In the trenches - a brief rant

In my quest to eradicate "to be" from all of my professional writing, a few obstacles emerged. Many people feel such deep attachment to using this verb that they suggest it for headline usage (and then ask why I disapprove so much- true story, happened today.) But really, do you want to read that "widget A is here" or do you want to read that a "widget A increases efficiency"? I'll go with the latter. Who cares if it's here? Unless it's Jesus Christ himself, I don't care what (or who) is here, but I do want to know what it does and how my life, job, dog, general disposition will improve if I buy it. After all, isn't the point of all advertising to get someone, somewhere to buy your product or service? Simply telling me that it's here doesn't make me care enough to find out why I should care.

So, the next time someone asks why I disapprove so much of using "is" (especially in a headline), I'll use my classmate, LaDonna's, example of comparing it to Arial. Or maybe, to use another design analogy, I'll compare it to using a Photoshop filter. Just because it's there, doesn't mean you should use it. With so many other colorful verbs (or interesting fonts or alternatives to filters) out there, why choose the easy, common one?

To be or not to be

Definitely not to be...

I'm taking back the verb. After the discussion in class on Saturday, I reviewed my writing for "to be" offenses. I found it in a few cases. Despite my efforts not to use it, it still occurs in my writing, usually the result of laziness, rather than a conscious choice.

Lately, I've become weary at work because I constantly edit "to be"-riddled writing. It's a highly contagious epidemic. It seeps into my brain without my consent and wraps its lazy tentacles around my thoughts, draining the life from my writing and replacing it with a colorless verb wasteland.

But already today, through my efforts to fight the laziness, my writing shows bursts of color and interest. I almost forgot the feeling of painting a written picture, but three weeks into grad school, it seems, it's back.

Six word memoir

Here's the first one I thought of:

Displaced urbanite surviving suburban utopia nightmare.

Project 1- the revision / Class 3

Musings of Project 1

I think I overthought this project. More specifically, I think I approached this project as a marketing communications professional rather than a writer/designer/grad student (emphasis on the grad student.) As a result, my copy and design were more ad-like and less compare/contrast English paper-like. Obviously, this isn't supposed to read just like an English essay, but I think I took it too far over the ad edge and made it too conceptual, which resulted in less compare/contrast than Stephanie was looking for (in actual words, anyway.)

This is not a problem. I have a new (and more simple) concept that will accomplish the compare/contrast in the original assignment. I've worked on a new design that I actually think I like better and will work much better with a compare/contrast body copy. And it will still function well as a sign for fruit in a market.


Class 3 reflections

The first critique proved interesting, at least. I did learn a lot and noticed some things about my own project from the critiques of others projects and it helped reel me in from the ad agency world and back to reality. What I did find more helpful this time was the small groups- people seemed to have a better grasp of what to expect, probably largely because it was the second time around. But, I also think the profile assignment was more straightforward than the last one. At least I wasn't the only one who thought too much about compare/contrast.

Project 2- The idea

Project 2 is a little redundant for me since my undergrad degree is in magazine journalism and I've done several profiles and magazine layouts for that. However, I still think that there is an opportunity in this project to stretch my skills.

The magazine I'm using is Pink, which is a magazine targeted toward women in business. I'm interviewing my boss this afternoon. She is the Communications Manager here and I'm sure she has an interesting story to tell. (Even though her initial response when I asked her if I could interview her was, "I'm not that interesting!") Everyone has a story. It's my job to get hers.

Tweaking the concept - project 1

I'm definitely happy with my original idea, but I think, in order to strengthen the compare/contrast element, I need to add something. It was an idea that I tossed around originally, but decided not to incorporate it in my rough draft. I'm putting it back in the comp. The overall theme is Cinco de Mayo with a focus on salsa with the fruits and traditional vs. tropical. The rest of the ideas are staying the same. Body copy will be tweaked slightly, as it should be when it goes from a rough draft to a comp.

For the design, I've decided to use both Photoshop and Illustrator. This is typical of most of my design projects. I set up a file for each one in Illustrator, Photoshop and InDesign. Any drawings that I want, I draw with Illustrator, then I import them (and any other images) into Photoshop and alter/design the final image(s) there. Then I drop that image into InDesign (if the piece is text-heavy) and finish the text there. This project will work the same way and I think by adding a small amount of illustrations, it will add interest to the design. I'm also going to add an additional image into the background for each sign.

I'm pretty excited about this project because I'm using (and expanding) a wide-range of skills for it - writing, design (all of CS3) and advertising. This is exactly the kind of thing I was hoping for in this grad school program.

A solid concept...I hope

Now that my rough draft (emphasis on the rough) is completed, I thought that it would be a good idea to put my idea into my blog. I hope I've gotten this concept right. Here's a summary explaining the assignment and my interpretation/execution of it:

We had to create two signs for a food market (I chose Broad Street Market in Harrisburg.) Each sign had to sell one kind of fruit. Of the two fruits, one had to be exotic (I chose mango), the other had to be ordinary/common (I chose tomato.) We had to compare and contrast the fruits (to each other) in our signs. One sign had to compare, the other had to contrast (that was the difficult/out-of-the-box part.)

The theme I chose was salsa- mangos for tropical fruit salsa (sweet!) and tomatoes for traditional salsa (spicy!) and went from there. I'm comparing mangos because tomatoes are the typical ingredient in salsa, but hey! - Mangos make good salsa, too! I'm contrasting tomatoes because while mangos are the most eaten fresh fruit all over the world, tomatoes are the most consumed fruit (because of all of the recipes they are found in.) And of course, this all has to fit on a 5x7 sign with tightly written ad copy. I'm including a few interesting facts about each fruit, along with (of course) a salsa recipe for each fruit on its respective sign. The recipe will be on a tear-off card that is mounted to the sign (I'm hoping that this is okay.)

As I mentioned in a previous post, I'm focusing heavily on typography. I've decided to go with a very clean look, using fruit glamour shots that I took myself. Overall, I'm happy with the initial design, but it's still very rough and I know I'll have a lot of tweaks for the comp/final phases. But I definitely think that I have a good start to this project.

Compare/Contrast

During the last week, I have been completely consumed by my fruit project. There are so many factors to consider with this assignment.It's ad for a market or store, therefore it must have a brand identity. The ads should look the same, as they are part of a campaign. I've also decided to focus strongly on typography in the headline and to have the images in the ads mirror each other. This should create a visual compare/contrast between the two signs beyond just the compare/contrast of the copy.

Speaking of compare/contrast, I've decided on my fruits and I've found that it's very hard to only compare or contrast. Both of these occur by default with the presence of the other; sometimes they are only inferred, but they are still present.

I'm finished with my research and need to compose the rough draft of my copy tonight. I already have a few sketches for the art, but I need to finalize that as well. At the moment, I'm trying to decide how I want to represent the fruit, whether I want a very realistic photo or a more graphic, illustrated interpretation. The final decision for that will probably not be made until phase 2.

Because Neitzsche said so

"You need chaos in your soul to give birth to a dancing star."

Feeding the addiction

I was thoroughly amused that as part of the class structure, we will be looking to magazines for inspiration. Not because I don't see them as a good source. Quite the opposite, actually. As a magazine junkie, I felt validated by the instructions to collect magazines. Finally, an actual reason to buy more magazines!

Collecting magazines is nothing new to me. I've been reading them since I was a kid- first Highlights and Zillions ('Consumer Reports for kids'), then on to adolescence and Seventeen, YM and 'Teen. I hoarded those teen magazines for years. When my family moved, my mom made me throw away my prized collection. I'm still mourning the loss. And she still thinks I'm nuts.

Now, as an adult, I subscribe to an embarrassing amount of magazines (nevermind the supermarket impulse buys- me? Read USWeekly? Pssssht.) The mailman probably wonders why someone who lives in Harrisburg is reading Portland Monthly (yes, Portland, as in Oregon.) Incidently, I started subscribing to that magazine, not for its content, but for the design. I found it fresh and contemporary and inspiring.

My live-in boyfriend, who has large amounts of disdain for the ever-growing pile of magazines lurking in the corner, was less than thrilled with my declaration that he could not throw any (no, not one) of those precious glossies out. I need those magazines for class, I told him triumphantly. I will be using them extensively for research. Hands off!

So, for this semester, I am free to gleefully buy as many magazines as I wish. And I am validated in my addiction. Until May, anyway. Then, the boyfriend will seize the magazines and have a Memorial Day bonfire. A really, really big bonfire.

Fruitastic

I like assignments about food. It gives me an excuse to eat. And I love to eat. So far today, I have consumed two pears, a mojito mango smoothie, a tomato and mozzarella panini and chips with tropical fruit salsa. All in the name of research and inspiration. I'm feeling a little full and I think I'm on a bit of a sugar high, but I've definitely come up with some viable ideas for the project.