Alterations to Visuals

Today, as planned, I have been converting my visual promotional methods from RGB to CMYK, thankfully not many colours needed to be changed to print near enough to the original versions.

One big change has been the Pupils' website. This was going to be changed anyway as after some reflection, I was not happy with the outcome that had been made, colour-wise. In addition to this, the green tones that the Pupils' website featured were printing much darker than I wanted and the stars in the background were not fully visible. This meant that the other promotional methods and especially the Teachers' Website (as a relative comparison) were much more attractive than the Website to be used by the Children, which does not make sense as Disney is such a child-orientated brand.

This afternoon was spent adapting the colour changes to the Pupils' website which is now bright Yellow featuring Green stars. This takes a lot of visual inspiration from again Mickey Mouse's Clubhouse, Topic Box and BBC Bitesize websites. The chosen tones of Yellow and Green feature in the target audience profile for the Pupils taken from an average day timeline - their hobbies, food and drink and brand interaction.

Tomorrow, more conversion and adaptations will occur leading to the 'mock-ups' and layout ideas of my Graphic Stand.

Completed the Facebook 'Timeline'

I mentioned yesterday that I was close to finishing the new Facebook page that I have been working on. I have completed this today, taking longer than I thought it would but I am pleased with the result considering I drew it from scratch and starting only yesterday.

Due to working this weekend as normal, I will write up my aims for next week.

Monday and Tuesday - Make alterations to the Visuals (as noted in Tutorial and from personal observation within my folders) and change all to CMYK.

Tuesday/Wednesday - Mock up some ideas for the Graphic Stand, ready to take to University.

Thursday - Have a Tutorial (11.15am) with my Lecturer to discuss the layout of my Graphic Stand and any other issues.  Buy Mountboards for my Portfolio. Do an A3 Test Print of my Poster (if this has no pixilation I will order a Poster Print for my Portfolio). Due to my commute, I will arrive home around 5pm. I will make any adaptations to the layout of the Graphic Stand relating to the information received within the Tutorial.

Friday - Make changes to my Research and Development Boards. Start composing the layout of the Graphic Stand using Illustrator.

Saturday and Sunday - Carry on composing the layout of the Graphic Stand until completion. Remembering to OUTLINE fonts and EMBED images. Read through my Research Folders and check for gaps, making a list of what is needed to be printed etc, as I go through.

Update

As aimed yesterday, I compiled some information last night to give to the University for inclusion into the Degree Book. I wrote a short synopsis of my Final Promotional Campaign and included some imagery to support this. I have burnt this onto a CD ready to take next week.

Today, I have made a lot of progress on creating an updated Facebook page, this is due to Disney having the older style profile layout when my original was created by Andrew but have since changed to the new 'Timeline' layout, thus, my Lecturer suggested that I make the adjustment also. This is understandable as the older Facebook page would make my Portfolio look dated already!

I was apprehensive about having enough time or the skill to do this justice, but I am pleased with myself as I have almost completed it today. This just leaves a few more things to do to the document tomorrow and it will be finished.

I have also ordered my stickers today, using Moo.com, which will hopefully be put onto my Exhibition Stand as a Promotional Item. In addition to this, I am considering printing a Poster at A2 size (in which they would be sent to the Primary Schools) to not 'hang up' or display but to put in my Portfolio to show I have considered the finished article on Poster Paper rather than just on a A3 sheet or mount board.

If I was to print a Poster, I would use Poster Pigeon as I quoted this company's printing services and paper quality within my broken down costings/budget of the campaign. Their lead time is fairly quick too.

The next stages:

• Finish the new Facebook Page
• Make the adjustments to the visuals (as noted in most recent Tutorial)
• Convert the visuals to CMYK
• 'Mock Up' some layout options for the Graphic Stand ready to take next Thursday

Degree Show Book

We have received an email from a Lecturer at the University asking us for some imagery and a short description of our final promotion campaign to include in a Graduate book.

This book is made by the University and printed for the Degree Show, Open Days and Graduate Fashion Week.

So inclusion into this book is great publicity.

I obviously want my work to be shown in this so this afternoon I am going to compile the content ready to take next Thursday when I am in University.

Lecture and Tutorial

Today's lecture went well, we received the layout and production infornation for the printing of the main graphic stand/board.

This is obviously useful but it feels a very daunting prospect at the moment.

More dates have been given regarding submissions and the booking of a computer room for us to have guidance whilst sorting the layout.

In my Tutorial, I went through my visual promotion methods and boards with my Lecturer. He has suggested some changes, these are fairly minor, however, he has stated that I need to change the Facebook page that has been made as it features the older layout rather than the newly recent 'Timeline' format.

I feel making the new Facebook page will be time consuming and hopefully not too difficult. I plan to start on this as soon as possible, as the sooner it is completed the more time I have for the layout of the boards.

In terms of changing the visuals from RGB to CMYK, I have asked my Lecturer about the print profile of the Printers producing the boards and he is unsure which they use. He has suggested to choose the most suitable setting which produces the brightest colours.

I also need to start this testing and changing process as soon as possible.

Development Boards

I have completed the tasks that I set myself for Today. These were to complete the Development Boards and to print out all the Visual Promotional Methods to take with me tomorrow for the Lecture and Tutorial.

I believe the Lecture tomorrow is going to be informing about the rest of the module in which is there is under 3 weeks left! Hopefully, a checklist will be given and any extra information which is going to help the production of my final project.

All going to plan, I am really hoping that I am on track in the Lecturer's eyes and that there will be minimal changes to my visual promotional methods. I am afraid if there are a lot of changes I may start to panic about the remaining time left. I feel I am on track and have time for some changes, bearing in mind that I would like all of the work to be printed a few days before the submission, due to any printing or display problems, plus travelling up to Preston.

I will blog tomorrow about the updated 'To-Do' list!

Today's Tasks

I aimed to complete the research boards today, I have successfully done this. I am now going to do some folder work, which has had minimal input recently due to producing the boards and smaller report.

I feel on track and not under pressure. I have been sent an Email by my Lecturer informing us all of the content of our next Lecture on Thursday. I have also booked a Tutorial to go through the visual promotional methods with my Lecturer, to highlight any changes which need to be made.

Tomorrow's plans are:

• To complete the development boards
• Print out all the Visual Promotional Methods to take to my Tutorial and generally prepare for travelling to Uni and the Lecture.

Small Report

Today I have completed the making of the smaller report, copy and pasting the creative elements and adding the cut down wording.

I have completed the aim for Today and will carry on with the 'To Do' list that I set for myself in the previous blog post.

Finished the report editing (written content)

This afternoon I finished cutting down the word limit before I went to work....the count stands at 2,496. I am glad I allocated time for this as I knew it would be difficult and time consuming.

I am pleased that the word count is finished. I am at work tomorrow (Sunday) all day, so I am going to carry on making the creative element of the smaller report on Monday.

Plans for the week ahead:

Monday - creative element of the smaller report and possibly book a Tutorial for Thursday.
Tuesday -  Research boards (edit board 1 and make board 2)
Wednesday - Development boards (make both from plans) and print progress so far of these boards and visuals to take to University tomorrow.
Thursday - Lecture and possible Tutorial, travel to and from University. Receive the 'checklist' for smaller report?
Friday, Saturday and Sunday - any editing of boards, visuals and carry on completing the smaller report (mainly informed by Thursday's Lecture/Tutorial).

Cutting down the word count...

As I wrote in my last blog post, I want to complete the smaller report as soon as possible so I can focus on editing any of the visuals, creating the research and development boards and printing all of the work. 

Therefore, I have today started cutting down the word count of the full marketing report for the smaller report to be submitted. I knew this would be difficult and it is proving so. 

To start, I copy and pasted all of the relevant sections needed for the smaller report and averaged out a word limit for these sections, giving a greater proportion to the 6P's.

By the end of working tonight, I have cut down the word count to 4,600. Obviously, around 2,100 more words need to be edited out.... I will continue working on this tomorrow. By tomorrow afternoon, I want this editing to be finished so I can start with the creative element on Monday.

I have not worked on any folder work for a couple of days as no new content has been produced. 

Tutorial

Today, I met with my Lecturer to discuss my progress and ask him some questions regarding my work.

I now know what needs to be in the smaller report so I can start editing the original down to an amount of 2,500 words. I know this is going to be difficult, so I want to make a start on this as soon as possible. Once the editing is down, I will return to compiling the report creatively (some parts will be copy and pasted from the full Marketing Report, other parts altered).

I also know what stage I should be at and in regards to this, I am on track. Personally, I want to finish the smaller report and get this printed but I am going to wait a little longer as my Lecturer is going to hand out a 'checklist' for us to work to. Once this is done and all the elements are 'checked' I am going to print it as this will be another element completed.

I want to have my research and development boards done (unedited) by the end of next week, ideally, to take print outs of them to show my Lecturer on Thursday 26th. Again, once these are completed I want to print these.

My Lecturer has suggested longer tutorials in which I take print outs of my promotional methods, boards, etc for him to look through and annotate changes for me to make. This will assure me that I am producing work to industry standard.

The 6P's Report

Yesterday afternoon after my blog post, I started editing the wording of the full Marketing Report ready to start creating the smaller 6P's report. After this,I returned to my folder work and printed some work which I placed inside.

This morning I started creating the smaller report by copy and pasting the main elements to be included. After reaching doubts of the content, I decided to leave this and started creating the research boards from the plans that I had made for them.

I have completed the first research board and started the second, however I am sure that the first will still need a little editing. The main importance for me is to include visuals where I can, otherwise I tend to make my boards quite text heavy!

Tomorrow, I have a Tutorial with my Lecturer so I will ask him some questions to direct my work. Due to the timing of the tutorial and travelling to and from Preston I will have little time for much practical work, however, I aim to work on my second research board or the smaller report tomorrow evening.

Getting back into the folder work!

Due to the last couple of weeks consisting of making the creative format and printing the Marketing Report, I have not really been 'hands on' with the development folder work.

I had plenty of work and print outs that needed to be annotated and placed into the folders so today I have completed this, organised my Tutorial for Thursday (12.30pm), re-read the brief, written my 'To Do' list and made the personal deadlines for my diary. These may change after having my tutorial but they are a guide for me at the moment.

My next step is to start composing the written element of the smaller report. Many of the visual and written parts can be copy and pasted from the main Marketing Report apart from any visuals that are going to altered slightly plus the text needs to be changed to suit the style of the smaller Report.

Submission Day!

This morning I arrived in Preston very early, this was due to me not wanting to get stuck in any traffic when driving into the city and possibly missing the submission. I ventured to the University and submitted my Marketing Report at around 9.15am.

I then did a few errands and arrived home at around 6pm.

Tomorrow's Plans:

• Re-read the briefing for the final module and write a 'To Do' list for me to work from.
• Using this list, write personal deadlines within my Diary to keep me on track.
• Finalise a Tutorial time with my Lecturer for Thursday 19th.
• Work through the development folder work.
• Start composing the smaller Report which will be positioned on the Exhibition Stand.

Ideally, I have decided that I want to compose the smaller Report before the boards, as I will personally feel more confident once this is completed. Either I will do one task before the other or complete them in parallel as they will be printed at the same time anyway.

The night before the Marketing report submission...

During the day I have been working and I am shortly going to drive up to Lancashire and stay over ready for the submission of the Report at 10am tomorrow.

Due to having finished the project on Friday and re-checked that the two CDs included are working on different computers, I feel relaxed about the work being handed in. I am very pleased with the outcome and would not change anything. Tonight, I am going to relax ready for the submission tomorrow and then make my way home afterwards.

Final presentation

Today, I have found a solution for the final presentation and have finished the other elements for the submission. This means that I have completed this module and I am ready to submit it on Monday.

My plans are to drive and stay over in Lancashire on Sunday night to ensure I am much nearer to University on Monday morning.

I have sorted my stickers but not yet ordered them in case I need to change the colours slightly due to the RGB/CMYK scenario.

My plans are to start the research and development boards as soon as possible to give me plenty of time between this submission and the next...

Final printed report!

So the report has been printed and bound today, I am really pleased with the final result.

I have not yet found a solution for the final presentation, such as a box, but I am going to explore some ideas tonight and visit some places tomorrow.

The other elements to the project which need completing will be done by the end of Friday.

Due to finishing a few days before the submission, I want to start working on the research and development boards for the visual module, plus, order the stickers to be placed on my exhibition stand.

Final edits

Today I have done the final edits and the report is ready to be printed tomorrow!

I am nervous about the printing, but I am fairly confident that the production of the report should not cause any problems. I will see tomorrow and obviously any changes will need to be resolved as soon as possible.

I have been thinking about the final presentation of the report, like a box of some sort to protect the final article, but any idea will need to match the aesthetic of the rationale and whole campaign.

Nearing the finish of the report

Over the last few days, I have worked solidly on completing the report and I am pleased to say that I can almost see the finish!

I have got some CDs printed with my own designs, one to put a digital version of my report and another to put the audio primary research on.

I have also found another printing place which I am now going to use, this is due to me being happier with the print quality that they provide and the ease of printing the document as a whole.

I am planning to have finished by the end of tonight, leaving tomorrow as a day of doing final touches and editing and then printing the report on Wednesday!

Printing

I have sought some advice and found a possibility of printing fairly locally. I have tested some visuals there and the print quality is very similar to the colours which are seen on screen so this has reassured me.

The development of the creative report is coming along well and I am pleased with the pace. I am putting in plenty of hours, usually 14 a day to get the book completed as soon as possible but with the standard that I want. I have completed around a quarter of the report so far.

The next few days will be just be the same process, working through the report. So rather than being repetitive on this blog, I will post again in a few days.

Colour Problems

Now that I have started designing the creative report, it has been noted that the visuals have been made using RGB rather than CMYK. This may cause problems with printing as all screen visuals at RGB appear much brighter whereas printers use CMYK and therefore when the visuals are printed there may be a difference in colour brightness.

Through experimentation, some of the visuals are printing fine, whilst a couple are printing darker than desired.

As imagined, this is causing a great deal of worry and needs to be resolved as soon as possible.

Tomorrow I am going to ask some advice at a local graphic designers office and going to visit some prospective places to get the report printed.

Last final edits to the written content

Today I read through the report again and made some small changes. I wanted to make sure I was completely happy with the written content before starting the creative layout.

I have started the creative layout this afternoon. I have decided to use Illustrator CS5 after looking at a few options and due to me being most proficient with this programme.

My plans now are to work through creating the report and finishing this before going back to my development folders, this is due to the report being worth more marks and needing a lot of time being spent on it before it is nearing its production.

The finishing of the Marketing Report...

Today, I completed the aims that I set myself yesterday, meaning that I have now completed my written marketing report.


Tomorrow morning I want to read through the report again and do any editing. Then after this, I want to start making the creative format! This means I have the 11 days that I have left to complete this, leaving time for the printing and binding, plus travelling up to Lancashire for the submission.


I will keep posting about my progress with the creative format.

Report nearing completion!

So since the last blog post, I have been working through the sections, completed the Promotion section, breaking down of the costs and related this to the budget and the Persuasion Section. The People section was already written at a similar time to the Vectors.

This leaves just the conclusion to write, in which I will create a SWOT Analysis to include in the report.

The word count currently allows for a strong conclusion without worrying about going over the word limit. However, I will obviously check this again whilst writing it and afterwards.

I wrote in a post last week about wanting to complete the written aspect to the report by the end of the week/early nest week, so I will meet this target tomorrow. This leaves 11 consecutive days to complete the visual content and format of the report. I feel this will be fine as long as I do not attempt anything too complicated or challenging and stick to making everything look coherent with the visuals that have been made. Everything needs to look like it forms a visual, coherent package, to make the campaign look professional and as if it has been created by Disney themselves.

Tomorrow's Plans:

• To complete the conclusion section of the report.
• Plus, complete the Literature review and Bibliography.