Submission Boards

06 Meeting

To Do:

• Animation started
• Posters discuseed
• Brief discussed
• Time plan

Animation, Text messages:

Message 1: Are we still meeting to discuss the history assignement?

Reply: yeah! I’ll be at the cafe in 2mins

Message 2: ok. See you there

Art Fund Advertisement shows on instagram

What we need to do for submission:

Text needs to:

- highlight how our campaign is not just for art students

- highlight how the campaign encourages students to step out of their everyday life

- highlight how the campaign communicates that the pass can help you switch off, relax and find inspiration

- a whole year of art for just £5

Content of submission boards:

• Social media mock ups
• Poster mock ups
• Animation mock ups

Submission boards:

• Big visuals and supporting written description

p1 . imagery of our outcome

P2. concept

P3. research

P4. solution, our brief

P5. visuals, campaign in context

P6. future,  more animations for social media to engage audience etc, house style

P7. the end, final product

Social Media:

• Stills from animation
• Appropriated version of poster

Mockups

• Poster in context
• Animation on youtube, platform supported by research into target audience

The above information was written out to ensure we both are prepared for putting together the submission.

Poster Development

This response to the brief offers a consistent, visual style to engage the audience with the brand whilst promoting the Student Art Pass.

The poster and animation aspects to the campaign provide visuals to be used on campus and through social media, adhering to the needs of the digital audience.

Colour has been used to draw emphasis on how an individuals life can be positively influenced through having a student pass. As shown in the poster designs, muted, dull colours have been used when the student is studying at their desk. The colours then become more vibrant when engaging with content outside of their ‘everyday life’ as well as bold colours being used to emphasise the key information. The visuals give the audience something to associate and relate to, strengthening the power of campaign. This is also consistent with the animation. 

The set of four posters were informed by feedback given on the range of designs experimented with. Adjustments were made to ensure that text and image fully communicate the key message and met the mandatory requirements. 

Poster Development

Below are the visual developments informed by the concept and research.

Feedback:

- The scene of the girl sat behind desk is visually effective as it communicates the message clearly

- In some of the designs the message is not clear

- Try and emphasis message more such as in 4,8

- Strong use of colour in all designs makes it engaging for student audience

- Type heavy designs ensure correct message is communicated but would students read all the type in passing?

- Line 3 is very art inspired. Is this appropriate for all students?

- 4th design could be developed more. this visually communicates the message you are trying to put across

- 10,11,13 are appropriate for not art students due to the simple shape design

The feedback has raised questions as to whether the designs are appealing to all students. The fourth design has been developed (see below) following the feedback given. This design was then shown to none art students and the following feedback was given:

Medical Student - 'I would think this poster is aimed at art students/ creative people in initial viewing. The multiple use of the word art supports this. The visual represents a gallery which is not somewhere I would go to help with my studies.'

- 'The style is fun! The wording helps with describing what it is but I don't know what Art Fund is. I get the impression its for art students.'

Engineering Student - 'The illustrations make me think of art and that is not relevant to my degree. I understand the message being communicated but it's not something i'd engage with'

Zoology Student - 'I like the illustration style, this would make me look at the poster'

In a talk with Bash, we discussed that need to have the campaign consistent in design and content. The decision was made to make a series of posters featuring the girl behind the desk and in an art gallery. To show a range, there will also be a design that features a male figure. 

05 Meeting

Unfortunately, Bash was unable to attend this meeting. Poor communication on his behalf meant that his lack of attendance was not communicated until the time of the meeting and adjustments to the schedule therefore had to be made. As this meeting was organised so that we could work together on the development of the character design, the responsibility of completing this is now on his behalf. To ensure the continuation of the project, the scheduled time was taken for completion of research and development of the other aspects to the brief response. 

On further discussions with Bash, it was decided to only complete one animation. There were many concerns made by Bash due to his scheduling for other projects. This will allow for more time to be taken on the one animation, ensuring it is produced to a high standard. 

Social Media Research

To provide a developed response to the brief, considerations have been made as to how the campaign can be broadcast through social media. Previous research has shown that there is a high percentage of millenials who engage with content on social media on a daily basis. A consideration mentioned in the brief, is how can the campaign make the release of the Student Art Pass feel like an event. Referencing is made to the release of festival tickets. 

Investigated the social media pages of 2018 festivals. Findings:
- Animation of text/imagery has been used to inform the audience of the acts playing at the festival/other infomration
- There is an overall trend of motion to make information more enticing and engaging for the audience
- Many festivals/social media pages are not on track with this trend. Including animation on the Art Fund social media page would set it apart from these pages

Examples.
Leeds/Reading festival has used video content to communicate with their audience

Glastonbury has used image, including type, to communicate with their audience

04 Meeting

In this meeting we discussed the character formation for the animation. As Bash has experience with character design, we decided that this would be an area that he he completed the artwork for. The plan allows for reference for Bash to follow independently.

Guy 1

- white/black trainers

- brown hair

- black jeans

- plum hoody

Guy 2

• Grey Headphones
• Blonde hair
• Blue jeans
• Red tshirt
• Trainers

Girl 1

• Brown hair
• Blue jeans
• Pink coat
• White trainers

Girl 2

• Black hair
• White tshirt
• Grey jeans
• White trainers

Guy 3

• Black hair
• Deep blue jeans
• Light blue puffa coat
• White trainers

Guy 4

• Blonde hair
• Neutral trousers
• Plum tshirt
• Black trainers

Girl 3

• Blonde hair
• Black jeans
• Grey hoody
• White trainers

We looked at previous animation reference to determine how best to add dimension to the character. As it was decided to keep the vector drawing flat colour, this has to be consistent throughout all design.

For continuation of this project the character designs will be complete by Wednesday 28th Feb, along with the background scenes. 

Scene Development

The first scene completed, in response to the storyboard produced by Bash.

03 Meeting

Storyboard:

In this meeting we decided it would be productive for Bash to complete the storyboards whilst together. This meant that at the end of the meeting we had completed the next stage of the plan and individually have time to work on the next stages of development. These being producing the vectors for the animation.

02 Meeting

In this meeting we were able to discuss the progression of the storyboard and aims for the progression of the brief. The notes made in the discussion are on a shared document so that we can refer back to the comments/aims made and share any further thoughts.

Thought process behind animation: We want the animation to communicate to the audience the positive effect that having an art pass can have on their social and individual being and the opportunities that it can offer.

What elements are needed for the animation:

- a female figure

- a male figure

- 4 extras

- mobile phone

- map of UK

- map of city 

A completed storyboard will allow for recognition of the aspects needed to build up each scene in the animation. 

Social Media Video Research

Patel, S. 2016. Digiday UK. 85 percent of Facebook video is watched without sound. Available at https://digiday.com/media/silent-world-facebook-video/

- 85 percent of Facebook video is watched without sound, according to multiple publishers

- 'millenial new site Mic, which is also averaging 150 million monthly Facebook views, said 85 percent of its 30-second views are without sound

- 'PopSugar said its silent video range between 50 and 80 percent'

- 'news feeds are now inundated with short videos that feature text or captions narrating what's being shown on screen'

- 'While most of these videos feature narration or some form of background music, the intent is to make it easy for people to consume the information presented in the videos without needing to turn the sound on.' 

The animation should work without sound so that the user does not feel it necessary to play with sound. However, there could also be sound to work with this feature when applied. 

- “From day one, there pretty much has been the psychology that you have to catch their attention immediately,” said Gretchen Tibbits, chief operating officer for LittleThings.

- 'Facebook counds a view at three seconds' This means that the publishers of video content have to convince users to watch at least the first three seconds in order for the view to be counted.  

- “As a paid advertising channel, [Facebook] works sometimes, but it’s so important to have creative that meets the criteria of the platform — otherwise it can be a waste of money,” Rye Clifton. 


Hootsuite, Silent Video:

- 'In February 2016, Facebook decided that videos would automatically play with sound on mobile devices, as long as the volume on the device is turned on.' 

- 'Facebook’s own data highlights why you might not want to overdo it in the audio department: 80 percent of people will actually have a negative reaction to a mobile ad that plays loud sound when they’re not expecting it' 


The sound of the animation should consider the audiences environment when viewing the content. Having loud and 'shocking' sound can result in a person not watching the remainder of the video, if surprised by the sound content/volume.


Facebook Research data. 1,500 people aged 18-64:

01 Meeting, The Brief

In the briefing, we rewrote the brief to suit our response, taking into consideration the the original brief requirements and the target audience.

The Brief:

Demonstrate how the National Art Pass can offer inspiration and the chance to step out of everyday life. There must be a strong comparison between everyday life and life with an Art Pass. The content must be appropriate for print and digital media.

Target Audience: University Students of 2018

Notes from discussion:

30th Jan

• Colours from guidelines

• Decided on animation story direction. Showing to others that they can escape from their individual bubble of ‘everyday life’ through visiting the places through Art Pass

• Breaking out of the bubble

• Sound with video; students typically looking at social media in social environment/education/at home

• Inside bubble, muted colours to represent everyday life, what you typically expect to see

• Outside of the bubble represented through primary colours

• Interactive poster

To do, Monday 5th 1PM:

• Photographs of Parkinson's Building + Gallery

• Simple sketches of animation

• Research into how people behave with video and sound  

Collaboration

In response to recognising that the outcome for the brief could involve an element of animation, I contacted an animator who has previously expressed his interest in collaborating with me. This is a brief that we have previously discussed. Before meeting to discuss collaborating, the initial research notes were shared with him so that he had an understanding of my current status with the brief.

Animation/Video Research

SHADE Studio define themselves as being 'truly passionate motion graphics and VFX company' who are based in Riga, Latvia. Their work ranges from using real life video content or vector illustrations. The below video is an example of their work. The flow of the content from one scene to the next ensures that the attention of the audience is kept. The simple vector images allow for the content of the video to be key, with minimal detail to ensure the eye flows from one area to the next. This is a style of motion graphics that can work on a range of different format sizes due to being largely image based, accompanied by large sections of text.




Libby Vander Ploeg is an illustrator/designer who's creative process is focused around simple yet meaningful design. Her motion graphic design ranges from the use of handwritten text to animated illustrations. The relationship that both text and imagery have allow for their to be no sound. It could be argued that this may result in the audience not viewing the full video, however with the succinct content of the design flowing from one scene to the next, attention is typically kept. This is shown in the example below. 

#OptionBthere For the Holidays from Libby V on Vimeo.

Concepts/Ideas

Research: Target Audience

Through reading the brief, the target audience stated are all university students. This audience will be accessed through university media and online, in autumn 2018. As stated in the brief, there is a limited media budget and the campaign therefore needs to stand out against the other freshers' content that is online and in the public.


'Their smartphone is often the last thing they look at before going to sleep and

the first thing they look at the next morning. The average student will scroll

through over 300ft of content each day.'  - This is an important recognition by Art Pass. 

In a research study by Alex Chalk MP, YoungMinds and The Children's Society, it has been found that from the 1,089 respondents, 93% of the over 18s reported to be using Facebook however on a whole the most popular platform is YouTube, with 85% of the respondents engaging with content on this form of social media. The use of video is the main function of YouTube, with the ability to post and share video more frequent on Facebook also. 

Video is a direction to explore in response to this brief. It is a form that would allow for the information to be quickly received on a range of different online and offline platforms. 

Through a discussion with university peers, the importance of student discounts was made by each individual. The discounts that are offered through companies such as NUS Extra and UniDays are known by all students. Many said they became aware of these discounts from the advertisements on social media as well as word of mouth in education. However, as NUS Extra is a paid for 'service', many students expressed their lack of support to this due to other free alternatives being available. This is important to consider when responding to the brief as the payment for the card will affect the level of interest of students.

Middlesex University, London. Student Communications Survey, June 2016. Social Media sub-report.  

2121 Students surveyed:
- 71% of students admitted to using social media at least once a day
- WhatsApp and Facebook are the more commonly used channels ( 83% and 77%)
- Instagram and YouTube are both also used by over 50% of students
- 67% of students say that social media is a preferred channel of communication for community information (e.g. events and University news)
- Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, WhatsApp and Instagram are all channels that students would be happy to use to engage with the University
- 59% of students follow University Facebook pages for information

Research: Competitors/Similar Idea

When appealing to such a large audience it is key to understand their motivations. One way in which this can be analysed is through recognising and researching existing competitors of the Art Fund as well as other student orientated discount companies.

UNiDays - This is a popular platform used by students to receive FREE discount at a range of popular retailers

- Mostly used online through the use of discount codes

- You simply sign up using a verified university email address

- Website + app

- Social media presence that tailors to the interests of the student market (memes)

- Bold colours and patterns are used subtly to add a unique image to the brand

- Line vector illustrations are used to add visuals to information

NUS Extra - Another popular form of receiving discount

- In the form of a card 

- £12 a year or £32 for 3 years

- Impressions from the website and social media: it is what it is. The brand is not as engaging as competitor UNiDays, there is a lack of engagement with the audience 

Student Beans - 'youth media brand'

- offer discount across a range of retailers

- hub for articles, offers, jobs etc

- You sign up and receive discount codes through website/app

- Engaging content for the student audience

16-25 Railcard - 

- Save 1/3 on rail prices

- £30 a year or free with a Santander Student 123 account

- For anyone aged 16 to 25, or over 25 and in full-time study

- Card needed to verify discount when travelling

Amazon Prime Student 

- FREE prime service for 6months

Through researching each of the above companies, it is evident that there are a number of common themes that run through the visuals and mannerisms of the brand. 

- Content must be engaging and appeal to the student audience (animation, bold colours/patterns, humour)

- Tone of voice must be persuasive but engaging 

- Videos are engaging and can be a quick way to get a message across