Cheng Mun's 2208 Journal

Original Idea:
 
After that, I decided that a booklet would be a better medium for my narrative, I wanted the medium to parallel part of the narrative which included books.

Here, I also changed the first establishing scene from the original 'drowning in homework' scene to a 'lecture hall' scene in order to portray the idea that everyone has a toad (symbol of something that holds one back) in them. In the original storyboard, I wanted to depict the slow downfall of the individual by making him/her more hunched-back as the days pass. However, I figured that putting all the "stressful" elements onto the same page would be more effective in portraying the overwhelming nature of the stress.

In the previous storyboard, a lecture hall was used as an establishing shot. However, I realised that made the characters relatively small which made the toads difficult to notice. Also, placing the toads in their heads also made the toads look more like goggles. Hence, I changed the scene to make the toads more visible.

I also changed the second scene to try to portray the character from a top-down angle to make her look powerless. By using a top-down angle, the spread of assignments and the book she is reading can be seen more clearly.

I then removed the frame of the main storybook as,for one, I thought it would be more visually appealing. The two pages were placed in frames to mimic the pages. By arrangement this page this way, I had intended to inform viewers that the two pages were part of the storybook.
Here, I created two frames - one with the causes of stress surrounding the main character, and the other with the causes of stress forming a hand that strangles the main character. I decided on the first one as it was clearer in portraying my intended message.

Accompanying Statement

This week, we touched on Gestalt theory.

Five design principles derive from this theory: proximity, similarity, continuity, closure, figure and ground. Each principle employs different methods to create unity within the whole.

The short quiz on Gestalt theories allowed me to gain a better understanding through application.

Here are some really interesting examples I found:

Original Images:
Based on the images I have accumulated over the semester, I came up with very rough drafts. Before deciding on the 'Donut Planet' series, I wanted to go with a wonderland themed advert sequence to portray how Dunkin's donuts are truly magical. However, I decided that the 'Donut Planet' series is more unique and fun, just like Dunkin' Donuts' ads.

I experimented with positive and negative space and tried to come up with something special (as you can see from my first and second drafts), but I was not very successful. In the end, I just placed the 'donut float' over the "hole" of the pink donut. Admittedly, it is not very obvious that I had done that.

About Betty: 
"Betty’s philosophy is for people to embrace who they are and celebrate it...Empowering and unifying women with a youthful state of mind and a nostalgic heart...Betty wants to give girls the confidence to be happy with who they are...They wanted to give people something different and to make the reader feel like they had discovered something unique...Betty is your new best friend."

Content: 

Aesthetics: 

Audience: 

Advertising: 
Rationale for Choice:
I had quite a hard time looking for sample advertisements as, I believe, Betty is quite a niche and relatively new (est. 2010) magazine.

Dunkin' Donuts has "items there for markets 5 and up in age, all genders, races, nationalities etc...their main target market is adults from 25-55 years of age, working class, all races and all genders." [source] Dunkin' has also relaunched in the UK not too long ago (2014) [source].



Currently, a Dunkin' Donuts consumer is generally very high income, Caucasian, and senior age, according to InfoScout.

Given that majority of Betty's readers are 18-34 years old (readers aged 35-44 are also quite significant), advertising with Betty allows Dunkin' to reach other target age groups that they are currently not having a relatively high reach. Furthermore, since Betty is based in the UK, it allows Dunkin' to reach their relatively new market.

Next, Dunkin's simple and witty ads fit well with Betty's aesthetic. The illustrations present in Betty are also similar to some of Dunkin's ads.

The majority of Betty readers spend their time reading books, crafting, going out for dinner, cooking/baking, shopping, and going out for drinks (>65 percent). By advertising with Betty, Dunkin' can align itself with Betty's image to appeal to their readers as well as others within similar age groups. Perhaps, given their love for baking and reading, Betty readers (and people like them) can read their books whilst having a donut and a cup of coffee in Dunkin' outlets in the future.

Promoting Dunkin' to be a conducive and supportive space for studying/working can further Dunkin's attempts to appeal to students and young adults (e.g. 'Produnktivity'),

More on image alignment, Dunkin' can pride itself to be supportive (embrace who they are and celebrate it), youthful (youthful state of mind), nostalgic (nostalgic heart), unique (discovered something unique), and a best friend (new best friend) to consumers, just like Betty's philosophy.

By doing so, Dunkin' can further promote itself to be a lifestyle inseparable from its consumers (or friends).




Interesting Read: The Huge Differences Between Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts Coffee Drinkers

This week, we touched on typography and layout.

Here, I will share some of my favourite examples that I have came across in the past.