movie-make-up-artist1.htm

MAKEUP BRAND AND HOW IT WAS USED

The Hunger Games Makeup Secrets:Katniss Everdeen

HOW TO MAKE MOVIE BLOOD

One of many “movie blood” recipes:

http://www.joblo.com/movie-news/how-to-make-fake-blood-the-sam-raimi-way

THE SCENE

 This scene might appear very basic when it comes to the makeup artist's work. The fact that it was shot with little lighting doesn't change how the makeup artist works.  In fact, since the scene is dark, the makeup is even more important to highlight facial features that otherwise might not be visible in the dark. Without this attention to detail, the scene wouldn't "ring true." Watch the scene and just imagine there was no blood or dirt on the actor's faces.

Makeup is the "up close and personal" effect that makes a scene look real. Continuity is vital--scars, for example, that rotate from one side for the face to another is one of the first things the audience will pickup on. So it goes without saying--good makeup does makes all the difference.

Compose Your Frame

I realize not too many people sit and stare at ceilings, but I find this view in the Udvar-Hazy building mesmerizing. Needless to say, there's a lot going on in this image. When I took the shot, I was more interested in the "box" at the top of the wall. As a result, this is about the only thing that fits the rule of thirds--and then it's a little off of the crosspoint in the upper left hand corner.

There are really no horizontal lines in this picture. Instead, it's filled with so many diagonal lines that it almost makes you dizzy just looking at it. It's exactly these diagonal lines that gives the picture it's power. 

The stair rails obviously create a feeling of movement. This would be a good example of graphic vectors because of the sense of motion and direction this gives you. In your mind, you can envision people walking down the stairs and out of the picture (or up the stairs, depending on how you see things). I guess this could also be an example of motion vectors.

Though not as dynamic, the arched ceiling gives you a sense of motion as your eye wants to follow the truss up and over to the other side of the building (the side that is out of view). This could be an example of index vectors. 

I find it interesting that a simple image, such as this one, can suggest so much energy and movement.

The Axioms of Web Design

I chose this website not because I'm in the market for a Jeep, (I'm not), but because I like how the landing page grabs your attention by showing the Jeep lineup, and how you can get more information on any model simply by hovering and clicking. The color scheme and setting is great--the shiny red vehicles in the foreground, with the rays of the sun shining through the green trees is almost breath taking.

Business objective: It's pretty straight forward--obviously, they want to sell 4x4's.

Strong grid: The grid concept doesn't really kick in until you go to the individual product pages. I would say the gird is rather loud, but it does work. You can scroll down and see features, and you can build your ideal vehicle as you go. I do like this scroll feature.

Lower right: Click on the lower right and it takes you to another product page and gives you offers of savings on the various models. It's definitely a call to action, though it is fairly low keyed.

Direction of sight: To be totally accurate, there are two different landing pages that alternate automatically. The first shows their latest award-winning model parked in a way that forms a diagonal, and gives the appearance that it's on a cobblestone road and has just rounded a bend. This gives the feeling of action. The second page is the scene with the cars in a semi circle in the forest. The gentle arc of the cars allows us to see the sides of each model, which also creates diagonals in the shot. It is pleasing to the eye.

Affordance/intuitiveness: This site is intuitive and easy to navigate. By simply hovering and clicking, then scrolling, you can get all the information you want (okay--you'll get a lot more information than you want unless you are a serious shopper).

Contrast: Since everyone knows Jeeps are made for the wild outdoors, the designers put this to good use by situating the glossy, shining Jeeps in the rugged outdoors. I could write three or four hundred words about the contrast alone, but maybe that's best left for another time. Suffice it to say the designers used contrast to their advantage.

Aesthetically pleasing = easy site: I find this site to be aesthetically pleasing, and I also find it be easy to navigate. I guess that's another win for the designers.

Aspect ratio: Having made that last statement, now I'll have to say that when I looked the site up on my smart phone, I found a site that wasn't easy to use. The landing page was quite minimal, and when I tried to get to the other pages, it wanted me to enter my zip code, (I had my location services turned off at the time), so it could give me information on the latest, local deals. This totally turned me away. When I'm searching for general information on cars, the last thing I want is to feel the "hard sell" coming on, especially this soon. And that's what this felt like to me. Also, it wasn't as intuitive, the use of contrast wasn't there, and honestly, most things about it didn't work. I think this small screen presentation needs a lot of work.

Web design that works

It's not the flashiest site--in fact, I hesitated to use this site because there are so many other sites that are more sleek and more sophisticated. Yet, in the end, I chose this site because it's so functional.

The page is basic, even simple. Advertising is kept to a minimum, which says a lot since this is a free site. But what really sets this site apart in the interaction. True, if you don't play guitar, this site won't be of much use to you. But if you do play, this page can be a great resource.

 When you click on the link, you are directed to an interactive layout of a guitar fretboard. An E major chord will show by default, but from there you are free to customize it as needed. Say you want to know what a Cadd9 chord looks like. Just click on the "C" chord, then find the "add9" button below, click on it, and the fretboard will show you how this chord is fingered. Pretty cool, but it doesn't stop there. Say you know a chord, but don't know the name of it. Simply move the "markers" (the dots that show you where to place your fingers) to the strings and frets that make up the chord, then hit "search", and it will give you the name of the chord (as long as it is a real chord). Also, click on the inversion button and it will show you how to play different voicings of the same chord.

Simple to use, easy to understand, and very useful. That's what makes this webpage design work.

Small Screen Storytelling

Though this video was made by a Thai mobile phone company, I wasn't sure it would translate well to a small screen, especially since it was given English subtitles. Yet I needn't have worried. Even with the subtitles, the video works great on a phone. The scenes and characters are easy to see, and the shot angles help make a compelling story. Everything about this video is well balanced, and translates well to any size of screen. In fact, the message gets across so well that if you can watch this without getting a little choked up, you'd better check your pulse!

Good design vs. not-so-good design

Good design vs. not-so-good design

The first thing I noticed about this label design was it's universal recognition. This label represents quality and stability. One thing that amazed me as I began studying this design was how little it has changed in over the one hundred and ten years since the company began using it. This is what the can label design looks like today:

This is what this label looked like in the year 1900: 

As you can easily see, the design has changed very little over the last 100 years. This adds a stability to the product. Not only does the design suggest class, the fact it's been around for so long virtually unchanged suggests a quality product, and quality does last. Let's face it, if this design wasn't effective, Campbell's wouldn't be using it one hundred and thirteen years later.

The colors add to the stability of the design. The red and white provide a pleasing, balanced contrast. The lines are straight, the design is simple. In fact, simplicity seems to be the ruling principle here, except for the seal. Seals are never simple; they are in fact rather busy. Yet the golden seal placed in middle adds not only to the balance,  but also gives it a "royal" flavor as well, which adds to the classy feel. The various kinds of soup listed on the 1900 label follow the law of continuity as the list begins with a shorted name, then uses a slightly longer name, until it crescendos where the red background turns to white, then names gradually become smaller. This provides an excellent balance.

Normally a cursive font would be a bad idea--they're just too hard to read--yet the cursive "Campbell's" works well and has become part of their trademark. Of course, they were wise enough to use block letters for everything else. 

The following design is not so impressive when compared to the Campbell's design.

First, the color scheme doesn't work for me. In fact, I find the yellow against the red to be quite unappetizing. The lower third of the label depicts a bowl of tomato soup, which I find likewise unappealing, though the depiction of the bowl of soup is a good example of the Gestalt law of closure.  Though we only see part of the bowl, we instantly recognize that we are looking down upon a full, round bowl of soap. The red background around the brand name balances with the bowl of soup at the bottom on the label, though this doesn't make it look any better to me.

I think the font works well, though it's nothing special. One thing I notice, though, is the brand name, "Shur Saving," takes second place to what the product is. With Campbell's, you see the brand name first, with this brand, it's almost an after thought.

One flaw in my analysis, however, is the intended market. When I first decided to use tomato soup as my subject for this post, I thought both companies were targeting the same market--people who wanted to buy soup. After analyzing it though, I've decided the Campbell's brand is marketing to people who want good, quality soup, and are willing to pay a little more for it. Conversely, the Shur Saving brand is marketing to people who are looking to buy tomato soup, but want to buy it at the cheapest price possible, even if they need to sacrifice a little quality to do so.

On a side note, I chose to analyze a Campbell soup can as a little "nod" to the 1960's art work of Andy Warhol. In 1962 he painted his first infamous "can of Campbell's," which simultaneously delighted and confused people everywhere.

Andy Warhol, circa 1962

As one art gallery presented his work, another nearby gallery offered Campbell soup by stacking real cans in their window along with a sign that read, "Get the real thing for only 29 cents." Since then it seems that everyone has gotten involved in the discourse at one time or another. In the one-woman play, "The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe," Lilly Tomlin even got into the act as her character expressed confusion over what is "art," and what is "food." And it didn't end there. Last year (2012) the retailer "Target" tipped their hat to the artwork of Warhol as they offered a limited addition of Campbell soup with Warhol designed labels in honor of the fiftieth anniversary of Warhol's work.

Who knows...this may never end. Maybe we should check back here in one hundred years and see if Campbell's soup--and Warhol's paintings--are still around.