Archive for category: ideas
June 13, 2018 /0 Comments/in 2018, AIGA SF Design Week, creative, design, ideas, VMA design COnference /by Barbara Silverman
Graphic designers eurydyka kata and rafał szczawiński, founders of re:design, celebrate sex and the city's 20 anniversary with a poster featuring main character carrie bradshaw's 69 most important looks. 'We often celebrate things – and shows – that have been important to us with posters and we felt carrie deserves this recognition,' the designers mention.
a few of the studio's favorite outfits
'During the research phase we sketched more than 90 interesting looks and then trimmed the list down a little,' the re:designduo mentions. As this year marks the 20th anniversary of sex and the city, the studio decided to celebrate one of the cult shows of the late 90s/early 20s that changed the way people talk about sex and female friendship on TV. The poster feature outfits which were somehow connected with the show's plot and reflect the various events that happened in carrie and her friends' lives.
the entire poster with 69 outfits
carrie and the city poster
the messy research phase documented
last seasons had probably the most elaborate outfits
early seasons and their emotional turmoil reflected in clothes
that time when Carrie got a bird clutch purse
this was a problematic episode but a memorable look
the newspaper dress in which carrie met natasha for lunch
the dress for a playboy party in LA
that time carrie had to watch pete
the glamorous carrie with the russian
This article was originally published in designboom.
edited by: sofialekkaangelopoulou | designboom
Join at the VMA Design Conference on June 15, as part of AIGA's SF Design Week for more thoughts about design today and tomorrow.
http://designconf.vma.bz/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/SexFB.png 428 800 Barbara Silverman http://www.metalatitude.com/designconf/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/logo2_white-1.png Barbara Silverman2018-06-13 15:27:032018-06-13 15:27:03sex and the city anniversary poster celebrates carrie's 69 most memorable looks
Adobe has launched 'The Hidden Treasures – Bauhaus Dessau,' a campaign that will bring to life nearly century old original typography sketches and unpublished letter fragments from legendary Bauhaus design masters that were rediscovered and completed to inspire the next generation of creatives. Bauhaus Dessau, the world famous school of design, was closed in 1932 by the National Socialist Party leaving behind unfinished masterpieces, created by legendary design masters: Xanti Schawinsky, Joost Schmidt, Carl Marx, Alfred Arndt and Reinhold Rossig.
World-renowned typeface designer Erik Spiekermann led the effort to turn the lost letter fragments and sketches from the Bauhaus archives into complete and fully functional fonts. Working with experts at the Bauhaus Dessau Foundation, he supervised an international team of typography professionals and design students to digitally create five font sets from Bauhaus Dessau designs, with the first two fonts – Xants and Joschmi – based on artwork from Bauhaus designers Xanti Schawinsky and Joost Schmidt, available for immediate download via Adobe Typekit today. The Hidden Treasures – Bauhaus Dessau "Adobe had the great idea to reinterpret type designs," commented Dr. Claudia Perren – Director Bauhaus Dessau. "Actions such as the 'Hidden Treasures' campaign show very specifically how current and fascinating the Bauhaus heritage still is today. Especially for the younger generation of designers."
Read more: https://www.dexigner.com/news/31017
http://designconf.vma.bz/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/BH3.png 458 729 Barbara Silverman http://www.metalatitude.com/designconf/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/logo2_white-1.png Barbara Silverman2018-06-13 09:47:082018-06-13 09:47:15Adobe Revives Fonts from Legendary Bauhaus Design Masters
June 11, 2018 /0 Comments/in 2018, AIGA SF Design Week, Business, creative, design, ideas, Uncategorized, VMA design COnference /by Barbara Silverman
Gunseli Yalcinkaya
The arrow markings found on athletic tracks form the basis of Studio Build's updated visual identity for Nike's Track + Field clothing line. The rebrand's "fresh and punchy" visuals feature a succession of arrows, which resemble the acceleration graphics used on athletic fields.
Leeds-based creative agency Studio Build wanted to create an updated version of the original branding that it created for the Track + Field line in 2016, which took design cues from track-line markings.
Featuring a black, white and red colour scheme, the previous campaign included bold typographic elements and numerals inspired by the curved shape of the familiar white spray-painted markings.
The new identity retains many of the visuals found in the 2016 campaign, but centres instead on the arrow graphic, which is presented in a blue and white colour palette.
"All of the compositions are created in a grid format," said Michael C Place, creative director of Studio Build.
"By creating these in a strict grid, the spirit and precision of the Track and Field is accurately represented."
"This new element can be used to create compositions in its more complex form, a simplified form or just used as a single graphic," he explained.
"It was really interesting and challenging to make something as simple as the acceleration graphic (which is essentially just a triangle) to not only convey speed and dynamism but also building a graphics system that can be used for all manner of applications without looking tired."
This article was originally published in dezeen.
http://designconf.vma.bz/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/NikeFB.png 428 800 Barbara Silverman http://www.metalatitude.com/designconf/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/logo2_white-1.png Barbara Silverman2018-06-11 21:18:152018-06-11 21:18:15Nike's updated Track + Field branding is based on acceleration arrows
Art Apps, Instagram, and the "Democratization" of Creativity
June 4, 2018 /0 Comments/in 2018, AIGA SF Design Week, Business, creative, design, ideas, VMA design COnference /by Barbara Silverman
How digital is changing art-making and being an artist
by Emily Gosling
A meme, by Emily Gosling.
Let's be honest, art prizes are ten a penny. But back in January, a new prize launched that caught my eye among the, ahem, competition: one that only accepted entries via an app. It's an intriguing prospect, and became even more so when I saw the shortlisted work: much of it was conceptual, a lot of it site-specific. None of it was the pastel-y, art-directed-to-within-an-inch-of-its-life fodder that's so usually the art darling of Instagram. The four shortlisted artists were ideas-driven, making complex work that frankly you'd be likely to scroll past if interacting with them in the usual way we consume art through image-led apps.
The competition in question was the ArteVue prize, orchestrated by the app of the same name—billed as "the first social media platform for art"—which launched in summer 2017 and has just unveiled its Android edition. The premise of the app is as a non-profit platform for collectors, galleries, and artists to interact with one another and buy and sell work. Algorithms show content according to users' likes and interests to curate what they'll find on their "discovery" page.
ArteVue app
"The idea of the app and the prize was to democratize art," says ArteVue founder (and funder) Shohidul Ahad-Choudhury. The entry process was simple and required no particular pedigree: the artist uploaded their images, a brief description of their work, and a PDF, if they wished, and used the #arteprize hashtag to be considered. The difference between ArteVue and a platform like Artsy, one of the more successful online art and gallery databases, is that ArteVue isn't curated, it's completely user-generated. Artists can put their work up for sale with no restrictions, tapping into an interesting trend that Ahad-Choudhury, stating that 80% of sales in the the art world are for art below $2,000.
Ahad-Choudhury is far from the first to use the phrase "democratize art" to describe a recent web or mobile-based platform for art. There's been a wave of similar products recently, including Artvisor, Curatious, and Mangus, the self-described "Shazam for Art." And then, of course, there's Instagram, perhaps the original art world "disruptor," to use an awful phrase, even if not the app's original intention. So what's the difference between artists using these new platforms to connect with potential galleries, fans, collectors and so on, and how they've been using Instagram for quite some time now?
Instagram, says Ahad-Choudhury, always offers only one format for displaying and viewing images and videos—it's the same for a complex, conceptually based installation as it is for a picture of a cake (or a dog, your shoes, a bunch of drunk people, and so on). With ArteVue, on the other hand, the artists can create their own gallery page, curate works, and write about what they're making in a certain detail that existing platforms aren't cut out for. "Instagram is about half a billion people and 20 billion posts, and less than 1% of those are are art-related," Ahad-Choudhury points out. "We wanted to go one level further, and say, 'if you like that, how about seeing another 20 [related works]? It gets that person hooked on art, it's a form of escapism."
Developed and designed by Ahad-Choudhury, Ben Dobson, and Peter Goodwin, the app uses image recognition software and metadata to guide the users towards other works and automatically generate hashtags from images uploaded. The focus at the moment is merely on getting artists to upload their work to the app, but it makes me wonder: will artists start to modify their work to make it friendlier for such platforms? Are they already? And if so, is art playing the algorithms, or are the algorithms playing the artists?
Access and Insta-Recognition: A Brave New Art World
Even if platforms like ArtVue are actively working to provide a different, and better, platform for displaying artwork than on Instagram, it's safe to say that the rise in these types of art-sharing platforms can be traced back to that very app. The most visual of our social media platforms has spawned a whole new category of work that's "Insta-friendly," for want of a better term. It's a cliche for a reason that people today—especially online, i.e most of the time—have very short attention spans, so any piece of art they see on such platforms has around three seconds to engage. Otherwise, on we scroll, for the most part.
Instragram is one of the main culprits in overhauling how we see art, judge it, and make it. Take Canada-based artist Brad Phillips, for example—a man currently boasting 32,600 or so followers on Instagram. Phillips has described the platform as "both an amazing and horrible tool for me and other artists", and speaks of a love hate relationship with it, veering ever more towards the former.
While it's meant he's sold a hell of a lot more work (poor lamb!) and garnered him a ton more solo and group shows and a hardcover book "published by a reputable English art book imprint," one of his gripes is that none of the sales or steps up his career ladder were facilitated by his New York gallery. Thus, he concludes, "The art world right now is a youth-fetishizing cannibalistic death cult of speculation and interior design masked as progressive painting."
Brad Phillips' Instagram
Hyperbolic? Perhaps. But it's no exaggeration to say that Instagram can truly make a creative's career. When I spoke to illustrator Polly Nor for Creative Review last year (one million followers and counting), she told me,"I don't know where I'd be without Instagram." For Phillips, Instagram has meant the increasingly obsolescence of galleries, but this isn't necessarily a bad thing for artists starting out, since they often take 50% of the money from art sold. But the flipside of easy access—a world where, as the Phillips puts it, "a jpeg has almost as much value as the physical object"—is easy copying. As we've explored on the site before, designers and artists are frequently seeing their work ripped off by both big brands and individuals using on-demand services.
This has been a massive problem for Nor, too, who has seen her own work turned into memes, traveling the internet uncredited. She felt that dissemination "devalued" her work at the time; but since, that proliferation of her own work through others has meant she's gotten to the point she can make a living from her art alone: "I have my shop but I don't really do much commissioned work."
Polly Nor's Instagram
As Phillips points out, sales-wise, digital cuts out middle men, provides a direct conduit from collector to artist, and offers a supposedly democratic chance for work from anyone and everyone bubble to the surface according to what makes it in the online mass-popularity stakes. In my view, that inherently makes it undemocratic: some creatives are simply better at playing the social game than others.
A New System of Haves and Have-Nots
Online platforms and the digital realm in general have provided a lower barrier to entry for showing work, and put agency into the hands of the artist over gallery or press—but the web has also turned the artist into marketer and self-promoter. Some very brilliant artists make incredible work but couldn't write a pithy artist statement or build a hip website if their life depended on it. Perhaps because of my ink-stained, weary, Victorian peasant heart, I'm a bit of a Luddite, and this is where I find that the utopian democracy of the "anyone can make it!" online world crumbles. Some of the best artists—those making work that's perhaps inherently ephemeral or performative; or even just those who have little time for, interest in, or understanding of website-building—are inherently at a disadvantage if they're being judged, in part, by the quality of their website. Some people are just better at that—and more interested in it—than others.
Charles Broskoski, co-founder of the online platform Are.na—"an open-ended space where you can organize your thoughts, projects, or research with anyone else"—has a different opinion on this. He firmly believes that everyone, and particularly artists, should learn how to make their own website. "It's the one place you can contextualize your work in the way you want to," he says. "You can frame things, set out a narrative, or have no narrative at all. It's the place you can set yourself up as an artist."
Perhaps it's this build-it-yourself mentality that makes Are.na feel different to platforms like ArtVue and Instagram. While image-led platforms like Instagram could be said to put artists in the position of modifying or curating the work they upload to be more instantaneously eye-catching—fit for square frame, ripe for visual click bait—Are.na is designed more to facilitate the process of art-making, rather than displaying the end result.
Are.na, screenshot
Other platforms for artwork occupy other places on the spectrum that ranges from self-coded artists websites to the rigid format of Instagram. Just as digital has meant vast new horizons for artists in terms of media they use, it's also meant vast new opportunities for disseminating their work. The gallery system is slowly but surely being tipped on its head as traditional representation and hushed white walls are crumbling, and as we increasingly engage with art outside of its physicality.
Yet with this online democratization of art also comes a new system of have and have-nots, particularly if we ignore the analog. Some art won't catch the eyes and algorithms of users on the likes of ArteVue or any of the self-proclaimed art Shazams; many artists are frankly terrified of things like coding, site building, and even using social media. Does that make it less worthy or interesting? No. Use these new platforms wisely, use them sparingly, and use them alongside a healthy diet of art IRL. And please, artists, don't go trying to fit all your work in square boxes.
This article originally appeared in EyeonDesign.
http://designconf.vma.bz/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/art.jpg 1000 667 Barbara Silverman http://www.metalatitude.com/designconf/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/logo2_white-1.png Barbara Silverman2018-06-04 12:57:242018-06-04 12:57:24Art Apps, Instagram, and the "Democratization" of Creativity
Snapchat, Instagram Stories, or Facebook Stories—Which is Right For You?
May 30, 2018 /0 Comments/in 2018, AIGA SF Design Week, Business, ideas, Storyboard, VMA design COnference /by Barbara Silverman
Image via Mihai Surdu under CC0 1.0
By: Michelle Cyca
It's hard to remember a time before they were everywhere, but long ago in Internet time, there was only one name associated with disappearing video: Snapchat.
In 2016 (five years after Snapchat), Instagram got in on the game, adding Stories to their platform with filters, stickers, and text overlay. And in 2017, their parent company Facebook rolled out Stories of its own, with unique filters and the option to crosspost between platforms.
The videos may disappear, but the format is now everywhere, offering rapid-fire cycles of possibility. The only question that remains is, which platforms make the most sense for your brand?
It wins among younger audiences
Let's start with the OG. Snapchat is beloved by users of all ages, but it's especially popular with Generation Z. Seventy-nine percent of US teens have a Snapchat account, and they rate Snapchat as their favorite platform.
Compare that to the two percent of Baby Boomers who use Snapchat, and this platform starts to look like the fountain of eternal youth. As other platforms struggle to hang on to their younger users, Snapchat is still growing in popularity with this demographic.
Its users are highly engaged
Snapchat users watch over 10 billion videos each day and send more than 3.5 billion Snaps. One hundred and eighty-seven million daily active users spend about half an hour each day on Snapchat, and open the app about 25 times per day.
It's harder to use, but that makes it cooler
Part of the appeal of Snapchat is its secret-handshake nature—it can be deliberately confusing, but that's why users love it. It also offers a lot of features, though they're not always easy to find. But that means brands who can navigate the app acquire an instant cool factor. It's kind of like getting your motorcycle license, but for social media.
It's all about spontaneity
Snapchat's ethos is authenticity and openness – compared to other platforms, it's more spontaneous and raw. That's what draws users in, especially younger audiences, who are resistant to traditional advertising methods.
As a result, brands who use Snapchat to go behind-the-scenes can build loyal followings from users who are as interested in people and process as they are in the finished product.
Everlane, an apparel startup committed to "radical transparency", grew their audience through a conversational, candid Snap series called #TransparencyTuesdays, where they answered questions and shared product insights and previews.
And playfulness
Geofilters are custom frames that show up for users who take a Snap in a certain location—this can be an entire country, for major campaigns. They're a major investment, with a price tag in the six figures, but country-wide Geofilters typically reach 40-60% of all daily Snapchat users, offering massive exposure.
Sponsored Lenses are face-altering filters that users can add to their Snaps, to share your branded content with their following. Taco Bell smashed records last year when they released a Cinco de Mayo filter that turned users into tacos, which was viewed 224 million times in a single day.
Brands that stand out on Snapchat find a way to harness the platform's spirit of playfulness to capture users' attention. I mean, who wouldn't want to look like a taco? That's part of the genius of Snapchat: to stand out, you just need a great idea that no one can resist.
Ads perform well
Snap Ads are sponsored, 10-second videos that appear in between Snaps—entice users to swipe up and view longer content or visit a website. Ads perform well on Snapchat, pulling in more visual attention than any other social media platform.
The timeline prioritizes friends over brands
In January 2018, Snapchat rolled out a major update that radically transformed the app.
And the reception has not always been warm. A tweet begging for its reversal has been retweeted more than 1.4 million times, and a petition to scrap it has a million signatures and counting. Despite the backlash, Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel insists that the update is here to stay—so there's no time like the present to leap in and learn to swim.
The biggest change for users: splitting Snaps into two feeds. Prior to the update, users could watch Snaps in one stream. Now, feeds are split into "Friends" (for users who follow you back) and "Discover" (for everyone else—including publishers, celebrities, and content creators).
What this means for companies is their Snaps will no longer appear in the same feed as their followers' personal friends, likely resulting in less exposure. One way around this is to follow your audience back, but even then your Snaps will likely sink to the bottom of their feeds. The new Snapchat timeline is also algorithmic, pushing friends who interact frequently with a user to the top of their feed.
However, the update also came with a new opportunity for companies to share sponsored content, with Promoted Stories. These allow companies to push their Stories to more users and appear on the Discover screen, reaching new audiences beyond their followers.
Oh, and don't worry about missing the opportunity to captivate audiences with your take on the taco filter. The update didn't impact branded content like Geofilters and Sponsored Lenses, which will still reach users exactly the same way.
Contrary to stereotypes about middle children, the middle child of the disappearing stories family gets plenty of attention.
Instagram already had a massive user base in 2016, but Stories were like the Nos in The Fast & the Furious. When they launched, they gave users an incentive to check the platform daily and catch all those disappearing videos, increasing time spent on the app to around half an hour each day.
Users skew young, but not as young as Snapchat
More than 500 million Instagram users open the app every day, and 300 million of them are watching Stories daily. Like Snapchat, Instagram skews young—60 percent of users are under 30—but it also includes more older users as well, with one-third of 30-49 year olds using the app.
Instagram Stories share a lot in common with Snapchat Stories
After unveiling Stories, users and brands who had previously used Snapchat for candid videos and Instagram for curated content had both in one place. And brands had the same opportunity. Remember Everlane's #TransparencyTuesdays? Those can now be found on their Instagram Stories.
Outdoor Voices, which makes workout clothes that fashionable people love, use their Stories to share videos of brand ambassadors #DoingThings outdoors, and approachable fitness tutorials that showcase products while inspiring followers to get active.
Instagram Stories have a lot in common with Snapchat. They also offer face filters that can flatter you with Photoshop-like effects, or make you look like a sea witch or a bunny rabbit (to name a few). Users can also add stickers, text, and recently (to the great delight of the meme-loving masses) GIFs to their stories.
If you thought that a Story was good before, just wait until you add a dancing cat GIF to it.
They are sorted according to an algorithm
Stories from people and brands that users follow show up in a row at the top of the Home feed, sorted algorithmically. A "Discover" tab includes branded content and promoted stories, featuring trending content and videos tailored to users' interests. As with Snapchat, brands can promote their stories or create ads to reach more users, as well as share all their Stories with their followers.
They can drive direct traffic
Instagram Stories also offer a few special features that set it apart. For instance, brands have the option of adding links to their Stories, which direct users to an external URL after they swipe up and provides a ton of opportunity to drive traffic and engagement. Prior to adding this feature, brands could only have one link in their bio, and couldn't include functional links in the photos and videos posted to their feed.
They get engagement
Creating a Story is not only easy, but effective: one in five Stories generate a direct message from followers.
Stories also have the uniquely engaging "Polls" feature, which lets viewers vote between two options.
Brands who excel at Stories know how to use these engaging features to keep users coming back – not just to watch, but to join in the conversation and feel like they're part of an insider community.
The beauty startup Glossier built their following on Instagram by creating a mood board of images, each garnering thousands of likes, before they had even released their first product (they also raised $24 million dollars). They use Stories to engage with their followers, by offering sneak previews of new products, customer Q&As, and introducing the people behind the brand. But they also maintain their dreamy aesthetic, with Stories that are as Millennial-pink and Pinterest-worthy as their main feed, reinforcing their brand values of accessible beauty and casual luxury.
They have a non-disappearing option
"Story Highlights" allow users to pin Stories to the top of their feed. Unlike regular Stories, which disappear after a day as expected, these ones stick around for as long as they're pinned.
Story Highlights are perfect for showing off your top performing Stories, latest products, biggest announcements, and the spirit of your brand.
They can be viewed on desktop
Even though Instagram is designed for mobile use, users who are looking you up on their computers instead of their phones can now also watch your stories, effectively increasing visibility. You still can't upload from the desktop version, but given Instagram's track record of giving the people what they want, that may not be the case forever.
Facebook is the blue whale of social media platforms, with a staggering 1.4 billion (!) daily active users, and 2 billion monthly users. In the U.S., the number of adults on Facebook (68 percent) is about the same as Instagram (35 percent) and Snapchat (27 percent) combined.
Facebook launched their Stories in March 2017, replacing a similar feature called Messenger Day with a more obvious parallel to their Instagram offering.
The two platforms share more in common than just the name. Facebook Stories also mirrors the placement of Stories (above the main newsfeed) and the camera to record them (top-left corner). It's instantly familiar for anyone who's used Instagram. So it's a bit surprising that it hasn't quite taken off—yet.
Facebook has the largest audience
Facebook hasn't yet released numbers for how many users are sharing and viewing Stories, but anyone who looks to see how many of their own friends are posting them will likely arrive at the same conclusion: it's not nearly as popular as Instagram Stories.
The slow uptake might lie in Facebook's audience demographics, and how they use the platform. Everyone really is on Facebook: 76 percent of teens (ages 12-19) have a profile, but so do 62 percent of their grandparents (adults over 65). As a result, some younger users think Facebook is for old people. They're using it to message their friends and watch videos, but not to discover content or follow brands the way they do on other channels.
For older users, who are less likely to be on Instagram and Snapchat, the Stories format isn't second nature. They may just not be creating and engaging with this form of content yet.
It's a blank slate of potential for brands
Stories may be slower to take off on Facebook than they were on Instagram, but this platform has nothing but potential. It's a blank slate with great opportunities – and Facebook has been clear that they're committed to the success of Stories, so we can expect they'll keep rolling out features to improve ease of use and visibility. And Company Pages only got access to Stories in October 2017, so it's still a brand new field of dreams.
It's not limited to one platform
Why should you be posting to Stories? For starters, Facebook has the best ROI of any social media platform, according to 96% of social marketers. Facebook Stories can be integrated with other high-performing ad opportunities on Facebook, like promoted videos and posts in the Newsfeed.
And since you can cross-post your Instagram Stories directly to Facebook Stories without any extra effort, why wouldn't you? Cross-posting isn't always a good idea, but given that your Stories will translate perfectly to each platform, it's worth testing.
It's an opportunity to bypass the algorithm
Facebook Stories also presents a new opportunity to bring users to your Page.
Many brands have noticed declining engagement since Facebook prioritized personal connections in their algorithm. But the Stories feed could be a way to reconnect with users who aren't seeing your content in their Newsfeed the same way.
Your friends may not be posting there yet, but some companies are already using Facebook Stories with great results. Paddington 2, the surprisingly popular sequel to a movie about a bear in London, launched a Facebook Stories campaign with a Paddington filter that let viewers try on his stylish outfit (listen, a duffle coat and floppy hat counts as stylish for a bear, okay?)
Viewers also saw Stories of other Paddington characters, as well as iconic sets. This was a perfect fit for Facebook: a family-friendly movie on a multi-generational platform, showing off the most fun features in the app. The result: a three-point increase in awareness of the movie, and intention to watch.
Another example is Japan's Kao beauty company, which used Stories as well as other Facebook ad placements to launch their Pyuan haircare line. Targeted to women in their 20s (the largest demographic on Facebook), Kao focused on short, high-quality videos tailored to the short attention spans and discerning tastes of their demographic. The strategy resulted in a 10-point increase in brand awareness.
There are opportunities for user-generated content
Facebook is determined to make their Stories more than just a clone of Instagram, and recently unveiled their first truly unique opportunity for brands to take advantage of the platform: Group Stories.
Group Stories allow anyone attending an event on Facebook to contribute to a Story roll, hosted on the Event page and visible in the Stories feed. Event administrators can moderate Stories and approve them. For companies concerned about the wild-west nature of other platforms, this is a reassuring mechanism. If your company hosts events, whether in person or virtually, Group Stories is a new opportunity to promote them and engage with your followers.
Which platform is right for you?
Keep your brand values and goals in mind: are you willing to be casual, informal, and offer candid insights? Do you prefer to keep things polished? Do you want to reach people of all ages? These questions can help you narrow down which Stories platform makes the most sense for you.
Also think about which features excite you most and fit the best with your content strategy. Do you want your audience to weigh in on new products? Try a poll in Instagram Stories. Hosting a launch party? Use Facebook's Group Stories to engage attendees. Want to gain awareness among younger audiences? Try a Snapchat Sponsored Filter.
The important thing is to take advantage of the full menu of options when you try out a platform. Users get excited about new features as much as you do, so don't leave them out when considering your strategy.
v Test out an idea on all three, and see where it performs best. Compare engagement rates and views. Many brands had success by rolling their Snapchat strategy over to Instagram, and others will find that cross-posting on Instagram and Facebook yields results.
Whatever you try, there's one thing you should always keep in mind: users are savvy. If you make content that's not true to your brand voice and identity, your followers will unfollow. Filters and stickers aside, videos let you build real connections with viewers and keep them engaged with authentic, insightful content.
Show off what makes your brand special and unique (you might surprise people!). That's what your audience wants to see. Throwing a dancing cat GIF in the mix? That's just the icing on the cake.
Michelle Cyca is a writer, editor, and digital content strategist. Offline, she likes hefty magazines, public libraries, all-day breakfasts, and bike rides.
This article originally appeared on Hootsuite.
http://designconf.vma.bz/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/planes.png 470 940 Barbara Silverman http://www.metalatitude.com/designconf/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/logo2_white-1.png Barbara Silverman2018-05-30 10:20:382018-05-30 10:24:04Snapchat, Instagram Stories, or Facebook Stories—Which is Right For You?
How 2 Students Created 10 pt, The Sustainable T-Shirt Package
May 29, 2018 /0 Comments/in 2018, AIGA SF Design Week, Business, creative, design, ideas, VMA design COnference /by Barbara Silverman
By: Casha Doemland
"I believe humans have been taking poor care of the planet lately," begins Antonina Kozlova. "The amount of plastic waste is a huge problem, and everyone should start living and working more sustainably."
To show her commitment to change, Kozlova teamed up with up fellow classmate Dohn Kanokpon and entered a sustainable competition, Better With Less.
This yearly competition kicks off in November and asks creative minds to produce a packaging design made from sustainable, renewable or recyclable materials. Dubbed the "open idea competition," they "aim to find new solutions for some of the most frequently used consumer packages, to deliver better experiences with less impact on the environment." Additionally, according to the website, "the use of mono-materials is preferred."
The first prize winner receives a cash prize of €10,000 Euros, in addition to a student award for an internship at Metsä Board Packaging Services in Shanghai.
Since the event took place over the winter holiday, the duo collaborated via Facebook chat and email to produce not only the product but the graphic designs and branding as well. "We challenged ourselves to create a product with packaging that could be used," shares Kanokpon.
Despite the time zone differences and working remotely, the duo came up with 10 pt, a sustainable solution to t-shirt packaging.
The design begins with vivid, cylindrical packaging in contrasting hues of blue, magenta, orange and/or tan. The cotton t-shirts are then rolled up and stored inside, offering a compact and eye-catching package.
Each tube is made like a spiral when reassembled, as the inside of each can features a black and white measuring tape. "We used mummies as our inspiration source," adds Kanokpon.
In keeping with their zero waste policy, Kanokpon and Kozlova designed the paper pulp caps to be a case for the measuring tape. All in all, the design features only 3% waste, which comes from the triangular piece of paper you have to tear off to get the measuring tape from the tube.
"The tube itself is made from 100% recycled paper, while the caps are made from molded pulp," states Kozlova. If you don't need the extra measuring tape, throw it away in the nearest recycling bin.
As innovative as their concept was, the duo did not make it into the top 10 finalists of the competition. But not to fret, Konokpon and Kozlova are still chugging away at their college courses and other projects. And, if the opportunity were to present itself, they would be thrilled to take 10 pt from concept to reality.
Casha Doemland
LA-based and Georgia-bred, Casha Doemland spends her days crafting poetry and freelance writing. Over the last two years, she's been published in a variety of publications and zines around the world. When she's not nerding out with words, you can catch her watching a classic film, trekking around the globe or hanging out with a four-pound Pomeranian.
This article was originally published in Dieline.
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How do you Know if Your Idea Sucks?
May 18, 2018 /0 Comments/in 2018, AIGA SF Design Week, design, ideas, VMA design COnference /by Barbara Silverman
When you come up with an idea, how do you know if it's a good one? Is it an idea worth pursuing, or is it a dud to be filed in the trash?
As designers, we face this challenge on every project. We fear going into presentations, because the ideas we gave birth to will face judgement. Somedays you feel like you've found a diamond in the rough. "I am a genius!"While other days, your ideas feel like garbage. "Why can't I figure this out?"
Put it to the test
After working in the design industry for over a decade, I've come up with a formula to evaluate my own ideas. I ask myself these 3 questions at every stage in the design process.
Does it achieve the goal?
Is the information and story clear?
Is it interesting?
From the initial pitch, up to delivery day. I use this formula to test, filter, and refine my ideas. It gives me confidence that I'm delivering something of value to my clients, and the intended audience.
1. Does it achieve the goal?
At the beginning of the project, you established a clear goal. What this needs to do. Who it's for. What they need to walk away with. This is the problem you're trying to solve.
If you're lacking clarity on what the goal is, stop designing. Go back to your client and diagnose the real problem. Dig in deep and ask clarifying questions. Surface the challenges getting in the way from your clients being able to achieve their goals.
You, as well as your client, will use this as a primary metric to evaluate your ideas. Your ideas aren't viable solutions until they pass this first key test.
2. Is the Information and Story Clear?
Is the message coming through? Is the hierarchy of information in the right order? Does this make the audience feel something?
A great way to test this is to show your work to an outsider. Someone similar to your target audience. Without explaining much (other than context), what did they think your work was about? What did they read first, second, third? How did it make them feel?
If your audience isn't getting what you intended, chances are your you're trying to say too many things or your message is buried too deep. Go back to your goal. Edit and simplify. Make sure your fundamental message resonates. If it doesn't pass this second test, whatever you're designing will be ineffective.
3. Is it interesting?
Does it prompt you to think? Does it challenge you? Are you connecting two disparate ideas to create a new meaning?
If you've passed the first two tests, your idea has addressed the challenge. For conservative projects, that's all it needs to do. Congrats! But in the field of design, marketing, and advertising, we're challenged to do more. To cut through the noise and grab attention. To instill desire and build intent. To recruit our audiences to act.
What I've come to learn is that the most creative ideas are the ones that surprise you. In Chris Do's article, "Can Creativity be Taught?", he sums it up nicely:
"To me, creativity is the ability to connect two or more disparate ideas to create new meaning. The whole is greater than the sum of the parts."
Here are a few great examples that demonstrate this idea:
The next time you're on the fence about your ideas, test it with these 3 questions. It should save you time, cut through the fat, and help your course-correct when you're lost.
Matthew Encina is a creative director at Blind, focusing on brand strategy and video content. He also authors content on pitching, design, and animation forThe Futur Network.
Follow him everywhere @matthewencina
This article was originally posted on Medium.
For those of you who have to pitch creative ideas to win business, but are struggling to land these opportunities, check out The Pitch Kit. I created this for those seeking clarity and structure in their design and pitch process.
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8 Social Media Predictions for 2018
May 16, 2018 /0 Comments/in 2018, AIGA SF Design Week, Business, creative, design, ideas, UX /by Barbara Silverman
Forecasting an Ever-Changing Industry
By Cyndi Pérez
As 2017 comes to a close, here are our forecasts for social media trends in the next year.
IoT Integration
"Alexa, search ___ on Facebook." Stalk your ex through Alexa, Google Home, or Echo. Just kidding! We predict social integrations — regardless of Amazon, Google, and Facebook being competitors.
Personalized Automation
Everyone can bot, but personalizing the automation is key. It can range from product recommendations based on past purchases, or personalizing the customer journey. Our advice: analyze the customer journey and use data to curate your customer's experience on social.
Leveraging social insights to create more effective campaigns. Find out how we helped Stockpile beat benchmarks in fintech by leveraging social insights here.
More Paid Social
Facebook earned over $9 billion in ad revenue in by Q2 this year alone. Social media ad spend has increased 23.2% since 2013. In the US alone, it's expected to increase to 17.3B by 2019. Most brands from Proctor & Gamble™ to Adidas are on social and utilizing the sophisticated targeting options to develop relationships with their customer base or increase brand affinity. If brands aren't already investing on social, 2018 will be the year they do so (before costs rise even further!).
More brands are experimenting with bots than ever, from Whole Foods and Sephora to Lyft and Starbucks. With the rise of more user-friendly software, some social platforms don't necessarily require developers to create the automated bots. We expect this to continue.
Algorithmic Changes
How many times did Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram alter their algorithms this year alone? Prepare for more algorithmic changes to Facebook's and Instagram's Newsfeeds.
Influencer Crackdown
We will see a rise of #ad transparency among any influencers on social. Competent influencers (read: the ones to work with) will demonstrate working knowledge of FCC guidelines.
Platform Evolution
Platforms will learn (see: AI and Algorithmic Changes) and evolve to keep their user bases engaged. Snapchat should continue to test new features, though Spectacles — their wireless camera sunglasses — was a bust. Facebook Workplace is competing with Slack. Pinterest introduced SEO best practices for pins. The common denominator: all platforms are experimenting with an "explore" feature that allows users to find more interesting, relevant content (and algorithms to learn more about its user base). Consequently, brands will need to adapt.
This post originally appeared as a blog with Zooka Creative.
Hear from Steve Decker, Zooka's head honcho at the VMA Design Conference, June 15, as part of AIGA's SF Design Week.
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Hack. Hustle. Design.
May 16, 2018 /0 Comments/in 2018, AIGA SF Design Week, Business, creative, design, ideas, Storyboard, UX, VMA design COnference /by Barbara Silverman
Zooka Creative Gives Back
By Jeffrey Heid
Hack. Hustle. Design. Streetcode Academy believes these are the key components for a wider, better future. A future that doesn't just include the rich, fortunate, digital native, uber-educated, English speaker, or people of specific color born in certain places.
These components are meant to invite every person to seek a greater future.
That's why on July 21st, we invited Streetcode to bring their students to Zooka and learn the what's, why's and how's of an ad agency in the 21st Century.
Streetcode Academy recognizes, diagnoses, and occupies the distinct lack of accessible high-tech training for youth and young adults in communities of color. They combat this by offering free, high-quality tech education classes in coding, entrepreneurship, and creativity.
We wished to give back to those communities and help Steetcode in their mission.
From young children to ESL adults, dozens of eager faces attended several mini-classes created by our different departments.
Our designers, led by Art Director Sean Lopez, gave quick lessons on design principles, walking students through the design process of a sample logo we created just for them.
This process includes the often painful step of eliminating weaker ideas to discover what's strongest.
Our virtual reality team described the unique potential of VR, giving everyone the chance to walk the virtual plank of our mixed reality experience.
Over the course of the afternoon, our visitors learned about everything from design and VR, to content and social media, to branding and web development.
Many asked smart, thoughtful questions about our processes and strategy. Some told stories about their struggles with the quickly and ceaselessly changing landscape of technology.
But everyone left with smiles and the hope for a better, brighter future.
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"Neo mint" will be the color of 2020 says forecasters
by Ali Morris
Trend forecasting service WGSN has revealed that a pastel shade of green, coined "neo mint", will dominate the worlds of fashion and interiors in 2020.According to the trend forecaster, which is headquartered in London, neo mint is a gender-neutral color with "an oxygenating, fresh tone that aligns science and technology with nature".
Neo mint is a tone of green, similar to the one used in this Japanese acupuncture clinic by id inc in Tokyo. Photograph is by id inc
The color was picked by WGSN's team of forecasters following extensive research that included observing street fashion, big data, current affairs and social media.
"What is becoming clear is the importance of neo mint – a shade that succinctly aligns futuristic development with nature," WGSN's color director Jane Monnington Boddy told Dezeen.
Events slated to take place in 2020 – including the completion of the world's tallest building in Saudi Arabia; the start of NASA's Mars 2020 Rover mission; and the introduction of Uber's flying taxis – helped the team to pinpoint neo mint as an important color for the dawn of the next decade.
Perforated cladding in a neo mint shade wraps this university science institute by Cláudio Vilarinho. Photography is by Joao Morgado
Telling Dezeen about the process of composing a color forecast, Monnington Boddy explained how data harvested from online retailers is used in tandem with images posted on social media.
"Our retail analytics division, WGSN Instock, can track the sales of online retailers and analyze which colors are selling well," she explained to Dezeen.
"We're also trying to use social media as a vehicle to find out what's happening in colour. In the past we used to go out on the street and look at what people are wearing, which we still do, but now we also look at influencers on Instagram."
WGSN tracks the evolution of color trends
Color trends, Monnington Boddy said, have a trickle-down effect. What is seen at an interior during the Salone del Mobile in Milan, or on the catwalk during global fashion weeks may not hit the high street for another couple of years.
Similarly, WGSN believes that the current political climate and images seen on the news can influence the colors we wear, with the popularity of the color red on the autumn and winter catwalks in 2017 a result of the 2017 Women's March.
"I've already seen neo mint popping up in younger fashion-forward brands, and in a few more years time it will start to filter into high street stores. Like all trends, it will evolve and grow," she continued.
http://designconf.vma.bz/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/WGSN_Neo_Mint_colour_trend_forecast_col_4-1704x1704.jpg 1704 1704 Barbara Silverman http://www.metalatitude.com/designconf/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/logo2_white-1.png Barbara Silverman2018-05-15 10:21:212018-05-15 10:24:48"Neo mint" will be the color of 2020 says forecasters