The completed Visuals!

So, I have picked up the visual promotional methods from Andrew today (this is the Graphic Designer that I have collaborated with) and I am really pleased with the finished results!


I was pleased anyway, but now that everything is finished, I am relieved! The new page layout for the Downloadable Lessons on the Teacher's Website is now much more modern and clearer for the viewer, this was a suggestion from my Lecturer (to make the page more suitable for viewing on different devices and Smartphones, as obviously technology and lifestyles have moved this way). 


I have added and changed a few little things, as all the files from Andrew are editable. Therefore, I have spent my evening doing this rather than nearly finishing the Promotion section. I have done a lot today, but not finished the section!


So the plan's until the next blog post:

• To continue working through the sections of the report.
• Carry on developing ideas for the creative format of the report (I have been in contact with staff at Disney for images of their reports, brochures, booklets, etc, to give me more visual inspiration which is very relevant to Disney's usual written productions).

Report, Report...

Today, I have met the aims of yesterdays blog post. I have started the promotion section of the report and made the Disney Interactive Lesson feedback survey. This can be 'screen shot' and included as an appendix in my report. I have not yet drafted the Persuasion section as although I know the direction of the content I feel I want to complete sections before I move onto the next. 


Tomorrow's Plans:

• I am picking up all the completed visuals from Andrew tomorrow. These should all be fine and not need any further work or major changes.
• I will print the final versions for my development folder and also this will make it much easier to write the promotion section due to having all the visual methods to hand.
• I want to almost finish the promotion section.
• Start on breaking down the costing of the scheme and relating this to the budget.

Report writing

In a recent post, I wrote that I needed to 'write a full contents list of my report with all the visuals included' and 'continue my report writing', I have done both of these over the weekend. 


My plans for until I receive the updated visuals on Wednesday are to continue with the report writing. My plans are to finish the writing of the report by the end of this week/early next week. This will give me around 11 days to create the visual aspect to the report and format it fully ready for printing and saving on a CD for the submission.


Today I have completed the Vectors (edited these a lot) written the People section of my report and planned the Promotion section.


Tomorrow's Plans:

• To start the Promotion section of the report.
• Make the Disney Feedback survey (this would show after each interactive lesson for each Teacher to fill in).
• Write or at least draft the Promotion section of the report.

Visual Changes

Today, I went to visit Andrew and give him a list of changes to be made to the visual promotions.


He has said they are fine and can be done by next Wednesday, which is going to be fine for the timing for creating the visual report.


So, fingers crossed, no other editing will be needed and they will be ready to fit into the report.

Progress Check

Today, I have had a progress check timeslot in which my lecturer asked me a series of questions to send the answers to the external examiner.


My main aim was to make sure that my Lecturer saw the visuals and promotional methods that have been created to make sure they were on the right track.


I am really pleased with the outcome as my Lecturer noted that they were of high quality and suited Disney's usual aesthetic.


Some changes have been suggested, which I was expecting but they are not drastic and can hopefully be done fairly easily.


Overall, I feel very relieved! I have been nervous the last few days thinking that I do not feel like I have progressed that much but I also had not had any professional feedback, just casual reflection from friends and family. So I am pleased!


My next steps:


 - To meet with Andrew to make the visual changes.


 - Write a full contents list of my report with all the visuals included.


 - Continue my report writing.


 - Start the designing of my creative report.


 - Change my boards so that they match with the report and the promotional methods. All of these need to match so a complete package of work has been created for the one module.

Campaign and Media Plans

Today, I have completed the tasks that I set for myself yesterday.


I have completed the Market Competitors sub section and taken a look over my Vectors. I want to edit the latter a little.


I am aware that I am going to be over the word limit at the pace that I am going at the moment. So, I need to cut down by constantly editing what I have written.


I then moved onto editing my campaign plan and making a media plan. This took longer than expected but as long as it is clear and works fully then I will be happy.


I have sorted what I am taking with me to my tutorial tomorrow. I have 4 folders so far, admittedly making it difficult to commute 160 miles with all this. Therefore, I am taking the two most recent folders plus another folder to show my competitors. I do not want to leave any important information or work behind which will make the tutorial difficult to do.

Visuals and SMART Objectives

This morning I started with printing and displaying the development of the visual work in my folders.


Andrew has said it is fine for me to meet with him on Friday to make changes to the visuals.


This took me into the afternoon in which I worked through the content of my report so far, editing accordingly. I also re wrote my Smart Objectives and they are now more focused on my rationale, outcome and the measuring of achievements.


Tomorrow's plan:


continue with the report - do the market competitors section and look at the Vectors.


Edit my campaign plan and make a media plan.


Sort which work I am taking with me to my tutorial on Thursday.

A 'Visual' Day!

As noted in my last post, my first aim of today was to my 'To Do' list, once this was completing I got started with sorting out the handouts and things that I collated at The Education Show, I displayed these in my folder along with annotations. I also printed my photographs and noted down some comments for these. 


I picked up a few ideas of promotional methods too (even though I have chosen these for the campaign, little add-ins may be useful to tie it all together...).


I was able to get the CD's of work yesterday from Andrew Cook (the Graphic Designer that I have outsourced to complete the visuals). I had planned to go through it all and make sure it was all there. This task took much longer than expected, actually 5 hours...! 


I have noted down some changes which I feel are important, and I have asked to meet with Andrew on Friday so we can run through them together and make the changes there and then. We have not worked like this so far, but to save time and 'transporting' some very large files between our working environments is going to be very difficult without doing this. I want all the visuals completed by this weekend as they need to be completely finished before putting them in my report. As soon as my report is printed and bound, I want to make sure this is submitted and then I will order the printing of my visuals.


I have arranged to meet Andrew on Friday and not before as I have a tutorial with my Lecturer on Thursday and changes are likely to be made, I am really hoping not big changes. I feel my visuals are strong and I will be relieved when I can sign them off as complete and ready for print! I am sure Andrew will be pleased also. He has commented that he is proud of the work but he also has other jobs lined up for other people so a cut off point is needed soon. I have personally arranged this for Friday, but I feel, knowing his style of work and character, he will be happy to complete by the weekend for me.


All in all, I have spent 12 hours today on the above, due to technical difficulties with computers!


So quite a frustrating day as I have not looked at my report and my 'To Do' list is ever increasing, as I find more changes to complete, as I want everything to tie in perfectly.


Currently, I am spending much more time on my visuals than my written report. I think this is partly due to the fact that I do not find writing difficult and I know I can write confidently. However, I am still worried about the designing of the creative report. I am going to speak to Andrew about this on Friday. 


BUT I have 3 weeks to totally complete the report, get this printed and bound at the place I want to use and travel up to Preston with it. The latter point may not sound a big issue to the impartial reader, however, the idea of missing a deadline (especially your main dissertation deadline and due to traffic) is just awful!! Therefore, I will travel up to Lancashire the day before and stay over the night before the submission.


Tomorrow, I must write some of my report, this is crucial!

Over the weekend - background reading

Since my last blog post, I have been reading to continue my background research and marketing of my project for the written report.


My next plans are to sort out all the leaflets and information that I picked up at the Education Show on Friday and display these within my research folders in the relevant sections, along with printing and annotating the photographs that I took whilst I was there. 


My folders also need a bit of a re-jig as they are starting to burst at the seams, another one may be needed shortly!


My first mission is to right an updated 'To do' list for this week.

The Education Show

Today, I have been to The Education Show at The NEC, Birmingham. I was a bit hesitant about going, due to wanting to spend the time on my report and the final touches of the visuals. But seeing as the visuals are finished (Andrew has finished making them and he will soon give me all the files in an editable format allowing me to make some changes where necessary over the next few weeks) I felt a day away from my research files, books and the report will do me good.

Similarly to the primary research of visiting schools and interviewing Teachers and Pupils, there is nothing better than immersing yourself in the environment in which you are targeting and speaking to your target audience (in this case, Teachers). It is very easy to work at home and research everything on Google, but it is often a bit blasé, biased and blinkered. Seeing the Teachers, Advertisers, Companies, Products and Resources all under one roof was brilliant and as all of the market segment and competitor research has been done, this simply added to the amount that I now have.

I am glad I went! I felt the day was very worthwhile, as I went to a seminar (I had already pre-booked this) about using Maths creatively in the classroom. The point of the seminar was to sell a product, (slightly different to the products of my scheme) but the information given was insightful and with fellow Primary School Teachers, opinions and further information was given to me.

I was also able to visit the stands of the companies that I have researched on the Internet and from what Teachers have informed me about. These were quite helpful, one giving me a pricing list of what they charge, which is useful for the competitors section of my report, others were able to offer verbal information and lots of leaflets.

I have 3 bags full of leaflets, written information and goodies about the competitors I have looked at and some others which I have not heard or seen about before. I gathered some promotional ideas too, (even though this element is a bit late now that my main methods have been made) I could maybe add a couple to solely write about in my report if they are going to be very relevant and much needed.

The sorting of the information to put in my folders is going to difficult because I want to put a lot of it in, I will have to be very selective! As understandably, no one wants to see loads of leaflets, when I already have a lot of secondary research print outs.

I was at the show around 4 hours, walking around and talking to lots of people about the projects, resources and schemes that they are involved in/trying to sell. Amusingly, everyone thought I was a student Teacher looking for a job. Alas, I told all of them about the 'Maths with Mickey' scheme and they seemed interested, which in itself felt like positive feedback!

An enjoyable and worthwhile day!

Campaign Plan and Tutorial

Today, I have been into University for the Media and Campaign Timelines powerpoint.

This showed us not only what needs to be included on the timelines but how the different sections of the project/report all culminate to develop and inform each other.

My Lecturer also gave me some feedback on the campaign plan that I have made and informed me that I do now need to make a media plan. This is due to not having Above the Line promotional methods but I do have promotional methods that outside agencies would create rather than in-house and therefore will be paid for.
This will affect my budget also.

Therefore, I will edit my campaign plan and make a media plan. I want to do this as soon as possible so that this is completed and ready to include in my report.

I have also booked my Tutorial/Presentation slot for next Thursday at 11am. This will give me 3 weeks in order to make any changes to my project before my report submission.

Tomorrow, I am planning on visiting The Education Show at The NEC in Birmingham. I am debating whether to go or not as I feel the time could be well spent on my report as I feel my research is strong.

However, I feel a day away from my normal working environment will be beneficial for me and I will be able to see how the Education segment is first hand and see the brands and products that I have researched using the Internet.

If I do go, I will take photographs and document the day as part of my ongoing research.

Progress

Since Monday, I have completed the aims that I set myself in the last but one blog post.


These were to complete my customer profile boards, my campaign plan, continue my report writing and background reading.


I am taking my Campaign plan with me to my lecture tomorrow due to this being about Media and Campaign Timelines. I am going to ask my Lecturer for his feedback on this and for any changes that need making.


I have now received my feedback on my report introduction, a cutting back of some quotes is needed, otherwise it is fine! So I am happy about this.


The Pupils website is nearly complete, however a few changes have been made to the colour scheme and layout.

Report Writing

The 'next steps' that I wrote in my last blog post, were a list of four jobs that I wanted to have completed.


However, due to a family incident and being unwell, I have worked on two of the jobs, these being the continuation of my report and background reading.


I am yet to receive the feedback from my Lecturer concerning my report introduction, once this arrives, I can edit it accordingly and change my writing style if needed. However, I am fairly confident that my writing style will be fine as my review report was well received.


I feel this report is going well, but I am concerned about the creative layout of it. As already mentioned, I have used a few online tutorials for InDesign but I am still not wholly confident. I may look at some other options and/or start as early as I can on the report layout with InDesign.

Pupil's website

After my last blog post, the Teachers' website has been finished. I am really pleased with the outcome! There have been a couple of tweaks that I gave as feedback and these have been fixed by Andrew accordingly. These were very small and concerned the layout rather than content, as with all of the promotional methods so far.


Looking again at the Teachers website I may ask for Andrew to add some white into the composition as this would match the inspiration more clearly, rather than look just similar as it does at the moment. I will think about this.


Since Wednesday and due to Andrew finishing the Teachers website, I have been planning the Pupil's website...designing the layouts and content from inspirational websites that both children have told me they use (within the primary research interviews) and Disney's Mickey's Clubhouse microsite which has the clearest resemblance (through Disney) to my scheme, as Disney Educational Productions do not have a website for its Pupils, just the main website for Educators to buy products and resources from.


The planning took more time than I expected due to the inclusion of a Browser App. I have decided this will be provided by Google Chrome and will allow Teachers to view their class's performance on any device as well as the Performance section of the Teachers website and will allow children to play a game on the App also. This can be downloaded for free from Google Chrome (to stay in keeping with the core values of the scheme). However, this does mean that children who are not undertaking the scheme can play the game also (which defers from the idea of targeting selected areas within England) but having an App is market relevant and technology and gaming is moving in this direction. 


Overall, I have sent all the information to Andrew so he can get started as soon as possible on the Pupil's website. This is the last promotional method to be made, so Andrew and I are on track and the visuals will be given to me about 4 days before the presentations to industry. 


It is an exciting time!


For the rest of today, I am going to work through my annotations that need doing, as I am currently printing and making mental notes, however these need to be written down for the examiners to know my directions! I am also going to develop my report a little and do some background reading.


My plans for the weekend:

1. Finish the customer profile boards!
2. Make my campaign plan - (I keep adding little promotional methods, so I need to sit down with lots of Post It notes and plan it out properly! and then re-create on a board)
3. Develop my report
4. Continue background reading

Marketing Report

Today, I have been working on my Marketing Report and Andrew is adding the final touches to the Teachers website.


The stage I am at now:
Written the Abstract, Methodology, Introduction, Half of my Market Segmentation, SMART Objectives, Product, Price, Place and Vectors.


My Smart Objectives and Vectors need tweaking slightly, just to emphasise the core values of the scheme and how they are being promoted and delivered to the users.


The Product, Price and Place sections also need editing as I wrote these fairly early on and the scheme has obviously developed since with time and lots of research.


My aim is to finish the report as early as I can but also as comprehensively as I can. As a perfectionist, I will want two days to go through all the written content a few times and make little changes. I have done this method in past projects and it appears to work well for me.


Having time to create and complete the creative output of the report is very important to me, as it is a crucial 30% of a double module but also as this report is the first of the two submissions for the whole campaign, the report will set the grounding for the whole scheme and will hopefully anticipate the viewers to see all the promotional visuals in full.

InDesign and Browser Apps

Today, I spent most of the morning trying to get to grips with InDesign by refreshing my skills. At first, I was trying to do this myself but after some frustrations I decided to watch some tutorials, which I viewed, paused and then tried myself on my InDesign document....I now have a very rough draft of a layout (which I showed and discussed with my Lecturer yesterday).


I am still not wholly confident with using InDesign. So, I have been looking at other options. iBooks Author seemed to be  a good solution, almost like a drag and drop facility which would suit me! But when trying to download, I need the Lion package on my iMac rather than my existing Leopard setup. I do not want to change my whole package on my iMac at this stage in case I lose any of my work!


Another idea is to use Illustrator (I am not using facing pages in my report, just right hand single sided) so this is an option, although most processes have to be done manually, for example, the page numbers! Whereas, these are done automatically in InDesign.


Again, Microsoft Word is an option as previously mentioned by my Lecturer, I just feel being a design student that I should not be using Word! But the layouts of creative presentation have improved in the later versions, it is a versatile program, letting me insert imagery with a variety of file types. 


Whichever programme I decide to use, the outcome needs to be a PDF. This will do two jobs in one; allow for easy printing (as nothing should move once the PDF has been created) and a digital version is automatically made, which I can put on a CD or upload onto an appropriate sharing site, like Issuu.


Anyway, after some experimenting, I have looked into Browser Apps. I have not considered these before but my Lecturer did yesterday. The most appropriate 'provider' to choose seems likely to be Google Chrome or Mac App Store. Both other lots of opportunity, usability and coverage.


I have also been in communication with Andrew, the graphic designer, as he has started making my website for the Teachers today. He has sent an initial screenshot of its homepage via email in which I replied with some changes, and he has since sent back another image with the adjustments. I am pleased with the progress of this, as the aesthetic is what I wanted and in terms of timing, Andrew has said he is likely to be able to finish the Teacher website by the end of this week, and  the Children's website by next Wednesday (the deadline that I have given him). I chose this day as this gives me 4 days to prepare my presentation to industry in time for the first of the 4 days of presentations. So, plenty of time!


After this presentation, I can make changes that are suggested and send off to print! All of the visuals can then be slotted into my report.

Marketing Report Format

Today, I have been into University to discuss my plans for the designing of my marketing report, as well as talking to my Lecturer generally regarding the progress of the whole project.
I am pleased with the stage I am at, however I would like a lot more of written report done by the end of the week.
I have also sourced some places where I can print my report and get this bound. However, since discussing with my lecturer, I am going to source a couple of other places which bind with a metal spiral bind rather than plastic. A very good quality paper is also needed to complete the aesthetic that I want.
Since my last blog post, I have:
- edited my customer profile boards (still need some final touches).
- continued reading for my research and report.
- edited my list of promotional methods.
- researched creative reports and layouts.
- and planned the style of the report and front cover layout.
My next steps:
- Research Pearson Publishers. These are publishers of childrens' books which my Lecturer has mentioned.
- Show the development of design ideas for my report, including online and print solutions.
- Create my campaign plan.
- Email my report introduction to my Lecturer so he can feedback asap.
- Write more of my marketing report!!
- Continue reading for written support.
I have discussed an idea of a Browser App which could link from my websites and be found within one or a range of selected browsers...
I am going to research into these and talk with Andrew, the graphic designer who is making my visual promotions, on this idea. If time is running short I can write about the App rather than making it visually.

Research Folders

I have been trying to find and purchase some Disney (Mickey Mouse) lever arch files in which to hold and present my research for my submission.

It turns out that Disney have not created such files for a few years so those that are available to purchase on the Internet are outdated and will not be visually coherent with the graphics being made to suit the current Mickey Mouse aesthetic.

Therefore, I have been thinking of how to make my own files! This production will ensure that my graphics match throughout.

I have been to see Kath from the Textiles and Printing Department within the Victoria Building at University. A couple of ideas were:

1. To print onto thick card set to the measurements of a standard lever arch file and score this in the relevant places to bend it into place and attach a metal lever arch attachment to complete the file.

OR

2. Measure the front, side and back of an existing folder and create an Illustrator file with the desired graphics to fit. This file will then be printed onto white or clear vinyl (my choice) with a matte or gloss finish. This is sticky backed so can then be peeled off and stuck onto each folder.

the latter option is the one that I am most likely to choose. Therefore, I will get some of the graphics and create this file. Kath said the lead time is almost instant but nearer the deadline could take a couple of days. This would be perfect for me as I can drop the files to her on a Monday and collect on a Thursday (the days that I have lectures).

I just feel this would be an effective finishing touch to make sure all my promotional methods and the presentation of them are all visually coherent which gives a professional outcome.

Completed Visuals so far...

This is a list of the visuals that have been completed so far:

1. Email (base design plus mocks on hotmail and mac)
2. Facebook Page
3. Logo (both type face one and the one with Mickey's face on it)
4. Posters (Advertisement ones plus the thumbnail ones)
5. Stickers (have four designs)
6. Interactive Lesson (shows an example of the start page, and two examples of the opening of a question, the selection of the mathematical answer and the congratulating of getting the answer right).
7. Lesson on an Interactive Whiteboard (4 different examples)

I am very happy with the progress so far and delighted with the visuals. I can easily say that if I was making the visuals my self I would not be at this stage and definately not with the quality of graphics and production.

Although I am sending a lot of the initial layouts by hand drawings and I am writing the written material for Andrew to copy and paste into the relevant sections, I would not be at this stage with my visuals and marketing report without this collaboration.

The next visuals to be made are the:

1. Teacher's website (main layout and key pages)
2. Pupil's website (main layout and key pages)
3. Possibly a Youtube page... (but I am wary as I want the scheme to retain some exclusivity and a Facebook page already gives social media presence)

I have discussed the posssibility of an App for both the Primary school Teachers and the Pupil's parents to use to access and measure the results and performance of the pupils in each Interactive lesson. But I feel this is going to be better as a section on each website respectively, so this gives more content and interaction with the websites, plus the parents of the pupils may not have Smartphones due to the limited disposable income in the areas that I have selected to pilot this scheme.

Seeing the Interactive Lesson

I have returned home today from the family event and I am catching up with the visual campaign progression. I am very pleased with the image attachments on the emails that Andrew has been sending me!!

In my opinion, the key pages of the Interactive Lesson 'Mickey cares for the Planet' are excellent! The graphics, layout and  colours are brilliant. As a promotional method it is coherent with the other promotions and is likely to be attractive to both the Primary school Teachers and Pupils, due to the creativity, interaction, ease of use and presentation.

The manipulations of showing the lesson on an example Interactive whiteboard are also great, Andrew has given me a selection of 4 to choose from. To be honest, I am likely to print all 4 as I think they give different scenarios and likely to influence and inspire the teachers that this would be a great scheme for their Pupils as well as showing a variety of imagery within my portfolio on my final exhibition stand.

So, as I feel the Key Pages of the Interactive Lesson and the example Interactive Whiteboard images are complete, I have liaised with Andrew and have sent him the next information for the Teacher's Website.

He will be working on this from now until next Tuesday, and if there is a delay for any reason then we have plenty of time to complete this plus the children's website for a deadline that I have set for Andrew. This deadline is a 5 days before the first presentations to my lecturer and possibly industry which show the completed visuals as well as my report information and its design layout. This presentation aims to be an interim check to make sure we are on track with the time given and the time which is left before our respective submissions.These presentations run over two weeks, so I am hoping to ask for a slot within the first week, to give me the second week for any alterations to the visuals before they go to print.

My next steps are:

• Research design layouts for my written report.
• Finish updating my customer and brand profile boards.
• Update my promotional methods now that I have altered from the Television programmes to Viral videos on my Pupil's website.
• Create my Campaign Timeline.
• Write down my budget (research prices of all promotional methods).
• Edit my Vectors and SMART Objectives (suggestions were given in my Tutorial).
• Write my 'Promotion' section of my 6P's more in depth.
• Write my Market Segmentation section of the report.
• Read lecture notes from Thursday's lecture which I missed due to being away (SMART Objs lecture).
• Carry on reading to support my marketing report.